Doppelganger

The problem with being a mutual friend is that one occasionally operates as a double-goer, a double-agent. Of course it's easy to be sympathetic to both sides, but it can be tough to avoid making it apparent that's the case. It certainly is not double-dealing to get the dirt--they're your friends. Why would you want to do that? But you do deal with privileged information--the kind of stuff combustible commanders would keep classified. But goddammit, you're sympathetic to both sides. Is it really ratting someone out when you're looking out for their best interests?

It's a passive role. The keeper, a gateway. Physical mediation can sometimes be necessary, but often one is wise to let the others play their cards--you aren't dealt many anyway. The question is how much one shuffles others' hands. As one who is sympathetic to both sides, you won't slide in the jokers. Misinterpretations, fabrications, and exaggerations are not going to help anyone, including yourself. No, you shoot it straight, Sam. Exactly what you saw, exactly what you heard. It's prosaically pious. Sympathy isn't sympathy without honesty.

It's not always a good feeling filling in the holes for one side or another. Here's why. You're a secondary source. If someone is getting the full story from you, and might ONLY get the full story from you, they might not appreciate the continence of the person on the other side of the battlefield. Primary sources ought to be trusted more than their subsidiaries. But that isn't your problem. You aren't responsible for the actions of another, nor their incomplete explanations for them. Sympathy doesn't entail approval. It sucks, but dammit, it's not your problem.

If you're a meddling messenger, well then you deserve to be shot. But it's certainly unfair to condemn a pair of unbiased eyes and ears.