Laces - (Amphibia Marcanne Fanfic)

1 - Undesired Solitude

Marcy Wu

Marcy Wu is not one to socialize as much. It's not that she doesn't want to-- really, but perhaps her yearn for knowledge outweighs her will of talking to people.

Don't worry, she still knows how to have fun.. if you count playing on your switch in the dark 24/7 fun. Marcy lives alone-- in her studio apartment, which used to have a roommate in it, but moved out after spending less than a week with the girl.

Marcy had escaped the grasps of parental nurturing months ago as well.

No no, not "escape"..

More like kicked out of the house.
They had some disagreements, let's say.

So nowadays, she spends most her time finishing her senior year so effortlessly and building her cafe in Frog Crossing.

Living in unbothered bliss, doing whatever she wants whenever she wants, with no worries whatsoever..

Despite everything, Marcy never really enjoyed loneliness.

-

Marcy counted her quarters in front of a, STREET FIGHTER 2-PLAYER ARCADE MACHINE, checking if she has enough for a full arcade experience today.

The Newton Mall, is where she was, the place full of nonstop entertainment and main center for Hop Topic shoppers. Yet Marcy chose to spend her day at its arcades only.

"50... 75.. 100.." She mumbled to herself, her face so close to her hand-full of quarters she could smell the coin's metallic-scent.

The arcade today was pretty empty, good for her mind while she beats the frick out of those level-1 street fighting newbies.

Guess I can only play on 6 machines today.. bummer.

Marcy thought to herself, inserting the 25 cents into the arcade machine. Before she could lay her hands on the controls, another coin had entered inside the machine.

Cla-ching..

"Mind if I join?" A confident, matured voice spoke to her. Marcy looked to the right, a tall- dark skinned girl. Her facial features, full of moles and dimples- complimented her curly, deep brown hair tied back into a ponytail.
Acne scars around her shoulders that look like freckles.

Besides her obvious physique- she was an athlete, Marcy could tell, judging from her uniform and magenta duffle bag.
You would've thought she was a basketball player looking at the size of her, but alas she played tennis.. she could tell from the racket that stuck out of an unzipped part of her bag.

"Uhm.. sure." Marcy looked away from the apparent goddess standing near her-- and proceeded to wrap her hands around the controls. Tilting her wrists left and right, as the controls responded to her movement with clicks and clacks, as she selected the best looking character.

The taller girl did so as well, only slower. Her hands changing positions more sophisticated, as if she'd never played on the machines before. She chose the worst looking character, some blue long-bearded lizard in chain armor.

"Shoot.. that wasn't the character I wanted." The tall girl spoke again, hissing from her teeth softly. She scratched her head, receiving no response from Marcy.

"3.. 2.. 1... FIGHT!"

Within seconds Marcy drop-kicked, head-butted and finished off the other girl's character before she could even think to throw a punch of her own.

"PLAYER 1 WINS!"

She looked over to Marcy, who still looked unamused as before, staring into the screen.
"Good... game?" She said, watching as Marcy walked away from her and the machine without a word.

--

Marcy lied awake on her mattress. Her bed at window level because of the storage space under it.
It was a bright night outside, she could look out her window and watch whomever was in the parking lot in clear view. But no, she didn't do that. Instead, she stayed put.

Watching her ceiling as if it were going to move or something. The girl glanced at her window on the right. It wasn't a clear night. In fact the sky was full of stars left and right.

By now Marcy would've been studying the constellations but tonight.. she just didn't feel up to it. Nor did she enjoy herself at the arcade today as much she did before.

Especially about what had happened today.

Only then did she realize how rude she must've been to that stranger.

I feel so bad now.

Marcy thought. Her neutral expression switching to a more, disappointed one.

It was a perfect chance to talk, so why didn't she?

..not that she can apologize now though, but what's all this trouble for?

Marcy felt a sense of uneasiness.

This type of loneliness never really bothered her, at least not until now-- not until she had met this stranger.

What kind of life is this..
To live with such knowledge, but have the inability to even talk to someone.

A life without talking to people.

She's read it somewhere before. A human being, can and always will be incomplete without the interaction in their lives.

Her mind was blank except for these small thoughts.
Something felt missing.

Ever so gently, Marcy pushed strands of hair out of her face. She sighed. Thought again,

When was the last time I loved someone?

Or felt loved. As if I'm the only person's world right now.

Moreover, have I ever had that kind of experience at all?

Marcy lead her hands right to her chest. Under her fingertips was her beating heart.
Each beat so weak against her fingers, yet she could still feel it in her fingers.

She liked the sound of her heart beating, in a way it was relieving.

She wondered, if ever.. she could appreciate another person's heartbeat.