[He feels inclined to lie on first instinct, but there's no purpose behind it. Even such a mild admission of his own fallibility is... tugging at him. Like it's wrong.]
I was. [Moving along.] I'm concerned these creatures exist at all. I didn't sense them.
[Manipulate everyone else? Average Tuesday. Be manipulated? Hmmm, no.]
Fortunately the effects were not permanent. However, if these insects were magical in nature, it's possible others exist. Ones that may not be so harmless.
[Uncontrollable flirting... uncomfortable and inconvenient, but nothing one can't get over.]
Have you seen anything like this outside the boundaries of the city?
Threats encountered past the Bright Wall have been largely as expected. Cwyld infections in both flora and fauna. Beyond that, there were spirits lingering in a city's ruins out in the Wildes as well. They were capable of impacting emotions much more severely than the cometflies, also requiring physical contact first.
There are a wide variety of magical animals you can research also.
[ This sounds more like a report than a normal conversation. ]
I see. Thank you for the information. [100% a report.
He does question the extent of Sasuke's personal experience outside the Bright Wall, but won't ask, because... Because.]
My goal is to investigate the Wilde further, specifically as it concerns the Cwyld infection, although I understand this is dangerous territory. Are temporary bonds a requirement for exploration?
Inasmuch as carrying a weapon is. Vastly preferred, not chiefly required. It'd be a foolish unnecessary risk to avoid making one, as they're not particularly intrusive, but it's your decision.
[ Aka he knows how Itachi will feel because he knows how he felt. ]
[ Itachi won't say it, so he will. He messaged his brother with poorly defined intentions, wanting to tell himself that it was to make sure he's healthy and well but in reality perhaps he just wanted to feel closer to him, as a brother. In the absence of that, he can at least be a soldier at his side. ]
It's taking effect slowly. Are you interested in symptoms? None are disqualifying.
Some fatigue in sunlight, lowered body temperature, failing organs, a need to consume blood, heightened strength, and the ability to take the form of a bat.
[There's some fortune in having this conversation over an impersonal, separated medium. Itachi looks down at the screen of the watch, reading those two sentences twice, then three times, as if disbelieving the information they communicate. He'd known Sasuke would become a monster as this world defines it; what he hadn't known was its extent.
Perhaps because it's more subtle so far, physically. Not the wings and feathers and scales of many other beasts he's seen. Easier to look past. It isn't as though they touch, he has no reason to linger on body chill, and the rest of those symptoms are better concealed and composed except perhaps the form of a bat. Yet even that is an ability—like enhanced strength—not a detraction.
Not losing life.
Itachi's reply takes some time to come through. Near the end of three hours, he returns to this conversation, having clamped down on an immediate urge to... what? Seek Sasuke out? Learn all he can on vampire transformation? It was in his mind already. But now it roars to the front.]
[ Sasuke has had months to compartmentalize his encroaching death. He's had years to deal with Itachi's, with far more limited success.
His brother takes three hours, and Sasuke doesn't interrupt or judge him for it. It would've been just as expected that he should need even longer after such a cold revelation, but while Sasuke wishes there'd been another way to say it more gently he doesn't regret maintaining at least the facade of impartiality. It helps. ]
It's indeterminate. With how things are progressing, I'd say within two to three months but that's a mere estimate.
[Two to three months, an implication of slow decay and eventual death. Inevitable, unstoppable death. From what he understands, the transformations that monsters of this world are forced to undergo are not optional and cannot be prevented or undone. Sasuke will be twisted into a creature beyond the scope of his own understanding, and he will lose his life in the process.
It has been an immutable belief to Itachi that his younger brother would one day return to their world whole and safe. Instead, this... so far out of his own control and ability to do anything about it.
The next reply takes some twenty minutes, a grueling period of deep thought. Sasuke must have done his own research and accepted this fate, or he would not be speaking in these terms. But perhaps with Itachi's own research and efforts...]
Keep me updated on your condition.
[Why couldn't you have just turned into a cute bunny or something, SASUKEEEE.]
[ The sheer scope of his selfishness that manifests in his disappointment in how the conversation has gone isn't lost on Sasuke. How petty, he chides himself when he rereads, seeing how what he intended as a simple check-in with his older brother had morphed into a much more serious reveal he knows he must be struggling with. ]
Understood. I'll report back in later.
[ The colder severity with which he replies serves as his apology, wanting to communicate to him that he isn't treating this with less gravity than it deserves. But still... ] You don't need to be there when it happens. It's not your duty.
[Itachi finds himself inspecting the watch for the better part of that wait between messages, anticipating an end there. So he's somewhat surprised by the rest.]
I understand. But if it will happen, I will see it.
[This... such an iron certainty. He's witnessed enough sights in his life, after all, that no matter how painful this one becomes, he can bear it. The alternative is worse.]
[ Unbidden, the image of his brother with unseeing eyes pointed upward, both of their faces streaked with blood and bodies burnt and scarred from battle, comes to him. With the return of one ghost comes a resurgence of others. ]
But you would avoid me otherwise.
[ He doesn't know what possesses him to write the text or to send it, an immediate sense of regret overwhelming him when he stares down at it. The follow-up is faster this time. ]
[If it was only that initial message, Itachi would be forced to respond. They're words intended to get a reaction. He cannot argue he hasn't kept deliberate distance between them since his arrival—what had Sasuke expected? His ability to relax around his younger brother in light of everything Sasuke has learned about him, all of those ugly truths bared to daylight...
