A car accident rendered him braindead a few years ago.
[ so, not quite sick, but. this information is delivered very calmly, though he hasn't looked away from the shark. ]
There one day, gone in a flash. His medical records indicate that he be kept on life support should anything happen, though, there's been no sign of any brain activity since.
[He looks again at the shark with Fei Du, something idle and not overly interested. Thoughtful.]
So this is how you became the illustrious President Fei, I assume? [Shackled by a duty.] I had not seen my father in a very long time before what happened.
He had methods I didn't care much for in how to conduct Grandfather's pet shop.
That's correct. I took over the company immediately after.
[ shackled by a duty, indeed.
there's a soft noise in response, matching in tone - fei du's eyebrow raises. ]
Is that so? [ light, just curious enough. the door's open for him if he wants to explain, though he doesn't have to. ] A lack of care, in the opposite of the way you've treated it since, or...?
[He does not answer for a long time, but it doesn't seem like he won't ever answer. He's mulling it over, his lashes lowered slightly over the purple eye and the yellow eye.]
When he was younger, he became the assistant to a scientist so he could have access to a laboratory for his own personal work. He was interested in genetics.
[Haha. Yeah! Fei Du is right. D hums in affirmation.]
He wanted to save extinct species. [Gazing at the bones of the shark in front of them.] To find a way to keep them alive, or bring them back. He wanted to save the world from destruction, too.
[It feels like what D isn't saying, however, is very much how far the man was willing to go to do it.]
[ haha!!! whew. while this conversation continues, there's a quiet noise - very faint, but the sound of his foot absently tapping against the ground, in a four/four. ]
fei du's expression - shutters, there. the tap stops, for a moment, and he stares up at the shark with a sort of intensity, dark eyes of the abyss. it feels like time itself stops, at least for him, or like staring off into nothingness, into the very past itself. ]
...How rotten. [ is his response, finally, and this time, the undercurrent of bitter is clear.
a pause.
and then, this time, lacking the delicacy and care of his usual responses, fei du asks, blunt: ] Are you glad he's dead?
[The expression on his face pinches very gently in uncertainty. He turns his head away, lips thinning into a frown. What do you do when your father is a piece of work, when you haven't seen most of your life, when he is dangerous, but when he is still your father?
His eyes lower, face conflicted.]
I suppose it's better this way. He can try again in the next life to... perhaps do it all differently.
That's one way to look at it. [ but, the unvoiced question hangs in the air instead of verbal - would he?
family can be such an ugly thing, in the most familiar sort of ways. like chewing on a piece of his own rotten heart, he stays still and silent, before he finally responds. ]
...I hope you've managed to spite those last words, D. [ don't embrace hope, again. sometimes all you can do is flip it the proverbial middle finger and do exactly the opposite. ] Truly.
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...It was taught to me from a very young age. I'm not sure I would call it belated.
[ a pause. ]
My father's on life support, you see.
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So Fei Du has been through some shit. Same, though. (thinks about d's past)]
I see. He's ill?
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[ so, not quite sick, but. this information is delivered very calmly, though he hasn't looked away from the shark. ]
There one day, gone in a flash. His medical records indicate that he be kept on life support should anything happen, though, there's been no sign of any brain activity since.
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[He looks again at the shark with Fei Du, something idle and not overly interested. Thoughtful.]
So this is how you became the illustrious President Fei, I assume? [Shackled by a duty.] I had not seen my father in a very long time before what happened.
He had methods I didn't care much for in how to conduct Grandfather's pet shop.
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[ shackled by a duty, indeed.
there's a soft noise in response, matching in tone - fei du's eyebrow raises. ]
Is that so? [ light, just curious enough. the door's open for him if he wants to explain, though he doesn't have to. ] A lack of care, in the opposite of the way you've treated it since, or...?
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When he was younger, he became the assistant to a scientist so he could have access to a laboratory for his own personal work. He was interested in genetics.
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well. fei du can read between the lines! boy howdy. he keeps idly focused, glancing up at the shark, but: ]
...I see. [ man. dads, right.
there's another pause, and then, dryly, sardonic - almost a little bitter, if you squint. ] Some people shouldn't be allowed to have hobbies.
[ this is the darkest joke in the way that it is not really a joke. jesus christ ]
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He wanted to save extinct species. [Gazing at the bones of the shark in front of them.] To find a way to keep them alive, or bring them back. He wanted to save the world from destruction, too.
[It feels like what D isn't saying, however, is very much how far the man was willing to go to do it.]
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Did any of his dreams come to fruition?
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I suppose one did. Me. [Lil D.] Do you know what his last words were to me?
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the tapping stays. it's quiet, but very steady. ]
What were they?
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After a long moment of not speaking, he finally says:]
"Stray no further, do not embrace hope again."
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fei du's expression - shutters, there. the tap stops, for a moment, and he stares up at the shark with a sort of intensity, dark eyes of the abyss. it feels like time itself stops, at least for him, or like staring off into nothingness, into the very past itself. ]
...How rotten. [ is his response, finally, and this time, the undercurrent of bitter is clear.
a pause.
and then, this time, lacking the delicacy and care of his usual responses, fei du asks, blunt: ] Are you glad he's dead?
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His eyes lower, face conflicted.]
I suppose it's better this way. He can try again in the next life to... perhaps do it all differently.
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family can be such an ugly thing, in the most familiar sort of ways. like chewing on a piece of his own rotten heart, he stays still and silent, before he finally responds. ]
...I hope you've managed to spite those last words, D. [ don't embrace hope, again. sometimes all you can do is flip it the proverbial middle finger and do exactly the opposite. ] Truly.