Klaudia is refusing to accept anymore looks today. She's already ruled out fruit, so he's going to have to live with that. At least he grants her some clemency with his approval of the rabbits and the 'cushion animal'. The question of how many sleepy pillows is a good enough is a whole new trial, though.
"Technically your idea, I just added to it," she quips with absolutely no intention of staking claim on particular animals or even particular gifts. They're just collectively brainstorming now. And Lan Wangji deserves a lot of gifts, so does it really matter who they're coming from? They could end up with a whole room of gifts, and that would be fine so long as he likes them. "Didn't he cause a fuss about there being only one duck? Or is that only with ducks? Do you think he'll frown if we get him only one furry pillow creature instead of two? I'm sure there has to be at least two. They wouldn't be selling them at all if that wasn't the case. They'd be in some rich person's house, or protective custody or something."
Klaudia's reasoning about the scarcity or lack thereof of cushion animals is reassuring, but Wei Wuxian is preoccupied with reliving the single duck "fuss," now removed from the strain of being the one in charge of providing additional ducks. In his defense it was painfully endearing at the time, despite his put-upon assurances regarding the second duck's unremarkable absence.
"You both caused a fuss. I didn't think I'd ever be allowed to stop drawing ducks and I'm still not sure what I was being punished for on that day." It's really for the best he isn't privy to Klaudia's thoughts about a whole room of gifts. Some overbearingness will be allowed, even ideal, but they can only fluster Lan Zhan a little, not leave him feeling overwhelmed. A delicate balance that they have been charged to strike by the heavens. "I think that is only with ducks, but we should still get two so the first one can have a friend. And so the rabbits all have places to sit. Not having to break them out of protective custody will save time, at least."
Klaudia lifts her chin in defense. "I didn't cause a fuss. I just wanted the picture. It could have had one duck or a hundred ducks; I wasn't being picky." Is that unreasonable? She doesn't think so, and if she said otherwise she doesn't remember it. Lan Wangji was the one insisting on adding more ducks, that was his punishment to inflict on a silly ghost. She was just an innocent bystander.
"Two sleepy pillows is a good number, but what about the rabbits? Do those have to be even numbers too? Two seems like too small a number for rabbits. Do we get four? Or six? Or eight? How many is too many rabbits?" Considering they'll have to care for them all, maybe they shouldn't be getting a hoard of them. Even the most polite and well behaved rabbits aren't going to be self-managing.
The audacity of this sand cultivator! Wei Wuxian gasps in a kind of delighted outrage. "You wanted ten little ducks! I remember because my life flashed in my eyes!" So brazen, trying to foist off her share of the duck concern. Amazing that he even remembers the series of events so exactly, but that's how intense the duck fuss had been (which is to say, very funny). "Can't believe you would try to make Lan Zhan to blame while we're planning his birthday. So unrighteous."
But speaking of righteousness, she has a point about the rabbits. Two is barely any, four is out of the question, and eight might put them over some kind of Lan Zhan flusterment limit, as much as he would like at least a dozen to be a part of the full experience, maybe poured gently on Lan Zhan from some kind of container. But six would have to be enough for now. As to their care, surely any of the less photogenic aspects can be pawned off on what he cannot help but think of as the juniors, at least some of the time. That's to build character, or something, surely. Still, he sounds less than self assured. "Six seems right? The whole point is to be like Cloud Recesses, but we can't get that many. I think they like to live in groups, so it shouldn't be a problem for them. But we would be outnumbered."
Klaudia huffs out a breath, crossing her arms over her chest. "The rabbits can outnumber us; I'll allow it if it'll save me from your duck fussing." Honestly. Who complains this much about drawing ducks? Didn't he say he was a master of art? Ten tiny ducks should have been no problem for him--if she asked for that at all. Maybe she did, or maybe she just used ten duck emojis and he inferred that was how many she wanted! Who can really say?
"But I guess six is enough." The most put-upon acquiescence to a quantity that she suggested herself. But if they're in agreement about the kind and the number, then that seems settled enough to her. "What else? If we only get him animals, he'll think we're starting a menagerie. ...Which is fine! But he should have fancy gifts too."
He said he was a master of a very specific number of arts, and whether drawing any number of ducks falls explicitly under any of the six headings is up for some debate. But ducks aren't the point, because they don't have a place for any and he's at this point less familiar with the art of keeping them than that of drawing them. Do the pretty ones even serve a purpose? They must lay eggs sometimes, but that hardly seems worth it. Maybe the ducks he isn't getting would just be ornamental. Questions for another time, since Klaudia seems to think they should table animals for now.
