He shook his head quickly, not in denial of her welcome
but at her insinuation that he didn’t enjoy the anger.
In truth, he loved it all — the red-faced passion of it,
the steadfast demanding, the refusal to be ignored.
It was like nothing he had ever seen before, really.
In school, he was often punished for voicing opinion.
In church, he was expected to listen quietly, not ask.
There was no r o o m in his life for debate.
But these people, they fought against that philosophy.
They didn’t ask for answers, they demanded them.
And so it was with true sincerity that he replied to her.
"I love it. The anger.
They deserve to be angry!
I’m glad they’re showing it!”
Why was there always a want to explain?
Strong emotion was always shamed —
Lust was quelled and branded sinful,
Sadness hidden and called a burden,
Anger ridiculed and considered ugly.
Well, Melchior saw it all quite clearly.
There was d i v i n i t y in lust,
and a perfect humanity in sadness;
there was beauty in anger.
Why try to hide it, or explain it away?
Her next words were far too patronizing for his tastes.
He gave her the best, most mature smile he could.
Being treated like a child was absolutely intolerable.
There was m o r e than enough of that at school.
He didn’t need that here, at the antithesis of home.
”I don’t think I need protecting …
But thank you for the thought.
And I wouldn’t mind sticking with you,
Either way. So thanks for that, too.”
She couldn't help but smile at his response, and give
a slight raise of her eyebrows. He was interesting at
least, and confident too. It made a change from most
visitors to this area. Rebel nodded softly and shrugged,
''Well, I'm glad you think so.
Since, it's pretty rare we're not fired up
over something or other. I mean, fuck,
it's New York. everyone's fighting something.''
A small smirk played on her lips as he spoke again.
He didn't seem much younger than her, but he did look
around the same age that she had been when she first
moved to New York. Perhaps a little older, but close at
least. And with his slight attitude, she had already begun
to see a little of herself in him.
''Yeah I think I'm starting to see that.
The whole, 'I don't need protecting' thing
that is. But y'see. We're all fighting the same
cause. So we all look out for each other.
And our cause, it goes w a y beyond this building
and the jackasses trying to take it from us.
We're not seen as important to them, no one is.
There is no such thing as society, if there was
then we wouldn't be facing homelessness with
no one giving a shit but us.
That's what we're gonna change.
And you're welcome to join us, if you want?''
She smiled, a few people behind her supplying
approving statements and cheers as she looked
almost expectantly, at Melchior.
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