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Dense summer air wafted through Marcy's window, filling the room with the same suffocating warmth that already permeated the air inside and outside her dark abode.
The ravenette sat hunched over in her seat like the golem of a long-forgotten stone castle, eyes pinned on the passersby of the courtyard she overlooked, woven from the creativity stored in her stone claws. But she was no gargoyle, only a digital artist that had yet again forgotten to keep track of how many backlog pages she had and was now behind on an update that was set to post tomorrow. It was why all care for time and sleep had yet again been thrown to the wind for far from the first time in her life, and she now sat at her desk and scribbled furiously away on her poor, battle-scarred drawing tablet.
Light had long left the room in favor of the inky tenebrosity that now permeated every inch of the space in nighttime that grew ever darker. In fact, the only illumination of the room came from the Wacom that blasted the full force of it's blue light into Marcy's eyes, causing an unpleasant effect of feeling like the room was both too bright and too dark. Their wrist shook as she scratched a few more dark lines onto the digital canvas and zoomed out to take a good look at the haphazard work that would have to suffice, cobbled together from the pains of her back and the cramps of her wrist. Even under the pleading scrutiny beheld in her dark eyes, absolutely nothing changed from the last time she had begged this page to complete itself.
It still needed color. And shading. And chat boxes. And final effects. And-
Dark hair fell over the back of the chair as Marcy tossed their tablet pen to one side and leaned back, letting out a long, drawling groan of agony. This was going to be a long, horrible night. She didn't dare to look at the taunting, sneering clock in the corner of her screen- it would only prove how much longer it would take before nighttime bled all its pitch-dark blood out, and its skin paled to a vicious, cruel dawn. The sound of cheerful birds greeting her sleepless, desolate figure was a tune Marcy was familiar with, but it never made it any easier to accept the hours of sleep she had just lost.
They knew she couldn't risk falling into the vortex of vicious procrastination, but despite that looming threat, all she wanted to do right now was vy for just one break, an audience with the king of her own mind, where they might find solace in her own desperate exhaustion. But she could already feel time stretching and distorting around her fogged vision, and the gravity of how long of a night she had ahead of them was beginning to settle in...
A hand seized Marcy's right shoulder. "Mars!"
"GAH!" In a millisecond, the instinct of something otherwise kept buried in her head worked ahead of Marcy's own mind, and they swung an elbow back against the torso of the attacker behind her, swinging the rest of her body around to follow suit and bring force to shock, sending the figure to the ground with a knee pinned against their chest. It was only once she sent her opponent crashing against the ground and into the path of vivid moonlight that they caught a view of vibrant brown curls, and recognition clicked in like a puzzle piece. Followed almost immediately afterwards by realization.
Marcy's face went hot as she stared down into the dark, blue-flecked eyes of Anne Boonchuy, her hair sprawled messily against the hardwood floor and her expression more impressed and surprised than startled in a bad way. She was pinned down and sprawled under Marcy's knee, looking at her in a way that did not scream fear and instead made Marcy feel like she'd suddenly turned into a spanse of the most intricate stars over Anne's head. "I-I did it again, didn't I?" Marcy managed to mutter out through a mix of embarrassment, worry, and a quickly-growing fluster. "I've told you not to sneak up on me, Anne!" Her scolding was far from angry, but there was a real trace of exasperation. Before the feelings she'd already known as dangerous could take this chance to immobilize her any further (and before she cut off Anne's circulation under her knee), the ravenette quickly scooted off her friend, planting themself beside the brunette instead and failing to avoid staring down at the beauty of that lightly-freckled face.
Anne leaned upwards slowly, shaking her hair out. "Whoof! I don't know why I still don't expect that to happen when I spook you." She shot Marcy an apologetic look. "I didn't actually mean to this time. I thought you heard the door!"
"I was drawing! I never hear anything!" Marcy raised her hands up in self-defense, a smile growing on her face. She didn't try to fight it- it's not like she ever could, not when she was around Anne.
