"Dark comedy, cold as the ocean..."A warm breeze drifted into The Cave and found it's way to Marinette. A reminder of the world outside of the cave, a world outside of Paradise, everything outside of the exclave of companionship the group had forged, already in a world already designed to be the perfect escape. The gentle wind reminded Marinette that their lovely cave had no lighting-- it was all natural, well, "natural." Still, the late afternoon sun of Paradise gently illuminated the cave with an orange glow, the smiling silhouettes of people she-- he, Ness did too,
they considered allies, crushes, friends, best friends even-- the word 'family' hit hard. It did every time someone here deemed it apropos to use.
The air hit her skin-- the second skin to Ness, that felt just as natural, if not moreso than his own, and it carried that message, that brutal reminder that she and he felt that familial bond with some of these people-- some skill in high school-- that they were his sisters and brothers.
But were they?That doubt. The doubt persisted with Ness when he had to leave the game for an off day or two a week, the doubt that lay subtly beneath every sarcastic remark Marinette made, the doubt that haunted and predated each of their existences... the sham of an existence they shared. A more preferred skin for the same insecure mind, the only real difference was that Marinette could hide that doubt. The breezy afternoon was warm-- in Paradise they were always perfect, even the storms-- but that chilling thought came with it's comforting gale.
"On that laugh to keep from crying..."Too many emotions, best go get some air...Right. She just needed to go and isolate herself for a bit, nothing wrong with that... The Cave has always been a little stuffy, she just needed a little fresh air. She didn't actively sneak as she left the cave, but with everyone else's antics, she probably just blended in. She glided out of the outcrop that was The Cave's entrance, and into the grass and bright sunlight of Paradise, the sunlight of this planet at least. The artificial light warmed her skin, she wandered, looking for a place to settle down, not terribly far from the cave. Eventually she found a place with the shade of the trees but the heat of the sun, the Esquen collapsed on the grass and looked the glowing ball of code. The Paradise sun. Here she didn't have to fear losing her eyesight, not like Ness... She brushed hair out of her eyes to get a better look, another thing that was foreign to Ness...
A new jazzy song overtook her sense of hearing, and she couldn't help but finding herself bobbing her head with the beat, the grass around her, bobbing too, with the wind. From her inventory, she brought out an Esquen cigar, and lit it with her magic in tune with the music. Ness smoked in real life, but only got to try an actual cigar in the world of Paradise. It couldn't have been a fake approximation, the smokey taste filled Marinette's body better than anything the Earth could possibly offer. With another puff, he snake hissed awake. Anima came slithering out of whatever cranny of armor it hid in and wrapped itself around the freelancer's well worn sleeve. It was sophisticated AI, but the tiny golden serpent still had some mysterious 'daww' factor to it. Marinette filled her virtual lungs with smoke again, and let the music be all she heard for the moment. The pair laid in the grass and simply basked in the sun, the silver smoke being the only indicator of their presence.
