BlackFox: You’re gonna be there, right?
—
Selena typed into her phone while walking towards her destination. Well, technically it wasn’t ‘her’ phone but she had it for so long now.
—
Ununseptium: Of course, I’m here already.
—
Selena had met him by stealing a phone and hitting up a random user on the chat function. He had done the same. She had just needed someone to talk to. He was there. He hadn’t believed her at first. Would she, if he told her that he stole a phone after his parents and best friend were gunned down in the mall? Probably not.
—
BlackFox: What are we going to do?
Ununseptium: Talk? Without phones this time.
BlackFox: Don’t be mad if it’s super awkward.
Ununseptium: You’re my friend, Selena. You think anything could just set an end to that?
—
Selena tried to picture him. She had never seen a Sjetta before. He described himself as… Well, he wasn’t very helpful with that. She imagined him as a floating ink splotch with eyes that somehow held a phone.
—
Ununseptium: Are you the one with the red hair?
—
Selena jumped and almost dropped the phone she clutched like a raw egg. She looked around wildly. Was that him, over there, at the big tree in the middle of the park? That’s where they wanted to meet. And he vaguely did look like a floating ink splotch. Except with a distinguishable head and arms. She walked up to him, every step feeling like it was taken backwards.
“Hey.” The small floating being said. He looked fuzzy, like the screen of an old TV seen with tired eyes. She almost wanted to reach out and see if she could touch him. His tiny head was as big as her fist, maybe a bit bigger. White eyes looked like sugar crystals in the fuzzy darkness that was his body. His legs hung out of his shirt like black paint dripping off a paintbrush.
“Hello?” he waved his thin arms, thin as Selena’s pinkie finger.
“Hey.” The word brushed over her tongue. She finally looked into his eyes. His mouth smiled when she did. He had no lips, just a hole in his face with jagged edges that were his teeth, she guessed. But that hole smiled.
The phone he held was half his size. He dropped to the floor like a marionette and put it down and floated back up.
“It’s great to finally meet you Selena. I imagined you a bit taller. I’m glad you aren’t”
“I didn’t imagine you… this…”
“…cute?” he read off her lips, “really?”
“I wouldn’t have said that.” she stuffed the phone into her jacket and held up a hand.
“Can I touch you?”
“We’re friends, of course.”
She gently petted his tiny head. It felt smooth, cold and squishy.
“I didn’t know skin would feel this warm.” He murmured.
“I guess it makes sense for you to be cold.”
“How are you feeling, Selena?”
“I’m good.” She assured him and herself.
“Where are you going next?”
“I always just… walked.”
“Could I… walk… with you for a while?”
She would hug him if he weren’t so small. “…Lonely.”
“What?”
“I’ve felt lonely… Stay with me for a while… If you want.”
“Thank you.” He did the floating equivalent of walking in place, that’s what Selena imagined that would look like, until he got himself to rub against her cheek like a cat.
“I’ll protect you from the loneliness.”