[Honestly, he doesn't entirely understand what Itachi means and he's not sure if it's because the technological aspects escape him or if it's the sleep deprivation compromising his ability to think. Either way, he shrugs and nods.]
Show me. I'll help if I can. [If Itachi is offering it to him, chances are it isn't beyond his ability. He's sure the man knows his limitations with technology well enough not to have offered if he wasn't suited.]
๏ผ congrats, wei wuxian, you are now an archive fetch quest. ๏ผ
This way.
๏ผ the archive is underground, measures taken against infiltration. he continues on his path in silence, not troubling himself to communicate further, and once they reach the door he holds it open for wei wuxian to precede him and then follows him down. once they are in the archive, which is cool but brightly lit, he gestures to a table where various documents have been spread out, clearly from the day before. his contact has not yet arrived and may not for a while, so for the time being it's just the two of them. which is better, because he will not need to feign being slow — he can just claim they arrived earlier and were both working at it.
he gestures to the far wall, the sharingan already spun to its ruinous red. ๏ผ
They're labelled by year. Please bring me year seventy-three. It looks like this — ๏ผ he transmits the numerical characters, 73, via the earpiece, assuming that wei wuxian's writing system may not use that especial style. ๏ผ
[It's an easy enough task, and with Itachi's instructions doled out, Wei Wuxian sets to work immediately. It's also physical enough not to allow exhaustion to begin to creep in, but not so physical that he struggles.
Despite his usual nature, he works in silence for a long while. Only when they've been at it for a long enough time to have developed a comfortable rhythm does he finally speak again.]
Have you seen Gwen around? [The question is...careful in a way discussion of their mutual friend usually isn't.]
๏ผ he does not have a pressing need to be in continual contact with anyone, so this is not unusual for him — after ensuring that she was well after her period of relative limbo he has let her dictate their level of engagement.
however — deeper than the query alone is the fact that wei wuxian is asking at all. he is the polar opposite of itachi in that he prefers that nearness, the human contact. he cannot say what is wrong here, only that something is.
She was hurt. [It's true, though it's only a fraction of the answer. His hands pause in their work for a moment and he stares at them before resuming again.]
I know she has some measure of healing. She'll recover, I just...haven't seen her.
[Another moment of silence passes and then] She's upset with me.
๏ผ he had guessed — the shorn hair, not likely to be a style chosen on a whim in a warzone. he is inured against those he cares for suffering violence, and the fact that gwen has walked away from it means it is negligible in his eyes.
he glances up at wei wuxian, but for the time being says nothing. if he is talking about it, it likely means he does not require further impetus to share — just the fact that itachi is listening and attentive will serve. ๏ผ
[He takes the silence for the invitation that it is, and continues a second later.]
I set my walking corpses on the man who harmed her. It was a violent end. She was injured and I was checking on her, and there were other civilians in harm's way. He needed to die and I didn't have the attention to spend on him so I let them do it. [Not when Gwen was hurt and he didn't know how badly. Not when that guard could have detonated more of the collars while Wei Wuxian was watching over Gwen.]
It was stupid not to think about how the civilians would react to something so brutal. I made our job harder.
[He pauses and then adds, much quieter] I think she hates the way I fight. Most people do. It's understandable.
The nature of a fight does not matter, only its outcome. It is a luxury, to be able to concern one's self with the instruments or means one uses to take a life.
๏ผ gwen is strong, and strength is a privilege. he knows she has not always been so — but she was a normal girl, in a normal school, before spider-woman. she did not have need of venom then.
and now, she has a means by which to choose whether her opponents live or die. he thinks of claws in his shoulder, and his mouth sets in a thin line. he does not blame her for being horrified any more than he blames wei wuxian for using anything at his disposal to save her. he would have done the same. ๏ผ
It does not matter that our job was harder or easier — we completed our objective. The rest is irrelevant, we cannot undo it now. As for Gwen — ๏ผ there is a brief suck of his teeth, and then — ๏ผ she cares for you. This will not change that. I imagine she simply needs time. You may stay with me upon our return to the Ximilia should you think it beneficial to do so.
