private I'LL BE YOUR GASOLINE ☆ SALTSTING

[FALLINGLIGHT]

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ ⸻ Call him ugly, huh? Saltsting's not going to get away with that— he's more likely to have StarClan come down and name him leader than getting off unscathed from that. Fallinglight doesn't usually care for the barbs his clanmates throw around, quick to offense and twice as likely to defend their pride. Still, despite all the banter between them, it's never come down to Saltsting very plainly insinuating that Fallinglight's not much to look at, and just like his namesake, that stings. If Lichentail called him ugly, or Rookfang, or Snakeblink, he wouldn't care like he does now.

So. Revenge, naturally.

"Hey, Saltsting," he says when he finds the other warrior by the river. "Feel like getting some sparring in? I think you'll be impressed— I've been working on my feints."
​

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 / / \ \ 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙰 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙴𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 / / 07.25.23 \ \ 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙴

• —ooc:
• — FALLINGLIGHT / / 11 moons old / / amab and uses masculine pronouns; will be startled by the use of any others.
  — warrior of riverclan / / earned warrior name early at 10 moons / / skilled but not experienced / / mentoring [n / a].
  — npc parents / / father died in the great battle and mother left when he was apprenticed / / no contact w / siblings.
  — flirtatious & disastrous bisexual / / fairly indiscriminate (even when he should be) / / closed to long-term romance.
  
  a fairly trim, athletic cream tabby and black chimera with high white. fur is thick and a bit sharp, though tends to soften and curl primarily around his face and tail when wet. eyes are a bright, gleaming blue at home with the river on clear, sunny days. he is rarely without a devil-may-care grin, though despite his daring personality, has yet to accumulate noticeable scarring.
  
• dear shell, he had no idea what was coming his way. he should've known better than to call me ugly like that. not every riverclanner can be all slim and long-legged and stern-looking.

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[SALTSTING]

He had known this would come, yet the precise how or why of it escaped him. As unreasonable as it may be, Fallinglight broadcasted all that he felt. And Saltsting...was not as oblivious as he may seem to some. He knew that Snakeblink's gossip had upset him, even before he approached the conversation. What he had said only incensed it further (typically quite the opposite of what he cared to do, the warrior will admit, yet in that moment all he could do– he had, after all, not cared for the thought that he was not worthy of affection based on his personality). That bothered him some. Briefly, his pride welled up and he thought that perhaps it was unfair, that if anyone were to be so angry it should be him.

Just as quickly he had pushed that down.

Should he have understood the problem, it would have been easily resolved. I did not call you ugly, Fallinglight. I simply meant that you are far less pretty. No, equally as bad and not wholly correct. He did not embody the silky mollies that he seemed so effortlessly attracted to, yet the electric energy in his eyes and the soft curl of his fur when they return from a swim is an objectively desirable quality. Pretty is an apt enough descriptor. More than that, he had meant: Just because I do not appeal to you does not mean another cannot see me in a better light. Such a thought had not even found its way to words in his mind. Of course he could not share a....feeling.

The fact that Fallinglight radiates them is a point of jealousy that Saltsting will not admit to. He is precise in comparison, as cool as the river-smoothed stones beneath their paws. He turns to him with only a subtle arch to his brow, which quickly lowers again to a furrow. Confusion, Fallinglight would know. "Of course." There is so much more he would like to say. (Who have you been working with? Did one of the other warriors teach you? I am not fond of the idea.) Instead, he takes a few steps from the riverbank and nods.

＞ˏˋ  OOC NOTES  ╱╱ 07.22.2023 "𝘐 𝘋𝘖𝘕'𝘛 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌," 𝘐 𝘚𝘈𝘠, 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘠, 𝘈𝘚 𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘠 ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —

• saltsting. formerly named idk yet.
  —— cis male. he - him // they - them. unoffended by others. 11 moons old. riverclanner.
  —— sexuality unknown. seems rather impossible to form close relationships with at first.
  —— half pine + marsh heritage. his father being a skyclan kittypet is general knowledge.
  —— earned his warrior name early despite a,, slight disagreement with cicadastar over it.
  
