Mischievous Function

Marker, Smash or Pass?

Meanwhile, Balloon's eyes were wide as he blinked at the screen. "...I have no idea what I just watched," he admitted, "but I think it was pretty cool."

Foldy patted his shoulder and smiled patronizingly at him. "You'll understand one day, kid."

"Kid?" Balloon protested. "We're both in high school!"

"You know what I mean."

Just then, Suitcase came walking around the corner, looking around the area before spotting the group. "Hey, guys," she waved as they turned to face her. She pointed to Stapy and Foldy and told them, "Marker asked me to find you two. He told me to tell you to meet him at the café—the one on the second floor. Said he was 'ready' now or something."

The two gamers' eyes widened as they both grinned. "Ready to get his butt kicked in Culpable Cog -Thrive- Mobile again, eh?" Foldy smirked as she nodded to Stapy and began walking off.

"Yeah, dominate someone else for a change," Stapy agreed as he followed her. "Thanks, Suitcase."

"No problem! Have fun!"

——————————

Meanwhile...

"And here's your receipt," the cashier droned as Marker put away his wallet. "We'll have that right out for you. Have a good day."

Marker nodded a thank-you and turned to find a place to sit. There weren't that many people in the café at this hour; only a couple of stray guests here and there, either on their phones or typing something on their laptops. He shrugged and looked around before settling on a four-person booth and heading toward it.

As he walked, he looked down and pulled out his phone to check his various socials. He swiped across his screen and mentally debated whether to check his Stumblr or Coquelicotdit—completely missing the clumsy, rushed girl barreling toward him.

"Oof!"

"AAH!"

The girl, in her panic, smashed into Marker with a shrill yelp, sending the two of them tumbling down to the floor—or, rather, only her tumbling to the floor. Marker was pushed back, but he managed to catch himself on a nearby table.

She let out a loud cry of pain as she gripped the side of the arm she landed on, followed by several smaller wails. "Ow—ow, ow, ow..." she mumbled. Soon, however, she looked up at Marker and immediately held her hands out in front of her, super embarrassed. "Oh, my God, I am so sorry," she said to Marker. "Are—are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that," Marker said in a concerned tone as he walked toward her, eyes widening at hearing her pained noises. "You sound hurt."

The girl grimaced as she nodded and gestured to her arm. "Yeah, I already tripped into the wall on my way here. Ah—damn..." she hissed as she shut her eyes.

Marker knelt in front of her and inadvertently flicked his head to the side to get his bangs out of his face. He slowly extended a hand out toward her with a concerned smile as he gently said, "Here. I'll help you up."

The girl gazed up at him and held eye contact for a bit longer than a few seconds, her heart skipping a few more beats than she'd have liked as she started to realize the situation she was in. Her mind started to race as the light blush on her face began to grow deeper and deeper.

"Uh...you okay?" Marker asked, tilting his head to the side as he examined her face closer. "Your face is getting red."

Her face burned as she realized how close the two of them were and she flinched away, laughing awkwardly and finally forcing herself to look away from him before answering, "Y-yeah, I'm...I'm okay. Just...zoned out, that's all."

Marker chuckled. "Yeah, I do that a lot, too."

She took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet, straightening her shirt before nervously laughing. "Sorry again about smashing into you," she meekly muttered. "I guess I was in such a rush to get here, I didn't even try to pass you instead."

"Ah, no worries," Marker grinned with a dismissive wave. "I'm not in a rush. So, you meeting someone here?"

"Hm? Oh—no, I work here," the girl replied. "I had some errands to run on the way, so I figured I might as well get here early for once. You?"

"I got some friends coming," he replied. "But I think it'll be a while."

The girl nodded before checking her phone, and Marker took some time to study her more closely. She seemed young and a bit scatterbrained and looked around his age. Though she had tried to straighten it, her sky blue shirt was still a little wrinkled, and her long, blonde hair was very messy and hastily done, if done at all.

He noticed something on the ground next to them and looked down to pick it up. "Oh, hey, I think you dropped this," he told her, holding up a small blue butterfly-shaped hair clip.

The girl looked up from her phone and gasped. "Oh, crap, that is mine," she whispered. She planted her face in her hands and let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Thanks," she said in a muffled voice.

Marker took a step forward to put the clip in her hair, completely missing the fact that the girl's blush had just gone from 0 to 100 in two seconds. "There you go," he said with a satisfied smile as he stepped back.

"O-oh, uh...th-thanks," the girl stammered as she couldn't help but smile and brush her hair out of her face with her hand.

"No problem," Marker said, giving her a thumbs-up. "One of my cousins always wears hair clips whenever they visit, but it always looks horrible whenever they put it on themselves, so I'm pretty used to doing it."

"Really? That's interesting—"

"Sunny?" a voice called out from behind the counter. Marker and the girl looked back at the counter to find the cashier walking out of the kitchen with Marker's food in a bag. "Wow, you're here early."

"Yeah," Sunny shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck. "I had some errands to run on the way, so I figured I might as well."

"Ah, okay. This your boyfriend?"

Marker snickered and covered his mouth with his fist as he slightly turned away while the girl's blush got redder and redder. "N-no, he's not!" she quickly told the cashier as the latter raised her eyebrows, somewhat unconvinced. "We just met!"

"Yeah, she almost pushed me to the floor," he smirked, causing the girl to squeal and bury her face in her hands again.

The cashier burst out laughing as she slammed her hands on the table. "Hot damn, little lady, ain't you forward!" Sunny let out another groan, but couldn't help a little giggle behind the hands covering her face. "You gonna let her do that to you, man? Get her back! She can take it!"

"Ehh..." Marker said as he stroked his chin in playful thought and stared down at her. "...Pass. As fun as that seems, I don't think her body can take being smashed on everything for much longer."

The two of them chuckled again while Sunny let out a long, drawn-out, and mortified screech from behind her hands. After a few seconds, the cashier shook her head and looked Marker up and down. "It's a real shame you ain't, though," she sighed as she shook her head. "He is a cute one, Sunny. Heck, I'd probably take him for myself if I had any interest in relationships, come to think of it."

"Oh, my frickin' God..." Sunny moaned through her hands as Marker laughed and shook her shoulder jokingly.