"Not compared to you." There was complete honesty in that statement for her. Had she been attracted to Luke before? Yes, of course. Part of that was the allure of someone that she couldn't hurt, and yet she'd gone and hurt him both physically and emotionally. She'd killed his wife and almost killed him with a shotgun. Kilgrave being the means behind that didn't erase the guilt buried inside her. But the moment she'd looked into those puppy eyes that were staring back at her, Luke had faded from her thoughts.
Those eyes filled with tears, and she felt that grip inside her squeeze around her heart. It hurt, and that might have been the echo through their link from him, or hers singing up through to him. There'd been people neither of them could save. Reuben. Hope. Trish, and that one hurt more than anything. He moved to make her stand and she could feel that pain still there, still bouncing between them. He pecked her on the lips when he stood and she opted not to move. She stood in his path, hands reaching for his. "Don't do that. Don't sugarcoat or lie to me to make me think it's okay. I'm not your boss. I'm not your master. You're a big boy and you can do, and will do, whatever you want. I just... I want to give you options. We can look at classes that are available to see if there's anything you like. I'm not dumb, Diego. I know you're not going to want to fit into the mundane box office life anymore than I did. We're not those people. I'm okay with that. I just want you to find something so that you-"
She cut herself off, sighing and lifting her hands to run through her hair, stepping back for a minute. "I know you hate relying on me and my funds. You need your own placement here. Your own... stuff. Your own money. I approve and applaud that. But let's just say that our situation is a little different than most. So it's okay to me that we're relying on me until you find what you want. I don't think less of you. You're not worthless, Diego. You're mine. If I'd come crashing into your world, you think I wouldn't lean on you a little until I figured out what I could get away with?"
That was the killer for her. That he felt he had to prove himself. She knew exactly why that was such a deep mark for him. Reginald goddamn Hargreeves. The whole expectation of never being enough. Even his 'name'. Number Two. Talk about breeding complexes. She just didn't know how to get it through to him that he had absolutely nothing to prove here. There was no Reginald. No siblings. No expectations. Just them.
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Those eyes filled with tears, and she felt that grip inside her squeeze around her heart. It hurt, and that might have been the echo through their link from him, or hers singing up through to him. There'd been people neither of them could save. Reuben. Hope. Trish, and that one hurt more than anything. He moved to make her stand and she could feel that pain still there, still bouncing between them. He pecked her on the lips when he stood and she opted not to move. She stood in his path, hands reaching for his. "Don't do that. Don't sugarcoat or lie to me to make me think it's okay. I'm not your boss. I'm not your master. You're a big boy and you can do, and will do, whatever you want. I just... I want to give you options. We can look at classes that are available to see if there's anything you like. I'm not dumb, Diego. I know you're not going to want to fit into the mundane box office life anymore than I did. We're not those people. I'm okay with that. I just want you to find something so that you-"
She cut herself off, sighing and lifting her hands to run through her hair, stepping back for a minute. "I know you hate relying on me and my funds. You need your own placement here. Your own... stuff. Your own money. I approve and applaud that. But let's just say that our situation is a little different than most. So it's okay to me that we're relying on me until you find what you want. I don't think less of you. You're not worthless, Diego. You're mine. If I'd come crashing into your world, you think I wouldn't lean on you a little until I figured out what I could get away with?"
That was the killer for her. That he felt he had to prove himself. She knew exactly why that was such a deep mark for him. Reginald goddamn Hargreeves. The whole expectation of never being enough. Even his 'name'. Number Two. Talk about breeding complexes. She just didn't know how to get it through to him that he had absolutely nothing to prove here. There was no Reginald. No siblings. No expectations. Just them.