Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Such a beautiful summer evening. It was no later than 8 pm, the sun was slowly setting, waving goodbye to all in its own way.

Marcy was enjoying this time of the day, especially. Dressed in a black chest binder and a simple pair of pajama shorts, she happily drew panels for her webcomic. Nothing like a good track playing quietly on the speakers while drawing in the sunset's remains of light.

The mesmerizing shade of orange seeped in Marcy's room, the rays hit Marcy's revealed skin and rest there, making her shine delicately alluring.

Her room was arguably a small one but it had everything she could've asked for - speakers, LED lights, a comfy desk full of photos of her and her friends, a little drawer for her clothes and a bed.

She's been working insanely hard on a chapter. Her fanbase was eagerly waiting for more, but luckily for Marcy, they were not the kind of fans to pressure the author into releasing chapters that fast.

She knew that about her fans. But that didn't stop her from working hard on the webcomic. She wanted it to offer the most pleasing, the most wonderful and captivating reading experience.

Fortunately, Marcy was not living alone. Her roommate was Sasha. Past army commander, friend from kindergarten, child therapist AND the newest title, her girlfriend.

Sasha always seemed to show an interest in Marcy's random rambles, infodumps and work. Which she didn't use to do when she was young. She was learning how to be better, and she was good at it. She was healing, and Marcy finally got the close person who'd listen to her talking for hours she always needed.

This was good for Sasha, too. With Marcy, she never really felt like she must be in control.

They were truly healing. Together.

Drawing like this probably wasn't a good idea, as the night's hues settled in, leaving little to no light in sight. But Marcy was way too focused on what was right in front of her to turn on a light.

Plus, she had LED lights. Would you turn lights on, boring old lights, if you had those too?

Now, Marcy was getting to the battle sequence. These were always the most interesting to draw, but also the most complex. The poses had to be dynamic, perfectly interesting but also accurate from an anatomical viewpoint.

She pushed herself away from the desk, spinning playfully on her gaming chair - that was a gift from Anne and Sasha.

She stretched a bit, her arms above her head, only now realizing she might be a little tired. Well, maybe a little more than tired.

She got up and stretched her thin legs. 'Might as well grab a drink if I got up.' She thought to herself, walking to the kitchen. Some energy drinks might still be inside the fridge, why not grab one?

She opened the fridge, searching for the energy drinks there. Unfortunately, there seemed to be none, for some reason.

Thinking a bit at it, she remembers why they're all gone. Sasha took them away, maybe 2 or 3 days ago. You see, Marcy wasn't really a health freak. Better yet, she didn't give one singular sh!t if it meant watching a series all night.

She wasn't really the kind of person to just breeze through an all-nighter easily. She needed snacks, energy drinks and someone to talk to all night long.

Upon learning about this, Sasha scolded Marcy about why drinking that stuff is bad for you. Besides that, she also took them away.

Marcy sighed sadly.

She went back in her room and grabbed the remote controlling the LED lights from the nightstand.

The remains of the sun rays may have disappeared almost completely by now, but now Marcy's room was a soft, pleasant shade of green.

She put the control remote back on the nightstand and then gently threw herself on the gaming chair, going back to working.

She grabbed her pen and tucked a strand of black hair behind her pierced ear.

"Wait a sec.." She stopped in her tracks, remembering randomly she might still have one single energy drink hidden somewhere under her desk. Might not be cold but it was okay.

And plus, why was Sasha worrying so much? She only ever drank this stuff in emergency situations.. Like necessary all nighters, drawing sessions, you know.

What Sasha didn't know, couldn't hurt her.

Still, Marcy was beginning to feel a little, just a little guilty. Sasha was only doing this to take care of her health and here she was.

But it was probably nothing worth getting sad over.

Anyway, Marcy was a talented artist, but that didn't change the fact she still needed references to draw. Usually, Sasha would model for her, as weird as that sounds. Rarely, Anne would too, just because it was fun. The poses Marcy proposed were always fun to do.

But they were also very specific. You couldn't find them on the web so this is what led her to believe its better to ask Sasha for help.

Fortunately, Marcy still had a few reference pics on her phone. Might not be able to use them all - recycling poses? Not cool. - but it was okay. At least until Sasha came back home.

Now it was time for her to finish illustrating this chapter. She was just about to turn up the music but heard a few knocks on the door, it must've been Sasha!

Marcy gasped and swiftly got up from her desk, practically sprinting to the door.

She unlocked the door, greeting Sasha with an enthusiastic smile that was returned by the blonde.

"Hey, Mar-Mar!"

"Sashy, hey, how was your day?" Marcy asked excitedly, taking Sasha's coat and hanging it up for her.

"It was alright. All i can say is 'poor kiddos, man.'" The blonde replied, throwing her girlfriend a tired looking smile.

"Oh, come on, they'll get better, I'm sure of it." Marcy hugged Sasha, wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist. "I really hope so." She returned the hug wholeheartedly.

"But I mean.. Enough about that. How was your day?" They pull apart for a moment just so Sasha can throw Marcy a little smooch on her forehead. Being the taller one had its perks, didn't it?

Just like when they were teenagers, Marcy's cheeks cannot help but blush just a little bit at that. "'Twas pretty good! I started working on the battle sequence just some minutes ago, actually!"

Marcy would talk about her interests and she'd often go overboard with it. Sasha adored watching Marcy talk about those, her eyes were glistening, full of something a poet would call 'child-like wonder'.

"Can I.. Maybe.. Can I see those, though?" Sasha asked curiously. If Marcy said no, she'd understand. Perhaps too many spoilers.

"Course you can, I was just about to show you, too!" Marcy smiled, brimming with joy at Sasha's interest in her work. Swiftly, she grabs the blonde's hand and guides Sasha to her own room.

"Wait, Mar-Mar." Sasha stopped, getting a questioning look from the artist. "How long have you been wearing your binder?" She gently rubbed Marcy's soft hand with her thumb.

"Well I.. I went out to buy some snacks, which by the way are gone now, a few hours ago, that's when I put it on."

"Aight, just wanted to make sure." Sasha placed a little smooch on Marcy's forehead. "Pfft, you big softie." Marcy chuckled, her cheeks slightly lighting up.

~

"Alright so, take a seat, Sash, cuz I have a lot to tell you." Marcy excitedly started, pulling up a chair for the blonde. "Alrighty, but what about dinner?" Sasha asked, earning a confused look from Marcy, who was still standing up, just organizing some pencils on her desk.

"Dammit, Sasha, takeout exists!" Marcy giggled, taking a seat on her chair. "Yeah, right." Sasha took out her phone.

Look, Sasha didn't like takeout, but there was only one exception when it came to it, and you probably guessed it by now. Sasha and Marcy did enjoy thai food.

"Let me order something real fast and then you can tell me everything you wanna." Sasha winked, dialing a familiar phone number. "What do ya wanna order?" Sasha sweetly asked, waiting for someone to pick up. "Ya know, the usual."

~

The both of them just couldn't wait to start eating and talk about Marcy's webcomic. Sasha already had a favourite character but they were surrounded by death flags. Sasha did not enjoy that.

As expected, as soon as they open up the takeout boxes, the strong aroma of authentic thai food near-instantly fills Marcy's room.

"Alrighty, so what happens to them?" Sasha asked, stirring a little in the dish, as Marcy already dug in. "Them, who?" The artist asked, confused for a bit and mouth full of noodles. "Oooh! Yeah, they're practically on a knife's edge this chapter." She realized, after finishing her mouthful.

"No good news in sight?"

"Nope. And also, they're getting new trauma."

"Man."

"But besides that.." Hearing this, Sasha's face lit up, hoping for good news for her favorite character. The blonde then grabbed a mouthful of noodles, focused on Marcy.

"Two specific characters are getting the divorce!" Marcy continued, excited.

"That's more like it!" Sasha just grew more and more impatient, wanting to see the new chapter so badly.

"Aaand besides all that trauma, your skrimblo is getting a new outfit." Marcy completed, looking down at her dish, taking one more bite.

"For real??" She asked with widened eyes, like a child.

"Yeaah! And also, this comic is doing better and better online, so I'm thinking of doing a livestream, we could confirm silly headcanons and stuff!" Marcy proposed, gesturing in the air with the chopsticks, probably not even realizing she was doing that.

"Wait, that sounds sick, but you said 'we'?" Sasha asked confusedly.

"I know what I said, Sashy." Marcy winked. "You will be livestreaming with me!"

"Mar-Mar those are awesome news! But I have to ask, is it okay for me to be there? Haven't really worked on the webco-" Sasha really did want to be there, interacting with the fanbase Marcy created, answering questions and such. And having fun with Marcy.

"Course it is, you buffoon. You can be there since.. Well, would you wanna know something real cool?" Marcy looked at Sasha with smug, half closed eyes and a big, wide smile.

"Spill it, Mars." Sasha softly nudged Marcy, both of them smirking. "Alright, alright!"

"You were actually the main inspiration when I created your favorite character." Marcy explains, leaving Sasha amazed, still processing. "Imagine how cool it was hearing you say that exact character is your favorite.."

Sasha gazed at Marcy, completely amazed. "I mean, all I can say is that I hope I did a good job and did ya justice."

"You did me justice, Marcy. Thank you for that." Marcy was greeted with Sasha's hand on her shoulder and a warm, soft smile directed at her. "There's so much I love about this story and hearing you say I was an inspiration is a huge, huge freaking honor."

Sasha came closer and hugged Marcy, the blonde's head resting on the artist's shoulder. "Awh, man, Sashy. Glad you found it so well-made."

"But hey, let's continue, cuz I have so much more to ramble about." Marcy playfully chuckled, pulling apart.

Sasha cleared her throat, just now realizing how overly emotional all of that might've sounded. "Yeah, true, continue."

"And like, as I was saying, I'm about to traumatize some more characters, but it'll be worth it, cuz they-"

Marcy goes on and on talking about her own little universe put inside pages. Sasha can't hear anything else, it's just like the sound of the music blurs and is now only reduced to indistinct background noise.

The aroma of food, the pale green lights in the room, the drawings, reference boards and art supplies across Marcy's desk, the sky progressively becoming more and more dark, allowing stars to shine outside the window.

Sasha could really forget everything and anything just as long as she saw her Mar-Mar this into something.

Everything was perfect, just like this, just right now.

And I mean, wow, she really was in love, huh.

Chapter Text

'Hah, anytime now.' Marcy thought as she was simply staring at the ceiling, at 5 in the morning. The sun didn't even properly light up the sky and yet Marcy was already wide awake.

She's been wide awake for the past 2 hours. She's already done everything she could think of: she combed her hair, rewatched the finale of a series, went to the bathroom, everything. And it seemed like time had stopped itself from passing by.

Today was a pretty special day for her and Sasha and she just could not wait for the blonde to wake up.

Her gaze kept shifting from the empty ceiling to Sasha, who was peacefully sleeping besides her, tucked in nicely, the soft blanket covering her warm body and the few early rays of sunshine from outside shining on her smooth skin.

And besides being the prettiest woman for Marcy, Sasha was a heavy snorer. It was the loudest thing you ever could ever hear, but Marcy has gotten used to it. Never really bothered her, anyhow.

Marcy was juggling between two options that she had: wait for Sasha's alarm to go off at 6 AM sharp, or just go ahead and wake her up right now. Which wouldn't really work, because if Sasha was asleep, no one, nothing and no circumstance would be enough to wake her up.

Well that wasn't gonna do anything to stop Marcy from still trying.

Marcy turned to face Sasha aggressively sleeping. The brunette stared at her quite a bit, thinking of what to do. She didn't wanna slap Sasha.

She raised her hand a bit, still unsure of what to do, figuring out she'll maybe get an idea.

An idea came and Marcy pinched Sasha's arm. No response to that, as expected.

"Sash?" She whispered, getting closer to her sleeping girlfriend.

"Sashy." She continued, getting a little louder. Her hand rested on Sasha's shoulder, gently shaking up the blonde.

"Can you pleaaase wake up?" She continued shaking slowly.

Sasha grumbled quietly at that, hiding her head in the pillow, hoping it would stop and Marcy would let her sleep. Or not, she really didn't know.

"C'mooon, you know what day it is today, right?" She really wasn't whispering anymore, not at this point.

With a soft grumble, Sasha seemed to actually forget for a second. "Nnooo? Christmas?" Or she didn't forget, she just wanted to mess with Marcy.

And Marcy could feel the smirk forming on Sasha's face, even though she couldn't see it.

"You're waaaay ahead, Christmas is in 6 months, Sashy." Marcy giggled lightly, as she finally turned to face her, slowly getting up, still a little sleepy.

"Good morning, Mar-Mar." Sasha smiled softly, warmly looking at Marcy.

"Good morning right back at ya!" Marcy exclaimed as she practically jumped on Sasha, hugging her, eliciting a genuine chuckle from her. "Hah, so, today is a special day, i suppose?"

"Pancake sunday! PANCAKE SUNDAY!" Marcy chanted, excited like a child.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Sasha then got up from the bed and stretched a little, Marcy admiring her in the meantime. "I'ma goooo, brush my hair, get changed, y'know. Then, we're gonna make pancakes, aight?"

"Alrighty. I'm just gonnaaa... Go ahead and stretch a little." Marcy got off the bed awkwardly, making Sasha smirk at her. She left a smooch on Marcy's forehead and with that she left.

~

"Alright, so." Sasha started, pulling out a seat. "Yeah." Marcy continued, searching the cupboards, Sasha didn't know what for.

"What kind of pancakes are we even making, Marce?"

Marcy stopped in her track, looking questioningly at Sasha. "What do ya mean 'what kind'?"

"Come on, there are like 3 different types of pancakes!" Sasha added, earning a near cartoonish gasp from Marcy.

"You researched this kind of stuff??" She murmured softly, pleasantly surprised.

"Surprise!" Sasha went full jazz-hands.

"I love you." the artist sighed softly and went back to searching through the cupboards.

"Back atcha."

"Oh," Marcy continued, "By the way, I have a little gift for ya!" She sang cheerfully, revealing what she had been searching for. Sasha couldn't really tell what it was, since it seemed to be folded nicely.

However, she could tell it was something crocheted. Right, Marcy had a new hobby, and it was adorable. Last time, she made frog earmuffs for her, Sasha and Anne.

"Ooh, what's that?" Sasha smiled in surprise, looking curiously at Marcy.

"I, uh, crocheted some stuff." She beamed. It was obvious she's been waiting for a while to show them to Sasha. "Let's just say we have matching aprons now!" She said, unfolding hers.

"Oh, wow." The blonde muttered, taking hers and unfolding it, curious. "Holy smokes, Mar-Mar, this is stunning!"

"I'm sooo glad you like it!" She squealed, her eyes glimmering. "I love it! Now, do you need help putting it on?"

"Yes, please." Marcy gave Sasha her own apron and turned back, allowing the blonde to put it on for her, tying it nicely for Marcy. "Is it tight enough?" She asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah, thanks." She turned to face Sasha, twirling a bit when she did that. "So, how does it look?" She asked excitedly.

"It looks so adorable, Marce. Suits ya."

"Thanks. Now let me put it on for you, too." Marcy offered.

Sasha got up and allowed Marcy to tie the apron's ties for her. "When did you even make these, though?" Sasha asked curiously. From what she can recall, she never saw Marcy crochet these. "Let's just say I'm behind a few chapters on my webcomic."

And she absolutely loved this idea. Sasha rarely even liked matching stuff, but if it was from Marcy, she couldn't help but to absolutely adore it wholeheartedly.

"I love these so much, Marce, thanks."

"Jeez, Sashy, you're too kind. And soft. You big softie." Marcy smirked, crossing her arms playfully.

"Maybe, but admit it, ya love it." Sasha sang, fully sure of what she was saying. She was right, Marcy couldn't lie. "Yeah, you're right. Stop being right, you banana!" Marcy smiled, getting her hair ruffled by Sasha, both laughing like 2 dorks.

"That's your replacement for 'bitch'? Mar-Mar, just curse!" Sasha gently nudged her when they finally stopped laughing. "Never! You cannot taint my innocence!"

"Curse, Marce, do it."

"I'm the best bad influence, Mar-Mar."

<3

After some time, they finally decided to stop messing around and get to do what Marcy woke Sasha up for. Sweet, good ol' pancakes.

By the way, they also decided to just go with the classic, thick ones.

By the way #2, Sasha had forgotten the recipe and had to look for one online, but of course, she did not. She'll just go with it, pretend she knows what she's doing and measure stuff by the eye.

"Marce, do you by any chance knoooow... Where the damn flour is?" Sasha questioned, opening a cabinet to look inside.

"Sorry, but no." She shrugged. "I must've misplaced it last time..."

"Dammit."

"Sorry."

"... It's fine, we'll find it."

Marcy sadly went around and looked inside another cabinet.

About to close it and search another, she realized the flour was actually there. "AAA I FOUND IT, SASH!"

Sasha had half her head inside a cabinet, hearing Marcy exclaim startled quite a bit. Enough to make her accidentally hit her head trying to get out. "Ach-"

"Oh jeez, are you alright?" Marcy asked, half worried.

"Nah, don't sweat it, I'm fine. Also, ya found that?"

"Sure did!"

"Great!" Sasha clapped, they had all the ingredients across the table.

"Alrighty, sooo." Marcy awkwardly started, "what do we do first?" She asked, as Sasha tried remembering what went first in the bowl. She didn't bake a lot, if it wasn't already obvious.

And there was a short but extremely uncomfortable break of silence.

"Do you need a reci-" Marcy raised an eyebrow, immediately getting interrupted by Sasha. "You gotta crack 'em eggs. And no, I definitely don't need a recipe!"

"If ya say so.." Marcy wasn't fully convinced about that, but decided to trust Sasha anyhow. She cracked two eggs in no time, as Sasha said.

"Next?" And whatever Sasha could remember was absolutely nothing. "Do you need the recipe?" Sasha admitted defeat at this point. She nodded sadly. "Awh, c'mere."

Whenever Sasha was sad she had those big puppy-like eyes that just straight-up made Marcy want to hug her and pat her back.

Sasha did walk to Marcy and embraced in her skinny arms. "There, there, ya goofball."

Marcy took her arm off Sasha for a moment to get her phone and look up a recipe. Just kidding, she knew it would come down to this and already had a recipe prepared. "Here." She gave the blonde her phone.

"Good thing we didn't go too far without this." Sasha admitted, scrolling down to see the list of ingredients.

"True. Let's continue?"

"Yeah."

"What does the mighty recipe say?" Sasha asked, pulling away and crossing her arms.

"It says to just combine the eggs with the buttermilk and the oil."

"How much of 'em?" Sasha asked, grabbing the buttermilk, ready to just pour the whole thing in.

"Lemme see.." Marcy scrolled up to the list. "One quarter of a cup of buttermilk aaaand, uh, 2 tablespoons of canola oil."

"Alrighty." Sasha replied, grabbing the measuring tools.

As Sasha measured the buttermilk, Marcy went ahead and put in the two tablespoons of oil. "Ya done?" Marcy turned to look at Sasha, pouring the buttermilk in the bowl. "Yup."

"Okay, now that we have this weird mixture, we need another bowl for the dry stuff." Marcy explained, grabbing the mixer for the first bowl.

~

"Do we need more flour, Sashy?"

"I think not."

"Well, I think YES!"

"MARCY NO DON'T!"

"MARCY YES"

And just like that, the other ingredients practically drowned in flour. Marcy had some weird intuition that told her 'nah bro, put more flour in this shit'.

And so she did, to Sasha's confusion.

"... Alriiiight. I'll just go ahead and mix these up for you." Sasha grabbed one of those silicone spatulas and folded the 2 mixtures together, as the recipe suggested.

"I think we can stop following the recipe now."

"Yeah, pretty much."

Marcy went over to the stove and took out her pan, which she specifically bought for pancakes. Apparently it was supposed to be one of those fancy nonstick ones.

Eh, the handle was fancy and pretty easy to hold.

Marcy carefully turned on the stove to its lowest setting and placed the pan over the little flame.

"H'yeah, we're almost done!" Marcy hugged Sasha from behind, wrapping her arms around the taller one's waist. "Heeell yeah, can't wait to finally eat."

"Oh, by the way, is the batter ready?" Marcy looked over the blonde's shoulder. "Almost ready, Marce."

<3

Now that it was ready and the pan was done pre-heating, they could finally start actually doing them. The kitchen smelled so nice, like vanilla and lemon zest.

By now, the sun has risen on the sky, young day's rays coming in through the open windows, hitting the two girls' bodies and making them glisten, along with a gentle morning breeze that a proper poet, in this situation, would describe using fancy terms, like 'almost surreal'.

And they'd be right. After all, nothing was better than occasionally just chilling, baking with someone dear to ya.

The only thing better than that might just be eating together what you two have made and discuss, maybe, over music, what went wrong and how bad it tastes, while almost choking from laughing like total dorks.

Sasha was the first to pour batter on the pan. There was the satisfying sizzle that indicated the pan was preheated properly. "Ooh, let me, let me!" Marcy jumped around like a kiddo. The blonde gave her the bowl with the mixture. "Alright, but be careful, Mar-Mar."

Comically enough, Sasha blinked exactly one time and opened her eyes to Marcy almost dropping the whole batter. "MARCY, NO" Sasha panicked and extended a hand in an almost too late effort to catch the bowl.

Marcy then just stopped like it was nothing, the bowl still in her hand, no drop dropped on the floor. She had the smuggest grin on her face. "Gotcha."

"Stoooop!" She nudged Marcy as she poured the batter, messing up the perfect circle shape of the soon to be pancake.

"Oh, shoot, sorry, Marce." Sasha apologized. "Nah, don't worry 'bout it." The short girl waved her arm, not thinking it was important.

She continued pouring the batter and formed up 4 little pancakes on the pan.

Their surface seemed to kind of bubble up and honestly, none of them knew if it was alright or not.

"Is this... Healthy?" Sasha asked, pointing at the raw pancakes, confused and looking at Marcy for an answer.

"The pancakes? No, you dummy, 'course they're not. That's why you don't eat them every day." Marcy replied obviously.

"No, sweetheart, i didn't mean it like that." She sighed softly. "Oh."

"I meant it like.. This bubbling stuff."

"Now that you mention it, it does look kind weird.." Marcy crossed her arms, questioningly.

"Let me google that, real quick." Marcy went to grab her phone.

Sasha grabbed a spatula and held it tightly, unsure of what she was supposed to do. "Do I flip them now oooorr?"

"Iiiii... Honestly dunno, try flipping one and see.." She suggested as she scrolled down on her phone, deeply focused.

"Here goes nothin'.." Sasha muttered under her breath, flipping one.

"OH HEAVENS!!" Sasha shouted, catching Marcy off guard. Sasha only went half british when something bad happened. "You okay? Did you get burned? Do you need a bandaid??" Marcy hurried over to the blonde and looked left and right to see what was wrong.

"No, no, just uh... Real awkward honestly. We almost burned them, but luckily they're still.. Eatable." Marcy looked down at them. "Edible, Sash. Its 'edible'." Marcy crossed her arms, a teasing smirk appearing on her face.

"Oh, and by the way, the bubbles are great for your pancakes, apparently."

"Cool, so we don't have to worry 'bout 'em."

"Pretty much, yeah."

<3

Now that those were done and dusted, Sasha took two plates and carefully guided Marcy's hands as she placed the pancakes on them, one stacked on the last one.

The first batch was burnt. Previously, Sasha said they were still 'edible'. They were pretty much not, they were totally burnt, but for some reason they both decided to not throw them away, for the lolz and the laughs.

Marcy went and grabbed the maple syrup, along with some frozen berries.

"Sash, do we need to defrost the berries?" She asked, genuinely not knowing.

"I think so, better be safe than sorry." Sasha shrugged and Marcy nodded, satisfied with the answer.

She carefully drizzled maple syrup over both little pancake stacks, making it look exactly like those appetizing pictures online.

"Hey, wait, they actually look good!" Sasha softly whispered, decently surprized. "Yeah, we're amazing at this." Marcy smirked.

"I still think we're shit at baking, though." The blonde snort-laughed. "Fair point."

~

A while after, the berries finally defrosted and Marcy carefully glazed them over the near-finished dish with such diligence that it almost looked like a science project. Sasha was there to pick out the berries and hand them to Marcy. Yay, teamwork!

And so, they're finally done here. The kitchen does kind of smell like something has been burnt, but it was alright.

Sasha was just about to dig in but her girlfriend forcefully restricted her, holding her wrist. In all truth, she was a lot stronger than you'd think, judging by her small frame.

"You ding-dong, we gotta take a picture of them, first!"

"But I don't wannaaaa.." Sasha frowned, uncharacteristically childish for her, distancing herself from them. "It'll take a second, just hang on, Sashy." Marcy said as she aggressively took multiple photos from all angles, almost comically.

"Alrighty, I'm done!"

"Aight cool." And before Marcy could even put her phone away, Sasha was back to her seat, with a fork and a knife in her hands, waiting for Marcy to also sit down.

~

"Wow, Marce, these are absolutely terrible."

"I know, the maple syrup's carrying this."

"Yeah."

"We did good, though."

"Kind of. Can I say something real corny?"

"Go ahead."

"I still loved making these with you, even if they taste like poison."

"... I love you."

"Yay."

And Sasha repeatedly smooched Marcy's forehead, making the artist giggle and drop her fork.

<3

Chapter Text

And so, the night's hues settle in, replacing the late day's nuances, right outside their window.

Sasha just came back home a few hours ago, greeted by Marcy who has been working on her webcomic.

Although, besides working on her webcomic, she tried her hand at cooking. Marcy is that kind of person that randomly has urges of giving others little gifts, like trinkets, bracelets, some other cute stuff.

Sasha has her own box dedicated to safely holding every little gift from Marcy. Although, some bracelets are missing, but only because Sasha cannot bring herself to NOT wear them.

But anyway, back to what we were talking about. Marcy tried her hand at cooking, in a nice attempt to impress Sasha, or better yet, try to calm her down a little. She knew how stressed Sasha could get because of her job.

After all those events she experienced when she was only a kid, going up there and helping other kiddos with their own problems was such a girlboss move. Also a stressful decision, but a truly brave one.

The dish Marcy chose was quite an easy one. And she decided to go a little off-script, regarding the recipe.

Surprisingly it went extremely well and Sasha enjoyed it!

But that was a few hours ago.

When the still bright hues of sunset still stuck on the sky. Now it was all dark, the only source of light in their bedroom was a little lamp.

Marcy had taken a shower. It was supposed to be a nice little thing, but instead it unexpectedly turned into a saddening experience.

Maybe saddening wasn't such a good word to describe it. Okay, it definitely wasn't.

She undressed herself, throwing her clothes in the laundry pile. She was just about to slip inside the bathtub and turn on the hot water, but an all too old image took her by surprise in the mirror.

A white and ugly slash of disfigured skin on her chest that starts right bellow her collar bones and goes all the way to the end of her ribcage.

It wasn't only on the front, neither. Even worse, the mark on the back seemed to be even uglier, even more distorted and disfigured.

What the actual hell..?

Marcy thought she was over it.

Marcy thought it no longer affected her.

Sasha helped her get through it.

But no, here she was, staring, wide-eyed and not blinking, not even once at the mirror. At her own image.

She tried snapping out of her own thoughts, but the scar reminded her of too much of what she's been through.

"Marcy?" Sasha called from the bedroom "Are you okay in there or do you need me to come and help you undress?" She said, humour visible in her tone. The water wasn't running and that's the only thing that helped the blonde figure out Marcy was simply standing around.

Humour, visible in her tone, not knowing what was happening.

But Sasha's voice was what snapped Marcy back to reality.

"Uhh, noo, I'm fine here, thanks!" She replied, still absentminded and still stuck.

"Alrighty!"

Marcy hops in the bathtub, and turns on the water, not even waiting for it to get warm, simply running the cold water on her skin, and it seems like the first droplet hits her chest, in the middle of her scar, and something snaps.

The water turns into plain background noise, it's not even like it actually hits Marcy's body anymore.

Marcy's naked body is inside the shower, standing against the cold water, but her mind is somewhere else, back again, trapped inside the memories brought by the fateful day she has been revealed as the traitor among her friend group.

The day she has been seen as a traitor by her friends, by everyone.

The day King Andrias took any sign of their friendship and threw it all out on the window like it was nothing.

The day she got these ugly, distorted slashes of whitened skin across her chest and back.

Before she can realize, the water got extremely hot and it snapped her back once again.

She temporarily goes back to the present, only to wash herself, feeling as if her own mind is betraying her again and forcing her to remember everything, everything from that day.

For too many months she had forced her friends to live in a foreign land, only for her to escape some stupid reality and live in an even dumber fantasy of her.

~

It's gotten slightly, only slightly better since she's been out the shower.

Good thing Sasha isn't here, instead she's in the shower.

Good thing Sasha isn't here to see her own girlfriend like this.

But any minute now, Sasha will come in the bedroom and inevitably see Marcy like this.

Part of Marcy wants that, wants Sasha to hug her and tell her it's alright, because she knows it's alright, but part of her thinks she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve Sasha's hugs, not even her voice telling her its alright. She slashed her back, it's because of her she carries the burden she carries.

Sasha is already over it, why isn't she the same?

Why can't she just get over it without being such a crybaby??

Without seeming to remember when exactly the water began running, it has now stopped. Sasha was going to be here.

'Shit'

"Hey, Marbles." Sasha came in, her body covered by nothing but a white towel.

Marcy was a little taken by surprise by Sasha, even though she fully expected seeing her. "Hey, Sash."

Sasha knew something was wrong here, but also knew Marcy wouldn't tell her so easily.

"You okay?"

"Of course I am..!"

Marcy tried desperately to look away and not face Sasha, not even look her in the eyes. She felt tears creeping up, trying not to cry.

"... Alright."

Of course it wasn't alright. But Sasha knew much better than to force it. She won't fix anything by forcing things. The blonde learned that the hard way. She decides to just go ahead and find clothes.

Sasha went over to her part of the closet, searching a nice set of pajamas and some underwear, unknowingly making it even worse for Marcy, who was desperately trying not to let her tears go.

Trying to find clothes, she turned her half covered back at Marcy, showing her half of the scar on her back.

It's not just a scar. It's a scar that's resting on Sasha's back because of Marcy.

Because of Marcy and her selfish wishes.

This was the sight she needed to just lose it.

A dam was broken and something snapped again when it was on the verge of fixing itself and patching itself back up.

Staring only and only at Sasha's scar, her distorted skin. Her cheeks are hit with the stream of tears. Crying, she was as silent as she could be.

Once Sasha finds what she's been looking for, she turns her gaze back to look at Marcy, see if something was going on.

Something was indeed wrong. Something was very wrong and Sasha was here to stop anything else from being ruined.

The image of tears staining Marcy's beautiful face that was earlier that day happy heavily alerted Sasha, saddened her. Much more than that.

"Marcy.." She got up, forgetting all about dressing up and keeping the towel on her. Sasha took a seat on the bed next to Marcy, careful not to crowd her, giving her space but placing her hand, gently but firmly in Marcy's smaller hand, letting Marcy know she is there.

"Marcy." She said, firmly, softly. "Marcy, it's okay, we can get through this." As she squeezed slightly Marcy's hand.

Between sobs and little gasps for air that were silent a minute ago Marcy could finally put together a distressed "I'm sorry, Sash.." As her sobbing only got heavier.

"It's alright, don't apologize, alright? I'm here with you." Sasha comforted as good as she could, not actually knowing why Marcy apologized, not actually caring. The most important thing right now was to calm Marcy down, taking it slow.

Sasha stays there, seeming like nothing else even matters, the only thing present is her and Marcy and an imaginary monster that Sasha is here to chase down until it's afraid to show its ugly head again.

She never once leaves her place next to Marcy and holds her hand, rubbing her thumb on Marcy's much smaller and trembling hand, in steady and slow, comforting little circles.

"I'm proud of you, you're doing so well." Sasha said soothingly, throwing Marcy the softest smile she could muster in this moment, enduring the sight of her girl suffering.

And Marcy was only able to see that smile between tears that made everything blury, but somehow she still could see that.

Kind of like a far away anchor for a half sunken ship in a storm. But the anchor was gradually getting closer and the ship was finding its way again. Slowly but surely, as long as she was here.

Little clarity settled in and Marcy's sobs calmed down just a little bit. She was able to listen to Sasha a little bit more clearly.

"Alright, Mar-Mar, feeling a little better?" There was something about Sasha's presence that grounded Marcy. She nodded slowly.

"Can you look around?" Marcy nodded once more, slowly. "Good, what are three things you can see?" Sasha asked her softly, almost a whisper.

Slowly, Marcy looks around the room, the blurred vision becoming just a little bit clearer and tears still there.

"Umm.. Pillow, a plushie and a bracelet."

"Good job, Marce." Sasha praised her, smiling and placing one of her hands on Marcy's shoulder, her other hand never letting go of her small hand. "What are three things you can hear?"

Marcy thinks a little, taking a break to hear everything around her. "The clock's ticking..."

"Alright.." Sasha nodded, encouraging Marcy to go on. "..My breathing." And Sasha nods again, encouraging Marcy even further.

Marcy looked around. "Can you hear that one owl who's been terrorizing us for the last week?" Sasha asked with just a hint of humour, tone still soft.

".. Yeah." Marcy said, her mouth forming in a slight smile, chuckling a bit, remembering the darned last week, the both of them not getting the rest they needed. It has been horrific.

"Great job, Marce, now can you move three body parts?" She requested, her thumb never stopping the comforting movements on Marcy's little hand.

And the raven-haired girl starts by moving her feet a bit, then stretching the fingers on her free hand and then shaking her head slowly to the side. "Great job, Mar-Mar, I'm proud of you."

Sasha squeezed Marcy's hand softly, proud of her. "Tell me what you need."

"Hmm." Marcy hums, sniffling. "A glass of water would be nice." And Sasha got up, gently taking away her hands from Marcy. "I'll go get it for ya."

And Sasha was back just as swift as she went, coming back with a glass of water just as Marcy requested.

The smaller girl took the glass and rapidly drank it all as Sasha sat down besides her. "Better?" Sasha asked, taking away the empty glass to put it on the nightstand. "Yeah.. Thanks, Sash." She replies softly.

"Now, Mar-Mar, " Sasha started again, having Marcy half-sure of what happens next. "Are you ready to tell me what's buggin' you?" And Marcy turned her head away, sadly reminded of the fact she needed to tell Sasha what the problem is. She wanted to, but she feared to do so. She knew she had no reason. But there was still something there that blocked her. It was like a barrier, a big closed gate built itself around these memories when Marcy wasn't looking. That gate only opened enough to let these things anger and sadden Marcy, but they were not open wide enough to let her speak about them. Never.

She felt a gentle hand on her own, comforting as ever. "Marce, it's alright, I won't judge." Sasha squeezed Marcy's hand again. "It's okay if you're not ready yet, take a minute." She whispered softly, brushing with her free hand through Marcy's raven hair.

"No, it's alright, i do want to tell you.."

"But..?"

"But it's kind of embarrassing and kinda dumb." Marcy gets out a chuckle, but it's not out of humour and it's just empty.

"Marcy, no." She said, continuing brushing gently through Marcy's soft hair. "It's not dumb, or embarrassing. Better yet, you're not dumb, or embarrassing." "I promise, you're not what you think you are right now. I'm here for ya, Marce."

"Alright?"

Marcy nodded, thankful for Sasha and everything she's done for her and them both.

"Good. Ready to spill it?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Sashy."

And just as Marcy was sorting through ways to start talking about it, next thing she knows she is enveloped in a soft, warm blanket just like a cute little burrito, hugged by Sasha.

Sasha knew all the tricks in the book to make her feel safer.

They both look at each other and start giggling. "Alright, take a deep breath." Sasha said, followed by Marcy taking a deep breath.

"Okay, tell me what the problem is."

"The scar on your back." Marcy almost felt tears coming yet again, but Sasha was swift to squeeze her hand and remind her she's there to keep her safe from her own monsters.

"It's.. It's my fault it's there."

"Mar-M-"

"I know it wasn't me, but they used my own hands... That did that to you.. That hurt you." She explained, fumbling through words and thoughts that suddenly felt so complicated, feeling Sasha holding her tighter, making her feel safer, even while reminding the blonde all those awful things she did.

"And they're never going away. They're staying, right there, on your back."

"Marcy."

"My hands did this to you, you should hate me!"

"Mar-Mar." She said, more firmly, getting Marcy's attention. "Stop."

"Maybe they used you, but it was not actually you." Sasha started, rocking back and forth with the Marcy Burrito in her arms. They both remember the absolutely monstrous hive-mind that did it instead. That used Marcy's body to craft a psychopathic overlord. "I promise that it wasn't your fault, alright? Trust me."

"It's okay, Mar-Mar, I know how you feel." Sasha reminisced her time in the rebellion, how she messily dealt with the thoughts of Marcy being alive but in a prison. She only got more and more enraged remembering the Core, but she held it under control.

"Like, you know you messed up, made a huge mistake, but it wasn't your fault." Sasha smooched Marcy's forehead.

"And besides, that shit's already healed and it doesn't hurt at all anymore. It's just a small reminder that you and I both are strong and we've been through a lotta stuff. Together, alrighty?"

"Sash..." Marcy started softly.

"Thanks."

The 'you're welcome' Marcy got was the sweetest smile Sasha could ever give, mark of the fact she truly loves Marcy, including all of her 'flaws', all of her mistakes, everything.

"Besides.." Sasha started again, smirking. "Scars are badass. And we match, so it's even better." Marcy chuckled, thinking that yeah, scars are pretty dope.

Sasha was here to help her chase her own monsters in her own mind, hunt those down and slash them up, leave them to bleed out and never come back to haunt her.

<3

Chapter Text

 "SashyYY!!" Marcy called from her room, leaning back on her gaming chair. "IS THE STRAWBERRY TEA READY?" 

"YESN'T!" 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" 

"SHHHHH I'M LOOKING FOR THE FANCY MUGS"

"OUUU THE FANCY MUGS" 

~

As Sasha came in Marcy's room and placed the two tea mugs on her desk, the raven haired girl was still a bit busy setting up the things she needed to set up for her livestream. 

She'd do occasional livestreams about art, gaming and such, but this is the first time she's doing one where she talks about her webcomic. She's planning to just have fun, interact with the fanbase, maybe confirm some silly headcanons and answer some fun questions. 

Sasha already knew about this, heck, she was even invited! 

This is her first time appearing in a livestream so all she wants is to not mess up Marcy's online reputation. Marcy assured her time and time before that she could actually care less. 

It all started on a normal night turned special, just by some takeout and silly discussions. Somehow, Marcy revealed a shocking fact about Sasha's favourite character: they were, in fact, inspired by Sasha!

Furthermore, telling her girlfriend that being an inspiration for a character actually counts as working (indirectly) on the webcomic. Which means, Sasha could join in on the fun of the livestream, no worries! 

"Okay, Sash, make yourself comfortable.. Cuz it's starting in a few minutes!" Marcy squealed, she couldn't wait for this to start. More and more viewers virtually gathered, filling the chat with fun emotes and short texts written in all-caps. 

"Alrighty, so, what am I allowed to do, what am I not allowed to do?" Sasha asked, thinking there definitely exists some kind of rules to what questions can be answered. 

"Hmm... Well you should introduce yourself first, although, chat miiiight know a little about you, I told 'em you're my girlfriend and that you're real nice." Marcy spoke fastly, waving and gesturing excitedly. 

"Secondly, DO NOT let these creepers ask you personal questions or stuff related to future, unreleased chapters. Okay?" 

"Sooo.. Only silly, funny headcanons or questions?" 

At which Marcy nodded. "Alright, good. Gosh, this is exciting." 

"It's all even cooler that you're here, Sash." Marcy smiled softly. "Aww, you're making me blush." She replied, covering half her smirk with one hand, offering the other hand to Marcy. 

