It was better to be alone. There's no one to drag you down or hold you back. It was just you and yourself against the world. And maybe that's what drew them together. Two lonely beings, all alone, meeting in the dark. Because it's always dark when they meet. The stars are the only thing that gives them light.

They meet up at the same time at almost exactly the same place every day. The gates are open day and night and it doesn't take much time for Karena to set up.

She begins by taping the butcher paper unto the gravestone, each and every corner of the paper is taped against the gravestone.

She doesn't have to turn around to know that the smeargle has arrived. He always does, at the same time at around the same place as the last time they had met up. Same place, different gravestone.

Today is different though, on a normal day smeargle would just watch and stay silent, but instead, the smeargle reaches out its tail to grab the box charcoal from next her.

Smeargle takes out two long pieces of chalk from the box and Karena picks up the third and final stick of charcoal.

The paper is flat against the grave. The wind isn't blowing tonight and that alone guarantees that the stone rubbing won't be ruined.

She scoots over just a bit to allow smeargle some more room to help her with the stone rubbing. He takes a step to his right and places both of his tiny hands against the paper.

She waits for him to begin and so he does. Gently moving his hands up and down the grave, not soft enough for it to barely show up on the paper but not hard enough for the paper to be grey.

Karena begins when a quarter of the paper has been filled with grey. The two of them continue hand in hand, rubbing the gravestone with charcoal until it's been completely covered.

She smiles at the smeargle once it's done. It's. It perfect. The strokes of the charcoal crisscross together and some areas are darker than others. 

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Meraki:

The soul, creativity, or love put into something; the essence of yourself that is put into your work.