ximilia | text; @majimagoro

Following up on Stargirl's question, here's the answer. The Embera are edible, taste like burnt chicken, kind of chewy— not much different from how reptiles usually do. That's not on itself the biggest revelation tho. Remember how they're warned about their fire-hot venom? How lethal they are?

It's just plain wrong. These sad noodles don't even have venom sacks or anything of that sort! Their bite is just that, a bite. Also, I'm pretty sure I don't have any secret resistances to poison, I'm as a regular human as I can get.

So here is a helpful guide for yer own snake dinner: Burn down something and bait them with ash, they'll slither over. They're pretty docile, but they will bite and stab if threatened, so it's better to hunt them from at least a little distance. Right, it's their tail that's their main weapon, there's a sharp blade-like bone at the end of it.

If ya wanna hints on how to prepare them on yer own in a variety of ways, just ask Zhao. Snake on the stick is possibly the easiest, tho. Making a snake soup could feed more people at once. Tho we can't all just gather for one big picnic, that could blow our cover— still, we got a few done, and ready, just let us know where you are and we can arrange a snack delivery.

—I can't stop wondering why they have such a bad reputation among the locals. If they experience Embera's bites like they describe them, then— everything is just making less and less sense.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ There it is again, the reputation, oddly specific to allude to. Not the first time— Honestly, if this one anyone who knew him less, he'd probably find it far more... annoying. Zhao, this asshole, gets apparently a free pass, and only short scoff-through-test ]

Ya call it old-fashioned, I call it having class. I ain't one to 'kiss and tell' and see it works the same when you change 's'es to 'l's

[ And because sometimes, just sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction, is a valid tactic, he switches to private ]

Ya really should drop that 'high regard' thing. I'm as much of a failure as yakuza as I am an assassin. Tho, friendly warning, I might stab you if ya make fun of that, especially on my bad day

[ Friends don't make fun of their sore points...usually... sometimes... maybe ]

[Friends definitely make fun of their friends' sore points all the time... or maybe that was just Zhao's way of doing things, little gremlin that he was. But right now was not the time for that teasing of his. This was more curiosity than that.]

I won't be surprised if you stab me any old day, Majima-kun. That fits you.

You're not a failure as a yakuza. Just because you've never killed anyone doesn't mean you're a failure... hell, just means you're a better man than I.

Yer joking here, jokester, but guess what is my goal for this mission— [ Not the first time he's being nudged towards violence against his own team. ]

I know yer being supportive and I appreciate the thought— but don't put herself down for that, it ain't the contest who's better, after all, we walk the same shadows even if in different places. That's not the reason they kicked me out, it's more complicated than that.

I wasn't joking actually but if you're serious--one, damn, these orbs are assholes; and two, I'll take it as a compliment that you don't actually want to stab me. Or is it an insult because you think I'm not good enough to stab? Hmm. I bet I can convince you otherwise, Majima-kun~.

That may be true but I'm feeling like the lesser of the two here anyway. You're something else, Majima-kun. I respect the man that you are. I'm amazed by your restraint with all the shit you've had to endure, too. I mean from what I saw--

[He stops here for a moment, not certain he wants to bring that topic back up again. Majima had a hard time talking about it last time as it was and it had come up by accident thanks to that wild trip in dream-land. Zhao reassesses, and then moves forward carefully.]

If you don't mind me asking, what did you get kicked out for anyway? That doesn't really ever come up in talk about you.

You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, of course. Just thought I'd ask.

I take all that back. Yer right, I might just stab ya

[ Jokes and sarcasm don't translate over text. Where they end, where serious assessment starts. Is this respect part of the joke, or is the worry about sharp blades a real one..? If they were talking instead of writing, he'd be able to tell, that's what he concludes. That's what he hopes ]

Or not— and make ya admire me more. Like, not gonna lie, everyone likes being praised I'm no different. And ya got a silver-tongue and a penchant for making people fall for ya, ain'tchya?

