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Golf Ball sat inside her lab, listening to Tennis Ball mindlessly rambling about science and Yoyelite and other things related to science. Normally she would be the one doing all of the talking, but she didn't feel like it. She felt distracted, and clearly Tennis Ball caught on, because she suddenly felt a gentle poke on her shoulder.
"Golfie? Are you okay, you seem really.. distracted? Not to mention that you're not really acting like yourself at all. What's up?" He asked, before adding on. "You dont have to tell me, obviously. I'm just worried about you.."
Golf Ball stared down at her metal hands, her fingers slightly entwining with one another.
"Yeah.. I'm fine."
She said quietly, before biting her lip. She had so many things running through her head all at once, so many things she wanted- no, needed to get off of her chest. But she didn't know how to really bring any of it up. Not with him, at least. He knew her too well, and they were way too close for him to know all of that about her.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it, TB."
He gave her a slightly skeptical look, before sighing.
"Okayy.. just, you know you can tell me anything, right? We're best friends, and communication is absolutely key, Golfie. I don't wanna keep secrets from you, and I don't really want you to keep secrets from me. But if you're absolutely sure it's not important, then okay. I trust you, GB."
Shit. Right, that made her feel 2763 times worse.
"Y-yeah. I trust you too, TB. I, just.. need to clear my head. I'll be right back.."
She muttered, before quickly standing up, walking over to the door. She opened it swiftly, stepping outside without a second glimpse.
The cool, calming air hit her instantly, her lungs getting fresh air for the first time in what felt like days, but was really only a few hours. She forgot how bright the sun was, at this point. It was like she never went outside.
Well, she didn't really, apart from challenges and the occasional walk.
She should probably do something about that..
☆
Golf Ball walked around for a while, before sitting down on the edge of a sidewalk, her head in her hands. She wouldn't tell anyone this, but she felt so, so lonely.
No one would ever listen to her, no one considered her, and barely anyone even liked her. She just wanted to be listened to, to be relevant, to be wanted.
Sure, maybe she was too bossy for her own good. But surely that shouldn't mean everyone would hate her, right?
Right..?
Her hands subconsciously gripped together, and she only just realised something that she would never like to admit.
She was insanely touch starved.
Like, insanely touch starved.
Despite having Tennis Ball by her side 24/7, the two of them practically glued to the hip, they never really did anything affectionate with eachother. Heck, she couldn't recall them even holding hands?
She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling so utterly pathetic yet so desperate for any kind of physical touch. As much as she hated to admit it, she wanted someone to hug her, to hold her, to never let her go. She rocked herself softly, her thoughts racing in a way that felt so overwhelming and foreign.
God, she really was more pathetic than she thought...
☆
Pencil was mindlessly walking, trying to get her mind off of.. Book.
Everything that had been going on with them, especially on her own part, had really started to worm it's way into her head. She took deep breaths to try and calm herself down, blocking Book out of her thoughts entirely.
"She's not important enough for me to be worrying like this." She muttered to herself, picking and scratching at her fingernails, wincing a little. Bad habit, but it was especially hard to break, somehow. She watched as the hangnail started to bleed slightly, but she just clenched her fist, paying no mind to Book and now the especially painful stinging contained to her throbbing finger.
Instead, she fixed her gaze on a figure huddled on the sidewalk, slowly rocking. She almost immediately recognised them as Golf Ball, her arch-rival, and the girl she absolutely despised.
Despite her better judgement, and the voice in her head screaming at her to just walk away from her, she slowly made her way over to Golf Ball. She stood over her for a few moments, before sitting down next to her, her legs crossed.
"Hey."
Was all the could mutter, watching Golf Ball as her head snapped up, staring at her in surprise.
"Pencil..? What are you doing here?"
She asked quietly, her voice sounding a lot more wary and pathetic than her normal, bossy tone. Pencil caught onto it almost immediately, and as much as she hated to admit it, she felt almost bad, watching her all curled up and vulnerable. She shook them thoughts away quickly though.
"Dunno, just on a walk to clear my head. What, am I not allowed to do that now? Are you gonna boss me around like usual?"
She snarled, and normally, Golf Ball would try to come up with some snarky, smartass response. But today, she couldn't find the energy at all. So she just stayed silent, apart from a small, detached
"..shut up."
That surprised Pencil more than it should've, but she stayed quiet about it, instead deciding to ask her the same question.
"What about you? Why are you here?"
She asked, crossing her arms. Golf Ball stared down at the floor, before sighing, her arms wrapping around herself again. Not like she noticed.
"I wanted to clear my head, too. I love Yoyelite just as much as TB does, but listening to him drone on and on about it was getting a little tiring."
