[ She pictures Set and that image of his brother down in the pools, but smaller, as he tells his tale. He's more concise than she was, but she understands why. It sounds like no one involved was untouched by pain the way he phrases it. Emerald doesn't have much to say about the situation either, but she does lift herself off the ground finally. Only enough to push herself next to him and give his upper arm a nudge with her own, staying close. It's a physical gesture, which has always been easier for her to understand and share than words ever were. Empathy is hard when you've never been shown any yourself. ]
Mercury's dad was like that. My partner, I mean. The first time I saw him was standing over his corpse and his burning home. He hated Merc, and he made sure he knew it. It's not.. really my story to tell, but I don't think either of you deserved to be hated any more than I deserved to be abandoned or used. Then sometimes I wonder if it is me, who did something to deserve this. [ Even if she knows better. ] And I realize trying to get what I thought I deserved, just anyone to care about me for a second, I killed hundreds of people. I tried to make Cinder happy and joined a group who wanted to kill everyone. I didn't even question it because I wanted to believe her. I spent my whole life fighting to survive without a single person who cared about me, and I almost helped destroy everything because I didn't want her to have a reason to leave me behind so I didn't even think about what we were doing. I made so many people lose everything they had, and lost maybe the one person who ever did give a damn in the process. [ She makes a gesture with her hands like she's strangling something but there's nothing there, and she releases it and pulls her knees up to her chest. ] I'm so angry I don't know what to do with myself. Aren't you?
[ They have very, very different circumstances. But in the end, it was their own stupidity and blindness to what was happening around them that lead to where they are now. After a second, she remembers to mutter this too. Set's.. not the only one bad at this. ]
no subject
Mercury's dad was like that. My partner, I mean. The first time I saw him was standing over his corpse and his burning home. He hated Merc, and he made sure he knew it. It's not.. really my story to tell, but I don't think either of you deserved to be hated any more than I deserved to be abandoned or used. Then sometimes I wonder if it is me, who did something to deserve this. [ Even if she knows better. ] And I realize trying to get what I thought I deserved, just anyone to care about me for a second, I killed hundreds of people. I tried to make Cinder happy and joined a group who wanted to kill everyone. I didn't even question it because I wanted to believe her. I spent my whole life fighting to survive without a single person who cared about me, and I almost helped destroy everything because I didn't want her to have a reason to leave me behind so I didn't even think about what we were doing. I made so many people lose everything they had, and lost maybe the one person who ever did give a damn in the process. [ She makes a gesture with her hands like she's strangling something but there's nothing there, and she releases it and pulls her knees up to her chest. ] I'm so angry I don't know what to do with myself. Aren't you?
[ They have very, very different circumstances. But in the end, it was their own stupidity and blindness to what was happening around them that lead to where they are now. After a second, she remembers to mutter this too. Set's.. not the only one bad at this. ]
I'm sorry about your brother. That sucks.