The Devil Wears Mascara
Chapter 1: Prologue
"And now, for my ultimate move, the Slidekick Uppercut! Yah! Bsssh!"
Sounds of plastic striking each other came partnered with drool-inducing explosions. One, two, and with one last strike from above like an angel falling into orbit the gi-clad action figure slayed its opponent once and for all, whose plastic, otherwise lifeless body flew off the hand controlling it.
Another hand willed the now victorious figure to hop-walk across the wooden floor to its downed enemy. Its skin was red like blood, clothes as black as tar, horns pointing skyward as it laid at the mercy of the hero.
"Now you better tell your friends to never come back to Earth! Ya hear me?!" The higher-pitched voice made the age of its owner very clear.
A hand moved the downed man ever so slightly. "Y-Yes..."
More saliva-laced sounds came afterwards, as a hand slapped the defeated away and across the room, as though it had instantly teleported back to its homeworld.
"Ha ha!" The victor bellowed, an arm raising it to the ceiling.
Amongst a scattering of action figures and typical children's playthings, a little boy sat on his knees. Sun-kissed skin, brunette hair, and a pair of chocolate eyes with a mole under the right cheek to complete the look. He wore a cleanly white karate gi that seemed just a tad to big for him, along with a white hachimaki wrapped around his head.
Once the battle that had occurred moments ago ended, the boy was right back at it, picking up different toys and putting them in different, sometimes bizarre scenarios. A dinosaur cop chasing a group of cowboys across the snow. Space battles with creatures that would definitely not survive in a harsh planet. Typical doings of the childish mind.
"Marco?"
His ears picked up his muffled name. He set his toys down and looked to the door of his room. "Yeah, mom?"
A click, and then the door opened. A kindly faced woman poked her head into the room. Angie Diaz, mother of the one and only Marco. She had a head full of puffy auburn hair, fair skin and a pair of green eyes that would make other women her age envious and other kids wish she were their mother.
She smiled once her eyes caught the boy. "Had fun playing with your toys?"
Marco nodded with enthusiasm. "Yeah! We just had a huge space battle, with dinosaurs and police officers and... um... this thing!"
He held up a plushie. He couldn't figure out what it was. It was yellow, and it had a weird-looking tail, and that was all he could recognize from the unfamiliar creature. Even to this day, he still couldn't figure out what it was.
Angie softly laughed. "Always imaginative, aren't you? Sadly, your buddies are going to have to take a rest now. We have a guest over!"
Marco's lips had tugged down in a split second before pulling back up at the latter. He hopped up to his feet and ran to her, enveloping her in his small arms. "A guest?! Oh, who is it? Is it Janna? Is it Mrs. O'Durguson with cookies again?" He gasped, "Is it Jackie?!"
She shook her head. "No, silly. It's our new neighbors!"
"Oh..." Marco slowly nodded, then his brows knitted together, "Wait, who?"
"Tsk. Did you forget already?" She poked his nose. "The Lucitors, from down the street a few houses away. They moved in last week. We invited them for dinner tonight, remember?"
"Oh..." He blinked. "...Huh?"
Angie subtly shook her head. "You know, I think it's better if you just meet them personally yourself. Much better than trying to remind you for the umpteenth time."
Angie guided herself and her son out of the toy-filled room and to the stairs. Although he was mostly confused, Marco was excited. Guests! New neighbors! He always liked meeting new people, more so new friends! It was probably the most exciting thing in the world, apart from hanging out with his already known friends and karate.
And plus, at least it wasn't Janna. Don't get him wrong, he liked Janna (not in the girly like-like way, ew, gross, ugh, blegh), but sometimes she stole a bunch of his stuff every time she came over, like pens or toys, and she often made him do embarrassing things to get them back.
It takes a no-brainer to say their friendship was... weird.
Once they reached the stairs, Marco had gone and abandoned his mother's arms and hopped his way down, both thrilled and curious of the new neighbors. Child-sized bare feet smacked against the waxed wood steps one by one, and before his mother could make it down halfway, he was already sprinting at the door.