The raven haired girl gently took the blonde's soft hand and kissed it like a prince would a princess'. 

"Pshhht-"

"Sash, Sash, the stream is starting!" She looked at the screen, everyone in the chat excitedly sending emotes, multiple numbers appearing each second, everyone having a little countdown of their own. 

"SAY IT WITH ME, SASH," Marcy excitedly grabbed Sasha's hand that she was previously kissing and squeezed it without actually realizing. 

At this Sasha was smiling like a dork and chuckling, counting with her girlfriend. "3, 2, 1!!" 

"AAAnd Hi, everyone, hi, chat, hello to every guy, gal and pal here!" She greeted everyone, everyone greeting her, a few questions popping up about the attractive blonde besides her. "This is Marcy, your trustworthy artist and today I'm joined by a very special someone." She winked at Sasha, signaling her to start introducing herself. 

"Hey, y'all, I am Sasha and I guess I am Marcy's muse." She introduced herself, smirking, immediately after getting nudged gently by Marcy. "And girlfriend, Sash." She whispered loudly. 

"And her girlfriend. Y'all, Marcy's taken." She joked around, eliciting 'OMEGALULZ' and fun emotes in the chat. "Wow, you've gotten reeeally comfortable, Sashy." Marcy sing-songed through gritted teeth. 

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, Mar-Mar." She winked and smirked, the viewers already loving every piece of her, of this. "Woah, woah, there buddy, you're gonna steal all the dang spotlight!" Marcy giggled, nudging Sasha playfully. 

Sasha took one sip of her strawberry tea, eyeing Marcy the whole time. "Mmm.. Sounds about right, Marcy, dear." 

And as soon as Sasha spat that 'dear' the chat went absolutely nuts, and every shipper, every simp, everyone went absolutely insane. There were not a lot of such people, because luckily for Marcy, the fanbase she built was rather positive and everyone had at least 5 brain cells, enough to not go 'ooga-booga' at the sight of a real woman. [Author note - man that sounded harsh]

Strangely, the confidence Sasha introduced herself with reminded Marcy of how the blonde used to act way before Amphibia's events, but without the.. Problematic qualities she used to present. It was kind of... Dorky. And somehow hotter. But that's another story for another day. 

"... Moving on." Marcy cleared her throat loudly, almost comedically, at which Sasha giggled. "So, today we'll be doing that Q&A I've been talking about, becaaaause..?" 

"Becaaaaaause?" Sasha repeated, genuinely curious. 

"Becaaaaaaause..." And Marcy started smiling uncontrollably. "We reached a million readers on our webcomic, Amphibiland!" And Sasha widens her eyes at this, she never knew about it? How did she even miss that? Well, after the stream ends, they'll certainly celebrate this, everything's on Sasha! 

"Heh, yay!" The blonde went full-on jazz hands and chuckled proudly, much like a mother when their child shows her their first drawing, having used nothing but cheap children's crayons, yet creating the most mesmerizing piece of art there ever was. 

"Of course, I have even more goodies prepared for you all, like Amphibiland Merch. One day, heh." Marcy continued, already having amazing ideas about some merch items. She'll need to note them down before she forgets them, surely! 

The viewers really enjoyed the idea of merch and were already typing in all-caps stuff like "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY >:)".

You see, Amphibiland was a very smart nickname for Amphibia that Marcy came up with. When she started writing the comic, she wanted it to be based on Amphibia, specifically on Sasha, Anne and her own adventures in that amazing world. But instead of using their real names, Marcy decided it would be perfect to spice it up a little bit and replace their names and.. Dramatize the whole story, a bit. 

"Alrighty, I see the chat is preeeeetty excited about this, so let's get this thing rolling!" Marcy popped her knuckles and grabbed the drawing tablet's pen, ready to draw some art for her own webcomic. After all, what's better than drawing weeb fanart of your own comic? 

~

A poll has been held earlier that day, a few hours before the start of this Q&A stream, gathering votes on what character from Marcy's webcomic should be drawn today. 

And right now, this is who Marcy was drawing, having an awesome reference for their pose, too - Sasha's favorite character, nearly everyone voted for them. 

The person responsible for picking out the most interesting questions, the most weirdly-accurate headcanons was of course one of Marcy's trusted moderators. Man, those guys are the nicest! 

"Oooh, this one's fun!" Marcy exclaimed, her gaze shifting from the chat to the drawing. "Sash, how about you answer this one?" 

"Alright, let's see.." Sasha looked for the question and rapidly found it in the pinned message. "Could we get a random fact about Audrey? Sure you can, let me just think about it a little bit.." Sasha clicked her tongue. 

"They went through the heaviest emo phase as a teenager. Before the trauma, I mean." She spoke, the first thing that came in her mind. "Good one, Sashy! But I bet tomorrow my feed's gonna be full of fanart of young, emo Audrey." Marcy laughed. To be fair, this was her own, secret little headcanon, too! 

The chat was clearly having a lot of fun with what Sasha just confirmed as 'canon', sending stupid lyrics like that old song that went "They laugh at me because I'm emo⛓️😈"

Sasha just realized how fun this was and the others seemed to enjoy hearing her ideas! 

"Saaaashy?" 

"Can you tell us a random fact about Saige and Kaipo, as well?" Marcy asked, genuinely curious of what Sasha might say. For a moment, the raven-haired girl moved the mic away from her mouth. "Cuz you're really good at this Q&A stuff." Marcy encouraged her, then moved the mic back to its place. 

It's not like the chat immediately started theorizing what Marcy just said to Sasha. 

"Saige.. Hm." The blonde thought a bit, placing her hand on her chin. "Saige is that kind of person that constantly tunes her Pinterest feed, just in case someone steals her phone and searches through her apps." And Marcy broke down laughing, stopping from drawing for a bit, what Sasha said was so specific and so.. Saige. "You know, like, she's probably like 'well, if someone takes my phone they might as well know what I'm into'." 

"That was so specific, Sash!" Marcy said, still wheezing. And yup, this fact is definitely canon now. The chat was totally on board with this, too, they just seemed to absolutely love the idea of Saige tuning her Pinterest feed daily. 

"She just has those vibes, it ain't my fault!" And this response sent Marcy wheezing even more, continuing this for a few dozens of seconds. 

After she's seemingly done laughing, she grabs her pen again and continues her drawing. "And Kaipo.." Sasha starts again, Marcy fully knowing she's about to go on another laughing fit if Sasha kept this up. She didn't hate it one bit, if anything, she's so happy seeing Sasha come up with so many ideas for her own characters! 

"She's definitely the one who cooks. Like, she's in charge of the kitchen, the other two are banned." Sasha chuckled, picturing the image of Marcy's three characters arguing on who gets to cook (Kaipo kicked them out the kitchen). 

And the viewers really wanted to know why the other two were banned. 

"Tell us why they're banned, Sash!" Marcy was still laughing. "Like, what atrocities did they scare Kaipo with??" 

"I dunno, they probably thought boiling pasta in cough syrup was a neat idea." 

"BAHAHA-" Marcy dropped her pen, the mental image of Audrey and Saige boiling pasta in medicine enough to make her wheeze again, beyond amused. 

"Alright, timeout everyone, Marcy's having an intense laughing fit." Sasha said, humour evident in her tone while she kneels down to pick up Marcy's pen. 

"No, no, it's, pfft-, I'm alright!" She continued, almost bursting into laugh mid-sentence as Sasha put down the pen in her smaller hands. 

"Alright, cool, because we have our next question!" 

"... Do you plan to attend this year's Comic Con?" Marcy read the pinned message. "Well.. It ain't exactly around the corner so I still have time to think about it. Hey, maybe Sasha's coming too!" The raven haired girl looked at the blonde, waiting for her answer. 

"'Course we're going, Marce. If you wanna." Sasha winked, Marcy's cheeks lighting up just a bit, just enough for the chat to see and comment the '👀' emoji. 

"Then it's set, guys, we're coming!" Marcy announced proudly. Maybe they could even cosplay! 

They stick around like this, answering a few more questions like this, Sasha's joking around and all is good, until the moderator picks a new question that was supposed to be lighthearted but instead was pretty heavy. "Do your parents support you creating this webcomic?" 

Play it cool, Marcy. Humour's your best friend, right? 

"They don't, but they do enjoy me making money, so I think we're fine!" Marcy responds, taken by surprise by this question, there was only a slight expression for a half-second on Marcy's face that Sasha couldn't help but catch. 

"Alright, aight, let's take five, be right back, guys!" In a few clicks, Sasha put the stream on break and muted their mics. "Marcy, you alright?" Sasha waited for a reply. 

"Yeah, just.. Hit a chord there, that's all." 

Marcy's parents weren't the best parents out there. 

Let's say they didn't enjoy the idea of Marcy following her path as an artist. 

Nowadays, they rarely even contacted their daughter, so they didn't even know about her income, making what she told everyone a little lie. 

"You sure you're alright?" 

With Sasha here, Marcy is reminded constantly she made it. Made it out of her parents' household and is now free. She was sure she was feeling alright. 

"Yeah. Thanks, Sash." She was genuine and Sasha saw that, proud of her girl for recovering so fast. 

Marcy blinked and woke up with a short, gentle kiss on her lips. 

"I love ya, nerd." Sasha whispered, affectionately. "Dork." Marcy continued. 

~

"Alright, we are back, guys!" Marcy greeted as soon as the stream's break ended. "Hello, again!" Sasha continued. 

The viewers said their greetings in the chat, a few even asked if everything and everyone was okay, suspecting the previous question was a tad.. Personal. 

"Everything's alright, thanks for you concern." Marcy answered those that asked. "But nevermind that, let's move on with 'em questions!" 

Sasha put a hand on Marcy's back, letting her know she's proud of how fast she recovered. They had only a second to exchange soft smiles. 

"Alright, next question!" Sasha clapped her hands once and checked the pinned comment. "Any opinions about the 'Saige is surrounded by death flags' theory?" Sasha read the question, remembering how Saige was basically just alternative, fictional Marcy, actually. The death flag theory brought Vietnam-like flashbacks to Sasha. 

"Well.. It's a nice theory and aaaall, but the plot police doesn't want me going around revealing aaaaanything about the ways I'm about to traumatize the characters in future chapters..." 

"Uh-oh." Sasha giggled, grabbing her mug of tea and drinking it fastly. 

"'Uh-oh' is the appropriate reaction!" Marcy grabbed her mug as well and guzzled down the strawberry tea. 

At this point, the viewers were beginning to get a little bit antsy about Saige and the others. Not that they weren't going to enjoy the next chapters, though. Marcy put her heart and soul into the drawings, too. 

"Alright, so, the sketch is looking pretty good, we just need to clean it up a bit." Marcy explained, zooming out to see the sketch fully. It was so beautiful, the art style so pleasant to the eye. Sasha couldn't help but smile softly and say "That's wonderful, Marce." 

"Thanks, Sash." 

And if the chat wasn't going insane with shipping, i dunno what else there is anymore. 

~

The stream ended in another 2 hours in which Marcy finished the Audrey illustration and also did some cute doodles as a little bonus for her loyal readers. 

And also, everyone really loved Sasha's presence and charm during the stream, so maybe she'll appear in future streams? Who knows. 

But what they do know is that they had fun, the viewers too. 

Here are the doodles, a little bonus. 

Chapter Text

"Scared?" Marcy asked, almost uncharacteristically smug for her. 

They were both in the car, right in front of the tattoo parlor, waiting for a seemingly good enough moment to get out. They were also 30 minutes early. 

"'Course not, stop flattering yourself." Sasha responded in the same manner, looking seconds away from ruffling Marcy's hair like she was a kid. She was confident this thing, getting a tattoo, was gonna be a breeze. There was nothing that could intimidate her. 

"Alright, alright." The raven haired girl continued. 

After a brief pause she started again. "Are you sure you're ready, Sash?" 

Sasha looked at her questioningly. "Are you serious?" She chuckled only so slightly. "You've asked me that, like 5 times already!" She smirked at Marcy as she sighed. "I know, I know, I guess I'm just a liiiittle scared myself." 

Sasha gazed at Marcy, waiting for her to continue and say what she had to say. "I mean, these things hurt. Duh. And the aftercare can be really.. Something." 

"Please, Mar-Mar, why would you think I can't handle a little pain?" She asked, confidently - Okay, maybe a little bit TOO confident. 

"... Right." Marcy remembered, she had to have more faith in Sasha's pain tolerance. - Or absolutely not, but alright, we'll see how this goes. 

"And one more thing, Marce." Was all it took to make Marcy's gaze shift to Sasha, instead of her own hands. 

"I wouldn't worry about the aftercare." 

"Hm?"

"C'mon, Mar-Mar. Wasn't it me who took care of you after your first few tats?" Sasha smiled confidently at her girl. "Don't ya think it's time for you to do the same?" 

"Yeah, right." Marcy smirked. "Then, allow me, Marcy Wu, to take care of you!" She exclaimed cheerfully, her manner closely resembling that of her 'mother' from Amphibia, General Yunan. 

"That's more like it! Now let's get rid of this ugly thing on my back!" Sasha opened the car door, Marcy doing the same. "Hell yeah!" 

Before leaving the car, Marcy was careful not to forget her backpack which was tossed on the backseat. It was rather heavy, just because the artist knew how exhausting getting a tattoo was. She also knew this was the first for Sasha, and a rather big one, at that. She double-checked, making sure that she had earphones, a portable charger, tissues, a full one liter bottle of water, a few papers with the design for Sasha's tattoo and money for food, in case they needed it. 

Upon arriving in the tattoo parlor they were both taken aback, both of them near-nostalgic of the times Marcy visited in the past. She dragged Sasha with her then, of course, so nothing inside was surprising to neither of them. 

Yet it was different this time, especially for Sasha. She wasn't here to hold Marcy's hand and spectate the whole process, but instead the raven-haired artist was here for that. She was there to cover up a mistake from the past, better yet, something a poet would describe as a 'harsh reminder of her past'. 

By now, Marcy was buddies with the tattoo artist working there, that's why they chose this specific parlor. They both knew the artist was trustworthy and exceedingly talented. And a bit cheeky. 

"Hey, Marcy, Sasha!" The artist behind the counter greeted the two girls, getting up from his chair. 

"Hi there!" Marcy greeted back. 

Spare Sasha the awkward moment. 

"Let me guess. You're getting another one?" The artist asked Marcy. "Yeah, but this time it ain't me!" She pointed at Sasha, behind her. 

"Ooooh, yeah, her appointment!" They remembered. "Almost forgot about it, heh." The artist mumbled. "But well, let's get to it." 

~

"And here's the design." Sasha showed the artist a few sheets of paper with the design Marcy sketched out a few weeks earlier, along with the placement - Right above her scar. 

"Oh, wow, this is real cool! Loving the color choices." They analyzed the design closely. There was a fancy 'M' written somewhere along the lineart, so seamlessly placed between lines it wasn't even noticeable if you didn't take a closer look. "Do you want Marcy's signature to be part of the tat, too?" They asked, humour obvious in their voice. 

"Oh, man, I'm sorry, forgot I shouldn't have put my signature on that-" Marcy quickly apologized, but was even quicker interrupted by Sasha. "Nah." 

"Hm?" The artist hums questioning the two, not expecting their question to be actually taken seriously. 

"What's in the design stays in the design." Sasha smirked at the raven haired girl. 

"I'm trapped with two hopeless romantics." The artist muttered under their breath, in such a way only they knew what they said. 

"What was that?" Marcy asked innocently. "Nothing." 

"Anyway, I'm gonna need you to fill these papers to prove you're an adult, stuff, formalities, ya get it." They picked some papers from behind the counter and a pen and Sasha began filling out paperwork. 

"Yay, papers. My passion." Sasha joked to herself. "Yeah, it sucks, but it's part of the tattoo experience." Marcy chuckled. 

"Yeah, definitely." 

"But okay, let's talk about details." The artist interrupted the two girls, already sick of their romance. "Yeah?" The both of them raise their heads and shift their gaze to the person behind the counter. 

"It's real important we talk about how much time this is going to take and considering the details, the size, all that stuff.. It's going to take roughly 7 hours." 

"I thought it would take much longer, but alright!" Sasha added, surprised. 

"Yeah, now, there are two ways this could go. We could cut this into two sessions, each of roughly 4 hours, if this is better for you, oooor, we could go at it and do it in a single session, but it'll be more exhausting." The artist carefully explained, ready to give more details if asked to. 

"We'll do it in one session." Sasha said as she finished all the paperwork, like it was on cue. This bold statement made Marcy turn her head to Sasha. "Yeah, about that, Sash." 

"Hm?"

"Look, I don't wanna be a know-it-all, but you'll be 8 hours on a chair in a potentially awkward position, unable to move for most of the time. Are you sure you're up for it, Sashy?" She explained, visibly worried. 

"Don't worry, Mar-Mar, I'm gonna be alright, plus, my pain tolerance is high in the sky, it'll be a breeze." She left a reassuring smooch on Marcy's forehead. 

"The PDA amounts are high in the sky, not your pain tolerance, honey." The tattoo artist muttered to themself again, making sure to at least try not to look. "Alright, let's get to it!" They shouted, making sure to comically interrupt the two. 

".. Here we go." 

~

And here we go, indeed. Roughly one whole hour later Sasha was on the chair, only slightly comfortable, already regretting her decision of going with only one session. 

Her face was reddish and the only twig that held her from falling into the pit of 'that's it, i give up, cya!' was Marcy being there, doodling in her sketchbook while sharing earphones with Sasha. As Sasha was way too focused on simply not fainting, Marcy got to choose what songs to play. 

The whole scenery was weirdly endearing. And weird. And comedic. 

Sasha really wished she had picked the first option, cutting this down to 2 sessions. 

No, you know what? She's gonna do it, she's gonna survive this thing. If Marcy could do it multiple times, then she was gonna do it as well. 

Rolling with this single thought, Sasha was able to somehow survive barely a quarter of the inking process, the pain and everything. 

... 

"Sash, you good?" She heard Marcy's voice asking her. She couldn't hear music anymore, which was weird. When did Marcy pause it? 

"Huh? Yeah, I'm good." She spat out, confused, feeling like she missed a chunk of everything. 

"We could take a 10 minute break if you wanted?" The tattoo artist stopped for a second and stretched. Man, this wasn't exhausting only for Sasha. 

Sasha gives it some thought, then finally she answers. "Ya know what, yeah, I could really use a break." 

"Atta boy, I'ma go grab some snacks." They got up and stretched once again, this time properly. They left, leaving the two alone for a bit. 

"So.. Whatcha think about it?" Marcy asked. "It's aight." Sasha responded simply, still feeling needles pressing on her skin. 

"You'll, uh... You'll get used to it, don't worry." Marcy patted Sasha's head, sensing the blonde's response was nothing but a joke. 

"Am I allowed to move?" Sasha continued. 

"Uhhh... Hold on, Sash, I'll go ask them." Marcy got up from her own chair and rapidly left the room, leaving Sasha alone with her own thoughts, alone to rethink her choices and regret choosing the 'single session' option. 

Fortunately, Marcy was quick to come, not leaving Sasha with her own thoughts more than necessary. "They said you could move, but be careful when you get up." 

"I'm hungry." Sasha deadpanned as she got up, as careful as she could. "I could go buy us something if you want to?" Marcy asked her, taking off her earphones. "Yes, please." 

"Alrighty then. Be right back!" Marcy took her backpack and left quickly. 

Now that she was alone in the room again, the blonde stretched a bit and took out her phone to mindlessly pass the time by scrolling. 

~

"I'm-" Marcy attempted to come in and surprise Sasha, who was walking back and forth while on her phone, but somehow succeeded in hitting her head and dropping two paper bags on the floor. "Ouch." 

"I'm back!" She tried again. "Woah there, Marce, you okay?" 

"Yup! Also, here!" She picked up the two bags and handed the blonde one, a rather heavy paper bag which was fastly opened up. 

Inside was what seemed to Sasha the most perfect, the prettiest and the tastiest sandwich. Or maybe it was just the hunger thinking. Nonetheless, she grabbed it and started eating, no, devouring it. 

"Okay, uh, enjoy your meal? Try not to choke, though." Marcy got back to doodling in her sketchbook. 

"Oh, ha-ha." Sasha sarcastically replied and Marcy threw her a smirk, being so focused on her doodles she barely gazed at Sasha. 

"But anyway, mind if I see your sketches?" The blonde got closer, peeking at the pages inside her book, unable to clearly see anything. "Not now, it's a surprise for later!!" 

"Awww, Mar-Mar, you drew me?" Sasha asked sweetly, humour obvious in her tone, smiling dearly. "No! Yes..? Not your business!" The raven-haired artist pushed Sasha's face away with her small hands. "Alright, alright, stop!" The other laughed. 

"Okay, break over, ladies!" The artist came again in the room, interrupting yet again their moment. Well, they either had the worst possible timing, or they did it on purpose - they 100% did it on purpose. "Would you look at that, sounds like friendly banter." They muttered again. 

Sasha got back on the chair, this time feeling much more comfortable. 

"Alright, let's get crackin'." The artist took their tattoo machine and got to work. 

~

Seven hours later and here they were: 

Sasha's tat was almost finished (just like her patience), the only remaining thing to do was just some finishing up and some more details.

The coloring process went by so much easier compared to the lineart and honestly, Sasha was so grateful for that. 

In the meantime, Marcy fell asleep, still sharing earphones with Sasha. Her sketchbook was nicely tucked in the backpack, next to the empty water bottle. Sasha took care of it last time she took a break, careful not to look at the newest sketch and spoil the surprise - As curious as she was. 

"Now, for real and one hundred percent serious.." The artist began, out of the blue. "Yeah?" Sasha replied. "Do you want Marcy's signature on your back?" 

"Yeah." Sasha confidently decided. It was a neat detail only a fine eye could see, but it was nice knowing it would be there. "Alright then." And the artist got to work, finishing the very last detail. 

~

Later on, the artist finally finished the tattoo and neatly covered up the artwork on Sasha's skin with bandages and was now heading to the last step of this tiresome, but totally worth it experience. Handing out aftercare instructions. 

They already explained a very basic version of the aftercare, including what to do in case of inflammation, scabbing and some other stuff. They were way too tired to explain the whole thing, so they handed the two girls an aftercare sheet. 

It explained everything much better, better than the artist ever could. They needed rest right now, nothing else. 

Finally, after paying the artist and leaving a generous tip the both of them were free to go home. 

Trust me, the fun part was only about to start, anyway. 

<3

Chapter Text

"Time to rip the banda-" 

"No, Marce, we're not ripping off anything!!" Sasha interrupted the raven-haired girl. 

Three whole days have passed since Sasha got her brand new tattoo and for some reason, Marcy has been more than impatient to just take the 'second skin' bandage off and see one breathtaking artwork on Sasha's back, instead of.. That thing that used to haunt her and make her cry. 

"But it's tiiiiiime!" Marcy exclaimed, unable to wait any more and seeing this, Sasha began running away, turning the whole house in a parkour place. "Get back here!!" Marcy was after her, but she began chasing her only too late to catch her. 

"You shall not catch me!" Sasha added insult to Marcy's injury. She wasn't the fittest, compared to Sasha. 

"You're an absolute nightmare!" Marcy shouted between exhausted breathing. "And you're a real sweetheart!" Sasha stopped running and shouted back and Marcy legitimately couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. 

And then Sasha resumed her running, until she could not see Marcy behind her anymore. 

"Whatever you say, Sash!" Marcy replied nonchalantly. Almost a little bit too nonchalantly. In the next moment and as soon as Sasha blinked once she woke up completely covered by a blanket and Marcy. 

"I shall not catch ya, huh?" Marcy asked again, ironically quoting Sasha's last words, unusually smug for someone who was struggling this much to keep someone under a blanket. 

"Fine! I give up!" Sasha finally gave in and abruptly stopped struggling, allowing Marcy to finally 'win'. 

"Alrighty. But on a serious note now." Marcy started, her tone suddenly and completely changed from playful to serious. "Are you ready to take that off?" 

"You know what, Marce?" 

No longer than a few seconds pass silently and Sasha responds with a determined "Yeah." And turns her back to Marcy, ready to finally reveal her brand new tattoo. The blonde let her eyes close and she relaxed, trusting Marcy would take it easy and not hurt her. 

"Wait." The raven-haired girl remembered. "Yeah?" "We should take it off under running water. It's much better that way." She explained, remembering how the both of them spent hours researching on tattoo aftercare when she got hers. 

"If ya say so." Sasha opened her eyes and got up along with Marcy, the both of them going to the bathroom. The walk was short, but for the entirety of it Sasha had her arm resting on Marcy's shoulders as the latter had her arm around the blonde's waist, lovingly holding her. 

With her free hand, Marcy opened the bathroom's door, allowing them both to go inside. The raven-haired girl let go of Sasha for a bit just to turn on the shower and adjust the water's temperature to lukewarm.

Sasha just stood there, getting mentally ready to finally, finally get rid of her scar. It was still there, clearly, but covered by a beautiful piece of art that is sure to serve as a reminder of just how strong she and Marcy are. 

As the blonde stood still, Marcy was looking for an unscented antibacterial soap in the cabinets, which she quickly found. Some of it was still there, she recalls how Sasha used this when her own tattoos were still new. 

Looking at it, the artist remembered dearly how the blonde did her best to clean her new tats, scrubbing her skin so gently and tenderly. It was her turn to do this now for her. 

She placed the soap down in the sink and turned to Sasha, then gestured her to come, throwing her a reassuring expression that softened the blonde. She checked the water's temperature quickly and it was just perfect. 

The blonde was caught a little in her own thoughts. Overwhelmed by the fact she could finally show her back to Marcy without her being reminded of how she hurt her in the past, she could finally try on a brand new top and not see a huge scar on her back, she could finally go to the beach without having little kids around pointing curiously at her back. 

"Alright, shower time." Marcy gesturing her to come along was what snapped her through it. 

Not wanting to wait any longer than necessary, Sasha took off her black tank top as unceremoniously and hurriedly, but Marcy still saw her as the most graceful being. Next, she took off her pajama shorts in the same manner, along with whatever else remained. 

Marcy almost slipped a little 'woah' at her girlfriend. She saw her nude in the past multiple times, but for some untold reason, she was mesmerized even more, everytime it happened again. 

Sasha slipped in the tub and turned her back to Marcy again, hugging her knees to her chest. 

The artist grabbed the showerhead and rinsed the blonde's back, keeping the water running over it as she stretched the edges of the bandage with her free hand. It was far better and less painful than plainly peeling it off like a bandaid.

"Is it okay?" She asked, wanting to make sure it doesn't hurt, knowing from her own experience that a new tattoo acts exactly like a wound. 

"Yeah, go on." Sasha appreciated Marcy's concern and so far she was doing a more-than-great job removing the bandage. 

During the three days Sasha had the bandage on, some fluid built up beneath the 'second skin' and now it was starting to leak, the lukewarm water washing it off immediately. 

The bandage's edges have been stretched properly and rather fastly and now Marcy was slowly removing it, bit by bit, revealing patches of the new tattoo. 

Marcy could finally see the clear image of the artwork on Sasha's back, without it being covered by any protection layer or fluid. 

Immediately after the bandage was finally off, the inked skin was hit with a wave of water. It felt weird for Sasha, but somehow it did not hurt, just stinged a little bit and it felt extremely weird. 

"There we go!" Marcy threw the bandage in the sink and with her free hand took the soap she was previously looking for. 

The raven-haired girl coated her fingers with the unscented soap and gently scrubbed the tattoo, cleaning off any plasma and loose ink. 

The spot with scarred skin was no longer visible, but Marcy could still feel the rough skin underneath the tattoo. It brought some memories, sure, but they didn't have any power over her anymore. 

Sasha assured her in the past: it healed and all was well and over. It was even better now, though. 

"We're almost done, Sash." Marcy interrupted the comfortable silence, never stopping from gently washing Sasha's back. She got no response. 

"Sashy, did you fall asleep or something?" She snickered slightly, kind of amused by the scenery. 

"No, I'm totally awake." Sasha woke up. "I was just.. Uh, yeah. Yup." She smirked and blushed the slightest, even though Marcy wasn't able to see. 

"You're an absolute sucker for mushy stuff." Marcy chuckled. "And whose fault is that?" Sasha turned her head slightly to the side to look at Marcy. 

"Guilty as charged." Marcy smiled and turned the shower off. "Also, I think we're done here." 

"Already?" Sasha asked, almost confused. "Nah, how much did you think this would take?" The raven-haired girl got up from the tub's edge. "I'll go get a towel for ya." Marcy left the bathroom, leaving Sasha alone only for a moment, a moment she spent smiling, thankful for Marcy, as simple and stupid and smitten as that sounds. 

The brief moment she had to spend alone was quickly over and Sasha knew Marcy was coming hurriedly because of the noise of her footsteps. 

Marcy was back and she had a big, soft towel with her. She sat down on her previous spot on the tub's edge and slowly pat-dried Sasha's back with the towel, as softly as she could. 

Marcy finished with the tattoo and moved on to drying her toned arms, her shoulders, her neck and the few hair strands that accidentally got splashed by water. 

~

A few hours passed since Sasha left the tub, got dressed and now she was lying face down in the middle of their bed. 

Marcy was currently in the kitchen, supposedly preparing a little surprise for Sasha. 

"Are you alright in there, Sashy?" She asked. Along with her lovely voice, the blonde heard a few bowls falling, which she tried not to worry about. "Yeah, but this shit's itchy as hell!!" Sasha shouted back, resisting every urge to scratch her back. 

"Whatever you do, do not scratch it!" Marcy continued. Knowing Sasha, she would do her best to resist, but it was better to repeat it anyway. After all, repetition helps it stick. 

Sasha let out a weak grunt, resisting, but only barely. "Okayy." 

But Marcy wouldn't let this stand one second more. She walked inside the bedroom with her hands full. She had a plate of fresh strawberries with chocolate cream - Sasha's absolute favorite dessert - and some kind of moisturizer in her other hand. 

Sasha raised her head and saw Marcy smiling at her. She took a seat next to her on the bed and Sasha couldn't help but throw a little smile as well. "Whatcha got there?" Sasha asked, propping herself up on her elbows. 

"A little surprise for ya." Marcy winked and put the plate down in front of Sasha. "God, I love you so much, Mar-Mar, thank youuu." The blonde quickly talked, already digging in, just now realizing how hungry she was. 

A little treat was just what she needed. 

"So, Sash." Marcy started. "Hm?" The blonde mumbled unceremoniously. "On a scale from 0 to 10, how bad is the itching?" 

"Hmmmm, a solid 11." The blonde deadpanned, grabbing another strawberry. "That bad, huh?" 

"Absolutely." 

"Y'know what used to help me with that?" Marcy smiled, remembering how insufferable the healing process actually was. "What?" Sasha responded, intrigued. 

"This, so let me help ya out." Marcy let out, gesturing slightly to the skin cream, almost, almost in an uncharacteristically attractive tone. 

And then silence takes over the room, that Sasha disrupts. "Woah, Marce, where did that come from?" She asked, obviously surprised, not seeming to actually dislike it - maybe actually, who knows, like it, but let's not make a big deal out of that. 

"Dang, sorry, I literally dunno." Marcy was quick to apologize. "No, no, that was kinda cute, mind ya." But Sasha was even quicker to reassure it was okay. 

"Yay!" She took a second to rejoice and maybe consider doing that a tad more often. Then, rationality came back to her. "Can I?" She pointed at the blonde's back. "Go ahead, girlfriend." Sasha smiled softly. 

Not needing to hear one word more, Marcy climbed on Sasha and rolled up the tank top to reveal her back. First thing she could notice, the skin was mildly dry and flaky, that's what explained the itching. It was normal, though, no worries there. 

The raven haired girl took some of the moisturizing cream and warmed it up between her delicate fingertips, last thing she wanted was for Sasha to be taken aback by the sudden coldness. 

She placed both her hands on the middle of Sasha's tattoo and rubbed soft circles on it, careful not to accidentally press harder than needed. 

Soon, every inch and every patch of the inked skin was covered with a layer of moisture and that proved Marcy was right: it didn't itch anymore. 

As she got lost in her own thoughts, her hands did everything on their own. 

Something striked her in the corner of her eye, a little spot on the tattoo that she just circled with her fingers. Marcy moved her hands away, just to see her own signature forever imprinted on Sasha's back. 

How did she not see it earlier? Did she blend it that good with the lineart? 

"Sash?" She asked hesitantly, thinking the blonde already fell asleep - she wouldn't, as long as she had those strawberries (they were fastly disappearing, though). 

"Yeah?" 

"You got my signature on there, too?" 

"Course I did." Sasha smirked and Marcy could feel the smirk, even though she couldn't see it. "Man, Sash, I-" 

In Sasha's head it almost didn't make sense. She was totally serious the first time when she said "What's in the design stays in the design." So why were people so surprised? 

"That means a lot." Marcy regained her thoughts and let out simply. "Hey, hey, c'mon now." Sasha began. 

"Don't sweat it, it looks cool." She reassured nonchalantly. "Plus, it's just.." 

"It's your signature, it's you. If it makes any sense, that is." 

And Marcy couldn't help but smile simply, genuinely. "It does. I love you." She softly let out. "A lot."

"Same goes for me, I love you too, so much." 

And somehow, like they just read each other's minds, they both start laughing, comfortable and fuzzy and warm inside. Everything they wouldn't want to change, never, actually. 

... 

"Marce, could we stay like this for a bit longer?" Sasha asked, not knowing if Marcy was done, but if she was close, then she wanted it to last a bit longer, just a little was enough. "Welp, as long as you wanna." 

Both smiled internally like dorks. 

"So, anything new going on with the webcomic?" Sasha asked, hoping to start a fun conversation. She loved listening to Marcy talk about everything she enjoyed. 

Seeing and hearing her talk about something so passionately gave Sasha serotonin and a fuzzy feeling inside, no matter how much time, how many years their relationship endured, the feeling was always the same.

Yeah, they'd both love to stay like that a little longer. 

"Oh, by the way!" Marcy got down quickly from Sasha and left the bedroom running, only to get back as fast as she left with her sketchbook in one hand, trying to hold it in such way not to get moisturizer on it. "You were curious about my doodles, weren't you?" She reminded and Sasha nodded, remembering. 

During the time Sasha was getting inked a few days earlier, Marcy couldn't help but fill in the void of boredom with doodling silly stuff. And that silly stuff made Sasha curious: what did she draw? 

It was always a delight to see Marcy's drawings, it didn't matter if they were finalized, serious artworks, or just silly doodles. 

The artist opened the sketchbook and looked for the page with the little things she drew and, well, as soon as she found it she presented it to Sasha. "Weeeell? You like it?" 

"You little-"

"C'mon, it's totally true!!" 

"That doesn't make it any better!" 

Chapter Text

"Sasha, help me move the ladder!" One of her more annoying classmates called out, making Sasha want to roll her eyes so dramatically they'd fall out. It took every muscle and every gram of determination not to do that. "Sure!" She walked over to help with the heavy ladder. 

For the sake of context, their class was tasked with taking care of the eight graders' graduation party. A big chunk of people have been sent outside to pick up flowers, balloons, graduation hats and such. The others? They stay inside and decorate. 

Worst of all, their teacher, their dear, dear teacher asked Anne to team up with Maggie - Maggie, of all people - and go pick up the cake. Fortunately, Sasha and Marcy both stayed inside with the rest of their annoying and lazy classmates. 

Sasha was the only one strong enough to pick up the ladder and help her classmate stick balloons on the ceiling - cheaper than helium? Yes, but at what cost? (Sasha's will to live, maybe, but let's not go overboard) 

And damn, were they absolutely ungrateful to her. She couldn't take a 5 minute break because the entirety of her classmates were asking her for help like little children. 

Marcy, on the other side wasn't doing much better, neither. Somehow, she was only one of the few people in the class who could properly - and pretty fastly, too! - blow up balloons and tie them up. And they couldn't afford an actual air pump because some of their classmates bought vapes with the class money. 

Her fingers hurt so much from tying balloons she could've just thrown the bag of balloons out the window and yell 'I'm doooone!' And finally get out of there, go home and play that one video game she got into. 

"A little more to the left!" The girl shouted and Sasha immediately moved the ladder while the girl was still high up. The way Sasha moved the ladder could be easily mistaken for an attempt to get rid of the annoying girl. 

Sasha decided to totally ignore whatever the girl shouted back at her. "Hey, girlfrieeend! How are the balloons coming along?" She asked from across the classroom, looking at Marcy. 

Marcy's head remained low, not moving an inch, laser-focused on tying three balloons together. A classmate that was just lying around took a closer look at Marcy. "She's got earphones!" He said, before returning his vape back to his mouth. 

"Aight, hold on." Sasha simply walked to Marcy, leaving the girl on the ladder without anyone to hold it and make sure she's safe up there. "How about me?!" The girl shouted, panicked almost. "Relax, you'll be fine." Sasha simply waved her hand dismissively. 

She approached Marcy in one side, the latter not even observing the blonde just standing on her left. That's how concentrated she was on tying the balloon in her hands. 

The only way for Sasha to get the girl's attention - in her point of view, at least - was to yank out her left earphone and ask closely to her ear "How you doing, Mar-Mar?" 

At least she was considerate not to speak too loud, knowing it heavily bothers Marcy. 

"I'm pretty good actua-" Marcy answered but was rudely interrupted mid sentence by the balloon in her arm escaping somehow and then deflating loudly, imitating some kind of distorted flight pattern in the air. 

"Yeah." Marcy ended softly, covered by the loud sound of the balloon. As the now deflated piece of rubber fell down and hit the floor, Marcy let out a tired sigh.

"Way to go, Marcy!" The vaping classmates sarcastically commented and clapped rudely. "Go to hell." Sasha commented back in the same manner as them, eyeing all of them. She wasn't gonna let Marcy go home with half her fingers broken and a confidence level of exactly 0. 

And then, well, they fell silent and resumed their vaping. Inside the class, nonetheless. At least it smelled like bubblegum and mango. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Sasha glared at them, knowing how much unwanted comments like this could get to Marcy. 

In all truth, she didn't want to appear as over-protective, but she did enjoy how little it took to make trash talkers shut up. In all truth #2, Marcy enjoyed it when the blonde played Prince Charming, it sure was nice. 

The blonde grabbed a chair from a desk no one currently occupied and dragged it effortlessly right next to Marcy's, not too close to suffocate the girl, but exactly close to be comfortable. She threw herself on the school chair and looked a bit around Marcy's desk. 

"I can help if ya want?" Sasha offered, smiling softly while grabbing a new balloon from the plastic bag on the desk, her tone completely changed from before. "But what about the ladder!!?" The girl yelled, turning her head so aggressively to Sasha the ladder started swinging left and right. 

"Uh-oh." Marcy already imagined the ladder and the girl falling. 

In the blink of an eye, Sasha practically sprinted to the opposite of the classroom and held the ladder, preventing it from falling and preventing the girl from falling - even if she did this mostly for the ladder. The poor, poor ladder. And Marcy. She wouldn't want Marcy to get overwhelmed by the horrible sound a falling ladder would make. 

"See? You're fine!" Sasha smirked at the girl, who was trembling and visibly scared. "You know what? Timeout!" She shouted, voice still shaky. She got down from the ladder and stormed out of the classroom. 

"That makes one less of us. Welp." Sasha muttered under her breath, walking away from the ladder and back to Marcy. "Here, how about I join ya?" She asked, rummaging through the plastic bag filled with balloons. 

Sasha looked pitifully at the desk. There were three bags, three, almost whole bags of balloons and Marcy was expected to blow them all up by the end of the day. All by herself. 

She took one pink balloon and effortlessly blew it up, then tied it up and threw it to the side. "That would be suuuper helpful, thank you." Marcy smiled at Sasha, relieved. "No problem." Sasha smiled back, grabbing another one, then leaning towards Marcy's ear. "That gremlin was annoying, anyway." 

