sharks call me cold-blooded

Isola-affiliated RP blog for Shiver from Splatoon 3! Not indie-friendly.

[moraypower]

It's subtle, but after so many years together, impossible to miss. The bowstring tension that draws Shiver's shoulders back, the quiet lift of her head as they snap to careful attention. At first, Frye only blinks, thoughts running straight into the ground as she processes the sudden shift.

"Wait, he didn't tell you?"

Blurted without warning, tangible disbelief colors the words, tongue running dry as cotton. How long ago had that encounter at the market together been? The memory feels scrambled now, bittersweet pain purposefully lost in a sea of activity-- but she's pretty sure it'd been a while! A while since she'd reunited with him, and a while again since he'd...

It's impossible to tell which emotion comes first. Surprise, guilt and anger all break an immediate storm across Frye's face, brow crinkling and beak pulled back for half a second in a directionless scowl before then falling into a stunned, wide-eyed look.

"I-- I thought he already said something to you!"

The defensive sputter is the only coherent response she can muster, reeling from the conflicting emotional wake hard enough to drop the plush.

"He really didn't say anything? After I'd just chewed him out for not talking to me?!"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

The stunning sensation of realization hasn't quite finished washing over Shiver when Frye's response hits. It takes a moment to simmer, to fully sink in as to how her partner's handling this. She'd just assumed Big Man had talked to them about his presence? And been okay with leaving it there?

"No, he didn't- and I'd have some strong words for him about that, believe you me. I think what's more pressing here is that you didn't say anything either."

Trembling fingers tightened around her fan, the hand holding it raising sharply by her shoulder. The tip was aimed forward, as if to jab ahead...before the accessory was flipped open, and Shiver began to wave it towards herself.

"Whatever dumb mistakes Big Man made in the past, we were all in the city, and you knew. Why would you not already be blowing up my phone to make sure I found out as soon as possible? Shouldn't you have been leaping for some kind of celebration?"

Where Frye's expression danced between a range of emotions turned inwards and out, Shiver's was completely iced over in a glare, focusing simmering anger to bore right into her constant companion. Just another mask of some easier emotion to handle. Loud confidence masked crippling uncertainty. Passive-aggression masked intense frustration.

Quiet rage masked venomous pain. Pain that struck one of her greatest insecurities and bloomed swiftly throughout her body.

"You and Big Man must've been having a pretty great reunion, if the fact that all of Deep Cut wasn't together slipped both of your minds. Maybe you at least remember that well enough to help me settle for a firsthand account?"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

@moraypower

It's not as if it was a surprise to see Frye at the big concert that had been planned to try and defend the city. Protect the place from the freaky aliens that had an attack lined up, all with the power of their own music? It was a course of action right up her alley, and Shiver knew it.

Even so, annoyance and a faint, dulled irritation were settled over the Octoling at their partner's presence at the concert. Their conflict over not having been told of Big Man's former presence in the city still felt fresh- they'd still rather not see the one responsible if they could help it. But they'd already decided they wanted to help out here, and anyone who knew Frye would know she wouldn't be the one to bow out.

So a solo contribution it would be. Her focus bore down entirely upon the song she sang, never once slipping besides to glance over at Frye while she did the same. Just to make sure she was at least pulling her weight too- this whole gathering was just asking for the aliens to pile up some bodies, after all. Every singer would have to give it their all to make sure those monsters were weak enough to deal with, which, of course, she herself was already doing.

Not like Frye wouldn't do the same, but...she wanted to be sure. That's all.

[fairhelios]

this is a lot more difficult than it needs to be- without sunlight, he's vulnerable in ways that he shouldn't be. it would sure help if he knew how to sing, but it seems like he'll have to throw a well timed ark or a full counter here and there to manage the situation.

he could really, really use a singer.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

There's scarcely time to register where the nearby trail of blue ink had come from, nor the single dorsal fin that travels its length, before an eruption of the same liquid bursts from the ground. Straddling atop a stylish megalodon equipped with some sort of hover jet device, the beast's tamer belts an upbeat, enchanting melody. The words they sing barely sound human, somehow circumventing whatever allowed for most languages here to be understood, but the tune clearly draws the attention of the nearby monsters, their defenses weakening.

