They're learning that maybe they didn't need to be told that they were loved in the same breath that accompanied a hurled ball of fire that scorched their skin and singed their hair. They're learning that, that maybe they didn't need to be beaten with a long string of bones and tossed, unconscious, into a shed. Maybe they didn't need to be stalked and hounded by a fearsome warrior who said their SOUL was the only thing worth their existence, because everything else about them was a crime. Because dying was the best possible outcome for everyone, for all of monsterkind. Maybe they didn't need to be used for someone else's happiness, so that someone else could feel better. Maybe they didn't need to be the person everyone wants them to be, the angel with skinned knees and an unflinching smile and an earnest, patient smile, willing always to forgive, despite everything.
Maybe they didn't need to be taken to a place full of strangers and threatened and questioned when they'd done nothing, when they'd done nothing but try their best for one final, doomed time.
Maybe they didn't need to be punished for their every transgression with a look, with a judgment, with a smug pronouncement as to the depravity of their crimes.
2/
Maybe they didn't need to hurt.
They're learning that maybe they didn't need to be told that they were loved in the same breath that accompanied a hurled ball of fire that scorched their skin and singed their hair. They're learning that, that maybe they didn't need to be beaten with a long string of bones and tossed, unconscious, into a shed. Maybe they didn't need to be stalked and hounded by a fearsome warrior who said their SOUL was the only thing worth their existence, because everything else about them was a crime. Because dying was the best possible outcome for everyone, for all of monsterkind. Maybe they didn't need to be used for someone else's happiness, so that someone else could feel better. Maybe they didn't need to be the person everyone wants them to be, the angel with skinned knees and an unflinching smile and an earnest, patient smile, willing always to forgive, despite everything.
Maybe they didn't need to be taken to a place full of strangers and threatened and questioned when they'd done nothing, when they'd done nothing but try their best for one final, doomed time.
Maybe they didn't need to be punished for their every transgression with a look, with a judgment, with a smug pronouncement as to the depravity of their crimes.
Maybe, they -