Calliope's eyes widened and her cheeks flustered and she averted her gaze. He grinned at her, his fingers itching to touch her rosy cheeks. She was lovely when flustered. Oh, he found her lovely in every situation.
"I don't think I need to do something this extreme," Calliope whispered, shyly.
Callum chuckled. "I was kidding."
"I can see it," Calliope said, meeting his amused eyes. "I'm sorry. I judged you based on a single encounter. I had a bad day and my soiled clothes made it worse."
"It's okay," Callum softly said. "I soiled your clothes. I should have been more careful." And he paused before saying, "And… Good people really haven't gone extinct at all. If you ever doubt it, just look in the mirror. You will see one."
"You are right. Whenever I would look in the mirror, I would look at the scars on my skin. And these scars will remind me of a kind man who put his life in danger to save mine," Calliope said, refusing to accept that she could be a good woman. Killing that monster made her a murderer. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she was a criminal now.
"Why do you think he was a kind man?" Callum asked her. " He could be a wicked man, a devil in disguise. What if he had saved you for some ulterior motives? One action of a person could never describe his character."
Why did he jump into the fire to save her?
Because it was Calli. He couldn't bear seeing her hurt. If it had been another person, the most he would have done was call for help or authorities. No, he wouldn't have jumped into the fire like a lunatic.
"You are wrong. One action can describe a man's character," Calliope said. Even if he didn't want to accept that her protector was a good and kind man, she would. This is the least she could do. " If he is good or evil. Everything. His one action can describe his character."
Pausing for a moment, she added," I will always be grateful to him and he is a good man in my eyes because he jumped in the fire to save my life. No words would make me believe otherwise. I would have never done what he had done for me without even thinking or asking anything in return. I'm not a good person. I would have never put my life in danger for a stranger."
"Calli, you have decided to call yourself a bad woman?" Callum asked her. From their encounters, he could tell that she didn't see herself as a good woman, worth saving. She believed that bad and wicked are worth damning.
"I won't call myself good," Calliope intelligently replied. What murderer would call herself a good person?
"Then, why aren't you happy being a bad one? Why do you always feel remorse for being a bad woman? Have you ever known what it feels like to be a good person?"
Callum's question touched on her most sore point. If she was a bad person, why wasn't she happy being one? Why was she always trying to look at herself in a different mirror? Why did she doesn't like who she was?
"I did…" She whispered. "I did feel what it's like to be a good person?"
"How did it turn out for you?" Callum questioned with a raised brow.
"It made me who I am today. Something I don't like. Someone I don't even recognise, "She found herself replying. " It made me unhappy and miserable."
"Then, try being the bad one!" Callum advised her. He wanted her to fully embrace her evilness.
"What?!" She didn't understand what he meant.
"You know what people like you are not bad ones. They are the most misunderstood and confused people," Callum told her in simple words. How many times have you met a person who has you all figured out in one glance?
"There is a visible and well-defined line between goodness and evilness. They are just stuck on that line between good and evil. Your goodness has pushed her to the line. You can neither go back nor go ahead. You also don't want to cross that line," Callum continued, shaking her heart "The place where you are stuck in making you miserable. You can't call yourself good and nor can you use the word bad. This confusion and dilemma are killing you. Goodness destroys you and evilness is making you hesitant."
...
Author Note: The level of understanding between the two of them is frightening sometimes. It's like he can read and understand her like his PhD thesis.