Vivi

VIII

There was a long silence. Shockwave stared at Vivi with shock, wariness, suspicion. Vivi just tried to stay warm and present to him.

"Shockwave," said Vivi. That name feels weird to say. "I'm scared you're going to deafen yourself again."

"You and me both, lady," said Shockwave.

That was a little surprising. A little bit of vulnerability?

"It must be awful, having a power that can hurt you like that," said Vivi.

Shockwave looked away.

Vivi just sat there, watching with concern. Was Shockwave remembering something?

Finally Shockwave looked back at Vivi, his expression harsh.

"I know you think I'm evil. You don't have to hide it."

Vivi didn't want to get into the kind of conversation that would come of flat-out contradicting Shockwave.

"Umm... you're wanting me to be straight with you?"

"Yeah, lady!"

"And I guess you've been called 'evil' before and if I'm going to call you that, you want me to just, like, get it over with?" (Vivi added a touch of vehemence to the last words, mirroring how she thought Shockwave might feel).

"Yeah, lady! Wouldn't you?"

Vivi nodded slowly. "I would," she said earnestly.

"So say it! Say I'm evil! Say I'm a murderer! Say I'm a psychopath! Sociopath! Whatever!"

There was such intensity to Shockwave's words. Vivi tried to pull her body up and meet his intensity with her full presence. "You want me to just say it!" she said, half-yelling to match Shockwave's tone.

"Yeah, man!"

"You just want to get it over with," said Vivi more softly, almost tenderly.

"Yeah," said Shockwave, a little calmer than before. "You heard me."

"I'm not going to call you any of those things, Shockwave," said Vivi quietly.

Shockwave looked at Vivi with apparent confusion. "Why not?"

Vivi gazed compassionately at Shockwave a while. He stared back earnestly. Then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I want to see you as the person you are, not just as the things you've done."

"That don't change the things I've done," said Shockwave.

"I know," said Vivi softly. "You've killed people."

Shockwave nodded, frowning.

"Well..." said Vivi, closing her eyes again, "I still want to see you as human. I think you've been called names enough in your life, and I don't think it's ever helped."

"True, at that," said Shockwave. "People call me names, I explode their ass."

Vivi nodded slowly.

"So what now? What's your plan with me?" asked Shockwave.

Vivi thought for a moment about how to put it. "First I want to try and make friends with you. Then I'm going to see if you're willing to talk about what you've been doing and look for different solutions together."

Shockwave barked out a dry laugh. "If you want to be friends, how about letting me out of this prison cell?"

"I want to," said Vivi. "I just don't want you to hurt me again."

"Hurt you?" said Shockwave. "You're invulnerable!"

Vivi shuddered a little as she remembered their fight. "Just because I can come back from the dead, doesn't mean I want to... make a habit of it, I guess?" She gave a little lopsided smile.

Shockwave shook his head in disbelief. "You won, okay? You bested me. You're the most powerful super in the world. Probably. More powerful than me for sure. Do you want to keep rubbing it in?"

Vivi frowned. "I'm at a loss, Shockwave. What is it that you're wanting right now?"

"Wanting? I want you to stop lording it over me like this!"

"You want me to stop lording it over you. Like, I guess, you want some equality in our relationship."

"Yeah, sure, Dr. Freud!"

Vivi clutched her head. This was going to be work. "You want... equality. And that's why you'd like me to let you out of the prison cell."

"For starters."

"Okay," said Vivi. "I want to. Soon. I hope. Um... I need a break."

"You always need a break."

"Yes, indeed, I often need breaks," said Vivi, a little sharper than she meant to.

"Is that cause you're a hippy dipshit who can't take a single bit of conflict without crying?"

Vivi growled wordlessly. This is so unfair. I'm trying so hard. "See you later."

"Remember not to fucking starve me, Morpheus!" yelled Shockwave at Vivi's back. 

"You've still got fruit!"

"I said what I said!"