the firestarters always get the burns
and the good guys never get the girl
The stallion before her, bronze-tipped for his earnings but lacking the self-esteem to boast, this man - he laughs. But it's not the good kind; a bitter undertone, and a cynical question. Can anyone forgive a monster?
She stops her walk at the thought, then nods briskly. Yes. "I did, once." she admits, then continues to keep up with him. It was only recently that she had decided to forgive him - not that she will ever like what he did, the fact that he could not contain himself at all; but is she hadn't, it was her who would be walking around forever with the consequences.
But he's not done chastising himself. He asks her if he's seen the scars; that it was only the beginning, he says, he says he hurt -them- and left. Ilma shakes her head. Solace had a few scars, yes but, she never had trouble walking. Never had trouble sleeping with her wife, or caring for her children. There were no other outside scars, though he might mean the ones that were left inside, but - "She's healed." She can't help but spill that, this tiny reassurance. The rest is for Solace to tell, if at all; it's not Ilma they're talking about here. "Did you leave for their protection?" she counters. That's one answer - there's a reason behind everything, and if the reason is good and true, then forgiveness may one day be found.
Her own story is one from the other side, but not wholly. "I did not tell you about the second thing I did wrong. The things I called him, the loss of self-sense, and that in front of a possible new recruit." She shook her head - not something she liked to talk about.
He stares her down, one question still burning.
But she has an answer. "He changes." she offers him, blinking once but keeping his gaze. She's sure they're not talking about her monster now, but about him, but the truth of it is - all this chastising himself, all this lack of forgiveness of himself, it all comes down to the fact that he is not the same person he was when he made those mistakes.
That he's changed.
@[Castile]