[ It's mostly because Inigo sincerely doubts that Fang Duobing would otherwise be talking about it like this in the context of death. Inigo knows better by now than that, okay. Even if he can't pick up on tone over text, he can pick up on context clues! ]
You'd literally kill each other over an argument?!
[ Sure, Inigo gets that fighting is a thing that happens. That's not so weird to him. He's fought plenty of people on the battlefield.
But never his friends. He couldn't ever even imagine as much. And-- Fang Duobing doesn't seem like the type either, so maybe this is yet another exaggeration? Inigo sure hopes so, anyway. He thinks better about the other than that! ]
[Wait-- what?? Did he not just say that wasn't the case?? He doesn't know what happened here... But clearly something didn't translate properly.]
No?? I mean, not now... There was a time we would have, but we weren't close then. We are now, so why would we let it go that far?? I did say it wasn't serious, didn't I?
...How does her being serious make it better?? Maybe you should question your own strange friendships.
Mine are fine the way they are. How we are now doesn't erase how we were then, and there's no harm in thinking about it. I intended to either arrest or kill him, he poisoned me and aided an attack on my home. What does all of that matter back then if we have the same goals now? Things in the martial world are always changing. If you hold too tightly to past grudges, you'll lose track of what really matters.
So if it took time to understand him well enough to get along with him, then that's fine. We still fight about other things; but when I say it's not serious, it's not serious. Are you going to say you've never had a difficult person like that in your life?
There's a baffled silence. Granted, it mostly just seems like a silence, since it just means no message from Inigo arrives for a few good moments, but it's definitely because he's staring at that message, totally baffled.
Then he finally writes back: ]
I mean, none of my friends ever poisoned me.
[ But did apparently threaten to eat him.
I-It's okay though, those are just words? It's totally different!! ]
I'm the one that was poisoned! Me! Did you forget that part?!
For two weeks I had to pretend I was mute because being too animate would hasten the effect! Just thinking about it makes me want to yell! Why would I do that or worse to someone else??
[Maybe he's just not explaining this well?? But explaining it better is awkward on something that can be viewed so publicly. So he switches to messaging the other though a private channel.]
Look. I don't see how it's as big a deal as you're making it.
Have you always made friends or enemies with everyone you meet, and that's that? You've never had the wrong impression of someone? Or convinced them to walk a better path? You've never had someone misconstrue your actions and realize later that they were mistaken?
[He's... almost jealous, if that's the case. The martial world is so full of rumors and half-truths peddled by people with selfish ambitions--or secrets guarded by uncertain and wary hearts. It's why he has a job at all. There needs to be someone willing to find the truth and administer justice where needed. It's difficult to imagine such a guileless existence, where people are always exactly as they seem.]
[ Though there's a very specific reason for it. After all, most people on the "bad side" of things in Inigo's world had been a dark god and all the dead people it was forcing to arise from their graves as zombie monsters.. It kind of makes it hard to have that nuance of grey between all the black and white. Not like you can make friends with enemies who don't possess a mind of their own anymore.
Does he share that though? Of course not. He doesn't want to burden Fang Duobing with all that talk right now, so-- maybe he should just leave it up to the other to fill that in, no matter what he might think. It's better than hurting him. ]
It's alright though if it's more complicated than that where you come from, even if it's a little difficult for me to understand.
The more important thing is that you're happy with it in the end. I want you to be happy. [ Just one of those bro things to tell the homies, right. ]
[If there's anything unusual about what Inigo's said, Fang Duobing doesn't pick up on it. It sounds like a completely normal thing for one friend to say to another.]
I'm happy with it. You don't need to be worried about that. I'd be happier if it hadn't come to all that, but then I doubt we would be where we are now. Life takes us down strange paths sometimes.
In this case, we came at the same goal from opposite ends and met somewhere in the middle. I thought he was someone nefarious at first, but it turns out he was less involved in those machinations than I thought. He likes to fight, but there's nothing wrong with that if he's only fighting others that also enjoy it. Even his most questionable actions were in the service to his own personal justice, and that's harder for an outsider to comment on.
What's important now is that we have an understanding and we share a goal. We both want to keep Li Lianhua alive, while we search for a cure to his illness. That's the thing that matters most to us.
[ The last part, that is. It's pretty clear to Inigo just how much the other cares about Li Lianhua - of course anyone who would similarly care about the other would be an instant ally to him, despite everything else that might have happened.
See, Fang Duobing, if only you had started with that part.. ]
I'm glad that you have each other to help out with that though, despite everything that might have happened before. I would hate to imagine you being alone in something like that. You'd work yourself to the bone.
[Yeah, but it's less personal to start with the other stuff.]
It's not that difficult. [At least, the doing isn't difficult. The watching is, sometimes, when there's nothing more to be done.] The hardest part has always been making him stay put, but there's not very far to run here. He's only tried it a few times, and not with very much success. He should know by now that there's nowhere he can go that we won't find him.
[That... might be a threat. But he doesn't mean it to be. Mostly.]
