[He shrugs, shaking his head.] Maybe an hour. It's designing the array that takes time. Once I've got it worked out it's just a matter of copying it where and how I want it.
But obviously everything inside would be lost for good.
[Oh. Huh, that's right actually. He smiles at Itachi.]
We make a pretty good team, don't we? [With a soft huff, he reaches into his robes and draws out a simple corded bracelet with a single wooden bead and holds it out for Itachi to take.]
Here. You can activate and inactivate it by feeding it a little bit of chakra. There are characters carved into each side and once it's activated, the corresponding character will glow based on the direction of the bead's partner. Like a compass, but oriented to its other half. [He taps at an identical one that he wears on a cord around his neck.]
๏ผ the bracelet is accepted with a deft hand, but the comment about being a team makes his mouth twist down unhappily at one corner.
he does not know what it is he is waiting for. it feels as if there is a sword that hangs over his throat, or a knife at his back, anticipation of a blade biting beneath skin. the skew and twist back to what passes for normalcy between them, in the wake of the information he had imparted — it feels stolen.
his attention drops, focuses on the sandalwood bead.
truthfully, he does not want to try it. in the moment, it does not matter and he does not care. but after a long moment, he shifts it in his hand, and passes his thumb over it. a press of chakra to its surface activates it as promised, and watches as the soft red glow is birthed from that touch. ๏ผ
[Itachi's gaze dropping means he misses the waver in Wei Wuxian's smile but that's for the best. All things considered, he knows that Itachi allowing him to come over at all is a testament to their relationship.
But he resolves to finish as efficiently as possible. With a flick of red energy from his fingers, he activates the bead on his own neck and then steps several paces to the side. There is a light that immediately glows on both beads in the direction of the other. As Wei Wuxian steps to the other side, so does the light move along the bead.
Another time, he might babble about how he'd initially tried to base it off of the cardinal directions before realizing that he wasn't even sure how that would work if they were in space as they are now. Now though, he only moves back to where he was and flicks the bead off again.]
Pretty simple. [His hand drops from the necklace and he pauses.]
I won't take mine off. And if something happens to it, I'll let you know. [He steps forward and takes one of Itachi's hands between both of his, squeezing it lightly.]
Be safe, alright? I'm going to miss you. [His smile turns sheepish, and just a little shy. It was easier to couch such sincere statements behind overdramatic exuberant declarations, but that doesn't feel right now.]
๏ผ wordless, he slips the banded cord over his left wrist, so it will not rest against the burn scars now nearly two years old on his right. he tightens it deftly, and turns the bead inward so it rests against the median vein before letting wei ying claim his hand. ๏ผ
Of course.
๏ผ the words are agreeable enough, but there is a sense of... saying what is expected more than what is meant in how they come across. ๏ผ
[There is giving Itachi his space and then there is ignoring what's in front of him. If Itachi doesn't want to speak on it, he won't, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't ask. His hands keep their hold on Itachi's hand and he squeezes it once more.]
Are you upset that I'm here? [Notably, there is no guilt or hurt in the statement, because he does not feel those things. This is not Forsythe Heights where he had made a grave mistake, but he understands Itachi may need more time away from him all the same.]
๏ผ consternation is stitched into his expression, worrying at his brow and tugging his mouth down at the corners. time hangs suspended between them, and he takes more than his share of it in thought. not refutation, or refusal — simply considering what he wishes to convey, and how.
he has never needed to worry so keenly about not wishing to harm another with his words. ๏ผ
I do not understand how you can behave normally around me with what I have spoken of to you.
[As Itachi has taken steps to mind his words, so has Wei Wuxian learned to wait for them. There is no need to fill the silence or to rush Itachi along to hear his thoughts, and instead Wei Wuxian remains patient as he waits, rubbing his thumb along the back of Itachi's hand without realizing.
It's a fair question, he thinks, even if he doesn't know how to answer it immediately.]
It isn't that it doesn't matter to me. [He begins with, because it does matter, if not entirely in the way Itachi expects it to or perhaps thinks it should. But it does matter. It's the moment that shaped the rest of Itachi's life, and a crime that Wei Wuxian knows he carries on his back every day. It's horrible and horrifying in equal measures. He won't pretend like it's nothing. To do so would be so egregious an error that he wouldn't deserve the right to Itachi's friendship or affections.]
I think if I had learned this just as we met I...it might have been different. [Maybe. It's possible they might have ended up here eventually anyway, but it would have been a longer harder road.]
