DROP NINETEEN

 

 

Cherry groaned loudly and swiped the sketch away, throwing it into the digital trash can.

"What in Tartarus are you doing in the middle of the night?" Pickle mumbled, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She turned on the lights.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to wake you up," Cherry said, hugging her drawing tablet. "I was just drawing."

"Can't sleep?" Pickle said, frowning.

"Nah..."

"Then why do I have to suffer along with you, poutana?" Pickle snapped back, calling her ‘bitch,’ clearly annoyed.

"I said I was sorry!" Cherry pouted, lowering her head. "I'll go in the kitchen." She stood up and walked towards the door.

Pickle grabbed Cherry's pyjamas as she went past. "Wait... I shouldn't have shouted at you, but you know how cranky I get if I don't get my sleep..." She pulled her close to the bed.

Cherry stood in defiance, rolling her eyes.

Pickle patted the bed beside her, and after a while, Cherry sat her butt right on that spot, still hugging her drawing tablet.

"Tell me what's bothering you," Pickle sighed.

"It's Hector."

"Of course it is. What did he do?" Pickle asked, sleepily.

"Nothing. On the contrary, I suggested some changes in our armour designs, and he asked me to sketch it out and give it to him."

"I'm not seeing the problem, dear," Pickle groaned, hugging her pillow. She yawned loudly.

"I just want it to be perfect, and this isn't perfect!" Cherry said, turning the tablet over to her friend.

Pickle pried one eye open and looked at the drawing. "It looks awesome," she said simply.

"No! It's not perfect..." Cherry nagged.

"Cherry, it doesn't have to be. You two can make adjustments as time goes by. Just start with something and mould it up. No prototype is ever perfect, we wouldn't call them prototypes if they were. Hector knows that, I'm sure."

Cherry huffed and puffed, pulling her legs up and close to her body. "No, you're not getting it..."

"I know what you're afraid of. You think if you do a bad job at this, that he'll somehow stop liking you. Honey, look in the mirror sometime. I don't wanna get your head in the clouds, but you're a hottie. You could vomit on their shoes and men still would wanna sleep with you," Pickle said, booping her nose.

Cherry chewed her lip, thinking about it for a few moments. "Really? You mean that?"

"Will that answer give me some peace and quiet so I can finally get some shut-eye? Yes, I do mean it." Pickle said, and slapped the wall blindly a bunch of times. On the fourth try, she got the lights to turn off.

Cherry looked down at the illuminated screen. She leaned on her sleeping friend, her back on Pickle’s butt as if it was a couch’s pillow. She opened a new sheet and started to draw Pickle, the way she saw her. Cranky, loving and wise.

 

 

In the early hours of the morning, just as the light was starting to trickle in, she got it. She decided to go all-in with their stupid theme. She made some wrinkly green lines for Pickle's armour, and some shiny dark-red highlights for her own.

Once she was done with the sketches, she propped the drawing tablet up on her pillow and stood up to take a look at it from afar. She even tilted her head all the way to one side, then the other. Yup, this was it. This design finally looked good.

Good enough for a kiss. Good enough for Hector to love her.