[@Lovejoy] Ziotea sort of cares, but she doesn't like caring.  She can totally be nasty to him, because he's just so [i]cheerful[/i] and it drives her nuts sometimes.  Earlier on she would have been actively vicious, and tried to get him to leave her (and Rodion) alone, and she actually sees /him/ as childish and naive.  Nowadays she's less actively unkind, but it's very much a "nobody picks on him but me" kind of a thing.  I don't know about understanding him.  I don't know that she does.  But she does understand that he cares, as stupid as that is, and she's learned to accept that, and in a way she hopes to ensure he doesn't lose that compassion.

I imagine he's very aware of hre side of the mess that was that one guy she nearly killed.  And all the others she injured.  I can't see him being okay with her if he didn't know it wasn't deliberate.  Even if she doesn't care, or pretends not to.