Something about that speaks to him on a level that no longer makes sense - the idea that even bad things could have good results. That seeds sewn in pain could grow into something bigger and better tomorrow. It's the kind of thing he always remembers thinking, before. It's the stuff he'd comfort himself with before sleeping, and to focus on in his darkest moments.
Even bad things could have a purpose. That it was never too late to turn things around...
His heart hurts, and he puts his normal hand over it, wincing and flinching back from Joker's touch. The feelings make him feel cornered, like he did when the Void was pressing in on all sides of him, turning down any kind of hope he tried to offer. Over and over, over and over, until there was nothing left but-
"I can't," he whines, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "It hurts too much. And if I make it stop, I'll just be hurting everyone else who ever cared about me..."
He's seen the suffering caused by his mother's death. How it had been what she wanted, but the devastation it had wreaked regardless. He'd seen the cost of Pink Diamond's death, whose end had been necessary for the happiness of others. There was nowhere to move, nowhere to release the pressure.
He can't see a way out, and he feels like he's drowning.
"I can't do it," he pleads, and it's like the helplessness of it all is breaking him down, bit by bit. "All of us have to go, or none of us!"
A tremor goes through the rose, its thorns growing longer, and its vines growing taller. Steven's own arm is covering his body in thorns, like it's trying to protect him from the world.
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Even bad things could have a purpose. That it was never too late to turn things around...
His heart hurts, and he puts his normal hand over it, wincing and flinching back from Joker's touch. The feelings make him feel cornered, like he did when the Void was pressing in on all sides of him, turning down any kind of hope he tried to offer. Over and over, over and over, until there was nothing left but-
"I can't," he whines, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "It hurts too much. And if I make it stop, I'll just be hurting everyone else who ever cared about me..."
He's seen the suffering caused by his mother's death. How it had been what she wanted, but the devastation it had wreaked regardless. He'd seen the cost of Pink Diamond's death, whose end had been necessary for the happiness of others. There was nowhere to move, nowhere to release the pressure.
He can't see a way out, and he feels like he's drowning.
"I can't do it," he pleads, and it's like the helplessness of it all is breaking him down, bit by bit. "All of us have to go, or none of us!"
A tremor goes through the rose, its thorns growing longer, and its vines growing taller. Steven's own arm is covering his body in thorns, like it's trying to protect him from the world.