*The Squid Sisters+ and other agents are chilling around the Alterna base when Agent Neo 3 comes running, almost tripping over themselves with Little Buddy, excited*
3: Guys! Guys! Guys!
*various sounds of intrigued acknowledgement*
3: So I’ve been trying to teach Little Buddy Inkish and you’ve got to check this out, he’s learned his first Inkish word!
Freya wakes up on the roof in the middle of the night. Tartar tells her about its new hobby.
924 words, no general warnings
It's the middle of the night when Freya's jolted awake. The cold night air is almost freezing on her skin as she blinks, feeling a drip of that bioluminescent blue ink fall out of her eyes.
"Shit," her mouth moves on its own as Freya scrambles to get a better hold on a tile. "I knew I should've- damn it. It's fine, go back to sleep, Freya."
"Tartar? What are we doing on the roof?" Freya asks, watching as the AI pilots their body to a safer spot. If she cranes her neck, she can spot a pile of haphazardly placed furniture on the ground floor stacked up to presumably let the AI climb up here in the first place.
"It's- shit." Freya watches as Tartar keeps its grip on a roof tile, adjusting to ensure they don't fall. "I must apologize. I should just go back insi-"
"Hey, you're not in trouble or anything. I promise." She can feel the tension in their body lessen slightly. "I'm just curious, that's all. If it's too personal, I can just go back to sleep."
Tartar doesn't respond, but adjusts itself to sit upright on the roof. "I am aware that your neighbors consider this behavior odd, but… I am stargazing."
"You are?"
"Affirmative." The AI quiets down as it lays down on the roof, watching the stars.
"Huh. I didn't realize you took an interest in that sort of thing, Tartar."
The AI huffs out a laugh at that. "It is a little preposterous for an information bank to have 'interests,' but I suppose it is one."
The two of them share a quiet moment as Freya's eyes scan the stars. She can tell the AI is tracing something out, but isn't sure of the shape.
"What are you looking for?" Freya asks at last.
"Orion's belt. From there, Orion the Hunter." Tartar traces out the line with a finger, well aware that Freya can follow along that way. "Follow the bow's path, and you'll find Taurus."
"Who's Orion?"
"A hunter from Greek mythology. I believe you would call him a pathetic excuse of a hunter, though. He was not very valorous." Tartar lets out a chuckle at that, refocusing its gaze on the stars. "That isn't the only interpretation of the constellation, though. There's a different version of who that figure is that varies from human culture to human culture. Some cultures believe Orion's Belt to be sacred animals, or figures of importance in their respective religions."
"That's interesting. And Taurus?"
"Taurus is from the Western Zodiac. It takes the shape of a bull and is associated with many ancient human cultures. Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian… you name it."
Freya quiets as Tartar continues to trace out constellation after constellation, the AI giving a brief explanation of the shape and culture that named it. The vigor in which Tartar talks about each set of stars paints a picture in Freya's heart that she cannot deny.
Tartar… misses humanity, doesn't it?
"Your turn," the AI huffs out, giving control over Freya's right arm back to her.
"My turn?" Oh, the constellations. Freya's eyes scan the stars, searching.
"They don't need to be human era constellations. I am just curious as to what your society makes of the star map." With that, Tartar gets comfortable on the roof, adjusting their left hand behind their head.
"There's the Rainmaker," Freya says, tracing the gun's shape with a faded barely green finger. "In its path is Baby Zapfish, then the Great Zapfish."
"Mhm?"
"And then south of the Great Zapfish are the three clans, the Eel, the Shark, and the Manta Ray." She couldn't tell if the AI was actually paying attention to her, but she kept going anyway. "Along the edge of the three clans is the Pinkfish, and the King Pinkfish… then further south, the primordial ancestors."
"And those are?"
"The Kraken and The Dofleini. Presumably the first of our kind to walk the earth."
Freya let her free hand rest on her stomach, watching the stars twinkle faintly. There were so many things she wanted to ask Tartar, but she felt the moment was fragile enough as is to disturb the peace. So for now, she was fine with being quiet, watching the night sky with the remnant of humanity's mechanical creation.