"You kidding? Heard her yelling even with my earphones in." Marcy giggled, making Sasha laugh. "Yeah, she's kind of a biiitch." Sasha commented, snickering. 

"Wanna share earphones?" Marcy asked, picking up the fallen earphone and offering it to the blonde. "Sure!" Sasha took it and put it in her left ear. 

Marcy listened to something extremely familiar, but Sasha couldn't quite put her finger on it. The raven-haired girl definitely presented this song to her in the past, but she sadly forgot its name. What Sasha failed to notice in the past, the song was quite catchy. 

"What are you listening to, Marce? I forgot the name." Sasha asked curiously, right after blowing up another white balloon. 

"Gladiator by Jann, also known as my new favorite song ever!" She explained, excitedly. "Sounds awesome, might add it to my own playlist later." The blonde exclaimed, continuing to blow up balloons. 

They sit there, both making quick work of the balloons. Marcy had some problems tying them up, though, she just was too tired to go on. 

She looked to her side and saw a focused Sasha, tying up balloon after balloon like the whole world depended on it. Marcy didn't want to admit that she was actually fascinated by such a small thing, but she clearly was. 

"Man, you're good at this." She complimented, right after blowing up her balloon. They only seemed to get harder and harder to blow up for Marcy, each one requiring what felt like more and more air. "Thank you, you're not too bad yourself." Sasha encouraged, despite it being clear the other was as tired as can be. 

Marcy saw it and Sasha's encouragement didn't go without an effect, of course. They really did make the little soon to be artist feel a bit better. 

As soon as the song ended, coincidentally and like it was on cue, the classroom's door opened aggressively, instantly getting everyone's attention, including Marcy and Sasha's. Out of a reflex of hers, Marcy yanked the earphones out of their ears and quickly put a pause to the next song. 

The person who came inside was exactly none other than their teacher, who, by a rough analysis Sasha made - which meant eyeing her teacher a few seconds, then deciding the vibe she gave off - was extremely tired and pissed off. 

Now it was a good time for those little spawns to pretend they're busy helping around. 

"So, can anyone tell me why over half of this class is slacking off?" The teacher asked, crossing her arms, radiating dissatisfaction and a sense of anger.

The classmates who were lying around looked at each other, communicating through simple looks and occasional whispers and mumbles no one could quite understand. One thing was for sure, they knew this year's graduation party was about to end with a bang because of them. 

One of the 'braver' of the slackers stood up and cleared his voice, shoving his vape in his pocket, in hopes of the teacher not seeing it. "We were taking a break and we thou-" 

"This won't do, kiddos." The teacher interrupted, the same anger not being as obvious this time. "We only have one more day to organize this whole thing." 

So that might actually be a bad situation. 

"So far, I'm only seeing Sasha and Marcy helping around here!" 

"Mrs. Virk, may I speak with you on the hallway?" Sasha suddenly stood up from her chair next to Marcy. At this point, she was practically juggling between an aggressive tone, a sweet one and one she used only on the teachers. 

And with a tired sigh, Mrs. Virk nodded. "Sure, Sasha." 

She opened the door that previously closed on its own when nobody was watching and left the classroom, quickly followed by Sasha, who was careful to close the door. Just so the others couldn't hear anything. 

Marcy wondered what could they be talking about. The way Sasha spoke made it look an important thing, a problem who should be addressed immediately, maybe. 

Too bad though, Marcy couldn't hear squat. Eh, whatever it is, this is Sasha she was talking about, things'll get fixed. 

With that thought she grabbed one earphone and placed it back in her ear, going back to listening her favourite tracks while she was breaking her fingers. 

Before going back to work, though, Marcy thought something wasn't quite right. She took her phone from the desk and started hitting the 'next' button repeatedly, just until she finally hit what she called the song jackpot. 

Oh yeah, turning on shuffle just to skip to a specific song, a classic move. 

With that, the door opened loudly and Sasha came in, sporting a big grin on her face, staring like a gremlin at Marcy, her whole expression and manner comparable to that of a toddler who just made the biggest mess out of crayons in the living room and is totally proud of it. 

"Alright, Mar-Mar, pack your stuff!!" Sasha exclaimed with a clap, walking cheerfully towards the raven-haired girl. No way, were they going home or something? 

Even though she was confused as all hell, Marcy decided to trust Sasha. She reached for her backpack and grabbed whatever was hers and lying around the desk, shoving them all hurriedly in the bag. "Alright, but what's the hurry?" Marcy asked while zipping up her backpack. 

"We're going home early, Mrs. Virk said so." Sasha explained to Marcy, unfortunately getting the attention of the slackers in the classroom. "Amazing news, let's g-" They were just about to get their stuff and go. 

Get their stuff and go, that is until they were interrupted by Sasha's snickers, abruptly turning into laughter, laughter with a side of casual mockery, the standard for classmates who secretly couldn't stand the guts of each other. "No, no, no, y'all got it soo wrong!" 

Her laughs got rarer and rarer until her tone was ultimately serious, almost scary. "The only ones that are going home are me and Marce." 

"You, on the other hand, get off your asses and take care of this whole thing." She spoke rudely and authoritatively, but it was justified, in some sense or another. After all, they did waste money and got nothing done. 

In all truth, Sasha's rude way of speaking did convince everyone to finally start getting stuff done. 

Now, between newfound bustle and fuss, Sasha grabbed Marcy by her arm and dragged her outside the classroom. Careful not to leave her backpack behind, Marcy hurriedly grabbed it as well by a strap, along with her phone and headphones. 

As soon as they were out and the door was closed behind them, the change in atmosphere was so, so obvious and refreshing. 

There was no more of that sickening, chemical-like bubblegum mixed with mango smell, this was the first thing that the girls could sense. Secondly, the air was so much better, several windows were opened, allowing fresh air to properly circulate throughout the school's walls. 

This was much, much better. 

Sasha sighed, finally done with dealing with her classmates. "I left my stuff in the biology lab, wanna come with me and take it?" Sasha asked simply. "Sure, let's go." Marcy nodded, feeling her head clear up a bit with the lack of the vape smoke's smell. 

A few hallways and some stairs later, they were back in the biology lab. Among all workbenches, water faucets and random cabinets lied the blonde's bag. 

Sasha quickly sprinted to it and grabbed it, then went back to Marcy, who was waiting besides the doorframe. 

"Alright, got it, let's go home, Marce." She put her arm on Marcy's shoulder, in an endearing little gesture she knew the slightly shorter girl loved. "Yay! I'm starving." Marcy replied. 

"Yeah, me too." Sasha sighed, only now actually remembering how dragging a whole metal ladder around made her hungry. 

A bright idea lit up Sasha's mind, mentally organizing a whole after school mini-date thing with Marcy. But first, she had to make sure the other was up for it. "Hey, Marce?" 

"Yeah?" The other replied, already intrigued. "Do you need to go home right away?" Sasha started. "We could hang out a little, y'know? Treat ourselves a bit." She suggested, hinting a little something of a date. 

An average middle schooler wouldn't have much money in their pocket, unless their parent was extremely generous that day. But hey, Sasha was no average middle schooler, no sir. She had spare change in every jacket, it seemed. 

This was no exception and this time, she could use that spare change to buy something for her and Marcy, instead of her usual after-school granola bars. 

Marcy gave the idea some thought. 

With all the usual chaos the end of the school year came, of course there have been some pretty last-moment changes to how much time they had to spend inside the damned walls of this building we call 'school'. 

So last-moment, that some parents couldn't even keep up with it. Which meant, of course, some parents didn't know when their kid was supposed to come home. That sadly included Marcy. 

Thankfully, this came in just perfectly, it gave her time to hang out with Sasha, without her parents asking questions! 

... Okay, maybe Marcy gave it too much thought. Realizing she's been thinking a little too much, she finally answered. "Ya know what? Yeah, we deserve it, Sashy." 

"Great! I know a cool place, wanna go there? Sasha couldn't help but smile, almost uncharacteristically dorky. 

"Yeaaaah!" Marcy responded, excitedly. This make-shift date didn't sound like anything formal, it wasn't anything formal, but it sounded cute. Plus, it was Sasha, how could she refuse? 

And they both go walking towards the building's exit, everything besides a few classrooms being uncanny and overly quiet compared to the normal bustle. It was relaxing, sure, strange but somehow calming and even comforting, just the two of them wandering about. 

~

"How come I never knew about this place?" Marcy asked loudly. The whole place was quiet and empty, the only other people besides them were the few staff members. They looked like okay people, bored out of their minds, sure, but still. 

"I mean, I can kinda see why you didn't know about it." Sasha started, picking a nice table for two - it was a table for four, actually, but as long as they could use 2 chairs, it was a table for two - and occupying a seat, followed by Marcy. "It ain't the most popular spot around, but the food is real good, trust me." 

All this time, even though Sasha could tell Marcy was paying attention to what she was saying, the raven haired girl was looking for something in her bag. "Whatcha looking for, Marce?" She asked, pushing aside the backpack slightly, to see Marcy's face. 

"I just realized I don't have any money on me." Marcy deadpanned. "That's all?" Sasha chuckled. "I'll pay, no problem. We'll share a... Something, haven't really decided yet what to order." The blonde snickered. 

"Thanks, Sashy! I'll pay you back tomorrow." Marcy assured, making the other smile in an endearing manner. "Nah, it's just a few bucks, don't worry 'bout that." 

"Thanks! Also, how about we eat outside this time? The weather's pretty nice." Marcy proposed, smiling, immediately getting excited nods from Sasha. "Yeah, we could eat on a bench in that one playground we used to visit!" The blonde further suggested. 

~

"Oh man, you were right about these, Sash!" Marcy cheered, taking another fry and absolutely devouring it. "True. I totally was." Sasha added, watching Marcy. 

After they got their order - french fries, nonetheless, the most romantic meal, mind you - they went to their favorite playground and took a seat on a bench. Though, they had to admit, it was pretty lonely. 

It was much less lively than what they remembered. Though it was understandable, the last time they visited was when they were only little kids. Back then, when this place was brimming with life. Now, the sky was cloudy and grey. 

Now, the few swings there were broken, the slide wasn't the same vibrant red and instead the paint had chipped. Plants were overgrown and random weeds grew in the sandpit.

It truly was a nostalgic image turned even more grey, but there was a single drop of liveliness visiting this abandoned corner of the city and it was Marcy and Sasha. 

Sasha grabbed another fry and looked up at the sky. It seemed to get blacker and blacker, until she felt a drop of water land on the top her head. She looked at Marcy, who didn't seem to notice that it was starting to rain, slowly but surely. "Hey, Mar-Mar?" She started, getting Marcy's attention while she was still munching. 

"Hm?" 

"I think it's starting to rain." She stated the obvious. 

"So? Rain's nice. Plus, I have an umbrella in my bag if it starts raining real heavy." Marcy replied simply after finishing her mouthful. 

"Hmm, yeah you're right." 

They continued their lunch, mini-date, whatever you wanted to call it, the droplets of water progressively getting bigger and more frequent. 

Marcy got her schoolbag and quickly looked for the umbrella she knew she carried everytime, just in case. It was not big, but it sufficed, it was alright for two people. 

Suddenly, Marcy's phone began ringing. Taking it out of her pocket, the raven haired girl knew it was her mother without even reading the caller's name. She just happened to set a custom ringtone for her mother. 

"Oh, shoot, it's my mum!" 

"Oh, well, answer her?" 

Marcy picked up and immediately put the call on speaker. "Hi, mum." 

"Marcy, where are you? Still in school?" Her mother asked, audibly worried... Yeah, it was already almost 4 PM. 

Marcy looked questioningly at Sasha, who just shrugged, unable to think of any excuse for her mother. Okay, so Marcy had to come up with something right now. 

"No, I'm on my way home, actually." She didn't have anything else to say and she was a terrible liar. "Okay, you do have your umbrella, right? It's pouring." Her mother asked. 

"Yeah, I do, cyaaa!" Marcy wanted this call to end as soon as possible. "Okay, love you, bye!" Her mother greeted back, thankfully not trying to prolong the call uselessly. 

The line went cold and Marcy put her phone back in the pocket of her hoodie. 

There was a moment of silence in which Sasha thought Marcy would just take her stuff and go home, while Marcy was thinking of something to say. 

"So uh.. Going home?" Sasha asked, seeing that neither one of them got up. She already kinda knew the answer was 'yes'. 

"Guess so. But hey, if you wanna, you can come along." Marcy proposed, intriguing Sasha. "Y'know, be my bodyguard." The girl continued, winking. 

"Sure!" Sasha agreed, getting up alongside Marcy. "You do need a bodyguard, anyway." She commented, smirking, making Marcy chuckle, a very slight blush sprinkled on her cheeks. 

Marcy could sense some flirty undertones, but okay, going right past that like the oblivious cutie she was. 

Marcy didn't really live that far. Sasha would know, she visited multiple times and roughly, it takes about 5 minutes for her to get there, from her own house to Marcy's. 

Now, assuming the playground was somewhere in the middle, it would take, maybe 3 minutes to get to Marcy's home. 

And well, during the whole 3 minute trip they just couldn't stop talking. Marcy was dropping spoiler after spoiler about something Sasha will likely never try out, a new game Marcy got into just the day before. 

Even though she probably won't try it out, Sasha enjoyed listening to the raven-haired girl's rambles. She was just so cute when she went on and on about things, making this short trip seem all the shorter. 

The droplets of water hitting the ground were just background noise at this point. But even if they were such a minor detail, they added so much to the whole scenery. 

Soon, they got to the final crosswalk. After this, the Wu residence. Sasha looked left and right, to make sure, sure of what? Don't know, the streets were empty and rainy, no cars, no people in sight. Only them. 

They both crossed, a few steps further, and they'd be at Mrs. Wu's doorstep. But suddenly, almost hesitantly, Marcy stops and Sasha immediately notices, the raven-haired girl's umbrella not covering the blonde anymore. "Somethin' wrong?" She asked, turning back and looking at the girl. 

"No, no, it's just uh.." She hesitated and seeing this, Sasha gave her a reassuring, soft smile that wasn't a grin, not even a smirk, just to let her know she can tell her anything. "Before I go home, I wanna.." And in a blink, Marcy's free hand was placed on Sasha's shoulder. Her usually pale cheek was greeted by Marcy's soft and slightly chapped lips, unable to stop itself from blushing harder than Sasha would ever care to admit. 

"This little date was fun and, well, maybe someday, during summer break we can go on a longer one?" Marcy spoke, but Sasha was still basically processing. No way a little smooch like that just reduced big, bad and popular Sasha to the human equivalent of a computer's blue screen. 

And it's not like it was their first, neither. Something about little smooches like that, in the rain just sounded right in Sasha's head, even though she found them extremely cheesy in movies. 

"Sure, whenever you wanna go, Marce!" Sasha finally snapped from her thoughts. "Perfect! Also, take this." Marcy offered Sasha her umbrella. They didn't know how much more the droplets would continue hitting the asphalt, but by the looks of it they weren't gonna stop soon. 

She covered her head with her hood and ran to her home's doorstep as Sasha stood there and watched, smiling. Marcy turned her back at the door and threw a smile to the blonde as well. 

She raised one arm and waved it. "Love yaaaa!" She shouted to Sasha, taking clear advantage of the fact that the streets were absolutely empty, turning the whole scene into something of a cheesy, romantic anime scene. 

"Love you too, Mar-Mar!! Cya tomorrow." Sasha greeted back and with that, Marcy smiled one last time and went inside. 

Sasha stood there a bit, in the rain, still processing everything. "Wow, she's such a dork." She told herself, knowing she absolutely loves her. Dork or not, she was cute, maybe even more than that. 

Oh well, time for Sasha to go home and plan a new date, for another time. Hopefully as soon as possible. 

<3

Chapter Text

6:40 AM, on a simple, boring Monday. 

Marcy was sleeping - well, more like endlessly shifting from side to side - on their shared bed. 

Sasha was already up, rummaging sloppily through her closet, looking for something okay to wear. Usually she had no problem finding something, but today, since she woke up nothing was usual. It all felt cold. A little too cold. And warm at the same time. 

She woke up way, way too early today and it felt like an eternity has passed from 4 AM to the present hour. 

Sasha tried so hard to go back to sleep, but it just seemed impossible. 

And today was extremely weird for some reason, but her mind was blurry and because of that she couldn't quite put a finger on what the problem was. 

All she knew was that she woke up sweaty and cold. It was kind of hard to breathe, too. But nothing too major, Sasha thought. Looking in her right, Marcy was sound asleep, hugging one of her favorite plushies. Good, well at least someone was having a good rest. 

The blonde didn't even notice anything weird - besides the sweat and the overral cold feeling - until she checked her phone and saw it was 4 AM. Something was wrong, she never could wake up that early, not even with an alarm. 

Back to the present, though, she really did struggle finding something to wear.

After 5 minutes of going back and forth between two thoughts, "I should fucking raid this closet right now." And "You know what, no, fuck it." she just decided to grab the first T-shirt she sees and a pair of jeans. It was gonna do the job just fine. 

One thing that kept worrying Sasha though, was Marcy and the way she was shifting in the bed so frequently. Was she being too loud? She usually sleeps very deeply and I mean incredibly deeply. Sometimes you couldn't wake her up at all, not even if you had the loudest speakers on the market. She just woke up when she wanted, no problem. 

She was gonna try to be quieter. The blonde went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water to wash away the scratchiness in her throat. 

It did nothing but seem to make it even worse. Great. Okay, Sasha was approaching a conclusion she didn't enjoy. 

The blonde went to the bathroom and rinsed her face in cold water like she always did. She didn't even know what she felt like anymore. Sleepy? Tired? Too energetic? 

She gazed at the mirror and saw her own face covered in water, few wet hair strands sticking to her face. Her usually pale cheeks were red and her whole complexion seemed to somehow have more color. But then again, nothing about this shitty start of a day was usual. 

She dried her face with her towel and went back in the kitchen as it was time for something that would surely shake the weakness out of her body. Coffee. 

Though, as soon as she grabbed a cup she heard light, slow footsteps coming from the bedroom, accompanied by a single, quiet - and disappointed, might I add - groan. 

Oh, perfect, she woke up Marcy. 

The raven-head popped up in the kitchen and rubbed her eyes, deeming it as waaaay too goddamn early for anyone. Especially herself. 

"Good morning, Saaaash." She walked over and took a seat, resting her head on her thin arms. Her eyes still had trouble adjusting to being open after 8 good hours of sleep. 

"..Morning." Sasha croaked back weirdly, just now realizing something was extremely wrong with her voice. She struggled getting any sound out and when it did get out, it came out excessively raspy and hoarse. "Sorry if I woke you up." She apologized. 

"Don't worry about it, its no..." She yawned tiredly. "'S no problem." 

"How are you, though?" Marcy asked. She may be sleepy, but hey, it was Sasha who had to wake up at 6 AM daily, so she should be asked how she's doing, right? 

But the blonde had too much of a hard time trying to talk without hurting her throat borderline hellishly, so she simply gave a thumbs up into Marcy's direction, fetching an awkward smile as well, to try and cover anything that might seem weird. It made it even weirder. 

A pause of silence settled in. It wasn't comfortable, neither was it cozy, but it was somewhere in the middle. The only sounds that dared to interrupt this silence were the sounds of Marcy's footsteps as she got up and took a simple glass, turned on the sink, poured herself some water and turned off the sink, then went to her seat again. 

She chugged the water fastly, clearing up her throat and with it the usual morning grogginess. 

She put the now empty glass on the table with a loud clank. "Yeah, no, Sashy, you're not leaving this house today." She said, uncharacteristically serious and somehow bossy. 

"Look, Marcy-" The blonde tried to speak, but it came out hoarse and rough, obvious she was having a hard time speaking. Marcy got up and walked in front of the blonde. 

"No, I won't have any of this!!" Marcy almost scolded, putting on her 'serious and authoritative, but also incredibly cute pout' - She refused acknowledging it was extremely cute to Sasha, she wanted to believe it was just plain serious and authoritative. 

Marcy sighed, thinking of how to put this better. "You won't be going anywhere today, alright?" She looked at Sasha, expression completely changed from the previous one to an understanding, empathetic look.

"You need a day off, okay? I know how much you want to help those children, but it's your own health that comes first." She went on, caressing Sasha's hands with hers. 

If Sasha wanted to absolutely fight her a few moments before, now she wanted to listen to her, actually. She did raise a pretty good point and ultimately, Sasha knew Marcy was right. 

The blonde knew she could ignore taking breaks, despite her telling Marcy to take them as much as she needs them. Well then, it was time for Marcy to teach the blonde to respect her own saying. 

Sasha croaked out a little "Fine.." And walked back in the bedroom. The raven-haired girl took the blonde's hand and held it tightly, letting her know she was gonna take care of this if she couldn't. 

And to be completely honest, Marcy expected Sasha to be more, much more stubborn. 

Once back in bed, Sasha made herself as comfortable as she could - considering her god awful condition. Marcy was careful to cover her with the softest blanket she could find. 

As a sweet bonus that was totally unnecessary - but totally needed, at the same time - the raven-haired girl brought some of her plushies and cosily arranged them besides Sasha. She was surrounded by plushies in any direction and honestly, though it was kind of childish and extra, she enjoyed it. 

What's this? Should Sasha get sick more often? If this was how Marcy would take care of her, then yeah, absolutely. 

Marcy was done arranging the plushies so she took a few steps back to see and admire her little work. She was staring at the cutest - and definitely the weirdest - image: Sasha, surrounded by plushies just like the grand city of Newtopia, surrounded by water. 

Not hesitating in any way, the girl took out her phone from her pocket and quickly took a picture of this, planning to print it out later and hide it into a photo album, decorate it with stickers and add a cute caption, written in glittery markers. 

There surely was one thing you didn't know about Sasha: she loved plushies, actually. If you think she hated this whole thing, you're gravely wrong. 

After Marcy was done taking her pictures, she put her phone back in her pocket and took a seat on the bed, next to the blonde. With a sigh, she softly said "Look, I know this absolutely sucks." And Sasha nodded, her eyes wide, staring at Marcy. Yeah, like it wasn't obvious it sucked. 

"My point is that it's gonna be alright." Marcy assured, fetching a soft smile that you couldn't help but trust. Sasha was no exception to this. "Meanwhile.." The artist continued. 

"We could communicate through paper planes! Or texts!" She suggested, excited. And well, Sasha knew Marcy was a sucker for things like love letters, letters in general, actually. As for herself, she didn't hate the idea at all. It was very cute, very.. Marcy. 

Sasha weakly raised her hand and gave a thumbs up at the idea, unable to actually approve of this in any other way. 

And then Marcy ran out of the room to get paper sheets and pens, squealing excitedly like a little child. 

There was this awkward moment of being alone. Sasha used these few moments to simply think. You know what, maybe it was better that Marcy caught her and forced her to stay home. 

Thankfully, Sasha wasn't forced to stay alone more than maybe 15 seconds. Marcy barged in as fast as she left, this time with a hefty amount of paper sheets in one hand, two of her fancy pens and two clipboards in the other hand. 

Smiling uncontrollably, she neatly set the papers on the nightstand near the blonde, saving two sheets, one for herself and one for her girl. Marcy gave her the paper attached to the clipboard and the pen and let her write, waiting eagerly for a response. 

Sasha scribbled as fast as she could, never even getting up. Knowing she was not the first person you'd think of when hearing the words "Person with beautiful handwriting", writing so fast was gonna make it even worse. 

Once done, she removed the inked piece of paper from the clipboard, the task at hand seeming so hard right now for someone in her state. It took all her strength to actually remove the sheet of paper. 

Sasha folded it neatly - well, as neatly as she could - and made it look somewhat like a little letter, immediately passing it to Marcy, who was so very eager to finally read it. 

Not even half a second pass since the folded paper is in Marcy's hands and she already quickly unfolds it, revealing messy and hurried words. Someone normal couldn't make out squat from this, but then there was Marcy. She could read it like it was nothing special. 

~

"My dear, dear Marcy Regina Wu, 

I'm extremely hungry and also very thirsty. 

Signed with love, 

Your favorite gal pal, Sasha ⚔️😘💅" 

~

"Man, you're sure putting a lotta trust in me." Marcy chuckled, remembering the last time she tried cooking. It was not a fun experience, she won't even lie at this point. Sasha only smirked in a somehow encouraging manner. 

Well, how could Marcy say no? Right, she couldn't. 

Actually if she thought about it a little it was only natural for her to return the favor. After all, who took care of herself when she was sick? Sasha, no more, no less. 

"I'll go destroy the kitchen for a bit, cya!" Marcy waved, leaving the room. She didn't actually mean that, right? 

The raven-haired girl already had something of a brief mental sketch of what she was gonna do. Firstly, she needed to boil water for a tea. There's nothing better than a cup of tea when it comes to a sore throat. Or maybe two cups. Maybe even more judging by Sasha's ability to speak. 

Second, she needed to figure out how to put together a soup. 

Of course, Thai Go was always an option. Hell, maybe even calling Anne was a better idea than simply clicking on a recipe and just throwing a bunch of stuff in a pot, boiling it and slapping it in a bowl. 

You know what? Contacting Anne was a great idea! 

Without any doubt, the artist quickly texted Anne. 

~

Marce!! : ANNE WAKE UP 

Marce!! : PLS ANNE 

Marce!! : ANNE WAKEY WAKEY

~ 

Marcy fiddled with her hair, waiting for any sort of response from her friend. 

Fortunately for her, Anne was already awake - for some reason. The thai girl picked up her phone and sent a quick reply.

~

anne<3 : WJAT 

Marce!! : one of your friends is incredibly sick, right? Like, hypothetically. 

anne<3 : Yeah. Go on? 

Marce!! : how do you craft a soup. 

anne<3 : I'm sorry??? CRAFT A SOUP? WHAT 

anne<3 : HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO MAKE ONE ALREADY ITS SO SIMPLE????????? 

Marce!! : HOW DO YOU DO IT PLS I MUST KNOW. 

anne<3 : i dunno mar-mar, there are like 2 very different ways this can go. Do you want the fancy recipe or the simple one?? 

Marce!! : THE SIMPLE ONE i ain't no gordon ramsey 😔

~

And then Anne proceeded to describe every step in great detail, giving a precise and simple answer to every question Marcy had about it. With this, the raven-haired girl was confident she got this in the bag. 

One thing Marcy forgot about - The tea was ready. It had been for some time now, she just kind of forgot about it. 

~

"Heey, Sashy. Are you sleeping??" Marcy whispered curiously as she opened the door to the bedroom and peeked inside. The blonde's eyes were closed, making her think she fell asleep. 

Her eyes snapped open as soon as Marcy finished her sentence. She shook her head, gazing at Marcy, intrigued. 

"I made some tea for ya." The raven-haired girl walked closer and placed the mug on the nightstand. "It's kind of hot now, so maybe you should wait a bit for it to cool down." Marcy said, taking a seat. 

She set her dainty hand on the blonde's thigh, covered with the blanket. It brought some comfort to her, at least. "You should try to rest, it's kind of the only few things that help." Marcy suggested, her tone soft and comfy. 

Sasha weakly grabbed her phone from the nightstand and texted Marcy as quickly as she could. 

~

sasharoll>:) : the last thing i feel like doing is staying awake anyway so lmao

~

"No, Sash, don't try to lmao me." Marcy chuckled, looking up from her phone to see Sasha throwing her the smuggest look a person in her state could muster. 

~

sasharoll>:) : i'll try to get some sleep. 

sasharoll>:) : tho it's possible I'll just end up binging some commentary channel on yt instead

~

"Try not to, alright?" Marcy smiled, knowing all too well she had the exact same problem. The urge to binge some silly internet drama related commentaries that happened a few years ago instead of actually resting. 

"I'll go buy some stuff." She said softly. 

Before leaving, Marcy was careful to plant a gentle smooch on Sasha's forehead. "Love you." She smiled. 

With that she left the room, leaving Sasha absolutely awestruck. Maybe it was because of her fever, or maybe it was because she loved that woman. Or both. 

~

The raven-haired girl checked the fridge, analyzing what ingredients missed. 

She made a quick list of all ingredients, then she scribbled little check marks next to the things they already had at home. 

Great! The list was done. Now to actually go outside at 7 AM. 7 AM grocery shopping session. 

In newfound hurry, Marcy grabbed the closest hoodie and sweatpants that were lying around in the bathroom and immediately got dressed. 

Marcy was part of the rare breed of girlfriends who would go grocery shopping at 7 AM because you're sick as hell - Sasha would totally do the same, though, so it was alright, no big deal. 

~

Just a few hours later, Marcy has long since arrived back home with a bag full of grocery and medicine for Sasha's fever and overall shit condition. 

The blonde took her meds - with no fuss, neither. She was usually very childish when it came to taking pills and stuff. 

And Marcy finally put that soup together, careful to follow each and every step Anne told her about. She was no prodigy in a kitchen, but she had to admit that it actually looked promising. 

Hey, cheers to Anne for her fool-proof recipe! 

The artist grabbed a bowl and poured the warm meal. She didn't expect that in the slightest, but it looked and smelled greatly. Maybe she'll have some, too. 

She took the bowl and placed it neatly on a tray, with a little napkin and a spoon, making it look like something you'd see in a well-known restaurant. 

Carrying the tray in one hand, she went and quietly opened the door to the bedroom. Peeking inside through a door crack, she saw the curtains were closed and any lights out there were out. 

Squinting her eyes to help herself see more, Marcy noticed Sasha's eyes were closed and she was snoring lightly. 

The raven-haired girl opened the door fully and tip-toed inside, walking closer to the bed. 

Marcy placed the tray on the nightstand as quietly as she physically could and then sat down on the floor, facing the peacefully sleeping blonde. 

'Man, she's so pretty.' She couldn't help but think to herself. 

Should she wake her up? Should she let her sleep? She does need the rest, sure, but her meal was getting cold. It would be no good if it went cold.. Plus, she did want to impress Sasha with her newfound cooking skills. 

To hell with it, she was gonna wake Sasha up. She didn't exactly know how, but she was gonna try. 

Marcy raised her hand and gently poked the blonde on her arm a few times. No response. 

So she took it as a sign to grab her by the arm and shake her slightly, this time getting a slight response. 

So she shook her hand even harder and this time, Sasha's eyes flutter open, clearly a bit, just slightly dissapointed she was woken up in this way. 

The blonde looked at Marcy with still sleepy, half closed eyes, waiting for her to say something. 

"Good mornin'." She whispered, smiling widely and proudly. Sasha simply grabbed her phone and texted Marcy. 

~

sasharoll>:) : good morning why did you wake me up god what was the reason. 

~

"I made you soup." She beamed adorably, in such a way it would be impossible to actually be mad at her. Marcy took the tray from the nightstand and placed it comfortably in the blonde's hands. 

~

sasharoll>:) : All is forgiven :0

~

"Yay!" Marcy exclaimed at the text. 

So the blonde had a taste of it. Her eyes widened in surprise and then immediately grabbed her phone again. 

~

sasharoll>:) : Yooo this is actually so good mar-mar :00000 

sasharoll>:) : Thankssss i love you <3

~

"Awwie.." Marcy let out, taking her own phone out of her pocket. 

~

Marce!! : love you toooo <3333 

sasharoll>:) : Yeah but i do more so stfu 

Marce!! : you underestimate me 

sasharoll>:) : DO I 

Marce!! : YES YOU DO 

Marce!! : I LOVE YOU MORE 

sasharoll>:) : NO I DO KNOW YOUR PLACE 

Marce!! : im sorry, know my place???? YOU CANNOT SPEAK 

sasharoll>:) : No but if i put my mind to it i can still dropkick a child in this state 

sasharoll>:) : But like a child that deserves it. I'm not kicking good kiddos. 

~

They were fighting over text when they were not even 1 meter apart. 

Chapter Text

12 February, 6:35 PM

Sasha was on a little break from work and pretty stressed - for a good reason, too. 

In just a few days it would be Valentine's Day. This dreaded day where all you'd see are teddy bears, chocolates, flowers and occasionally cheap booze. 

Of course she wanted to celebrate it, but gifting Marcy something so simple, so superficial and common as teddy bears, candies or cards was too little. It lacked that special feel.

Not special, not special enough for Marcy. 

That was what stressed the hell out of Sasha. 

Marcy always gave her little trinkets. Bracelets, origami flowers, paper rings and a few other hundreds of things. They all carried around that special feel, that only objects made by Marcy carried. 

Call it the "Marcy flair". 

It was only natural for Sasha to want to give her something special as well. Something that would be full of "Sasha flair"!! Did that make sense? Of course. 

But momentarily, she had absolutely no ideas. 

What do we do when something goes wrong? We call our good buddy, Anne. 

With an absolute lack of doubt in mind, Sasha took out her phone from her purse and facetimed the one trustworthy person who always gave her the best dating tips and tricks - which was real interesting, knowing Anne was an aromantic asexual. 

"Heeey, girlfriend." Sasha greeted as soon as Anne picked up, just now realizing this was gonna be a very awkward conversation. "Hi, Sash, how's it goin'?" The thai woman greeted back nicely. 

Sasha just couldn't not observe all the little frogs behind Anne. It was just something so funny about her, surrounded by frogs, just frogs. 

"It's going good, great even." Sasha smirked. "Liar." Anne grinned back, already picturing a reason as to why Sasha called. "Oh, my, however did you figure that out?" Sasha put her free hand over her mouth in a playfully shocked expression. 

"Anne-tuition." The herpetologist replied knowingly, making the blonde chuckle. How did this woman find a way to put her name in almost every word?

"But now seriously." Anne switched up her tone, from sarcastic and fun to plain serious. "Spill it, Waybright. What's the problem?" 

"So, funny story." Sasha started, giggling sheepishly, no humor behind it. "Really silly, funny story." 

"Get to the damn point." Anne urged, deciding to not have time for Sasha's bullcrap. 

"Ya know how Valentine's Day is in, like what, 2 days, right?" The blonde chuckled again, actually regretting calling Anne. 

The thai woman widened her eyes, slowly realizing what this was all about. A grin creeped its way on her face, making Sasha sigh. 

"I know what this is all about." Anne smirked, mentally mocking Sasha. How was the big, bad miss heartstomper having so much trouble with a measly thing such as Valentine's Day? 

Sasha had a hunch that Anne was gonna tease her about this for the next few years or so.

"Aaanyway, I'ma go ahead and give you the most simple tip out there." Anne continued. "Subtly find out what she needs and buy that for her. Like, I dunno, maybe a new set of alcohol markers." She added, not knowing how helpful this tip of hers would be. 

"Alcohol markers, huh?" Sasha repeated, the missing piece of the puzzle suddenly showing up in her head. "Thanks, Anne, I'll think about that." 

"No worries. Now, get that girl a gift, Gaybright!!" Anne encouraged (mostly), gesturing a thumbs up in front of the phone's camera. 

"Use that nickname again and I'll fistfight you in a Thai Go parking lot." Sasha replied, unclear if she was just joking or if she was actually serious. Anne sure hoped not. Last time they fought did not end well. 

The line went cold and Sasha immediately opened a brand new page on Google, looking for those quality alcohol markers that she remembered Marcy talk about a few weeks ago. 

In all truth, they were a bit pricey, but Marcy was an expert in her domain, so naturally, Sasha had no reason to not trust her when she talked about art supplies and various tools. 

Plus, she would never ever think a few bucks would be more important than one of Marcy's excited squeals she'd let out when she'd rip off the packaging to reveal her little gift. These moments were indeed priceless to the blonde. 

Finding the perfect option on the official website, a neat set of exactly 216 alcohol-based markers with dual tips and a wide variety of vibrant shades, Sasha immediately added them to her cart, never even minding the price.

And they looked exactly like the ones Marcy has been rambling about just a few weeks ago. 

Great! This Valentine's Day wasn't gonna be a complete and utter failure! Maybe it could actually be something cool this year. They've been dating for one year and, well, last year sure was awkward, to say the least. 

~

Meanwhile, Marcy was at home. 

Unlike everyday when she was alone, the speakers were turned off and no song was playing mindlessly in the background.

She wasn't working on her webcomic, neither. 

Marcy was just lying across their shared bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking. That's what she's been doing for the past 30 minutes or so. 

Occasionally looking and admiring the various colors of the fairy lights in their bedroom, she was lost in her thoughts. 

Call it a coincidence, call it a lovely little thing, Marcy was thinking of the exact same thing Sasha was just a few minutes ago. 

Yes, exactly, Valentine's Day. 

It was easy to think of a gift for Marcy. Something related to art, and boy, were there lots and lots of objects related to art. But Sasha? 

She knew Sasha got into a new series of books and she seemed to enjoy them. Hell, she even pulled a classic Marcy move and infodumped the artist about the book's lore a few days ago. 

Too bad she already bought every volume in the series. 

And regarding merch? There was no official merchandise. 

She knew the blonde also enjoyed occasionally crocheting. She mostly did little plushies and placed them on Marcy's desk once they were done. 

But come on now, buying her yarn or crochet hooks? Kind of, not exactly, not really special in any particular way. 

Because you could say that these two shared one braincell at times, they functioned on the same, good old mentality: when something isn't going great, you should really, really call Anne as fast as possible. 

Marcy covered her face with her palms and let out the loudest muffled groan, then sat up and grabbed ber phone from her nightstand, disconnecting the charging cable carelessly and tossing it to the side. 

Throwing herself on the bed again, she looked for the one contact she was gonna call. 

Now, she knew it was gonna be all sorts of awkward. I mean, talking to a childhood best friend about gifts for your girlfriend... But it was Anne, one of the most understanding people she ever knew. 

Anne picked up the phone pretty quickly, thinking it was kind of strange (and possibly a prank) for her friends to call, one right after another. 

"Hey, Marbles!!" Anne started, smiling. "How's it hanging?" 

"It's hanging, alright. Certainly hanging." Marcy replied simply and the other let out a puzzled look. "What does that even mean?" The herpetologist asked again. She hated to make assumptions, but she was already imagining what Marcy was about to say. 

"Okay, so, Anne, please don't laugh at me." Marcy said and Anne already let out a chuckle, becoming more and more sure of her assumption being as true as can be. 

"No promises, but alright, go on." 

"Valentine's Day, Anne. It's coming and I can see it charging at me." Marcy sighed softly and Anne just couldn't help but laugh a bit. "I like how you thought calling me of all people was a good idea, but here we are!" The thai woman laughed. 

"Anneee, help me please." The raven-haired girl urged. "I can't think of any gift for Sash." 

"Well... If it's about Sasha." Anne placed her hand on her chin, thinking a little about it. Her tone had completely changed and was now seriously crafting an answer to Marcy's little dilemma. "I don't think a gift is gonna cut it, y'know what I mean?" 

The artist simply let out a questioning look and Anne took it as a sign to explain what exactly she meant.

"Look, personally, I don't think Sasha would enjoy a material kind of gift as much as she'd enjoy an experience. Dunno if it makes any sense, but she would totally prefer going to a concert with ya... Or a day spent at the pool or something." 

"So basically an experience, huh?" A smile slowly got on Marcy's face, looking at her problem through a new set of shiny, fancy lens. 

Anne nodded, glad to have helped her friend. 

"Thanks, Anna-Banana, cya!!" Marcy beamed, deeming her dilemma as already half solved.

The line went dead and Marcy immediately got to googling, a newfound energy and excitement hitting her. 

~

Finally, she decided to surprise Sasha right tomorrow with a whole day spent at a fancy pool from out of town, like Anne suggested. 

Tomorrow. Why wait for another day when they could have fun right then? Valentine's Day could be spent at home, cuddling all day and eating junk food, right?

~

Exactly after Marcy hung up to her, the thai woman was hit with a nothing-less-but-brilliant idea. 

She was gonna organise a surprise date for her friends! And she had the best plan that was guaranteed to avoid any and all suspicions that they might have. 

The moment Anne was going home was the moment the plan came to life, in full swing, no less. 