"He should have fancy gifts," he says with a beneficent nod, because Klaudia is a joy to have in class correct and that should be acknowledged, before he devolves into energetic reminiscence that he feels certain will be appreciated with exactly the care it deserves. Klaudia loves this kind of thing, she's bound to be on board. "The Cloud Recesses lectures started off with a gift giving ceremony, so all the major clans got to throw their weight around with valuable offerings. There were no animals at all obviously, so we've already improved on that, but there was a fancy book. Books can be fancy but still practical if they're good to read, you tell me that's not a good gift." And a fun sidequest.
More Cloud Recesses stories are never not well-received. Fancy gift giving ceremonies? Valuable offerings? Klaudia listens with rapt attention, all squabbling about rabbits and ducks forgotten. Does there have to be ceremony with it? Do the gifts have to be expensive? It's sounding very much like just rabbits and sleepy pillow creatures would be woefully subpar on this occasion. Maybe she should be worrying about if the rabbits are good enough or not...
The mention of a fancy book lights her expression up, though. "It is, it is!" She chimes back at him with excitement, also forgetting that she'd only chided him about secrecy a few minutes ago. It's a very good gift, and one that she's just as delighted to think about as she would be to gift it. "There's no rules against books, right? There shouldn't be. Books can't possibly be inauspicious, and you can't tell me otherwise. So we just have to figure out what kind of book he likes..." A small hiccup in that plan. But she rounds on Wei Wuxian almost as quickly as she trails off, making a new demand: "What kind we should get? You know him best; what books does he like?"
The Cloud Recesses story was meant more as a kind of verbal spitballing combined with a sacrifice to the questions cultivator, deserved for being so restrained in this conference. Not a guide to the price or valuability of gifts, though that concern surely already existed, as they are both no doubt prepared to engage in hand to hand combat over elusive cushion animals, should it become necessary. And she very much should be worrying about the quality of the rabbits. Wei Wuxian is counting on her.
But her enthusiasm for the book tack is rewarding nonetheless, even if the vehemence of the question leaves him looking a little attacked, despite his perpetual station as the high functionary of Lan Zhan facts real and imagined. Truthfully, and as usual, he didn't think that far.
"I think he likes all good books," he ventures, uselessly, followed by a kind of amused wince. "...Mostly." This isn't the time to confess to bullying even if it's very funny, he's a good influence now and anyway involving another party would be unsportsmanlike. Still, he'd never see it coming. "A classical text was the gift for the ceremony, but something new might be even better. Who's to say?" Wei Wuxian, technically, but he doesn't seem inclined. "Depends on what we could find, and why not both, anyway? It would be more meaningful that way." Please don't make him back that up.
A ghost is thankfully being spared for the moment. There's a story behind that Mostly that Klaudia almost asks about. What sort of book would Lan Wangji not like? Did Wei Wuxian try to give him something silly or frivolous? But he offers more information as a sacrifice to a questions predator, and she takes the offering and runs with that instead, mulling it over until she arrives at a new dilemma.
"It might be hard to find any fancy books on short notice. People don't like to part with those easily." At least not without a lot of money being traded, which normally wouldn't be a problem--but she's trying to be good. Which means not dipping into the more lucrative quests on the dark web. And there's also all the house modifications to consider... She can alchemize a lot of things, but they'll still need supplies. She can't make things out of thin air. (Yet.)
"What if we look for a book that he would like, and then we make it fancy? So long as it's in good condition, we could add some gold leaf or something..." Klaudia's never specifically worked with embellishing a book cover, but she's familiar with a lot of examples. Though now that she thinks about it, there's another potential problem with that approach. "Would gold be right, or should it be something else? Silver? Platinum?"
For once his calculated sacrifice worked exactly as intended, and he doesn't have to confess to any shenanigans or suffer any sharp-handed admonishments. All but physically, he is patting himself on the back for how well this is going. Klaudia isn't even offering to steal a fancy book from some dangerous locked library or anything. They're nailing this.
