Despite the knowledge that she presumably must have improved, else Amelie would not be trying to reconcile with her, Iris felt no differently towards Claire; she was still a drunken fuck-up and a loser. She rationalized her resentment in that Claire proved again the unfairness of the universe; that a fair universe would have killed Claire instead.
Considering her uncle, that Iris disliked Claire does not seem odd, but upon closer examination of Claire it might seem so. Like Claire, Iris had been known for causing trouble and getting into several altercations as a teenager. She experienced issues with her temper and tried to conceal her dependency on others; even to herself she still denied that she had ever felt such towards Amelie.
Still within her was that worm of violence slithering beneath her, as in her confrontation with Viktoria. She was not quite sure why she had let Viktoria provoke her so; she knew that it was a foolish thing. But she knew also that it was only Viktoria being another student and Natasha's mentor that had prevented her from worse.
It was then similar to the duty Amelie felt towards Claire. Amelie had talked much of Claire during her relationship with Iris, yet to Iris, it seemed often to mock her as a distant replay of her own poor choices. She felt alarmed whenever she heard of Amelie saying she had pulled Claire out of a fight with a civilian, that she had spoken to Kate to be lenient on punishment for her. Iris had never done drugs nor alcohol, but she was familiar with this type of shit.
Yet she loathed Claire, for she was not improving like Iris had; and whenever she viewed her she viewed only her uncle and that ugly bastard who had been hurting Amelie for the past year. She felt protective of Amelie, still, even as this selfish desire had begun to dissipate; it would not help that Amelie seemed so implicitly to encourage it during this investigation. Thus was the dilemma Iris felt during this arc; that they both served as amplifiers to each other when together.
Across the table of Amelie & Claire's hotel room, Amelie smiled at her. Claire was in the bathroom, but Olivia was there, and they still needed to go to the local police for information. "Iris, would you be alright going with me? I was going to ask Claire if you didn't."
Amelie knew her habits too well, Iris felt; she knew Iris wouldn't decline that given the alternative. She nodded and left with Amelie.
"I don't terribly like dealing with the police." Amelie's fingers twisted. "…perhaps you could talk with them?"
"Alright."
"I always feel a little shy with these things."
They shared not another word as they left. She looked to Iris; she seemed withered since December, though she was sure that if she were to question it Iris would deny it even now. She shared a trait with Claire in that she viewed sympathy as degradation; it made herself pitiable. Yet she was still rather handsome; her hands something Amelie wished she could grasp around herself and develop into.
Then she was unsure again. She noticed also the permanent black scorch mark on Iris's right hand and thought she had perhaps forgotten to heal after a fire Revenant. So she decided to say: "Iris, can I ask you something?"
"Alright."
"I need a little help. With Claire."
Iris was keyed in enough with her own gender to know that Amelie was softening this awkwardness by asking her for advice, thus putting herself in a submissive position to Iris. "What about her?"
"Well, I... she's said she would like to try recovering. She came home and apologized to me for how she hadn't been there much to mentor me for my first months at Urasaria, but that she would like to try to stop. She felt that alcohol was rotting away pieces of herself, and I mentioned to her what you said; that I understood part of what had filled her wasn't what was initially there."
"Only part of it."
"Well, yes. And yes, she still expects to be able to rely on me, and I admitted my part in some bits of cruelty I had inflicted upon her." Amelie sighed. "And of course I realize that the expectation on me as a woman is that I should take care of her, and I suppose I resent that, a little."
Iris frowned. "Why? You don't have any obligation to her. There's times my uncle would come home needing a bucket to vomit into. I still stopped fetching one for him after the first month."
"Yes, but you're also a meaner person than I am."
Amelie smiled, and for a moment Iris was vaguely annoyed; not at the judgment, which was true. It was because she remembered this flighty characteristic of Amelie and how it had frustrated her. But Iris denied obligation to others; she felt that life had hardened her enough that she needed to look out for herself first, and if Amelie could not learn this then she would be perpetually used.
…yet she found now an odd comfort that Amelie was still like this.
"Well, still. I'd just say to be cautious and not naive. She might not recover, Amelie. Most addicts don't, not permanently. There might come a time where you have to cut her loose so your own life can advance."
Amelie shook her head. "I understand your cynicism, Iris. But I do believe people can change. Not everyone gets... corrupted."
"I just don't want you getting hurt. She might be a basically decent person, but for some people -- drugs, a bad home life or violence -- it's too much. They're weak. But you're not. You have potential."
"I know, Iris. You think she's just a terminal fuck-up, but I know differently. There's sensitivity to her that you haven't seen. I see who she interacts with at bars, and those are truly people with no future prospects; I wouldn't even use the term burn-out for them." Amelie sighed. "But she feels judged by everyone else, and if I join in that, then it'll swirl her further into those outskirts of society. I remember she once went out to try to attract other women at this bar, and... god, she looked ridiculous. But she's making an attempt, Iris. It's why I don't believe she's a bad person. Just an emotional idiot."