mason is right. he is more capable than he realizes and that had been proven with gabe. empathy has never been his strong suit. in fact, prior to gabe, he’s unsure if he’s ever felt it. but that human showed him something —– there are people out there LIKE HIM. there are those who have been in similar positions as him and he can feel for them. however, theo doesn’t expect it to go beyond that. the average person he comes across will not get that shred of goodness in him. ❝ because you always see the good in people, even when there isn’t much, ❞ he scoffs. ❝ maybe there’s an inch of it there for me, but that’s all. don’t get your hopes up too high. i’m not going to go around saving kittens from fires and giving money to the homeless. i’m still me. ❞ he’s still manipulative, selfish, and ruthless. the difference now is that acting on his vices is not in his best interest. shoulders shrug at the comment. ❝ yeah, probably, but that’s not what happened, ❞ he speaks simply. ❝ no one got to her and this all escalated. the best we could do was get rid of the anuk-ite and get the other hunters to wake up to this and that’s what we did. ❞ however, their safety has been impacted forever. tamora had that lasting effect. she exposed them all and now, nowhere is ever going to feel TRULY safe. ( hiding isn’t as simple as it once was. ) ❝ —– she’s still out there. maybe someone will get to her someday and she’ll stop this, but… i’ll leave that up to your pack. that sounds like something you guys would do. it’s not my problem. ❞ his part in that war is OVER. a scoff leaves him and he nods his head. ❝ yeah. yeah, i never thought i’d say this, but i know what you guys feel now. ❞ not being able to save someone is HARD. that is truly going to affect theo for the rest of his life. he doesn’t know what it is he feels; all he knows is that gabe’s death has IMPACTED him. mason’s words are comforting. his gaze glances over to the human and he allows his lips to curl into a barely visible smile. ❝ —– that’s nice to hear, ❞ he whispers, the words SINCERE. ❝ i am glad i was at least able to do that for him. he died in peace. that’s all i could really give him there. i just don’t think i’m ever going to stop wishing i could have done more. ❞ he wishes gabe was still alive. brows raise when he explains gabe, the little smile on his lips growing into a wider one. ❝ you think so? i don’t know, man. i murdered his brother. twice, ❞ he reminds with a quiet chuckle. ❝ but… hopefully, we would have put that behind us. maybe you’re right. i’d like to think we would have gotten along. ❞
❝ because everyone has to have some kind of good in them, even if they’re mostly bad. if i didn’t believe that, then ----- ❞ then it would be much harder to live in this world. he shakes his head, letting out a sigh. ❝ you’re not all monster like you try to seem sometimes, ❞ he insists, giving him a look. he knows theo prefers his animal side to his human side. he knows that he wants people to fear him. but despite mason often being on that side and wanting to question his intention for everything, he knows there’s something more there. he knows there’s a HUMAN beyond those claws. ❝ hey, i’m going to find it and i’m going to see how far it can go. ❞ and he will. he knew theo could have it in him and now that he can see it, he wants to take advantage of it. he wants to see if it can go farther or not. ❝ if you have the ability to save those kittens, why wouldn’t you? ❞ he points out, finger up in the air. he shrugs his shoulders. ❝ you know, i wanted to believe that was going to work, but part of me was still so focused on the way people looked at liam in class. and i didn’t know if that was going to change anything for them. ❞ and it hurt, to know that the people closest to him were HATED for what they were. ❝ but things are different now. people are learning how to accept it and seeing that they don’t have to be afraid. we did good. ❞ it’s a heavy weight off his shoulders, even if they didn’t get rid of the hunters entirely. he’s smart enough to know they will always have some kind of enemy. he sighs, head looking down. ❝ i don’t know about that. she has no one to trust here, especially now that most of her hunters have turned over, ❞ he points out. but he would like to. ❝ she was an incredible teacher, you know. i hate that she lost that part of herself. ❞ he knows that her life is consumed with THIS now, and that saddens him, but from here, he can’t do anything to fix that. a smile tugs at his lips and he nods. ❝ looks like you have a heart, ❞ he points out, smile only growing. he believed he had it in him, only buried by theo’s own doing. ❝ he could have died hopeless, but you didn’t let him. all of us, we wouldn’t have known what to do. all we could have done was watch, and that’s not what he deserved. he deserved what you did for him, ❞ he notes. he wishes that all the hunters they’ve lost in this war got that moment of clarity in the end. at least gabe did. finger points back at him as he scoffs. ❝ you murdered one of my best friends and you’re still living in my house, ❞ he reminds him. ❝ you’re not the guy you were back then. ❞ that doesn’t mean he’s INNOCENT or that he won’t do bad things again, mason knows that. but he also knows that progress has been made. ❝ knowing you two, i think you would have figured it out. ❞