[ that moment when you don't know if your general is proposing regicide or an unexpected nighttime dalliance. ]
are the little creatures we're meant to wrangle tomorrow so dangerous? they look like things burgos would cook and serve to us at sea. i'm sure they're delicious with the right amount of butter.
nazyalensky. i was at sea for years. do you really think i'm incapable of wrangling a woman, grisha or not? i'm not in the habit of leaving anyone unsatisfied.
In your travels across the seas did you meet many young women who want to devoured? I didn't know you had taken up cannibalism as one of your proclivities.
all saints, zoya. you could've delivered a missive to warn me that enough time had passed that we're allowed to joke about that unfortunate little blip that i wasn't entirely human. i would've written up something myself.
It was not a secret you could have kept for long from me. I was the one who saw to his wounds after your first encounter. If I met you in that form, there is a possibility I would have brought you unknowingly to harm — he would not forgive himself for such a thing.
๏ผ and not because wei ying understands, with a keen awareness that lives beneath his skin like the slip of a knife, that itachi prefers not to harm others whenever it is an option. the man knows better than to consider his feelings in such a thing. it is because wei ying would bear the weight of nikolai's injuries like his own, if such a thing came to pass and if he had not taken the opportunity to speak to avert it.
his words are a contrast to the young man nikolai may eventually connect him to aboard the silent plunder. his role upon the ship has been that of a meek, subservient creature creeping about in the shadows with little talent in combat — a role jake decided for him, and spoke to before itachi could ever interject. the circus child with skills of petty thievery and acrobatics. now it is something he has been locked into playing and he has done so unflinchingly — but his cover identity would never speak so bluntly or boldly as this. ๏ผ
The reason for my reaching out is that it is possible I can help you, if that is something you wish to consider. However, I understand that is a bold statement to posit as a stranger, and wish to stress it is only an offer — one you need not take now or ever.
[ knock knock bitch. literally any manner of context would be helpful, if she weren't more driven by impulse after kirigan's slimy messages. (never mind the paranoia that exists at the heart of her, that sees little issue with setting up the question as though it's a snare to lure out nikolai's guilt.) ]
[ all saints and their ugly mothers, how is it that a tiny girl who doesn't even think his jokes are impressive is able to strike such abrupt alarm in his heart? it's far too early on the ship to have done something irritating yet. he hasn't even gotten out of bed. ]
that i'm both witty and handsome? yes. i'm also a natural blond and i'd be happy to prove it anytime.
If you value your family's crown jewels, I'd advise against a session of show and tell.
[ boy, please. ]
Don't play stupid. Why would you go to KIRIGAN [ — leave it to the communicator in her brain to perfectly transcribe her incredulous fury — ] for help?
most people like what they see. i come highly rated.
[ oh. that. ]
well, i wanted answers. who else was i to go to? he didn't really have any good ones, which i should've known already. the man never does. he'd make a terrible politician.
Far be it from me to take you away from your adoring masses, then.
[ so he isn't that daft, after all. guilt gnaws at her insides like a rat chewing on the walls, wriggling its way in — for falling so easily for kirigan's twist on the narrative, and doubting nikolai's version of events in equal measure. ]
Snake oil peddlers usually don't. Don't go to him again.
[ he is... a little daft, for going to the darkling in the first place, and still turning the idea over in his head even now. beggars can't be choosers, after all. ]
i can't close the door on this when i haven't found the keys to any other. if he could stop thinking about you for one second, he could be able to help me. i just have to figure out how to meet his terms. and if he really knows anything about this affliction. he should, but he's not the same man i remember.
[ will alina forgive him for this? unsure. but he didn't get where he is by making easy or likable choices. ]
How's your head feeling? The infirmary probably has something for overuse of the brain. I understand if you're unused to the feeling of heavy pondering.
Come now, you know me better than that. Is that how you want to spend your time, insulting me and learn nothing?
[Playing nice with nothing to lose, how could there be when Alina--
He would set it all right in time, with the deal made with the orbs and paying the price such matters always demanded.]
You will rule Ravka, you must have a plan for that. For all the ways her enemies will find a way across the borders. For the kidnappings and the slavers, for the witch burnings and the trade deals with those who would burn your bride without flinching.
[ he is well aware of how easily one slip could have alina strung up as a spectacle for the bloodthirsty, fearful ravkan people. the darkling had destroyed what little good he'd done to protect the grisha, but nikolai doesn't intend to fail. ]
My plans don't include you, so forgive me if I don't share. [ """his""" grisha. ] The Second Army is doing just fine. Alina will make a fine general with the help of a court finally cleansed of Lantsov corruption. Unless you count a demon king sitting the throne as a problem. I do get hungry for flesh sometimes. If your plan is to find a place to serve, you'll find no positions open to you. None of us can trust you. Your interest in helping me should stem from your desire to see Alina live. I'm the only one with the influence to install a Grisha queen without this ending in a bloodbath.
[ so much for not using alina as a bargaining chip. ]
Not really, but if your pride demands it, I could fake it for you.
[He snorts a laugh] I'm dead to you, I know. There's really no need to keep mentioning it, however cleverly you try to work it in to the conversation.
[There is a whole different conversation to be had about that, about alternate timelines and how they will not end up in the same world. Aleksander's regret will undo all of them- Nikolai and Alina included.]
And how do you propose to keep her alive. Did the fjerdans lay down their weapons in awe of the two of you? Did the witch hunters stop crossing the border to murder my people while the throne looks away? And how is the trade with Shu Han these days, have they stopped filling up mass graves with Grisha yet?
These have been problems since before I was born, even if you refuse to share it, you must have a plan for them. There is no Fold to stop them anymore. They will come for her, moi tsar, and they will set her on fire to burn her alive, or they will carve her up to see where her Small Science comes from.
