Buddy, I'm the last person to get complacent. We have some newcomers, but I think we're on the right track here. It might still be messy, but I think we can pull through.
It is a fine line, after all. You probably know that too.
（ in his own world, this would not trouble him — nearly no one dared to meet his gaze. yet here, no one save erik has avoided it.
there are no other uchiha here now. he would have sensed them. but perhaps, one of them was here before his arrival. it is foolish to hope that it may have been sasuke, yet such foolish emotions persist in him. ）
（ he's an internationally wanted s-rank criminal with one of the highest bounties ever offered for his death, the idea of someone knowing about him because they read about him does not strike him as strange — it only begs the question how he somehow missed the fact that erik was from his world, though perhaps not his time.
there is something absent from the equation. beyond his sight. ）
Why did you anticipate that would be something I am unaccustomed to?
（ the specifics of the sharingan wouldn't have been created by coincidence, though he supposes on a broad enough scope it would eventually be possible. human imagination is an unfettered thing, after all.
but likelier yet — space-time ninjutsu could account for the travel between worlds, and it would likely be a rinnegan user to do it. pain, perhaps?
itachi made peace with his death long ago, but suddenly all the little parts that came after he isn't privy to are a point of contentious frustration. a muscle clenches briefly in his jaw — and it isn't for the first time since coming here that he's hoping that amaterasu was enough to take care of madara. ）
And what did you learn of me, in these stories?
（ erik would have been unnervingly calm for a man with barely above baseline strength, fighting against one who killed his clan. ）
That you're competent. Secretive. You pride yourself on your abilities and closed off on your feelings. The less people know about you, the better it is for them.
（ pride — not quite, though he can imagine how that presumption would come about based on his conduct. it has never been his sin — which is perhaps why he was so unknowable to the other uchiha. ）
That's a very generous view.
（ and holding it makes erik dangerous — not in the traditional way he's accustomed to, but in the sense that he is taking care not to reveal all he knows. itachi is no stranger to having certain unsavory things about his history gutted and dragged out before a crowd for them to divine purpose in the viscous meat of them. and it isn't as if he would object to those on the ximilia being aware of the role he played in the downfall of his family — after all, he knew then that it would be an albatross around his neck until death claimed him, and expected neither mercy for nor freedom from its noose.
yet the ignorance of the ximilia's denizens has been a taste of what his life might be like if he succeeds in undoing what he regrets. a different path, a different way of being. it would necessitate he be a different man altogether — one who recalls what it is to let love in.
he has done well not to get too comfortable here. the cold reality of erik's knowledge may have broken him otherwise, and now he must tread carefully. ）
[ well, there are levels to pride. keeping to a certain level of competence is pride of a sort. either way, erik didn't want to seem too competent or knowledgeable about itachi. he doesn't think the man is a threat, but he didn't get this far by being complacent either. ]
I'm a generous guy. And it's the least I could do.
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no subject
Buddy, I'm the last person to get complacent. We have some newcomers, but I think we're on the right track here. It might still be messy, but I think we can pull through.
It is a fine line, after all. You probably know that too.
no subject
（ fine lines, impossible things. he'll let it lie, with that. ）
May I ask a question of you?
no subject
no subject
How?
（ in his own world, this would not trouble him — nearly no one dared to meet his gaze. yet here, no one save erik has avoided it.
there are no other uchiha here now. he would have sensed them. but perhaps, one of them was here before his arrival. it is foolish to hope that it may have been sasuke, yet such foolish emotions persist in him. ）
no subject
You sure? The answer's kind of weird. May not be something you wanna know.
no subject
（ his answer is immediate. it is not a matter on which he needs deliberate — when has he ever shied away from anything he may not want to know? ）
no subject
I know about you because I read about you.
no subject
there is something absent from the equation. beyond his sight. ）
Why did you anticipate that would be something I am unaccustomed to?
no subject
Because I'm not from your world?
itp local man finds weird ways to rationalize fictionalized accounts of his existence
I see.
（ the specifics of the sharingan wouldn't have been created by coincidence, though he supposes on a broad enough scope it would eventually be possible. human imagination is an unfettered thing, after all.
but likelier yet — space-time ninjutsu could account for the travel between worlds, and it would likely be a rinnegan user to do it. pain, perhaps?
itachi made peace with his death long ago, but suddenly all the little parts that came after he isn't privy to are a point of contentious frustration. a muscle clenches briefly in his jaw — and it isn't for the first time since coming here that he's hoping that amaterasu was enough to take care of madara. ）
And what did you learn of me, in these stories?
（ erik would have been unnervingly calm for a man with barely above baseline strength, fighting against one who killed his clan. ）
bless
ruh roh
That's a very generous view.
（ and holding it makes erik dangerous — not in the traditional way he's accustomed to, but in the sense that he is taking care not to reveal all he knows. itachi is no stranger to having certain unsavory things about his history gutted and dragged out before a crowd for them to divine purpose in the viscous meat of them. and it isn't as if he would object to those on the ximilia being aware of the role he played in the downfall of his family — after all, he knew then that it would be an albatross around his neck until death claimed him, and expected neither mercy for nor freedom from its noose.
yet the ignorance of the ximilia's denizens has been a taste of what his life might be like if he succeeds in undoing what he regrets. a different path, a different way of being. it would necessitate he be a different man altogether — one who recalls what it is to let love in.
he has done well not to get too comfortable here. the cold reality of erik's knowledge may have broken him otherwise, and now he must tread carefully. ）
Thank you for informing me.
no subject
I'm a generous guy. And it's the least I could do.
no subject
Until later.
（ sorry, he's abruptly vacating this convo, it's entirely too much for him right now. byeeeeee. ）