It's impossible. How does he respond now? Does he acknowledge Sasuke's scathing comment, or pass over it with Sasuke's dismissive permission? So much hidden meaning to address. Itachi's instinct of avoidance wins out.]
[ Just like that, a conversation about a beautiful night turns into Sasuke's agreement to allow his brother to watch him die, getting a simple "thank you" from a man that's likely just as much at a loss for words as he is. He feels tired. He blames it on his physical condition instead of his mental one.
There's nothing else to say in spite of him wishing there were, staring down at those two words for far too long before he puts that watch aside. Their talks are over for tonight. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I was. [Moving along.] I'm concerned these creatures exist at all. I didn't sense them.
[Manipulate everyone else? Average Tuesday. Be manipulated? Hmmm, no.]
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[ No. He didn't. Itachi should be infallible. ]
We've operated with limited perception before, but never anything like this.
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[Uncontrollable flirting... uncomfortable and inconvenient, but nothing one can't get over.]
Have you seen anything like this outside the boundaries of the city?
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There are a wide variety of magical animals you can research also.
[ This sounds more like a report than a normal conversation. ]
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He does question the extent of Sasuke's personal experience outside the Bright Wall, but won't ask, because... Because.]
My goal is to investigate the Wilde further, specifically as it concerns the Cwyld infection, although I understand this is dangerous territory. Are temporary bonds a requirement for exploration?
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Understood.
Inasmuch as carrying a weapon is. Vastly preferred, not chiefly required. It'd be a foolish unnecessary risk to avoid making one, as they're not particularly intrusive, but it's your decision.
[ Aka he knows how Itachi will feel because he knows how he felt. ]
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[Wow, look, there's a perfectly good monster to ask to temporarily bond with in this conversation... Nah.]
How is your transformation progressing?
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[ Itachi won't say it, so he will. He messaged his brother with poorly defined intentions, wanting to tell himself that it was to make sure he's healthy and well but in reality perhaps he just wanted to feel closer to him, as a brother. In the absence of that, he can at least be a soldier at his side. ]
It's taking effect slowly. Are you interested in symptoms? None are disqualifying.
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[What... then... He doesn't say.]
You will be bonded yourself soon. Isn't that correct?
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[ Pick your favorite. ]
I will be. It will strengthen me.
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[The rest of those appear inconvenient or strange, but this one sticks out as critical and potentially life-threatening.]
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Vampires are living dead. My body has to die before my transformation will be complete.
[ And there's no way to soften that blow beyond acting as if it's unimportant. One more step, one more stage. Detached. Simple. ]
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Perhaps because it's more subtle so far, physically. Not the wings and feathers and scales of many other beasts he's seen. Easier to look past. It isn't as though they touch, he has no reason to linger on body chill, and the rest of those symptoms are better concealed and composed except perhaps the form of a bat. Yet even that is an ability—like enhanced strength—not a detraction.
Not losing life.
Itachi's reply takes some time to come through. Near the end of three hours, he returns to this conversation, having clamped down on an immediate urge to... what? Seek Sasuke out? Learn all he can on vampire transformation? It was in his mind already. But now it roars to the front.]
How long until then?
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His brother takes three hours, and Sasuke doesn't interrupt or judge him for it. It would've been just as expected that he should need even longer after such a cold revelation, but while Sasuke wishes there'd been another way to say it more gently he doesn't regret maintaining at least the facade of impartiality. It helps. ]
It's indeterminate. With how things are progressing, I'd say within two to three months but that's a mere estimate.
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It has been an immutable belief to Itachi that his younger brother would one day return to their world whole and safe. Instead, this... so far out of his own control and ability to do anything about it.
The next reply takes some twenty minutes, a grueling period of deep thought. Sasuke must have done his own research and accepted this fate, or he would not be speaking in these terms. But perhaps with Itachi's own research and efforts...]
Keep me updated on your condition.
[Why couldn't you have just turned into a cute bunny or something, SASUKEEEE.]
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Understood. I'll report back in later.
[ The colder severity with which he replies serves as his apology, wanting to communicate to him that he isn't treating this with less gravity than it deserves. But still... ] You don't need to be there when it happens. It's not your duty.
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Would you prefer if I wasn't?
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[ Which isn't enough of a response or explanation, but he hesitates far too long on sending a follow-up. ]
It will be an impossible sight for you to forget.
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I understand. But if it will happen, I will see it.
[This... such an iron certainty. He's witnessed enough sights in his life, after all, that no matter how painful this one becomes, he can bear it. The alternative is worse.]
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But you would avoid me otherwise.
[ He doesn't know what possesses him to write the text or to send it, an immediate sense of regret overwhelming him when he stares down at it. The follow-up is faster this time. ]
I understand. Disregard. I'll keep you informed.
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It's impossible. How does he respond now? Does he acknowledge Sasuke's scathing comment, or pass over it with Sasuke's dismissive permission? So much hidden meaning to address. Itachi's instinct of avoidance wins out.]
Thank you.
[And that's it.]
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There's nothing else to say in spite of him wishing there were, staring down at those two words for far too long before he puts that watch aside. Their talks are over for tonight. ]