Will Laurence (gentlemanly) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-11-17 19:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, temeraire: william laurence, the untamed: lan xichen |
Who: Laurence and Lan Xichen
What: Eating funnel cake and riding on roller coasters.
When: This past weekend
Where: Critical Role Land
Warnings: Nope
Laurence had quickly become Lan Xichen’s favorite companion for investigating modern life in Vallo. The two of them had arrived close together, so they were at a more or less similar state of confusion regarding the local customs and habits despite their quite different worlds of origin. Besides that, he simply enjoyed Laurence’s company. Thus, when one of the witches in a coven Lan Xichen worked with suggested that Critical Role Land was an attraction absolutely not to be missed, Laurence was the first person he thought to drag along with him.
Not that Laurence really required dragging. He was generally up for social engagements, and a simple “Lao Ren, would you like to join me at the park?” did the trick just fine.
The crowd of park-goers, while extensive, didn’t feel any more oppressive to Lan Xichen than Vallo City did on its own. What jostling he suffered was more than made up for by the vast quantity of sweets available, he thought. Lan Xichen had never heard of nor experienced funnel cake before, but he had already decided that it was delicious and a treat of such decadence and deliciousness that, had he tried it as a child, he likely would have abandoned his clan and its strict precepts against self-indulgence straightaway and spent his life as a rogue cultivator roaming the countryside to fight evil and stuff himself with cake.
He had to close his eyes in silence to process the pure joy of the experience. It wouldn’t do to let his sugar-fueled emotions spill all about, after all. A bite, a moment, a sigh, and finally, a faint smile as he organized his surprise and happiness into something acceptable for the public.
“This is incredible,” he said, and somehow his pale blue robes were not touched with so much as a speck of powdered sugar, nor was there even the slightest smudge of chocolate sauce on his lips.
Laurence had always considered himself a tidy eater. He’d known men who weren’t, of course, but Laurence disdained wearing messy or unkempt clothing, and so he’d always been fastidious in his eating habits.
If it hadn’t been for Lan Xichen, he’d have been certain that there was no tidy way of eating a funnel cake. From the first bite, the powdered sugar appeared on his navy blue jacket, until he’d been forced to do away with it altogether so that he might eat in his shirtsleeves; he was still likely to spill powdered sugar on that, but at least it was not so obvious against the pale blue of his shirt, and what was visible would be covered by his jacket when he put it back on.
And the chocolate syrup was equally as messy. He could wipe it from his fingers and lips with a napkin and a bit of water from a water bottle, but it had still appeared there in the first place. He’d tried, for some time, to study Lan Xichen and how he managed to eat the thing, but emulating him brought little success and Laurence was forced to abandon his efforts and simply accept that funnel cake was, probably, a treat that was best eaten seated at a dinner table, with a knife and a fork, instead of sitting on a bench with a napkin and a prayer.
Unless you were Lan Xichen, of course. It was difficult to think too poorly of the dessert when he could see, quite clearly, what pleasure it brought to his friend.
The park itself wasn’t what Laurence had envisioned when Lan Xichen had invited him to the park. He’d pictured green grass and softly rolling hills, maybe a babbling brook and some trees in their autumn reds. Not an area filled with rides and grown men playing King of the Hill on a mass of pillows, mock gladiatorial combat. It was maybe not how Laurence would have chose to spend an afternoon, but he was enjoying himself with Lan Xichen.
And he wouldn’t let himself be a wet blanket either. He’d eat what sweet treats Lan Xichen wanted, and the brochure had mentioned that there was a shooting range somewhere. He didn’t think Lan Xichen had any experience with that sort of thing, so it could be amusing for both of them.
And while he was ashamed to admit it, he felt a boyish excitement about the prospect of riding the Flight of the Conclave. A grown man in his mid-thirties, he had absolutely no business wanting to ride something like that. But he privately hoped that Lan Xichen would be as interested as he.
