━━━ side chapter 001, delphinium.

"what hopeless world.." she mumbled, her eyes focusing on the green of the false grass that covered the metal ground. she plucked it out with one hand, the other supporting her head as she observed. she was just wasting her time, sitting in the bright sun, almost blinded by it. marionette didn't need protection from the beams, she was shadow enough herself, the light around was nothing compared to the darkness she had let herself fall into, the void of emotion and hope she had gotten lost in.

she hasn't been paying attention to the children around, they were nothing but annoying noise, and marionette was tired of pretending that she didn't mind the screams. even a single laughter hurt her ears, they were ringing painfully, and she bit her lip in frustration, pulling off the skin with her teeth. it was tiring, giving these stupid children hope of a better world, the hope of freedom. she knew there was no way out of here, they'd rot one day, on a side walk, and the aliens wouldn't even bear an eye to their disgusting, worthless selves.

what was truly there to live for anymore? no person was worth it, they'd all end up leaving her in the end, she might as well not give them too much of her trust. letting people close to her.. it was nothing but a mistake, one she'd never do again. relationships only held you back in this world, you wouldn't survive this way.

she let out a shaky breath, burying her face into her arms and bringing her legs close to her body as she curled up. her eyes were watering up, yet marionette wouldn't allow herself to let any tears fall. she held in her breath, eyebrows forming into a frown as she hugged herself. she couldn't cry, she couldn't cry, she couldn't— she wasn't weak. no one could possibly affect her this way, she wasn't going to let this get to her. she was just going to continue like she always did.

"hey um.. are you okay?"

her eyes widened, she flinched into a sitting position, pulling back in a slightly defensive way. it was like she saw the other person as a threat, when they were really just crouching down to her, with a slightly worried expression as they tilted their head. they had soft pink hair that fell against the sides of their face, and although they seemed caring, marionette couldn't help her reaction.

"I'm fine.. what do you want.." she forced out, her eyes slightly squinting and her fingers twitching against the grass in slight nervousity. what was going on with her? usually she'd react differently, with her extroverted and outgoing behaviour, she never had trouble talking to others, no matter if she dislikes it or not. the person smiled hesitantly, a little confused at her reaction. "you just.. looked sad, so i wanted to check on you.."

the other didn't answer after that, looking down at the ground and plucking out more grass, almost annoyed at being disrupted. they watched her for a while, fidgeting with their sleeves, before smiling at marionette once again. "i'm mira." they held out one of their hands, but marionette only shot them an untrusting glare. "... marionette." they mumbled, refusing to shake their hand.

"ohh.." mira hummed, smiling at the smaller one, their expression remaining sweet, even though marionette was clearly aloof towards them. "so um.. you wanna play anything?" they offer, slightly curious and hopeful it'd get the girl out of her shell, even just a little bit. "we can also keep sitting here though, i don't mind.." they quickly added.

"... do you like drawing?" marionette asked, taking three pencils out of the pocket of her shirt. it was a purple one with a broken top, a sharp pink one and a blue one that had a slightly softer top from being used before. "ah, i do!" mira nodded with a bright smile. "would you mind if i took blue?", nette shook her head in response and put the blue pencil in front of the other, before pulling out a piece of paper. it already had a few drawings on it, which were pink and purple.

she put away the purple one, taking pink as she usually did. but instead of writing her name, she this time drew the sun's reflection in the ocean.