But first, she had to make sure Marcy and Sasha knew nothing of this. She took out her phone and quickly texted the artist. 

~

anne<3 : Hey marbles :D 

anne<3 : did u figure out sasha's gift??? 

~

She sent the texts and then put her phone back in her pocket, there was no, and I mean absolutely no time to lose. She had one day to organise a banger picnic date for those two dorks. Fortunately, she already thought of a pretty good location for the picnic. A sort of abandoned little garden almost no one knows about. It had flowers and an overall perfect, romantic vibe to it. 

Her pocket buzzed and it was none other than Marcy replying to her texts. 

~

Marce!! : I did actually >:D 

Marce!! : I'm taking her to the pool tmr 

anne<3 : wait tomorrow? Wasn't Valentine's Day on 14 feb??? 

Marce!! : be honest who cares bout that 

Marce!! : not us cuz we're gonna have fun 💃 

anne<3 : nice, well, have fun you two <333 

Marce!! : thx we will :D 

Marce!! : but you take care out there too <3 

anne<3 : thxxx cya :) 

~

Anne giggled to herself like a Walmart version of Doofenshmirtz. This was going so good. They were out of town tomorrow so they had no chance of guessing what Anne had in store. But first, she needed to know if they wouldn't be busy on Valentine's Day. 

~

anne<3 : yo sash wassup how u doin :) 

sasharoll>:) : doin good, omw home 

anne<3 : cool cool can I ask u smt 👀 

sasharoll>:) : depends but go ahead 

anne<3 : I *formally* invite you and Marcy to a picnic on 14 feb :D 

sasharoll>:) : sweet >:0 

sasharoll>:) : we'll be there :) 

~

After that, Anne dropped the two of them the address and time and a few other details. 

Her plan was gonna go like this: cook up the best meal they've ever eaten, make it look real good, tidy up a bit that garden and the cherry on top... Wait for it... Drumroll, please? 

Strawberry and watermelon themed dresses! 

Anne already had a blueberry themed dress and it was only fitting for her to buy dresses for her buddies as well. She knew a trusty shop at the mall which sold them cheaper than 500$, but the quality was top notch still.

Plus, she was an absolute shipper and also kind of a clown, so naturally, Anne was more than willing to waste money on something just to troll those two a bit. 

So, first things first, Anne went on a short shopping trip to take those adorable dresses. They were not exactly cheap, but of course, it wasn't the end of the world - after all, her salary wasn't shabby at all. No, siree!!

It went smoothly, fortunately. There were a few problems regarding Marcy's dress, though. There were mainly pink ones, so the green dresses were just a tad harder to find... To add to it, Marcy wasn't really that big or tall. In fact, she was pretty dang short and skinny (Perfect for Sasha, she could pick her 47 kilograms ass up and carry her around effortlessly). 

Finding one XS watermelon themed dress was a bit of a task, sure, but nothing Anne couldn't handle. 

And then, after a 40-minute shopping spree, it was finally time to get to cooking. If there was something Anne was certain about it was their ability to cook something edible. They kind of sucked but at least what they could do was strangely eatable. 

As strange and overly wholesome as that might sound, Anne figured out a whole menu for their little picnic date thing. 

... Forget Anne being 'kind of a clown', she was the whole circus. If these two doofuses weren't gonna go out on a proper date because they suck at it, Anne was gonna do her job: being one helluva WingmAnne. 

~

14 February, 8:36 PM

... 

Sasha and Marcy had been waiting for the past 5 minutes in front of the abandoned garden's gate. 

The slightly rusted gate was closed with an old lock and Anne was nowhere to be seen. 

Where was Anne? She said she'd be here at 8:30 PM. 

"Maybe something came up? Anne wouldn't ditch us." Marcy tried, ignoring the fact they've been waiting for some time and Anne didn't even show up. Hell, she didn't even text them to let them know what happened. 

"She totally got lost or something." Sasha snickered, making Marcy chuckle a little too. 

The blonde's phone buzzed in her pocket and she quickly took it out, checking who texted her just now. 

~

anne<3 : I'm so so so so so sorry but i can't make it today :(((((( 

anne<3 : smt came up 

anne<3 : the frogs in the exhibit escaped bro 

anne<3 : and i gotta make sure to catch em yk? 

anne<3 : but yall go on without me :D also the key to the garden is hidden in one of the boxes around there :) 

anne<3 : have fuuuuuun <333

~

"Looks like the frogs escaped.." Sasha raised an eyebrow and told Marcy... It was not the best excuse but hey. I guess THAT happens, too. "That sucks..." Marcy sighed. No way, was Marcy buying this crap?? 

There was something fishy about this, no doubt. If she couldn't make it, why was the key hidden in a box?? Almost like Anne knew she wouldn't be here... 

~

sasharoll>:) : Dang girl that sucks. 

sasharoll>:) : take care don't touch any poisonous frogs k?? Cyaaa :D

~

Sasha wasn't really convinced Anne was actually busy at the aquarium, but well, she didn't want to ruin it for Marcy. 

"She said the key was inside one of the boxes around here." The blonde continued, starting to search through the few boxes around the gate. The raven-haired artist followed, helping her girlfriend. 

~

After 2 minutes of snooping through the boxes around the garden they finally found the key to the gate and opened it. 

The both of them were pleasantly suprised to see the absolutely gorgeous and peaceful garden. It didn't look abandoned in the slightest but it felt like it, for some reason. It was the pleasant, fairytale-like "abandoned" anyone would wish to see.

The grass looked like it has been trimmed these days and the flowers were blossoming, making the scenery look all the more like a pure illustration of a children's book. The children's book, placed on the highest shelf in the library. 

The garden wasn't exactly big, nor was it small. It was just alright and it felt exactly like a corner of the world nobody knew about. But them. 

The little path that began from the gate led to the middle of the garden, where the grass was covered by a lovely red blanket. The blanket was perfectly placed under the shade of a big, majestic tree. 

Its branches were decorated with little fairy lights, adding a delicate drop of light under the tree, lighting up the gradually darkening spring sky. On one of the thicker branches rested a little speaker with an USB stick, playing soft, pleasant music at a rather tame volume. 

It was like they left the place they used to be in and entered a peaceful movie's scene. They didn't need a portal, a key to another world or a powerful spell. Just this. And each other. 

Two cute baskets rested on top of the blanket and they were the key to Sasha coming to her conclusion: Anne definitely staged this. There was no way all the baskets and stuff would be here if Anne wouldn't have been here earlier to set them up. 

... Still, it was very nice of Anne to take the time to organize all this. They definitely needed to surprise her one time, too. 

"Anne trolled us." Marcy chuckled, looking around, admiring the scene. "Can you believe it?" She continued, turning to look at Sasha. 

"Kind of. She is the kind of person who'd do this." Sasha said as she took a seat on the blanket under the shade of the tree. "Totally." The artist nodded. 

She joined the blonde on the blanket and opened one of the picnic baskets, expecting food to be waiting inside. She was getting a bit hungry, fair. 

Sasha scooted over closer to Marcy to see what was inside the cute basket. 

Everything that lied inside the basket was covered by a note written on a lovely pink, heart-shaped piece of paper. 

~

"Y'all got Valentine's Day'd. 

Enjoy your date, dorks. 

Lova y'all (platonically tho) 

- Your favourite girlie, Anne ;)"

~

"I don't believe this." Sasha pinched the bridge of her nose and chuckled lightly, seeing her conclusion being confirmed. 

"That's why we love Anne." Marcy nodded, folding the little piece of paper and putting it inside the case of her phone. 

"That's why we'll invite Anne to our wedding." The blonde unconsciously continued. 

"True!!" Marcy laughed, not fully registering what Sasha just said. She stopped laughing abruptly when realization hit her. "Wait." 

"To our what??" Marcy widened her eyes at the blonde and asked her, confused. She takes a break and her expression switches to a smug grin and knowing, half-closed eyes. "Sasha, are you hiding something???" 

"Course not, dummy." Sasha responded, trying to deflect everything Marcy threw at her, be it a cheeky comment or a snarky look. 

It did not work and somehow Marcy's expression got even more smug. "Stop flattering yourself, you clown!" The blonde pushed Marcy's face to the side with her palm and then broke into a wholehearted laugh. 

"We'll discuss later, Sash, now I'm curious what's inside that basket." 

Sasha absolutely hated the thought of discussing this. It was a joke, why did Marcy take it so seriously? Anyway... Knowing Marcy, she was probably going to forget that by the time they get home.

"Right, Anne's basket.." Sasha picked it up and looked a bit inside, seeing a mix of flowy, slightly glittery fabric in light green and pink. She grabbed the green one and picked it up, soon revealing a gorgeous dress, one that would perfectly fit Marcy's petite body. 

It was light and it had a cute watermelon theme to it. It looked like it would be an absolute joy to swirl and hop into it. 

Marcy wowed at this, fascinated at how good it actually looked. She knew about these types of dresses, she's been though the period of time where everyone would draw fanart of their favourite characters wearing these dresses. 

But she somehow never even saw one of them in real life. They were absolutely breathtaking - maybe 'breathtaking' is a strong word for it, but they really were something. 

"Wait, there's another one!" Sasha looked inside the basket, remembering there was another one, one in her favorite color. 

She took the other one and it was almost identical to the watermelon themed dress, but it was slightly bigger, looked like it would fit her like a perfect glove and finally, it was strawberry themed. 

"That's gorgeous, Sash!" Marcy exclaimed, taking the green one. The fabric felt so light and soft in her hands. "Ya don't think.." Something clicked in Marcy's head. 

"Oh, yeah. Anne totally spent a good amount of bucks just for our asses." The blonde completed, smirking in Marcy's direction. 

"We definitely have to return this whole surprise thingamajig later." The artist snickered. "Yeah, Marce." 

"You know what?" Sasha tossed the dress on her shoulder and put her hands on her hips, turning to Marcy for a bit, throwing her a smile, waiting for her girlfriend to ask her what she was thinking about. 

"Hm?" Marcy looked at her, intrigued. 

"We should try these bad boys on." 

Marcy's face lit up with a smile and got up from her comfy place on the blanket. That's lowkey what she's been waiting for ever since she saw these beauties. 

~

"Actually ridiculous." Sasha deadpanned. She was behind the tree, dressed in her dress. Her initial outfit has been long tossed to the side, on the grass. "No way, come on, just let me see!!" Marcy insisted. She already had the dress on and she couldn't love more. 

She'd twirl around nonstop if she wouldn't get dizzy like crazy. 

Sasha let out a groan and came out. "I'm not sure 'bout this, thou-" 

As soon as she walked out from behind the tree, an excitedly squealing Marcy's arms wrapped around her and took her in a big, warm hug, showing pretty obviously that she loved the way her girlfriend looked. 

"Twirl around a bit!!" Marcy let out excitedly as soon as she took a step back, releasing Sasha from her hug. 

Surprisingly enough, the blonde did the most gracious and elegant pirouette, almost like a professional ballerina. Her soft, blonde hair waved in the wind with her, along with the dress, creating something a poet or a bard would describe as a "unreasonably nostalgic tale of a fairy".

The blonde could swear she saw Marcy's cheeks light up for a split second. "You're sooo pretty, Sash!" The artist gushed, so fascinated. 

"Thanks, Mar-Mar." Sasha swirled another time and then bowed down, chuckling. "I think I'm starting to like this surprise date thing." 

"And you look soo adorable, Marce." Sasha complimented the raven-haired girl again, not once getting over the fact her girlfriend was looking absolutely gorgeous. Green was such a perfect color for her. Like any other, but green just fit her in a different way. 

Marcy's face was now lit up at the simple compliment. "Pshht, come on, you're making me blush.." The artist waved one of her hands, trying to make it seem dismissive. 

Naturally, seeing this reaction, Sasha went on, never in a thousand years would she let this opportunity slide. "I mean, you look stunning in anything." 

Marcy's face was getting redder and redder and at some point, if Sasha kept this flattery, - that was absolutely true and honest, every word the blonde got out was true - Marcy's face would be comparable to a tomato. 

"It's just that this shade of green really, really suits ya." Sasha tucked a raven strand of hair behind Marcy's ear. 

Oh, how Sasha loved getting these types of reactions out of Marcy. 

The blonde giggled at how flustered Marcy could get by some simple comments she just came up with on the spot. Call it the "Heartstomper charm". Except she wasn't going to stomp on any hearts anymore, especially not Marcy's. She was here to keep it safe and heal it. 

Marcy looked around, trying to divert attention from her blushing and because of that she remembered there was another picnic basket, a considerably larger one right on the blanket. "Heey, Sashy, wanna check out the other basket??" She asked, pointing to it. 

"Sure, let's see what Anne has in store." She went and grabbed Marcy by the hand, both taking a seat on the blanket, taking a break from the sun's light and resting under the tree's lovely shade. 

The both of them peeked inside, almost like curious children. The lid has been taken off and they were almost instantly hit with the not-too strong, not-to-mild, pleasant aroma of the dishes Anne prepared for them. 

The aromas danced in the air, inviting the two girls to just dig in and enjoy the whole date. 

The both of them took the whole meal out and displayed it neatly on the blanket. It was everything taken from a dream and a half: cute little glasses for their drinks, a bottle of watermelon juice, a strawberry tart that was nothing short of simply mouthwatering, a few napkins, cutlery, plates and another note. 

Oh, Anne. That cheeky bastard. She went full-on, all-in, no holds barred with the watermelon-strawberry theme. She's probably chuckling to herself like an idiot right now. 

On the same kind of paper as the last note, the words written with glittery pens intrigued both Sasha and Marcy. 

~

"Hope yall like what I made

for youuuu :))) 

(Don't yall even dare try to 

pay up for these just uhhhh

enjoy the lil picnic date??) 

-Ur bestie, Anne <33"

~

"Good thing I'm starving." Sasha joked, making Marcy laugh as well, only to realize she was pretty hungry too. "Man, me too." 

Sasha grabbed the knife and effortlessly, elegantly sliced the strawberry tart, taking the first slice and setting it on Marcy's plate, doing the same after, with her own slice. 

Meanwhile, Marcy took the glasses and put them close to each other. She grabbed the bottle of fresh watermelon juice and filled both glasses almost to the brim. 

"Here, Mar-Mar." The blonde handed her the plate and a fork, setting the napkins on the blanket, besides the two glasses. Marcy thanked her sweetly and took a bite out of the tart. 

Okay, she expected it to be good, but wow. 

Maybe it was just because not one of them knew how to actually cook. Sasha was the one usually handling stuff around the kitchen and Marcy rarelly did anything, but they were absolute toddlers in the kitchen compared to their friend, Anne. 

Just now were they realizing. They've been eating trash food for months. God, they really needed to step up their cooking game. 

"Damn, this is good." Sasha remarked, taking another bite. "Really is.. Hey, Sasha?" She remembered a random little thing she wanted to discuss with her, but never quite found the occasion for it. 

"Yeah?" She replied, between munches. "So, I've been thinking about something for a while.." Marcy continued, knowing the topic she felt the need to discuss was a tad cringy for some. 

Sasha nodded, encouraging her to go on, getting more curious by the second. "Can we talk about pet names?" The artist finally asked. 

Sasha took another bite out of her slice of tart and nodded with a cute smile. "Sure, Marce!! Been wanting to ask you about that, too. For some time. " 

"Would've asked at some point.." Sasha snickered. Like Marcy, she did think the topic was a tad too mushy for her style. Why, would you look at that? Saint James Middle School's queen bee really had gone soft. It's not like she wasn't happy with it, though. 

"Yeah, like maybe a few years later." Marcy joked. "Leeet's not go that far." The blonde smirked. Yeah, no, Marcy was totally right. Sasha would've totally chickened out if Marcy didn't ask first. 

"I was thinking 'stardust' for ya." Sasha said. For some odd reason, Marcy reminded her of little, glimmering stars - maybe because of that one time Marcy dragged Sasha out, late in the night to stargaze. Frog, how she hated her for waking her up.. But damn, it was so worth it. 

"'Stardust', huh? That's really cute.." Marcy put a hand on her chin, thinking of something cute that fit Sasha. On the other side, she absolutely loved the idea of her girlfriend calling her 'stardust' instead of simply 'Marcy' when, for example, she forgot buying groceries. 

"'Sunshine' fits you!" Marcy's face lit up. 

The lovely petname was something Marcy just came up with, not really thinking about it. Right after she said it, though, it hit her. 

Sasha really did resemble a ray of sunshine, to Marcy. A poet would describe it as all and every charming detail about her, from her personality and more-than-pleasant to hear voice, all the way to such smaller things like her bright golden locks or soothing smile, or even words of comfort that battled distress when it came to it. 

Sasha couldn't help but smile at the petname Marcy proposed. "If my stardust says it fits me, then it sure as hell does." She placed her arm around the raven-haired girl's shoulders and got her closer to her body, the artist not wasting the opportunity to rest her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. 

"Glad you like it." Marcy smiled simply, wrapping her arm around the blonde's waist in response, both enjoying this pure moment shared only between them and them only, in this little garden. 

They sit there on the blanket, under this splendid tree's shade. The night approaches them and gets closer and closer, making the little fairy lights glimmer brighter between the twigs and leaves. 

Neither says anything; not because they're scared to say something, but because sometimes, the peacefulness of this kind of quiet replaces the need for words. They simply lose meaning, being replaced by simple touches and stares, gazes and feelings. 

Well, quiet as could be. The music from Anne's speaker was still playing, but it was somehow lost to the background. It had been long blended with the occasional sounds of cars' tires moving on the distant street. 

The song ends and another one starts right after.

The atmosphere is completely changed and it goes from some random song in the background to a song dear to Marcy, a song that's impossible for her not to recognise just by the first second of it. 

Clair de Lune. Anne definitely set this up while chuckling to herself. 

Oh, Anne, that sweet bastard!! 

There was always an underlying sadness to this piece and it was so obvious to the both of them.

The piece reminded Marcy of so much she's been through, but now it wasn't the time for it. 

... 

To be fair, Marcy always wanted to waltz to this song. With Sasha. Call her a hopeless romantic, but here she was. 

"Sash?" She asked, interrupting the comfortable, slightly melancholic quiet with a soft question. Sasha turned her gaze to her. "I've got a real wild idea."

"Tell me all about your wild ideas. " Sasha said, interested in knowing more and more. "Could we slow dance?" Marcy asked, not sure if Sasha actually knew the steps that composed a waltz. 

"Sure." The blonde got up from the blanket and then extended a hand to help Marcy get up as well. Sasha was a bit surprised at this idea, sure, but she didn't hate it one bit. It was actually such a lovely idea. 

Waltz was something Sasha used to think of as stupid and something only hopeless romantics dream of, but she came to realize, right now that maybe it was something nice, a soft moment they could share. That they could reminisce when they're old. 

Marcy put her smaller hand in Sasha's and got up. 

"You know the steps, right?" Marcy asked, just to make sure. "Let's just say I'm not the best at it, but I have a basic idea of what to do." The blonde winked. There was gonna be a lot of stepping-on-each-other's-feet. 

Sasha took Marcy's hand in her own and their fingers intertwined. The other arm rested on the artist's back, while she placed her arm on the blonde's shoulder. Soft, sincere smiles and gazes were thrown at each other the whole time, adding a newfound happiness to the song that Marcy could never find herself to associate the song with. 

It's like the whole piece had just been reborn, finding new emotions and a new memory they could remember when they would hear the song again. 

Their feet started moving almost at the same time, at the same time with the piano's chords. 

Their steps and moves were simple and even banal, but they carried some kind of special flair with them. Maybe it was just the magic of this dance. Or maybe it was because of the girls dancing themselves. 

"You dance really well, sunshine." Marcy let out, softly. 

"Thank you, but you're not bad at it one bit, stardust." Sasha smiled, tucking a stray strand of raven hair behind Marcy's pierced ear. 

One step forward, one backwards and so on and so forth to the song. They loved the way each other's voices would sound when using these petnames. 

It seemed to go pretty good. Their movements were clumsy and at times not even synchronized, but none of it mattered to them. They were having fun. 

Marcy fell out of rhythm for a single second and Sasha mistakenly stepped on her foot. "Ow." Marcy let out. 

"Shoot, you okay?" Sasha quickly asked back, her gaze slightly concerned. "I'm fine, no worries!" 

From time to time, they incorporated little, delicate swirls in their charming dance, Sasha holding her girlfriend by the hand while she turned. Her dark, raven colored locks following in the wind, accompanied by the dress's light fabric flowing in the air. 

How Marcy enjoyed everything about this. The waltz didn't even feel like a banal waltz anymore, it had swirls and smiles and chuckles and everything at once. 

Sasha gazed at Marcy uninterrupted by anything. She was so pretty, always and anywhere, but now it just felt so different. The same Marcy she fell in love with, but in another light, here with her. The artist looked so graceful, faced with the young night's sky. The sky was fairly clouded, so no stars were visible, but Sasha was facing the impersonation of one, her stardusted Marcy. 

Time almost lost all meaning and the dance caught the exact feeling of something you'd describe as lasting for a whole eternity and a day. 

It felt like it started ages ago and they haven't stopped swaying and swirling ever since. It simultaneously felt like it just started seconds ago, too. The song felt like it was never ending, but neither of them wanted it to end abruptly and leave them here, holding each other in the silence that'll quickly be interrupted by another song. 

Marcy gazed at Sasha, admiring everything about her. For the artist, all this felt so, so familiar, yet everything was such a strange experience. The familiarity was everything Sasha was right now. Her soft locks were gently hit with the fairy lights' rays in all directions, nearly. Her face was nothing short of luminous and bright, perfectly impersonating the sunshine for Marcy. Bright and soothing. 

A few steps and a single twirl pass by and and the song ends, leaving them gazing lovingly at each other, like two lovestruck story characters that the author planned to rip apart, but somehow here they were, in love. 

The ending was not like they imagined. They imagined an awkward stare and uncalled-for blushes when they would realize that they just danced like an old couple in a ballroom of the 19th century. 

Instead, no song came up and there was nothing but the sound of leaves rustling with the night's breeze and occasional, distant cars. 

Not fully conscious at this point, Marcy wraps her arms around Sasha and swiftly shifts her face closer to the blonde's, until, in a blink, they both wake up with their lips brushing on top of each other. 

Marcy's head was tilted to the side and her hands slowly made her way from around Sasha to her face, holding her close. 

Their eyes were half-lidded or fluttering, focusing on nothing but each other and the present moment. 

The blonde was nothing short of surprised, but she enjoyed it too much to admit, or care. Her hands started wandering on their own, brushing around Marcy's waist, slowly going up and playing with the raven-haired girl's locks. 

It's not like they've never been here before. But it was heavily different this time around. 

Marcy liked how Sasha's lips felt against hers - soft and sweet. 

And the contrast really rested right there. The blonde simply adored how the artist's felt. Slightly chapped and adorably plump. 

The artist's lips parted slightly and her girlfriend took it as an indication to finally move forward with this whole thing. She started gently nibbling at her lower lip, as delicately as she could, the last thing she ever wanted was to do anything that would even slightly hurt her stardusted Marcy. 

The artist's legs started shaking ever so slightly. Their hands continued wandering, Marcy kept hers on Sasha's shoulders, occasionally raising to her head to twist her short, golden bangs around her finger, while the blonde's hands continued playing with the artist's smooth, sliky hair, disheveling it as she fiddled with strands of it. They were keeping each other close, safe, right here. 

The raven-haired girl let herself lean on Sasha, trusting her to take the lead, allowing herself to be kissed like that, enjoying every second of it and wanting more, all at once. 

... 

~

And, well, after this date ended, Sasha had another surprise for her this Valentine's Day. Remember the markers she bought? 

~

<3

Chapter Text

"But I'm totally okay!" Sasha insisted like a stubborn child. 

In actuality, her leg hurt. So, so incredibly bad. Everytime she moved it, it felt like something was falling apart and spinning backwards in a twisted sense. Everytime she tried walking, she couldn't do it without looking for support from the nearest wall, or bench, or table, or anything. 

Still, she was the wonderful Sasha Waybright. And a little bit of pain in her left leg wasn't gonna cut it if you wanted to put her down. Hell no. You would have needed much more than that. 

"Yeah, 'totally okay'. Fine." Marcy crossed her arms, getting bored of Sasha's stubborn act. "Go in the kitchen and bring me the skittles, then." Marcy smirked. She noticed how Sasha winced every dang time she was walking. She noticed how she walked with a limp. 

Sasha thought she hid that pretty well. Hell no. 

"Okay, watch me walk perfectly fine!" Sasha got up from her place in the bed. Everything went off as soon as she stood up on her clearly not injured, perfectly fine, healthy leg. "I'll walk elegantly while at it, too." 

No, all that she could muster was a wonky walk to the kitchen while she fought head-on all urges to wince or groan from the stupidly annoying pain. 

Okay, this was starting to worry Marcy a bit. The blonde was clearly not alright like she claimed to be. Yeah, she knew that, but right now it was just plain obvious, eye-strainingly obvious. 

She entered the kitchen, leaving Marcy with a raised eyebrow and mind torn between just two options: go help Sasha - she'll probably resist and insist she's perfectly okay - or, option two, stay put and see where this is going. 

"Oh, shoot!!" The blonde shouted in obvious surprise and a twang of pain from the kitchen, accompanied by a loud bang. Yup, Marcy should've gone with the first option much, much earlier. 

Marcy immediately got up and ran after her in a rush, fearing her worries would come to life. 

The artist runs into the kitchen, to see Sasha, splayed on the rug, holding tightly in her hand a green, little bag of sour skittles. 

"Woah, Sashy, you okay?" A mix of surprise, worry and confusion hit her as she rushed and kneeled close to the blonde's face which turned to the side slowly. She knew she wasn't okay, why did she even waste time asking? 

Between a quiet groan, the blonde finally mumbled something half-english, half-gibberish. "I found 'em skittles." 

"You're such a clown." Marcy tried to chuckle, deeming Sasha's response as an adorably funny way to deflect the fact she just fell face down on the floor while looking for skittles. "I hope you know we're visiting the ER." She continued, lightly patting Sasha's head. 

The blonde knew deep deep deep down that this was the right thing to do. But at the surface, she hated this. She couldn't have this crap, blocked in bed with a leg stuck in a cast for a few weeks? 

Holy shit, she's never rollerblading again. 

(Of course she will rollerblade again, but maybe actually try to be cautious. Those things are hard to balance on.) 

~

After a quick 7 minute adventure of Marcy trying to do a makeshift bandage on Sasha's totally fine leg and a fast trip to the all mighty ER... The blonde was stuck with a thick, simple white cast covering her pained leg. 

Absolutely fantastic. 

What could be more fantastic? 

Here she was, lying in the bed, all grumpy. Too bad Marcy Wu was here to cheer her up and wash this grumpiness off with a healthy dose of wholesomeness. 

The artist has been in the bathroom for the last 20 minutes or so, doing something Sasha was clueless about. 

Sasha couldn't even find herself to have the strength to get her phone from the nightstand besides her. She simply lied there, limbs splayed on the bed, not exactly sure if she was resting comfortably or not. 

If Sasha learned something then, it was that having a broken leg sucks ass. 

Fortunately, Marcy experienced that exact same thing a few years ago, when still in Amphibia. She's been through it and she could say she knew a few nifty tips and tricks to help time pass while waiting for a broken bone to heal. 

Surprising Sasha with her sudden appearance, the artist hopped in front of the doorway to the bedroom. "Ta-da!!" She smiled excitedly, gesturing jazz hands, showing off her own leg, covered in something of a homemade cast. 

Originally, she had doubts about this, fearing Sasha would take this the wrong way: think that Marcy did this to mock her. Of course not, she was just doing this as a fun little thing. She had another idea on her mind, one that involved her having a cast, too. An idea that was sure to make Sasha just a little bit happier. 

"Whoa, Marce, we match!" Sasha looked at her cast. For a homemade cast, it looked pretty medically accurate. The raven-haired girl limped closer, now in front of the bed. "Just like the old times.." She continued, remembering joking with Marcy a few years ago about the matching scars on their faces - just a small reminder of the events in Amphibia. 

"Yeaaah! Let me ju-" The artist was cut off as soon as she started walking again and fell down, still adjusting to the heavy cover on her leg. Sasha's expression instantly shifted to a worried one, as she crawled on the bed to see if Marcy was okay. "Mar-Mar, Frog, you okay?" 

She could see her girlfriend fell face down, flat out hugging the floor. Awesome, maybe Marcy might actually manage to get her leg in a real cast. "I'm okay, don't worry!" Marcy replied, muffled by the fluffy rug her face landed on. 

Sasha snickered at her and sat up (as best as she could, in her condition), extending a hand for Marcy to grab on and get up. 

"Alright, as I was saying!!" Marcy got up excitedly, limping in such an adorable way Sasha could just melt. She made her way to a drawer and searched something frantically, to not keep the blonde waiting. 

She closed the third drawer and took out a pack of colorful, vibrant markers. 

Taking the whole set in one hand, she hopped in bed besides Sasha, who had long since crawled back in her initial position, cozy in the bed, head comfortably on the pillow and soft golden locks splayed on it. 

"Hopa ya don't mind me doodling?" Marcy smiled at Sasha while hovering her hand over all the markers, planning to just choose one without looking. She'll improvise from there. 

Sasha's whole expression softened and smiled at the artist. "'Course I don't mind, stardust." This prolonged stay in the bed just got better, right then, right there. 

"Great, I'll get to it then!!" Marcy tried to ignore the fact she felt her own cheeks lighting up just slightly at the adorable petname. She choose a random marker, her hand landing on a pretty, vibrant shade of pink, almost resemblant to the shine a certain gem used to let out. 

First thing she doodled was indeed a little gem and a few lines next to it to resemble its powerful glow. Then, she picked out another few shades of similar pinks and colored the sides of it. 

All the while Sasha was observing her as she drew, so focused on her cast. Marcy was so pretty to her, and so were her little doodles. 

Deciding this first little illustration was done, she quickly put the markers back in their respective places in the set and looked for a few green ones instead. 

Next to the pink gem, she quickly drew another one in a similar, almost identical shape but in green lines and strokes. 

Marcy was never a genius at reading the room, but she could tell Sasha was just a little bored, her only solace from this slight boredom being the way she could watch how Marcy drew. A process that interested her quite a lot. 

It was a little too quiet, the only sounds in the room were the ones the markers let out as they left their colorful traces on the white, hard canvas. 

Marcy quickly thought of a topic to talk about, rummaging through the folders in her brain. Then she remembered sweetly, this is Sasha. She can talk about whatever with her and still have a great conversation. 

"Did you know that, while in Amphibia, I broke my leg, too?" What a great way to start a conversation, Marce. Still, it was quite interesting and it intrigued Sasha. How come she never knew about that? 

"For real? How so?" The blonde widened her eyes slightly, in curiosity. She expected something like this to happen to Marcy, but didn't really expect that, in a sense. "Well, breaking my leg was almost the first thing I did when I was teleported.." The raven-haired girl chuckled, remembering her stay in the hospital with Lady Olivia and the other newts. 

"I think I can guess how that happened." Sasha threw her a smirk, knowing Marcy was arguably the clumsiest person she knew. "Really? Guess, then." The artist stopped drawing just to turn her face to the blonde and throw her a charming smirk of hers. 

"You fell down. Real hard. Right?" The blonde guessed. 

"Hmm, half right." She resumed her doodling, smiling to herself. Sasha's answer was really close to the truth, but not quite it yet. 

"You, uh.. Tripped on a fallen branch?" 

Sasha's guesses were getting weak, her "I can guess this shit effortlessly" attitude slowly kissing her goodbye. 

"Nope. Is that how careless you see me?" Marcy threw her the big, round eyed look she cannot refuse when the artist wants her to buy something absolutely useless that she absolutely had to own. And then she went back to drawing, tucking one stray strand of hair behind her ear, allowing Sasha to see her face from the side as she continued to smile smugly. 

"Well you were careless enough to break your leg, in the first place.." Sasha muttered, looking to the side. "What was that?" Marcy asked in actual confusion. She got way into her doodles and didn't make out squat from Sasha's mumbling. 

"Nothing, nothin', don't worry 'bout that." 

"Anyways, back to guessing." Marcy brought back the discussion from earlier. Her green gem doodle was done and it came out so cute. So cute that the blonde wasn't so bitter about the cast anymore. "Also, do you mind if I put my name on this baby?" The artist asked, just to make sure, while Sasha was thinking of a valid guess. 

"Go ahead, Marce." She agreed, still thinking of that guess of hers. "Alrighty!!" Marcy smiled as she took out her absolute favorite shade of green and signed herself in the most Marcy way possible. 

Her way of writing was so nice and so visually pleasing. Her lettering was artistic and it brimmed with that flair of hers, it was impossible not to adore her writing. 

In all truth, she has been practicing her signature a good amount of times... Waiting to visit Comic Con and sign some autographs, baby! 

"Alright, uh.. You tripped on a newt's tail?" Sasha continued, never stopping from observing Marcy and the way she drew lines so smoothly and professionally, even if the doodle was silly. She made it look all kinds of adorable. 

The artist picked another marker, a cozy shade of orange and used it to draw the fluffiest looking little cat. A lil hairball baby. 

"No, no, Frog, they would've been so angry at me if that happened." She giggled, knowing those guys had real sensible tails. She picked another marker, a grey one this time and drew a lil fully companion for the orange cat: a literal hairball with eyes and a tail. 

At this point, Sasha's "I can guess this shit effortlessly" attitude flew out the window. "Iiiiii-"

"Youuuu..?" Marcy looked smugly at her, knowing she ran out of guesses. She also knew admitting defeat still was something Sasha hated to do. Marcy didn't get many chances to occupy the driver's seat when it came to teasing, but now that she could finally have an opportunity, why pass it? "Fine, I give up!" 

Marcy went on with her drawing and doodling, taking six markers, one of each color of the rainbow. She drew a little rainbow, bordered by adorable clouds in the same light grey she used for the hairball buddy. 

"Go ooon, sunshine." Marcy smirked, having way too much fun with this. Usually, the blonde was the one who did all the teasing, so when Marcy did it, you could be sure: it hit different. 

Continuing, she doodled a few borders and decorations she sometimes used for journaling. Little arrows, different fantasy flowers, you know. 

".. Tell me how you broke your leg." Sasha demanded through gritted teeth. 

"Nuh-uh. Magic word?" Marcy smiled like the pretty gremlin she was. "You're joking." The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose. 

"Well, I can just keep it a secret. That's an option too..." The artist suggested, turning away and continuing her drawing. "No way, you make me curious and then leave me hangin'??" 

Sasha really was doing everything in her power just to avoid saying the quote, unquote magic word. 

"Yup." Marcy nodded, tucking the hair strand behind her ear again. She couldn't not smile out of amusement. To be completely fair, she wanted to tell Sasha, but also wanted it to be kept a secret. A secret behind a lock, the key being the magic word. 

"Okay, then." Sasha sighed. "Please." She let out quietly through way too powerfully gritted teeth. 

Marcy didn't expect her to actually say that. Now it was her turn to get teased, for sure. "... I, uh. Fell down... A flight of stairs."

"That's it?" Sasha snickered, somehow expecting something more. A flight of stairs. For real??? 

"You fell down a flight of stairs." Sasha repeated at which Marcy nodded simply, kind of embarrassed. "And broke your leg." She continued, the raven-haired girl nodding at the statement, double the embarrassment. She kept drawing, though. 

"Am I a bad person if I laugh?" The blonde asked, the question half addressed to herself, half addressed to Marcy. "Nah, it was a pretty random thing. But yours was funny as hell, too." The artist threw back at her. 

"Now that I think of it, yeah. It was funny... The sad part was the pain, though." 

"Would've made a killer vine." Sasha continued. Well, look who isn't over the fact Vine's gone. "You're right there." Marcy chuckled, imagining that. 

At this point, Sasha's once white, simple cast was full of doodles, colored to the moon and back and overflowing with life. If earlier the blonde wanted to just take a chainsaw and rip that shit off... For now she actually kind of grew close to it. 

90% because of Marcy. 10% because it kinda kept her bones together. I guess. Whatever. 

"Done! What do you think??" Marcy asked excitedly, right after she finished neatly placing the markers back. She had to admit, she really did like how it turned out. If Sasha didn't, she would happily paint it back white and redo it, it was alright. 

The blonde stiffly and slowly raised her leg just enough to see the cast. It was so pretty, it felt so lively. There was nothing on it that didn't simply remind her of Marcy. Marcy and her unique liveliness and safety she radiated. 

As I was saying: Marcy flair. 

She admired each and every little line that composed a drawing, but especially Marcy's signature on there.

"I don't even like it, I love it, Mar-Mar!! Feels like you outdid yourself." She praised, completely honest, aware that it might sound cheesy. They didn't care. "You really did step up your doodle game."

Marcy had to admit, she was the kind of person who wouldn't get many compliments in her life. That changed when she finally got with Sasha, but somehow, they still hit different everytime. She learned how to deal with everyone's compliments without getting that flustered. But then, there were Sasha's. 

"Awwh, geez, thanks, Sashy." She could actually feel how her cheeks lit up red slightly, then slightly more. That's just because she knew for a fact the blonde's compliments weren't just words. She actually meant every letter, every word and every sentence she got out. One compliment from her Sashy meant more to her than an infinity plus one from any other person, as romantic as that sounded. It was true. 

"Now, can I try decorating your cast, stardust?" Sasha asked, pointing at the cover on her girlfriend's leg. It was such a banality, such an overly basic white cast now, compared to Sasha's. 

"Sure, go ahead!" She quickly snapped back to present, positioning her leg in Sasha's lap, so she could have easy access to her (fake) cast without moving much. In Sasha's head, if Marcy could change her mind from wanting to destroy the cast with her bare hands to maybe wanting to keep it a lil more than necessary, then she just had to casually drop a masterpiece on her cast, too. 

Sasha picked the exact same shades of green and pink Marcy first used for the gem doodles. Sasha wanted to replicate those as well as she could. 

Matching doodles on a leg cast with her girlfriend was something so adorable that she came up with, right on the spot. 

It's like the blonde fell in love again with Marcy, just for her sheer dorkiness, adorableness and purity. She didn't have to craft herself a fake cast, but she did that, just to show her girlfriend she wasn't gonna go through this whole ordeal alone. Cuz she was here to stay with her. 

And well, maybe Marcy didn't quite realize it, but this small thing she did just made Sasha's next 3 weeks a whole lotta brighter. 

~

Chapter Text

Marcy was outside, buying stuff to put in a brand new home. 

They moved in some days ago and boy, were they tired. The road was exhausting, the big change was overwhelming (in all the good ways, though), but mostly, the realization that they finally fucking did it. 

Temporarily, the house could be only associated with a blank canvas. Empty walls and nothing, absolutely nothing that reflected their own personalities around. 

But they knew that this wouldn't last a lot. Marcy had an eye for spotting cool stuff, so the house would be fully furnished in no time, no doubt. 

All that rested on the floor were cardboard boxes. Cardboard boxes of all sizes, each having a paper label on them. Only the usual, boring stuff you'd expect, like "Marcy's clothes" or some similar stuff. 

While Marcy was out, the blonde took it upon herself to tidy up the boxes in any way she could, no matter how tired she was. 

Well, before the raven-haired girl left, she told Sasha not to overwork herself and just take a little nap if she felt like it. In case she didn't want to do that, the artist assured the blonde that it was alright to snoop in her own boxes. So nothing could go wrong. Or at least terribly wrong. 

There was this one medium-sized box that belonged to Marcy. There were some things inside that caught her attention and before she knew it, she was snooping through her girlfriend's belongings. Which was, again, totally okay. 

There were loads of colored pens inside. Of all variety, glittery, metallic, shiny, oh, geez. 

Papers after papers of unfinished drawings and works in progress, one with a concept more interesting than the other. But there was a specific book that caught Sasha's attention in a grip so strong that she never could actually get her mind off it. 

Her old journal. "A guide to Amphibia". 