"Thank you, Freya. I have updated my information banks accordingly and added the constellations you shared with me under the Mollusc Era of star maps."
"Hey, don't mention it. I figured you wanted to know. Plus, you're a pretty good teacher."
"Hmm?"
Freya grins as she watches the sky, searching for Orion again. "I didn't think I'd be learning astronomy from you. This is nice. Thanks for the lesson, genuinely."
Tartar makes a quiet hum in response, the AI not finding much to say to that.
"Can I make a request though?"
"What would that be?"
"Next time you come up here, at least bring a jacket."
"...Yes, fair enough. I could do that."
"Awesome. Now, can you tell me more about one of those ancient human cultures?"
"Hah, eager to learn, aren't you? Very well."
She could feel herself starting to drift off halfway through the history of the Ancient Babylonians, but Freya could tell that the AI was smiling. Was this back and forth conversation fulfilling for it? Did it make Tartar feel better, even if only marginally?
Freya wasn't sure, but as she drifted off to sleep, the AI's hand laced together with Freya's.
Thought i just had: 8 accidentally slightly injuring 3 bc of her claws (holding hands and 8 gripped a bit too hard or smth) and just feeling so so bad abt it while 3 is like relax lol
"Ow, ow, ow- Eight-" Three hissed as they pulled away from their girlfriend's hand. Her nails had become more akin to claws as of late and her tendency to squeeze Three's hand when she was excited or nervous was beginning to turn painful.
"Oh my god! Sorry, I'm sorry," Eight immediately loosened her grip, looking over her partner's hand to make sure it was okay. There were only small dents where her nails had been, they would go away after a few minutes. "I did not mean to injure you, I'm so sorry."
Three shook their head, going back to a more comfortable hand holding position and grip, "It's okay babe, you just have some serious claws. Gotta be careful with those things."
The octoling held up her free hand, examining the length of her nails and shaking her head in displeasure. She frowned and turned to face Three directly, stating, "I promise to keep them short from now on, I will not let myself hurt you willingly. To keep you safe from me."
"Woah, okay it's fine." Three waved their hand dismissively, "Yeah it'd probably help if you kept 'em a bit shorter but you don't have to beat yourself up over it."
"Yes... beat myself up is a good idea to feel the pain you have felt because of me."
"Eight, no that's an expression it's-" Three sighed and took their girlfriends face into their hands, their eyes locking onto each other's. "Listen. It's okay, just an accident. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, and it hardly did anything, like it doesn't even hurt anymore. You said sorry and I forgive you, there's nothing to feel bad about now."
She thought for a moment, taking in the words and deciding if she could really move on from doing something like this to her partner. Eventually, she nodded in understanding. "Okay, but I am still going to cut them short when we get home."
Do you like Acht? Do you like Harmony? Do you like surreal environmental storytelling? Well then do I have the fic for you!!
Check out Lab Grown Opal by TechnicolorBreakdown on ao3!! As a beta reader for this fic I'm super happy to see it take off. Act 1 has begun and will be updating regularly! Give it a look if it sounds interesting!!
Three, Four, and Eight; with prompt 26. “I didn’t intend to kiss you.”
26. “I didn’t intend to kiss you.”
(warning for alcohol usage?)
Three was trying very, very hard not to look at the other two. They were nursing a wicked headache, felt like their throat was gonna burst, and was trying not to let their thoughts dwell to what happened the previous night.
Well, except the hangover was There, the hangover was a Reminder, and Three kept getting headaches from the hangover and thinking about what happened. They hated it. They reeaaaally wished it was like the movies, where the person who had been drunk did not remember any of their actions and the other people were doing their best to keep it secret to make sure the first didn’t find out, but no. Nope! They remembered being stupid outgoing, stupid in love, stupid-
“Yoooo, is the hung over agent awake yet?” Four waved a hand in Three’s face, and Three snapped out of their thoughts, now aware of the blush that was on their face. And judging by Four’s smile, it was noticed. Fuck. “Or are you still drunk?”