Far from stealing, her suggestion is actually very good, even if it opens up the table to yet more decisions. "Gold isn't unusual, and it is very fancy and auspicious, but we could pick something better, less stuck up. I'm sure Lan Zhan wouldn't mind. ...Can you just get platinum?" Now he looks and sounds a little spooked. Why can their sand cultivator just get platinum? He supposes he never thought to check. He's not sure he knew it was real in the first place. But he quickly disregards metal specifics with a wave of his hand; now it's up to them to choose a book that's either edifying because it's old, or interesting because it's new, and he can only hope they have such options. "It doesn't have to be platinum, if you can't, or if it's not real. But since it's kind of like, planting a library seed, right? It can be unusually fancy, without being against the rules, I think. Especially if we're the ones who made it that way."
If Klaudia knew that stealing had been an option that was on the table (for her), she would have vetoed it herself. They can't give Lan Wangji a stolen gift! There had to be a rule against that--not just stealing, but gifting stolen property to Lan Wangji specifically. It would be an outrage. Even if he didn't find out (which he would because he can probably smell impropriety), they would still have to go live in the woods out of shame.
But fortunately illegally acquired gifts are the least of Klaudia's worries at the moment. What is truly perplexing her is how Wei Wuxian has apparently never seen platinum before. Did it translate poorly, or does he really think it doesn't exist?
"Why wouldn't platinum be real? I thought you were from a noble family. Weren't you wealthy?" She can't help but sound incredulous. Who ever heard of a noble not having platinum? There were some markets in Waterdeep where you'd be laughed out of the room if you tried to pay for something in gold--if you could even cart that much gold around in the first place. Who would carry around a thousand pieces of gold when just twenty Harbor Moons would do? "I can't make it; it's like gold or silver like that, but it's just a metal. I can work with it."
Is it a stolen gift if it's been liberated from some dusty hall where it isn't being appreciated? Yes, but at least it's also fun, then. But for Lan Zhan, they will both endure, and only have Lan-approved non-felonious fun. Maybe another time.
Harder to endure is this unforeseen attack. Did he say he was from a noble family? Wasn't he very careful not to attach himself too firmly to one in his recounting? Isn't gold enough for anyone these days? He tsks at Klaudia in his most vexed and scolding way reserved for rude sand cultivators, stamping his foot like a ghost baby like she's a woodland creature that needs to be shooed away from an enticing informational tack. "Did I say that? You can be brought up well, in a good sect, and not be noble born, I said I wasn't! It doesn't matter if I was wealthy, nobody in any sect needs platinum to be wealthy. But maybe we should put some on a book anyway, since it exists. To show we're taking this seriously, and because it's a new thing, without any associations, like the house. Though it is still a little funny, which is also good."
Fit of vexation and impatience exorcised, and very good ideas points made, he leans back, arms crossed, awaiting rebuttal that surely can't be forthcoming. The house is a new kind of thing, and they're being so mindful and respectful right now.
Despite the skeptical comments about the finances of his up-bringing, Klaudia doesn't fully expect this to be a foot-stomping level of protest. Did she say something specifically objectionable? She did say 'from a noble family', but what she meant was raised in one. Does being born into the family directly count for that much if you enjoyed all the perks of living there? He should know what platinum is by association, if nothing else--and for that matter, wouldn't Lan Wangji know what it is as well?
"Well--" she starts, but without much force, letting him finish his impromptu fussing first. He did say; and she did remember. She just didn't think it mattered enough to be that exact. But maybe it does, for him.
"I didn't mean from as in born," she quips, a little sullen and a little embarrassed. "You lived with a noble family, right? I still don't see why they wouldn't have platinum. I've never heard of a noble family not having it. Gold is too... cumbersome to use," she adds, trying to be more careful with her wording. "It's more like pocket change, for when people of status want to pay for food or services. Day-to-day matters. While platinum is for serious transactions--trade and commerce. Gold is nice and flashy, but it's a little common. Platinum is... It's just what nobility uses." Which is why she thought that it would be suitable for decoration in this case. If they wanted to be fancy, then shouldn't their gift be something that speaks to the status of the recipient? Didn't he deserve that much?
"...Has Lan Wangji really not seen platinum before, either?" She's really not sure how to frame that. Monetary value itself is still a mystery to her in the first place, but it feels strange to have the whole upper tier of her economic scale just... missing.
