Cotton Candy Thorns

"... What's with that look?"

"I'm just worried about you."

"Oh, I'll be fine. Nothing a bit of candy and video games can't fix."

"And that's great for emotional injuries, but this is physical. Lop, you broke your arm."

"Yeah, landed funny and it got crunched. No worries, though! I heal up fast, and I'll be partying in-"

"This isn't just about your arm! This isn't about how fast you heal, or what the doctors would say, or when your next party is due! You broke your arm last week, yes, and you also lost a tooth the week before, and you fucked up your left ankle the week before that! You've been going through an entire box of bandaids every week, and I know that because you make me buy them while you're at home nursing the latest injury! ... What's going on with you?"

"... It's-.... I-I-I just-.... Wha-.... We get into a lot of fights. That's all."

"Who? What are you talking about, "we get into a lot of fights"? I'm not fighting. I usually have no idea the fight's even happening until I show up and you're out of shape again!"

"We, like me and Cham, a-a-and Tory, and, um.... "

"Chameleon and Tor-Tur don't get hurt nearly as much as you do. Lop, sweetheart, you're doing this on purpose. I know you are. I want to know why."

"..."

"... Go on."

"It's the only thing that feels right."

"What?"

"It's the only thing I can do that feels like I'm... doing something right. Partying is wrong, loving you is wrong, being happy is wrong, but getting hurt is right. Because I've hurt others so badly. I've done some stuff I can't take back, and on the off chance that I'm really real, that I'm a person who matters, then my past actions are disgusting, and getting hurt all the time is the least I can do to... balance things."

"... Oh... I see what this is... Lop, you were just a kid w-"

"Kids don't do stuff like that."

"But they do, by the fact that you were a kid, and you did that."

"Doesn't make it right."

"Doesn't make you wrong."