He managed to stop himself in time to avoid smacking his face on the door. And then, he placed a hand on the handle, then a tug and a click, a pull and...
Marco's smile flicked into a slacked jaw like a light bulb the moment he saw who was on the other side.
Across the threshold of the door stood a girl. She was just his height, and from the looks of it, similar in age as well. Her salmon hair was spiky and short, giving her a tomboyish look that, to a boy who thought girls with short hair weren't up to par with long-haired girls, honestly fit her well. Her eyes were a deep dark red, a pair of lookers that would've probably scared kids younger than Marco, and her skin was so light that he wouldn't be surprised if the sun intentionally avoided her. Her shirt was a deep red as well, a bit bigger than her petite form, and with a big red star right in the middle. And lastly, she wore a pair of denim shorts and a pair of brown boots, also a bit too big for her.
All Marco could do, at that moment, was stare. As soon as the door had opened, their eyes had met and seemingly locked in place. The world seemed to have stood still around them. And he just... couldn't take his eyes off hers. There was... something weird about them. Not a bad kind of weird, but... weird. A good weird, even.
Unfortunately, the moment instantly vanished as the girl snapped her eyes away. She crossed her arms, an almost angry look to her face.
He blinked back to reality. What...?
Sounds of padded footsteps pitter-pattered behind him as Angie finally caught up to his son, standing right behind him.
"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting." The mother said, "I had to help my husband with setting up the table and fetch this little thing." She pinched Marco's cheek, causing a few protests from the boy.
"I-It's fine." A growly voice said. Marco's eyes widened and he craned his neck up. A tall, hulking figure stood before him, just behind the girl in front of him that he somehow hadn't noticed earlier (maybe Janna was right about him needing glasses). The almost skyscraper-like man sported a pretty fancy, two piece gray suit with a light pink undershirt, and a pair of heavily-tinted pair of sunglasses that made it hard to distinguish his face. His equally salmon hair was slicked back and shiny to the max, his chin chiseled and square, and his skin was as pale as the girl's, although a tad bit more tan. Definitely the father of the girl in front of him.
And definitely a cause for neck pain. Ow.
The man coughed, then held out a hand. "I'm David Lucitor, but my... friends from... uh... back home called me Dave."
Angie shook his hand. "Angie Diaz, proud wife of Rafael and mother of this little cute thing."
Motherly fingers demanded cheek pinching and they got it. "Ow! Mo-om!"
Angie giggled once she gave Marco mercy, leaving him rubbing his poor cheeks. David seemed unmoved by the mother-and-son shenanigans, retaining the same stoic look.
Once the pain was soothed by his rubbing (with a few more grumbles target at his mother), Marco faced the girl and, seeing she still hadn't looked at him at all, awkwardly held out his hand.
"Um, I'm Marco. And you are...?"
David looked down at his daughter and whispered, "Greet the boy..."
The girl did no such thing, however. Instead opting to look further off to the side, to the point that any more and she would probably twist her neck.
A slight frown appeared on David's face. He put his on her shoulder and lowered himself more. "Greet... the boy... now."
The girl took a glance up her father, then finally gave in with a huffed sigh. She reluctantly shook his hand.
"Tammy."
To be honest, Marco was a bit stiffened at the clenched tone, more so when she shook his hand with such tightness. If he hadn't known any better, he would've thought she was going to bite his head off.
Fortunately, the greeting ended as soon as it started, and Tammy was back to being irate. Once thy separated their hands though, Marco couldn't help but notice...
Wow, her hands are really warm...
"Well, now that greetings are out of the way, why don't you two come inside?" Angie gestured the father and daughter to come in and they obliged.
Once the door closed, the four acquaintances made their through the living room and on their way to the dining room, with the mother and son leading the way. occasionally, Marco took a few glances back at Tammy. Her eyes scanned everything in the house, from the colorful walls and furniture, the family pictures scattered throughout, all the way to the many knick-knacks his parents had gathered in all these years.