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Date: 2022-03-27 04:42 pm (UTC)From:"Technically your idea, I just added to it," she quips with absolutely no intention of staking claim on particular animals or even particular gifts. They're just collectively brainstorming now. And Lan Wangji deserves a lot of gifts, so does it really matter who they're coming from? They could end up with a whole room of gifts, and that would be fine so long as he likes them. "Didn't he cause a fuss about there being only one duck? Or is that only with ducks? Do you think he'll frown if we get him only one furry pillow creature instead of two? I'm sure there has to be at least two. They wouldn't be selling them at all if that wasn't the case. They'd be in some rich person's house, or protective custody or something."
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Date: 2022-04-10 04:17 pm (UTC)From:"You both caused a fuss. I didn't think I'd ever be allowed to stop drawing ducks and I'm still not sure what I was being punished for on that day." It's really for the best he isn't privy to Klaudia's thoughts about a whole room of gifts. Some overbearingness will be allowed, even ideal, but they can only fluster Lan Zhan a little, not leave him feeling overwhelmed. A delicate balance that they have been charged to strike by the heavens. "I think that is only with ducks, but we should still get two so the first one can have a friend. And so the rabbits all have places to sit. Not having to break them out of protective custody will save time, at least."
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Date: 2022-04-11 04:50 pm (UTC)From:"Two sleepy pillows is a good number, but what about the rabbits? Do those have to be even numbers too? Two seems like too small a number for rabbits. Do we get four? Or six? Or eight? How many is too many rabbits?" Considering they'll have to care for them all, maybe they shouldn't be getting a hoard of them. Even the most polite and well behaved rabbits aren't going to be self-managing.
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Date: 2022-04-25 02:15 am (UTC)From:But speaking of righteousness, she has a point about the rabbits. Two is barely any, four is out of the question, and eight might put them over some kind of Lan Zhan flusterment limit, as much as he would like at least a dozen to be a part of the full experience, maybe poured gently on Lan Zhan from some kind of container. But six would have to be enough for now. As to their care, surely any of the less photogenic aspects can be pawned off on what he cannot help but think of as the juniors, at least some of the time. That's to build character, or something, surely. Still, he sounds less than self assured. "Six seems right? The whole point is to be like Cloud Recesses, but we can't get that many. I think they like to live in groups, so it shouldn't be a problem for them. But we would be outnumbered."
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Date: 2022-04-25 06:02 pm (UTC)From:"But I guess six is enough." The most put-upon acquiescence to a quantity that she suggested herself. But if they're in agreement about the kind and the number, then that seems settled enough to her. "What else? If we only get him animals, he'll think we're starting a menagerie. ...Which is fine! But he should have fancy gifts too."
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Date: 2022-04-30 08:18 pm (UTC)From:"He should have fancy gifts," he says with a beneficent nod, because Klaudia is
a joy to have in classcorrect and that should be acknowledged, before he devolves into energetic reminiscence that he feels certain will be appreciated with exactly the care it deserves. Klaudia loves this kind of thing, she's bound to be on board. "The Cloud Recesses lectures started off with a gift giving ceremony, so all the major clans got to throw their weight around with valuable offerings. There were no animals at all obviously, so we've already improved on that, but there was a fancy book. Books can be fancy but still practical if they're good to read, you tell me that's not a good gift." And a fun sidequest.no subject
Date: 2022-05-04 01:49 am (UTC)From:The mention of a fancy book lights her expression up, though. "It is, it is!" She chimes back at him with excitement, also forgetting that she'd only chided him about secrecy a few minutes ago. It's a very good gift, and one that she's just as delighted to think about as she would be to gift it. "There's no rules against books, right? There shouldn't be. Books can't possibly be inauspicious, and you can't tell me otherwise. So we just have to figure out what kind of book he likes..." A small hiccup in that plan. But she rounds on Wei Wuxian almost as quickly as she trails off, making a new demand: "What kind we should get? You know him best; what books does he like?"
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Date: 2022-05-05 10:45 pm (UTC)From:But her enthusiasm for the book tack is rewarding nonetheless, even if the vehemence of the question leaves him looking a little attacked, despite his perpetual station as the high functionary of Lan Zhan facts real and imagined. Truthfully, and as usual, he didn't think that far.
"I think he likes all good books," he ventures, uselessly, followed by a kind of amused wince. "...Mostly." This isn't the time to confess to bullying even if it's very funny, he's a good influence now and anyway involving another party would be unsportsmanlike.
