Inbox: Ximilia

[singlelogbridge]

// Wei Wuxian

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XIMILIA

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[singlelogbridge]

[He frowns again, looking deeply uncomfortable and then shakes his head.]

Why should you apologize for something I did? [Loathe as he is to do it, he knows how to take responsibility for his own actions.]

...I'll do it. [Ugh.] I'll apologize to him.

[construing]

〈 suspicious. 〉

You can't threaten him. Not even a friendly warning.

[singlelogbridge]

I know. [Ugh. He still doesn't trust this Murdock but he does feel just the slightest bit bad for decking a blind man. Very slight.]

[construing]

I'm serious, 〈 she continues, eyes narrowing. 〉 We agreed to a truce. I want to use it to learn more about this Matt. But that will get more complicated if he already feels threatened.

〈 gwen holds up a hand to stave off any argument. 〉

If he turns out to be evil, I will deal with him. A lot happened since those moments you saw. For one, Venom and I are in sync. Added bonus, I know his weakness; he doesn't know mine.

But he is innocent until proven guilty, and if you try to go after him again, I will web you to the ceiling and leave you there until the ropes dissolve.

I will also tell Itachi to ignore all your texts. 〈 can she tell itachi what to do? no. is she banking on the prospect being threat enough? 💯 〉

[singlelogbridge]

[He snorts under his breath and nods. For one thing, he's been serious this whole time even if he's reluctant about his apology. It's obviously of great meaning to Gwen and that's enough to make him suck up his own feelings. For another, he gets it. If it were Wen Chao or that one Jin guy, or anyone who'd come after him and his loved ones, he'd want to deal with it himself too.]

What is that? [He asks and then frowns, clarifying.] "Innocent until proven guilty." It sounds like a rule. [Not like something she made up on the spot.]

[construing]

〈 gwen frowns, bemused, but follows along on the tangent. 〉

It’s the basic principle of the justice system. “Innocent until proven guilty.” In practice, it means the burden falls on the prosecution to prove that the accused committed the crime. No evidence, no accusation. No conviction, no punishment.

〈 stretching her legs out on the bed, gwen studies her striped socks. 〉

It's the reason I got a year. The prosecutor decided to drop all charges against me of Peter's death. No murder. Not even manslaughter. 〈 she blinks back to the present, and aims a rueful little smile at wei wuxian.. 〉

The justice system is as broken as everything else, but that part they got right. A lot more people would be ground up without it. It's hard to argue guilt. It's fucking impossible to argue innocence.

[singlelogbridge]

[His eyebrows only get higher up on his forehead the more she explains, and when she's done, he shakes his head and huffs but doesn't say anything for a while.]

That isn't how justice is done where I'm from. [He settles on finally, wondering how a whole body of government settled on a system like that. It would never fly in the cultivation world.]

People rarely get trials, and when they do, they're always assumed guilty. [His voice is tired as he details the way justice works in his own world and his eyes drift far away. After a moment he adds] Even when the evidence points to innocent.

Something must be wrong with the evidence then, hmm? [His gaze returns and he meets her eyes with a tired look of his own, lips pulling up into a sad smile.] Your way sounds better.

[Even if it also sounds like an impossible dream. Ah, well.]

I'll go and find Murdock now.

[construing]

〈 gwen tugs at a loose thread on the bedspread. 〉

You'll be okay?

〈 translation: will he be needing to be sent to time-out. 〉

[singlelogbridge]

[He nods and then stands from the bed and moves closer to her, tugging lightly on a strand of her hair.]

I will be. [The smile he offers her doesn't have its usual brilliance, but it's sincere nonetheless.]

[construing]

〈 a tilt of her head pulls her hair free. she wrinkles her nose at him. when he leaves, she is still seated on the bed, arms linked loosely around her legs.

she'll text matt later to verify he is still alive and not in pieces. 〉