Chapter Text
ever since agent eight had to save the world by hopping on and off of ink rails while covering a human statue in ink-to prevent it from destroying all being-and such, (in high heels too, i may add.) she reached the "promised land" eventually after. it wasn't as cold, or close to how dark it was underground in the labyrinth facility. she found herself fond of the sunlight that peered through the tall plaza's buildings around six o' clock in the early morning, she also enjoyed the varieties of inkling style in clothing too; it was interesting how most of the time, inklings seemed to be more friendly with the concept of looking good than having good battle armor. maybe it was just her bias since she was practically trained and forced to live in the octarian army all her life, at least, that's what she thought. she couldn't remember anything about herself or anything really before she woke up on the filthy, freezing, tiled floor in the metro, humming the calimari inktation. she didn't even know her name, was she a real agent? cap'n cuttlefish had gave her that nickname, which was abbreviated from ten-thousand-and-eight. the harsh reality always hit her like a tumbling boulder rolling down a hill whenever she'd try to dismiss herself questioning her identity; who even was she?
even after all of this, the squidbeak splatoon missions went on as usual. eight didn't mind the missions always having to splat octarians since it was probably to stop any other war from occurring. nonetheless, agent's one and two accepted agent 8 as any other, welcomed her into the crew just as they were favored with to marina ida, even they didn't know she was an octoling at first.
there was one thing she thought of frequently though, and that was of agent three; the broad, closed in and somewhat masculine female inkling catches her eye almost immediately. she was pretty, her brown eyes, her lime colored ink and her calm collected composure was so. magnificent. she admired every part her, she looked up to her and observed her every move. (not... literally of course, i would hope.) her techniques were so on point, she knew what to do and when to do something in a difficult predicament and- it was outstanding. when eight was on the helicopter launch-pad after saving inkopolis, she caught herself staring at the unconscious, soon to wake up inkling with the band-aid on her damaged head. with the breeze strong due to the helicopter propelling near them, engine whirring-this appeared perfect to the octoling. perhaps it was the powerful wind gusts towards three but she peered her eyes open gradually and lifted herself on her knees; examining her surroundings before catching eight staring at her, a pure smile plastered across her lips as she sat her head in her hand. they had a moment of eye contact, something connecting between the two. although they had fought in the metro, and even before the subway incident-to which, eight didn't remember-, it had not hurt to show the kindness of her heart to three after they went on to their normal lives.
they hardly saw each other now, with agent three being the captain under filed paperwork and agreements, she was busy, much more busy. so that left agent eight to live with agent four. not that that was a bad thing, she did not wish to live with marina and pearl since she felt they would be busy as well, starting and expressing themselves with other bands could leave the mansion, lonely. they still checked up on her every now and then to see how eight was handling inkopolis nearly on her own, this was a big responsibility.
it all came the same to her, wake up, get ready, go out with four and come home to relax. it wasn't four that bothered her, and they stayed in sometimes as well! playing squid beatz, or squid racer. but, this evening were different. four had settled a schedule with her friends and told eight she should tag along since-it was rare she handled something like an event or get together, she were usually all over the place but that's how she was and she was alright with her decisions. reluctant, the octoling accepted the invitation. she needed to get out there and be more social anyways.
around an hour before four's alarm rang, eight had already awoken and sat on the edge of her twin sized bed. the room that was originally a plain, guest room, was transformed into a more retro stylized world. (after all, the whole retro camera aesthetic after you completed a mission in octo expansion really got me hooked.) the bed sat in the corner of the room while the walls were covered with purposely uneven leveled band posters which were placed next to one another that her roommate suggested to her, some other posters were of the idol groups; squid sisters, off the hook, etc. the entire feel of the bedroom space was soft since the only light source was the led lights that hung low along the very top edges of the walls, the rainbow changing colors always stimulated eight for some odd reason. something about rainbows slowly fading into the next color made her appreciate it's existence more. taking a moment to draw a breath, she turned her head to the rectangular "box" that held the time frame in it, (this fascinated eight, she'd never even think octarian's use their skills to make a construction piece like that, so powerful !) it was seven o' clock. taking more glimpses at the objects around her, she analyzed the alarm clock. it stood on top of her small night stand that had a tiny lamp and a regular sized picture frame that held a photo of captain and four, presumably taking a selfie-the captain looked slightly irritated, and the thought of this made her giggle to herself, four must've gotten extra work for "wasting her time" but she doubt it, four was extremely close to the captain; even if she wasn't noticeably open to the hyper agent.
she didn't think to wake four this early since she'd complain to get another five, ten minutes of sleep. she stood up and stretched her arms out, then reached for her cellular device, the case in the shape of a simplified octopus. she read the following on her plain pink lockscreen,
< NEW NOTIFICATIONS SINCE 5:32 AM. >
her eyes lit up, no one really had the time to text, or call eight, due to their schedules. too eager to ponder on who or what it was, she pressed on the alert and it opened the app it came from. her fingers clutched and pressed hard against the phone, her smile fading into a look of surprise and her eyes widened. her face was lit with the brightness of the phone so close to her face since she had to bring the device to her eyes directly to see if she were hallucinating. she felt hot in the face for a strange reason, embarrassment most likely.
the captain had texted her.