“I wonder if it would be very difficult to make at home,” Laurence said, musingly. He was beginning to discover that cooking really wasn’t as difficult as he had thought it would be at first. It was simply a matter of following direction, a skill that Laurence had cultivated his entire life, and he was beginning to find a quiet pleasure in it. He imagined if the could churn them out as quickly as they had, there couldn’t be that much to it.
He finished his own funnel cake, wiping the extra syrup on his fingers onto his napkin, missing entirely the powdered sugar that had somehow found its way onto his cheek. “I don’t suppose you have anything like this in your own world,” he said, glancing again at the brochure they’d been given at the entrance. He’d be more than a little surprised if Lan Xichen’s world did. “I haven’t the slightest idea where to begin. It looks like there’s a few stage shows, unless you’d rather partake in some of the activities?”
“I will gladly follow the river where it takes us,” Lan Xichen replied, his smile the picture of serenity and his robes untroubled by any part of the funnel cake even as he finished the last bite of it. “The only thing I know for certain I must do is go on the dragon ride. Apparently that is a favorite of nearly everyone who comes here.”
He stood from the bench and placed his paper plate in a nearby trash bin. Powdered sugar got on the trash bin, but not on Lan Xichen, undoubtedly for qi-related reasons.
Laurence tried not to stare in open disbelief as Lan Xichen backed away from the trash bin completely unscathed, though he failed. As far as Laurence was concerned, he himself looked as though he’d fought and lost a battle with a baker, though in actuality it wasn’t nearly so bad. He patted his jacket, sending off the rest of the powdered sugar before he donned it again.
He gave Lan Xichen a pleased smile. “I’ll confess that I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll admit to being intrigued. I know it’s not entirely proper, but…” Well, maybe sometimes it would be okay to have a little fun.
“There’s also, apparently, a shooting range, if you had any interest in that.”
“Archery? Certainly,” Lan Xichen replied, giving a warm smile in return. “I am no match for the Jiang clan with a bow, but I would be happy to try my skill with you.”
Contests of martial capability were regular amusements in the world Lan Xichen came from. Hunting, archery, practice duels - they were all ways to form relationships with one’s peers as much as to win honor for one’s sect. For someone like Lan Xichen, who was never particularly competitive, the idea of an archery contest with a friend brought nothing but pleasure. If he won, then his friend might be impressed with his skill; if he lost, then he could take joy in seeing his friend excel.
“Oh, I hadn’t even considered that it might be archery,” Laurence said, though he possibly should have. “I had thought it might be muskets or pistols, which of course I’d be happy to show you.” The pistols he wore in Vallo while on patrol were much easier to load and prime than the ones he was used to at home, and he thought it would be a simple enough lesson. “I’m afraid I’ve no experience at all with archery at all, so if it is bow and arrow, I hope that you’ll do me the favour of teaching me a little.”
“I’m equally unfamiliar with muskets and pistols, so it sounds as though we’ll have a good time either way.” Learning something new was always fun, and so was teaching. When the company was good, either one became even better. “Shall we head there first, and then the dragon flight?”
The shooting range offered the kind of simple pleasure that Laurence often allowed himself to enjoy. The kind of pleasure permissible for a gentleman of his years and standing.
Not at all like what Dragon Flight offered. It was more monstrous than Laurence had imagined, he realized as they approached, with towers of flame passing near the rails, and massive, animatronic dragons flying overhead. He wondered if the inventors of the rail system had ever imagined that their invention would someday lead to this, with those small steel cars travelling at breakneck speed. As he watched, he saw it go upside down in a loop.
It seemed terrifying, though in a peculiar way, a way that made him more excited than not to ride it. “It’s certainly more than I could have imagined,” Laurence said, as they approached the front of the line. “I assume there’s nothing of its like in your world, either?”
“Nothing remotely of its like,” Lan Xichen confirmed, his eyes still fixed upon the racing cars. The roller coaster was nothing short of amazing, from his perspective: a metal mountain with high-speed carts that people could just ride in for fun! It was also the inspiration for a thousand questions he chose to keep to himself for now, ranging from ‘how do they stay in it?’ to ‘how did anyone think of this in the first place?’