Although her still irate face obviously denied it, to Marco, she seemed fascinated by everything. Like he would be when his parents took him to somewhere new. This was probably the first time she'd seen a house like theirs. Not that farfetched, considering they were new to the neighborhood. And the houses in Echo Creek were quite amazing.
Hmm... I wonder what kind of houses her old town had...
An unpracticed symphony of steps more and in the dining room they went. A dining table laid in the middle of everything, with plates and tableware for five placed at the edges for each seat. The melodic sounds of sizzling joined the pleasant smell of garlic, onions and ground meat, all coming from the kitchen side of the room. As soon as the fragrant scent hit his nose, he couldn't help but suck it all in.
Dad's cooking never failed to make him hungry.
"Honey, come meet the guests!" Angie called.
The muscly man at the stove turned his head over to them. Dark brown hair, chocolate eyes, tan skin and a thin black mustache announced loudly he was the man of the house. He wore a yellow polo shirt, and over it was his oh so familiar apron, a few stains on it of old and recent.
"Oh, hey!" The man flicked the stove off and took the pan off, placing it aside momentarily. He eagerly thrust his hand to the taller man and shot him a smile. "I'm Rafael! You two must be the new neigh- Woah." Rafael craned his neck up and whistled. "You are tall."
"Um... yes." David coughed. "It's... genetics. And yes, we are the new neighbors." He placed a hand on Tammy's shoulder. "This is my daughter, Tammy."
"Well," Rafael crouched down to the girl's height, "Aren't you the cutest thing? How is the new neighborhood treating you?"
Tammy never met his eyes as she stayed quiet, still equipped with that irked face of hers. A light bump from David's arm eventually brought her out of her silent treatment.
"It's... fine."
"Hm. She doesn't talk much, does she?" Angie asked.
David gave a tired sigh. "Well, she didn't have a lot of people to talk to back home."
Both Marco, Tammy and Dave jumped a bit at the sudden gasps from the two Diaz's. Pity covered their faces like whipped-cream pie. Like lightning, Rafael dramatically grabbed Tammy's arms, resulting in a yelp from the girl.
"Oh, you poor girl! No people to talk to? It must have felt really bad to be all on your lonesome!"
"Oh, I could never think a sweet girl like you had no friends!"
Marco dragged a hand down his face. Not again... His parents were so overdramatic sometimes, it physically hurt. To a stranger, they'd think both his parents were part of those drama clubs he keeps hearing from the older kids in school.
"I-I'm fine!" Tammy eventually got out of Rafael's pity grip. She rubbed the sides of her arms as she glared at the man. "I... I don't really care if I'm lonely or not. I'm fine the way I am!"
"But don't you feel sad sometimes if you had no one to talk to?" Rafael asked.
"Like I said, I don't-"
"Oh, I know!" Angie declared, "Marco could be your friend! He likes making friends, don't you, sweetheart?"
"Mo-om, don't drag me into this!"
Tammy seemed to pause for a second, before slowly turning to face him. Her face was still irked, her eyes were as sharp as ever, and he could see a tinge of red on her face. She almost looked repulsed at the idea.
Marco could only respond with an awkward smile.
Why does mom and dad have to be so embarrassing?
David eventually stepped in and crashed the pity party. "Angie and Rafael, I can assure you, she's fine. If she wasn't, I would have done something about it a long time ago."
Their faces were irresolute, unsure that what David said was actually true, but they ultimately let it go. Marco mentally sighed in relief.
"Well, if you say so." Rafael stood and began making his way back to the stove. "Anyway, dinner will be ready in ten minutes!"
Angie looked down at the two kids. "Well, why don't you two get to know each other while dinner's getting ready. The sun's still up so you two can play in the yard if you like. Plus, it'd be nice if Tammy here made at least one friend in the neighborhood."
Marco glanced over to her, and Tammy did the same.