Of course Marcy of all people would write something like this. 

She tried putting the journal down. She had no business flipping its pages. No way. 

But then again, Marcy said it was okay to look through her things. 

Plus, it was her OLD journal. It's not like she had anything else to note down in it. 

Then again, looking at her journal felt a tad too wrong. Past Sasha would definitely snoop, no questions asked. But she's grown out of that shitty phase. 

Could she really look inside? A single page wouldn't hurt. 

Against her better judgement, she hesitantly, but fairly curiously opened the old journal at a random page and was met with something that was certainly not Marcy's handwriting. 

She would know, she didn't write like this. 

Words were underlined in blue and the drawings were somewhat trippy, a cat similar to Anne's cat, Domino, drawn on the page. It was much bigger, had a pair of angelic wings and for some reason, its eyes were the calamity gems. 

This intrigued her and immediately started reading all and every word and sentence on the page. 

Her eyes quickly scanned on every row of words and quickly got a grasp on what was happening through the author's mind while writing this literary masterpiece. 

So Anne for some reason wrote inside Marcy's journal. Okay, good, interesting. Second, she was high on anesthetics??? 

Good lord, never put Anne in a dentist's chair again, please. Before she curses this world with another blursed poem of hers, about how her cat is a godish being of sorts. 

Chuckling at the silliness of it all and at the thought of showing this to Anne for the shits and giggles, she flips the pages to another one and lands on something Marcy wrote, this time. Much, much earlier, though. 

Even earlier than when they met at that third temple. Inside a honkin' volcano, no less. God lord, now that she thought of it, studying these pages, Amphibia was kind of silly. But it had the charm, she had to admit. 

The pages she was now reading described in great detail her adventures on a so called "Dawnblood island". Apparently, this is where she met Joe Sparrow. And apparently, Yunan was pirate-buddies with her?? 

How was there so much Sasha never knew about Marcy's solo adventures in Amphibia? 

Next, she killed a man. A newt, actually. 

Wait, Marcy killed someone????????? 

Sasha widened her eyes and covered her mouth with one hand, holding the book with another. Considering how emotionally vested she was in this right now, she went and took a seat on a near chair, grabbing Marcy's box with her. She had to sit down for this shit. 

Seems that cute little Mar-Mar was a cinnamon roll with murderous tendencies. A little. Maybe. But still. 

Though this tale written in the journal really did impress Sasha quite a lot, she flipped to another page, curious and intrigued. 

Another page written by Anne. By Sasha's rough calculations (just kidding, she didn't do any), it seemed the last part of this book was entirely written by Anne. Her reason? Stays unknown, in its sad little corner made for unknown reasons. 

The rest? All Marcy. 

Absolutely coincidentally, she landed on the exact same page Anne drew Sasha and mentioned how her outfit absolutely rocked. 

What a surprise, miss Anne Boonchuy used to be a little closeted simp. 

I mean, Sasha expected nothing less, she saw how she looked at her when they met again in Wartwood.. 

Another flip.. 

Here's a fun one (for everyone except Marcy). Once, early on in Amphibia, when having breakfast with Mr. Asshole (Andrias) she fell face first into a giant soft-boiled heron egg. 

Sasha stifled a laugh at the doodle on the page, a little Marcy covered head to toe in egg yolk being peak humor to the blonde in that moment. 

During the whole scene, Andrias was just laughing copiusly at her while dabbing her dry with an oversized piece of toast. 

Great going, y'all. 

Sasha laughed loudly, not stifling it anymore, nobody was home to hear her, imagining the whole scene in her head. It was quite funny to her, sure. 

She flipped the pages one last time before she promised herself to put aside the book and get to actually cleaning up around the house. 

Guess where it landed, this time, though? 

Two certain pages Marcy wrote while in the third temple. And lord, Sasha could not believe her eyes. Half of them were just drawings of herself. 

Marcy was a great artist, she knew that, but woah. These were really, really good drawings for something she just happened to doodle in a journal, all while walking through a goddamn magic temple. 

She really nailed the expressions, the body movements and, oh wait a bit. 

Seems Marcy also felt the need to comment and leave a personal opinion on the way Sasha looked then, with her shiny red armor, cerulean eyes...

"Poggers...?" Sasha let out, worried, cringing at the word. Geez, how she wished she escaped that one word. 

The way she also described her was something Sasha noted and deeply appreciated. 

The both of them often threw compliments at each other like there would be no tomorrow, but Sasha had no idea (until now, that is...) that Marcy felt like that, all the way back to the events in Amphibia. Maybe Sasha was just a bit of an oblivious kid. 

These pages looked like some kind of letter Marcy never planned to send, but it made its way into Sasha's hands and upon her eyes. And man, was she glad it did. 

She did Sasha's outfits justice. 

A bright idea hit Sasha's mind as she admired the two pages. 

Quickly, she opened the book again, this time to a certain page: exactly the last one. She needed to check if there were anymore blank pages Marcy happened to forget about. 

There was, but just one, at the very end. Which wasn't much, but it sufficed, Sasha just had to write a little bit smaller. 

Next, she delved her whole hand in the box, rummaging around, looking for a pen with pink ink. This would help her mimic the style Marcy used to write in. 

While she was at it, maybe she could doodle a little, too... She was not the best artist, but she saw Marcy draw so many times. It would be awful if she didn't catch anything of the process, wouldn't you say? 

Finally, she found a gel pen with a nice, dark shade of pink that brought so many memories from middle school. These things had to be kept in cages and vaults to not get stolen.

Unsure of how to start this letter that she'll never actually send - she'll leave the journal out and open, obvious so Marcy could see - she started it the same way any classic letter starts. 

"Heeey, girlfriend, it's me, your roomie, Sash ;) (cuz who else would be writing, duh..)" She was off to a great start. 

She didn't have anything to say, not really. Everything that needed to be talked about has already been talked about and discussed over and over. 

Then, a flow of ideas made its way through Sasha's headspace, remembering how Marcy has been a little tad too tired lately. It slightly worried her, she has been so focused on the webcomic. 

She wanted to give Marcy a piece of solace, even if it didn't do much, even if it did just a little bit. A letter was something she could read whenever she wanted, how much she wanted and it would never get lost. This was a perfect opportunity. 

Perfect opportunity for a piece of solace, right on the last page. What a thoughtful epilogue, written by hers truly, Sasha Waybright. 

"Alrighty," she started writing on the piece of paper again, a clear script of what she was going to place there in her mind. "First of all, we've been busy. A lot. Like a loooot." 

She snickered only to herself, taking a bright green fine-liner and a hot pink one to highlight a few words from there. It all helped it look like something that was written in here, in this very journal, 10 years ago. 

Continuing. "I feel like I don't reeeeally say this enough (esp rn)," 

Sasha smiled to herself, thinking of words to compose the next idea in her head. She remembered, quickly enough, that it didn't need any fancy words, purple prose or poetry. Just writing her thoughts there was enough to get her loving point across. 

"I love you so much, Mar-Mar." She wrote, highlighting the first five words in hot pink quickly after. 

Sasha took a small break from writing, taking a look at her own writing. She really progressed and it was actually readable now. It was so obvious, she was real proud of herself for this small thing. 

Besides, she just had to use the fine-liners more. They were just so smooth and the lines they left behind were so satisfying. The blonde forgot how nice it was to do actual journaling. She drew galores of little stars, hearts and exclamation marks all across the old paper, some little and some a little bigger. 

Break done. "Second, I'm proud of ya, always will be." 

She knew Marcy's parents didn't quite approve of her choosing this specific career path. They highly discouraged it. In the past, they almost dragged Marcy down, convinced her to just stop drawing. Stop doing what she found pleasure in. 

If her own damn parents weren't gonna tell her they're proud of their girl, Sasha was going to. Always and forever. 

Sasha was going to tell her that she's proud of her girl. More than that, she's gonna proudly shout and announce about it. Written, spoken, whatever it was. 

"You did so much, progressed so, so damn much and brought smiles to so many." 

A personal note was missing. "Especially me :')" 

She took the fine-liners again and underlined some words, almost mindlessly, while formulating the next paragraph in her head. 

When another bright idea hits her, in typical Waybright manner. 

It just came to her randomly, they never actually had a real, real date. All of them were just casual hangouts and movie Saturdays at Sasha's past house, when her parents were out of town. Them being alone in the blonde's enormous house, splayed comfortably on Sasha's bed watching shitty sitcoms gave them a taste of the homely life they could live together if they moved out. 

Why not, besides a little solace on a piece of paper... She could sneak an invitation there. 

"Things have been real crowded these past few weeks." Talk about crowded. Things have been really messy, emotional problems with Marcy's parents, moving out, the changes happening, getting used to it, all combined in one single time period of maybe 2, almost 3 weeks. 

"Moving out, stuff happening with your webcomic (glad it worked out in the end, tho!) And so on, but it was definitely worth it, wouldn't ya say?" 

Her gaze softened and a genuine smile now decorated her face, radiating warmth and tenderness that reflected on the simple, cold walls, the whole house slowly, but surely beginning to actually feel like theirs. 

It was technically theirs already, but until now it didn't really carry that feel. 

They came home to this cold walled apartment after sessions of grocery shopping, furniture searching and so on, but it still didn't feel like theirs, theirs truly. 

"After we're done cleaning this place up, why don't we take some time off?" 

Oh, she knew they had a lot more to clean up. Organize some stuff, put away boxes and so on and so forth. But, well, call it a baseless sense of optimism, the effect of being in love or simply just her gut, she felt like it wouldn't take too long. 

Sasha imagined they would maybe play a good custom playlist of theirs, she could put her hair up in a short little ponytail, help Marcy put up hers in a cute bun and then get to work, tackling every thing that needed to be done. They could mess up lyrics when singing obnoxiously loud while sweeping the floor, stop and look at each other confusedly, then end up laughing at the ruined lines of the song. 

Fun, cosy times. 

Returning from this soon-to-be-achieved dream, Sasha sighed and noted down her last idea on the page. "We could finally have our first official date :D"

She hums to herself, satisfied with how the little letter looked. Satisfied with what Marcy was gonna read when she would be back home. 

Sasha was about to put the journal on the table, but something caught her eye in the box last-second. 

Little stickers. They still somewhat looked usable, they were still in a pretty good condition. You know what that means, right? 

~

Sasha was long asleep and Marcy came home, finally, to see her dear girlfriend resting on their bed, something that has been only recently put here. 

The sight of the blonde peacefully sleeping softened her and she was just about to get changed in a cozy, oversized shirt and hop in to sleep. 

Before that, though, Marcy couldn't help but notice her old, old friend, the pile of papers and notes open on the table. 

... 

~

Needless to say, she accepted. But Marcy didn't want to wake Sasha up just to tell her "Yes". 

Instead, she just hopped in bed with the blonde, hugging her from behind, all warm and snuggly. Few short strands of blonde, soft hair rested on Marcy's head as she lied there, her thin hands wrapped around Sasha. 

She could feel the blonde's sweet perfume, emanating a comfort so dear to her, she wouldn't give it up for anything. 

The artist's breathing hit Sasha's neck, making the sleeping woman sense her girlfriend was there, close, cuddling her. 

A confirmation to her date could wait, this moment was just so much more precious. 

<3

Chapter Text

You know those winter days? When it was so, so cold that you wanted to unironically get on your knees and beg the weather to bring back the scorching hot summer sun? 

Yeah, today was the exact opposite of those days. 

Sasha and Marcy, her dearest girlfriend, were both outside, taking a little stroll in the park. 

The heat was unbearable and they simply couldn't stay put at home. And it started to seem that going outside wasn't that good of an idea anymore. 

Indoors, they at least had paper fans. Outside, even a breeze was a gift brought from heaven. 

The park was fairly big. Scratch that, it was humongous. 

There were, of course, a few benches and big, mighty trees, offering up their lovely shade for anyone who rested on the bench under them. 

Too bad every bench with shade was already occupied by someone else. 

Sasha and Marcy were left like this, strolling, walking around each and every alley and path, the sun never ever stopping from violently attacking them. 

Marcy was the one to occasionally point at cool-looking bugs on various places, Sasha being quick to observe them and tell Marcy how she has such a lovely eye for all things interesting. 

God, it was just so unbearably hot. 

Everything felt like it was melting slowly and reducing to a big, conjoined group of puddles on the beyond fiery asphalt, including the both of them. 

While walking slowly, something glimmers brightly, catching Marcy's attention, something important enough to make her eyes widen. Something white, but with colorful accents, a little corner in this park full of life, serving as an ironic contrast against everyone who practically was dying because of the weather. 

A lovely ice cream truck. 

Good lord, finally, some relief!! 

Sasha was too damn busy to notice it, trying to distract herself from the sheer heat, counting her steps, becoming overly aware of her own breathing and another few things. 

Marcy repeatedly patted Sasha's arm, in a manner so excited, the blonde could only think she spotted another cool-looking stick, or bug. "Hm?" Sasha turned her head to her, curious of what she wanted to say. 

"How 'bout we grab some ice cream?" The raven-haired girl turned her head to Sasha, facing her and smiling sweetly, pointing at the ice cream truck, just like a little kid. The only thing her tone showed was a certain 'please, please, please can we buy ice cream??' attitude that Sasha had no, absolutely no way to refuse. 

And she wasn't going to. Who, in their right mind, who, who still has all their marbles set, would refuse this kind of sweet ice-cold treat in this weather? 

"Sure. Not sure why you thought ya had to ask, though." Sasha threw her one of her signature grins, but kept it nice and lovely, despite the smugness. 

"Yay!!" The artist rejoiced, weakly throwing her arms in the air. The weather really was wearing her out, it seemed. Welp, nothing a good cone of ice cream couldn't fix. 

Marcy quickly grabbed Sasha by one of her arms and dragged her around, to the delighting truck. 

... Or rather, the terrifyingly enormous line of people waiting there. Yeah, predictable. 

The both of them stopped abruptly in their track, put off by all the people waiting. Ice cream sounded like absolute heaven, but would they actually wait what seemed like 5 years?

Sasha turned her head to Marcy, confused. "Should we really..?" She asked, reluctantly. She really didn't feel like standing around in this weather, especially if she was surrounded by people. It only worsened the hotness. 

And the raven-haired girl gazed back at her, turning her head only ever so slightly. She put on a little smirk and asked back. "Are you really backing out because of a little waiting, Sashyy?" She ended with a chuckle, provoking Sasha, but only a bit. 

That bit was enough to set the fuse on fire. 

"Okay, okay, we're going!!" She giggled at Marcy's remarkable sass, and easily pushed her face away, putting her whole palm against Marcy's face, muffling her little chuckles as she almost lost balance. "Get outta here." The blonde snickered. "I'm not getting outta here, neveeer!!" 

The both laughed wholeheartedly at their little banter, Sasha placing her hand on Marcy's shoulder, looking for support as she got lost in amusement. 

Having fun like this, made from absolutely nothing, was their favorite thing. 

Once their chuckles ended abruptly, Sasha's arm didn't leave Marcy's narrow shoulder, but instead it stayed there and hugged Marcy as they walked towards the huge line of people, going all the way in the back. 

There was only one advantage when it came to waiting. They had a good amount of time to decide what kind of ice cream they wanted. 

"Ya got a flavor in mind?" Sasha asked, looking at the little menu on the truck. Everything looked great there and to be honest, the blonde was the one who was undecided. 

"I think.. " Marcy put her hand on her chin, thinking while analyzing every ice cream flavor she ever had. What was the best one of 'em? 

"Think I'll go with mint chocolate chip." She decided. Anne used to joke about that flavor, saying it tasted like edible toothpaste. That is, until Sasha pushed a whole cone of mint chocolate chip ice cream on her face, ruining both Anne's day (and full functionality of both her nostrils, poor girl) and Marcy's ice cream. 

Nonetheless, it remained a solid choice for Marcy. 

"How about you?" Marcy woke up Sasha from her thinking. She was clearly taking this way too seriously. C'mon, ice cream flavors. "Mmm.. I dunno."

Then Sasha remembered that maybe she doesn't need to decide. Maybe letting Marcy decide could be fun... To hell with that, every time Marcy decided stuff, things were bound to get awesome. "You know what? Surprise me, Wu. You choose." 

Sasha threw her an encouraging little smile, despite the artist expecting something more of a smirk. Even though, she took it as a new fun task and looked once again at the menu, trying to associate her girlfriend with one flavor. Just one, she couldn't choose just one, there were so many excellent options! 

Marcy hummed, swinging back and forth slowly on her feet, unable to choose between strawberry and cookie dough. 

The line moved slowly forward, a client served and gone. 

"What would ya say about two scoops, stardust?" Sasha turned to her, noticing how she couldn't decide. If she couldn't decide, why not just simplify it a little bit? More ice cream wasn't really a threat, neither, you know. "Then strawberry and cookie dough for you!" She smiled proudly, turning her head and gaze to the blonde. 

"Sounds perfect!" She approved, the hand on Marcy's shoulder lowering to hug her waist and hold her gently but closely, in an unnecessarily, but totally appreciated and wanted comforting manner. 

"Mind if I choose another flavor for you?" The blonde continued, already having one in mind. "Go ahead." The raven-haired girl said curiously. "Rocky road?" 

Another 2 clients done, the line kept shrinking, surprinsingly fast. 

"Oooh, that's one of my all-time favourites!" She beamed, making Sasha chuckle at her adorable little expression. "Mar-Mar, almost every flavor is your all-time favorite." 

"Can't help it, they're just good, Sash!" The artist chuckled back, admitting that what the blonde said was true in every sense, but come on. "Fair enough." The blonde giggled. 

Another few sets of silly jokes and chuckles and before they knew it, the line was suddenly gone and it was their turn to get that icy dessert they had been for all this time. 

(They almost forgot what they were gonna order, but, hey, god bless Sasha's memory.) 

They got their ice cream rather quickly, the customer service being an absolute dream. They were so nice and despite this being a pet peeve for Sasha, they made treating everyone like a nice kid look so adorable. 

Marcy immediately bit one of her ice cream scoops, just to see if it met her expectations. 

And well, maybe it was just the desperation for something, anything cold that this weather created or just the recipe, but it was plain perfect. If the customer service was borderline heaven, the product was straight out of the galaxy. 

Maybe just the heat. Yeah. They had no right to praise simple ice cream like this. 

Definitely just the weather, yeah. 

Also, Marcy had a scary habit of biting ferociously into her ice cream. How this girl didn't get any brain freezes was a mystery locked behind lock and key for Sasha. 

Despite this, the both of them enjoyed having friendly competitions - that slowly devolved into straight up trash-talking - themed around who could finish the most ice cream first. 

... Not today though, neither was in the mood to throw hands and witty comebacks while their heads were frozen, teeth were trembling and plus, people would be staring confusedly, covering their children's eyes. 

Instead, they both had the same comfortable, snuggly idea. They strolled a little, just enough to find an empty little bench, in a spot of the park that wasn't exactly full of people - almost empty. The spot was half covered by shade, too. If they really put their minds to it, they could squeeze in and share the pleasant shade between the both of them. 

Once on the bench, Sasha wraps her hand around Marcy as the latter scoots closer and finally hops on the blonde's lap, both enjoying every bit of it. 

The weather didn't even seem like that much of a problem anymore. Everything that was wrong a few minutes ago was flipping another page and getting better. 

"Sash, can I..?" Marcy asked her girlfriend, the blonde already knowing what she wanted, the artist pointing to her ice cream. "Knock yourself out." She smirked and brought her cone close to Marcy's smiling little mouth. 

The raven-haired girl tasted both the strawberry and cookie dough scoops, biting into the two scoops, almost scaring Sasha. 

Before Sasha could even take away her own ice cream from her, Marcy brought her face close to Sasha's, in a manner so quick and adorable that the blonde didn't even realize what she was planning until she blinked once or twice. 

Her warm cheek was met with Marcy's icy and sweet lips, leaving a short, slightly sticky smooch. The blonde practically lit up at this, her cheeks even redder than before, but this time, the hot sun wasn't the cause. 

The cause however, was the exact opposite: cold. 

A chilling and short smooch only Marcy could deliver was what it took for Sasha to finally melt down, ending abruptly what the weather started. 

Marcy moved back to her initial place on the bench, noticing how her little smooch left an icy mark, shaped like her soft lips. The mark rested on Sasha's cheek and she wasn't even bothering to wipe it. 

Yeah, she did enjoy. 

Marcy resumes graciously biting into her own ice cream, smirking innocently like she didn't do anything. In truth, there wasn't even anything so bold about a smooch like this, but Marcy had her ways to make it seem like a big deal and drive anyone crazy over the smallest things. 

And after just a few little moments used to regain her composure, Sasha took Marcy's innocent little attitude as a sign to return the nicely chilling gesture. 

The artist peeped at her girlfriend, and quickly stopped biting into the cold dessert, only to bring her own cone close to Sasha's face. "Wanna taste?" She offered, never taking a second to stop smirking, but despite that, the offer on the table was of a pure intention. 

And Sasha really couldn't even sense anything malicious in Marcy's tone, so naturally, she gladly accepted the invitation, her licks smoothening over the teeth marks that Marcy left on the little delicious rocky road in her cone. 

Imitating Marcy's gesture from before, but adding her own twist to it and a touch of the tender adorableness only them could share, once she was done tasting, she moved to Marcy and gently placed her free hand under the shorter girl's chin, holding her face closer and surprising her. 

An excellent - and delightfully bold - comeback for someone who got beet red over a simple peck. 

Marcy had issues fully processing what Sasha was doing, that is until the blonde planted a short kiss on the raven-haired girl's tiny and cute button nose, leaving an imprint similar to what Marcy left on her own cheek. Instead, it was minty and cool. 

This gave Marcy quite the idea. 

"Bet I can touch it with my tongue?" Marcy smiled, pointing to her cute ice cream flavoured nose. "I'm betting a kiss on the forehead you can't, Marce." Sasha half-encouraged. She knew Marcy could totally do that, she just needed a few more reasons to kiss her softly. "Watch me."

And then all was said and done, Marcy succeded in touching the sugary lip-shaped mark on her nose with the tip of her sharp tongue. So what, maybe she was a little overconfident in her abilities, but she was right to do that. 

Especially when she knew her rewards were set to be little kisses on her face from her girlfriend. 

"Alright, fine." Sasha sighed softly, (gladly) accepting defeat. The blonde gracefully dipped her lips one more time in her almost melting ice cream. 

Then, smiling genuinely, she took her free hand and cupped Marcy's face gently, bringing her close enough, just enough for the blonde's sugary lips to plant just a little more than a simple peck or kiss on the raven-haired girl's forehead. 

Sasha's lips puckered as soon as they delicately landed on her girlfriend's forehead, making an absolutely exaggerated 'Mwah' sound, holding her there with her hand, not like she ever wanted to leave. She was here to stay until Sasha said so and maybe a little more after. 

And Marcy couldn't help but giggle at Sasha's little moment of silliness. She enjoyed these kinds of stuff so much it probably wasn't even healthy. 

Between giggles, Marcy let out a quick, flustered little "Saaash, stop!" Which was curious, both knowing she really didn't want this to stop anytime soon. 

Surprisingly enough, though, a few seconds later and Sasha stopped, her hand still on the artist's face, caressing it gently, proud of the little icy kiss mark she left on Marcy's forehead. Well, it wasn't very icy anymore, but who even cares. It was adorable. Marcy was adorable. 

The blonde stared at her lovingly and the raven-haired girl returned, until the comfortable, familiar quietness was broken by Sasha snickering. "Nah, I don't think you actually want me to stop." She smirked confidently. "Now c'mere, nerd."

"Hm?" Marcy, again, didn't process anything until she found her face closer and closer to Sasha, what was once a little short kiss evolving in the blonde littering kiss after kiss, smooch after smooch on her face, repeatedly and lovely. 

Every inch of skin, every centimeter had at least a little bit of a faint ice cream-flavoured kiss mark left by Sasha as she dearly assaulted her face with nothing but pure adoration. 

Kiss after kiss, each sloppier than the other, still, Marcy could feel Sasha's lips curling into a proud smile as she hit her face over and over again. 

Marcy was going insane at this (an understatement, and an exaggeration, all at once, all in the good way only). Her face was going from pink to beet red and back, flustered to the moon and back, never wanting this to stop. Unknowingly, she simply laughed at the fluffy sensation and enjoyed every last bit of it. 

Oh, she was absolutely lovestruck all over again. Wait, did this phase ever end? No, she didn't think so.

A few moments after, Sasha finally stopped abruptly, neither of them knew, 30 minutes, 15 seconds? No one knew, it felt like too short, anyway. 

"Oh, man.." Marcy muttered, completely dumbfounded, lovestruck, whatever anymore, as Sasha just took her hand away and put it back around her girlfriend's waist, her head already turned to the side, enjoying her dessert, unable to hide her smile, as much as she wanted to. 

Oh, shit, the ice cream cones! Marcy almost forgot about them. She remembered quickly she had one too and turns her look to it, still dazed. 

It was almost melted. Half of it fell on the asphalt. How did she not notice? Is that how distracted she got?? 

... It was totally worth it. 

"Uhm, yeah, we can still share mine if you wanna." Sasha offered nicely. It was kind of her fault Marcy's cone lacked one full scoop, but still. 

"Sure, thanks!" She happily accepted the offer. I mean, kisses galore and more ice cream? Basically heaven. 

She took a pretty big bite out of Sasha's ice cream, succeeding in impressing the blonde once again. "Frog, you're somethin' else, Marce." She let out, sighed after, making Marcy chuckle. Nah, she wasn't even done and if this was enough to impress Sasha, then she has another one coming. 

While the blonde's gaze was turned away, Marcy saw the situation as nothing but full of opportunities and well, what would she even be worth if she didn't bite the bullet once and then pray the blonde was gonna be okay with it? Wasn't the best thing to do, but she's full of surprises. She was known for being full of suprises, too. She had to make sure she lives up to the expectations somehow. 

Soft, but ever so slightly chapped lips stained with strawberry ice cream hit Sasha's own lips in a surprisingly bold and daring move, eliciting a muffled gasp from the blonde. She did not dislike this one bit, no. She could get used to it. 

The raven-haired girl's free arm went behind the blonde's head, keeping her close and gently pulling her closer into her own face, while her other hand kept the cone. All her attention, however, went to Sasha and Sasha only, she didn't even realize she dropped every bit of ice cream she had on the ground. 

Each second it felt like Marcy's lips pressed themselves even harder until it felt like neither one of them had full control of their own body, of their own skin. Only thing they could even remotely control were their eyelids, both pairs of eyes half closed, undecided if they wanted to watch the other or just melt and simply enjoy, stay put and feel, rather than see what the other does. 

Whatever ice cream Marcy still had staining her lips and inside her mouth was slowly making its way, creeping on Sasha's sweet lips and sweetening them even further, leaving them sugary and pink. 

Another wave of confidence and a stroke of that sweet, sweet "I'm in charge, cowboys!!" attitude hit Marcy and took it to the next step, nibbling and softly biting at Sasha's bottom lip, starting out slowly and gently, waiting for any kind of nonverbal sign from the blonde, telling her to continue. 

Shit didn't last too much, much to Marcy's pleasure. Her sign to go on was given to her when the blonde's free hand roamed up from her girlfriend's waist and to around her narrow shoulders, pulling her body even closer. 

The park was empty while they were here. It looked like no one was left here, everybody had the bright idea to just go home and leave the outdoors to them. They could handle it. 

Unaware of anything but the present moment and maybe a single sprinkle of the future, Marcy bites just slightly harder at the blonde's bottom lip, teeth digging into the soft, sugary flesh. 

Another surprise for the artist's girlfriend, what was left of the strawberry ice cream inside her mouth was creeping into her own, now being nowhere near cold, as it was supposed to. It was just warm and technically, it would've been incredibly unpleasant. 

But exception. Marcy. It was Marcy. She made it even better. 

Like the half eaten bite of ice cream shared between them, Sasha was melting internally into Marcy's hands. Honestly? Liberating and healing, pleasant and lovely. She loved being able to let loose and stop feeling like she had to be in control all times. She loved being able to trust Marcy with so many things. 

They break apart after a few more seconds, minutes, you count and decide, just because air was getting harder and harder to obtain like this. 

Immediately after, though, Marcy leaned on Sasha, head resting in the crook of her neck, realizing just now how much the outdoor's heat and this activity took out of her, it absolutely wore her out. 

Both breathing heavily, Marcy's consciousness was still busy trying to clear up and come back inside her head, while Sasha stood there, gazing at the artist, absolutely impressed and beyond, lips puffy, face red like cranberries, painted in the sweetest of kisses. 

No words are needed right now, but Sasha still has something to say and finally, finds her words and gathers her back, organizing them so they don't just come out like a mess of a blabbering sentence. "Bold move, Marce." She let out, between heavy breaths. "You should do that more often, ya know?" She continued. 

"Welp. Yeah, I should definitely do that more often." Marcy snickered, surprised in what she did herself. Really proud of it, too. 

"How 'bout we head home?" Sasha asked. No more reasons to stay outside that she could think of, their ice creams were basically gone, the weather only got somehow worse and every surface was burning. "Yeah. Could go for an ice cold shower." Marcy added. 

"Maaaybe not ice cold, though. Can't have ya freezing to death." 

"Riight. We'll see when we get there." Marcy smiled, getting up from her cozy spot on Sasha's lap, the blonde soon following. "Yup. C'mon, Mar-Mar." 

And so they were off to go home, her toned arm wrapped closely around Marcy's shoulder, the slightly shorter girl wrapping her own around her girlfriend's waist in response, both taking and offering support, even if they didn't actually need it. 

.....And, oh boy, the PDA levels were through the roof, even though the park was practically empty. But ya already knew that. 

<3

Chapter Text

It's been... How much time? 

Right. Wake up, Marcy. 

You've been falling asleep a lot at your desk, Marcy. Why is that? 

Right. Sasha passed away. Today should be your anniversary. 

And here you are, alone. Alone in your bedroom, lying on the bed's sheets, facing the little fluorescent plastic stars stuck on the ceiling, staring at them for absolutely no reason. 

You have work to do, Marcy. A whole chapter you have to illustrate. Still, you just can't find the energy to get up and get it done. No energy, you just want to lie there and do nothing. 

This is such a burden to carry. You look at the plastic stars on the ceiling without any reason, without any wish. Why are you glaring at them so tiredly, anyway? You wish they would be the real stars, the ones that as they fall they grant wish after wish. 

It isn't real, is it? Every tale that told you about wishes and granting them was fake. They are simply created to distract children and if so, then why do they still distract you? 

You barely grew as a person. 

You're still the same little girl who made so many mistakes in her childhood. Guided her unknowing friends to another reality, one beyond this world. Just to keep them close, keep them with you, keep them from leaving. 

You knew you were gonna be the one to leave first. With this, they were probably gonna leave you first, anyway. It doesn't even matter, it never mattered. 

It doesn't matter who leaves first or last, in the end you're still the one who ended up alone. On your own. With no one by your side. 

Don't your parents support you? Of course not. 

They abandoned you a long time ago. 

And then again, it was okay for you. For you and Sasha. 

You wanna remember why? 

It's only because she told you that if your own parents weren't going to tell you how proud they are and how much they love you, well... She was gonna compensate. 

She was gonna tell you how much she loves you and how proud she is of you instead. 

Now there's exactly no one for you to do that. 

You have to move on. You know that. Your mind whispered it to you, suggested you to move on, or at least try. But you refuse one time after another. 

Your mind lends you a hand once again today, a suggestion splayed on a silver plate. Move on. Remember her, but don't obsess over such thing as her memory. 

You extend a hand and push it away, starting out slow and then finally, shoving it in the side with the biggest of forces you can muster. You only want to be left alone. No one can disturb you, not even your own mind's most rational thoughts. 

Maybe they're not even rational. Maybe they're just plain manipulative. You can't really guess. 

In this situation, no. You can't take any risk and make a decision as serious as this. 

There is no rulebook or page of guidelines to tell you exactly what's considered rational or not. 

Back then, to reality and realization. Wake up, Marcy. Wake up. It's time to just stop sulking and get to work. 

No. 

You can't do that. 

Today's your anniversary. The date you and Sasha officially became a thing. 

God, back then, when everything was so, so beautiful. Everything was better, everything was good, everything was okay. 

Sole opposite of what remains right now. 

Everything was good back then, why couldn't it be the same now? 

Lacking any kind of energy, you pull out your phone and open up Twitter. If you're gonna be like this and cancel yet another chapter just because you're heartbroken, at least let your fanbase know. 

You write out what seems to be the most half-assed little apology and then it's out online for any fan of your webcomic to see. 

Between newfound sniffs and little, salty tears, you put your phone back on the bed, besides you. 

You raise a hand and wipe them all away, the tears glimmering on your skin. 

You aren't going anywhere. There is no progress to be made. Maybe there will be, maybe there won't. Who even knows, because you aren't someone who knows. Maybe you never will. 

Your emotional state is nothing but comparable to the feel a little valley would give you. A valley you visited regularly in your youth. 

A valley so beautiful, so brimming with life. Birds, little animals, flowers coming to life and blooming, decorating the air with their never to forget aroma. 

However, you take a break and move to the big city, thinking you'll never visit this valley again. Never again. 

But when all is well, life is going better for you, you make a living and a name for yourself, you tell yourself that maybe you should visit that valley once more, only to find out it's been ravaged. 

Left without a sprinkle of life, grass is now grey and everything in sight you once knew is demolished. A corner ripped apart from the rest of the world, the wind blowing harshly and mindlessly, covering your face with your own hair. It wants you to stop from seeing it. From seeing and observing what it became. 

Nothing but a waste of something that was once such a beautiful little thing. 

That was Marcy, right now. 

Why was it bothering her, anyway? Sasha passed away so much time ago. You should be over it. Any reasonable adult should be over it. But you aren't and you don't want to be. You never want to let go of her memory. 

You hold her memory close to your chest, so close to you its physically impossible to take it away. Your grip on it is deathly and you won't give up on it, if anyone tries to take it away and suggest you to move on, you'll continue to strengthen your grip, grip it with your teeth, hold it with your hands so harshly it hurts. 

Strenght was never your strong suite. But when Sasha still was with you, it was. It seemed like it was. She shared her own strength with you, made you feel strong, made you feel proud and good and beautiful and worthy. 

Nothing seems healthy anymore. Nothing comforts you anymore. In these times, Sasha would be the one who would comfort you and make you forget all about the bad things that exist. 

She would be here for you, she would be here, with her sturdy armor and her swords, fighting off your own monsters that continued to hunt after you tirelessly, year after year and hour after hour. 

You sit up on the bed, still tired, consumed and crying, trying to stop and man up a little, though this idea seems to rest so far from you. 

You move your head to the side, shift your gaze, from up there on the ceiling, to your nightstand. There are many objects across it. A pen, a piece of paper, a charger and a few other trinkets. What glimmers in your eyes are just two objects that remind you everything you need to remember to hit yourself with another wave of crying. 

A small and adorable plushie that Sasha herself crocheted a long time ago. It was her first crocheted plushie and she decided to give it to you. You remember first-hand how proud you were of her and how you threw yourself in her arms, hugging her, both chuckling and laughing wholeheartedly. 

So many things and memories this small ball of knotted yarn holds. 

Second, there's a framed photo with you both. The nicest of pictures, a sweet souvenir of your first date, right after you moved in together with her. 

You remember just how happy both of you were. You remember how awkward, but how sweet that date was, like nothing other. One more thing you remember was how hard, but simultaneously how fun it was to find the perfect frame for this perfect picture. You both visited around 5 shops looking for that frame.

The photo and the plushie are not relevant anymore here. The person they remind you of is already gone and beyond the veil. 

Why you couldn't bring yourself to throw them out, you didn't know. 

Maybe you didn't need to throw them out, though. 

Maybe you just needed the sweet solace they brought, along with the existence of the pain that they remind you of. 

Maybe you could just learn to ignore it. Learn to move on without actually move on. 

But who do you think you're kidding, no. You're a child in an adult's body. You could never bring yourself to grow up and actually do something without Sasha. 

These thoughts get to you and slam you against the wall, never letting you to sleep peacefully ever again. No one to rest in bed by your side, no one to tell you how much you're needed, loved, appreciated. No one to wake up next to. The only thing you wake up to is a blank wall instead of Sasha's lovely sleeping body. 

None of that, no more of that. 

Thoughts racing, mind hunting, you want to run away and escape, feel something, anything other than the pain resurfacing again and again every year. 

So you run. 

You run. 

Your legs hurt, but your head hurts more. 

You don't feel your legs anymore. It starts to feel dizzying, starts to feel surreal, nothing is real and nothing is there for you, Marcy. It feels like you don't belong in your own body. 

You wake up in the same exact spot you and Sasha used to visit to stargaze. 

It's late in the night and the sky has never looked darker and sadder than tonight. Maybe it's just your own imagination playing tricks on your surroundings. 

But one thing apart from every tragedy. 

The stars shine so bright today. You've never seen them so bright, so hopeful. They scream your name as they try to distract you from your own pain. 

So you lie on the grass, your eyes never taking time to let go of the glorious and saddening display. 

This place brings more memories than a plushie or a photo ever could. 

You've been here so many times, sometimes earlier, sometimes even later. 

But it was so different, so, so much more different. 

Sasha was here with you every goddamned time. 

You both used to love this place. What happened? 

You feel your face get hit with another stream of hot tears and you can't even bring yourself to wipe them away. Just.. Take time and let yourself suffer. You'll wake up tomorrow and perhaps it'll be better, though you doubt it. 

If Sasha would be here, she'd tell you to cheer up. Scavenge for the brighter side. 

You try to do so, but it's useless. The prettiest thing here, the stars, can't help you out. 

So you just stay there. Mourn Sasha's departure. She's beyond it now, maybe someday you'll be too. You two will meet, but until there, well, you'll have to manage. 

Chapter Text

"Today is a good day." Sasha's mind repeated without any wish to stop. She could somehow sense something bad was coming today for her, but couldn't put a finger on it and neither did she want to face it. 

No, Sasha's positive thoughts, IT IS NOT. 

SHUT UP. 

NUH UH. 

"Sheesh, miss author, let me sleep!" Sasha turned in the bed, unable to not hear the annoying voice of the narrator/author. Now, I know you just read it in your head, but as you read it, you imagine a voice for me. Well, whatever that voice may be, it's annoying to Sasha right now. 

Sasha get the fuck up from the bed, Marcy's already up. This is exactly what you get for previously punching and obviously breaking the forth wall. You're stuck with me, you ass. 

"Whatever, you suck." The blonde rubbed her eyes and brushed once or twice through her hair as she finally got up from the bed. 

I'm a literal minor leave me alone??? 

"Dude, I just woke up." She half-screamed at the author as she just slightly fixed up the bed sheets and the blanket, not too much to actually look incredibly organized, not too little to actually look like a mess. 

Fine, okay, I guess that's that. Moving on, Marcy was already in the kitchen, just waiting for Sasha to wake up and come to her so they could have their nice breakfast, just like every weekend. 

The blonde walked inside the kitchen, still a little sleepy, a tad more awake this morning than any other morning. Seems quarreling with a narrator really can shake your grogginess off, huh? 

"Heey, good mornin', Sashy." Marcy yawned, immediately noticing the blonde coming in. "G'morning, Mar-Mar." She let out, still sleepy, after a short yawn. 

Good morning, y'all!! <3

"How the hell are you still here?" Sasha shouted, facing nothing but the air and the wall, clearly a bit irritated at the manner the narrator was doing their job. 

Kinda hurt my feelings there, Sash. Harsh.

Anyway, can we move along? I think Marcy has something to say. 

Sasha turned her face to Marcy, questioningly, upon hearing the narrator's vague suggestion. 

"Eh, yeah, about that, it can wait." Marcy waved her hand dismissively. "Why don't we just eat, for now?" She asked, throwing a little smile to the blonde. 

