[His lips curve up into a smile because yes, that page flip was in fact very pointed. Electing to ignore that—]
Where I'm from, many people see birthdays as markers of time that count down our dwindling days. As cultivators are long lived, that sentiment isn't shared among them as much. For them...hmm. I'm not sure how they see it.
[Then, after a pause.] I just know I enjoy celebrating my friends and I've had very little opportunity to do so before now. I'm afraid you have to suffer now as a result.
I won't tell anyone. [He raises his hand with three fingers up in what looks to be some sort of salute.]
And I think that's what I'm trying to do, yes. But my options here are extremely limited! Hmm. I could play for you. Would you like a song? Before you answer, remember that if I am playing, I'm not talking!
My playing? [He's not being obtuse or intentionally misunderstanding and there's a clear question in his eyes. The self-deprecation isn't even something he gives a second thought so it doesn't occur to him that it's what Itachi is talking about.]
If I objected to your endless chatter, I would leave.
（ is wei wuxian annoying? occasionally. but it is hardly his defining characteristic, not when it lives alongside such things as clever and brave and compassionate. ）
（ yes, he knows all about your discomfort with validation. itachi does not give him the relief of looking away — instead, his dark eyes are intent on him a moment longer, and then: ）
You vastly overestimate your ability to annoy me.
（ that's said rather drily, as he returns his attention to his book. ）
[At that, Wei Wuxian's expression brightens and he lets out a loud laugh. It's easier to accept that it's Itachi's tolerance that makes the difference here than anything else.]
I guess so. Still, I actually do enjoy playing. And if I play, you can continue reading. Well, unless it's distracting. What are you reading anyway?
wordless, he tips the book so that wei wuxian can read its cover. it's a biochemical textbook, clearly quite old. most books these days are digital copies checked out of the library via the holonet, but this one was the real deal. ）
[His eyebrows shoot way up and then he huffs, fixing Itachi with a pout.]
Do you know how unfair it is that you can read so fast? My books for class might as well still be in another language for as much as I understand. It would have been pretty cool to actually understand some of the engineering lessons.
[He sighs dramatically.] Do you like studying this stuff too?
（ all his life, the sharingan has been called an unfair advantage. unfair, because it is a kekkei genkai. unfair because it allows one to perceive movement at a far greater level of acuity than the normal eye. it touches on an old, raw nerve — because it is that whisper of envy that brought his clan to their knees. it is not wei wuxian's fault that it draws those feelings up like an ugly poison, but for a moment he is borne under by the furious resentment of generational trauma, and the fingers of his right hand spasm very faintly as he reaches to turn the page.
at length, with a faint gesture to his eyes, back to their dark, rich red, ）
It is called the Sharingan. That which permits me to read more quickly than most.
（ it is the first time he has so much as said the word aloud. the venom coursing in his veins does not reach his tone. ）
And yes — I have always enjoyed the opportunity to learn things beyond my customary purview.
[Oblivious to the trigger he's hit on and to Itachi's internal reaction, Wei Wuxian's eyes only widen with fascination and he glances at him thoughtfully.]
The red is when the ability is activated? [He's seen both and when they'd met, they had always been red, but more recently he's seen Itachi's black eyes. Given how often they're red, it's not difficult to guess the ability must serve other purposes too.]
Do you memorize the material you take in? If you're reading that quickly, you must, right?
[His eyes widen and his mouth falls open in an "O" of surprise before closing into a smile.]
That's amazing. Does this mean you can steal all of my best and coolest moves? Wait. Have you already? [He's grinning still, incredibly aware of the fact that he has nothing worth stealing.]
I'm joking, I know you wouldn't because I'm just too out of your league even with this "Sharingan." Don't feel bad, there are many who wish they could move as smoothly as me. I'm just too much of a genius. [He winks.]
It must be a useful ability if you love learning. [He'd been too distracted teasing him to respond to that before, but he'd wanted to come back to it, largely because it's one of the few times he's ever heard Itachi admit to "enjoying" anything.]