(5:32AM)
three > hello eight, i assume four had told you about our plans for today. therefore, i look forward to seeing you. ah, i was given your number as well if you were concerned.
she replied almost immediately, she was smiling as she thought about being be to see the captain, and hang out with her. the thought of why four hadn't told her she didn't tell her was still lingering in her mind, but that wasn't as important. tapping her fingers softly on the digital keyboard, she reread her response before confirming to send it for a brief moment. then, delivered it.
(7:02AM)
eightballhater > oh! salutations captain! i was not expecting this, four did not tell me that you were going to hang out with us today! maybe she forgot?? ( >⌓< )" i hope you are doing well!!! many thanks for contacting me!!
eight had hoped she seemed alright and not too, desperate to talk-even if she was. the captain was busy so she didn't want to interfere with anything that she was originally doing. she went to place her phone down, not expecting a quick reply. but instead just placed it in her pocket in case she received another message. at a moderate pace she walked over to her closed bedroom door and stepped back to quickly admire and appreciate the decoration she placed on it; there was a long pink squid friend plush hanging from the door coat rack. next to it was her personal favorite, an octo plush pearl had custom-made ordered for her. agent eight sort of disliked how there were so many squid and inkling merchandise. there were plushies, shirts, even brands named after inklings! hardly since then there were a grow in octoling merch, even though the octolings had been accepted into their society. marina had found her sighing on her laptop near the balcony one morning and gave pearl the idea, there's never a bad moment with her. nodding in almost an approval towards these insentient objects, she carefully turned the silver knob on her white painted door so as she closed it it did not make a loud slam sound-and save eight the trouble of waking her roommate early...
walking down the slim hallway, on the other side was her friend's closed bedroom door. smiling to herself at the thought of four cozily sleeping peacefully made her happy. her tentacles curled gradually with some sentience and emotion, displaying her affection for the other; even if she weren't there to see it. she tippy toed down the steps of each creaky stair that led down to the living room. one board in the staircase creaked loudly and once down, eight found herself scolding her brain for not noticing the damaged difference in that board compared to the others, even in the dimmed area that sunlight didn't reach.
flopping onto the rather huge, cold, and comfy couch, she took the tv remote from the wide coffee table that was a few feet away from the couch. pressing the power button, the tv flickered on; deep cuts podcast announcement channeling on automatically. to not cause a disturbance, eight muted the tv temporarily and got up once more to push the curtains behind the tv to let some sunlight crack through the opening, then, laid down again.
BZZ!
she felt the phone vibrate in her pocket and it sent a shudder across her body and went to grab it. taking the device in her hand quickly, she opened the notification with almost bursting glee.
(7:09AM)
three > huh. strange of her, she usually can't keep her mouth shut about her plans. somethings up but i wouldn't stress about it, it is probably a prank she's going to pull. thank you for being so kind eight, and please, don't hesitate to call me three, i don't mind. we're not upholding anything serious about the NSBS.
she had a burst of serotonin by the few last lines of her message; was she really close enough to call her that? it wasn't her actual name. it seemed stupidly special to the octoling to a degree she got up, then started to pace around and shifted her weight on one foot to the other. (while multitasking as well, she was now hasting and typing quicker this time.)
(7:10AM)
eightballhater > ah! okay three! i wish only to respect your boundaries, and if that is okay with you then all is well! <33
three > that's a pretty heart you made, eight.
agent eight genuinely contemplated typing on how she thought three was pretty, though her gut feeling said it'd be too much embarrassment, she took that train of thought and ran with it. her tentacles curled into rolls as she pressed the letters on her keyboard to form the sentence, extremely slowly. the deep cut's daily announcements had even ended shortly before, finishing stating the ongoing courses for this morning. letting her thoughts get the better of her, she pressed deliver message.
(7:17AM)
eightballhater > i think you're pretty, three.
(read.)
"yikes. being left on read is horrrrrible." four said in a whiny tone with a loud voice (even if she was speaking directly into her ear.) over her shoulder, leaning over the couch arm and peeking onto eights short conversation with the captain on her phone. the bright light casting small shadows over some parts of both of their faces.