Her words dig into him, because it hurtsĀ to hear a friend as close as her talk like that. It hurts that his attempt to cheer her didnāt work. He sinks impossibly lower into the table, absorbing her words. It takes him a good, long moment to figure out how to respond.
Then he plants his hands flat on the table, and rises up, leaning forwards.
āEvil? Just? Average?Ā Arenāt aspirations supposed to be aboveĀ where you are?āĀ He goes on with rising incredulity.Ā āOf all thingsāthe day someone calls you averageĀ is the day I pull a cartoon mask off of someone impersonatingĀ you,Ā ācause youāre anything but!ā
His fingers drag inwards, forming fists against the table. Theyāre shaking. His tone is dropping from half-joke to full-genuine under his own nose, so to speak, and now heās rolling with an unfamiliar momentum. Heās running out of jokes to pad his feelings with, but somehow he just keeps going.
āRosie, youĀ āfailedā at being evilĀ ācause of sabotage!Ā And nobody can blame you for not having practice at the other things. Even if you did, Iām living proof that practice doesnāt make perfect.
āAndāAnd!! Even when you wereĀ being sabotaged, even when everythingĀ was against youā¦!āĀ His voice quiets, a little.Ā āā¦You figured out who you were, RosieāRosemaster.Ā You redefined yourself.ā
āBut now you canāt do it again?! NowĀ youāre a failure, nowĀ it wonāt work? When youāve proven how much you areĀ capable of?!āĀ He pounds his fists on the table. A librarian makes a very visibleĀ āquiet downāĀ gesture towards his shouting, which he ignores.
āYou canāt just make up nonsense and pass it off as the ātruthā when IāmĀ the one who doesnāt deserve you!!ā
She continues, at first, to hang her head, her eyes dark. Itās as if thereās a wall between them, solid and impenetrable - no words capable of passing through it and reaching her.
But then, something does reach her. Or, rather, a lot of somethings.
āYou failed at being evil because of sabotage.ā
āYou figured out who you were.ā
āWhen youāve proven how much you are capable of.ā
And then, the coup de grace:
āIām the one who doesnāt deserve you.ā
āWhat?ā she says sharply.
And then she abruptly stands up and, just as Besty did, slams her fists on the table.
āHow dare you?! To even suggest that you arenāt deserving...! As if you donāt deserve everything the world, that any world in any reality, could give you!ā
And she quickly wraps him in a hug.
āYouāre my best friend. Donāt talk about yourself that way.ā