Chapter Text
Sandrone was staring back at the piles of papers in front of her. 'Nothing is going to change if you just look, dummy.' She sighed. It was 1 at night, there was 1 little hour to her shift to end. Sandrone was usually be alone in the huge room of 7 people working with her in late nights. Until...
"Greetings, is this worktable not taken here?" A girl seemed like a young girl is starting the first day of her work. Sandrone straightened her back and from her exclusive spinning chair (that's too uncomfortable...)
She had black hair with fuchsia endings. Her front hairs were tied up with strips drawing a cross and a hair tie-looking like metal thingies. Her eyes were closed with a lace, but she somehow can walk so decisively. She had a cute short light blue dress seems like it's designed by a designer. Also 4 wings, no. 6 wings at her head like a goddess. She entered with an outstanding appearance to the workroom.
"O-oh..! Sure you can." It took long her to answer at slumbering at the damn uncomfortable chair she's sitting within minimum 9 hours with 1 hour break for 6 days in a week.
"Is it fine if I ask your name, miss?" Her voice was so calm, like she's singing a lullaby to Sandrone's ears as the voice Sandrone expected to how her voice to be like.
"...Sandrone," She didn't know what to say at rest, staring at her smiling face instead of staring at the ceiling or piles of papers.
"Pleasure to meet you, mine's Columbina." Columbina showed her hand towards her to shake it. She also had a thin white ribbon at her wrist like a bracelet. Sandrone just confined herself to just smile at her.
Now, there's total of eight people working here counting Columbina. She seemed very young to work here, her body was so thin.
"So Columbina, you came here as a new worker, right?" Her eyes got widened the first second Columbina was appearing at late night when Sandrone was being agonized by tireness is being showed by her eyes.
"Yes, you might be thinking why would I come here at the shift times. I was actually thinking how it would be at late night."
'What the fricking hell??? Why would you want to waste your beauty sleep time?' Sandrone screamed to herself.
"Ooohh, alright then, I see that you have a weird taste of coming to work." Sandrone gave a questionable expression. Columbina chuckled instead. "Are you okay? Your skin looks pale, your lips are so dry? Do you need help?" Columbina drew closer to look with her 'eyes closed with a lace.'
"Really..? I don't really notice from to lose myself to work." Sandrone started to check her drawers to find something to eat, or she'll feel so guilty for letting Columbina hear the bellow from her stomach.
Actually, Sandrone acts neutral to people she meets for the first time. If you were working here, you would hear her howl for the other workers here. For example, Mr. Pantalone. He always crawls over 'The Doctor' here called Dottore and acts like they're married.
"Sandrone, would you like get something from the bakery nearby here?" She looked at the drawers Sandrone was bursting out. "We can go get something from the bakery nearby here, no worries. I'm starving too." Columbina said like she knew everything about Sandrone before.
"But Columbina, I'm on my shift today, and we'll be in a big trouble with the receptionist at the gate if he sees us going outside with no worries..." Sandrone sighed. It was snowing outside.
"I'll tell him, today is my first mid-day y'know. There's still a chance to get a preferential treatment as my first day." Columbina lighted Sandrone.
Sandrone couldn't do anything more than going with her. She nodded.
"Your first hours." Sandrone grumbled. Columbina was laughing lighly her ass off from the extremely boring joke from her. Sandrone confined herself again to just chuckle.
That's how it started. Columbina is Sandrone's colleague from now on, sitting next to her worktable doing the same things as her, looking at files, screaming to other colleagues, feeling shit all day due to the shifts coming up, preparing piles of papers with nothing Sandrone is not even interested. There's a huge difference between her and Columbina, for sure.
"So... In the freezing country, were you able to bring your parents, or your family?" Columbina asked curiously in the way back to the building while Sandrone is focused at the smell of bakeries in her hand. The heat was warming her.
Columbina's hand.
Was holding Sandrone's.
It was holding it lightly for giving the message 'do you want to hold hands?' Sandrone's face was even more red not only from the cold now. It's been a long time she didn't hold someone's hand with a warmness inside.
"Unfortunately, no. I only have a father who is interested in machines and those kind of stuff. I call him everyday to ask what's going on in Fontaine even I don't really have time. We used to have a machine called 'Prospective Undulation Localized Observing and Investigating Automaton' shortly called 'Pulonia' who served us, he was my birthday gift when I was a child even I didn't desire for a gift or a cake." But of course Columbina was shocked to have a robot as your birtday gift as Sandrone was expecting her to be.
"He still works all through these years, right?" Columbina asked because she didn't know what to say.
"What a stupid question is that?" Sandrone checked her pocket watch with a photo of Pulonia and an old man when she was a little girl. "Of course he's alive. He's durable. All these years through, he was a piece of my life. I used to dance with him, making him comfort me... he's like a regular human who might be passing by now. And by the way, I have a question to ask you..."
"Go for it, Marionette." 'Marionette' echoed to Sandrone, only her father, Alain calls her with that name. Everyone calls her Sandrone except him.
How in the world did Columbina knew her actual name? They just met today.
"Why do you close your eyes?" Sandrone was quite embarrassed to ask that kind of a question.
"Beware," Columbina's expression turned empty. "I had to. But don't worry, that question is never too much for me." They both smiled.
It was the first time Sandrone actually wanted to come work with a joy inside her.
'No Sandrone, no! Not for a person you just have met TODAY, you asshole!' She mumbled in a terrific tone, unfortunately Columbina had to hear it.
"What's the matter?" Columbina acted like she didn't hear anything.
"N-nothi-" Columbina interrupted her sentence with a snowball in her face.
"Argh! You traitor!" She paused with the snow on her face cleaning it. "Heh, you asked for it!" Sandrone awkwardly collected a bunch of snow from the ground without gloves. She tried to throw back to Columbina, but she dodged with a single step. Columbina chuckled.
"Hmmm, now I know you don't know how to play-" Columbina fell down to the soft ground with a joy while she was trying to boost her shitty victory. Columbina was laughing like a crane, Sandrone was looking at her childishness like how she was playing along with Pulonia in their garden. He used to chase her, push her on a swing, Sandrone was laughing like Columbina's laughing right now. But the thing is;
Sandrone also fell down next to her feeling the freezing snow back at her, not knowing what to do. Just staring at the snowing sky above watching them...