Still, he'd never see it coming."A classical text was the gift for the ceremony, but something new might be even better. Who's to say?" Wei Wuxian, technically, but he doesn't seem inclined. "Depends on what we could find, and why not both, anyway? It would be more meaningful that way." Please don't make him back that up.no subject
Date: 2022-05-19 04:38 pm (UTC)From:"It might be hard to find any fancy books on short notice. People don't like to part with those easily." At least not without a lot of money being traded, which normally wouldn't be a problem--but she's trying to be good. Which means not dipping into the more lucrative quests on the dark web. And there's also all the house modifications to consider... She can alchemize a lot of things, but they'll still need supplies. She can't make things out of thin air. (Yet.)
"What if we look for a book that he would like, and then we make it fancy? So long as it's in good condition, we could add some gold leaf or something..." Klaudia's never specifically worked with embellishing a book cover, but she's familiar with a lot of examples. Though now that she thinks about it, there's another potential problem with that approach. "Would gold be right, or should it be something else? Silver? Platinum?"
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Date: 2022-05-29 10:21 pm (UTC)From:Far from stealing, her suggestion is actually very good, even if it opens up the table to yet more decisions. "Gold isn't unusual, and it is very fancy and auspicious, but we could pick something better, less stuck up. I'm sure Lan Zhan wouldn't mind. ...Can you just get platinum?" Now he looks and sounds a little spooked. Why can their sand cultivator just get platinum? He supposes he never thought to check. He's not sure he knew it was real in the first place. But he quickly disregards metal specifics with a wave of his hand; now it's up to them to choose a book that's either edifying because it's old, or interesting because it's new, and he can only hope they have such options. "It doesn't have to be platinum, if you can't, or if it's not real. But since it's kind of like, planting a library seed, right? It can be unusually fancy, without being against the rules, I think. Especially if we're the ones who made it that way."
no subject
Date: 2022-05-30 12:16 am (UTC)From:But fortunately illegally acquired gifts are the least of Klaudia's worries at the moment. What is truly perplexing her is how Wei Wuxian has apparently never seen platinum before. Did it translate poorly, or does he really think it doesn't exist?
"Why wouldn't platinum be real? I thought you were from a noble family. Weren't you wealthy?" She can't help but sound incredulous. Who ever heard of a noble not having platinum? There were some markets in Waterdeep where you'd be laughed out of the room if you tried to pay for something in gold--if you could even cart that much gold around in the first place. Who would carry around a thousand pieces of gold when just twenty Harbor Moons would do? "I can't make it; it's like gold or silver like that, but it's just a metal. I can work with it."
no subject
Date: 2022-06-20 01:22 am (UTC)From:Harder to endure is this unforeseen attack. Did he say he was from a noble family? Wasn't he very careful not to attach himself too firmly to one in his recounting? Isn't gold enough for anyone these days? He tsks at Klaudia in his most vexed and scolding way reserved for rude sand cultivators, stamping his foot
like a ghost babylike she's a woodland creature that needs to be shooed away from an enticing informational tack. "Did I say that? You can be brought up well, in a good sect, and not be noble born, I said I wasn't! It doesn't matter if I was wealthy, nobody in any sect needs platinum to be wealthy. But maybe we should put some on a book anyway, since it exists. To show we're taking this seriously, and because it's a new thing, without any associations, like the house. Though it is still a little funny, which is also good."Fit of vexation and impatience exorcised, and very good ideas points made, he leans back, arms crossed, awaiting rebuttal that surely can't be forthcoming. The house is a new kind of thing, and they're being so mindful and respectful right now.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-20 02:40 am (UTC)From:"Well--" she starts, but without much force, letting him finish his impromptu fussing first. He did say; and she did remember. She just didn't think it mattered enough to be that exact. But maybe it does, for him.
"I didn't mean from as in born," she quips, a little sullen and a little embarrassed. "You lived with a noble family, right? I still don't see why they wouldn't have platinum. I've never heard of a noble family not having it. Gold is too... cumbersome to use," she adds, trying to be more careful with her wording. "It's more like pocket change, for when people of status want to pay for food or services. Day-to-day matters. While platinum is for serious transactions--trade and commerce. Gold is nice and flashy, but it's a little common. Platinum is... It's just what nobility uses." Which is why she thought that it would be suitable for decoration in this case. If they wanted to be fancy, then shouldn't their gift be something that speaks to the status of the recipient? Didn't he deserve that much?
"...Has Lan Wangji really not seen platinum before, either?" She's really not sure how to frame that. Monetary value itself is still a mystery to her in the first place, but it feels strange to have the whole upper tier of her economic scale just... missing.