@helpful-yellow-inkling
At long last, Finn had completed the painting he’d promised Jesse. It’d taken much more time than he’d predicted, on account of his preoccupation with agent work . . . but it was finally done! Having already texted the other squid directions to meet him at his house, he was giving the picture one last look-over before he covered it with a white cloth.
“Do you think he’ll like it?”
He spoke to another guest, leaning over him—he’d invited Marina, in the hopes that he could have his friends make friends. The redheaded Octoling was certainly more extroverted than he was, which would help.
“Do you want me to say ‘no’ this time? Of course he will, it looks great,” she chided him, jolting upright as she heard the chime of the doorbell . “I’ll get it.”
“But it’s my hou—”
Too late, she was already halfway there.
Finn’s parents’ house was rather large and ornate, inside and out. It wasn’t a mansion, but a number of the antique furnishings were telltale signs of the kind of salary the homeowners had. Such signs included the great grandfather clock in the entrance hallway, which Marina huffed at in irritation and surprise as it struck the hour. Ignoring the din, she opened the front door wide.
“Are you Jesse? Finn’s in the next room over.”
In an unintentionally cold manner, Marina didn’t give her name at first, but stood to the side, indicating that the new guest was permitted entry.