“Can you still be drunk after sleeping?” Eight asked, claws brushing together.
Three stared at their legs, letting Four take over the response. As Eight and Four talked, Three’s mind kept looping back to the incident, back to the moment where their diginity was shattered. Kept looping back, especially in the absence of Four’s usual annoying songs.
The loop eventually resulted in Three blurting out, “I didn’t intend to kiss you!”
The silence that followed made Three regret saying that. Then, Four put a hand on Three’s shoulder. “If you didn’t intend it, what was last night? With all the... Sappy shit?”
Three really wished they remembered what they said, though. Eight’s face bursted into a bright blush, and Three now really, really wished the knew what was said.
A/N: Happy holidays everyone! Hope everyone’s having a good day. For Christmas I decided to write a little gift for the ever so lovely @pink-inkling ! Featuring her characters Dustin, O'Connor, and Gordo, as well as my character Rhys. Hope you all like it!
Enjoy!
Rhys stares out the sliding glass doors leading out to the balcony, sighing heavily as she watches the small flakes of snow falling peacefully from the gray clouds in the sky. Her body shivers slightly and Gordo must notice, because he moves to wrap his pudgy body more tightly around her, his head resting sleepily in her lap. It doesn’t actually do too much to help warm her up, but she appreciates the small gesture from the eel anyways and gives him a few scritches under his chin as a tiny sign of her gratitude.
It’s comforting, somehow, having the eel’s giant body wrapped around her waist as she sits in front of the sliders, almost like a protective skirt.
She finds it funny how their first meeting had gone so poorly; her frozen with fear as the giant eel stared her down. She had been scared he would hurt her, but it turns out he was just a big baby, who loved head pats and chin scritches. She knows Dustin would never put her in harm’s way, and she was able to soon relax with his reassurance.
Her and Gordo have grown surprisingly close, though Rhys wouldn’t be surprised if he just liked all the attention she gives him.
At the very least, she enjoys his company and is grateful to have him around right now.
“Are ye gonna pout by the sliders all mornin’, or are ye gonna come eat breakfast?”
“Wow, Gordo, I didn’t know you could talk!” Rhys fakes her surprise, and Gordo tilts his head up at her. “And you sound so much like Connie, how weird.”
O’Connor gives a small laugh above her. “Yer food’s gonna get cold, Rhys.”
“I’m sure Dustin will be happy to eat my share. Besides, I can’t get up, I don’t wanna disturb Gordo.”
“Gordo,” Dustin calls, just to spite her, Rhys is sure. “Come eat.”
Gordo lifts his head up and uncoils himself from Rhys’ body, slithering his way over to Dustin. Rhys whines and falls to the floor dramatically, her back to the floor as she stares up at O’Connor.
She juts her bottom lip out childishly. “No fair! We were cuddling.”
O’Connor can’t help but smile at her antics. “Now ye have no reason not to come eat. I even cut ye some fresh strawberries.”
Rhys’ interest is peaked then. “Strawberries…?” O’Connor hums in affirmation. “What did you make with them?”
“Chocolate chip pancakes, yer favorite.”
Rhys sits up then, easily lured in by the thought of O’Connor’s delicious cooking. “Fine, I’ll come eat. But as soon as I’m done, I’m coming right back here to pout!”
“Sure thing, Rhys.” O’Connor agrees, knowing full well he won’t actually be letting her do that.
Rhys stands up from the floor then, shuffling over to the dining room table. She was wearing a set of O’Connor’s pajamas; any of Dustin’s clothes too small for her. Even most of O’Connor’s were too small, but this set was what fit her the easiest. The pants were a bit too long because of their height difference, but the waistband was snug around her. And the shirt was a tight fit as well, but she honestly couldn’t complain. She’d rather wear something too tight than nothing at all, freezing because she left her change of pajamas back at her apartment.
She plops down in the seat across from Dustin, immediately digging into the plate of pancakes set out for her. “Morning, babe,” She greets the sleepy looking inkling, no doubt woken up earlier than usual this morning by O’Connor. Her words were muffled by her mouthful of fluffy pancakes, and Dustin offers a small curve of his lips in response.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full; it ain’t lady-like.” He teases.
