Derek's frown deepens at Adam's response. "That question was rhetorical and not aimed at you, anyway," he replies with a sigh. "But that's the justification back home. Oh, they've got fangs, they're monsters, they don't deserve to live. We never hurt anybody. Back then, we went out of our way to make sure we never hurt anybody, but it didn't matter. So you can see why I'm antsy about people knowing, right? It's not about you, it's a general question that comes from a general lack of trust due to a general mistreatment of my kind. I'm sure what you saw makes me look like a monster. No doubt you got a highlight reel of all the things I regret in my life, knowing this place. Just...know that whatever you saw, it was out of context."
And context matters, but that part goes unsaid, because he doesn't mean or want to insult Adam's intelligence.
Adam's question has Derek shaking his head. "Not exactly," he admits. "He knows I'm not as strong as I am back home and that's kind of all he knows. I saw him when he was still doing the underground fighting, I thought he was a guy I knew back home. Only, he's got this tattoo Jackson didn't and he's a fighter. Jackson was a huge pussy," Derek says with a shrug. "I was curious. And then I got talking to him and thought maybe we could scratch each other's backs. He doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut and pick his battles, and I don't know how to defend myself when I'm human." He shrugs again. "We didn't get into it a whole lot deeper than that."
Derek pushes his meal away, disinterested in it, reaching a hand up to wiggle a finger in the ear with the phantom ringing before letting his hand fall away again. "I just don't want you to think I went rooting around in your head on purpose. Trust me, I didn't. Even if I could do that sort of thing, I wouldn't have picked a complete and total stranger, that'd be too risky." He doesn't mention the fact that, technically, with the claws, he could do that. He just doesn't trust his skill level and even if he did, he doesn't have the claws, so the point is moot.
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And context matters, but that part goes unsaid, because he doesn't mean or want to insult Adam's intelligence.
Adam's question has Derek shaking his head. "Not exactly," he admits. "He knows I'm not as strong as I am back home and that's kind of all he knows. I saw him when he was still doing the underground fighting, I thought he was a guy I knew back home. Only, he's got this tattoo Jackson didn't and he's a fighter. Jackson was a huge pussy," Derek says with a shrug. "I was curious. And then I got talking to him and thought maybe we could scratch each other's backs. He doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut and pick his battles, and I don't know how to defend myself when I'm human." He shrugs again. "We didn't get into it a whole lot deeper than that."
Derek pushes his meal away, disinterested in it, reaching a hand up to wiggle a finger in the ear with the phantom ringing before letting his hand fall away again. "I just don't want you to think I went rooting around in your head on purpose. Trust me, I didn't. Even if I could do that sort of thing, I wouldn't have picked a complete and total stranger, that'd be too risky." He doesn't mention the fact that, technically, with the claws, he could do that. He just doesn't trust his skill level and even if he did, he doesn't have the claws, so the point is moot.