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[laughitoff]

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[strikingchords]

It did not.

[laughitoff]

You shouldn’t have risked such things for me.

[strikingchords]

...

I know what I should and should not do.

[laughitoff]

[turns away a bit, scrubbing at his eyes]

—stubborn man.

[strikingchords]

[...

relaxes very faintly, though he's still watching Wei Wuxian under his eyelashes, wary]

[laughitoff]

You and Shijie. And for what…? For what.

[strikingchords]

...

[quietly...]

Wei Ying, as well.

[laughitoff]

I couldn’t keep anyone alive. I couldn’t keep anyone safe. Not even myself. Why couldn’t you have—

[strikingchords]

[



he's going to reach for his hand again]

[laughitoff]

[he lets it be taken, but his fingers spasm violently, right on the edge of a flinch]

[strikingchords]

[he just holds it as lightly as a sparrow in his fingers, not trying to demand a grip in return or shying away]

...

The outcome was past bearing.

[laughitoff]

[helplessly, lost]

What?

[strikingchords]

[just, tired]

Many things led to this conclusion. Not all were your doing.

Would likely feel the same. Do, in part. And you would return the same reply to me.

[laughitoff]

I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want that for--anyone, now.

[strikingchords]

[soft]

All right.

[laughitoff]

[his shoulders slump; it's hard to tell if it's from relief or defeat.]

[strikingchords]

...

We have kept each other safe before.

I would try.

[laughitoff]

...

I can't stop you, can I.

[strikingchords]

You have before.

[laughitoff]

I don't--wish to fight about this.

[strikingchords]

No.

...

Dismissing me has not made me dismiss your life. Will not. That is my meaning.

[laughitoff]

...

[again, quiet]

I can't stop you.

[strikingchords]

...

Before. Were you trying?

[laughitoff]

Of course I was.

[strikingchords]

[exhales...]