Rhys swallows thickly and straightens out her back. “So sorry, sir.” She says with her attempt at a “fancy” accent. She giggles and takes a another bite of the pancakes. “You’re not eating?” She asks, after swallowing her food properly, noticing that there wasn’t a plate in front of him.
Dustin shakes his head. “Me and Connie ate earlier.”
Rhys’ eyebrows perk up. “Oh, really? Where was I?” She asks, swirling a piece of pancake in the sticky pool of syrup on her plate.
Dustin motions over to the glass sliders with a wave of his un-gloved hand. “Over there.”
“Ye tend to miss a lot while moping in front of the sliders, yeah?” O’Connor says from the kitchen.
Rhys sets her fork down and pouts out her bottom lip. “I had a whole list of things I wanted to do with you guys today! Excuse me for being upset that we’re snowed in.”
O’Connor comes out of the kitchen then, walking out as he dries his hands off with the cute Squidmas themed towel Rhys insisted they buy a few days ago. “There’s still plenty o’ stuff we can do together indoors.”
Rhys looks up at him with a frown. “Like what?” She asks unenthusiastically.
O’Connor looks up as he thinks on it. “Well, there’s always watching movies together, cuddling on the couch, making hot chocolate…” He looks back at her. “Plenty o’ stuff.” He says again.
Rhys’ eyes sparkle. “Can we bake cookies too?”
O’Connor offers a soft laugh. “Sure, Rhys. If that’s what ye wanna do.”
She looks over at Dustin, clearly very happy again, practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. “Will you help, too?”
“If yer not careful, he’ll end up eating the dough before we can bake it.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Dustin says to O’Connor before his eyes flicker over to Rhys. “I’ll help you with it, don’t worry.”
Rhys grins before trying her best to quickly finish off her breakfast; just a few more bites of pancake and a couple strawberry slices left over.
“Be careful, Rhys. Ye might end up-” Rhys coughs loudly as a piece of pancake happily lodges itself in her throat. “Choking…”
~
After helping Rhys swallow down her hastily eaten breakfast with a glass of milk, O’Connor offers to take her plate to the sink.
Rhys recovers quickly. “Oh! Thank you, but no. I’ll do it!” She stands up from her chair, grabbing her syrup coated plate before O’Connor has the chance to reach out for it. “You’ve already done enough, the least I can do is help out by washing the dishes I used.” She smiles before she heads off to the kitchen. “I’ll be right back!”
O’Connor watches on with a small smile before he turns to look at Dustin. The red inkling doesn’t take his eyes off of Rhys until she’s well hidden behind the walls of the kitchen. And even then, his eyes stay lingering for just a second before they flicker up to look at O’Connor.
“What’re you lookin’ at?” Dustin snarks, knowing full well he’s been caught.
O’Connor offers up nothing but a knowing smile in response, his hand moving to softly rest against Dustin’s shoulder.
Dustin pushes it off quickly, turning his face away from the nosy coral as a soft red blush starts to brighten his cheeks.
~
The two make their way into the kitchen a few minutes later, just in time to catch Rhys happily humming to herself as she scrubs at her used plate and silverware. She looks up as they walk in and she gives them both a small smile as she sets the washed dishes in the dish rack next to her. She shuts the water off and dries her hands before turning back to the two men.
“Cookie time?” She asks excitedly, her eyes sparkling with the thoughts of baking and eating homemade cookies with the two.”I have a recipe Rainer always uses, but I’m not sure if we have all the ingredients here.”
Dustin looks a bit uncomfortable with the mention of Rhys’ brother, but keeps it to himself, quickly fixing his face into a more neutral look before Rhys can notice. Rainer gets on Dustin’s nerves, sure, but he really doesn’t want to ruin Rhys’ happiness.
O’Connor, on the other hand, was almost completely unfazed by the mention of Rainer, not quite knowing everything about him like Dustin did. He figured there would come a time when he’d learn it all from Rhys, so he stays quiet about it all for now.
