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（ he does reach out slowly, gently. stops at a certain point, and lets the creature come to him. it sniffs along his palm and the inside of his wrist where the burn scars terminate, and then it pushes its face in against his hand.

itachi is scratching it very carefully right along the line of its whiskers as he speaks — ）

Do you imagine I have no other reason to seek out your company save direct purpose?

（ first training, now a pointed so?

but it doesn't surprise him all that much — huaisang may not act like wei wuxian, but their shared world has still left its mark on him. wei wuxian would not care for him as he does if the man was not a wellspring of much deeper sentiment than he seems to appear.

he thinks of fans etched in red, and his mouth turns down at one corner. the hopiat, meanwhile, makes a little trilling sound when he attempts to withdraw his hand and hops after him. ）

I wished to see how you were faring.

Isn't that what people do?

[ said absently as huaisang's attention is on the hopiat, a faint smile on his face — clearly he sees nothing wrong with the assessment of humanity.

itachi's next words, however, make his eyes widen imperceptibly; but enough so that his fan is flipped open and in front of his face in one smooth movement. ]

Did you? Well, [ his fan now waving lazily, huaisang gestures with his other hand haphazardly around him, eyes wide and guileless, ] As you can see, I'm faring just fine! Enjoying the sights and the company.

Some. Not all.

（ not a sentiment he would have communicated a year ago, but. he is not the man he was. his focus alights on huaisang, the snap of the fan a distraction lacking in teeth. it is perhaps the first thing huaisang has said that truly tastes like a lie, but perhaps that is his own bias — if there is one among their number that can stand on this world and neither care for nor be moved by what will transpire here in a matter of days, he has not met them yet.

）

Does this little one have a name?

（ the creature is silk-soft beneath his touch, preening on his curled fingers. she turns away from him and bounds back to huaisang after a long moment, grooming affectionately at the hem of his sleeve while itachi watches it. ）

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