  Being the son of a kittypet, there is much there that Saltsting has inherited. From the sharp, angular profile of an Oriental Shorthair to the trim, glossy coat– he may as well have been his father's clone were one to not look too closely. He is a dark black smoke with a smattering of low white, particularly on his paws and muzzle, as well as very dark brown eyes he inherited from his mother.

• "speech"

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[FALLINGLIGHT]

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ ⸻ Of course Saltsting's confused. He doesn't know that it's a set-up, so he's probably wondering when Fallinglight's been working on his sparring, especially because they spend so much time together. Well— Fallinglight doesn't know if that's the right way to phrase it, especially now, when he's forcing friendliness that used to be natural because he's fuming. But he doesn't expect Saltsting to notice it. Why would he? Fallinglight's not so bad at the pretending game, and really, he'd even say he's better than Saltsting, whose solution is just to seem like he's never felt a damned thing at all.

"Beech copse, then? Let's go." He turns, knowing Saltsting will fall into step, and he doesn't walk faster even though it's tempting. What would be the point? The darker warrior has longer legs, so Fallinglight would have to trot if he wanted to force Saltsting to feel he has to keep up. He'd also probably realize something's up, and Fallinglight wants this to blindside him as much as calling him ugly had blindsided Falling.

"I hope you're ready to lose," he says when they've reached the clearing. Without preamble, he launches himself at Saltsting in an attempted tackle.
​

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 / / \ \ 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙰 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙴𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 / / 07.25.23 \ \ 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙴

• —ooc:
• — FALLINGLIGHT / / 11 moons old / / amab and uses masculine pronouns; will be startled by the use of any others.
  — warrior of riverclan / / earned warrior name early at 10 moons / / skilled but not experienced / / mentoring [n / a].
  — npc parents / / father died in the great battle and mother left when he was apprenticed / / no contact w / siblings.
  — flirtatious & disastrous bisexual / / fairly indiscriminate (even when he should be) / / closed to long-term romance.
  
  a fairly trim, athletic cream tabby and black chimera with high white. fur is thick and a bit sharp, though tends to soften and curl primarily around his face and tail when wet. eyes are a bright, gleaming blue at home with the river on clear, sunny days. he is rarely without a devil-may-care grin, though despite his daring personality, has yet to accumulate noticeable scarring.
  
• blurb goes here

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[SALTSTING]

Unfair. He feels as if he is a child again, beneath his father's impassive stare. He had sat with his spine straight and his head tilted up to meet his gaze, as equally dark as his own. I do not appreciate the way that you speak to me, At the time it had seemed simple. Perhaps it truly was. The deeply rooted fear he feels with Fallinglight had not existed then. Even in moments of discontent, understanding pulsed between himself and his father. With Fallinglight, each opportunity to learn him had been a conscious one. He did not understand at first. Slowly, he began to. Now– now, he feels as if he is back in the start. Drowning in the midst of a storm he cannot comprehend. Fallinglight thinks that he will not see it. He will. He does. Even as they walk, he nearly stops him to ask why energy pulsed from his shoulders.

Though he cannot decide what he had done, Saltsting's intuition tells him that it is his fault. Whether that is an irrational fear or something rooted in fact...again, he cannot tell.

Whatever it is, however– he does not have long to contemplate. His mouth upticks into the faintest of smiles, but before he has even a chance to acknowledge what was said, Fallinglight is upon him and the world spins. He will be the last creature in existence to admit the noise he makes then, a startled breath that is not quite a yelp yet not quite a simple exhalation. Bewilderment swells once more. There is no time to question it now. Still rolling with the momentum, he lashes out with his hind legs towards the other warrior's gut in a powerful kick.

＞ˏˋ  OOC NOTES  ╱╱ 07.22.2023 "𝘐 𝘋𝘖𝘕'𝘛 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌," 𝘐 𝘚𝘈𝘠, 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘠, 𝘈𝘚 𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘠 ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —

• saltsting. formerly named idk yet.
  —— cis male. he - him // they - them. unoffended by others. 11 moons old. riverclanner.
  —— sexuality unknown. seems rather impossible to form close relationships with at first.
  —— half pine + marsh heritage. his father being a skyclan kittypet is general knowledge.
  —— earned his warrior name early despite a,, slight disagreement with cicadastar over it.
  