“Let’s check in the fridge, I’m sure we’ve gotta have some of it.” Dustin says, walking over to their large fridge. Rhys trails behind, standing on the tips of her toes to peek over his shoulder. There was quite a bit in the fridge, but it was still somehow all perfectly organized. “You gotta list of the ingredients somewhere around here?” Dustin asks, turning his head slightly to look back at Rhys.
Rhys smiles and taps the side of her head. “They’re all stored in here. I’ve watched him make them so many times, I’m sure I could probably make them in my sleep if I really wanted to.”
Dustin steps to the side and holds out his arm, motioning towards the neatly organized fridge. “It’s all yours, then. Whatever we ain’t got, we can just make Connie go buy.”
Rhys giggles as she grabs a carton of eggs carefully. “Don’t be mean.” She hands off the eggs to him and looks around for milk. “Or else I won’t let you lick the spoon.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Dustin says teasingly, setting all the ingredients she hands him down onto the counter.
Luckily for O’Connor, they just so happened to have all the ingredients they needed for this particular recipe; possibly due to the fact of how many times Rhys tries out different confectionery recipes here. A good number of them have ended in failure or disaster, and yet she still has the same enthusiasm to keep trying new recipes. It was mostly her stubbornness, but a small part of her wanted to get better than her brother.
Rhys closes the fridge door softly and turns to look at the array of ingredients set out on the countertops. She nods to herself and moves around the kitchen quickly, fluttering about as she grabs the different bowls and utensils and cookie sheets. She’s become pretty well acquainted with the locations of everything she’s looking for, having used this kitchen more times than she cares to count this past year.
She sets a large mixing bowl down on the counter in front of herself and reaches out for the flour. It’s just barely out of her reach and O’Connor helps her out by sliding it over closer to her. She smiles her thanks and gives him a soft kiss to his cheek before turning back to the task at hand.
She pulls open the bag of flour quickly, apparently a little too quickly, because a cloud of flour puffs up into her face.
She hears Dustin trying his best to contain his soft laughter to her right, and she can see O’Connor’s shoulders shaking with his hidden laughter out of the corner of her eye to her left. Her cheeks puff out angrily, her face heating up several shades of aqua in embarrassment. She coughs lightly, another small puff of flour leaving her lips.
The two men on either side of her lose it at that point; O’Connor grips the counter and hangs his head, his body shaking violently with his laughter. Dustin was beaming from ear to ear, his scars pulling taut as he laughs at Rhys’ misfortune. It was a nice sound honestly, hearing the two men she loved laughing brightly like this. Granted, it was at her expense, but she couldn’t stay mad for long, and soon joined in with them.
She giggles softly as she rubs a hand down her face, trying her best to get some of the flour off. She grins to herself and grabs a handful of flour before quickly turning on her heel to reach out and lightly smack it to Dustin’s face.
She snorts as the cloud of dust settles and she’s met face to face with a flour covered Dustin. He seems surprisingly calm despite what just happened and it worries Rhys just a bit. The look in his lidded eyes showed only pure revenge.
She takes a step backwards, her back hitting against something. She looks up to meet O’Connor’s eyes, a happy grin settling on his face. She quickly looks over to Dustin and squeals, struggling against O’Connor’s sudden grasp on her arms.
“N-no fair!” She cries, her eyes glued to the egg in his hand. “I used something dry!”
Dustin walks up to her calmly, stopping just a few inches in front of her. She clenches her teeth and squeezes her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable eggshells in her tentacles and the yolk dripping down her face.
She peeks an eye open a few seconds later, confused when the feeling doesn’t come. What she does feel, however is the tightening of O’Connor’s muscles and she hears the sharp intake of his breath.
She looks up, her eyes widening when she sees egg dripping down his dark skin. She wrinkles her nose as an eggshell plops down onto it.
O’Connor’s arms leave hers as he uses them to try and wipe away some of the yolk that’s steadily dripping down his face.
Rhys steps away from him and naively moves to stand next to Dustin. She looks to him with a playful smile. “That wasn’t very nice, traitor.”
