"I think I may have mentioned, but who you are now hardly bears any resemblance to the person who did the terrible things you hold yourself accountable for," Claude murmurs. "When you were lost in your trauma, Dimitri, your friends stayed with you because they knew the real you, and they wanted to see you find your way back. And now that you have found your way back, none of us are worried you're going to lose your way again. So those things you've done in the past - they don't define who you are now. They definitely don't reflect anything you're ever going to do again.
"So why should anyone not want to be with you now, just because of what you've done in the past? Just because you were so traumatized for awhile that you were lashing out blindly in the dark? You don't condone the things you did - in fact you can barely forgive yourself for them, even though it was never your fault that you were pushed so far beyond what would be a breaking point for any man. And you're never going to do anything like that again. So...what bearing does your past have on your present? What would us not wanting to be around you prevent? Nothing but association with a good man. And what's the point of somehow punishing you by denying you good things yourself? It won't undo anything that happened. It's way more productive for you to do good things with your life from now on to atone for any harm you've done than it is to retroactively punish you for suffering so much already that you weren't in your right mind. The former option could actually see some useful results.
"And any man working towards good ends...he needs and deserves support. So we're here. We want to be here."
He leans in to press a kiss to Dimitri's forehead. "And like I said - on a personal level, you saved my life. As far as I'm concerned, you've already more than made up for any harm you might've done to me before that. I wouldn't be here without you."
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"So why should anyone not want to be with you now, just because of what you've done in the past? Just because you were so traumatized for awhile that you were lashing out blindly in the dark? You don't condone the things you did - in fact you can barely forgive yourself for them, even though it was never your fault that you were pushed so far beyond what would be a breaking point for any man. And you're never going to do anything like that again. So...what bearing does your past have on your present? What would us not wanting to be around you prevent? Nothing but association with a good man. And what's the point of somehow punishing you by denying you good things yourself? It won't undo anything that happened. It's way more productive for you to do good things with your life from now on to atone for any harm you've done than it is to retroactively punish you for suffering so much already that you weren't in your right mind. The former option could actually see some useful results.
"And any man working towards good ends...he needs and deserves support. So we're here. We want to be here."
He leans in to press a kiss to Dimitri's forehead. "And like I said - on a personal level, you saved my life. As far as I'm concerned, you've already more than made up for any harm you might've done to me before that. I wouldn't be here without you."