JOE AND DIANNE ONESHOTS.

TOO LITTLE SPACE.

DIANNES POV:
"Joseph!" my whines persisted onwards with each hefty grunt escaping my lips, the box with mighty weight proving it's load by my finger's clutch to the sides attempting to heave it across our floorboards with the final speckles of energy in my bones. "Joe.." the resonating cries for his assistance resorted to lethargic whines, up until the box's front edge was caught on the metallic border between rooms, this exhilarating sensation that my job was complete trickling through my whole body. Despite any ounces of vigour within me granted towards this torturous journey, my limbs ascended into the air on my celebratory lap of our lounge the occasional holler escaping my lips. Concluding this victory jog by clutching onto the side of the box gasping for the atmospheric air to fill my lungs, from my peripherals a blurry figure was visible. "Oh.. hello!" I breathed out identifying the mystery figurine as Joe, furrowing my brows and rapidly pointing my index finger between the box and ourselves. "Did you.. any of my calls? No?" unable to form a comprehensible sentence until my body dwindled downwards, my fingers clamping onto my thighs as I attempted hefty breaths to regain composure.

"I did.. I just chose to ignore you," the mug upraised to his lips to sip away at the liquid, flawlessly concealing his smug smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. Playfully rolling my eyes at his comment my legs, with every particle of energy within my body directed to these limbs, traipsed the short distance to the bar stools that my bottom crumbled into in a heap. His forearms flattened on the countertop with the mug nestling in between his palms, his head nudging towards the elephant in our room that rocketed to an insane height before questioning it's contents. "Basically.." my palms clapped together to generate a sound of the fingers clamping into the skin, Joe sipping away at his tea across from myself whilst intently listening to the explanation for this impulsive purchase. "It is this latest fitness model, practically a combination of a treadmill with a leg press into a neat package! I was instantly attracted to it on the website, then the price completely swayed my decision! You understand the feeling of being unable to resist something.. right?" my utter enthusiasm of my afresh investment was cut short by the expression prevailing over his features - his eyebrows creased inwards to create this wrinkled effect, his lips flat-lined to unveil a demeanour of emotionless, his eyes narrowed to a thin shape, his head was angling towards one side.

"It's just.." his hesitation was clogged by an exhale of breath as his fingers fiddled with the minuscule amount of hairs on his chin. "Is that not exactly the same equipment from the last weeks? Almost every single day another parcel is directed upon our doorstep, delivering these contraptions you insist shall provide entertainment, yet the majority of these are dumped into either our spare bedroom or the balcony, disregarded for these shiny new toy," his questioning upon myself commenced, the slight harshness to his phase scraping weak wounds along my skin. "Lockdown is challenging for us all, some more than others admittedly, these four walls are a constant bore. But Dot our house is crammed with these random items and strange artefacts who's purpose is practically useless once this period of our lives inevitably ends."

Besides the unintentional harsh reality to his words, this was not a solitary aspect to dishearten me from the previous elation on my purchase. Undoubtedly there was partial truth to this yet my spontaneous investments were neither an aggravation to him nor a method of cluttering each avaliable space with my belongings, but rather a technique of distraction to the utter catastrophe occurring to the universe around us. At the beginning of the pandemic it was incredibly unpredictable the impact this constant residing within our four walls could have on our live's typical activities but more importantly the mental stability of those in a lockdown situation. For all touring and travel plans to be confiscated from my life within a second, altering any objections for the year abruptly, was considerably more demanding than possible to admit. Travelling the world - either across wide oceans or over motorways - observing the famous sights and exposing ourselves to the culture evident in these cities, staying in their hotels to absorb the mini details hidden throughout the room, supplying small businesses with money when tasting the signature delights attributed to their town, was a unique experience once taken for granted.In these cities performing the skill my life is dedicated towards, being pampered by a crew who specifically understand the issues with my hair and the cosmetics perfect to my skin type, dressing head-to-toe in an attire fit for an absolute princess heading out to their regal duties, moving my body in this artistic manner to the rhythmic beats that portray the story of these fictional characters, was an aspect incredibly difficult to let go of.