  Being the son of a kittypet, there is much there that Saltsting has inherited. From the sharp, angular profile of an Oriental Shorthair to the trim, glossy coat– he may as well have been his father's clone were one to not look too closely. He is a dark black smoke with a smattering of low white, particularly on his paws and muzzle, as well as very dark brown eyes he inherited from his mother.

• "speech"

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[FALLINGLIGHT]

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ ⸻ The goal isn't to win the spar, but Fallinglight doesn't win as often as he'd like against Saltsting even when it is. He doesn't look like much. For all that Saltsting's a head above some cats, he's not very brawny— and yet Fallinglight's lost count of how many times he's been overpowered by the spindly-limbed warrior in tests of strength. So he doesn't try to keep Saltsting pinned, and when he delivers a hefty blow that forces breath from his mouth, Fallinglight withdraws instead.

He backs away and takes up a circuit to pace, circling Saltsting. "Sometimes I think you're really part rabbit," he says goadingly, and all the while he's counting each step, until he finds the small stone he'd partly buried. Then all it takes is one more step. His front paw falls into a hole and he stumbles, wrenching no more than a muscle, but still enough of an ache to be convincing when he hisses out. "Fox dung, that hurts. Can we call a timeout? Think it's stuck." It is stuck, but by design, since he's not so confident he could fool Saltsting otherwise.

Yanking his leg, he grits his teeth, ears flattening.
​

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 / / \ \ 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙰 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙴𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 / / 07.25.23 \ \ 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙴

• —ooc:
• — FALLINGLIGHT / / 11 moons old / / amab and uses masculine pronouns; will be startled by the use of any others.
  — warrior of riverclan / / earned warrior name early at 10 moons / / skilled but not experienced / / mentoring [n / a].
  — npc parents / / father died in the great battle and mother left when he was apprenticed / / no contact w / siblings.
  — flirtatious & disastrous bisexual / / fairly indiscriminate (even when he should be) / / closed to long-term romance.
  
  a fairly trim, athletic cream tabby and black chimera with high white. fur is thick and a bit sharp, though tends to soften and curl primarily around his face and tail when wet. eyes are a bright, gleaming blue at home with the river on clear, sunny days. he is rarely without a devil-may-care grin, though despite his daring personality, has yet to accumulate noticeable scarring.
  
• blurb goes here

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[SALTSTING]

It is not through any lack of trying that he does not win. Though Saltsting would not care to admit it, there was a cleverness to Fallinglight that he could not match. A tenacity to his intelligence that he is doomed to admire. One would think that Saltsting would have every advantage. He is stronger than the other tom, taller and likely faster to boot. They are equally intelligent. That he loses at all had once been a point of frustration. (That it is something else now is a fact Saltsting desperately removes from his mind.)

He rolls as he is released, desperate to find his footing before Fallinglight may make his next move. It is sure to come quickly. When it does not...there is a plan to that too, and dark eyes squint in soundless confusion. This is what terrifies him so– however well he may know him, there is no knowing where his mind may take him. Logic and fact will only carry them so far.

Low and prepared for any sign of movement, Saltsting follows as he circles. "Even if I were, it only makes you a poor hunter," he reasons. "You have yet to catch your prey." Instead, it seems he is intent on catching himself. As soon as he hisses in pain, his shoulders lift and his limbs straighten. A half-step forward, their fight abandoned. "Your opponents would not pause at your demand, Fallinglight," he chides, yet even so he maneuvers around the stuck limb to dig at the small crater, seeking any leverage to free his limb.

 "𝘐 𝘋𝘖𝘕'𝘛 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌," 𝘐 𝘚𝘈𝘠, 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘠, 𝘈𝘚 𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘠  ╱╱ 8.08.2023 ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —
• ✦　　. 　 ˚　.  SALTSTING. FORMERLY UNDECIDED. HE - HIM OR THEY - THEM. YOUNG WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. SEXUALITY ﹖ PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ——
  
  
  ——  a black smoke with low white and dark brown eyes. his purebred father lent him much of his structure, with the oriental shorthair's characteristic angular features and large ears alongside a tall, lean frame, yet it is his mother's genes that rounded him out, adding strength to his shoulders and toughness to his paws. a kittypet and a colony cat, and saltsting is something entirely new.
  