She mumbled half-truthfully. It wasn't a lie exactly, it was technically true, just not the whole truth. Whatever, Pencil didn't need to know why she was really out here.
Then again.. she did think that it'd be nice for her to open up to someone she didn't like, because seeing as they definitely weren't friends, that meant she didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her any differently. And, anyways, it wasn't like Pencil didn't already hate her, she couldn't find her any more weird, could she?
"Well.. I suppose there is another reason.. and I suppose I could also tell you.."
☆
Now that she was actually going to tell her, she felt a lot more nervous than she thought she would. But she knew she just needed to get it off of her chest, so she took a deep breath, fiddled with her fingers a little, and began ranting about everything. Absolutely everything.
"I.. I've just been feeling so lonely lately.. like, there's a gap that I cant really fill, a void that keeps growing bigger and bigger. I just want to be.. loved. To know what it feels like to have someone who really loves you, who wants to hold you and never let you go, someone you know you can come to with anything and they'll try and make it better for you," she said, and as she stopped for a breath, she kept going before her brain could even process it properly.
"I just want to be hugged. I just want to feel loved, wanted. I don't want to be stuck without really anyone that cares about me. I mean, TB and I used to be so close.. and it feels like even he doesn't like me as much anymore. And, really? I can't blame him.."
She whispered, choking back tears.
Meanwhile, Pencil was absolutely floored by all of this new information. But there was one thing right at the front of her mind, plaguing her.
Golf Ball thought that lowly of herself?
She always thought that Golf Ball thought so highly of herself, always thinking she was smarter than everyone, always thinking she was better than everyone.
But clearly not.
"What? I.. really? You'd be the last person I'd consider liking physical affection."
She said, sighing a little. Though, out of the corner of Golf Ball's eye, she swore she could've seen her scoot a little closer. Or maybe she was just fuelling her touch starved delusions in any way she could. Either way, she didn't move. She stayed perfectly still, her eyes fixated on the ground.
"..right."
She didn't seem to be in a particularly talkative mood, which annoyed Pencil to a certain extent, seeing as it was extremely difficult to try and hold a conversation with someone who was only interested in giving dry, short answers to everything.
Eventually, Pencil sighed, her nails digging into her arms a little. This was going to be extremely embarrassing and absolutely uncomfortable for her, but she decided to just ask anyways.
"Golf Ball. Do you want a hug?"
It was a bit of a stupid question, really. That question had been answered mere minutes ago, but she decided to ask just incase, because what harm could it realistically do?
Golf Ball, after hearing that question, completely froze up. She did want a hug, she wanted one so badly, but she didn't to be a bother, and she certainly didn't want to ask for a hug infront of Pencil, not wanting to seem weak. But, yet again, she was practically on the verge of tears earlier, ranting out all of her feelings to her biggest enemy. So, really, how much more weak could she possibly seem?
She gave a small, weak nod, glancing over at her, awaiting her approval. She didn't want to make the first move, either. She didn't want to make anything even more embarrassing with people..
Pencil couldn't contain the small smile that had made it's way onto her face, and she opened her arms, silently letting her know she could hug her whenever she was ready.
Golf Ball stared at her opened arms for a few moments, before slowly shuffling closer to her. She waited until she was just barely in her arms, before wrapping her own, metallic arms around Pencil, quickly pulling her into a hug.
As she felt Pencil's arms wrap around her waist, pulling her slightly closer, she felt completely overwhelmed. This felt so much better then she could've ever imagined. The hug, the comfort, the touch, it all felt so good. She didn't even care if she was cuddled in the arms of her biggest enemy, she couldn't care about anything else but the pure, overwhelming happiness she felt.
She probably could've pulled away, she probably should've pulled away, but she didn't. Instead, she snuggled closer, brining her knees up to her chest, collapsing down into Pencil's lap with her head on her chest and her arms still wrapped tightly around her waist.
And, surprisingly, Pencil didn't hate it.
Quite the opposite, actually.
If she was feeling remotely like a bitch, she would've teased Golf Ball about this, maybe even pushed her off. But she couldn't bring herself to do it, she looked so fragile and vulnerable and.. happy, in her arms. She just couldn't.
She pulled her even closer, gently moving her hand up to run through her hair.
"Your hair needs a brush. When was the last time you actually brushed it?"
She asked, earning a small scoff from the smaller one.
"I don't know, I really can't remember."
The two laughed a little at her statement, and for a moment, everything just felt.. right. Even if the two were enemies, even if the two constantly bickered, it still felt nice.. so nice.
"I hate you."
Pencil said, her fingers still running through Golf Ball's tangled, slightly messy hair.
"I hate you too."
Golf Ball mumbled, her hair burying further into Pencil's chest.
The two really did hate eachother.
Really, really hated eachother.