time aboard the ximilia has put distance between himself and a world where his name is synonymous with clan-killer. the only ones that carry an awareness of it now are blue and viveca — neither the sort to draw undue attention to it, or to tell others. it is not to say he feels the secret safe, only that it is — for the time being — not broadly known.
(wei wuxian, he thinks, would have told him if huaisang's cultivation allowed him to read minds.)
months of distance aside, itachi is still a spy — still the consummate actor. there is only a very faint twitch of his right hand, easily passed off as nerve damage from the vivid burns that band his fingers and wrist, disappearing into his right sleeve. ๏ผ
If you were to stand up and say that in class, you would have someone pointing out the fact we cannot insist on the universality of such a point given how little of the universe we have actually explored.
๏ผ he waves a hand, flippant. ๏ผ
Not that it matters. I expect we will never be confronted with such situations ourselves.
[ it is only the smallest twitch — and though huaisang, having trained himself to catch everything, sees it, it is impossible to say if it's just a coincidence or something related to the topic at hand. he dismisses it instantly. ]
Yes, and I'd point out as we haven't explored the universe enough, there's not enough evidence to prove that the universality doesn't exist, either.
[ he shrugs, fan waving lazily still. ]
Exploring universes, or dead families? You're right on one of those.
๏ผ he laughs — after all, they are still in the university grounds, and he is still a student, free to find such things absurd. ๏ผ
I suppose we are closer to the possibility of one more than the other. Clearly, I should have majored in aerospace engineering to bridge that gap. Less guesswork than philosophy.
Possibility? Yes, of course. [ the way he says that hints at something else — that on his part, it's certainly more than possibility. his entire family is dead. it seems to be a recurring theme for those here from his world. ]
Ugh, don't talk about engineering. Who'd want to study something like that? Outside of maybe Wei-xiong. I'm sure he'd find it fascinating. [ he makes a face. we can't all be stupid geniuses like wei wuxian. ]
Oh! [ of course, it wouldn't really translate — he supposes so, in any case, given how he never hears anyone else use any forms of address. ]
Ah, it really depends — strictly speaking, it means brother, but it's a way to address your friends. I mean, male friends. [ and without much of a breath in between: ] Is it the same for your culture, that to address someone by just their name is very informal? My brother used to call Xichen-ge just Xichen, but I call him either Xichen-ge or Er-ge because he is my brother's sworn brother and that makes him my brother as well... and I could call Wei-xiong Wei-gongzi, because he's a young master of the Jiang sect, except he's not of the Jiang sect anymore so I guess that's not really correct — but the Yiling Patriarch is such a [ heavy burden of a title ] pretentious name, don't you think? And when we were kids, I called him Wei-xiong, so I've just stuck to it. Technically, I should be called Nie-zongzhu, Sect Leader Nie, but that's also so much and there's no Nie sect here anyway, so who cares, right?
[ did he pause to take even one breath in all that? maybe. just one, though. ]
๏ผ he is beginning, at length, to realize why wei wuxian gets along with this man.
likely for all the same reasons itachi finds him exhaustive. all of that information is diligently filed away should he ever have use of it (a spy's prerogative, to hoard knowledge) and then: ๏ผ
Oh, ๏ผ it's said lightly, ๏ผ formality differs from person to person. Addressing someone by their name isn't inherently casual.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
time aboard the ximilia has put distance between himself and a world where his name is synonymous with clan-killer. the only ones that carry an awareness of it now are blue and viveca — neither the sort to draw undue attention to it, or to tell others. it is not to say he feels the secret safe, only that it is — for the time being — not broadly known.
(wei wuxian, he thinks, would have told him if huaisang's cultivation allowed him to read minds.)
months of distance aside, itachi is still a spy — still the consummate actor. there is only a very faint twitch of his right hand, easily passed off as nerve damage from the vivid burns that band his fingers and wrist, disappearing into his right sleeve. ๏ผ
If you were to stand up and say that in class, you would have someone pointing out the fact we cannot insist on the universality of such a point given how little of the universe we have actually explored.
๏ผ he waves a hand, flippant. ๏ผ
Not that it matters. I expect we will never be confronted with such situations ourselves.
no subject
Yes, and I'd point out as we haven't explored the universe enough, there's not enough evidence to prove that the universality doesn't exist, either.
[ he shrugs, fan waving lazily still. ]
Exploring universes, or dead families? You're right on one of those.
no subject
I suppose we are closer to the possibility of one more than the other. Clearly, I should have majored in aerospace engineering to bridge that gap. Less guesswork than philosophy.
no subject
Ugh, don't talk about engineering. Who'd want to study something like that? Outside of maybe Wei-xiong. I'm sure he'd find it fascinating. [ he makes a face. we can't all be stupid geniuses like wei wuxian. ]
no subject
What is '-xiong'?
๏ผ he's still learning these things, okay. ๏ผ
no subject
Ah, it really depends — strictly speaking, it means brother, but it's a way to address your friends. I mean, male friends. [ and without much of a breath in between: ] Is it the same for your culture, that to address someone by just their name is very informal? My brother used to call Xichen-ge just Xichen, but I call him either Xichen-ge or Er-ge because he is my brother's sworn brother and that makes him my brother as well... and I could call Wei-xiong Wei-gongzi, because he's a young master of the Jiang sect, except he's not of the Jiang sect anymore so I guess that's not really correct — but the Yiling Patriarch is such a [ heavy burden of a title ] pretentious name, don't you think? And when we were kids, I called him Wei-xiong, so I've just stuck to it. Technically, I should be called Nie-zongzhu, Sect Leader Nie, but that's also so much and there's no Nie sect here anyway, so who cares, right?
[ did he pause to take even one breath in all that? maybe. just one, though. ]
no subject
likely for all the same reasons itachi finds him exhaustive. all of that information is diligently filed away should he ever have use of it (a spy's prerogative, to hoard knowledge) and then: ๏ผ
Oh, ๏ผ it's said lightly, ๏ผ formality differs from person to person. Addressing someone by their name isn't inherently casual.
๏ผ it can also be rude! ๏ผ
Does he call you the same?
wraps this up w a nice bow
[ and they kept walking and discussing interesting things like philosophy and cultural differences! ]