Do you have a favorite area of study? I told Gwen I'd try to rope you into a study group, did she tell you?
（ he lifts one shoulder with a faint shrug. he has always enjoyed sifting through accounts of things long past by those long dead, and divining truth in their words. it was in this way that he found the totsuka blade, and the yata mirror when even orochimaru could not. ）
I have been learning the sciences as they pertain to medicine.
（ and he is still frustrated that some six months of study have not yielded the usual result for him when he throws himself into learning some new skill. medical ninjutsu does not come naturally to him, so he is supplementing his lack of natural talent with intensive research. ）
[He makes a face at "history," scrunching his nose. He doesn't have any particular distaste in the subject, but too many of his teachers focused on history and tradition at the expense of practical application and progress. His face immediately softens at the mention of medicine though.]
Are you studying to be a healer?
[Given what he knows of Itachi's past, the notion makes something inside of him ache a little. Criminal, terrorist, healer.]
( the word healer is an odd distinction, and it catches him just enough off his guard that the cup he had been raising to his mouth hesitates for the span of a heartbeat. he has not thought of it that way. he is learning healing. but 'healer' makes it sound as if it would be a thing indivisible from who he is, that lives alongside his nature.
he thinks of a man laying injured on a battlefield once, calling out for help, and how warm his blood had been. would anything have gone differently then, if he had turned his hand to healing before he had learned to wield a knife? yet, there had been no other path.
his expression remains blank, and after a moment he shakes his head and lowers the cup back to the countertop. )
No. Medical ninjutsu — healing — is a powerful and useful discipline. I am learning some relevant techniques, but it will never be an area in which I specialize.
[It's a long enough pause for Itachi that he notices, but he doesn't know what it means. Still, there's a weight to this that he can sense, even if he can't entirely feel it out. Someone with a history of terror learning the healing arts isn't insignificant.
It also isn't redemptive. For people like Wei Wuxian and Itachi, redemption doesn't exist. It isn't nothing either. (It's also another reminder that whatever Itachi may be, whatever other characteristics may apply, he is compassionate.) That Itachi doesn't answer in the affirmative is only a little surprising.]
I never had the patience for it myself. I bet you'll excel in it, even if you don't specialize.
[And then, after a moment] One of my closest friends was a physician. I went on errands for her sometimes, fetching herbs and things for her mixtures. She was very mean to me and I think she liked stabbing me with her needles way too much. You'd have liked her I think.
Do you suspect I would enjoy stabbing you with needles as well?
（ wei wuxian has always been perceptive — what gives away the fact he had picked up on itachi's momentary lapse in composure is the fact he seeks to cover it up by speaking, again, on something near to him.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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（ is the turn of the next page perhaps a bit pointed?
perhaps. ）
I do not see why people make a to-do over such a thing. It is only a date.
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Where I'm from, many people see birthdays as markers of time that count down our dwindling days. As cultivators are long lived, that sentiment isn't shared among them as much. For them...hmm. I'm not sure how they see it.
[Then, after a pause.] I just know I enjoy celebrating my friends and I've had very little opportunity to do so before now. I'm afraid you have to suffer now as a result.
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（ 'celebrating' him? gross, not a fan. ）
I would ask that you please refrain from announcing it to the others.
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And I think that's what I'm trying to do, yes. But my options here are extremely limited! Hmm. I could play for you. Would you like a song? Before you answer, remember that if I am playing, I'm not talking!
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Why do you act as if that is a positive thing?
（ he doesn't care about music. he's annoyed at the self-deprecation. ）
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（ for all that he is presently annoyed, he sounds only patient. one eyebrow lifted faintly in query as he studies the man. ）
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Because I am annoying. I'm sure you'd enjoy the melody much more than my endless chatter, hmm?
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（ is wei wuxian annoying? occasionally. but it is hardly his defining characteristic, not when it lives alongside such things as clever and brave and compassionate. ）
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I'm sure it would be nicer for you if you didn't reach that point, wouldn't it?
