[ The silence stretches on for a long moment, broken only by the soft click of rosary beads. Vangeance watches the way the light dances off them, bright and clean. Like Abel’s gaze. ]

... demanding the trust of others without trusting them in return isn’t cruelty. It’s cowardice. [ He smiles bitterly to himself. For real, this time, not that manufactured look he’s perfected since childhood. Hurt and weary and pathetic. ] I would know it very well.

[ Some respect does vanish, though it’s replaced by sympathy. The relief a wounded and ugly beast feels when spotting one of its ilk. ‘So even a man like you harbors a side like that,’ Vangeance muses at the back of his mind, and he hates himself (even more, even more) for thinking it. His head hurts, joining all the other pains compounding in his nerves, and he closes his eyes. ]

The matter you’re prying at ... it’s connected to the problem the Administrator addressed in his note to me. It’s something I’ve never discussed with anyone. Abel, I’m sure you wouldn’t wish to treat me the same way he has, regardless of how sympathetic you are towards him.

[ Demanding entry into, or simply invading into deep, dark territory which shouldn’t be touched. ]

Please give me your reasons — your true reasons. I feel it’s the least you can offer me first.