Abel Lazarus “… It’s been a long time but I used to say and do awful things. I mean it when I say I’m like her.”
“Don’t ever compare yourself to her.” Viper warns, her eyes welling up and her gaze firm. She strokes his cheek with a thumb, looking directly into his eyes. “You’re traumatised, not a monster. I know… you might find it hard to see it that way. But, like, you’re human. I don’t care how many people you fought and hurt, like… you were hurting too.”
A pause, “It doesn’t make it right. But you can’t hold ya’self at the same level as someone who goes out with the intent to hurt for no reason. Even if ya don’t see it, ya reason is there.” Viper gives him an affectionate hair twirl.
“I meant it when I said I deserved what happened to me, I did very illegal things. Like, illegal illegal.” She murmured after a second. Her voice felt like glass in her throat as she spoke of it, Viper will leave it at that ambiguity. “I was a teenager. Didn’t care who it hurt.” It hurt to talk about, she wanted so desperately to take it back as soon as it was out of her mouth.
“But I doubt you think I’m a bad person. It’s the same. We were just f-cked up and did what we felt at the time. What felt normal, felt appropriate…” Viper strokes his cheek again, trying to bring herself out of the inevitable spiral of thinking about her past again.
“Hurting doesn’t make you irreparably awful.”
At his request, she starts fishing his things from her bag, his cross, neatly wrapped up and protected from damage was first, followed by the bunny second.
“Of course you can.” She knew of course how important they were to him. Viper handed him the cross first, then the bunny, and then the rest of his belongings he had left with her.
“I think… you should give it a try.” Viper nods, “I think Vinzent would be good for you. Maybe even better than me.” She grins at that, but it falls as soon as he teases her again.
“I’m not- I’m not helpless-!” Viper whines, “I can’t help it. When people look at me like that it’s just… I dunno. It’s like some stupid cliché anime. It’s really dumb.”
And then Abel asks her who that look was meant for and she turns bright crimson.
“I… gave up on actually getting with her a while ago.” She didn’t, not really. “My roommate. Kanna.” Viper reaches for her phone, pulling out a picture of herself, taking a selfie with a woman about her age- although it was hard to tell as the baby-blue haired woman had her entire face covered except for one bright green eye. Viper was pulling the woman in for a hug in her same bright, chaotic manner, and was kissing the other woman’s hand like she was kissing her cheek. Viper blushed at the realisation that was the last photo she had on her camera roll of them together…
“That’s her. I dunno if I have any pictures of her where her face isn’t covered… she has some… problems with people taking photos of her, but she’s getting better.” Viper speaks with a pride to her voice seldom heard. “We’ve been friends since we were kids. But… I don’t think she’s gonna ever see me that way so… I think I kinda gave up a year or two ago… just…hoped it’d simmer down.”
