“It was fucking garbage, Wayne.”
“Hey, cmon, I liked it.”
“Oh, you liked a mindless action movie with scantily clad Hollywood women and explosions every 5 minutes? Stop the presses!”
This argument between Wayne and Sylvia had been going on like this from the moment they walked out of the theatre right up until now, as a promising anniversary date was slowly turned sour by the Hollywood machine.
“It's not my fault if you can't appreciate the nuance and subtext of a movie like this.”
“Nuance? Nuance is not the issue here, Wayne. The issue is that you knew I hate these kinds of movies and yet you dragged me out to one anyway. How come we never do anything that I want to do?”
“Hey, I took you to see New Order that one time.”
“That was last February!”
The argument kept on like this before finally running out of steam as they reached the bus stop, both of them wordlessly realising that they were going in circles. Sylvia sat down with an aggravated sigh, with Wayne about to join her before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
“Ah shit, I gotta take this. I'll try not to be too long.” He said, walking around to the other side of the shelter as Sylvia groaned out something that sounded vaguely like “whatever,” knowing full well that he probably would be too long. She tried to keep herself occupied, mostly by constantly checking the time with what little battery she had left on her phone to see when the bus was supposed to arrive, before her ears pricked up at a sound she didn't quite know how to describe. It was like a football hitting a wall, but slower and more… hollow? She wrote it off as just mysterious late evening ambiance, before finally turning around as she heard it a second time. When she did, she was met with a sight that, once again, she didn't quite know how to describe.
There, just above the top of the shelter, was what appeared to be a giant flesh-coloured balloon, roughly 7 feet wide. As she watched, it got caught on a breeze and bumped into the roof again, making that same hollow *bwoomph* sound as Sylvia had heard before. With that mystery solved, Sylvia was about to write off the admittedly strange sight as more than she was willing to deal with in her current mood before noticing something else even more strange. As she gave the balloon a closer look, she noticed odd protrusions around its circumference, whichshe quickly realised were hands, feet, and the upside-down head of a man. He looked to be in about his early-mid 20s, with puffy, swollen cheeks. Furthermore, she noticed one of the hands had a string tied around it, which she followed down with her eyes to a woman who, Sylvia thought, must have only just sat down while she was looking at her phone.
She wore striped black thigh highs with spiked black boots and a black skirt, along with a small purse slung over one shoulder and a simple white t-shirt and black cardigan. A simple, dark outfit that both contrasted with and matched her carefree yet mischievous smile.
“They're so much cuter like this, aren't they?”
Sylvia had been so absorbed by the spectacle that it had taken her a few seconds to even register that anyone was talking. “Wuh? O-oh, right, that... Uhhhhhhh, I guess?” She replied in confusion.
“Don't worry, I was confused at first too.” The mystery girl said, giggling a little at Sylvia’s bewilderment and extending a hand. “I'm Marie, by the way.”
“S-Sylvia.” She said, slowly regaining her composure as she accepted the handshake. “Soooooo, what's the deal with that?”
“Him? Oh, me and him had been dating for a few weeks. It wasn't really working out, so I decided to actually get some use out of him.” Marie explained, looking up and admiring her balloon.