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You vastly overestimate your ability to annoy me.
（ that's said rather drily, as he returns his attention to his book. ）
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I guess so. Still, I actually do enjoy playing. And if I play, you can continue reading. Well, unless it's distracting. What are you reading anyway?
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but that's an argument for another time.
wordless, he tips the book so that wei wuxian can read its cover. it's a biochemical textbook, clearly quite old. most books these days are digital copies checked out of the library via the holonet, but this one was the real deal. ）
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Do you know how unfair it is that you can read so fast? My books for class might as well still be in another language for as much as I understand. It would have been pretty cool to actually understand some of the engineering lessons.
[He sighs dramatically.] Do you like studying this stuff too?
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at length, with a faint gesture to his eyes, back to their dark, rich red, ）
It is called the Sharingan. That which permits me to read more quickly than most.
（ it is the first time he has so much as said the word aloud. the venom coursing in his veins does not reach his tone. ）
And yes — I have always enjoyed the opportunity to learn things beyond my customary purview.
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The red is when the ability is activated? [He's seen both and when they'd met, they had always been red, but more recently he's seen Itachi's black eyes. Given how often they're red, it's not difficult to guess the ability must serve other purposes too.]
Do you memorize the material you take in? If you're reading that quickly, you must, right?
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（ to all three questions. ）
It gives one perfect recall. It is also a means by which I can duplicate an opponent's movements in a fight.
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That's amazing. Does this mean you can steal all of my best and coolest moves? Wait. Have you already? [He's grinning still, incredibly aware of the fact that he has nothing worth stealing.]
I'm joking, I know you wouldn't because I'm just too out of your league even with this "Sharingan." Don't feel bad, there are many who wish they could move as smoothly as me. I'm just too much of a genius. [He winks.]
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And then—]
It must be a useful ability if you love learning. [He'd been too distracted teasing him to respond to that before, but he'd wanted to come back to it, largely because it's one of the few times he's ever heard Itachi admit to "enjoying" anything.]
Do you have a favorite area of study? I told Gwen I'd try to rope you into a study group, did she tell you?
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（ he lifts one shoulder with a faint shrug. he has always enjoyed sifting through accounts of things long past by those long dead, and divining truth in their words. it was in this way that he found the totsuka blade, and the yata mirror when even orochimaru could not. ）
I have been learning the sciences as they pertain to medicine.
（ and he is still frustrated that some six months of study have not yielded the usual result for him when he throws himself into learning some new skill. medical ninjutsu does not come naturally to him, so he is supplementing his lack of natural talent with intensive research. ）
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Are you studying to be a healer?
[Given what he knows of Itachi's past, the notion makes something inside of him ache a little. Criminal, terrorist, healer.]
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he thinks of a man laying injured on a battlefield once, calling out for help, and how warm his blood had been. would anything have gone differently then, if he had turned his hand to healing before he had learned to wield a knife? yet, there had been no other path.
his expression remains blank, and after a moment he shakes his head and lowers the cup back to the countertop. )
No. Medical ninjutsu — healing — is a powerful and useful discipline. I am learning some relevant techniques, but it will never be an area in which I specialize.
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It also isn't redemptive. For people like Wei Wuxian and Itachi, redemption doesn't exist. It isn't nothing either. (It's also another reminder that whatever Itachi may be, whatever other characteristics may apply, he is compassionate.) That Itachi doesn't answer in the affirmative is only a little surprising.]
I never had the patience for it myself. I bet you'll excel in it, even if you don't specialize.
[And then, after a moment] One of my closest friends was a physician. I went on errands for her sometimes, fetching herbs and things for her mixtures. She was very mean to me and I think she liked stabbing me with her needles way too much. You'd have liked her I think.
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（ wei wuxian has always been perceptive — what gives away the fact he had picked up on itachi's momentary lapse in composure is the fact he seeks to cover it up by speaking, again, on something near to him.
was, he says. it is telling. ）
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