She made it about herself because that’s all she thought about. Echidna was selfish and deliberately so, if no one else was going to think about her then she’d do it for them. Could he honestly say he didn’t do the same thing? If either of them thought a fraction about the other, things might be different between them. Or maybe she’s too stubborn to see. Either way, he’s not wrong, she enjoys making it about herself even if she doesn’t realize it. Who else has she had to worry about? Guess it plays into the fact she is drawn to equally strong figures, vulnerability, to a point, made her want to gag. Those he followed around like a sick puppy, who he wanted because of how weak they were, she didn’t understand it. Echidna didn’t see them as something to yearn over, she saw them as something to eat.

But that’s what made them different. Echidna was a bit more ruthless than him, she cared a lot less than he did. She would rather eat the useless than try and love them. It was in her DNA though, she’d been created to be this way. What was a soldier if they were too overcome with emotion to destroy what stood in their path? First and foremost, she was bred to fight. Over the years, sure, she’d been softened down but there was enough left to make her dangerous to most people. He should know that by now, despite his callousness she knows he loved her once, even if it was just a phase he went through. He talks about how fleeting his happiness is and his fears and how he doesn’t much want to face his own emotions. Echidna is quiet, she listens.

Even when he continues, she listens. She doesn’t make a move, considering what he has to say and weighing it. Tarquin was a strange creature, indeed. He wanted too much, he thought he could have all the toys and none of them would be any wiser to the others. He was sometimes fearsome and sometimes sad and all these rollercoasters he put her on never scared her. Why did that have to be a punishment. Echidna licks her chapped lips, bites at the skin. Then he turns it all on her and he wants to know what she sees, what she thinks that he wants –

She squirms and she smiles and she lifts her eyes up to the sky because what can she say? Echidna throws her hands up.

Tarquin, you are the most frustrating and unstable creature I’ve ever met. You are more because you are brilliant, you think ten steps ahead without realizing it. You’re determined, when you want something, you don’t give up and your fearsome when you want to be and you scare me sometimes but I like it.

Echidna takes a breath, you are a trickster and you’re a demon and you don’t care what anyone else thinks about you. You aren’t bashful about emotions and that’s a good thing, you’re honest, you can be very kind when you want to be. But you’re also passionate, not only in what you want –

You’re an excellent lover. But beyond the physicality, when you let yourself love someone it’s as consuming as the fire in your fingers. It’s intense, it takes your breath, but it’s worth it.

She looks at him, I don’t know what you want anymore. I’d like to think it’s along the lines of what I want deep down. To be with the person you love, have a home, have children and raise them up and hope they turn out alright. Comfort, safety, to know each morning that person will be there beside you when you wake up and you can depend on them even when the world is on fire.

It was what she wanted, even if she could never have it. This was her vulnerability, the one tiny chink in her armor. Echidna shrugs because what did it matter to show her weak spots right now when she didn’t feel like they meant anything.