Major spoilers ahead if you wish to continue reading. You have been warned! Please check out 'Unlikely Infatuation' in Ariana's gallery for background information about this pairing.
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"Wait, why are we stopping?"
"I don't get it. Why are you even here? Why do you want to be with me?"
"Why? I think it obvious. I like you."
"But... I'm not one to be loved. I've done horrible...awful things. I've hurt people and I've relished in it."
"We've all done some awful things in our lives. What matters is that we learn from those mistakes and strive to do better."
"You don't understand... I've ordered the genocide of an entire city all in service to a man, my father, who ultimately didn't give two shits about me."
"And I've indirectly caused the destruction of several cities with my mucking around with Script. We both have blood on our hands, Ari. We both share that stain of guilt."
"How can you live with it? How can you move past that and forgive yourself? How can you ask anyone to forgive you for what you've done?"
"Who says I've moved past it? I have to deal with that pain every day, but I know that as long as I continue to do the right thing and help those that I love and are in need, people will see that and will learn to trust you again in time."
"I'm not so sure. Why do you trust me? I don't see what about me appeals to you. I'm a freak spliced together by my father to ultimately serve his ends and then be cast aside, hated by everyone I've left in my wake."
"I guess, because I see a bit of my mom in you... That sounded wrong, but let me explain. My mom wasn't exactly a nice person, but she was a good one. She would probably be considered a villain in many people's eyes because she did all the wrong things for the right reasons. Max and I and countless other innocents are alive today thanks to her, but many more are dead as well. Granted, they deserved their deaths, it still didn't make what she did right."
"Why didn't you turn her in when you knew about what she had done?"
"It's complicated, but the long and short of it was that it'd put Max and me in a position of being orphaned again and potentially ending up in a far worse position than we were as her adopted kids. Both of us tried to influence her as best we could into changing her negative self-destructive ways, even if it ultimately didn't take. Her heart was still in the right place though and she continued to want to help others."
"She sounds like a strong lady."
"She was and I loved her dearly. But that's what I see in you. You're capable of doing horrible things, but also of great positive things too. I've seen those rare moments where your true heart shines through and that you are capable of good. That's what attracts me to you."
"Is that all?"
"That and you don't find me stinky like most other people do!"
"Don't push your luck there, Steven."
"Hehe, well, you are also quite strikingly beautiful too."
"Ha! I'm just a failed lab experiment not fit for anyone or compatible with anyone."
"Do we honestly have to be compatible to enjoy each other?"
"Your interest is showing."
"Ah...haha, so it is! But it just means that I'm extremely attracted to you."
"I still can't fathom why. Aren't you just exploiting my vulnerability right now just to use me?"
"Does everything have to be exploitation with you? Have you exploited so many others in your life that you can't step back and see when someone genuinely wants to spend time with you with no strings attached?"
"There is that one obvious... string attached that's growing by the second."
"Hehe, I get that way when I'm terrified, but I'm not afraid of you. If you had wanted to hurt me, you would have done so long before now. That's how I know I can be safe around you and be myself. You want someone in your life to be vulnerable with, otherwise you wouldn't have let us get this far."
"You are perceptive for a walking butt carpet."
"Haha, and you're the only one I'd allow to call me that! How about we 'use' each other tonight? Just you and me? No strings. No expectations. Just two broken people looking for a safe place to let out our frustrations and fears? I'm here for you if you want me, Ari."
