"You can do that?" Dimentio asked, his voice sounding almost as small as Dio's for once.

His eyes didn't hold the same look of awe as Dio's did, however. When Dio watched Dimentio do tricks, he was fascinated. Dimentio, yes, was fascinated by this, but was more so wondering why the heck he never could do such things. He had never been able to do any form of healing!

"Yes, can't you?" Dio asked, finally letting go of Mr. L's arm and grasping his own right shoulder in pain, doing his best to ignore it as he blinked up at Dimentio.

Dimentio hesitated before answering. How would Mr. L and Dio judge him upon hearing that he could in fact not heal or transfer injuries? Would they think him weak? Would they think him lesser than this other version of himself?

"You can't..." Mr. L said, looking up at Dimentio and smiling slightly as if this was humorous.

Dimentio wanted nothing more at this moment than to wipe that smug look off his face. "I... said no such thing," Dimentio quietly replied.

"You didn't need to," Mr. L shrugged. "The look in your eyes says quite enough."

"I-" The jester was stumped. He didn't want to speak, because he simply didn't have a counterargument for that. He couldn't outright lie because outright lies were easy to catch, and though Mr. L was indeed gullible at times, he was no true idiot. He could indeed catch a lie as blunt as that.

But, Dimentio couldn't just outright say that he had no idea how to use magic that way. It would be like admitting to a weakness. And he knew that Mr. L would hang the fact over his head forever, so he just stayed silent.

"... Do you want me to teach you?" Dio asked, smiling slightly.

Now, this was even more humiliating and insulting. He was supposed to be teaching this lesser version of himself how to do magic. Not the other way around. What, was Dio just trying to look superior in front of Mr. L? Was he showing off the fact that he could do this one thing better than Dimentio himself?

"No." Dimentio flatly said, looking away. "I do not."

Jealousy. That's what it was, and he knew it. He knew the feeling all too well. He had been a jealous person ever since the day he lost everything. He had been jealous of all those who still had their families. Jealous of everyone who had a home to go back to. But he had never been jealous quite like this.

Jealous of another version of himself. Jealous of Dio still having hope. Still having that chance to get that world back. It stung because he could never get that. Not only was this other version of him still kind like he had once been lifetimes ago, but he still had hope for getting that beautiful, perfect, golden life back. He had everything.

He had EVERYTHING!

Why was he even helping? Dimentio knew that he himself was manipulative. Manipulation had always been a skill of his. He just never thought that he would be on the receiving end of it.

No... when he was young he was used to being on the receiving end. Because, truth to be told, there was one person who was always better at manipulating others than he was, and that was his little brother. He could manipulate him into playing with him any day of the week. For his whole life, all his brother would have to do is bat an eye and say please, and poof! Dimentio would come running. Only in the last year of his life did that trick stop working on Dimentio.

He wished it didn't. He still wished that he had played in the woods one last time. But that is beside the point. The point is that Dio is JUST like he was, using that child-like quality to manipulate others.

He hated that. He hated that so much.

He just needed to teach him quickly, then send him away forever. THEN he could finally continue what he was planning. Finish what should have been finished long ago. Even though his plan was fuzzy and hardly a plan at all.

He was used to having well-thought-out, organized strategic plans, but his current plans were practically the opposite. Truth to be told, he was just desperate for a goal to have. Something to work towards, since the idea of a perfect world had been quite literally blown to bits. So, he chose to focus on getting revenge on everyone who wronged him, and the green-eyed man was the first person on that list.

But if he were to be honest, Dimentio wasn't even sure if that man was still out there. But if he was, he would surely find and kill him. This whole mysterious clone situation was nothing more than a minor setback in his quest.

"Oh. Alright then..." Dio trailed off, still grasping his shoulder and making a pained expression. "Uhh, my arm kinda hurts right now... so do you know if we could take five?"

"Take five?!" Dimentio asked. "No, no. I do not have time for breaks."

"Come on. My arm hurts..." Dio whined.

"Well, that's your fault-"

"Just give him a break, Dim." Mr. L interrupted.

Ah. Of course, Mr. L was siding with Dio. Still, Dimentio couldn't help but feel betrayed. He had no idea why this had bothered him so. After all, he had betrayed Mr. L first back in Sammer's Kingdom with the little execution box trick, and this was nowhere near that level of betrayal. But still, something didn't sit right with the man in green siding with the other version of himself over him.

