Work 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.