  ✦ IMPORTANT NOTE. saltsting is touch averse and very vocal about it. icly, riverclanners should be aware of this. repeatedly touching him without the necessary comfort level will leave him with a poor opinion of any character.

• "speech"

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[FALLINGLIGHT]

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ ⸻ He knows Saltsting's taken the bait when his battle-readiness stance eases into the usual stiffness, and even though his paw aches enough to agitate, he rolls his eyes. "Yeah, because when I asked you to come spar with me, what I actually meant was a fight to the death over the border." Huffing, he watches the darker warrior approach, and the slight flinch when he begins digging is genuine. It wasn't intentional for Saltsting to jostle him, he knows— he's precise in all things, and it was unavoidable.

Still, it somehow manages to remind him of how pissed off he is, and he shouldn't give him any leniency just because he deigned to help Fallinglight dig a hole. So while his head's lowered to concentrate on Fallinglight's predicament, his free front paw finds the stone he'd buried. "Careful. Might give a guy the impression you wanna take his leg off," he says, overdramatic. All the while, his paw slowly sinks into the dirt until his toes touch slimy moss, and his claws snag it in a firm hold.

It means that when Saltsting dutifully carves enough room to free his leg, Fallinglight's swinging his other paw over to smear the mouse-bile soaked mossball over the side of Saltsting's face. The yellowy muck is stark against his dark fur, and it stinks to StarClan but boy is it satisfying. "Now who's gross, huh?"
​

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 / / \ \ 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙰 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙴𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 / / 07.25.23 \ \ 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙴

• —ooc:
• — FALLINGLIGHT / / 11 moons old / / amab and uses masculine pronouns; will be startled by the use of any others.
  — warrior of riverclan / / earned warrior name early at 10 moons / / skilled but not experienced / / mentoring [n / a].
  — npc parents / / father died in the great battle and mother left when he was apprenticed / / no contact w / siblings.
  — flirtatious & disastrous bisexual / / fairly indiscriminate (even when he should be) / / closed to long-term romance.
  
  a fairly trim, athletic cream tabby and black chimera with high white. fur is thick and a bit sharp, though tends to soften and curl primarily around his face and tail when wet. eyes are a bright, gleaming blue at home with the river on clear, sunny days. he is rarely without a devil-may-care grin, though despite his daring personality, has yet to accumulate noticeable scarring.
  
• blurb goes here

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[SALTSTING]

There is, for the briefest moment, sympathy within his eyes. He does seek out his face, yet his mouth twitches with a subtle kindness where he stares at the trapped point of his leg. It is all too quick to dissipate. "I assure you, causing you genuine harm is the least of my interests in this moment." There is no promise of ever or always– he has wished nothing more than to shove his face to the dirt at times, as shameful as this admission may be. Everything about the warrior inspired emotions so grand that Saltsting could only feel ashamed when they came to the surface. He does what he can to assure that is infrequent.

It would be illogical to pretend that he could do so at all times. More often than not, it feels as if his reactions are entirely out of his control. Another thing he is loathe to admit, particularly in present company. Right now, however, is such a moment: his head is ducked towards the dirt, concentration tangled upon angular features. He shoots upwards like a loaded spring, from softened shoulders to tension-taut legs, his tall ears pinned back and a brief, indisputable shock of indignation and betrayal clear in both his eyes and the curl of his mouth. Despite himself, there is nearly no withholding his–

Anger. He does not like that word. Does not like that Fallinglight makes him feel it so easily. There is a brief desire to shove his leg back within the hole, or bowl him over and prove to him just how much he had changed his mind; how much he suddenly very much did wish to cause him genuine harm. A defensive reaction of perceived weakness. She takes him outside of the nursery, to a spot the other kits were not allowed to follow. She does not talk. She does not mention the tremble to his stiff upper lip, or how his shoulders sag against her side once her eyes have turned away from him. Where he is not visible, he is vulnerable.

