Chapter Text
The question is posed by the Duke, which both does and does not surprise everyone. The kid is a “theater brat” (the Page and Two Nine call him that, sometimes), who has spent plenty of time around adults. But, he is a pretty “innocent” kid (“Naive, uninformed, unlearned-” “He’s sitting right there, man!”), even after what happened. So, it kind of makes sense he wouldn’t know.
The Page snickers and pulls his sleeves higher. His arms look like the aftermath of a blender accident. “Ya know how grownups like to say ‘I’m so bored I could tear my hair out’? It’s like that, but more. I got some on my legs too.”
“You did that yourself?”
“Most of it. If you look real close…” The Page points. “… you can see needle marks, and those weren’t me.” He glances for an almost imperceptible second at Doctor Robot.
“Are those teeth marks?”
“Yup!” There’s a strange kind of pride in his voice. “They thought if they took away my razor, I wouldn’t do it anymore. Preeeeeeetty stupid, huh?”
The Duke stares in silence for a long moment. “Why… why did you do it?”
The Page laughs, a high-pitched cackle that has something like sorrow behind it. “If ya hurt yourself, nobody else can hurt ya!”
“I kind of see the point,” says Herne. “I started running after… things happened, and I noticed the cramps feel really good? It’s like, if you feel really bad inside, you can stop it by making your outside feel bad too.”
“Not the only way,” says the Page, “but I’ll get in trouble for telling about the other ways I do it.”
“What?”
“Either make your outside feel better-” He makes a very suggestive hand gesture. “-or make someone else feel worse!”