[ But if they were actually talking, face to face, voice to voice, then who knows if they would even brave these conversations. There's a certain safety in communicating over text, a certain— level of ambiguity. ]

As fer yer question... it ain't a big secret, it ain't anything epic either. When your boss says jump, all you can ask is how high. I was the shitheel that decided he knows better. My and my sworn brother, we got tangled into some nasty business. Ready to throw our lives away— but that was when my boss decided to pull out of the plan. Told me to stand down and abandon my brother.

I didn't

[ Is this "getting something off one's chest?". Because it doesn't feel like that. The weight is still there, always encompassing. ]

[Majima can't hear it, but Zhao laughs at the first sentence. It's fair. He deserves it. And it's genuinely amusing. He thinks he can imagine perfectly how Majima would say the line out loud to his face. Imagine the look he would receive at the time. He smiles.]

I don't know. Do I? You seem to be smitten, so maybe I do. Maybe you shouldn't tell me though because I might use it to my advantage, Majima-kun~.

[But the conversation here is a serious one. So it doesn't last.]

I see.

[There's a long pause between that response and what comes next from Zhao. Just enough to wonder if that was all Zhao was going to say. And yet before Majima can maybe make up his mind whether to reply before anything else comes from Zhao or not, the Chinese gangster sends another message.]

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you were wrong for what you did, Majima-kun. There's nothing more sacred than the bond of brothers. I wanted-

I wanted a brother like you. I thought I had one. I did everything I could for him. I defied not just my clan's leader but my father for him. It's the only time-

Look, as a leader of a gang myself, I see both sides of that equation. And I understand what happened. But damn if I don't want to punch someone for punishing you for doing what you thought was right. What was right. Some rules are meant to be broken to save what you cherish most. And some people are dumbasses for not seeing or caring about that when it comes to other people.

Besides, if that led directly to what I think it did- [to what he saw in that dream.] -then that asshole went way beyond what was deserved for your defiance. Screw him. I ever get my hands on him... he won't know what hit him before he's gotta explain what he did to his Maker.

[ Smitten... was he being smitten? Was he falling for the most obvious tricks in the book? Or was that just a seasoning, a surface level, and what he was really intrigued by, fascinated by, was the man quick-witted and sharp-edged underneath?

Blade, that's what in the end both of them are. ]

Yeah, yer thinking right. That's exactly where it led. Thought they'll just take my finger— Don't worry, I'm never going to consider a mistake something that I would definitely do it again.

I just wish I was smarter about doing it— [ How exactly smarter? He's still not sure. ] But appeasing enough Orbs is the first thing to worry about.

I sensed ya got a story, but shit— didn't expect that. I'm sorry things went south for you. Can't even imagine someone scorning yer kinship. Worse, taking advantage of your bond. Ya deserve so much better Zhao, I can only hope that ya know it. Not in yer cute teasing way where ya brush that away or make it pass through one ear to another. I mean, that can happen, all the way too, but before it goes into jokes and fun, I just hope the respect I got for ya sinks in.

[ . . . ]

——gonna say it does feel mad good to hear someone curse my own shadows on my behalf. Cannot officially endorse it, but I do appreciate it.

[After all he is still going back there, somehow. But that dark chuckle is going to be a secret between them. ]

Ya know, we're right here. I'd exchange sake cups with ya, if we make it through this shithole.

[ Isn't that how most of those sworn brothers are made? Especially spanning different families and clans. Bonded through fire in a shithole. Instead of prison, they got desert and a half-real town with no food. ]

[There's another lengthy silence from Zhao's end before the next reply. Like he maybe had to get his shit together before he replied. Won't admit it, of fucking course, but it was true. This emotional shit was hard to ignore. But easier to text than share in person.]

I guess we're both here for our brothers in one way or another. I hope you get what you deserve. These Orbs aren't making it easy but if you need help I'm always going to be here for you. Better you than me.

[Majima's cause was a lot better than Zhao's own. It was a lot less selfish. And deserved to be fulfilled a lot more.]

I actually don't know what to say, Majima-kun. Congratulations. You've managed what no one else ever could. You've tongued-tied this 'silver-tongue' as you called it. Haha.

No. I do. I would drink with you any day, Majima.

text; @majimagoro

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