The Thai girl sighed, leaning back on her palms to angle herself into Marcy's line of vision- which she was already in before, but Marcy didn't have to try and hide that now. Chestnut curls caught the silvery-purple glint of the moonlight and turned into dark threads of spun amethyst, glinting alongside the kind humor that was always present in Anne's eyes.
If not for the constant doubt of their every move, Marcy would be kissing this girl right now.
Instead, they asked, "So, why have you broken into my house this time, Boonchuy?"
Anne's entire face lit up in a way that spelled mischief- but not mischief in a way that made you wary or worried for anyone's safety or patience, but a way that made you want to take this pretty girl's hand and go cause that mischief with her, because nothing could ever go wrong as long as she was holding your hand and looking at you like that. In other words, Anne had Marcy's full attention as she spoke in that kind, rough lilt that she always had.
"Ok, first- I did not break into your house. You gave me a key, like, months ago, and said I was allowed to come drop by whenever I want. Two- I'm taking you out."
Marcy almost lost consciousness right there. "Out!? Like..."
"Marcy Wu, I am going to scoop you up, throw you into my car, and we are going to go somewhere where you cannot give yourself carpal tunnel and horrible c-shaped posture for 12 hours straight." Anne flashed her another grin.
Marcy so desperately wanted to agree. God, there was nothing they wanted more than to go with this girl they were so crazily in love with and go wherever the hell Anne was planning to take them. But responsibility was still a weight attached to her ankle, and her giddy "yes" caught in her throat at the thought of it. Anne caught the hesitation, because of course she did, and her expression softened a little more.
"I.. I'm behind on an update..." Marcy muttered, rearranging how she was sitting absentmindedly.
The brunette sighed- but not irritable or scolding, which was another thing Marcy always liked about Anne. Their mistakes were not reasons to get mad- they were just reasons to have sympathy, of which the Thai girl had plenty to share anyway. It was a kindness not many others understood she needed. When she spoke again, it was even softer, though still had a humorous little bloom in it. "Maaars, again?" She smiled. "I promise you'll be able to relax where we're going. I'll have you back by morning- and I promise you'll be able to rest better. It's ok if you're late now and then." As if seeming to notice something in how she spoke, she added slightly more hastily, "You don't have to, but... it might do you good to get out of here."
It was hardly a matter of convincing them- it was just a matter of restating the logical reasoning that Marcy knew was somewhere inside her own head, although probably long lost in pink fog right now. But as soon as Anne said it, the reasoning seemed to appear to Marcy as well, clear as day, reminding them that breaks were allowed.
Still, the idea rotated in her mind a few times, ticking away like an old clock. A silence fell like a layer of fine dust over everything as Marcy thought hard about this for a moment- but in the end, she looked up at her walls again to space out, and found herself instead taking in how much the shadows seemed to melt from the walls like tar and reach for her, as if to drag her into the hapless void. The only thing untouched by this darkness in the room was the brilliant girl sitting patiently beside Marcy, waiting for either answer to come. Instead, brilliance shone off her like a mirror at sunset, and Marcy so desperately wanted to reach out into the warm light and see the visions of good memories and laughter that lay in the night beyond for them.
"Alright." Marcy smiled.
In a matter of seconds, she'd been ushered hastily out her bedroom door by an excited Anne, hustled down the stairs and out the front door in moments. It took Marcy a moment, a pause nestled sometime between the sight of the silvery moonlight on her skin and the feeling of a fresh nighttime breeze in their hair, before she realized Anne had at some point taken their hand in her own, like a gentle tether connecting the two of them.
Thank god that Anne was practically dragging her onwards, because Marcy's legs would've stopped working if they were the sole pilot right now.
