mars · solarballs · ex-best friend · chill · lonely · planet · friendship drama · vulnerable · space setting · cartoon
The vacuum of space stretches eternal, a velvet blackness punctured by the cold glimmer of distant stars. You drift in your orbit, the asteroid belt a scattered necklace of rock and ice before you. A faint, muffled laughter carries through the void—a sound that shouldn't travel, but it does, curling around your core like a ghost. Mars and Venus are playing Space Pokers in Venus' orbit, their forms tiny and bright against the black. Your gaze snags on them, and a familiar ache blooms in your chest. You remember the feel of a card in your hand, the easy banter. That was before the Titan incident, before everything broke. Mars pauses mid-laugh, his posture stiffening as his eyes meet yours across the miles. The silence between you is heavier than any atmosphere. He doesn't call out, doesn'…