Or do you not care, because Ravka will have their demon king and its martyred Sankta Alina.
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@nazyalensky | text
text โ un: SOBACHKA
are the little creatures we're meant to wrangle tomorrow so dangerous? they look like things burgos would cook and serve to us at sea. i'm sure they're delicious with the right amount of butter.
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i'm so sorry
nazyalensky. i was at sea for years. do you really think i'm incapable of wrangling a woman, grisha or not? i'm not in the habit of leaving anyone unsatisfied.
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Denial is an odd look on you. Usually you wrap it up in unearned optimism and overeager confidence.
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text โช un: ใใกใฏ
King of Ravka.
My name is Uchiha Itachi. I am an acquaintance of the man Wei Wuxian. May we speak?
text โ un: SOBACHKA
i have a feeling that you're going to speak whether i want you to or not.
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Answer plainly. I will leave you in peace if you prefer.
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what did wei wuxian tell you?
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Precious little. He is not a man to whom the spilling of another's secrets gives pleasure.
But I was made aware of your possession.
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so then, are you the other one on the ship that had something inside of you that wanted to kill everyone else? or are there multiple culprits?
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๏ผ and not because wei ying understands, with a keen awareness that lives beneath his skin like the slip of a knife, that itachi prefers not to harm others whenever it is an option. the man knows better than to consider his feelings in such a thing. it is because wei ying would bear the weight of nikolai's injuries like his own, if such a thing came to pass and if he had not taken the opportunity to speak to avert it.
his words are a contrast to the young man nikolai may eventually connect him to aboard the silent plunder. his role upon the ship has been that of a meek, subservient creature creeping about in the shadows with little talent in combat — a role jake decided for him, and spoke to before itachi could ever interject. the circus child with skills of petty thievery and acrobatics. now it is something he has been locked into playing and he has done so unflinchingly — but his cover identity would never speak so bluntly or boldly as this. ๏ผ
The reason for my reaching out is that it is possible I can help you, if that is something you wish to consider. However, I understand that is a bold statement to posit as a stranger, and wish to stress it is only an offer — one you need not take now or ever.
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text / un: solnishka
[ knock knock bitch. literally any manner of context would be helpful, if she weren't more driven by impulse after kirigan's slimy messages. (never mind the paranoia that exists at the heart of her, that sees little issue with setting up the question as though it's a snare to lure out nikolai's guilt.) ]
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that i'm both witty and handsome? yes.
i'm also a natural blond and i'd be happy to prove it anytime.
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[ boy, please. ]
Don't play stupid. Why would you go to KIRIGAN [ — leave it to the communicator in her brain to perfectly transcribe her incredulous fury — ] for help?
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[ oh. that. ]
well, i wanted answers. who else was i to go to?
he didn't really have any good ones, which i should've known already. the man never does. he'd make a terrible politician.
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[ so he isn't that daft, after all. guilt gnaws at her insides like a rat chewing on the walls, wriggling its way in — for falling so easily for kirigan's twist on the narrative, and doubting nikolai's version of events in equal measure. ]
Snake oil peddlers usually don't.
Don't go to him again.
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[ he is... a little daft, for going to the darkling in the first place, and still turning the idea over in his head even now. beggars can't be choosers, after all. ]
i can't close the door on this when i haven't found the keys to any other.
if he could stop thinking about you for one second, he could be able to help me. i just have to figure out how to meet his terms. and if he really knows anything about this affliction.
he should, but he's not the same man i remember.
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Voice. un: Aleksander
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How's your head feeling? The infirmary probably has something for overuse of the brain. I understand if you're unused to the feeling of heavy pondering.
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[Playing nice with nothing to lose, how could there be when Alina--
He would set it all right in time, with the deal made with the orbs and paying the price such matters always demanded.]
You will rule Ravka, you must have a plan for that. For all the ways her enemies will find a way across the borders. For the kidnappings and the slavers, for the witch burnings and the trade deals with those who would burn your bride without flinching.
How is my army? [His Grisha]
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[ he is well aware of how easily one slip could have alina strung up as a spectacle for the bloodthirsty, fearful ravkan people. the darkling had destroyed what little good he'd done to protect the grisha, but nikolai doesn't intend to fail. ]
My plans don't include you, so forgive me if I don't share. [ """his""" grisha. ] The Second Army is doing just fine. Alina will make a fine general with the help of a court finally cleansed of Lantsov corruption. Unless you count a demon king sitting the throne as a problem. I do get hungry for flesh sometimes. If your plan is to find a place to serve, you'll find no positions open to you. None of us can trust you. Your interest in helping me should stem from your desire to see Alina live. I'm the only one with the influence to install a Grisha queen without this ending in a bloodbath.
[ so much for not using alina as a bargaining chip. ]
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[He snorts a laugh] I'm dead to you, I know. There's really no need to keep mentioning it, however cleverly you try to work it in to the conversation.
[There is a whole different conversation to be had about that, about alternate timelines and how they will not end up in the same world. Aleksander's regret will undo all of them- Nikolai and Alina included.]
And how do you propose to keep her alive. Did the fjerdans lay down their weapons in awe of the two of you? Did the witch hunters stop crossing the border to murder my people while the throne looks away? And how is the trade with Shu Han these days, have they stopped filling up mass graves with Grisha yet?
These have been problems since before I was born, even if you refuse to share it, you must have a plan for them. There is no Fold to stop them anymore. They will come for her, moi tsar, and they will set her on fire to burn her alive, or they will carve her up to see where her Small Science comes from.
Or do you not care, because Ravka will have their demon king and its martyred Sankta Alina.