As the coaster pulled up to the loading area again, laughing amusement park patrons exiting on the other side of the platform, the first question got answered. Apparently they were to be strapped in like a bundle on a donkey. It was not exactly a luxurious palanquin, but then, comfortable travel was hardly the point here. With a swish of silk, Lan Xichen swept into their assigned cart and placed his hands on the handles that seemed to be there just for the sake of clinging to.
“I will prepare myself to catch us if we go flying out of this thing like packages thrown from a cart,” he said calmly.
Laurence hadn’t been especially worried about flying from the car like packages from a cart before - the harnesses and straps that strapped him to dragonback could be flimsier than the steel restraints that lowered over their shoulders, and this was especially true when one had boarders that were trying to sever the straps (though, no boarder would attempt to sever the straps of any dragons captain, lest they send the dragon into a murderous rage), and after reading it often enough to Temeraire in Newton’s Principia, Laurence was familiar enough with the idea of centrifugal force that he wasn’t too concerned over the loops, provided they maintained speed - but once Lan Xichen mentioned it, Laurence grew distinctly aware of the possibility.
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Laurence said uneasily, and then checked to make sure that the restraints had little-to-no give on them. They seemed firmly locked in place. “We seem to be quite secure, and if the ride were especially dangerous I’m sure it would have been mentioned to us. But I appreciate that such a thing is in your power if need be.”
And then the ride began, slowly at first, the climb up the first steep hill slow enough that Laurence could glance around at the world unfolding around them, climbing high enough that he thought he could make out the layout of the whole sprawling park. The wind against his face at this altitude was pleasant against his face, and he realized that there was a story of some sort unfolding over the loud speakers.
And then the first dive came, and Laurence had known to expect it - he’d watched the other riders take this same plunge - but somehow it seemed faster now that he was in it than it had from the ground. He let out an unexpected shout of pleasure and exhilaration as the wind whipped at his face, and couldn’t quite bring himself to be too embarrassed by the outburst.
It was the closest he’d come to flying since he’d arrived here.
The rush was like nothing Lan Xichen had ever experienced before. When he flew on his sword, or over a short distance using his own qi, he had full control of the speed, distance, and height. Hurtling along at the whim of an engine was an entirely different thing - especially at this speed! It was absolutely exhilarating, as evidenced by the unusually bright and broad grin on his face as they flew along. (A Lan would never do anything so untoward as shriek, even in mortal peril.)
Perhaps more fun than the actual ride, though, was taking a look over at Laurence and seeing how utterly delighted his friend was. Lan Xichen had never felt free to express emotions with so little restraint, and of course he knew Laurence to generally be more formal than most people of Vallo. Flying through the air brought out the child in him, it seemed, and it was rather charming.
Too bad, then, that the ride ended so quickly. The track was huge, but in no more than a few minutes, they were finished being whirled through the air at a breakneck pace. The feeling of bubbling happiness and freedom remained, though, as they were released from their restraints and set free to exit the platform. Lan Xichen was still grinning as he looked over at Laurence without a single hair out of place.
"Shall we join the line again?"
At some point during the ride, Laurence's hair had come free from his queue and he swept it from his eyes. At some point, Laurence supposed, he would become accustomed to how perfect Lan Xichen managed to keep his hair and his clothing, no matter the activity.
By all rights, Laurence should say no, his boyish joy hardly becoming in a man his age. He'd have been more ashamed of his outburst, he thought, had Lan Xichen not looked as pleased with the ride as Laurence had. His wide grin, bright enough to steal even the most stalwart breath away and so different from from the man's usual reserved smile, was a rare enough sight that Laurence thought that no one could fault them for another go.
"I can think of nothing I'd enjoy more," answered. "Perhaps this time we'll be lucky enough to get the front car."