Yup, still held that face.
The young boy looked back at his mom. "Um... okay. Uh, come on, Tammy. Let's get... to the yard."
Marco shuffled awkwardly to the backdoor, opened it and stood at the threshold, looking back at Tammy.
She never moved an inch.
"Tammy, go." David said to his daughter. "I'm going to have a chat with Marco's parents in the meantime."
She said and did nothing for a moment, pausing to stare up at her dad, before finally giving in.
With mild annoyance, Tammy joined Marco to the yard.
The yard was very spacious, indeed. It was as big as the house it laid behind, the soft and almost fluffy grass that took up a majority of the yard kept weeded and well-maintained. Tall picket fences aligned themselves at the perimeter, along with a few patches and bushes of colorful flowers that gave the area a subtle, yet awfully pleasant smell. The warmth of the remaining sunlight of the day could make anyone want to take a nap right in the middle of the yard.
...If they weren't in such an awkward situation.
It had been a whole minute since Marco and Tammy had gone into the yard and sat on the grass. Nothing had happened since. Not one uttered a single word between them. They just sat around in silence while Tammy played with a few blades of grass, knees to her chest and still pretty irked.
Sometimes, Marco would steal a few glances at her from time to time. Sometimes he got a good look of her, but more often she would catch him and he would snap away. A red tinge would then appear on his face.
All the while, he was trying his absolute best to come up with something that they could talk about. Something that they could bond with. Something that could ease them into... well, being less tense.
Ideas came as easily as they went, though. One came to the forefront, was given some thought, then was promptly thrown away because of how stupid it was. Mostly because of... well... mostly because of her.
Man, what does she even like? Marco thought. Dolls, maybe? Dresses? School? Or how about weird and creepy books? Or is that just Janna? Man... she doesn't even look like she would like those things.
The boy mentally sighed. He was out of ideas on this one. Completely blank. Maybe he could just wing it? He could do it - he was confident enough. Really, there was no harm in doing that, right? Well, unless you counted having her impression of him harmed even more as an injury...
"Uh..." He coughed. "Tammy?"
Nothing. She didn't even spare him a look unlike before. The girl only continued to play with the grass in her fingers, breaking them apart and letting them float back to the ground, before picking up new ones and doing it all over again.
"Tammy? Tammy...?"
Again, nothing. Well, almost. She did spare him a very, very quick glance though, this time, before focusing back on the grass. At least that's something.
Maybe this time, she'll finally talk? "...Taaa-"
"Ugh! What do you want?!"
Marco yelped at the sudden outburst, putting his arms up defensively like he was about to get jumped by a thousand snakes. But when the venomous bites never came, he slowly put his arms down, and instead met a pair of equally venomous red eyes courtesy of Tammy.
"I- Uh..." He shuffled under her hardened gaze. If looks could set people on fire, the entire yard would have burned down by now. "Will you... finally talk to me...?"
She crossed her arms with a huff. "Depends if you stop annoying me..."
"Y-Yeah... sorry..." He scratched his cheek, "It's just... you're kinda hard to talk to... when you look like you're about to punch me every time I look at you."
"Well, if you keep it up, maybe I will."
"Um..." He glanced off to the side, then back. "You would... actually punch me?"
She huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "Whatever..." Her fingers went back to the grass, continuing where they left off.
He mentally slapped himself. Nice going, Marco.
Why was it so hard to talk to her? It wasn't because she was a girl. He can talk to his mom, and Janna, and that weird girl with the glasses who writes in her sparkly unicorn journal every class, and Jackie...
Okay, maybe it was a bit hard with Jackie, but whatever! It shouldn't be this hard...
Hmm... maybe I can start with why she moved here...
"So... Tammy." He tugged at the pants of his gi. "Why did you and your dad move to Echo Creek?"
...
...Nothing.
Okay, that didn't work. Um...
"Where are you from, Tammy?"
Again, nada.