[At the sound of Gwen's name, Wei Wuxian faces Itachi, his eyes sad and his attention rapt. When it comes to Gwen, Itachi is the only person he trusts to have a read on who she is and what she's likely to do in the situation. None of them are foolproof where it concerns knowing each other, but there's a bond between the three of them that's as improbable as it is undeniable.
And at the invitation to stay with Itachi, Wei Wuxian feels affection for Itachi mingle with heart wrenching fear that it'll prove necessary. He swallows over a lump in his throat and closes his eyes, just for a moment.]
Thanks. [He hopes with all of his heart that it doesn't come to that.]
I know she's...Gwen isn't like the people of my world. My cultivation is different. Taboo. A lot of people hate me for using it. I don't think she cares about that. [He blinks and then] Does it bother you?
[Itachi's world seems to more closely embody Wei Wuxian's in some ways, but Itachi himself hadn't seemed to hate it at least.]
๏ผ the pause that follows is not because he is trying to sort out his own feelings on the matter, or phrase it delicately. it is more that he is deciding what to reveal.
he shuffles through the various documents spread out before him, and then shakes his head faintly. ๏ผ
My village is very young. Less than one hundred years old, and in that time we have seen three Great Wars. In the second of them, we were losing — badly. Our leader at the time was a man named Tobirama, and he invented a jutsu by which shinobi could be resurrected into sacrificed vessels. It is called Edo Tensei, or 'Impure Resurrection'. The resurrected have no will, cannot be killed, and do not tire. Moreover, captured enemy soldiers can be used to summon your own back from Jลdo. Many thought it horrific, and the technique was shortly forbidden, having never seen its use in war. A written copy of it resides in Konoha's vault. I do not doubt that it would be used were the situation dire enough.
๏ผ to save his village, he cannot even say that it would bother him. if, from beyond the grave, he could be used to the benefit of konoha's defense he would permit it unflinching. what possible difference would it make to him, being alive or dead? ๏ผ
The man Orochimaru, that I mentioned to you, has been attempting to recreate it. He had almost perfected it three years ago. I sealed him before I died, but his apprentice likely continue to hone his technique after my death. I suspect that if it were possible to resurrect me in this fashion, that apprentice would do it to gain my power. I do not enjoy the possibility, but what you do — ๏ผ the context was important, and the look he fixes wei wuxian with is somber. ๏ผ it is nothing like that. You take care with the dead. You give them the freedom of themselves if they are deserving of it. You listen. If people cannot understand how that is different, that is not your fault.
[As always when Itachi speaks of his home world, Wei Wuxian listens with quiet attention. There are times when he feels himself wanting to interject—to deny that what Itachi is describing is the same—but he knows better than to assume that Itachi is suggesting as much, and he knows better than to interrupt his friend when he's never anything but precise and careful with his words. So when Itachi makes the pointed clarification, Wei Wuxian meets his gaze and nods, swallowing over a hard lump in his throat.
It isn't the same. Itachi understands because of course he does.
It doesn't mean his demonic cultivation doesn't go against orthodox. It doesn't mean he isn't disturbing those at rest and interfering with the natural cycle. Demonic cultivation isn't free of its moral disturbances.
But Itachi understands that it's a tool like any other, and that within his unorthodox cultivation, Wei Wuxian grants his undead all the respect he can.
It's the most anyone has ever understood what he does.
He's silent for a long moment before he drops his eyes and nods again.]
People just...they see it and they don't...[He exhales, softly.] Some people here don't care. [But that too feels strange to him. Their lack of reaction comes from ignorance rather than understanding or acceptance.] And the people in my world only ever saw it as a power to be envied, or a terrible rejection of the natural cycle.
No one has ever just looked at it for what it is. [No one has ever just looked at him for who he is and how he chooses to wield this power.]
You cannot expect others to have the experience that I do.