Fallinglight sees too much. He does not react except to steel himself. It clicks then that he had seen his comment to Snakeblink as a slight against his appearance. (Foolish, to think that his words would even have such an effect on one who gleamed of the stars themselves.) Against his better judgment, he digs into that wound now: "Your mistake is in assuming that anyone else cares as much for their appearance as you." As if the scent of bile wreathing around his face does not nearly make him sick. He knows then that he should leave, before any worse may come of this situation. Lest he choose to throw the soaked moss ball right back.

Through a superior force of will alone, Saltsting does not. Instead he turns from the beech copse and stalks toward the riverbank, his long tail lashing low for the briefest of moments before it stills.

 "𝘐 𝘋𝘖𝘕'𝘛 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌," 𝘐 𝘚𝘈𝘠, 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘠, 𝘈𝘚 𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘠  ╱╱ 8.08.2023 ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —
• ✦　　. 　 ˚　.  SALTSTING. FORMERLY UNDECIDED. HE - HIM OR THEY - THEM. YOUNG WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. SEXUALITY ﹖ PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ——
  
  
  ——  a black smoke with low white and dark brown eyes. his purebred father lent him much of his structure, with the oriental shorthair's characteristic angular features and large ears alongside a tall, lean frame, yet it is his mother's genes that rounded him out, adding strength to his shoulders and toughness to his paws. a kittypet and a colony cat, and saltsting is something entirely new.
  

  ✦ IMPORTANT NOTE. saltsting is touch averse and very vocal about it. icly, riverclanners should be aware of this. repeatedly touching him without the necessary comfort level will leave him with a poor opinion of any character.

• "speech"

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[FALLINGLIGHT]

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ ⸻ The moment his strike lands, Saltsting is angry. Throughout the time they've known each other, Fallinglight's gotten pretty good at drawing that reaction out of him, but it's admittedly been a while since it's shown so openly on his normally impassive face. And for a second, as he stares down those briefly burning eyes, hot with anger but betrayal too, he regrets his choice of revenge. Maybe it was too harsh, maybe Saltsting hadn't realized the implication of his comment, maybe Fallinglight took it a little far—

Except then he's straightening up like a stick's welded to his spine, and the anger's gone, leaving blank disdain. And then he reveals that he does know why Fallinglight's upset, and fits his claws into it without hesitation. His temper flares back up and he sinks into it 'cause it's easier than focusing on why it hurts so much that's all Saltsting thinks of him. "Maybe I'd apologize if I thought you could, Saltsting! But you can't, can you? And if I'd just asked you about it, you'd act like I was jumping to conclusions because I'm irrational." The longer he watches Saltsting's back, the angrier he gets, and without warning, he's lunging forward, aiming to trip his back legs out from under him. "How about it, huh? Mr. High and Mighty? Think you're better than me?"
​

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 / / \ \ 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙰 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙴𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 / / 07.25.23 \ \ 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙴

• —ooc:
• — FALLINGLIGHT / / 11 moons old / / amab and uses masculine pronouns; will be startled by the use of any others.
  — warrior of riverclan / / earned warrior name early at 10 moons / / skilled but not experienced / / mentoring [n / a].
  — npc parents / / father died in the great battle and mother left when he was apprenticed / / no contact w / siblings.
  — flirtatious & disastrous bisexual / / fairly indiscriminate (even when he should be) / / closed to long-term romance.
  
  a fairly trim, athletic cream tabby and black chimera with high white. fur is thick and a bit sharp, though tends to soften and curl primarily around his face and tail when wet. eyes are a bright, gleaming blue at home with the river on clear, sunny days. he is rarely without a devil-may-care grin, though despite his daring personality, has yet to accumulate noticeable scarring.
  
• dear shell, yeah, i got him good. but at what cost? i dunno. sometimes we get along, sometimes he just— drives me crazy, and stuff like this happens, except i dunno if we'll be on good terms for a while. why's he always gotta get the last word? why can't he just...admit when he's wrong? he is wrong, right?

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