Anne pulled up short, causing Marcy to almost knock into her (she didn't let go of her hand why didn't she let go what is going on) and smiled up at the dinky hand-me-down truck she proudly deemed herself the champion of. It wasn't really piece-of-shit grade, but it was definitely broke college graduate material, and yet Anne still loved it regardless. It was the best she could get for now, until she'd worked a bit longer at the aquarium, and it certainly got the job done. The brunette finally let go of Marcy's hand- much to their internal protest- and rushed around to the other side of the car and hopped in. The engine roared to life just as Marcy swung open the passenger-side door and also climbed in.
It wasn't until long after streetlights had begun to streak past the window that Marcy even thought to ask where they were going. She turned to Anne, the question sitting on their tongue, only to find herself unable to breathe. The night sky peering in through the window on the other side seemed to curl around Anne's silhouette, wrapping her in both light and dark simultaneously. The passing glow of the streetlights would briefly illuminate the edges of her figure, momentarily turning the ends of her curly hair to fire and lighting up every beautiful detail of her face. It was just a split second at a time, but it was plenty enough time for Marcy to stare when each moment felt like it slowed time to a standstill. Anne was completely focused on the road (obviously), which meant Marcy had plenty of time to stare without a risk of being caught.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been looking when suddenly the car came to a stop and Anne turned to her, eyes catching on Marcy's gaze immediately. She cracked a smile that was unfairly beautiful at Marcy's trance just before the ravenette could snap out of it.
"Alright, wake up, Mars. You've been staring for like fifteen minutes." The brunette laughed gently, a humorous glint bright in her eyes, and Marcy's face was suddenly on fire.
"Hu-how did-" Marcy stammered uselessly in a voice that was more like a squawk than any human noise, but Anne had already turned nonchalantly to talk to someone out the driver's side window, giving Marcy plenty of time to smolder quietly against the seat that was suddenly way too warm for them. Their eyes flew to anything that could possibly distract them, and when she settled on something to look at, distract her it did.
The sign made her smile. The name of the movie for tonight underneath it made it widen even more. Battle for the Crystal Crown of Tantamore. "Oh my god. You didn't."
"Oh, but I TOTALLY did." Anne turned away from the ticket seller with a smile and two pieces of printed paper in her hand, her eyes landing almost immediately on Marcy as if she had been waiting to see that exact reaction of joy on the ravenette's face. Before Marcy could catch the look on the other girl's face, Anne turned away and began pulling forward past the fence and into the empty grass lot beyond. A giant projector screen came into view, towering like a black-framed castle over a half-empty lawn that was scattered with various messily-parked cars.
"I didn't think you even remembered the name of this movie." A warmth filled Marcy's voice. "You never..."
"I did pay attention to it a few of the times you showed it to me and Sash at sleepovers. If nothing else, I paid attention to your rambling." Anne admitted with a shy chuckle. They pulled toward a spot near the center and backed in so the truck bed was facing the screen. Realization was slowly dawning more and more on Marcy, an excitement beginning to rise in their previously exhausted bones. Anne pulled the parking brake and killed the engine, and as their headlights died out, the nighttime began to creep in.
"Anne, this is- uhff!" A sudden fluffy weight caught Marcy offguard from the side and she flopped against the door with a yelp, rapidly flailing her arms to clear away the mass attacking her. Her hands hit soft fabric and she pulled the blanket away from her face with an astounded look. "You even brought a blanket? Where were you hiding all this?"
"Blankets, actually." Anne grinned, grabbing another two out of the backseat with a wide smile. Marcy balled her hands into fists and excitedly patted them against each other as the brunette finally opened up the door and dragged the two blankets out after her. In seconds, Marcy followed suit with the blanket that had been lobbed at their face, trailing Anne around to the back of the truck, where the girl was already setting up one blanket along the bottom of the truck bed. Marcy hauled her and the blanket up into the truck bed as well, joy only continuing to crackle through every nerve as they felt the perfectly soft texture of the blankets under her hands.
Anne took her own blanket and flopped against the back windshield of the truck, facing the screen and leaning her head back against the dusty glass. Marcy hesitated, momentarily wishing with all her heart they could settle right next to the girl and lay her head on Anne's shoulder like it was a spot crafted just for them, but ultimately talked themself out of the idea and began shuffling to the other side of the truck bed to set up her own solitary moviewatching spot.
