[No, neither of them are the type to run away without looking back - and he wouldn't be able to in good conscience now anyway, knowing about the kidnappers. Moving elsewhere won't solve that problem. It would just remove them from the direct line of fire, and who knows for how long?
The familiar not-really-scolding gets him to laugh, though.]
Be kind to me, Lan Zhan. Let me talk to you. It's been nothing good lately, so let's change that.
[Hm. Well, it's not like he didn't know it already, but the admission still makes his chest ache. He takes a bite of his food, as poised as ever even with his plate on his lap, then looks at Wei Wuxian again, fully taking in the sight of him.]
Any news? [If Wei Wuxian doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't have to. Lan Wangji won't push. But it might help, he thinks, just to share it.
He can share good news, too, if there. Y'know. Is any.]
[Haha! As if there's good news. There's the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth with his next smile; it's more a stress tic than any sort of amusement, though.]
Nothing that would surprise you, probably.
[Lan Wangji is Chuuya's right hand, after all. Anything he's heard by now has likely already filtered through the higher-ups first. Though after a quiet beat, he adds:]
I'm sending the kids away with granny and uncle. Just over next weekend, maybe a little into the week after.
[Lan Wangji can't do anything but incline his head, at that. They've been sharing more than usual, not that he likes it much. But it's clear, at least for right now, that no amount of effort on his part is going to keep this mess away from Wei Wuxian's doorstep, and he'd rather they both be informed. He can't share everything he's learned, but he doubts he has to--he hasn't caught wind of anyone being any closer to catching these people than they are.
The choice to send the kids away isn't surprising, either. He nods once, gaze distant as he considers.]
[It sure won't!! The mess just keeps on growing and spilling on over into every aspect of everyone's collective lives! Bad.
But as loathe as he'd been to step back into the proverbial (and soon to be literal, whoops) line of fire, of course he won't back down now. Not when there are lives on the line - the lives of the people he's promised to protect.]
A city outside of these.
[Give him a second - he sets his plate down on the desk, moving around it to the drawer he'd shoved papers into earlier. He withdraws a blank piece, scrawling a few city names out onto it. After, he crosses a few off.]
These ones- [Passing it over.] -were probably used for selling people or finding people to sell. Both, maybe.
[He sets his plate down, too, so that he can accept the paper with both hands, studying it carefully.]
Do you have a safehouse prepared? [Wei Wuxian may be effectively neutral, but he still has strong enough ties to Xian Le that he can probably pull strings, if he has to.] I can ask Chuuya to reach out to our contacts.
[If they. Actually have any outside the city?? PRESUMABLY THEY DO even though they're pretty territorial... but if not they probably know a guy who knows a guy. Either way Lan Wangji operates on the assumption that Chuuya doesn't tell him everything.]
I've done my best to set up what I can, but any extra help would be appreciated. [He'd rely on pulling those Xian Le strings if he could, but--] I don't want anyone in Xian Le to risk seeming like they're favoring me, you know?
[Jiang Cheng had sure made that reminder blatant! But he hadn't been wrong - Wei Wuxian knows he'd lost rights to requests and expectations the second he set foot outside of Westside.]
Mm. [Wei Wuxian isn't wrong, though Lan Wangji's thinking of other things.] It may draw unwanted attention.
[It's Moris who are being kidnapped, but that doesn't mean Xian Les aren't being targeted in different ways. Chuuya does his best to keep his people in line, but he can't control everything, and with the violence spilling into Middleton as it has been, anyone with Xian Le ties is going to get looked at unfavorably, to say the least.]
[He sighs as he nods his agreement, slipping back into his chair like his body's just a little heavier than it was moments earlier.]
It might, and that's the last thing I want. We've already got something of a target on our backs.
[Considering they're harboring kidnapping victims... Even though Brie can't talk well with her tongue cut and Bianca and Bennett never made it to the warehouse, he wouldn't be surprised if the people responsible wanted to shut them up for good, anyway.]
[A small nod; he knows exactly what Wei Wuxian's talking about. He's thought, more than once, about asking Chuuya to send Mori guards to Yiling Ridge, but he'd ultimately decided that that was going to draw more attention than they wanted.]
Have the safety measures been working? [HAVE ANY CHICKENS TRIPPED THE ALARMS]
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The familiar not-really-scolding gets him to laugh, though.]
Be kind to me, Lan Zhan. Let me talk to you. It's been nothing good lately, so let's change that.
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Any news? [If Wei Wuxian doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't have to. Lan Wangji won't push. But it might help, he thinks, just to share it.
He can share good news, too, if there. Y'know. Is any.]
no subject
Nothing that would surprise you, probably.
[Lan Wangji is Chuuya's right hand, after all. Anything he's heard by now has likely already filtered through the higher-ups first. Though after a quiet beat, he adds:]
I'm sending the kids away with granny and uncle. Just over next weekend, maybe a little into the week after.
[Long enough to miss the festival.]
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The choice to send the kids away isn't surprising, either. He nods once, gaze distant as he considers.]
Where?
no subject
But as loathe as he'd been to step back into the proverbial (and soon to be literal, whoops) line of fire, of course he won't back down now. Not when there are lives on the line - the lives of the people he's promised to protect.]
A city outside of these.
[Give him a second - he sets his plate down on the desk, moving around it to the drawer he'd shoved papers into earlier. He withdraws a blank piece, scrawling a few city names out onto it. After, he crosses a few off.]
These ones- [Passing it over.] -were probably used for selling people or finding people to sell. Both, maybe.
no subject
Do you have a safehouse prepared? [Wei Wuxian may be effectively neutral, but he still has strong enough ties to Xian Le that he can probably pull strings, if he has to.] I can ask Chuuya to reach out to our contacts.
[If they. Actually have any outside the city?? PRESUMABLY THEY DO even though they're pretty territorial... but if not they probably know a guy who knows a guy. Either way Lan Wangji operates on the assumption that Chuuya doesn't tell him everything.]
no subject
[Jiang Cheng had sure made that reminder blatant! But he hadn't been wrong - Wei Wuxian knows he'd lost rights to requests and expectations the second he set foot outside of Westside.]
no subject
[It's Moris who are being kidnapped, but that doesn't mean Xian Les aren't being targeted in different ways. Chuuya does his best to keep his people in line, but he can't control everything, and with the violence spilling into Middleton as it has been, anyone with Xian Le ties is going to get looked at unfavorably, to say the least.]
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It might, and that's the last thing I want. We've already got something of a target on our backs.
[Considering they're harboring kidnapping victims... Even though Brie can't talk well with her tongue cut and Bianca and Bennett never made it to the warehouse, he wouldn't be surprised if the people responsible wanted to shut them up for good, anyway.]
no subject
Have the safety measures been working? [HAVE ANY CHICKENS TRIPPED THE ALARMS]