He scratched his cheek. "Okay... well, what do you like to do then? I like to hang out with my friends, watch cartoons, and bunch of other fun stuff! How about you?"
This time, thankfully, the girl spared him the same vexed glance before ignoring him again, which was at least something. Marco continued to wait for an answer though, and after a short period of silence, she huffed a sigh of defeat. Bits of grass fell back to the ground.
"I don't know. I like ping pong, video games, fighting..."
Marco perked at the last part. Fighting? I like to fight! Well, more like karate. It's the same thing though! You still fight other people, just with kicks and chops and other stuff...
Eureka!
"You said like fighting, right?" Enthusiasm fueled him as Marco hopped to his feet. "Well, I know karate! It's like fighting, but you use your legs and palms more! See, look!"
The boy began fighting the air around him, doing all sorts of palm strikes and kicks as though a group of ninjas was assaulting. It wasn't the most graceful thing in the world, but he managed to keep his footing throughout.
Tammy watched his demonstration with indifference, often having to dodge away from a few kicks that were too close for comfort.
"...Is that supposed to be impressive?" She asked.
Marco then stopped his little showcase. Sweating and panting, he scratched the back of his neck. "W-Well... not really, but see? I can fight, you like to fight! We can be like... fighting friends! Buddies! Fighting buddies!"
Tammy raised a brow. "You... and me, fighting buddies?" It may have just been him, but he thought he heard her titter a little. "Marco, I don't think you want me to be your fighting buddy."
An instant frown. His arms hit his hips in their descent. "Aw, why not?"
"'Cause I'll think you'll regret it later."
"Well, how bad could it be?" He shrugged his shoulders. "What, so I'll get a few bruises, maybe even a black eye. Heck, I've gotten worse from karate class!"
Really, what can be so bad about her being a fighting buddy?
Tammy sighed. Grass fell once more as she stood up. They were now looking level at each other.
Tammy crossed her arms. "Do you really want me to be your fighting buddy?"
Marco nodded with intense fervor. "Mhm!"
The girl stared at him for a second. If he was getting him to take backsies now, well, she was going to have to try harder!
Seriously, how bad could it be?
After a few more seconds of silence, Tammy shrugged her arms. "Alright, fine, you've asked for it."
The girl then took a few step away from him. Marco was confused for a moment until she turned around and spread her arms out.
"Well, come on, you get the first move."
An instant smile pulled Marco's lips up.
Okay, Marco. This is it! Your training with Mr. Brantley led you to this very moment! Just remember what you learned, and everything will go smooth! Well, hopefully...
Taking a deep breath, Marco calmed himself for a moment. He steadied his footing, clenched his fists, and focused...
And with the element of surpise in mind, Marco charged. His feet struck the grass as he ran to his target, yelling out a war cry all the while. Once he was within range, his hand took the knifehand form, raised it to the sky, and-
In the blink of an eye, Tammy's arm blocked his strike, her form jerking back from the impact. Marco's eyes widened, a sting webbing through his hand. Before he could even realize what happened, Tammy took his arm and threw him over her shoulder. The boy's back instantly met the grassy ground with a loud thud, his breath knocked out of him.
"Ow..." Marco writhed around on the grass for a moment, waiting for the full-body sting to go away before pushing himself back up.
He faced Tammy once again. She was a few feet away from him again, now adopting a proper stance as opposed to just moments ago. Her lips parted as she lightly panted.
Okay... maybe this will a bit harder than I thought...
Silence wafted around them as they stood their grounds. Marco waited to see if she would strike first. She stayed in her place though, practically unmoving, which meant he was forced to move first. Not good.
But he had to. So he ran towards her again, this time going low instead of high. Once near, he tried to palm-strike her stomach, all his strength pushed into this attack, hoping he could stagger her.
But once again, he was denied this small victory as Tammy grabbed his arm like lightning. She swiftly gripped his hand and twisted it, causing him to falter with a pained cry. She then shoved him away, and back to the ground he went.