Her piercing red eyes meet the archangel's as she continues to sing, silently seeking to get one message across: 'If you're going to do something, now's the time.'

[moraypower]

"Right? What's with the way he keeps poppin' in and out, too? Last time I saw him around, he said he was here for a week without us! And then he vanished again just as quick!"

Aggravation cut a sharp edge through Frye's growl, bitter fire searing hot off the tip of her tongue. Trembling between squared fingers, she clutched tight to a familiar plush with a force hard enough to nearly pop a tear through the seams.

Logically, she knew it wasn't his fault. The manta was far from the first person she'd watched come and go throughout her years here, and despite all the time spent trying, she still hadn't figured out a way to brute force the whims of those above.

But how long were they supposed to keep sitting here, waiting with hands tied for their missing third? How many times was he going to come back, only to be torn away like he'd never been with them at all?

There had to be something they hadn't tried yet.

"Do you think the Stars will listen to us if we do something to that big hole they've got? Like, throw a bunch of burning stuff down it, or..."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

Shiver knew how the city worked by this point- not the science of it, but the general idea. None of them really had any control over their presence here, and as far as she knew, how long they stayed was down to luck of the draw. Her quiet indignation at Big Man’s absence was an expression of sorrow and frustration at not having figured out some way to tip things in their favor- not for lack of trying, of course.

She'd gotten used to vamping about their situation with Frye before, tossing ideas back and forth, executing on them to little success shortly thereafter. It was just part of their dynamic here, and they fully expected things to go that way today as well.

But there was something Frye had said. Something that demanded her attention, something that set off an alarm in her head that she really hoped was over nothing.

"Last time? Popping in and o- Frye, has Big Man...been here before? And you knew at one of those times?"

[sphinxmemesmusings]

Send my character a ► and a command. They must obey.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"...You know. It's really inconsiderate of Big Man to keep us waiting around for so long. How are we supposed to make all the Dust we can if Deep Cut can't put on any proper concerts?"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Anybody else get this gross format update on their phone? Pretty terrible gift to give an octo on their day, I have to say..."

[swordsovereign]

❝ no- that's different. see, back where i'm from, i tried to get my team together for a nice summer vacation- ❞ multiple times, in fact, and in the rare occasions that any of the other eternals joined, something always happened. not that he was about to admit that- ❝ and i guess there's something about a nice summer day at the beach that takes away a bit of that homesickness ... ❞

❝ i'm sure it will warm up soon enough, at least if we hope enough, the stars might change the weather here as a gift! they seem to know how to do that. ❞

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Oh, so it's for a beach day...yeah, I guess my suggestion wouldn't really amount to the same kind of experience. Not much help with the sentimental part of it, either."

"But maybe you're right about the Stars! They've always seemed kind of fickle to me, but maybe something'll make them willing to listen? Maybe bring the turn of the season a month or so earlier..."

She wasn't really sure how feasible it was, but hey, anything to the conversation focused on a topic less likely to touch on the same kind of lonelinesss she herself was vulnerable to.

[swordsovereign]

❝ oh man, i really could use some warmer weather! ❞ which really means he'd love to go to the beach and try to pull off that beach boy persona- the one that didn't quite land back in the skies.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Maybe hang around in the Land of Burnt Umber? You could count the days that place has had where standing outside won't make you sweat off a couple of pounds on your fingers alone."