But Sasha wasn't really convinced. She became a tad too curious to let this go, naturally, she needed to know a bit more to make sure nothing was wrong there. "You sure, Marce? If there's something wrong, we could look-"

"No, no, Sash, it's okay, really." She chuckled, touched by how careful her girlfriend was with her. "Don't believe everything a narrator says, they just wanna spice stuff up." She snickered, speaking in a tone slightly quieter, probably for the author not to hear. 

I heard that. But okay, enjoy your breakfast, gays. I'll be right back with a time skip. Don't feel like my dearest readers (wink wink) really need to know all the details and another 5 adjectives describing the taste of the pancakes Marcy made before Sasha woke up. 

~Timeskip brought to you by every reference I'm about to make in this fic~

Two hours later, they finished their breakfast and decided they should rewatch a silly romantic comedy from their childhood. Both knew they just hated romantic comedies for some dumb reason, so this was really fun. 

Marcy kept making snarky and overly sarcastic commentaries about the movie's plot and lazy writing, while Sasha constantly went to the kitchen for snack refills for her and the rambling artist. 

Man, if she was this dissapointed in a movie for young adults like this one, wait until she watches the fourth season of Miraculous Ladybug (narrator teaches you how to throw shade miraculously). 

The movie was so lazily written and it became so incredibly boring to the both of them that Marcy's once surprisingly long and sarcastic comments got shorter and shorter. 

The movie only took 1 hour and 40 minutes of screentime, but it felt like an eternity and a day. 

And it wasn't deathly boring to Marcy, neither. Not even snacks were enough to keep Sasha's interest from falling in shambles. 

Soon, cuddling became the only thing dragging them through the movie. 

Marcy was resting comfortably in Sasha's lap, hugging a plushie of hers while the blonde was sitting up against a pillow, her arms wrapped around Marcy and her head resting on the raven-haired girl's shoulder, both giving and taking such pure comfort and coziness only them knew how to share.

Both pairs of eyes still at the screen, somehow. Occasionally, when the movie got insufferably boring, Sasha would take advantage and randomly pepper Marcy with little kisses. 

And then it got really fucking boring again. 

"You know, the narration was nice until that." Marcy interrupted. The entire last line felt like a walnut thrown at a piece of thin glass. 

I got bored. Are you guys gonna talk about that one thing Marcy had to discuss? 

"About that, yeah! Wanna talk about it?" She asked, a new tone picked up, one much more excited, the movie playing in the background swiftly becoming nothing more than static noise for them. "Spill it, Marce." The blonde replied excitedly, sprinkling another smooch on the artist's back. 

With a chuckle, she started her story. "Okay, so, these days, I called Anne, you know? Multiple times. Wanted to tell her all about this new book I read, thought she might like it, right?" 

"I'll need snacks for this one, hold on." Sasha ushered Marcy to the side for a bit, just so she could get up. Something she really didn't want to do, but she would be back in bed soon. "Do ya want some, too?" 

"Yeaaah, let there be pretzelsss!!" The raven-haired girl cheered, raising her arms above her head, making her girlfriend laugh the entire way to the kitchen and back. "There will be pretzeeels!!" The blonde replied in the same silly manner, both laughing lovingly at each other. 

As soon as Sasha came back with another bowl full to the brim with pretzels and a couple of other snacks, Marcy took it as her cue to continue her story. 

The blonde hopped back in bed, placing the bowl near Marcy as she lied down sideways cozily, her head resting on the artist's lap, eyes gazing curiously at her, waiting for the rest of her wacky story to be told. 

"So I called Anne. And this is where the plot twist comes in. You know how Anne always picks up, right?" She continued, grabbing another two pretzels. 

"Yeah, y'know, now that you mention that, it is kinda weird. She didn't pick up my calls neither." 

The blonde took another handful of snacks and shoved them in her mouth unceremoniously. "Weird." Marcy let out, her hand resting on her chin, putting every clue about Anne's unusual disappearance on a mental board, visualizing it all. 

"Here's the catch, though. She did pick up one time, no more." 

Call me intrigued because I sure am intrigued in my own story lmao. 

"Shhhhhhh shut the fuck up." Sasha shushed the narrator, in a borderline irritated tone. 

Okay, okay, sorry :<

Marcy giggled a bit at the ongoing gag of the narrator, despite kinning Sasha, having beef with her. "I couldn't understand nothing, nothing at all. Everything was some sort of gargled mess, but I could hear Anne whispering 'help'." 

Sasha sits there and blinks, only to realize this might be the end of the story. "... I feel uneasy." She let out, putting the handful of snacks she picked up before the last part of the terrifying story back in the bowl. 

"I'm worried, sunshine. Should I be worried? I mean, she's capable of throwing hands, right?" Marcy once again put a hand on her chin, deeply worried about Anne's safety. 

"It may be nothin', but, I mean, she surely had a reason for that, right?" 

Several uneasy and unsure looks were traded between them. What if it was all just a little prank, but then again, what if it wasn't? 

Sasha hummed, thinking of a solution to this little dilemma. "How about we visit her? Just to make sure?" 

This wasn't gonna end well. Y'all. 

"Can the narrator STOP giving out spoilers??" Marcy asked, having enough of the shit. Well, someone better bring out the flex tape for the fourth wall cuz I'm not leaving anytime soon if this shit doesn't get fixed. 

I just want y'all to be prepared! Is it my fault I'm sick of seeing my babies traumatized? 

"Cuz that's exactly what you said when you posted the last one-shot, the one in which I DIED??" Sasha coughed, remembering how FUN the last chapter of this book was. "Yeah, why the fuck would you kill Sasha??" 

"Marcy, don't swear!" Sasha reminded her. Such foul language wasn't gonna cut it for Marcy. "Aww.." The raven-haired girl let out sadly, but understandably so. 

~

"Mar-Mar."

"Yeah."

"Did you steal the aux cord again?"

"Yes."

"Fine, just.. Careful with what you play, okay?" 

"Alrighty!" She nodded excitedly right before playing her favourite Qbomb song, titled Everything is Fine. (Which is ironic, given the situation)

"GOOD LORD-" 

The car almost went up in flames at the sudden burst in sound. So Marcy was a bit of a metalhead, so what? 

... Yes, they've gotten noise complaints in the past, so what? A few bucks weren't gonna stop Marcy from truly enjoying music. 

Look, Anne didn't really live that far from them. The trip took about 30 minutes but they chose not to take any chances with this one, so Sasha went all in and decided to speed up. 

(The road rage was intense with this one y'all) 

All windows were down, wind was beating everywhere, hair strands were flying literally everywhere. The picture it painted was a surely very unique one, on top of that, Sasha occasionally cursed like a sailor anyone that dared to wrong her on the road. 

"So what do you think Anne's up to??" Marcy half-yelled, like she couldn't just turn the volume way down just to hear anything. "HUH??" Sasha asked, all her attention focused on the road ahead. 

"I said what do you tHINK ANNE'S UP TO?" 

"WHAT?" 

"WHAT DO YO-"

"MARCY TURN THIS SHIT DOWN"

The raven-haired girl turned the song down, so much that she could actually hear when Sasha spoke to her. "You were sayin', Marce?" The blonde snickered and threw her one of her signature smirks, before her eyes went back on the road. 

"What do you think is going on with Anne?" She let out, letting worry bubble up to the surface, enough for Sasha to sense just how distressed her girlfriend felt. 

The blonde needed a moment to process and think of an answer. "Hard to say. Maybe nothing, maybe the worst thing that could happen."

Marcy sighed, just the thought of her childhood best friend enough to provoke the darkest of thoughts. 

"Look, Marce." Sasha put one hand on the artist's, in a calming gesture reserved for her and her only. "We'll get there, we'll see what's wrong and get our girl to safety." 

"Alright." 

Yooooooo lovebirds this is a crackfic for god's sake??? Stop angsting everything up. 

"Oh, I've had it with you." Sasha sighed. She would break the fourth wall all over again, but this time she would strangle the narrator while at it, too. If she wasn't driving. Drive safely, kids. 

~

In short time, they finally parked the car and now they were right in front of Anne's doorstep. Sasha knocked once, Marcy knocked twice, nobody came to open the door. 

Something shitty's going on here and it isn't just the character I'm about to introduce besides Anne. 

"Uhhh, spoiler alert??? Who's about to get introduced?" Marcy asked, annoyed once again at the utter foolishness and ignorance of the narrator. 

"Ignore the narrator, I'm about to bust this SHIT open!!" 

"DO IT!!" Marcy chanted and cheered Sasha over and over again as the blonde cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath, ready to punch her way into the secret vault's door, League of Legends, Vi the Piltover enforcer style. 

"WE WANNA SEE THE WORLD BURN!! >:D" Marcy and Sasha both sang overwhelmingly loud as they came marching in, their arms risen as the door fell out the hinges, hitting the floor in front of them with such force and magnitude that it felt like it was enough to cause a legit earthquake. 

"What the fawk, honey??" 

"I think I know those voices???" 

"No freaking way!" Marcy let out, more than surprised, hearing those two familiar voices. The sweet voices, the specific accents, the familiarity... 

In front of them came rushing the only two people who were legally allowed to call Anne "Annie". Their faces were deeply burdened with worry and a bordeline humongous amount of surprise and shock.

"THE BOONCHUYS?" Sasha shouted, shocked to see the couple. Why were they here, where was Anne, why didn't they open the door? WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING ON?? 

"Who's talking?" Mrs. Boonchuy asked, even more shocked than what was humanly possible at this point. First these two dumbasses tear the door off the hinges, then the narrator speaks? How dare she, what a bitch. 

Hi, I'm the narrator and your daughter is missing, but you already knew that. 

Everyone stared at each other, trading questioning looks and occassional shrugs of confusion. "... Better to ignore them." Sasha finally interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. 

"Yeah, where's Anne?" Marcy asked frantically, like anyone knew the answer. Nobody knew about Anne's whereabouts and that was no surprise. Shit's getting real. 

"We wish we knew that." Mr. Boonchuy shrugged. All they knew was that Anne wasn't home anymore and their calls weren't gonna be picked up anytime soon. For now, the line would stay cold. 

"But what are you girls doing here?" The thai woman added. "We're looking for Anne." Marcy answered, a bit dumbfounded. 

Everything was confusing, to say the least. 

"I don't understand. What the hell is going on." Sasha pinched the bridge of her nose in confusion, frustration and all of the above, compiled in one single emotion. 

"Does she know this is supposed to be PG-13?" Mr. Boonchuy asked, in a manner so confused it could score a Guinness World Record in confusion, making his wife shrug, as confused as him. 

"It isn't gonna stay PG-13 for long.." Marcy mumbled to herself, like she actually knew the many ideas for fanfic prompts the author had at hand. "What was that?" Mrs. Boonchuy turned her head to Marcy, thinking she heard her say something. "Nothing!" The artist chirped, effectively deflecting suspicion. 

"'Effectively deflecting suspicion'? Are you narrating a fucking among us stream??????" Sasha asked, critiquing once again the author's methods. 

Yes. 

But do not worry about it. 

Another few seconds passed, spent on trading irritated and overly questioning looks between the newfound group. "Errr... Why don't we look for clues or something? Marcy interrupted, getting rid of any traces of tension in the air.

All came to an unspoken agreement and, efficiently enough, they split up, Sasha went with Marcy, searching for clues inside the living room and bedroom, while Anne's parents continued inspecting the rest. 

"Yo imagine if this turns into a murder mystery or something." Marcy joked around as Sasha opened drawer after drawer. "Do not." The blonde turned her head to her girlfriend and chuckled. 

"Okay, but imagine." 

"How about no?" 

"How about yes?"

"Okay, lay off the dark jokes."

"Alright fine."

They both chuckle to themselves like absolute dorks as they continue scavenging for any piece of proof or clue or trace left by whatever shit went down and hit the fan here. 

"Narration at its FINEST, riiiiiight here folks." Sasha snickered. 

It's a crackfic I'm legally allowed to do anything. 

You know, I could make you the shorter one for this fic. 

"Wait no-"

Too bad. 

For now, Sasha was tinier than Marcy. 

All this time, while Sasha was just friiiieeeeendly bickering with the narrator like any good character, Marcy was busy minding her own business, until she actually found something that looked helpful. Might be useless, but let's see. 

Marcy was so into her search that she didn't hear squat. For her, anything that happened while she looked for clues was just meaningless background static. 

"Sashy?" She turned to her girlfriend, the clue written on an unceremoniously ripped piece of notebook paper, only to be met with a short Sasha, her arms crossed, face twisted in an almost cartoonishly irritated expression. 

Marcy clicked her tongue, stuck processing the view in front of her. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW"

The raven-haired girl rushed to the much smaller blonde and hugged her so hard her bones could practically snap in half, something that could never happen until now due to the obvious height difference (a few inches lmao). 

Sasha didn't even protest too much - maybe because she was too small and too tightly held to actually do anything but desperately try waving her arms while screaming like a madman, but she didn't do any of that, surprisingly. 

Marcy could even lift Sasha up! 

Fun <3

But enough of that, this chapter ain't fluff (FOR ONCE) heh heh heh. 

Basically what happened is Marcy presented the clue she found to everyone. Nothing written there made sense for anyone... EXCEPT MARCY AND SASH, KABOOM, you didn't expect that. 

The message on the paper was written in a coded language Marcy, Anne and Sasha used to share when they were kids. They soon ditched it because the letters were too hard to memorize and write, the only one to ever memorize that shit was Anne. Anne and her stupid good ol memory why does she need that much memory my girl runnin on several hundred GB's of RAM. 

And Marcy still had the letters decoded on her phone, somewhere. 

Using that, the deciphered message left by Anne, presumably, was an address. Loser street, something something, ain't important. 

What was important is that they immediately hopped into Sasha's car and cutely went there, casually having no regard for the law. Several laws broken, a few energy drinks consumed and another 4 car accidents masterfully avoided (somehow) later, here they were, in front of yet another door. 

And this time, Sasha had no hesitation when it came to tearing everything down. 

Unless jk mrs. Boonchuy was the one to tear the door out of its hinges, the door fell down with such a loud sound the others could swear they also heard the floor cracking and the tension in the air being sliced up. 

Mr. Boonchuy swooned. 

Hahanywayyy, the house seemed to be completely silent. 

Until it wasn't. 

The sound of a vase being thrown and ultimately shattered hit them all, leaving a sour taste in their mouths. Well, if Anne was here she was probably in trouble. Or not. Or she was the one who threw the vase, firsthand. 

Sasha gestured Marcy to come with her as everyone came to an unspoken agreement to get closer to the source of the sound, keeping their steps as quiet as possible. 

These two buffoons kept their finger-guns nearby. 

I can feel Sasha wanting to curse the narrator once again. No you don't, you're supposed to be sneaky. Curse me now. Bitch. 

Now, everyone hiding behind a counter in the kitchen, they mostly had a clear view of what was happening. 

A fucking basic boy was apparently battling a very enraged Anne. Or not? He was just there, I suppose. He was shaking and basically being a little bitch. 

Okay, Sasha came to her conclusion. He was the target. 

"Okay, haNDS UP MOTHERFUCKERS❗" Sasha rose suddenly from behind the counter, keeping her finger-guns in front of her, acting like nothing less than a real glock was in her hands, ready to shoot at any time. Everyone turned their heads to the blonde, feeling nothing but shock and a tangy sense of 'did she consume illegal stuff'. Maybe except Marcy. Yeah, Marcy totally expected this shit to happen. 

Naturally, like the power couple they are, Marcy gets up and follows up to Sasha's shitty little ambush. "NOBODY MOVE ❗" 

"Awww you got the red exclamation mark, too <33" Sasha put a free hand on Marcy's shoulder, patting her sweetly, sharing smiles between the both of them for just a second until they switched for tough looking expressions, expressions you'd expect from someone who was about to either put you behind bars, chris hansen style, or just beat you up. 

"Sash?? Marcy? WHY IS SASHA SMALL?" Anne asked, way too confused to deal with this crap. "NO QUESTIONS, END OF DISCUSSION" Sasha quickly answered, not wanting to discuss the awkward change in height. 

"I don't mean any harm!" The boy.. K, the man i suppose spoke (un)truthfully. "Don't listen to this bitch, I was kidnapped >:(" Anne protested, turning her head to her two favorite police officers, pointing to the presumed kidnapper. 

How did this twink even put a hand on Anne was a mystery for everyone, that girl could send his ass into space with a snap. 

Suddenly, Anne's parents leave their hideout and go take a seat on the two chairs at the table nearby, everyone throwing confused looks around. "We were getting tired." 

"Ohhh okay"

"Yeah makes sense"

"👍"

"OKAY NOW DOES MR. PISS STAIN CARE TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING?" Sasha shouted at the top of her lungs. Probably to assert dominance. "Where did you learn to swear like that?" Marcy whispered in her ear, half impressed, half wanting to learn too. 

"Grew up in a Russian household, ya get used to it." 

"Oooh."

"Everything??" The twink asked back, going literally nowhere. 

"START TO FINISH, BEGINNING TO END, SPILL IT" 

"Ummm so I um"

"CUT THE CRAP" Marcy joined in, yelling in the same harsh manner Sasha did. "I'm so proud of you 😭" Sasha told her back, tone soft and warm. 

"Okay! Okay, so um-"

"I HEAR ONE MORE 'UM' AND YOUR NEXT DINNER'S GONNA BE A PIECE OF PAPER WITH THE WORD 'UM' WRITTEN ON IT❗❗" Sasha took a step closer to the man and his response was taking three back. 

"Okay! So I used to write fanfics with uh, me and Anne and I thought it could be a good idea to-"

"KIDNAP A PERSON????" Marcy completed. 

"You know, it sounds a lot worse when you say it, but yes!" 

"Oh."

Collective face palm. 

"Ain't no goddamn way I'm wasting time with this buffoon." Sasha sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, disappointed in everyone. In humanity, really. 

Hey guys

"Hey?" 

Want me to make it ten times worse? Darrell's, this is his name btw, is 30 and ships himself with Anne since like she was 13! 

Every gaze turned to Darrell, each one more disappointed than the last. 

"Yeah, I'm going to bathroom, I feel like throwing up." Anne left swiftly. 

"I do not wanna be implied in this shit." Sasha laughed to herself, a good chunk of her sanity descending into the deepest pits of hell. 

"But she was hot-!" His argument was this. 

.... 

BANG MF ❗❗

"OH MY FUCKING GOD WHAT" 

"DUDE WHAT THE HELL" Anne screeched from the bathroom, the loud bang impossible to acknowledge. 

"Job done. Let's go home." Marcy fixed her hair. 

Darrell lied dead on the kitchen rug. 

To recap, Marcy had a hidden gun and well, you can kind of guess where that went. 

"I need to go sleep." Sasha went outside, ran out of that cursed house. 

I'm still here motherfucker. 

"STILL?"

yeah. Buy some flex tape and fix the fourth wall pls. 

"No its ur job"

Fine :(

:(

... 

💡❗

😃☝

What if I promised to write more fluff with u and marmar

"Ok deal leave me alone"

Darrell's dead, the fourth wall is fixed, every storyline has been resolved and no threads have been left dangling. Ggwp everyone, go home. 

Chapter Text

2:24 AM, Sunday. 

No light in the room, nothing but darkness in and out of this quiet room. The sky outside was nothing short of peaceful, the little stars across the sky glimmering so brightly, contrasting the black of the late hour. It was rather cloudy and many of the stars couldn't be seen, but the ones that were there, shone so brightly, like they were trying to make up for the loss of the others. 

The only light in the room rivaling the dark was a simple night light across the room. A neat little light that caught Marcy's attention and held it. 

Goes without saying, Sasha was sound asleep. Marcy wasn't. Left alone and supposed to sleep, Marcy tried every tactic to help herself fall asleep. 

Did they work? Of course not. This is why she's still wide awake. Not even she herself knew what was wrong. Usually, she was the one who had absolutely no problems falling asleep, at all. 

Tonight, a special case. She couldn't fall asleep, not even if you paid her. Nothing helped at all. 

She was terribly hungry. 

Yeah, that was what was happening. This didn't happen very often, only on the rare times when Marcy skipped dinner. She sometimes got so into her work as an artist she forgot to eat. 

Anytime this happened, Sasha would just snap her out of it and take care of it, make sure she doesn't forget to take care of herself. 

This evening, though, something rather tiring came up and Sasha couldn't come home until probably 8 PM. The blonde came home extremely tired, the first thing she did after taking a shower and putting on her pajamas was going straight to bed. 

One thing led to another and now here she was, hungry as hell, awake at 2 AM while Sasha was sleeping besides her, snoring really, really loudly. 

Of course, getting up and going to eat something was an option. Did Marcy really feel like getting up, though? No. 

Her mind was torn between two options, two options balanced very delicately. Get up and go to eat, that's the only way she could finally fall asleep. Or, stay here and hope that sleep finally catches onto her. 

Marcy shut her eyes closed and tossed and turned for what seemed to go on endlessly, just until she found an even remotely comfortable position, just so she could distract herself from the evergrowing hunger. 

For a few seconds, her strategy worked. Until it hit her again, stronger this time. Tired, sleepy and at the same time unable to rest in any way, she opened her eyes widely, suddenly and harshly, clenching her teeth and furrowing her eyebrows at the utter discomfort. 

With that, she came to her conclusion. Option two, her favorite option on the list, was just not something she could bring herself to do. 

Shutting her eyes close again, she tried not to groan as she got up, as quietly as she could. She couldn't take any chances, she knew Sasha was usually a deep sleeper, but sometimes, just sometimes, a quiet peep was enough to wake her up. 

And Marcy thought that waking up Sasha, accidentally or not, just because she needed to eat was simply not worth it. 

Her girlfriend was tired and she needed the rest. The raven-haired girl knew how she and the word 'cooking' didn't get along exactly well. Yeah, sure, Sasha was the one who usually took care of that, but. 

Nah, it wasn't worth it. 

Marcy didn't want to wake up Sasha. She just wanted to let her sleep, it was enough to make her happy. She was gonna go there, eat, then go back and finally get to sleep besides her, maybe even cuddle a bit. That single thought brought enough motivation to her. 

Could you blame her? There was just something so calming about Sasha sleeping. Marcy could lie next to her, close her eyes and join her, only the sound of her peaceful breathing was enough to ground her after a rough day. 

With that thought, she sneaked into the kitchen, struggling to not make any peep or sound with each step, avoiding every object around that could accidentally fall and provoke what seemed in the dead of the night the loudest sound ever, even avoiding masterfully that one spot on the ground that used to creak. 

A few quiet steps further and she's in front of the fridge, smiling eagerly to herself, seconds away from rubbing her palms against each other like a cartoon, moustache-twisting villain. 

The artist opened the fridge, feeling her hunger growing more and more each second. Inside the fridge though, not much was happening. A few half-liter juice bottles, some fruit and a few other things that didn't especially attract Marcy's attention. 

There was absolutely not one thing in that fridge she could use to make a sandwich, not even the most basic, prison-food like sandwich. 

But that didn't apply to Marcy, she lived by the "If you're brave enough, anything can be used to make a sandwich!" rule. 

...Not this night, though. She really didn't feel like getting creative. Not at this ungodly hour to even be awake at. 

Not wanting to suffer the hunger one minute more, Marcy picked out a few fruits, thinking that a simple salad was gonna do the trick just right. At this point, even something as bare-bones as a few simple slices of fruit were gonna do. 

Rushing to finally get this done with, Marcy took the apple and turned on the kitchen faucet, nicely rinsing it a bit under the cold water, then quickly drying it with a paper towel. 

Next, she took a small bowl and quietly set it on the table. 

The raven-haired girl picked out a knife from the drawer and began slicing up the apple in extremely clumsy and uneven little pieces. It was 2 AM, she wasn't gonna chop up the most beautiful, the most elegant and most gorgeous salad ever... No, she was never gonna do that, not with her incredible lack of skill in the kitchen. Ain't happening. 

Next, the banana. Honestly, just perfect timing for it, it wasn't too ripe, but it wasn't greener than a lime neither. It had just that perfect yellow color you'd expect from it. 

Throwing the banana's peel away, she sliced that up quickly too and threw the small, uneven pieces in the bowl along with the apple pieces. While at it, she sprinkled some honey on them and ground cinnamon, then got a fork. 

Yup, if this was a proper fruit salad, Anne was one of France's first presidents. 

Regardless, it was gonna do. 

She picked out her favourite fork - because... Let's be real, everyone has a favourite fork - and digged in. 

It was totally just her hunger speaking, but it was surprisingly good! Maybe just the atmosphere that eating in the dark at 2 AM created, but it was, again, pretty good, pretty pleasant. 

Still, Marcy couldn't wait to go back and cuddle till morning. 

The artist walked in overly slow circles in the kitchen, bowl and fork in hand, quickly eating, something she probably shouldn't do, but here she was. 

The raven-haired girl hurriedly ate piece after piece of honey-glazed fruit, determined to finish as fast as possible here and finally go back. 

She stopped walking in her little circles, noticing she was soon left with no more than maybe a little less than half of the salad, some cinnamon sprinkled on them and whatever honey remained on the bowl. 

She stabbed one piece of them with her fork and dragged it around in the leftover honey, not planning to leave any behind. In all truth, washing something as sticky as honey off was kind of hard, she didn't want to deal with that right now. 

She could just leave the bowl in the sink, probably. She'd wash it next thing in the morning, for sure. Sasha wouldn't scold her for that, would she? 

Having finished chewing the piece, she went in to grab another one. 

Until it was snatched from her grasp by a second fork. A fork which wasn't in her hand and definitely wasn't hers. 

"Huh..?" She sleepily let out, trying to look around and find out who stole the apple piece from her. Too dark for that. 

In the blink of an eye, the lights went on and the whole kitchen lit up, revealing none other than the playful thief herself. "Good morniiiing, lovely." Sasha chirped, then ate the piece in front of her, as Marcy's eyes were still busy adjusting to the newfound light. 

"I take it you enjoyed your snack?" Marcy added back, playfully and with a little adorable smile at which Sasha nodded, then strolled closer to her girlfriend, until she was hugging her from behind, arms wrapped around her thin waist and head resting on her shoulder, blonde locs slightly tickling her neck. 

"I had no one to cuddle with, so I came searchin' for ya." She giggled, making the raven-haired girl also let out a chuckle. "Welp, you found the missin' person." She added, planting a little chaste kiss on the blonde's cheek as a reward for finding this little 'missing person'. 

"Can I..?" The blonde pointed at the bowl in Marcy's hand, being just a little bit hungry as well. "Sure." Marcy offered and held the bowl a bit closer to Sasha. 

The raven-haired girl got sleepier second by second, her snack time approaching an end and with it, so did the thing that kept her awake. 

One of the blonde's arms was still wrapped around Marcy and it never stopped from hugging her and keeping her close, while the other shared fruit slices with her. 

"Soo.. How come you're awake?" Marcy asked the blonde as the latter grabbed another slice, bringing it up to the artist's mouth and sweetly feeding her favorite artist, noticing how sleepy she became, how she leaned more on her. 

"Sheer hunger and maybe a coffee I shouldn't have had this mornin'." Sasha admitted. Maybe drinking two whole coffees in one morning wasn't the best idea she ever had, but at least she had the occasion to sit here and hug Marcy while eating a clumsily made fruit salad. 

"Again with the coffee?" Marcy chuckled, at which Sasha snickered a bit too. "I told you not to overdo it with thooose.." The raven-haired girl threw her head back and laughed at the pure silliness. 

"Can't help it, it's good!" Sasha lightly argued back. "How can you even drink that crap is a mystery to me, it's so bitter!" Marcy continued chuckling. She was more of an energy drink user rather than a coffee one, but to her, the ability to actually drink coffee and not gag at the bitter taste was something impressive. 

"Eh, ya get used to it, honestly... If you wanna, I could take you to my favorite coffee place one day, y'know? Try out some stuff." The blonde replied, letting out a sweet smile. It was next to nothing new for her, but she deeply appreciated Marcy's honest fascination for it. 

"I'd love that, Sashy." The artist softened her gaze and leaned on her girlfriend, her head finding support on the blonde's, raven disheveled hair falling on her own blonde locs and resting there cozily. 

She took another slice of banana, fed it to Marcy, then quickly grabbed another one for herself. 

They sat there in the cozy, lovely, comfortable silence, no need for words. The only sounds made were the sounds Sasha's fork made when hitting the bowl's walls when taking fruit. 

Everything was perfect like this. All need for overly fancy or sophisticated things faded away, both just satisfied and at peace with this simple moment. Homely. 

Homely was what it felt. 

Homely was what it always was and they wouldn't even care to change that. 

Randomly, Sasha got another idea. If they were gonna have a little snack this late, might as well make it feel at least a bit more complete, make it feel slightly more worth it. The shortest, but surely the sweetest of home dates, if you will. "Hey, Mar-Mar?" She started, softly, getting Marcy's attention. 

She let Marcy go for a bit, so the raven-haired girl could quickly dispose of the empty bowl and forks, carefully putting them in the sink, where she'll probably wash them herself the next time she woke up after this. 

In other words, Sasha had a little surprise in store for Marcy, that she was originally gonna reveal the next day. "Before we head back to bed," She continued, snooping through the grocery bag she brought with her when she came home, a few hours earlier. They never actually bothered unpacking that crap. 

"How about a drink?" Sasha asked softly, grabbing two glasses and the grape fanta she bought for Marcy, knowing it was her favorite drink. 

"Hm?" Marcy turned away from the bowl in the sink and looked over at Sasha, her sweet smile and the drinks on the table. "Oooh, thank youu!!" She went in and stole a tight hug from the blonde, who was unsuspecting, but totally delighted. "Sure thing, Marce." She returned the hug tightly, patting her girlfriend's back adorably, the biggest and dorkiest of smiles on her face. 

A surprise, for sure, Sasha was rather strict about these kinds of sugary stuff. 

"Let me get you some ice for that, too." Sasha offered, quickly taking the ice tray from the freezer and smoothly throwing in two or three ice cubes in each glass. "Thanks!" Marcy threw her a genuine smile that was returned, and the blonde gave her girlfriend her glass. 

Honestly? The perfect little 2 AM thing, just for them. Hell, even two simple glasses of soda could be turned into a small, but lovely date. 

The raven-haired girl hopped on the counter, deeming the chairs too boring right now - she just loved sitting on the table, the kitchen counters, anything, really, that made her feel a bit taller - and Sasha leaned against the counter, right by her, drink in one hand, the other arm wrapped around Marcy. 

"Wanna tell me about your day?" Sasha asked, turning her face to Marcy, eager to listen to her talk about her day and everything that happened while she was gone. It always put a smile on her face, no matter how tired she was. "Weeell, glad to report that today was a really good day, Sashy!!" The artist beamed, then took another sip of her cold, fizzy drink. 

"Oooh, tell me more, did you work on anything new?" She asked, genuine and curious about everything and anything at all. Sasha loved being able to be the first to see Marcy's new works, after all. "Actually, yes!" 

She dashed off in her room and quickly came back in the kitchen, hopped back in her place and this time, she had a sketchbook in her hand. 

It was a cute little sketchbook that Sasha bought her a few months ago. Almost every page was now full of all kinds of drawings, ranging from simple, silly doodles, to sketches of fictional monsters and concept designs for new characters that were gonna be later inserted into her webcomic. 

"Sooo, earlier today I noticed I already made it to the end of this sketchbook." Marcy flipped through the pages, creating a display of skilled and confident lines, some pages made out of just black and white, contrasting the many experimental water color attempts. Sasha admired it all, her curiosity grew higher and higher as the artist approached the final page. 

"I went in the park and drew a bit there, a lil birdie almost landed on my head, too." She remembered, making Sasha giggle upon hearing the part about the bird. The weather was so nice, maybe a bit too warm but the breeze was really pleasant when it blew. Nothing short of a perfect atmosphere for drawing. 

"And, uh, wanted to end this one with a bang, so I drew you!" Marcy finally revealed the last page of her now completed sketchbook to Sasha, leaving her nothing less than astonished, maybe awestruck, in all the best ways. 

In the blonde's eyes, any drawing Marcy worked on was a subject of art that she deeply appreciated and admired, always making sure to compliment them, but keep it honest, sometimes rewarding Marcy's efforts with little kisses and cuddles (which, of course, aren't only given as a reward, they were for anytime they wanted to, really). 

But this one was different. Yes, sure, she drew her and the portrait was absolutely beautiful. Sure. But the thought she put in so much effort for this portrait for her? The thought that she was on the artist's mind as she was completing the very last page was such a dear thought to her now. 

"Weeeeell? Do you like it?" She asked, eager for an honest response. She held the sketchbook tightly in front of Sasha's face, much like a child, so proud of her drawing. And it was effectively melting Sasha away with her sheer purity and cuteness. 

"You got the audacity to ask me if I like it?? I adore this, Marce, I sooo love this!!" The blonde was just touched and she had no more reasons to hide whenever she felt like this. She looked at Marcy and she nodded, unspoken questions being answered, unspokenly, the artist offered Sasha her sketchbook, the blonde just wanted to keep the portrait in her own two hands. 

She wasn't her past self anymore, the one who'd fight to keep a straight face and not talk about what she'd been feeling at home, no matter how much it kept her awake at night. 

She ditched feeling like that doesn't matter. She ditched feeling like she couldn't share it. She could, it mattered, she could allow herself to feel like this with Marcy. She could be vulnerable and still feel strong, she learned to and continued to learn and heal with Marcy. 

It might look almost insignificant on the outside. It was a simple drawing, but it mattered so, so much to her. 

"So, so glad you love it, Sashy!! Though, the right eyebrow looks a bit weird.." Marcy pointed out, at which Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Didn't even notice that-" She replied, cut off almost immediately. 

"It's because your right eyebrow also is a little weird.." Marcy continued, chuckling a bit at her own comment, but Sasha scoffed playfully. "Yeah, I can thank my dad for that.." 

If Sasha got something from her dad? Her now successfully managed anger issues, her iconic beauty mark and a tad crooked eyebrow. Genetics, man. 

And so, they just spend time, peacefully, wishing nothing would change right now. Chatting about their days, about some silly internet dramas that happened forever ago, how stupid it is to bust out an ukulele everytime you're facing serious stuff, anything, really, could be made interesting as long as it came out of each other's mouth. 

Ultimately, it evolved into a cozy, warm silence. 

Out of the blue, Sasha set her empty glass aside and turned her soft, loving gaze to Marcy, only to see her girl that fell asleep. How much time ago? To hell if she knew. To hell if she cared. 

Marcy was just so peaceful when she slept, nothing less than a personification of tranquility and all that describe that state... Except, maybe, the fact there was a tiny trail of drool coming out of her mouth. 

Eh, still the same adorable dork she loved and always will continue to do so, no questions asked. 

Keeping the silence and never quite having the audacity to interrupt or even go as far as trying to wake the raven-haired girl up, Sasha chuckled to herself, fully aware of how in love she still was. 

Almost effortlessly, Sasha picked up Marcy, holding her gently, bridal-style. Subconsciously, the artist buried her face in the crook of the blonde's neck, seeking for comfort and finding a mountain of it there, her lips forming a comfortable, genuine little smile as she rested there. 

Before Sasha started walking, though, she took one last gaze at the sleeping artist's face. God, so pretty, so calming, so peaceful. 

That's it, off to bed they were. 

Until the morning, they had all the time to cuddle and bask in each other's familiar warmth. 

<3

Chapter Text

1:20 AM. 

Streets nothing but dark and bleak, only trace of its opposite were the faded street lights around. The sky was clear and no clouds burdened it this night, it seemed. 

Everyone was probably sound asleep, cozy in their own home. Couldn't be said the same about Marcy and Sasha, though. Nope, the fun for them was just getting started. 

In just a few minutes or less, they were out, rollerskating. The last adjustments and stuff were getting done and, oh boy, the both of them were so excited. 

"How do they feel?" Sasha made sure, finalizing the little adjustments to the laces of Marcy's new roller skates. "Too tight, too loose?" 

"Lemme see.." The artist replied, moving her feet around inside the boots. They felt a little bit too tight on her ankle, though. "Too tight." She added, having the blonde immediately loosen the little knots to perfection. 

"Aight, how 'bout now? Do they feel alright?" She asked again, determined to not even leave until everything feels like it should for her girlfriend. 

Same as last time, Marcy tested the skates a bit, only this time, it didn't feel anything less than perfectly fitting, tight enough to have the wanted stability, loose enough to be comfortable and be able to move around with not too much effort. 

"Perfect, Sash, thank you!!" She threw an adorable smile of hers to the blonde, then slowly got up, just so she could better get used to having wheels under her feet. "Don't mention it." Sasha returned the smile, putting on her own. 

Sasha's were a little harder to put on, but she had it in the bag, no questions asked. As she set everything up, Marcy kept her eyes on her, admiring her, mind busy thinking about how fun tonight's date was gonna be. They were gonna skate together, probably fall and laugh about it, wonder why their feet hurt and, well, just spend time together. 

Technically, the blonde used rollerblades, as they were faster and required a bit more practice, therefore making them a little harder to use (she used that fact to flex a little bit). Her girlfriend, though, preferred rollerskates, as they were easier to balance on and easier to not trip on while trying to stop. 

"Alright, done, let's get going, Marce." Sasha got up, rollerblades expertly set up and ready to go. She offered a soft smile to Marcy, who was rolling around a bit as a little warm up, but quickly swayed closer to the blonde. 

The raven-haired girl had a clear picture in her mind, she needed to use the toestop to slow down and ultimately stop, though, when she tried that, it did not work and she almost, just almost tripped. 

Regaining composure, she managed to find her balance again just in time to stabilize and not fall on the floor in front of Sasha (if she fell, Sasha would've catched her anyway, so no big deal). "Woah, you okay?" Sasha asked quickly. "Yep!" Marcy nodded, reassuring everything was okay. 

"The toe stop is still a bit of a hassle to use, though.." She crossed her arms, a tad disappointed in her inability to effortlessly stop on the wheels, like Sasha did. 

Then, Sasha took the lead and strolled smoothly to Marcy, hands in pockets. She stopped just perfectly, so her face was ideally close to the artist's. Quickly but affectionately, the blonde left a short kiss on her cheek. "We'll work on that, don't worry." 

And with that, almost illogically, all worries Marcy used to hold on to dissipated. As if for a safety precaution, Sasha extended her hand, inviting the raven-haired girl to hold on for support, support that the blonde nonverbally offered to give unconditionally, this night and any other. 

And in a quick moment, they were out on the street, the empty, feverishly so street. It looked nothing like reality, is that how bleak it was: it was screaming, waiting for someone to make some noise, even at this late hour. 

"Ready to satisfy that need for speed of yours, Marce?" Sasha asked in a manner so dorky but so, so smug at the same time, a grin across her face, nudging gently her girlfriend. 

"Yup!" Marcy returned the same shit eating grin, hiding how she almost fell face first just because of a little nudge to the side. "Wanna warm-up a bit first, though? These babies can get reaaally tough on your feet if you ain't ready." Sasha added, earning a nod from Marcy. 

Harmoniously and naturally like a well practiced drill, like an exceptionally well built and oiled mechanism, they latched onto each other's hands, forming somewhat of a lovely circle on 4 sets of wheels. "Alright, you go backwards, I go forward, right?" Marcy made sure. "Right. Okay, Mar-Mar, remember, start slowly, then build up." 

"Oookay.." She nodded, slowly pushing her feet forward in a smooth V shape, noting how it's a little easier for her to do it since the last practice session, the skates not feeling as heavy as they used to at first. Almost each move of hers was in sync with each of Sasha's, they kept up with the slowly quickening pace. 

"Awesome, but lean forward a little bit." Sasha suggested, noticing how Marcy's stance was just a little too rigid, she could easily lose balance and fall just by that cause alone. The raven-haired girl immediately corrected her posture, earning a proud little smile from the blonde. 

Between looking softly at Sasha's encouraging smile and her background, slowly coming closer and closer to her, she quickly realized they were approaching rather fastly a street lamp. "Sash..?" She tried announcing, just to be interrupted. 