๏ผ it's a neutral response, side-stepping the conveyance of gratitude and displacing blame on the others who have not come to a natural understanding. itachi has a deeper comprehension because of circumstance more than what he sees as innate knowledge or wisdom.
but he does understand. ๏ผ
Gwen may need space. Death holds a place in her that love will need to overcome. Give her that and be patient.
[He closes his eyes and thinks of Peter. Of Peter's death and Gwen's guilt, and all of the missing pieces that aren't very difficult to fill in. Itachi is right, Gwen has her own demons just like the rest of them.
Eventually he opens his eyes and nods, fixing Itachi with a grateful nod.]
Has anyone ever told you that you give very wise advice? [Before Itachi can answer, the woman Itachi had been assisting returns to the room. Wei Wuxian introduces himself and the three of them settle into a new routine, with Wei Wuxian shooting Itachi one more grateful smile before he gets back to work.
It isn't peace, not yet, but it's the closest he's felt to it in days.]
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no subject
Show me. I'll help if I can. [If Itachi is offering it to him, chances are it isn't beyond his ability. He's sure the man knows his limitations with technology well enough not to have offered if he wasn't suited.]
no subject
This way.
๏ผ the archive is underground, measures taken against infiltration. he continues on his path in silence, not troubling himself to communicate further, and once they reach the door he holds it open for wei wuxian to precede him and then follows him down. once they are in the archive, which is cool but brightly lit, he gestures to a table where various documents have been spread out, clearly from the day before. his contact has not yet arrived and may not for a while, so for the time being it's just the two of them. which is better, because he will not need to feign being slow — he can just claim they arrived earlier and were both working at it.
he gestures to the far wall, the sharingan already spun to its ruinous red. ๏ผ
They're labelled by year. Please bring me year seventy-three. It looks like this — ๏ผ he transmits the numerical characters, 73, via the earpiece, assuming that wei wuxian's writing system may not use that especial style. ๏ผ
no subject
Despite his usual nature, he works in silence for a long while. Only when they've been at it for a long enough time to have developed a comfortable rhythm does he finally speak again.]
Have you seen Gwen around? [The question is...careful in a way discussion of their mutual friend usually isn't.]
no subject
๏ผ he does not have a pressing need to be in continual contact with anyone, so this is not unusual for him — after ensuring that she was well after her period of relative limbo he has let her dictate their level of engagement.
however — deeper than the query alone is the fact that wei wuxian is asking at all. he is the polar opposite of itachi in that he prefers that nearness, the human contact. he cannot say what is wrong here, only that something is.
he tilts his head as he works. ๏ผ
Why?
no subject
I know she has some measure of healing. She'll recover, I just...haven't seen her.
[Another moment of silence passes and then] She's upset with me.
no subject
he glances up at wei wuxian, but for the time being says nothing. if he is talking about it, it likely means he does not require further impetus to share — just the fact that itachi is listening and attentive will serve. ๏ผ
no subject
I set my walking corpses on the man who harmed her. It was a violent end. She was injured and I was checking on her, and there were other civilians in harm's way. He needed to die and I didn't have the attention to spend on him so I let them do it. [Not when Gwen was hurt and he didn't know how badly. Not when that guard could have detonated more of the collars while Wei Wuxian was watching over Gwen.]
It was stupid not to think about how the civilians would react to something so brutal. I made our job harder.
[He pauses and then adds, much quieter] I think she hates the way I fight. Most people do. It's understandable.
no subject
๏ผ gwen is strong, and strength is a privilege. he knows she has not always been so — but she was a normal girl, in a normal school, before spider-woman. she did not have need of venom then.
and now, she has a means by which to choose whether her opponents live or die. he thinks of claws in his shoulder, and his mouth sets in a thin line. he does not blame her for being horrified any more than he blames wei wuxian for using anything at his disposal to save her. he would have done the same. ๏ผ
It does not matter that our job was harder or easier — we completed our objective. The rest is irrelevant, we cannot undo it now. As for Gwen — ๏ผ there is a brief suck of his teeth, and then — ๏ผ she cares for you. This will not change that. I imagine she simply needs time. You may stay with me upon our return to the Ximilia should you think it beneficial to do so.
no subject
And at the invitation to stay with Itachi, Wei Wuxian feels affection for Itachi mingle with heart wrenching fear that it'll prove necessary. He swallows over a lump in his throat and closes his eyes, just for a moment.]
