Work Text:
Sometimes you think about the time you and Marcy met Sasha.
Sasha standing tall as the surrounding mountains, her glare of violent tides determined to bring foolish sailors to their watery grave. She fought off those evil teens with an inhuman persistence and you remember being so starstruck, so infatuated with the strength that it inspired you for years thereafter. The way that it curled around you like a protective weighted blanket, carrying a warmth like no other.
You think about how that strength clashed against a rusted blade not your own, how that gaze tried to pulverize you under the force of the relentless sea. The sheer weight of this strength forcing an oppressive vice grip onto your heart, constricting around your form like a snake suffocating it’s prey. You hurt her she’s falling help her WHY DID YOU LET HER GO
Your thoughts drift to your family back home, instead. It’s a much safer topic. You hope Mom and Dad are doing okay. You hope that they know you’re doing all you can to get home. You hope your baby precious, Domino, isn’t troubling your parents too much…or decimating the local rat population. You hope the police haven’t declared you dead-
Your thoughts drift back to the playground. You can’t help but wonder if it’s broken anymore over the last two months.
Who are you kidding, it’s impossible for the state of it to get any worse.
The only way left for it is up.
—
On Earth, a mother rests upon a broken swing set and stares on at the shattered remains of a yellow slide, her daughter’s favorite as a child.
It’s been 89 days since she disappeared, the workout room has been filled to the breaking point with apologies and promises to do better.
There’s nothing else to be done, so she comes here and just sits, taking in the evening breeze. An ever dimming hope of feeling closer to the vanished.
Nothing changes, no matter how hard she screams into the night.
She cries into the crook of Bee’s neck when he inevitably finds her here again.
Numbly, she thinks she should stop troubling him so.
—
Months later, you find yourself in the park again. This time you’re alone, unsure if you’ll ever see your friends again. You idly swing back and forth, it’s the only piece of equipment here that hasn’t been completely ruined.
The next day you and Sprig clean up the area. For once he’s silent and unnaturally still while picking up the empty snack packets littering the area. You thank him for help and make a batch of cricket cookies, brushing his concern off with a nonchalance that scares you more than you’d care to admit.
The only way for us left is up, you distantly think again.
—
“Maybe we could finish fixing it together?”
Sasha shrinks under your questioning glance. “I mean- only if you want to-“
“Yeah. Yeah…sounds fun.” You reply dumbly, with an even stupider grin worming it’s way across your face.
And so you do, together. You all ever so gradually restore this playground past it’s former glory (it wasn’t that great when you were younger) over the summer. Marcy even provides emotional support and good vibes over Skype for the last quarter of the project!
You turn Marcy towards the finished product beaming with pride, her signature excited squeal only doubles the feeling.
You steal a glance at Sasha, who’s staring on with a small satisfied smile, and turn Marcy back around while walking over to the swings. The chains don’t creak under the crushing pressure of someone’s hand this time, it’s sturdy as can be. She tries to act casual as she slides her arm over your shoulders, but it comes off more nervous than anything. You reassure her that you don’t mind, you actually like how grounding it is.
When you all laugh and joke around, you decide that you’ll all be okay. You love them both so much and you’re just glad they’re here with you.
It’s not perfect, but you’ll happily cherish what you have.