"Great, you're doing it perfe-" Sasha smiled, encouraging, until she was cut off and the metal pole hit her back, making her lose all momentum abruptly, falling on her back rather hard, hitting the cold, barely lit up ground. Out of reflex, both held each other's hands even tighter, causing Marcy to soon follow, falling right on top of the blonde. 

"Well, that hurt." Marcy commented, adding a little chuckle, raising her arm and seeing her palm scratched, drawing out the smallest drop of blood. It stung a little, but nothing too much. "You kidding? Your elbow's on my goddamn boob." Sasha deadpanned, then threw a little sarcastic chuckle, subtly but obviously enough inviting the artist to get the hell up. 

"Shoot, sorry, Sashy!" She quickly got up on her feet and lent a hand, helping the blonde get up from the ground. "You okay?" The artist asked once more, only wanting to make sure. If her girlfriend wanted to call it a night and go home, it would be okay, anytime, really. 

"Naah, don't worry so much, otherwise I'm good. You?" She smirked, having the raven-haired girl quickly throw a nod and thumbs up, signifying she was okay. 

But Sasha rapidly lost any sign of someone that just fell on the ground, having her playfulness returned to her immediately. She clicked her tongue and at that, Marcy couldn't avoid recognizing her girlfriend's mischievous nature coming into play. 

"Say, wanna play tag?" She asked, lightening the whole atmosphere, adding the slightest breeze of light competition, while getting away slowly, starting out backwards then going on in a power slide, switching forward. 

"No fair, you got a headstart!" Marcy quickly chased after her, all warm up related shit going straight out the window right this very moment. 

Sasha got further and further away, eventually rolling with such speed that Marcy couldn't even hear her own breathing, it had been long replaced by the sound of Sasha's blades harshly grazing the asphalt. "I'm the damn queen of headstarts-!" She shouted in the distance, making Marcy laugh between slides. 

There were sweet moments like these, where neither one acted like adults. They felt like the young ones again, free of any burden, like taxes and whatnot. Moments like these where Marcy would list fun facts about obscure music bands, where Sasha would spew some nonsense she would've said 11 years ago, but it wouldn't sound one bit manipulative and impure like it would've sounded back then. 

"No, you ain't!" Marcy shouted back, sure that by now at least some of their neighbors wanted to call the police for a noise complaint, not like she cared, though. "Proooove it, Mar-Mar." She continued teasing like the confident jerk she was, pulling out a trick from her sleeve, making one of her sick-looking, smooth and fast, sharp turns, completely changing direction, now coming towards Marcy with such speed it could almost look like she was charging. 

Not much could be made out, but one thing the raven-haired girl made out was the blonde's grin, symbolizing how Sasha was waiting for the artist to finally catch her. 

The blonde used many tricks up her sleeve to her utmost advantage, using sick turns and near dizzying speeds and paces, used them to tease. 

Quickly enough after that swift exchange of one teasing look and another confused to hell and back, Marcy decided she was gonna do more than catch her. 

Thinking of the best route to take, Marcy gathered some speed, keeping it stable. Sasha was approaching a spot where she usually did her turns, so naturally, after this, she was going to shift directions, perfect time for Marcy to jump in front of her and catch her. 

Exactly as Marcy predicted, Sasha made her powerful, smooth turn, completely showing off while at it, making what one could normally describe as a simple rollerblading session the biggest of spectacles Marcy could look at. 

Sasha's head was turned to the side, gazing behind to see where her girlfriend could be, perfect opportunity for Marcy to make her plan a reality. She took her heart and put it on her sleeve, trying to not think at the chance to mess it up and have the both of them fallen on the ground. 

In a few swift sways, Marcy gathered just enough speed and extended her arms in front, ready to win, no, wreck this game of tag, unfairly started by the blonde, completely and totally fairly ended by the artist. 

Sasha was still looking behind, kind of curious of the fact Marcy wasn't following behind, but deciding to not mind too much, maybe she was taking it slower.. For whatever reason. 

Snapping her right out of her thoughts, soft hands latched onto the blonde's shoulders - or whatever they could grab at that speed, anyway - stopping the both of them in their tracks. 

"Wha- how-" Sasha let out, surprised and kind of thankful they weren't already a pile of comically messed up limbs splayed on the asphalt. 

Like it wasn't already so unexpected for Sasha, Marcy quickly took advantage of the blonde's playfulness turned into confusion and went in, stole a soft kiss, barely a brush between their lips. 

The smooth movements of their legs came in sync, causing the slightest, if not the sweetest little twirls that two rollerskaters could make, unintentionally or not. 

Sasha was quick to regain a portion of her usual, endearing cockiness. "Not bad, Wu." She complimented, eyes half lidded, waving her eyelashes in such a manner it drove anyone - but was only reserved for Marcy - crazy. 

Marcy was a tad too captivated to observe any ulterior motive up Sasha's sleeves, maybe a bit more captivated than what she'd care to admit. Unexpectedly, but not surprisingly, Sasha broke apart with a chuckle, fastly skating away, looking back smugly. 

"Hey, what the-!" Marcy furrowed her eyebrows, cut up rapidly by the blonde, the opportunity to steal little giggles and small kisses from Sasha taken from her, needing to be chased again. 

"Pretty cute, but ya didn't say 'tag, you're it', so that didn't count, Marce!!" 

Oh, that's the god damned last straw for Marcy. 

She caught her once, she was gonna do it twice. 

This deal was simply not gonna stand and if Sasha thought she could back out of that untouched, she had another thing coming, specifically someone who could easily outplay her, on a set of wheels. 

No plans needed, Marcy practically sprinted, gathering every bit and piece of speed she could gather, going right after the blonde, sounds let out behind their blades sliding on the ground so loudly, accompanied by heavy breathing. 

... But it paid off and in the end, Marcy caught Sasha once again, this time taking proper time to respect the rules of the game. 

"Alright, cool, you win, Mar-Mar." Sasha admit in mock defeat, raising her arms in a dramatic play surrendering manner and Marcy giggled at it. 

Then, a moment where the raven-haired girl closed her eyes, the blonde took full advantage on it, assuring herself and her girlfriend alike that next time she opened her near-black eyes, she'd see Sasha's hands wrapped gently around her. 

"And like any other winner, you get a prize." The blonde continued, her eyes half lidded and otherwise flirty nuances noticeable in her tone, using manner and words to conceal the fact she just wanted to kiss Marcy. That's why she let herself lose this game of tag. 

Surely, she could do so normally, but like this, it was just more fun. 

The artist tilted her head to the side comfortably, humming in intrigue. "And that prize would be?" She already knew what was offered on the table. 

Sasha only snickered, enjoying every bit of it, she then cupped Marcy's face with one hand as the other stayed in its place, around the artist's waist. 

Their lips came together, what initially started as a simple and quick brush turning into something longer, but it felt so short lived, too. 

The hand on Marcy's face went to her black, smooth hair, almost unconsciously playing with a strand. 

The raven-haired girl's hands were both on the blonde's shoulders, seeming hellbent on keeping her close, like she would ever leave. 

And just when Marcy wants to continue and maybe put her own tricks to use, Sasha pulls apart like on cue, like she knew of her girlfriend's plans. 

Uncharacteristically okay with it ending so soon, Marcy grabbed one of Sasha's hands and held it with her own, blinking innocently, something she would do when about to remark something. 

"Not the best prize, Sashy." 

The blonde lifted on eyebrow, curious of whatever words were gonna leave Marcy's mouth next. 

"Why'd you offer something I already get on a daily basis as a prize?" The artist pointed out, making sense. 

"Eeh, you're getting way too sassy, Marce." The blonde replied, her hands in her pockets, slowly rolling to the side, having the girl soon following her, same slow and comfortable pace. "I like it." Sasha went on, simply. 

So they continue skating for a bit. Maybe a bit more. Could they help it? Being outside, when it seemed like no one else was? Could they help loving every moment more when it was beautifully tainted with the other's presence? 

Chapter Text

Marcy had been lying on the couch in the living room, doing important research for about the last 10 minutes. What kind of research? That kind that was so important, so complex and charming you just couldn't skip one single paragraph about it. 

How to properly do someone's nails, as a love language. 

Now, what was the correlation? Marcy never did her nails and when she did remember to actually tend to them, they'd be back to looking as crusty as ever in a few days. 

That's mostly why she kept hers short. Maybe a few other reasons, too. You may interpret that as you want.

On the other hand, Sasha was a person who always kept her nails in check. Everything from length, to cuticles to color was always kept clean and perfect, never to see one single nail chipped. 

Anyhow, she was done, just about now. 

From what she remembered about what she just read, the process was kind of easy. 

... No, it wasn't. That was just her rational side trying to convince herself it's easy. 

For God's sake, everything was a tad too complex. She just happened to take a walk outside the other day, see some nail polish at some kind of store and get fascinated by the colors and their shine. Naturally, she had to buy them. Not like she necessarily planned to use them when she bought them. 

At the end, at home, she had two of those, one hot pink, that kind of pink she knew Sasha absolutely adored. The other, something close to sage green, but maybe a bit more vibrant. A shade she personally loved. 

Right now, she was doing her best to put them to good use. 

And she was succeeding!! The process? A lot of people online had different steps to follow, but Marcy - who knew nothing about manicure - decided it would be best to combine those and add some of the stuff she saw Sasha would usually do by herself. 

Yeah, it was gonna do just fine. 

Quickly enough, she grabbed her two tiny nail polish bottles and went in the bathroom, took some stuff she saw Sasha use every time she did her nails all by herself and decided that was enough to kickstart a cute little homely date… Not really a date, but time spent together that elicited fuzzy feelings and sickly sweetening touches, when time becomes irrelevant and such things as goals and the usual ‘but I have to get this done!’ simply fade in the back of your mind, letting you enjoy the time you spend there.

Marcy was just about to dash in the bedroom where Sasha was, but realized she forgot about something called cuticle pusher. She remembered how one night she asked the blonde what was the point of using it when you could just directly cut them... Let's say Sasha rambled about its importance that night. 

She took that too and immediately ran to the bedroom and kicked the door open wildly, as her hands were busy holding onto the stuff she had. She always wanted to kick a door like that, too. 

At the sudden noise and open door, Sasha turned her gaze from her phone to Marcy, who was excitedly standing in the doorframe, rapidly getting inside and throwing herself on the bed, sporting what looked like the biggest, most childish smile ever. 

Sasha hummed, slowly rising her gaze from her phone and fixating it onto Marcy. "Someone's in a good mood." The blonde smirked, trying to get a better picture of what Marcy was holding in her hands. Quickly enough, she recognized the nail file, which led her to realizing the potential idea her girlfriend was about to suggest. Sasha quickly put her phone away, on the nightstand right beside her, as Marcy slowly started giggling quietly, as she excitedly laid out all the items on the bed. “Whatcha got there?”

Sasha quickly sat up, curiosity rapidly growing each second, despite already having a good idea of what Marcy planned.

As soon as the raven-haired girl finished laying out everything on the fluffy blanket beneath them, she looked up at the blonde, smiling like the happiest of children in her direction, already letting Sasha know that whatever this was, it was going to be great, nothing less of worth her time and more.

“Soo…” Marcy started, barely holding off her enthusiasm. “So..?” Sasha trailed off as well, a little grin making its way on her face as she looked at the smile on the raven-haired girl’s face. It was more than enough to let Sasha know all about just how impatient she was. Any occasion and opportunity the artist had to surprise the blonde, she took it and made sure it never ever went to waste.

“Say, Sash.. Let’s say the polish on your nails chips and it looks ugly as hell.” Marcy continued, then her girlfriend lost her grin and raised one hand to inspect her manicure. The blonde squinted, not getting the artist’s point: they were not chipped in the slightest, in fact, it looked nothing but new and thoughtfully worked on. After, the raven-haired girl went on with her point. “Would you let me do your nails?” 

At this, Sasha regains her signature smirk and offers Marcy not one, but two hands to ‘fix’. “Go crazy with ‘em, Mar-Mar.” She then gets her face perfectly near Marcy’s, to gently leave a kiss on her forehead before she goes back to her initial position, but this time, the artist held one of the blonde’s hands in her own. 

She held it ever so tenderly and carefully, truly something she could never find herself sharing with anyone else.

Like she just studied, Marcy grabbed one of the few cotton balls she took with her and soaked it into acetone - more than she would’ve liked, but her hand slipped for a second, she hoped Sasha didn’t have the chance the notice - and began rubbing each nail in circular motions, watching carefully as the previous color dissipated, leaving the blonde’s nails in their natural pinkish color. That surely was more of a rare sight, as she always kept them covered with polish. 

Relatively quickly, the raven-haired girl was over with it. Going on with the next step she remembered, taking care of the cuticles - there really wasn’t much to be taken care of, nothing to be trimmed, really - which only meant slightly pushing them back. 

“So, how was your day, Marce?” Sasha asked nonchalantly, shifting her focus from however Marcy’s hands tried their best to do a good job (they were succeeding, up till now) to her face instead. A loose strand of hair hung in front of her and she seemed too distracted to even raise her hand to tuck it behind her ear. 

“Went pretty well!! Finally polished off that one part of a scene that gave me quite the headache.” She explained, ignoring all the minutes she remembered spending looking for ideas and inspiration (procrastinating on Pinterest), at which the blonde listened carefully. “Those two finally discuss the divorce and the best part? It doesn’t sound cheesy.” Marcy smirked, proud of her work up till now.

“About time for that. You say it only took 17 chapters?” The blonde pointed out, chuckling. 

By this point, Marcy was done with one hand. She gently let Sasha's left hand down on her own thigh, then went on with the other, same lovely manner as ever, manner that never failed to make her girlfriend’s heart flutter.

“Yup!” The artist smiled, actually touched by how her girlfriend remembered the exact number of chapters that led up to that very scene. Surely, a striking difference from how she used to ignore Marcy’s interests when they were much, much younger: proof of how far she had come.

Naturally, Sasha needed to tuck that strand of hair behind Marcy’s ear for her. While doing so, unintentionally or not, her fingertips brushed right past the raven-haired girl’s soft skin, making her smile slightly. 

Marcy couldn’t help but snicker a bit at this. “Are we flirting right now or somethin’?” She asked, tone lighthearted and familiar. 

The blonde giggled and tilted her head slightly, never once taking a second to stop smiling. “Maaaybe?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely.” Marcy nodded, looking one last time at Sasha’s hands, before deciding this step was also over right about then.

 “Don’t see what’s wrong with that, though.” The blonde went on, observing as Marcy grabbed the nail file. “Uh, no need to use that, they still have a pretty okay shape, Marce.”

“Alrighty..” The raven-haired girl put aside the file and grabbed the half-full base coat that Sasha used every time for herself.

“But how about you, how was your day, Sash?” She asked, tone reflecting curiosity as her gaze was fixated on Sasha’s hand on her own, the tiny brush leaving a smooth clear trail on her lovely nails. It wasn’t anything professional, surely, some of it got on the areas around the nails, but it was adorable. 

“Pretty good! Things were pretty tame at work, so that one was great. To be completely fair, didn’t really feel like doing a lot of stuff today.” She admit, remembering how one of her clients even canceled at the last second.

At which Marcy couldn’t help but to giggle. “Woah, you take your job really seriously.” She added, sarcasm obvious, but no hostility, never in the slightest.

“I was really hungry!” Sasha tried defending herself, laughing in the same lighthearted manner. 

Marcy stopped a bit in her tracks, taken aback by the comment. “What do you mean, did you forget to pack your lunch??” 

“Uhh… Yeah. I only had a cup of coffee tod-” Sasha replied, raising her gaze to Marcy’s face, not really thinking it was such a big deal after all. 

“Don’t even start, as soon as we’re done here we’re getting takeout, alright, Sashy?” Marcy cut her off immediately and by the sudden shift in tone, the blonde knew she was serious about that one. Honestly? She didn’t really mind having Marcy look out for her like this. She nodded, letting her girlfriend take care of her nails.

Speaking about those, the base coat had already dried up and finally, the moment Marcy was actually waiting for all this time - nail polish.

Full of enthusiasm she wasn’t really able to hide away - nor did she want to - she grabbed the two tiny bottles as the blonde continued gazing over the whole process. On a closer look, Sasha immediately recognized the brand. It definitely wasn’t the best on the market, their colors were great, but talking about anything else, from durability and how much they lasted until drying up? They sucked.

But bringing up an equally important point again. This was Marcy. She wasn’t going to refuse, of course. 

Plus, Sasha had to admit, ultimately, the colors were pretty.

Then, Marcy got to it, the first nail painted smoothly in one layer of hot pink, while the second was covered in green, so on and so forth as they continued talking, creating an intriguing, but simple pattern with both of their signature colors.

“Anything else happened today?” The artist asked, genuinely curious and intrigued in whatever her answer was about to be.

“... Saw a cute dog on the way home, think it was a bulldog or something similar.” Sasha replied, the pleasant coldness that came with the newly bought polish on her nails making her lower her head again, to look at how it was going.

It surely seemed like years of drawing did wonders to Marcy’s dexterity. Besides a few little stains of color tainting the skin around her nails, everything looked up to her usual expectations. The raven-haired girl still had to apply the second layer, but right now? They looked really well for someone who doesn’t do this all that often.

“Sounds cute… Ever think about adopting a pet?” Marcy asked her, not necessarily being serious, but if they ever did, she’d practically explode and get nothing done at all, just sit around and play with their little pet all day.

“Kind of. But in a few years, that’s for sure. This crummy apartment’s in no way good enough for two people and a pet.” Sasha raised her gaze back to Marcy’s face, noticing and admiring how effort it was obvious she was pouring into this small thing. And she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her girl.

Marcy was done with one hand, she gently grabbed the other, after lightly blowing a bit on the fresh layers of polish on the first hand.

“Yeaah, guess that’s right. What would you rather have, a cat or a dog?” She added, knowing damn well that for herself, hamsters were superior. 

“C’mon, Mar-Mar, ya know I’m a dog person.” She grinned at the silly question. “Is that really how well you know your girlfriend these days?” She commented, sarcastically, earning herself a soft pinch on the arm from Marcy.

“No gaslighting!” The artist joined her girlfriend in joking around like the two dorks they were.

“Yeah, aight, whatever you say, Marce. You know I wouldn’t do that.” Sasha threw her the ‘innocent (but not actually)’ look that she’d use when accidentally dropping a glass on the floor.

“Totally.” She nodded, same sarcasm present in the gesture before she’d switch out to a more serious tone, still casual as ever and comfortable as ever, though. “Also, I think we’re done with layer one.” She raised Sasha’s hand in the air, careful as to not smudge anything.

The blonde looked over her own nails for a second, also catching a glimpse of Marcy’s, for a second. She’ll definitely want to return the favor for her when they’re finished - takeout could wait if it meant more quality time.

“Yeah, we’re done here. Great job on it, Mar-Mar.” She smiled in her way, like she already knew her cheeks would softly light up at the genuine compliment and charming smile.

Marcy tried to brush it off and scoff, unable to do anything else but smile. “Nooow, it’s nothing-” She got out, before cutting herself off. “Ima go ahead with the second one.” She set the first hand down in its initial place, trying and quickly succeeding in finding that good angle she could comfortably paint Sasha’s nails at again.

In a few minutes, everything was practically done.

“You should really do this more often, y’know?” Sasha carefully set a hand on Marcy’s shoulder, lifting herself up slightly, just enough to leave the loveliest of kisses on the raven-haired girl’s nose, never once failing to make her smile wholeheartedly. "They're really pretty, thanks, Marce.”

And the last thing left to do was to wait for the top coat to dry before doing literally anything else but watching whatever was on the phone - or whatever shit your girlfriend showed you on her phone - while waving your hands around.

Once they dried up enough to feel okay, Sasha turned to Marcy, smiling like a dork, something rare, but so sweet.

“Let’s say you hate doing your own nails.” How she loved referencing things Marcy had just said. “Would you let me do ‘em for you?”

“Go crazy with ‘em, Sashy.” Both of them smirked as Sasha got to it, holding Marcy’s hand in her own like something that needed to be protected at all costs.

~

Chapter Text

Being the housewife wasn't easy and Sasha had the opportunity to get that proven to her firsthand. 

She thought it would be fun to try and make dinner for once, instead of simply ordering food. Every possible dish that could be bought was tried at least once and at some point in time, it stated losing that special feeling. 

So, here she was, trying to actually make something other than (burnt) toast.

She couldn't really decide if everything was going wrong or actually okay. If it was going okay, she just went ahead and assumed that she forgot some pan on the fire or something. If something was going okay, clearly she forgot about something else. 

But it was better than whatever Marcy could do, at least. Better than grease fires. 

Sasha took her phone from the counter and looked over the recipe one more time. She didn't remember the batter having that consistency, maybe she missed a point somewhere. 

That's when the door to Marcy's room opened, hitting the wall as brain-scratching as it ever could. 

Pressure obvious in her steps, Marcy rapidly walked over to the sink, took a glass, filled it halfway with ice cold water and went to occupy a seat at the table, where she let her head hit the table, hands busy covering everything with her own uncombed hair. 

It should've been tied up, but right now, hair ties worked as well as Marcy did. Not all that wonderful. 

Sasha gave up trying to spot inconsistencies in the recipe a long time ago, all she was focusing on now was her girlfriend and her obvious annoyance in her own work. Personally to the blonde, Marcy was seriously one of, if not, the most talented artist and writer she knew. Seeing her down in the dumps like this was uncanny and upsetting to whoever lucky enough to catch glimpse of her tired eyes, scanning time and time again the illustration on her screen and tangled locks, adorning her shoulders.

"C'mon, Marce, at least tie your hair.. We're in the kitchen." She suggested softly, leaving her phone on the counter, each step Sasha took led her closer to the seat next to Marcy, until finally she sat down, one hand on the table and the other gently rubbing comforting circles on the artist’s back.

Only response ever gotten out of that was the weakest of nods. 

“That’s alright.” The blonde smiled slightly, her hand shifting places, now combing through Marcy’s hair, noticing almost instantly just how tangled it had gotten. “Mar-Mar,” She started, her girlfriend raising her head from the table to look at her.

“Can I braid your hair?” Sasha continued, remaining mindful of the way her fingers slowly ran through hair strands, carefully as to not tug on any knots there.

Marcy nodded and her girlfriend ran quickly someplace, she didn’t really get to see where. Sasha came back swiftly, a brush, a scrunchie and several - more than necessary, anyhow - hair clips in different shapes and colors. 

The blonde gestured to the raven-haired girl to get up for a bit, inviting her in her own room. The only lights decorating the room were a few colorful fairy lights and whatever remnants there were of the daylight outside. Everything was a mess, misplaced objects that wanted to look in order and tidy, but failed.

Several cans of energy drinks across Marcy’s desk made Sasha worry. They could most likely be empty. They weren’t there yesterday and this couldn’t be healthy.

The both of them take a seat comfortably on the fluffy carpet beneath them, Sasha placing all the little accessories in her hand right next to her while Marcy seemed to hesitate mindlessly around her own desk, gaze wandering between her drawing tablet and the stylus she’d usually use. 

“Marce? C’mooon, get down here already!” The blonde chuckled, hoping to distract Marcy from whatever bugged her at the moment. 

Temporarily, it did seem to work, having the artist join her on the floor.

Sasha started off, brushing only the very tips of Marcy’s hair, reminding herself of the way the raven-haired girl used to do it for her years ago, before she left the state. When you could have sleepovers with your besties each and every night before you left out of state, a lot of things happen. For instance, your other friend falls asleep on the staircase and for some reason the only viable activity for you and your friend is to brush each other’s hair while laughing about some silly drama from over 5 years ago. 

It’s a nice little thing that has been brought back to the surface after a good amount of years.

Sasha really wanted to talk about whatever was grave enough to bug Marcy in any way similar to this. 

Though, she wasn't gonna force it or bring it up like it was nothing, either. If Marcy wants to talk about it, good, if not, that was alright too. 

Sasha went on, gracefully and delicately brushing strand after strand of black hair, until no more knots seemed to rest there. Still, she continued brushing a few more times for no good reason. 

Marcy was silent and it was something rare. 

The blonde raked through all the reasons in her head. What was not working?? What could she even do? What if it was a stupid problem with an easy fix, that the raven-haired girl seemed to be blind to? 

Sasha placed the hairbrush aside, right on the floor and ran her fingers a few times in her girlfriend's locks before parting them in three and beginning to braid them nicely. 

And while at it, to bite the bullet. 

"Mar-Mar, what's wrong?" She asked after a little sigh, the pace in which she gently handled Marcy's hair never speeding up or slowing down. 

And then the artist got out a half-hearted chuckle, nothing more and nothing less. 

"Nothing really. Just stupid stuff, Sash." She said, borderline mumbling. For a bit, she sounded like she wanted to spit another thing, but didn't have the chance. 

"If it bugs ya this much, there's no way it's stupid stuff." The blonde gently set a hand on Marcy's shoulder as she held the braid with the other hand, securely as to not accidentally have it unraveled. 

"C'mon. Just spill it out." She further encouraged softly, finishing off the loose braid she had been working on with a lime-colored hair band. 

"...It's stupid, though." Marcy responded after a longer than needed break of silence. 

"Look, Marce. A lot of things are stupid in the long run, and that's totally alright, you know?" She started off, eyeing the soft locks, silently deeming them as a tad too simple. That's why she brought a few star shaped hair clips. "Might as well tell me all about it." 

Marcy sighed and smiled, facing a decently solid argument. 

"Plus, I bet we'll be clowning on it in a few weeks or so." Sasha snickered, decorating a few strands in the braid with little star clips. 

Marcy couldn't do much but sigh again and smile, thinking of how to best put her scrambled thoughts into words that made sense. 

"Fuck you and your way with words, Sashy." The raven-haired girl snickered, earning herself a nudge from the back and another chuckle. 

"I think we'll talk about that a bit later." Sasha grabbed Marcy by her shoulders and brought her face next to her girlfriend's, throwing the smuggest look at her before absolutely squishing her soft cheek with a smooch and Marcy wasn't one who could resist giggling at the lovely gesture. 

"Woah, alright then!!" She grinned ear-to-ear, averting her gaze from Sasha, knowing damn well that wouldn’t hide the obvious fluster visible on her face, manner and gesture at which Sasha could only reply with an amused and endearing little 'Mhm'. 

"But really, come on, Mar-Mar. Spill that crap." She came back to the subject in a blink, despite Marcy hoping she'd forget about it. 

On the other hand, maybe it couldn't really be that bad. Her Sash wouldn't judge shit. Past Sasha would totally clown on it, though, and well, too bad that Sasha is dead and buried. Has been for a long time now. Both were deeply thankful for that. 

And fuck, Sasha used all the aces up her sleeve to make it as comfortable as possible. She stayed behind Marcy instead of going in front of her. For some reason, the raven-haired girl found it easier to talk about stuff like this without having a set of eyes gazing at her.

No worries, she's just going to have to work on eye contact, a little bit later though. 

"I'm shit at my job, Sash." She put it as simply as she could. 

"That's it??" Sasha spat out, almost offended. "Not to be dramatic, but I was expectin' to hear the trippiest story." She furrowed her brows, not exactly remembering when was the last time she ever felt this confused. 

"I can't fucking draw and it's tugging on my nerves so bad." She went on, unintentionally reminiscing the past week. It felt like Marcy forgot how to even draw a stick. Even the squiggliest circle was something that took effort. 

"Problems with the webcomic?" The blonde had long finished neatly decorating her girlfriend's hair, so her hands had to find another thing to do, and that was still going to be the softest, sweetest thing. 

"Yeah! Can't even begin to explain where all the shit went wrong with the last chapter!!" And that was something Sasha could feel was about to be a rant, a vent or something similar, and it was nothing less than greatly welcomed. 

The blonde carefully took in every word that went out of Marcy's mouth, making sense of her sentences and thinking of possible comforting words and potential solutions to the problem, all the while her hands gently kneaded at her girlfriend's back, assuming she was quite sore. 

At times, Marcy would play with her braid, fidgeting and sorting her thoughts to lay them out as best as she could. 

Some, if not, most of the tension on her back had been relieved, too. Be it the satisfaction you get from venting every burden on your shoulders or the lovely massage the blonde was offering, it was so comforting and so fucking needed. 

Though, after a few decently long sentences and chuckles to try and make the situation any less awkward than what Marcy took it as, Sasha could already get a grasp on the short explanation.

“... I should probably take a break, right? I didn’t get shit done these last few days..” Between rants and vents, this was what seemed to be a half-assed resolution, maybe a verdict. The last word brought a little break of silence, in which Sasha would think about an answer. She had been thinking of one for a few minutes or so, but it was rather stupid. And definitely something a 13 year old Sasha would adore. 

“So what I’m getting at is,” Sasha started, an impromptu recap. “You have decently buff characters and you can’t draw muscles for shit?” 

“Yeah, that’s basically it.” Marcy said, snickering and then chuckling, the first little chuckle from her that felt genuine that night, belonging to a halfway comforted person. “I thought I would get the hang of ‘em o”

“What would you say if I said I could probably help you?” Sasha set her head on Marcy’s shoulder, her arms lovingly wrapped around her torso from behind, at which Marcy comfortably rested her head on the blonde’s. 

“I’d say I’m definitely intrigued, Sashy.” She smiled, eyes half lidded and knowing damn well that at this point she would try even the trippiest stuff if it meant getting those pesky panels done and publishing the chapter, at long last.

“What if I,” She stopped dramatically to point at herself and grin. “Your charming girl, modeled for you?” 

At which Marcy turned her head curiously, not opposed to the idea. But what exactly did it imply?

“Like, look, I dunno how an artist works, but you told me y’all use reference pics. I might as well be your reference pic!!” She went on, and each word made it look like a better and better idea.

“Ya know what? Got nothin’ to lose anyway.” Marcy clapped her hands once and snickered. “Just a little heads-up, though, some poses might look awkward, so no take-backsies.” 

“Great, what did I get myself into?” The blonde giggled to herself, both getting up from the floor.

And Marcy grinned a bit, looking nothing like before, someone who looked like they would cry if one mote thing went even slightly wrong. "No take backs, Sash." She repeated, ever so amused. 

And in probably no more than a few minutes, the scenery is completely changed to a much more lively Marcy getting ready to sketch, something you could call a surge of motivation visible in her manner. Then there was Sasha, modeling for her in a sports bra as she said she would. 

"Left arm should be just.." Marcy analyzed quickly her initial sketch and Sasha's figure. "A liiiiittle bit higher." 

"After we're done here, I will be the one who's the highest in this room." Sasha snickered, raising her hand a tad higher, as instructed. 

"Yeah, don't forget to take me with ya." The artist absent-mindedly replied, checking again if the sculpted figure fit the one in the sketch nicely, which it did, this time. 

In fact, Sasha did not own any illegal (or legal) substances. At least not at that time, that is. "Perfect, keep that pose intact and do not move a muscle." Marcy pointed out, finally raising her gaze to Sasha. 

The blonde let out a little 'aight', clearly straining quite a bit. Then she clicked her tongue, her signature smug curve on her lips returning. "...No way, Marce, you're too short to have psychoactive flour." 

By now, the raven-haired girl was intensely working on something a bit cleaner than a simple sketch. "... I'm older than you." She fixated half-lidded eyes on the blonde's, smirking all the way. 

"With, like, a few months. Shut it." 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, lovely." 

In truth, despite never willing to admit it, Marcy was starting to throw looks more and more, each leaving her wanting to, maybe, look a bit more. She had something to do, a chapter to finish illustrating, and she knew it damn well. 

Though, well, Sasha was there. Modeling for her. 

Well, that's definitely one lucky encounter. 

Before she actually realized it, her illustration was pretty much done, too. Nothing was left to do but go on with the next one. 

"Mar-Mar, ya done?" Sasha asked, clear only from her tone that she was putting one hella strain on herself there. 

Yeah, Marcy could clean up her lineart a bit later. 

"Yup!" At which the blonde finally relaxed her whole body and sighed, then walked up to her girlfriend to see the next character's pose. "Aight, here's the next one. It's a lil' easier."

"Kind of, yeah." 

Sasha went back and went on, mimicking the figure in the panel pretty nicely. Once that was done, she couldn't help but ask Marcy something. "So, what's goin' on in this part?" 

Here's when Marcy gets caught off-guard. 

"Uhh… Lore. Sweet, sweet lore." She let out, really vaguely. And by the look Sasha threw her, she was not one bit convinced, so, nothing to do but try to cover it some more. "Battling! Fights! Stuff." 

"You done lyin' yet?" The blonde asked, eyeing her girlfriend through half closed eyes, generally playful in the way she spoke and smiled. 

"It's a shipping chapter." She continued, pretty much demonstrating how she could just read Marcy like a wide open book. 

"Yeah."

"Fuckin' knew it." 

Chapter Text

And they knew each day was getting colder and colder. Especially Marcy, and it was obvious for her. 

Since late spring, most art works and sketches she had worked on were done outside, somewhere, anywhere, in the park, on some random bench, whichever one was free, on the balcony of her and Sasha's little apartment, anywhere. 

Something about drawing outside was of immense comfort for her, she couldn't exactly pin down why, but to be fair, Marcy didn't want to. 

And as the skies got colder and darker, the balcony was visited and used as a place fit for sketching and relaxing more and more. 

Usually, when things got quiet, late evening, one or two hours before the skies got silent and dark, that's when Marcy liked to wind down by drawing a bit, for the little stars, as pretty as they are, they will never be enough to serve as a lamp for an artist and their piece of paper. 

The raven-haired girl normally went alone and came back inside with Sasha, the blonde joining her midway, a few minutes after she would come home from work. 

And Marcy loved that. She loved how careful Sasha was with her, and how sweet every evening was when she spent it this way. 

That day was pretty much nothing different, but maybe sweeter, maybe a lot more comfortable. 

It was the coldest evening that autumn, before the long awaited winter came and settled. 

Marcy was out on the balcony, sitting comfortably on a little chair, with nothing but her trusty sketchbook and a few pencils. A few other things could be potentially accompanying her, the undeniably bad weather - that only seemed to get worse - and a few lonely birds on a nearby roof. 

The birds weren't really the only lonely creatures there were. 

What started out as initially focused, clear and confident lines drawn on thick paper were quickly becoming mindless and distracted, squiggly lines that never moved their spot on the paper, it just darkened the line. 

That was the que for Marcy to grab her headphones and play herself something, if not to get inspired, then at least to try and get back on track with it. 

For a minute, she set the pencil down to scroll down the ridiculously long playlist she had, shuffle on, just to choose one specific song she had in mind. 

It seemed to work its magic and motivation to draw hit her again, her light strokes on the paper slightly following the flow of the song, not that Marcy could help it, anyhow. 

Looking a bit better at the initial sketch and other guidelines going on the paper, some eyes were unsettlingly off, making the raven-haired girl scoff to herself while grabbing the eraser nearby to correct that and whatever small detail begged to be helped. 

Last thing Marcy wanted was to vibe too hard and accidentally wrinkle the paper while erasing. 

The vibe was too much to handle, allowing Marcy to unconsciously slip out mumbled lyrics as she did her best to avoid wrinkling the prized sheet of paper containing her already wonderful-looking sketch. 

“'F she bad then I let her seduce me,” The raven-haired girl slurred out whatever she heard, not really paying attention to anything deep. 

Then, she almost wrinkled the paper when she felt one earbud getting yanked out by someone who was clearly not her. 

“I'm bad.” Whoever was behind her replied and Marcy could really feel how smug it was. 

“What the fuck.” The artist mumbled out confused, turning her head and gaze behind to see her girlfriend, the dearest and loveliest image of her resting there with the cosiest cardigan on. It was clear she just came home from work, which was weird. Marcy never heard any door opening, but oh, well. 

“Are you seriously becoming an Ice Spice stan?” Sasha asked, intention split in half, one was to simply poke a bit of fun at her girlfriend, second was actually a bit serious. 

“I'll become an Evanescence stan instead then.” The raven-haired girl got up and stretched a little, meeting Sasha's still cold from outside's weather cheek with her lips in a short smooch. 

“You used to blast their stuff in highschool, Marce.” 

“We don't talk about that phase.” Marcy quickly threw back at her, smiling awkwardly at the memory while Sasha's arms hugged Marcy and held her closely. Close enough to feel just how cold her beloved's skin was. 

“Fine, alright.” She snickered at it a little, before her tone turned softer, along with her gaze and hold. “But why don't ya head inside?” She asked, not wanting her girlfriend to catch any cold.

“Dunno, Sash. I already kinda miss drawing outside, y'know?” She sighed quietly, leaning her head on Sasha's collarbone, right where it felt so cosy and familiar. 

Marcy was totally right. Sasha could only do as much as remember how nice the spring days were this year.

The blonde clicked her tongue in understanding. “Yeah, I can imagine, sweetheart. But won't ya get cold?” She asked back, digging reasons for Marcy to just fucking head inside. “It's pretty fucking cold, sweater weather shit.” 

It wasn't that cold, it was just Sasha who forgot to bring out the winter closet. 

“I'm gonna stay here a little longer.” She replied softly, really looking forward to at least finishing this sketch. And by the quietest sigh that the blonde let out, Marcy knew what her girlfriend probably needed to hear. “I promise I'll go inside with ya soon. Aight, love?” 

Reluctantly, Sasha nodded despite just wanting to drag Marcy inside and cuddle all day long until the next day - that would remain a secret, though. Nobody should know of her actual - sweet, if not blatantly obvious - schemes. 

“Thank you soo much, Sash.” Marcy hugged her tightly one more time and then took a seat on her little chair on that balcony, grabbing her sketch again, already trying to figure out where she left off when Sasha entered the sight. 

The blonde couldn't not adore how lovely Marcy was. With the softest smile ever and tired eyes she headed back inside, already gripping at the sides of the cardigan, that's just how cold it was. 

Then, the blonde set her hand on her girlfriend's head, “Come cuddle me when you're done ‘ere, lil’ rascal.” Sasha ruffled her hair into a little mess when she expected little head pats or whatever else. 

“Nononooo, stop it, Sash!!” Marcy chuckled, fluttering her hands over her beloved's, ushering them away. “But alright, fine!!” She agreed, as she finally caught Sasha by the wrists, saving her precious hair from becoming a total mess. 

“Fine, alright.” Sasha finally stopped on her own, then left the tiniest and most precious of kisses on Marcy's head. “Cya.” 

And with that, the blonde headed over inside, leaving her girlfriend to just finish whatever she was working on, something that was apparently so much more important than Sasha's precious cuddles. 

Whatever the reason, cold weather wasn't all that bad. It seemed like every little shiver and moment spent outside in the air so cold it would feel like your face was falling off was compensated with sweet stuff like this. 

To be completely fair, Marcy did kind of want to head inside despite not finishing her sketch. 

She let her head fight with itself as she went on with adding unnecessary details to minor elements, avoiding drawing the hands as she always did. She'd been procrastinating enough, it was time to try and pull her shit together. 

Then out of nowhere, she was either starting to mysteriously hallucinate, that, or something was familiar and sweet. 

Most importantly, there was a thin streak of steam coming from somewhere inside, intriguing her enough to make her turn behind. 

“Yo.” The cozy, comforting figure of her girlfriend softly wrapping the raven-haired girl up in one of their fluffy blankets. 

“You wanna cuddle so bad.” Marcy snickered, covering herself a bit more with the blanket, just now realizing how cold her shoulders were. 

“I mean. I can chug two mugs of hot cocoa alone, too.” The blonde waved her eyelashes in the most not discreet way ever seen, which only made her girlfriend roll her eyes, the corners of her mouth curling into a soft smile. 

“I kinda wanna see that.” Marcy turned back to her sketch, the fond look on her face never even thinking of rubbing off. “Not with mine, though.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Sasha rolled her eyes and handed the artist her mug. It even had extra mini marshmallows, Marcy's faves, and a faint scent of cinnamon. 