Did he prefer Dio?

Why wouldn't he? Dio was basically him, but better. Kinder, less afraid to show himself, and overall probably better for L.

All the reason to send him away faster.

"...I'll give you three minutes," Dimentio stated, snapping his fingers and making a small hourglass appear in front of Mr. L and Dio. "Ciao."

And just like that, he vanished. Vanished because he simply didn't want to wait around for fear of one of the two starting a conversation with him. But he didn't go far, because he wanted to hear what they said if they were to start talking.

______

".... I like him!" Dio smiled, turning to Mr. L, though his smile was partially strained due to the still throbbing, pulsing pain in his arm. "He's charming!"

Mr. L paused, raising an eyebrow and giving Dio a weird look. "Really? You got charming from that?!" Mr. L asked, almost sounding shocked by Dio's surprisingly calm tone.

"Well... yes. I can tell he's sweet deep down, even if he tries to hide it."

Ah, Dimentio thought to himself. Still playing the part of the good guy who simply sees the best in everyone, are we?

"...I thought that too once..." Mr. L trailed off after a brief pause, his voice slightly quieter than before. "But... don't put your trust in him. You may think he's there for you, but then the next thing you know, he's snapping his fingers and sending you to the aftergame."

"Ah. So your trust issues come from him?" Dio asked.

"Yes." Mr. L replied all too quickly. He was almost surprised with how quickly it had slipped out. But... It was true. He had no problems when it came to trusting the Count. He trusted Nastasia immediately. He used to trust everyone.

Now, he trusted no one.

"I think everyone is too untrusting nowadays..." Dio trailed off, looking down. "But... just know that no one is born evil. What happened to him... I can't even imagine what that must have felt like. Perhaps he... was just trying to find a way to get rid of the pain. A-and I'm not saying that it's okay for him to hurt you, because it's not... but try not to be too upset with him."

Dimentio paused, making sure he was invisible first before floating closer so he could see Dio's face, just checking to see if he looked genuine. He did.

Odd. Did he really think that way?

Mr. L didn't reply. He just waited in silence as Dio waited for him to say something until it became clear that he wouldn't.

"Do you trust me yet?" Dio asked, his smile gone. He was genuinely wondering. Not pestering, but wondering.

".... Well, you haven't given me any reason not to." Mr. L muttered.

Dio's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he was a child who had just been told that their family would be adopting a puppy. As his eyes lit up, his face went with it, overall giving him a brighter, more hopeful look. "Is that a yes?!" Dio asked, excitedly grabbing Mr. L's left arm. Even though it hurt to move his own arm, he ignored the pain, because he may have just done one of the things he promised himself to do.

Mr. L lightly smiled at his excitement, then sighed and shook his head. "...I think it may be." He muttered.

Now, Dimentio had been hurt many times during his life. It seemed he felt pain every day. In fact, he couldn't truly remember the last time he genuinely smiled. But this... out of everything that had happened today, this was what hurt the most.

And he didn't know why. He knew Mr. L used to trust him. He knew how Mr. L used to feel about him, and what did he do with that? He threw it in the man in green's face and betrayed him. So why did he care that Mr. L was learning to trust another again?

A good person would have been happy for him.

Well, Dimentio wasn't a good person. He knew that about himself. He had already known that he threw away his shot at Mr. L trusting him the moment he snapped his fingers and sent him away.

But... it was as if the regret didn't hit him until just now. It was unfair of him to be upset at the idea of Mr. L trusting another. He didn't own him, after all.

But... something about the look in Mr. L's eyes as he smiled at Dio didn't sit well with Dimentio. It was the way Mr. L had looked at him when they first met.

Was he replacing him?

Jealousy. Jealousy was what it was. The familiar feeling of wanting something you cannot have. It boiled like heated water on a stove. It burned and often ate away at many good people, turning them into monsters.

But Dimentio was already a monster. He wished he wasn't. He wished he could still be like Dio. Maybe for just one day. Be kind for one day. Have hope for one day. Be who he used to be... just for one day.

But he couldn't. He never could, because everything that had made him like that once was gone. He had no home or family. No one to be good for.

Perhaps that was why good people were good and bad people were bad. Good people had someone or something that made being happy and kind worth it. Bad people had nothing. That was the difference between good and bad. That was the difference between him and Dio.

Dio was good. Dio deserved L.

Dimentio was not, and likewise, he did not.