This time however, there was no pause to recover. He got himself up the instant he went down and charged again. Tammy seemed surprised at the move as he went for a thigh kick to her left. As soon as he was in her space, though, she gasped, bringing her arm back and, with the speed of a hummingbird's wings, punched him straight in the chest.
Marco never saw it coming. The moment her fist made contact, a boom sounded through the yard, and the unfortunate boy was sent flying back. It was like he had been in a first hand situation with an explosion. And not for long, his flying, pained body landed for the last time, right into a bush of flowers across the yard. Leaves and petals exploded from where he landed.
Leaves and twigs poked his body like needles as he laid there, hissing at the pain in his chest. He couldn't move, much less get up, as every time he moved his chest, pain surged throughout his torso.
"Ow... that really hurt..." He muttered, petals of all colors floating safely down around him.
"Marco!" Tammy quickly ran over to him. Concern and guilt painted her face as she pulled him from the bushes and to his feet. Marco hissed at the pain in his chest and... well, everything, but managed to pull himself up nonetheless.
Tammy frantically brushed away the leaves and petals and twigs off his body. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you this bad!"
"I-It's fine... It doesn't hurt that - ow - much." He got into a small coughing fit, then looked down at his chest. As soon as his eyes landed where he wanted them though, they widened to the size of dinner plates.
Right on the chest of his gi, in an almost perfect circle, was a scorched hole. Black soot covered the edges and remnants of smoke emitted off of them, the hole exposing his bare chest.
"Whoa..."
"I'm so sorry!" Tammy was still brushing off all sorts of flora off him. "I-I can make this up to you! Anything you want, I promise! I can-"
"...Can you teach me?"
Her frantic hands paused, and she looked at him with knitted brows. "Huh?"
"This." He pointed to his chest, then looked up at her. "How did you do that?"
"Oh, um..." She glanced away. A slight red tinge appeared on her face as she stuttered, "T-Training, I guess...?"
"Can you teach me how to do it?" The pain in his chest was way back in his mind now as he gripped her arms. "I really really really want to learn how to do it! It looks so cool!"
Her body stiffened at his contact. The red tinge darkened. "Marco, I-I don't think I can teach you... that."
Disappointment instantly crashed into his face. "But... why not?"
"Marco, it..." She scratched her cheek. "It took me a long, loooong time to learn how to do that. I think it will take you a way longer time to learn it."
"But I can be patient! I will be!" Marco raised his finger. "Even if it takes me a bajillion years! A gazillion years, even!"
"Marco..."
"Or maybe a bazillion years, or..."
"Marco."
"How about infinity years? Or-"
"Marco!"
The boy's babbling was instantly cut short.
"Marco, just... stop." She gripped his hand and pushed it down. "I'm not going to teach you that. I can't teach you, and you can't learn it either. So stop, please?"
Silence drifted around them for a short moment as the two stared at each other. Eventually, Marco let it go with a sigh, and dropped his hand from Tammy's grip.
"Okay..."
Sadness pulled down the corners of his lips. His head hung, and he lightly kicked the grass beneath him.
His dejection infected Tammy as she stared at him. Marco looked like a kicked puppy right now. She didn't like it, not one bit. Sadness wasn't her forte, no, especially when it was someone like Marco.
And it wasn't like she could leave him like that either.
She sighed. "Look, again, I'm sorry, okay? Both for... you know..." she gestured to the ruined flowers behind him, "and... you know..." then to his chest, "But it's just... that's not something that can be easily taught. Like I said, it took me a long time to learn how to do that. How much more... you?" She paused, then cleared her throat. "You understand, right?"
Marco lightly nodded. "I know. It's just... I thought it would be nice to finally know a cool move. I mean, I started doing karate two years ago and look..." He pointed to his hips. "I don't even have belt yet."
She didn't know what a belt was or what it had to do with now. Maybe it had something to do with that weird clothing he was wearing? Well, whatever. She needed him to not be sad right now.