Marcy really wanted to appreciate how Sasha brought out the real fine china for this one. Splatoon themed mugs, custom made for her nerdy ass girl. It was really sweet. 

“So, whatcha sketchin’?” The blonde sipped a bit from own one, which was a little bit more bitter. 

“Dunno. I'm going a bit blank here.” The raven-haired girl had to admit. She wasn't really getting anything major down. 

After a brief little silence, Sasha clicked her tongue and took another sip. “Bro is not cookin’.” 

“Bro's gonna get banned from the kitchen.” The artist joined in a bit, chuckling, her grip on her pencil tightening, like it was going to do the work for her if she just crushed it. 

“Bro's on that ban speedrun.” 

“Oh, nah, you gotta stop.” She turned her head quickly at the blonde, both going off into silly little chuckles. “I'm actually in pain right now, this sucks.” She got out, between abruptly ending snickers. 

They seemingly stopped being goofy for a second. “Mm, yeah I get that. I know you'll get outta art block, though. You always do that, Mar-Mar.” 

And something popped up immediately in Sasha's mind right after that, too good of a memory to pass up without mentioning. 

“Like that one time you drew Peter Griffin using hot Pinterest references to get out of your block.” Sasha mentioned what seemed to be the most out of pocket thing Marcy ever did - it worked, so credit where credit's due. 

The blonde smirked to herself as she went in for half of the whole mug, waiting for her girlfriend’s reply to that. 

And Marcy let her head hit the table she was drawing on with such a bang, it almost startled Sasha. “Why do you only remember the weird shit I do, nooooo..” Her voice was muffled, but the blonde knew damn well she got another few laughs out from her. 

“I'm gonna be real, though, ya do the craziest shit without even being high, Marce.” Sasha set her hand on the raven-haired girl's back, patting it somehow comfortingly despite really doing her best to drive her girlfriend crazy. “I love that for you.” 

“Look, if it works, it works.” Marcy quickly summarized the thought process behind doing whatever she had to do to escape a nasty ass art block. “And if it works, I work too and I basically earn money.”

Sasha hummed melancholically to herself. “You ain't doin’ no bread.” She sipped her hot cocoa. 

“You're one to talk, you're literally a child psychologist in L.A. '' Marcy quickly came back, brushing through her hair a bit with her hand, getting it out of her face. “You're still paying student debts, dumbass.” 

“Gettin’ smart's expensive, damn.” 

“You barely even graduated, you absolute buffoon.” 

Definitely not like Sasha would literally beg Marcy to help her with the shit load of work she had to do to get a passing grade.

“Nah, those were dark times. Grim even.” Sasha reminisced almost using the damned AI bots to get help with plenty of essays. Keyword being almost, of course. 

Then, silence for a brief moment. Gradually, the air was getting noticeably colder, just like the sky became darker, rapidly leaving the night to settle in as they continued talking random topics like moving out or adopting three dogs and naming them after long range weapons. 

They could head inside, but why was it a bit sweeter to just hang around there? The cold kinda gave Marcy the perfect excuse to lay her head down on Sasha's shoulder, staying there as cosy as can be. 

“D'you think we're ever moving out?” Marcy mumbled, having long since abandoned her mostly meaningless sketch, the few snowflakes that were floating in the sky falling and melting on it, pretty much ruining it. 

The blonde seemed to ponder it a little. 

“Maybe. But definitely not in the next 3 years or so.” Sasha simply shrugged, not sure if she was actually thinking it logically or just throwing in random numbers. 

“What if I won the lottery?” The raven-haired girl suggested, yawning. 

“Hit me up. But if you ever start gambling I'm taking away your soda can tab collection.” 

Marcy didn't even comment on that, she just softly punched the blonde away, smirking, making both of them laugh. 

That's when the artist considered looking into boxing lessons. 

The weather and the time swiftly passing away into the more late hours were slowly starting to wear them off, to a point they both felt so tired they wanted to cover themselves in five blankets and hop in bed, cuddle till the morning hits again. 

Sasha yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. “Wanna head inside now?” She asked quietly, feeling her voice unable to sound anything but scratchy. If anything, a bit soft. 

The occasional gusts of freezing cold wind were the only things keeping them half-awake. 

Marcy could practically feel her eyelids closing in on their own, still, she nodded sluggishly, then whatever happened remained more of a blur. 

She remembered how Sasha took her by the hand, took her inside and closed the door to the balcony swiftly behind them. 

It was cold enough already. 

Whatever happened felt like nothing. All that day ended with was them under two blankets - Sasha was way too cold to only use one - cuddled against each other so comfortably. 

~

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~

~

~

~

splatoon mug. custom made. 

Chapter Text

The room, no, the house was pretty much a suffocation method, disguised as a big house party, New Year themed and all that’s necessary.

Sasha wasn’t really gonna lie - the free food was heaven-sent. Especially when you topped it off with giant student loans that she didn’t want to admit she had. 

They had alcohol and maybe that’s what brought the blonde here. Plus the fact Anne invited her. How could she refuse? 

She hadn’t seen Anne for a shit load of time, to be fair. The fact she was even invited at all was kind of surprising to her. But sweet. 

Speaking of that, Anne apparently went to party-throwing school and graduated, top of her class, because it seemed like everyone was actually having the time of their lives here. Sasha assumed so. She didn’t really move too far away from the food and drinks for the last 30 minutes.

But, oh, lord. There were a ton of people. Everything, every typology, from A to Z, from the anxious nerds stuck in the corners of the rooms to the absolutely wasted deadbeats that looked one second away from hopping on tables and shouting random shit. When did Anne even meet half of these people?

Where the fuck even was Anne? Sasha hadn’t seen her since she welcomed her inside when she arrived, maybe three hours ago.

Look, the blonde loved parties and such. Just not now. 

And definitely not if the whole theme was Christmas-y. To be fair, Sasha always found that cheesy. Corniest time of year, to be sure. But Anne adored it and Sasha didn’t have the heart to refuse a party, so here she was.

Too bad Marcy wasn’t even here. Cuz why would she be? She’s out of state.

Damn, Sasha hadn’t seen her in so long. Four years since she last saw the girl in front of her eyes - we’re not talking about facetime, you can be sure they had that covered.

Man, long-distance relationships were so not the shit. Sasha regretted joking about that and e-dating back in middle school.

And although coming here almost solely for the free alcohol, the blonde hadn’t touched it. Not even the smallest glass. She thought she wanted to stay clear minded a bit more. At least until she actually found something to really cry about. Maybe even bawl her eyes out. Perhaps even throw herself on the floor and leave a tear puddle.

There were pretty much zero people Sasha actually knew here. At best, only people she’d seen randomly on the street. That only helped her remember one thing. Marcy was not here, her girlfriend was still out of state and there was no way she’d see her again until she got enough money to move away.

Which was exactly as realistic right now as not sinking down into a big nice pit of debt.

Something of a two edged sword, except Sasha was being stabbed by both ends. Simultaneously.

“Hey, Sash!!” A familiar voice rang from behind, having Sasha not even turn to look and just nonchalantly grab her glass and wait for her to walk next to her instead.

Then Sasha took a sip from her glass. “What’s good, Boonchuy?” She asked, right as the Thai girl went up next to her, getting herself another refill. “You drinkin’?” The blonde looked at her and her glass, flooded by the recognizable smell of alcohol, if not a bit fruity.

“Yeah, dude, a bit. Got a few exams next week, so might as well.” Anne turned her face to the blonde as she responded, pretty sure of herself, after unceremoniously chugging the whole glass.

“Yeah, this ain’t you. How are you this drunk already?” Sasha chuckled, going back to her own glass, looking for her reflection on whatever was left of the liquid.

Anne simply shrugged and turned away, facing no one in particular. “Student debt, dude.” She replied, pretty much deadpan, a dramatic shift in tone.

Sasha just snickered at that, setting the glass behind her, on an empty, tiny spot on the table. “Relatable.”

They were both simply staring anywhere else but each other’s face. Both turned to the wall in front of them. Things weren’t exactly smooth between them either. They barely even knew stuff about each other anymore.

That is, besides Anne finding out about Sasha and Marcy’s relationship. It was wonderful, she could finally tease the blonde about something, too.

And then there was silence despite the loud music. Sasha grabbed her glass back, not exactly knowing what to do with her hands, other than hide them in pockets.

“Yeah, well, I’ll grab one more glass and go.” Anne quickly turned back to the buffet for another refill, leaving Sasha standing still and passive, looking exactly one second away from crying, something the Thai girl failed to realize. “Cya around, dude!”

“See ya.” The blonde returned, getting her phone out from her pocket while finishing off what was left in her own cup.

At least she could check on Marcy or something. Yeah, she could text her until the party was over, that’s one way to kill time.

Sasha quickly typed in a ‘yo you up?’ and sent it as she turned to look at whatever other drinks there were, this time scanning over the alcohol too. Even though she said she wouldn’t touch that.

And then a few other bleak minutes pass, while waiting for Marcy to text back.

She never texted back, not really.

And that was Sasha’s queue to get drunk or die trying. Get a cup of whatever’s fruitiest and try to go outside for a cigarette and some fresh air.

Three hours of this shit was enough, she needed to get out.

So she finally stood up properly and got to making – forcing – her way through the pile of drunkards all around the room. Some, a little volatile tonight, some just plain idiotic-looking.

At least Sasha had a good laugh at them.

Finally, she got to the coat hanger right next to the door, rummaging for her leather jacket – she figured it would be hella cold without it.

She slipped out, no one really observing her, which was, of course, the ideal course of action for her. Everyone was too caught up in some hoe messing up the lyrics of a song while doing karaoke upstairs.

She closed the door behind her, now properly getting her jacket on, leaving it only half zipped up. Sasha held onto the cup in her hand like her life would slip right in front of her if she didn’t.

She held both her phone and her cup in the same hand, just wanting to get her pack of cigarettes, that had maybe three or two of them left and a lighter.

With a sigh, the blonde took a seat somewhere on the stairs, setting her phone and cup right next to her, so she could search inside every pocket of her jacket.

“Where the fuck..” She murmured to herself, not seeming to find her lighter, having barely found her cigarettes.

Finally, somehow, she found her lighter. And she was right too, she only had two cigs left in her pack.

And that’s stretching it thin. She had this pack for a week and a few days.

Sasha got out her earphones and swiftly connected them to her phone, wanting the silence to be filled by something other than the sound of gusts of wind and random shouting from inside.

The blonde decided she wanted to go full angst and smack her ears right in the face with the loveliest song that reminded her of her girl.

After throwing one more look at her phone, hoping for a text from Marcy, despite knowing damn well she was busy with her own shit, Sasha hid it back in her pocket. She picked up one of the cigs and held it with two fingers between her lips, the other hand busy trying to get something out of that shitty, old lighter.

Sasha tsked, already on her sixth try to light her cigarette “Light the fuck up-“

“Wait, lemme help you with that.” An all too familiar voice sweetly offered, slightly startling Sasha, but in the loveliest way possible right now.

Before she could light up her cig, Sasha confusedly raised her head up to actually make sure she wasn’t already hallucinating due to stress.

There was absolutely no way in hell, nuh-uh.

 “Stop moving, idiot, I almost burned myself!” She followed the cigarette with the tiny flame, finally getting it to light up. 

Marcy was in front of her. Even though she was supposed to be out of state. “Nah, someone spiked this shit, I'm high as a kite.” Sasha spat out, looking at her girlfriend, then at the drink. 

“Nobody spiked anything, Sashy.” The raven-haired girl assured. “I'm just visiting you!” She chuckled, so happy she actually could visit her loved girl. “I mean, unless you want me back in Massachusetts.” 

This girl just came back home and was rambling off her ass without even saying ‘hi’. Wow. 

“I mean, kind of a shame, the plane tickets were crazy expensive!” Marcy went on, taking a seat on the stairs, right next to her girlfriend. 

Pretty much the only way to actually make sure she was actually there and not just a figment of Sasha's imagination was to lean on her, hug her dearly, taking her by surprise. The gesture made the artist go silent, smiling. 

She almost fell on her back with the way Sasha threw herself on her. But she hugged back. She held her dearly. 

The blonde's head was comfortably resting on Marcy’s shoulder as her arms wrapped themselves around her girl's torso, and god, she missed doing this so, so much. “Your ass is staying with me, Marce.” They both chuckled. 

“Awhh, I missed you toooo. Couldn't wait to come see you, Sash.” Marcy actually couldn't stop smiling as she talked. Neither of them could stop. They went apart, staying close, so they could simply look at each other and smile like the goofiest motherfuckers around. 

“How come you visited? Your folks never let ya come around, girl!” Sasha asked, turning the volume on her earphones a bit lower, just so she could hear Marcy talk. How she missed that, damn. 

“Mhm, dunno. But let's not think about that. Whatcha listening to?” Marcy quickly switched up the topic, pointing at Sasha's unused earbud. 

“Some stuff. Wanna try?” She asked, sweetly offering her other earbud, the raven-haired girl immediately nodding, taking it and placing it comfortably in her ear. 

“Hm. Kinda ass.” Marcy leaned over, resting her head on Sasha. 

At which the blonde scoffed playfully. “It reminded me of you, dummy.” 

Sasha took her phone and quickly switched to some random playlist they made together a few months ago, Marcy throwing a few looks too, out of curiosity. 

It was so sweet, how that playlist was between the top ones on Sasha's Spotify. Felt good knowing it wasn't just a one time thing and her girl actually listened to it. 

Cool, now she was picturing a silly looking Sasha singing along to overly pompous love songs while doing laundry or something. 

“Wanna smoke with me?” The blonde gave her the last cigarette in her pack, giving it as Marcy nodded. The traffic was an absolute bitch, and although the raven-haired girl took an uber, she was tired. One of these wasn't exactly gonna get her any more wrecked. 

She quickly took out her lighter and lit hers too, taking in the first smoke in what felt like ages. 

“We gotta quit, Sash.” 

“After we're done with ‘em debts. Then, I assure you, there will be no more reason to wanna get high.” 

At which Marcy hummed in agreement, smirking. 

“Anyway, baby, how are ya? How was your trip? Everything okay?” Sasha asked softly, inhaling another puff of smoke, then quickly blowing it away in the cold air. 

“Yup! The traffic was hell, though. Other than that, I'm still alive so..” Marcy shrugged, puffing at her own cig a little. 

“Yeah, that's classic shit for you.” Sasha chuckled genuinely, taking her glass and finishing it off in one swig. 

Marcy quickly turned, almost offended - jokingly, of course - “Hey, no, I wanted to try that too!” 

And the blonde scoffed at her, smiling like the most spoiled of brats. “That was alcohol, you're too young to drink that, Mar-Mar.” 

“I'm literally older than you, dumbass.” 

“Mhm, your baby face ain’t helping your case.”

And they both went on, puffing every now and then at their cigarettes. Neither was feeling too chatty, considering that day wasn’t the most pleasant ever.

Marcy was pretty much almost asleep, her eyelids looking a few moments away from closing against her will. And it was pretty late too.

Until anyone would eventually come and tell them to pack their shit and go home, they leaned against each other cozily, dragging on with them far longer than any normal smoker would.

And the sky was perfectly clear too. It was the clearest Sasha had ever seen it. Or that was merely a realization – she didn’t even have time to look up at the stars these days, like she used to do back in the day. A quickly made tradition right before Marcy left, every night, after Anne would fall asleep they’d stay up a bit later to look at the stars.

Marcy always had a few constellation-related fun facts, shit to say. It made Sasha smile to no end just thinking back to that.

“Almost middle of the night, Sash.” Marcy broke the all too comfortable silence, checking Sasha’s phone.

Sasha’s eyes were not open, instead she just rested them – what she called ‘vision economics’ – it was pretty. She would’ve opened them only if she felt the raven-haired girl’s head leaving her shoulder. She would’ve opened her eyes only to see where she was going.

“Minutes till midnight?” She asked softly, voice perfectly giving away how sleepy she was.

And Marcy hummed in question, checking Sasha’s phone again to make sure. “Two.”

“Damn.” Sasha quickly replied, finally half opening her eyes, eyeing the long ago thrown away cigarette ends on the asphalt. “We’ll know when the countdown ends, the hoes inside gonna go crazy. Trust.”

“Yeah, no doubt there.” The artist chuckled at that. “Hey, how strong was whatever you drank?”

“Dunno how strong, but I know it was fruity fruity.” Sasha grinned, kind of wanting to chug another few glasses.

Then Marcy sat up with a smirk and an opportunity, letting her girlfriend stretch a little. “Fruity like you, ya mean?” Opportunity pretty much seized. Can’t pass up jokes about Sasha’s fruitiness.

“Yea, whatev. You’re still the one putting the L in LGBT.”

“Rude, Sash.”

The two motherfuckers laughed at each other, only stopped by what Sasha predicted would happen inside. People were losing their shit all over and it felt nothing less than a 2013 high school movie.

“..Happy new year, Marce.” The blonde softly smiled at her, after chuckling a bit at the goofy asses inside. “Love ya.”

That’s when Marcy spontaneously remembered what she planned while on the plane, almost utterly uncharacteristically and grabbed Sasha’s hand, filling every empty space between the blonde’s fingers with her own.

Almost too quickly to process, Marcy’s face went close to Sasha’s, her slightly chapped lips softly meeting up with her girlfriend’s, taking the blonde by surprise – by no means in any bad way, of course.

Sasha’s hands went up, stopping on the raven-haired girl’s shoulders, holding them gently and keeping her close to her.

Much appreciated, saccharine gesture. They missed it so much.

Almost on cue, definitely on cue, a horde of fireworks went up, decorating the sky for a few moments before another one made its way up. Most of them came up from behind the few houses, but they were so pretty.

Not prettier than them, though.

They stand there in each other’s arms for a few more moments until air becomes a task to breathe. And even then, they can’t take their hands off each other.

“Ta-daa! New year kiss, I guess.” Marcy completed, softly, not exactly sure what to do now but bring her knees up and hug them.

At which Sasha clicked her tongue and smirked. “Not bad, you made this holiday shit even cornier, Marce!” She exclaimed, still pretty surprised, a few chuckles escaping her. “C’mere, sweetheart-“

She extended her arms, Marcy falling right between them, holding onto her love’s arms as they wrapped around her.

And Anne was behind a window upstairs, smirking, however drunk she might’ve been at that point.

“So you’re sayin’ you paid for her plane ticket?” Someone slightly more sober asked her, not understanding anything of this crap. At which Anne nodded, not actually taking her eyes off those two.

“Just for this k-drama lookin’ shit??” The person went further, almost offended.

At which Anne nodded again, a smirk growing as she took another sip of her drink. “Can’t wait for their wedding, dude.”

~

Chapter Text

Funny way of saying ‘unemployed’ and ‘on the verge of selling stuff just to pay rent’ was to say you're a ‘self taught webcomic artist’. In short, Marcy was certainly content with her current job, her bank account was the one who had to suffer a bit. 

One thing everyone could suspect about Sasha was that her ways of getting money were questionable. Her job as a child psychologist was pretty much useless, it could be something closer to a hobby. 

Somehow, though, there were the days when she'd randomly get home with a real pretty bank account. 

… No shady business, you can cut that out from the list. Check the summary, man. 

Oftentimes, the money wouldn't go on the essentials, like, say, bills and rent. 

And I'm assuming you put one on top of the other and figured out that by ‘oftentimes’ I actually mean ‘usually’. 

Money pretty much meant opportunity. 

Opportunity which Sasha was so fond of making sure it did not go to waste whatsoever. 

The blonde was standing there, leaning comfortably on the door frame leading to Marcy’s room, arms crossed, something between a smile and a grin resting on her face, gaze fixated on a single thing. It’s been like that for maybe 5 minutes.

She was still waiting on her girlfriend to maybe do as much as turn her head a little bit to the right and see her. Not like she couldn’t clear her throat and get her attention or something.

She just wanted to see how into writing or whatever Marcy was doing she really was. Up till now, pretty impressive. 

Enough of that. Sasha cleared her throat, rather loudly and she couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the way Marcy turned her head at the blonde, yanking her headphones off with such force only a gen alpha kid could muster. She was waiting for Sasha to tell her what was so important she had to so painfully steal her away from her zone, that much was obvious on her face.

“Yo.” The blonde finally spoke, adjusting herself so her elbow was leaning on the doorframe, hand playing the role of a frail support for the head, other arm confidently resting on her hip.

“What’s up, Sash?” Marcy quickly threw back, stretching a bit before she leaned her back more cozily on her gaming chair. 

“Get dressed, we’re going shopping.” Sasha tried to keep down the excited, goofy smile she felt she was slipping into, which was pretty much an useless attempt.

At which Marcy’s whole expression changed, snapping into a goofy smile, the one that Sasha loved to see. “Ok!!!”

“Cutiee..” Was the last thing Sasha said in a sing-song tone and with that she was gone, before Marcy could throw any snarky comment back at her.

¬

“Soo,” Sasha started, getting her purse from the backseat while Marcy was waiting for her, swinging back and forth on her feet, really just unable to wait to get inside the mall. “Where, uh, do ya wanna go first, Marce?” She asked, already half-knowing what shop Marcy wanted to spend 80% of their money at.

The raven-haired girl slowed down with her swinging, stopping on her heels, smiling widely. “Convinced you already know where I wanna gooo..” 

Then Sasha finally got her purse and slammed the car's door shut before turning to her girlfriend, returning that dorky, charming smile. “The art shop, right?” She asked, offering her hand to Marcy. 

“Yup!” The artist cheerfully confirmed, holding Sasha's hand, dragging her along inside the mall, cuz she just couldn't wait. 

It wasn't really anything special but anything that was art related and brand new just brought Marcy in. That was really fun, especially for her girlfriend. Few months ago, she nearly forgot Marcy at the mall right before closing time, as she stayed wandering in the art supply section. 

And both of them knew that mall by heart. It's not the one they grew up with. That one was long ago closed. But they quickly grew accustomed with the new one and Marcy memorised the entire layout of it. 

That's how many times Sasha brought her there. 

And it was pretty nice. The blonde loved the way her girl would smile and drag her by the hand to all the places she wanted to check out. She always did that. 

Sasha forgot about whatever was around, for a bit, just focused on Marcy and the way she held her by her wrist. 

And then she snapped back already surrounded by a mountain of color - typically arranged in rainbows, typically reminding both of them of themselves. Rainbows. I’m sure you get the generic reference.

“Okaay, so I saw people say these are pretty good for sketchin’!!” Marcy quickly found a pack of those colorful sketching pencils she always wanted - the good ones were always sold out. “Should we get ‘em, sunshine?” She turned to look at Sasha, like she knew what she was even looking at.

“Just get what ya want, babe.” The blonde shrugged, not really having any problem with her girl potentially getting both of their asses bankrupt. “I mean, it ain’t my money.” She chirped in a sing-song tone, then threw one of those looks that just said ‘go crazy’ to the raven-haired girl.

“Damn, not even checkin’ the price?” The artist goofed off, already looking at another thing, the previous pencils still in her arm.

“Nahh, I don’t check 'em, girl.” Sasha smirked, discreetly throwing a glance at some of the prices there, just to make sure they were still not exorbitantly expensive.

Might be her shitty parents’ cash, but Sasha was not gonna lack dignity.

Then Marcy nodded with a hum, quickly catching something out of the corners of her eyes. “Weeeell, in that case, I’ll get something for you too.” She grabbed the neatly packed markers and swiftly analysed the colors, checking for a good palette. “How are your poscas, Sash?”

This was basically an invitation.

“Pretty dried up. Haven’t used ‘em in a hot minute.”

Invitation to a good old walk outside. Except they tagged random things just for the fun of it. Oftentimes just cute little doodles while the other covered for the one taggin’. 

“Weeell, I think you should wipe the dust off them.” Marcy retorted, turning her face to Sasha, a soft smile on her face, the kind that the blonde would call her corny for - even though they both knew they liked them a lot. 

“If I ever get into it again, you joining, Mar-Mar?” The blonde smirked, and that’s all Marcy needed to see to take it as a ‘yes’.

Finally, how long had Marcy waited to get Sasha back into mild vandalism - watch it evolve to mass vandalism and potential murder attempt in the span of four weeks.

“Duh, you’re gonna need help if you wanna redo that one piece.” Marcy hinted, turning her face away while smiling sneakily, this time checking for one of those good sketchbooks with slightly yellow paper, as she liked them. 

At which Sasha quickly furrowed her eyebrows, the sourest expression on her face that anyone ever saw. “Nooo, Marce not that shit again.”

She just hated the way the whole thing looked. The whole thing screamed middle school baddie and Sasha no longer liked that. 

“C'mon, Sash, you got better, you could fix that.” Marcy encouraged, no regard for legalities, almost paying no mind to Sasha and her embarrassment. 

The raven-haired girl was struggling to reach up on the higher shelves, that's where they always had the best things. 

A short sigh and now she was softly smiling because of the shorter girl. The blonde went up to her. 

“Here,” Sasha said under her breath, reaching up for the sketchbook in her place. “If you wanna fix that so bad, how about you add your name in there?” She added, giving Marcy a forehead kiss, her lips curled into a now confident smirk. 

And the artist's face immediately lit up, eyes wide and sparkling. “Awwe, Sash!!” Marcy smiled in awe, expression sliding smoothly to something much more smug. “That's kinda gay!” She exclaimed, earning one of those nudges that almost made her lose her balance. 

The blonde crossed her arms in the sassiest manner ever existing, eyebrows raised, returning a slightly smug smile. “Joke's overused, Marce, and you're very gay too.”

“Fair, fair.” The raven-haired girl chuckled, grabbing one last thing she thought would be useful.

Her girlfriend hummed in agreement to Marcy being gay and took the already filled bag from her, thoughtfully offering to carry it for her without even asking. “You done here?” 

“Yup!! Where are we goin’ now?” Marcy asked, taking Sasha's free hand in her own. 

The blonde thought a bit, a drawn out hum convincing Marcy pretty quickly that she didn't even know what needed to be bought. 

“Sash, you gotta start writing lists.” Her girlfriend joked around. I mean, long skirts, reading glasses, what's next, knittin’? Imagine. 

At which the blonde snickered, playfully nudging Marcy away. “Yeah, no. Not a grandma.” She stated, making the artist nod in mock manner. 

“I'm literally 24, stop with the bullshit.” Sasha couldn't help but chuckle, jokingly pushing Marcy's face away with her palm, the shorter trying to get it off. 

And the raven-haired girl couldn't help but giggle too. “Nooo, get your hand off!” 

“Okay, fine!” Surprisingly, Sasha stopped way quicker than Marcy had suspected she would, their chuckles stopping abruptly after, yet still smiling. “C'mon, nerd, we gotta get the.. “ She took a brief pause to remember. “Groceries.”

“D’you even know what you gotta buy?” Marcy asked as Sasha grabbed her by her wrist, dragging her outside the art store.

“Uhhh, I’ll know what I gotta buy when I see it.”

And with that, off to the other side of the mall.

~

“Marce, uh, do you remember if we have any milk left?” Sasha asked almost absentmindedly, looking at the shelves, realising just now that maybe Marcy was right with those lists. 

And the raven-haired girl was no better at it either. 

“I don't really knoww.. I don't think so.” She didn't really know for sure, but she did remember they had coffee with milk that morning, so chances are they're running low on it. 

The blonde grabbed a carton of that and placed it in her cart, where Marcy was sitting, then quickly clicked her tongue, leaning on the cart. “Do we need anythin’ else?” 

“Well, I feel like we got whatever we ran out of.” She said, just to get out of there. Groceries were boring and so slow - just because someone absolutely refused to write a list. “Can we go to the bathroom?” 

With a slightly questioning expression, the blonde turned her face to her girl. “Yea, Marce, just gotta pay for these. Somethin’ wrong?” The blonde replied, now back to being attentive. 

“Nothing, but you smudged my makeup, Sash.” She replied, really not wanting to sound overly sassy. “I had some really cute stuff going on.” 

Then they made it to the checkout and luckily not many people were there, so the wait time was gonna be short. 

Yeah, Sasha could remember how she smudged that. Instinctively, her eyebrows raised. “Ohh, shit, yea. I can redo it for ya if you wanna.” She offered sweetly, while placing all the items in the cart on the conveyor belt, not in any ceremonious way. 

“Oh!” Marcy let out, for some reason finding that quite charming. “Sure!!!” 

Sasha didn't even see the poorly hidden smile on Marcy's face, but it was there. And now the artist was swinging back and forth, just wishing the cashier would move a bit faster, while subtly - not really skilfully - trying to turn her face away from the blonde. 

~

Their bags were now safely placed in one of those little lockers in the mall, leaving Sasha's hands free - so Marcy could instead hold something. 

She loved whenever the blonde came close to her face, and having her fix her makeup was the one of the many things Sasha would do obliviously and get Marcy smiling in awe. 

That was what was happening right about then. 

Sasha's left hand gently cupping Marcy's so she made sure she wouldn't mess up her girl's makeup a second time. Her other hand, carefully retouching what was smudged and later wiped away completely. 

She kept her hand as light as she could, as she knew the raven-haired girl would sneeze quite often because of the brush hairs. 

And Marcy appreciated that a whole lot, cuz it was hella obvious, compared to the way the blonde would do her own makeup. 

Marcy wasn't even paying attention to whatever Sasha would say, just sitting there on the barely dry sink counter, hoping the way her blood rushed to her face wasn't so obvious to Sasha. 

And the blonde really wasn't all that great with makeup. Only thing she really had an idea about was eyeliner, everything else was something Marcy would usually do. So she tried her best to mimic how her girl did stuff. 

It took a lot. Sasha kept messing the nose up, wiping stuff away and redoing it. 

Even though the raven-haired girl's nose was red from so many wipes, it wasn't all that bad. The blush was horrible. The experience though, is what she wanted again. It was oddly sweet. 

That's really all that hit Marcy like an arrow in the chest - Sasha was really, really pretty to her. Dummy pretty. Someone you wouldn't assume to be a total loser and a dork and a half. Still, here she was. Cutest dork alive and it was her girlfriend. 

“Hey, Marce, you in there?” The blonde pinched her arm, confusion resting on all of her features. “Do you wanna go get boba? Remember you said you didn't get that in a while, so.” 

Yeah, in maybe one month or so. But for some reason the last time she'd shared one with her girlfriend was a longer time ago. 

Lacking any hesitation, Marcy nodded with a lovely, excited smile, the one Sasha loved - she loved each and every one of them, still. 

~

They knew a good boba shop around the mall. The old one they used to get drinks from had been long closed but this one was pretty much the same shit. And it was a touch cheaper too, so. 

“You already got anythin’ in mind, Mar-Mar?” Sasha asked her, inspecting whatever was on their menu. So far, she was going to go on her usual.

“Yeaaah, I was thinking of the green coconut one, but I dunno.” Marcy replied, still looking left and right after something else that looked good. “But it's kinda pricey..” 

“Aight, Marce,” The blonde rested an arm on her girlfriend's shoulder, ushering her closer and resting her head on her, in a way that made Marcy smile and blow away the blonde hairs fallen all over her face. “I don't give one single fuck about prices today, okay?” She pulled away, allowing her girl to inspect the menu a bit more.

It was sweet how considerate Marcy was when it came to money. But the blonde wanted to spend it, only on her. 

I mean, it wasn't her money. The artist hummed in slight disbelief, then turned her puzzled gaze to Sasha.. “You sure?” She asked, having the blonde turn and look at her with a relaxed, trustful smile, lookin’ at her between half-lidded eyes.

“Yeah, babe, go crazy. You can choose one for me too if you wanna.” 

“Weell, I’m gonna go with the honeydew one for me… Looks pretty.” Marcy started, now looking for something for her Sasha. 

“Yeah, like you.” 

The artist turned to the blonde, her eyes on her phone like she didn’t just drop that. “What?” 

“I ain’t sayin’ nothin’.” The blonde popped a smirk and fetched her one of her flirty looks. 

“Uhhh, sure.” Marcy just tried to mask and smirk back, but Sasha was making it dummy hard to focus back on drinks. “How about you get the strawberry passion one, Sash?” 

“Isn’t that, like, alcoholic?” Sasha tucked her phone in her pocket, wrapping an arm around Marcy’s back.

The artist hummed, thinking a bit. The blonde was kind of a lightweight and a big pissbaby when drunk. “I think they can give you alcohol in that if you ask really nicely.” The raven-haired girl smirked back, actually not sure in whatever she was saying.

If anything, they could go buy some cheap liquor and mix it with Sasha’s boba. Always worked in high school.

~

They decided to save their drinks. 

Several hundred dollars spent and a trunk full of shopping bags later, evening fell back on the sky that was looking back at them. 

They found a nice rooftop they could hang out for a bit on, without anyone to be mad at them for doing so. 

Worked perfectly too, their boba tea stayed somehow cold, and it worked so sweetly with the slightly warm breezes. 

They were both leaning against the rooftop's old fence, Sasha's head resting on Marcy's, just now realizing how tired the both of them were. Thinkin’ they still had to drive home, too. 

But it was really okay. It was sweet. Whenever the blonde had the bread for it, she was gonna spend it on her girl and have fun doing so. 

 It was just like their old dates in middle school, but the budget was cranked way up. 

Sasha quickly left a kiss on Marcy's cheek before returning her head on her girl’s. 

Chapter Text

The evening just barely made its presence known, and it was okay, too. They'd be out later, anyway. 

For whatever reason, their friend - and crowned third wheel - Anne thought a late-night cocktail party would be the greatest idea someone ever had. And how could she skip inviting Sasha and Marcy? 

That's probably just cuz Sasha's the funniest person to be around when drunk. Real funny, goofy stuff. 

Marcy didn't even know what one of those parties imply. Do people just get drunk, no reason needed? She just assumed it was a party where alcohol was served like water in a waterfall. 

Besides being all that, the raven-haired girl, quickly enough, discovered one of the lesser known reasons one those parties would be so much fun. 

And it wasn't even related to the little get together. 

She picked herself a cute little suit she had lying around, for whatever occasion. Perfectly ironed, the black coat covering one of Sasha's prettier tops that she gave her girl - Marcy's were in the washing machine or nonexistent, she lived around in cringey gamer tees - and shorts elegant enough to match the suit, but not look ugly classic on her. 

She was waiting, sitting on the corner of their shared bed for what felt like hours, feeling like everything nice on her was going to get crinkled. It's not like it wouldn't had been worth it, though. 

Sasha had a shit ton, a galore of nice dresses for outings like those and she wasn't all that decisive. So, since Marcy finished picking her outfit, plain and easy, the blonde had asked her if she would be interested in helping around. 

So, now, she was in charge of giving out opinions on fits. 

This was already the sixth dress, one more and Marcy was gonna lose count. 

And the blonde expected her to pick one that ‘suited her the most’. Well, to hell with that, they all did. 

Then Sasha strutted with a new dress in front of her girl. “Okayy, I like her, I'm kinda into her..” Sasha turned around, grace never missing her movements. “Whaddya think?” 

“It's really pretty on you, Sash.” Marcy did nothing more but softly smile. “And the colors are really nice on you, too.” 

At which Sasha couldn't help but return the softest of smiles and a chuckle. “Awwh, you say that about every one of ‘em, babe.” 

“I can't help it, you just look so good in everything, I swear..” She went on, fidgeting around with her hands, gaze averted as if the blonde was gonna blind her like one of the big sun's rays above. 

And Sasha walked to her, steps so quiet that Marcy didn't even hear anything, only felt her girl's short kiss given on her forehead. “That means a lot coming from the prettiest girl I know.” She said, her hands cupping the girl below's face, lips resting on the spot she kissed, curling into the softest of smiles before pulling away in a bit. 

“Awhh, stooop..” Smiling widely and genuinely, the artist’s fluster-ridden face hid behind her palms, before the blonde ushered them away, wanting nothing more but to see how her words made her girl smile like that. 

“You're really pretty, Marcy baby.” Sasha smiled, eyes and gaze soft, all features adorned with the sense of warmth Marcy was an absolute sucker for. Her hand was on the raven-haired girl’s cheek, thumb swiping gently there, back and forth. 

As if Marcy wasn't gonna faint already, the blonde kissed her on the lips as softly as she could, then completely pulled away, turning behind with something of a soft, a bit sly grin, knowing all too well her girl was boiling. 

Feelings confirmed when she heard a thud, that had been Marcy throwing herself on the bed, grabbing at a pillow and muffling a scream. 

Holy shit, what a dork, cutest one at that, and Sasha really couldn't help but watch, leaning against the door frame, snickering at the image, cuz holy shit, she loved her so much. 

“I love you, Mar-Maaar!” The blonde sang, at which her girl, who was just about to stop her screaming frenzy, took the deepest breath ever and went at it again, whole volumes louder, cue for Sasha to leave and get changed again. “Tell me, when ya done, I got one more dress.”

Last dress to try on, intentionally set as last, just cuz she knew - at least hoped - her girl would adore that one. And if styled a bit, it would look like it was made specifically to match whatever Marcy was wearing. 

Sasha came back to a visibly excited Marcy, that at least was showing through her toothy smile, the kind that made the blonde all fuzzy and soft. 

“Soo, what do we think?” The blonde showed off the dress, which was on the more form-fittin’ side. Sleeveless, just like 80% of her closet, just to show off those arms. Whatever was left was covered, in flowy, light fabric. 

Top part? Marcy loved. The rest? 

It was a long fucking dress. 

Clearly, when she left Grime back in Amphibia, she also lost her fashion sense somewhere. Now she was stuck with classic bi fashion. Walkin' disaster. 

At which Marcy couldn't help but chuckle, no rude undertones present, just a bit confused. “Soo, the granny skirt saga goes on?” She snickered, yet, conservative granny skirt or not, her girl could rock it like no other. It was really pretty on her. 

The blonde was smirking, adjusting the dress on herself, then her gaze fixated on Marcy. “Yeah, but did you see the slit?” 

Her hands rested on her hips, left leg brought up in front, highlighting a subtle - maybe even a bit spicy - slit that went all the way up to the middle of her thigh. And it was even prettier, it actually looked like something her Sasha would wear, without any modifications added by regulations or whatever. 

Just pure sass and charm. That's how the blonde rolled. 

And as if that trick didn't get Marcy's attention and surprise written all over her face, Sasha walked up to her, slight hip sway intentionally there. 

“Granny enough for you, babe?” She asked, soft eyes, lovin’ grin on her lips, her hand on Marcy's face resting there after tucking a stray hair strand behind the absolutely fucking stunned girl's ear. 

Now, here's how to fake confidence and lose it midway. “Nope, you've been promoted to mama.” Marcy spat out, not even fully processing anything else than how pretty the blonde was to her. Very close to her face, too. A bit too close to just do that and not leave a kiss. 

She was gonna steal one later. 

“Oh!!” Sasha let out, eyes wide in pleasant surprise, grin wide and pretty. She was deffo gonna use that as a tease later when drunk and Marcy's aware of that. 

Then, realization hit Marcy in the head like a heavy chain with a 30 pound weight attached to it. “Like, damn mama.” 

Fuck you Marcy, sincere message from Marcy to Marcy. 

“I'm not gonna call you daddy if that's what you're gettin’ at.” The blonde joked, which only made her girl's dignity drop a few kilometres deeper into the sea. 

She was gonna keep the mama-daddy talk for later, it was gonna be truly funny when half drunk. Sasha looked around the room, looking for a way to switch up the topic, right when her eyes landed on her girlfriend’s makeup brushes lazily put together on her desk. 

“How about I do your makeup, babe?” Even though she sucked at it. She saw Marcy do it for herself so many times, you’d think at least part of the routine stuck around to the blonde. Maybe. 

“Sure!” The raven-haired girl accepted, forgetting for a second the simple fact Sasha sucked massive ass when it came to makeup. It always ended up looking like a middle schooler’s work. The artist couldn’t say she didn’t like it. She had an excuse to hold the blonde by her chin and help her get ready often,