[gaiaspoken]

"Hm, if you could pick one flower to describe yourself, what do you think it'd be? There's no wrong answer, I'm just curious!"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Ahh, that's an easy one- lavender. Lovely in hue, adored for many good reasons, yet still able to thrive in environments that would see other plants wither. And what about you?"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

@moraypower

In no crowd of well-behaved party attendees can there ever be an absence of troublemakers. At least that was how Shiver saw things, given she'd never been in a crowd with such an absence before. Though no active trickery was going on at the moment, it was always a safe bet that Deep Cut had something up their sleeves. And from the way their leader weaved between the other partygoers, palm turned outward to have fingers threaded through those of Frye- also darting around with them, naturally- that image was being well-upheld to any observing the pair of inkfish.

"Remember: we don't want too many of the spoils to be swept away until we know we can get away with it," they murmured to their longtime partner, glancing over one shoulder to give her a nod. "We find the snack table, snack away just enough to not be bogged down on the dance floor, and wait for any kind of big glass-tapping announcement to sloop our way out of sight and make off with the sweets from there. Should be a piece of cake- or at least a few!"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Well! All this talk of explosives and romance does wonders for the imagination. Better get to cooking with all these ingredients I've been given...aha, it'll be just like graduation all over again!"

[miraclescrest]

"...How? How did they make a waffle before they had a waffle maker and knew what a waffle was?"

...

"Because you need a waffle maker to make a waffle. So, how did they make a waffle before they knew what a waffle was 'cause they needed a waffle maker. So, if they didn't make a waffle maker...If they didn't make a waffle without a...If they didn't make a waffle with a waffle maker...How did they make the first waffle?"

...

"How did they get that idea?"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

“Oh, my friends and I tossed around some theories about this before! Mine goes something like this: someone’s making pancakes to go around at a baseball game, right? The batter gives the ball a strong THWACK! It goes zooming right towards the stands, and one of the outfielders goes scrambling to do an alley-oop off the wall and catch it. But uh-oh! In their urgent efforts to save the game for their team, they planted one of their cleats right in a pile of perfectly good flapjacks! They're obviously ruined, but as the poor ballgame-goer mourns their besmirched breakfast, the pancake maker notices the syrup pooling in the little holes left by the player's stunt, and that gets the wheels turning. Just like that, one more beautiful thing has been born into the world: the waffle- so named when a fellow onlooker witnessed the original incident and cried out "That's so awful!" but the inventor misheard it as "That's a waffle!" They didn't know what that word meant...until they did."

[ilsecng]

"I was tempted to stay home, buuuuuuuut I had to see what this wintertide ball was all about."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Ah, a feeling I know too well. It's so much easier to just not do things than to do them, you know? But all in all, I'm fairly glad I decided to come. You?"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Unfortunate that we couldn't get a gig to perform at this ball...but it wouldn't be right without Big Man. This isn't the kind of venue that would be able to handle our usual style anyway."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Hmmm. I'm worried about the end of today's eclipse. All that free candy is sure to impact the trade economy, especially if enough people are already satisfied with what they've got..."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

@moraypower | HORROR HOUSE HOORAY

Shiver had never been the adrenaline junkie Frye was, at least not in the same way. Thrills got a positive reaction out of the both of them, but Shiver had always taken greater pleasure in doing something clearly dangerous and pulling it off absolutely perfectly, no-selling the threat to one's safety entirely. Frye, meanwhile, had always loved high stakes- the closer they come to things ending messily before pulling off an escape, the better. Something like a haunted house left them in an odd middle ground. There was no true danger, but with an immersive enough suspension of disbelief may triumph over rationality, at least for a time.

Were they asked about that happening in this moment, the octoling would of course deny it. They were doing just fine- they hadn't encountered anything REALLY scary or REALLY dangerous yet! Still, there was something to be said for the environment the Stars had managed to establish in here, and how the darkness coupled with how stingy their flashlights were with illumination made her really want to stay close to Frye. It was purely strategic, of course- and the tightness with which her fingers were threaded between Frye's was merely to keep a firm hold so no tricksters could try and separate them.

"...Aha, I understand they're trying to keep us in suspense, but...it feels like a bit much, doesn't it? Like, it's going to get scary, right?"