But even if it matters, it doesn't change my affection for you. Or my trust in you. It matters, but it isn't the sum of you.
๏ผ the touch to his hand is suddenly fraught, and itachi reclaims it. he's slow to do so, rather than the flicker of instinct that drives him to withdraw apace. one final tightening of his fingers against the other man's, and then he steps back. ๏ผ
I would ask that you leave. We will speak during the mission.
[His fingers twitch in the absence of Itachi's and for just a fragment of a moment, it seems he might say something else. After a pregnant pause, the moment passes and Wei Wuxian nods slowly, offering Itachi a flickering smile.]
Alright. Be safe. [And then he turns to slip his feet back into his shoes and is gone.]
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no subject
But obviously everything inside would be lost for good.
no subject
No. I would be able to reproduce anything meaningful enough to warrant it.
no subject
We make a pretty good team, don't we? [With a soft huff, he reaches into his robes and draws out a simple corded bracelet with a single wooden bead and holds it out for Itachi to take.]
Here. You can activate and inactivate it by feeding it a little bit of chakra. There are characters carved into each side and once it's activated, the corresponding character will glow based on the direction of the bead's partner. Like a compass, but oriented to its other half. [He taps at an identical one that he wears on a cord around his neck.]
Do you want to try it out?
no subject
he does not know what it is he is waiting for. it feels as if there is a sword that hangs over his throat, or a knife at his back, anticipation of a blade biting beneath skin. the skew and twist back to what passes for normalcy between them, in the wake of the information he had imparted — it feels stolen.
his attention drops, focuses on the sandalwood bead.
truthfully, he does not want to try it. in the moment, it does not matter and he does not care. but after a long moment, he shifts it in his hand, and passes his thumb over it. a press of chakra to its surface activates it as promised, and watches as the soft red glow is birthed from that touch. ๏ผ
no subject
But he resolves to finish as efficiently as possible. With a flick of red energy from his fingers, he activates the bead on his own neck and then steps several paces to the side. There is a light that immediately glows on both beads in the direction of the other. As Wei Wuxian steps to the other side, so does the light move along the bead.
Another time, he might babble about how he'd initially tried to base it off of the cardinal directions before realizing that he wasn't even sure how that would work if they were in space as they are now. Now though, he only moves back to where he was and flicks the bead off again.]
Pretty simple. [His hand drops from the necklace and he pauses.]
I won't take mine off. And if something happens to it, I'll let you know. [He steps forward and takes one of Itachi's hands between both of his, squeezing it lightly.]
Be safe, alright? I'm going to miss you. [His smile turns sheepish, and just a little shy. It was easier to couch such sincere statements behind overdramatic exuberant declarations, but that doesn't feel right now.]
no subject
Of course.
๏ผ the words are agreeable enough, but there is a sense of... saying what is expected more than what is meant in how they come across. ๏ผ
no subject
Are you upset that I'm here? [Notably, there is no guilt or hurt in the statement, because he does not feel those things. This is not Forsythe Heights where he had made a grave mistake, but he understands Itachi may need more time away from him all the same.]
no subject
No. If I did not wish for you to be here, I would have said as much when you asked.
no subject
Will you tell me why you seem so distant?
no subject
he has never needed to worry so keenly about not wishing to harm another with his words. ๏ผ
I do not understand how you can behave normally around me with what I have spoken of to you.
no subject
It's a fair question, he thinks, even if he doesn't know how to answer it immediately.]
It isn't that it doesn't matter to me. [He begins with, because it does matter, if not entirely in the way Itachi expects it to or perhaps thinks it should. But it does matter. It's the moment that shaped the rest of Itachi's life, and a crime that Wei Wuxian knows he carries on his back every day. It's horrible and horrifying in equal measures. He won't pretend like it's nothing. To do so would be so egregious an error that he wouldn't deserve the right to Itachi's friendship or affections.]
I think if I had learned this just as we met I...it might have been different. [Maybe. It's possible they might have ended up here eventually anyway, but it would have been a longer harder road.]
But even if it matters, it doesn't change my affection for you. Or my trust in you. It matters, but it isn't the sum of you.
no subject
I would ask that you leave. We will speak during the mission.
๏ผ but right now? he needs to be alone. ๏ผ
no subject
Alright. Be safe. [And then he turns to slip his feet back into his shoes and is gone.]