[Even if Inigo did mean it with more concern, Fang Duobing would never take the implication as anything but Li Lianhua's problem. The sheer level of self-confidence encased in him obliterates any other possibility. He himself is perfect, but he'll always wait outside Li Lianhua's door with a fist full of Get Well Soon balloons for whatever demons are plaguing him.]
Right? I'm a great friend, but he gets so stubborn about it, saying there are better uses of my time. Can't a man decide what's worthwhile on his own? If I say my time is best spent next to him, then it is and that's that.
[ .. man, Li Lianhua really sure did get A Type clinging to him, huh.
Not that Inigo minds. It's a good thing. If Fang Duobing is sinking his teeth this deeply into caring for Li Lianhua, then Inigo is just glad that someone is caring for him this much. It's more just that Inigo is imagining how terrifying it'd be if this sort of thing was turned towards him..
Thanks for being the lightning rod here, Li Lianhua. Inigo will be eternally grateful. ]
Fang Duobing, you're so scary!
How is he supposed to stand any chance against you? [ He's still joking, okay! Still making sure this is all Light and Okay!! ] It's an unfair match for him!
So if you are his best friend, then what does that make that other friend?
He's not just third wheeling your friendship, is he?
[ Just watch as Inigo will forever find ways to refer to Di Feisheng that can be anything but 'poison friend', which - for the record - is the one he's using in his head now. ]
[If only Inigo could hear the noise that Fang Duobing made on the other side of the phone screen.]
Go on, I dare you to say that to him. He'd never stand for being third in anything. He can barely tolerate being second.
No, I'm the one they keep secrets from. Can you believe it? When we first met, I didn't know who either of them were, and they were always running off together for this and that. Aren't they lucky that I'm nice enough to allow it now? They probably need the pretense of having secrets to feel enriched, when one of them has no one to fight and the other has nowhere to run.
[ .. which would be a cruel thing to say if one were to leave things at that, but that's of course not what Inigo is doing here. He could never. He'd feel so bad about it. ]
And yet you are being so nice to both of them. Really, they should probably consider themselves the most lucky people in the entire world, getting all that kindness and care from you despite it all.
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If the last thing we did was fight, I'd have to make sure I won. Otherwise he'd carry that smug look all the way back with him.
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Wait.
So you guys' fighting isn't that serious at all?
[ It's mostly because Inigo sincerely doubts that Fang Duobing would otherwise be talking about it like this in the context of death. Inigo knows better by now than that, okay. Even if he can't pick up on tone over text, he can pick up on context clues! ]
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If we were serious about it, one of us would be dead.
[Probably him. It sounds weird! But that's just how the jianghu is.]
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[ Sure, Inigo gets that fighting is a thing that happens. That's not so weird to him. He's fought plenty of people on the battlefield.
But never his friends. He couldn't ever even imagine as much. And-- Fang Duobing doesn't seem like the type either, so maybe this is yet another exaggeration? Inigo sure hopes so, anyway. He thinks better about the other than that! ]
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No?? I mean, not now... There was a time we would have, but we weren't close then. We are now, so why would we let it go that far?? I did say it wasn't serious, didn't I?
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[ Please, Fang Duobing. It can't just be him, right? S-Surely more people would think the way he does if they read what the other wrote, right? ]
If you guys are friends, you should be nice to each other! You should treasure each other all the time!
You shouldn't even think about the other being dead if the circumstances were different!!
I mean, sure, Nah did threaten to eat me back home, but I'm pretty sure she was actually serious about that one!!
[ Inigo.
You're not helping. ]
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...How does her being serious make it better?? Maybe you should question your own strange friendships.
Mine are fine the way they are. How we are now doesn't erase how we were then, and there's no harm in thinking about it. I intended to either arrest or kill him, he poisoned me and aided an attack on my home. What does all of that matter back then if we have the same goals now? Things in the martial world are always changing. If you hold too tightly to past grudges, you'll lose track of what really matters.
So if it took time to understand him well enough to get along with him, then that's fine. We still fight about other things; but when I say it's not serious, it's not serious. Are you going to say you've never had a difficult person like that in your life?
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There's a baffled silence. Granted, it mostly just seems like a silence, since it just means no message from Inigo arrives for a few good moments, but it's definitely because he's staring at that message, totally baffled.
Then he finally writes back: ]
I mean, none of my friends ever poisoned me.
[ But did apparently threaten to eat him.
I-It's okay though, those are just words? It's totally different!! ]
Would you ever poison me?
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No???
You do realize we weren't friends then, right? That's not a thing one friend does to another.
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[ Hey, he did shift the question to match the other's parameters.
It's still a wild one though. But then again, so is the fact that was the situation between those two, and then they became friends anyway! ]
no subject
For two weeks I had to pretend I was mute because being too animate would hasten the effect! Just thinking about it makes me want to yell! Why would I do that or worse to someone else??
no subject
Your world is so strange, Fang Duobing!!!
[ And that's coming from the guy who's from a world with huge godlike dragons and zombies all over the place.. ]
1/2
[Why is he getting yelled at for being friends with someone, anyway???]