Thanks. [He hopes with all of his heart that it doesn't come to that.]
I know she's...Gwen isn't like the people of my world. My cultivation is different. Taboo. A lot of people hate me for using it. I don't think she cares about that. [He blinks and then] Does it bother you?
[Itachi's world seems to more closely embody Wei Wuxian's in some ways, but Itachi himself hadn't seemed to hate it at least.]
no subject
he shuffles through the various documents spread out before him, and then shakes his head faintly. ๏ผ
My village is very young. Less than one hundred years old, and in that time we have seen three Great Wars. In the second of them, we were losing — badly. Our leader at the time was a man named Tobirama, and he invented a jutsu by which shinobi could be resurrected into sacrificed vessels. It is called Edo Tensei, or 'Impure Resurrection'. The resurrected have no will, cannot be killed, and do not tire. Moreover, captured enemy soldiers can be used to summon your own back from Jลdo. Many thought it horrific, and the technique was shortly forbidden, having never seen its use in war. A written copy of it resides in Konoha's vault. I do not doubt that it would be used were the situation dire enough.
๏ผ to save his village, he cannot even say that it would bother him. if, from beyond the grave, he could be used to the benefit of konoha's defense he would permit it unflinching. what possible difference would it make to him, being alive or dead? ๏ผ
The man Orochimaru, that I mentioned to you, has been attempting to recreate it. He had almost perfected it three years ago. I sealed him before I died, but his apprentice likely continue to hone his technique after my death. I suspect that if it were possible to resurrect me in this fashion, that apprentice would do it to gain my power. I do not enjoy the possibility, but what you do — ๏ผ the context was important, and the look he fixes wei wuxian with is somber. ๏ผ it is nothing like that. You take care with the dead. You give them the freedom of themselves if they are deserving of it. You listen. If people cannot understand how that is different, that is not your fault.
no subject
It isn't the same. Itachi understands because of course he does.
It doesn't mean his demonic cultivation doesn't go against orthodox. It doesn't mean he isn't disturbing those at rest and interfering with the natural cycle. Demonic cultivation isn't free of its moral disturbances.
But Itachi understands that it's a tool like any other, and that within his unorthodox cultivation, Wei Wuxian grants his undead all the respect he can.
It's the most anyone has ever understood what he does.
He's silent for a long moment before he drops his eyes and nods again.]
People just...they see it and they don't...[He exhales, softly.] Some people here don't care. [But that too feels strange to him. Their lack of reaction comes from ignorance rather than understanding or acceptance.] And the people in my world only ever saw it as a power to be envied, or a terrible rejection of the natural cycle.
No one has ever just looked at it for what it is. [No one has ever just looked at him for who he is and how he chooses to wield this power.]
no subject
๏ผ it's a neutral response, side-stepping the conveyance of gratitude and displacing blame on the others who have not come to a natural understanding. itachi has a deeper comprehension because of circumstance more than what he sees as innate knowledge or wisdom.
but he does understand. ๏ผ
Gwen may need space. Death holds a place in her that love will need to overcome. Give her that and be patient.
no subject
Eventually he opens his eyes and nods, fixing Itachi with a grateful nod.]
Has anyone ever told you that you give very wise advice? [Before Itachi can answer, the woman Itachi had been assisting returns to the room. Wei Wuxian introduces himself and the three of them settle into a new routine, with Wei Wuxian shooting Itachi one more grateful smile before he gets back to work.
It isn't peace, not yet, but it's the closest he's felt to it in days.]