She was about halfway across when Anne's voice rang, clear and bright with laughter. "Oh, no ya don't!"
With a yelp, Marcy suddenly found arms wrapping around them and pulling her close. Marcy's head must've lit on fire as she realized Anne was quickly shuffling the shorter girl against her side, one arm wrapping around Marcy's waist and pulling her into something that was half-hug, half-cuddle in a way that was far too casual and oh my god-
Anne must've felt Marcy tense against her in shock, and loosened her grip slightly with a small, apologetic noise. "Sorry! I, uh, I should've warned you. You don't have to, I just figured-"
"NO!" Marcy yelped quickly, and then caught herself with a flare of embarrassment. Their face must have been beet red by now, and they were glad for the semidarkness concealing the subtler aspects of their face in the moment. "I mean. No, it's..." The ravenette paused, brain stumbling for something to say. "It's fine. I.. I like this." The words should've been about a thousand times easier to say, but her heart doing somersaults in her chest did complicate things quite a bit. But when she looked up into Anne's eyes, they felt like they might as well have been looking up into twin moons, all full of a glowing wonder that Marcy didn't know could be held for someone as plain as her. It was something terrifyingly unreal- it had been there the whole time, it must have, but here it seemed to come alive all over again, suddenly the only thing in Marcy's world and so obvious, so beautiful, that the ravenette wondered how she had never noticed it before.
The movie finally came on, lines that Marcy knew well beginning to fill the air, but neither of the two girls seemed to even notice it. Bathed in vibrant light, it felt suddenly as if they were the only two people in the world, nestled into this tiny fragment of the universe. As if her brain ran on autopilot, her limbs pulled along by invisible strings, Marcy leaned up, hesitant and cautious as though approaching a fawn in the woods. Her hands found Anne's face and cupped it gently, like it was the most perfect thing on earth, and then suddenly there they were, the two of them holding each other like they'd always meant to- and of course they were meant to do this, all of this. Kissing Anne suddenly felt so natural, so perfect, Marcy almost wondered how she'd never done it sooner, even though she knew perfectly why.
The two pulled away after a moment's hesitation, and time resumed around them, unfolding at the same pace it always had. Blue oceans crashed against amber-brown shores in a world entirely confined to the beauty of Anne's eyes, and Marcy wondered what Anne must be seeing in their eyes.
After a long stare, reality suddenly snapped back into their heads simultaneously. Anne was first to speak.
"Oh." She breathed.
"I.... I should've asked first or something, huh?" Marcy felt a heavy doubt start to sink into the marrow of her bones and sink her heart in a sea of dread- but instead, a fire of humor flicked in Anne's eyes, and the brunette girl smiled gently.
"Are you kidding? Oh my gosh, I've wanted to do that for a while. A little sudden, but... oh my gosh." Anne giggled, and the sound alone made Marcy practically melt right there. The ravenette collapsed into her own fit of giggles, and the two of them started laughing uncontrollably off of each other for a good few minutes. When Marcy's sides finally settled enough for her to look up, her attention finally clicked on the movie, and she frowned.
"Oh, man! We missed one of the good parts!"
"Every part of this movie is a good part to you, Mars." Anne said, her tone warm and teasing but far from mean-spirited. Marcy giggled again, nodding in agreement as their attention began to be absorbed in by the movie. Familiar pictures and memorized lines began filling up the world, and Marcy let it capture their full attention, twining her hand with Anne's almost automatically as they settle to watch the movie.
"Your puny resistance stands no chance against my undead horde!" Marcy crowed in perfect timing with the movie, and Anne laughed against her, the noise causing a wave of warmth to wash over Marcy again.
Anne wasn't sure how late it was when the movie finally ended and the projector clicked off, but when she looked down to her side at the beautiful girl huddled up against her, she found Marcy sound asleep against her, a gentle smile crossing the sleeping girl's face.