Hal explaining it with words was probably asking too much. But Rich tried to get him to explain anyway.
"Why? Why are you holding on so tight to that whole thing? It's healthier to just...let it go. He's just another perp. Just another psycho who chose to take a wrong turn and doesn't care enough about anyone else -- yourself included -- to turn back."
He frowned, thinking about his own friends. He thought about Gamora, killing a bunch of people he'd ordered her to interrogate just for the hell of it. He thought about all the times she'd been violent towards him. Maybe it wasn't entirely her fault, thanks to the Phalanx, but that didn't mean their usual rapport was all that healthy, either.
So, as much as it killed him, as much as he'd loved her, he'd let her go. Because maybe he didn't think the most of himself but he still knew he'd deserved better. He'd wanted more out of life.
"What is it you're looking for from him, that you want from him, that's worth more than what good people could put in your life? Because it is worth more. You're still looking to him for what could be when he hurt an innocent kid and almost took something you already had -- something better."
Rich didn't know Dipper that well but the kid obviously cared about Hal. Looked up to him and admired him. Liked him even though he sometimes clearly thought he was a little ridiculous.
Any kind of real affection and caring from Hal's real friends was worth more than anything that psycho was capable of.
"And if you really are looking for something there -- why do you seem to think he's the only one you can get it from?"
That was how these things worked, right? People just needed to hold on, think someone would change, because they felt like they couldn't do better, or get something better elsewhere.
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"Why? Why are you holding on so tight to that whole thing? It's healthier to just...let it go. He's just another perp. Just another psycho who chose to take a wrong turn and doesn't care enough about anyone else -- yourself included -- to turn back."
He frowned, thinking about his own friends. He thought about Gamora, killing a bunch of people he'd ordered her to interrogate just for the hell of it. He thought about all the times she'd been violent towards him. Maybe it wasn't entirely her fault, thanks to the Phalanx, but that didn't mean their usual rapport was all that healthy, either.
So, as much as it killed him, as much as he'd loved her, he'd let her go. Because maybe he didn't think the most of himself but he still knew he'd deserved better. He'd wanted more out of life.
"What is it you're looking for from him, that you want from him, that's worth more than what good people could put in your life? Because it is worth more. You're still looking to him for what could be when he hurt an innocent kid and almost took something you already had -- something better."
Rich didn't know Dipper that well but the kid obviously cared about Hal. Looked up to him and admired him. Liked him even though he sometimes clearly thought he was a little ridiculous.
Any kind of real affection and caring from Hal's real friends was worth more than anything that psycho was capable of.
"And if you really are looking for something there -- why do you seem to think he's the only one you can get it from?"
That was how these things worked, right? People just needed to hold on, think someone would change, because they felt like they couldn't do better, or get something better elsewhere.