Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5999656-20161216022828/@comment-25389303-20161218091222

When Zanipher suggested going somewhere else, Diaboli began rising to his feet, eager to get some fresh air after being in the stuffy coffee shop for so long. But after she asked her last question, he immediately froze. His slight smile was still there, but the warmth had drained out of it like heat from a corpse.

Of course I do - was what he wanted to say, but the words died in his throat before he could say them. Unexpectedly, his first thought was of Veneni - not as Smiler, but as his old self. He had been a spoilt rich kid when they'd first met, in stark contrast to himself, who had been a thief out of necessity in order to survive. Together they had risen through the ranks until they were kings of the criminal underworld. They'd been rich. Powerful. And above all, feared. Life had been perfect.

And then Veneni's stupid brother stole from him, and Veneni betrayed his best friend to protect him. He'd had no choice but to punish them both for that - at least, that's what he convinced himself. In the end, he'd had to kill his best friend, just because he couldn't let go of a grudge. Fear only keeps one loyal for so long, after all. Hardly best-friend material.

Of course I don't - was what he was then about to say, but that didn't seem right either. After the memory of Veneni faded, the thought of Blanc entered his mind in its place. Blanc - the girl whom he saved from her abusive parents. Who he'd taken a bullet to the head for. Whose dream of travelling the world he'd fought, killed and almost died to forfill. He didn't regret any of it, but he couldn't help but realise that ever since meeting her, he'd lost pretty much everything.

I don't know - was the only answer he could think of, but he wouldn't allow himself to say it. Doing so would mean saying he didn't have the right answer - and Decadere Diaboli always had the right answer. Except now, it seemed.

"Do I really seem like such a monster to you?" he eventually asked. Normally the words would be joking, or irritated. But now they only sounded lost, and hurt.