[TOY] Plaything

[skinstealer]

POLKA DOT: Nah, like…
POLKA DOT: You’re being smart.
POLKA DOT: This is what we’ve got right now, right?
POLKA DOT: ‘sides, I probably would’ve gotten fucked up by this city without you.
LAURIE: Oh?
LAURIE: What do you mean?
POLKA DOT: It’s like…
POLKA DOT: When I got here, I woke up on the ground with a lot of anger rumbling around.
POLKA DOT: It’s all I felt, and I didn’t know what to do with it.
POLKA DOT: Still…figuring that part out, but the Place helped me take a second to calm down and get my head in order.
POLKA DOT: Met a lot of nice people, learned a lot of cool things.
POLKA DOT: …it’s hard not to imagine how things would’ve went if I didn’t have that.
 

Laurie’s quiet for a few moments, the only sound being his cane tapping along the sidewalk.

LAURIE: I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.
LAURIE: You may have made some mistakes early on without the Place, yes, but-
LAURIE: From what I can tell, you’re brave and have a strong heart.
LAURIE: …cheesy, and maybe you do have these qualities to a fault-
POLKA DOT: H-hey!
LAURIE: -but those aren’t to be downplayed in a place like this.
LAURIE: It’s part of why you’re going on that adventure outside, isn’t it?
LAURIE: To help someone you care about?
POLKA DOT: …Vine told you about that too, huh?
LAURIE: Oh, word travels. You’re not the only one asking people for advice.
LAURIE: You didn’t think Willow was going into this half-cocked, did you?
 

…you realize that you kind of did think that, a little bit. The whole…becoming a monster goal, it just seemed too out there-

POLKA DOT: She’s…been asking around?
LAURIE: Mm, though not the same questions, I bet.
LAURIE: From what I can tell, she’s been looking into how to manage transformations and the like.
LAURIE: Vine’s told me you’re handling a lot of the prep stuff, party gathering, the works…
LAURIE: …Willow’s making sure that this choice won’t harm you, or anyone else.
LAURIE: Or at the very least, trying to mitigate as much of that damage as possible.
LAURIE: Chances are, this will end in someone getting hurt. Perhaps her, perhaps someone else.
LAURIE: But she’s looking into ways to bounce back from that.
LAURIE: …you should ask her about it, when you get there.
POLKA DOT: Guess so, huh…
LAURIE: I’m sure you have your own worries, too…
POLKA DOT: Boy, you could say that again.
LAURIE: Then why don’t you pitch them to me?
LAURIE: We can rehearse.
LAURIE: Tell me what’s getting to you about all this.