🔒, 2/2
[Maybe...]
[Maybe he's just not explaining this well?? But explaining it better is awkward on something that can be viewed so publicly. So he switches to messaging the other though a private channel.]
Look. I don't see how it's as big a deal as you're making it.
Have you always made friends or enemies with everyone you meet, and that's that? You've never had the wrong impression of someone? Or convinced them to walk a better path? You've never had someone misconstrue your actions and realize later that they were mistaken?
[He's... almost jealous, if that's the case. The martial world is so full of rumors and half-truths peddled by people with selfish ambitions--or secrets guarded by uncertain and wary hearts. It's why he has a job at all. There needs to be someone willing to find the truth and administer justice where needed. It's difficult to imagine such a guileless existence, where people are always exactly as they seem.]
🔒
[ Though there's a very specific reason for it. After all, most people on the "bad side" of things in Inigo's world had been a dark god and all the dead people it was forcing to arise from their graves as zombie monsters.. It kind of makes it hard to have that nuance of grey between all the black and white. Not like you can make friends with enemies who don't possess a mind of their own anymore.
Does he share that though? Of course not. He doesn't want to burden Fang Duobing with all that talk right now, so-- maybe he should just leave it up to the other to fill that in, no matter what he might think. It's better than hurting him. ]
It's alright though if it's more complicated than that where you come from, even if it's a little difficult for me to understand.
The more important thing is that you're happy with it in the end. I want you to be happy. [ Just one of those bro things to tell the homies, right. ]
🔒
I'm happy with it. You don't need to be worried about that. I'd be happier if it hadn't come to all that, but then I doubt we would be where we are now. Life takes us down strange paths sometimes.
In this case, we came at the same goal from opposite ends and met somewhere in the middle. I thought he was someone nefarious at first, but it turns out he was less involved in those machinations than I thought. He likes to fight, but there's nothing wrong with that if he's only fighting others that also enjoy it. Even his most questionable actions were in the service to his own personal justice, and that's harder for an outsider to comment on.
What's important now is that we have an understanding and we share a goal. We both want to keep Li Lianhua alive, while we search for a cure to his illness. That's the thing that matters most to us.
🔒
[ The last part, that is. It's pretty clear to Inigo just how much the other cares about Li Lianhua - of course anyone who would similarly care about the other would be an instant ally to him, despite everything else that might have happened.
See, Fang Duobing, if only you had started with that part.. ]
I'm glad that you have each other to help out with that though, despite everything that might have happened before. I would hate to imagine you being alone in something like that. You'd work yourself to the bone.
🔒
It's not that difficult. [At least, the doing isn't difficult. The watching is, sometimes, when there's nothing more to be done.] The hardest part has always been making him stay put, but there's not very far to run here. He's only tried it a few times, and not with very much success. He should know by now that there's nowhere he can go that we won't find him.
[That... might be a threat. But he doesn't mean it to be. Mostly.]
🔒
He is trying to get away from you that badly? [ He instead writes - meant to be a light tease.
He just hopes Fang Duobing can pick up on that intention, even without Inigo being able to insert the right tone into the words. ]
Even though you're such a good friend?
🔒
Right? I'm a great friend, but he gets so stubborn about it, saying there are better uses of my time. Can't a man decide what's worthwhile on his own? If I say my time is best spent next to him, then it is and that's that.
🔒
Not that Inigo minds. It's a good thing. If Fang Duobing is sinking his teeth this deeply into caring for Li Lianhua, then Inigo is just glad that someone is caring for him this much. It's more just that Inigo is imagining how terrifying it'd be if this sort of thing was turned towards him..
Thanks for being the lightning rod here, Li Lianhua. Inigo will be eternally grateful. ]
Fang Duobing, you're so scary!
How is he supposed to stand any chance against you? [ He's still joking, okay! Still making sure this is all Light and Okay!! ] It's an unfair match for him!
🔒
[There is no lightning rod. There is only the storm.]
He might as well give up then! I'll go easy on him if he forfeits. I'll only remind him that I'm his best friend once a week instead of every day.
🔒
He's not just third wheeling your friendship, is he?
[ Just watch as Inigo will forever find ways to refer to Di Feisheng that can be anything but 'poison friend', which - for the record - is the one he's using in his head now. ]
🔒
Go on, I dare you to say that to him. He'd never stand for being third in anything. He can barely tolerate being second.
No, I'm the one they keep secrets from. Can you believe it? When we first met, I didn't know who either of them were, and they were always running off together for this and that. Aren't they lucky that I'm nice enough to allow it now? They probably need the pretense of having secrets to feel enriched, when one of them has no one to fight and the other has nowhere to run.
🔒
[ .. which would be a cruel thing to say if one were to leave things at that, but that's of course not what Inigo is doing here. He could never. He'd feel so bad about it. ]
And yet you are being so nice to both of them. Really, they should probably consider themselves the most lucky people in the entire world, getting all that kindness and care from you despite it all.
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