[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
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.]