Dad didn't need to see this. It's only been a week.
She rummaged around her mind about what she could do. It drew blanks for a few moments, but then, something hit her.
"...You said you wanted to me to be your fighting buddy, right?"
That got his head up from the ground. He nodded. "Mhm."
"Why?"
"Well... obviously because I want to be your friend. But also because I never really had someone I can practice karate with off class. My friends aren't really into it unlike me, and I wasn't close to anyone from my karate class either. I figured, since we both liked fighting, you know..." He coughed, then glanced away.
"And plus..."
He faintly smiled. "I think you're cool."
Tammy's eyebrows raised. That last part was a bit unexpected, to be honest. She didn't think he thought of her as cool. Heck, she didn't think he thought of her as anything really.
When was the last time someone called her that...?
"Um, well..." She chose to set aside that last part and moved on. "Here's the deal. Since I can't teach you that," she pointed to his chest again, "How about instead, I'll be your fighting buddy?"
That really got his attention. "W-Wait, really?"
She shrugged. "Sure. I mean, it's the least I can do."
Marco blinked. Then excitement flooded his system once more. He stepped towards her.
"Really, really?"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes, a slight, slight hint of a smile on her lips. "Sure. Really, really."
As soon as she uttered thosr words, she was enveloped by Marco's arms. She yelped as the boy hugged her like a bear. Merriments sounded through the yard as Marco practically lifted her up.
"Oh, this is going to be the best friendship ever!"
"Yeah," she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet as she yelped, "but can we do it with less hugging?!"
"Oh, sorry!" He brought her back down and backed off, and she sighed in relief at the free space she now attained. But their little moment wasn't over yet as an idea seemed to hit Marco. "Oh wait, we should pinky swear it!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Pinky swear?
"Yeah, pinky swear!" He echoed, putting his hand towards her, pinky finger hooked. "It's what we do when we make promises, so that both of us can't take backsies. We just say what we want to promise, and then we hook our pinkies. I'll show you."
He cleared his throat. "I promise I will be the best fighting buddy this world has ever seen!" He pushed his hand further to her. "Now it's your turn."
"Um..." She looked down at his, and to hers. "Alright... I promise I will be your best fighting buddy in the entire world."
They hooked their pinkies, and cemented their promises.
Marco smiled at her, and although she tried her hardest not to, Tammy couldn't help but smile back.
And so, after their little moment, the two children did what they could do with the remaining day, before dinner called to them with its siren call. Both haven't spoken of the incident in the yard, for Tammy's sake, and instead stuffed their mouths of Rafael's cooking. Talks were had, merriments were shared, but most of all...
A friendship was born.
Jeez, what is it with demon ladies and them making me want to write again?
Well, hello. It's definitely been a while, huh?
So, where do I start... Ah, Hekapoo.
Yeah... "indefinite hiatus" actually meant I kind of quit writing for that story. Looking back on it, it was just too much to handle for me. I mean, 100k words in just 10-11 chapters? That's a whole lot of words. And also because that fanfic truly exploited my laziness when it came to writing. Every time I finished a 10k+ word chapter, I just slapped that shit into a grammar checker and called it a day. It was very, very lazy. I would've probably been fine if chapters were just, say, 4k-5k words. But over 10k? I seriously didn't want to go through that.
And also because I was writing fics for... oh god, the RWBY community, on another account. Oh Jesus, that community. Ugh.
But hey, here I am back, with this story that I hopefully won't abandon :D
...
...
:D
Don't expect back to back updates. I just got back to writing, and I also have other things to take care of in my life (online classes, art, trying not to die by a Chinese supervirus). This is more of a hobby to me right now.
As for HvTFoHE, I'll be putting that one up for adoption. If I can't find the will to finish it, maybe someone else will. I bet they'll handle it better than I have. Expect an update in that fic regarding this some time later.
Anyway, hopefully the next chapter won't take as much time.
See ya.
0187362
PS: Fuck writing on phones.