Dustin shrugs lightly. “It was worth it for the look on both your faces.”
“You’re so mean.” She turns back to the counter, looking over the mess of flour and splattered egg yolk. “All right we should probably clean this up so we can actually get started on the recipe.”
She spots Dustin nodding out of the corner of her eye as she tries her best to move the flour into a little pile with her hands for easier cleanup.
“After this,” Dustin says quietly before his arm pulls back quickly. Rhys’ eyes widen and flour flies everywhere again when her hand shoots out to grip Dustin’s wrist. She stares up at the new egg in his hand and he whistles, impressed by her quickness.
“Perks of being an Agent,” She says, a little out of breath. “Quick reflexes.”
“Not quick enough,” He says before he uses his free hand to smash a different egg over her head; she cries out from the sudden mess that drips down her face and splatters to the floor.
Rhys’ eyes look up before they trail back down to meet Dustin’s. He’s smirking at her and she can feel her face heat up in embarrassment again. She pouts as her cheeks take on that aqua blush again. She looks over at the carton of eggs before she reaches out and grabs one, smashing it over Dustin’s head without any fanfare or prior warning.
Dustin starts laughing, and at first she thinks he’s laughing at her weak attempt of payback, but she soon realizes it’s just a laugh of genuine happiness. She can’t help but watch for a few moments, it’s not every day she gets to see him like this.
She shakes her head, a small smile pushing at her lips. She walks closer and pulls him into a hug. “I love you.” She says softly. “Even though you did ruin my hopes of baking with you two.”
“I love you, too.” He says in response, his hand reaching out to wipe at a drip of egg before it gets in her eye. “But, there’s still two eggs left.”
Rhys pulls back a little, and Dustin’s arms move to wrap loosely around her waist. She cocks her head, a bit confused by what he means.
His lips pull into a small yet devious smirk as his eyes motion up towards O’Connor.
“Oh!” She says quietly, her eyes sparkling with understanding.
The two pull away from each other and O’Connor’s eyebrows raise slightly when he looks over to see them both staring at him.
He yells out in surprise when they both start charging at him, groaning in defeat when an egg is smashed on either side of his head. He wipes at his face and flicks some of the yolk at the two laughing inklings before turning away from them.
“I’m gonna go shower,” He says with a wave of his hand, effectively getting more yolk everywhere.
“Ohh, wait for me!” Rhys yells before reaching out and grabbing Dustin’s hands. “You too!”
She runs past O’Connor with Dustin in tow and the coral shakes his head fondly as he watches them go by. He whistles happily as he calmly makes his way in after them.
~
“Do you think this is safe to go down the drain?” Rhys asks, plucking out a piece of eggshell from her tentacles.
“Probably not,” Dustin says, scooping out a whole handful of eggshells from his.
“Here,” O’Connor offers, holding out a towel for the two of them. It already had a few eggshells in it and Rhys catches on to what he wants them to do. She drops her found eggshell into the soaked towel and runs her hands through her tentacles in search of any more.
Soon enough, the towel is filled with eggshells from the three of them. O’Connor wraps it up and sets it down on the bathroom floor for now. He grabs the shampoo from the small rack above them and Rhys grins.
“Me first!” She says happily, her arm shooting up like she was excited to answer a question in class.
O’Connor smiles and starts rubbing a handful of shampoo into her tentacles and Rhys sighs happily in response. She takes the bottle from him and starts doing the same for Dustin, the three forming a little shampoo train.
Rhys and Dustin stand under the spray of water together while O’Connor starts sudsing up his own coral now. Rhys frowns and takes the shampoo bottle from him and stands up on the tips of her toes, trying her best to reach so she can help him out. After keeping Rhys from slipping and falling straight on her butt, O’Connor takes back the shampoo with a comforting hand to Rhys’ shoulder and a soft smile.
“It’s all right, lass. I appreciate the help anyway.” He says truthfully, his turn now to stand under the water.
Rhys holds up the bottle of body wash then. “Can I at least help with this?” She looks between Dustin and O’Connor. “For both of you?” She asks, her brown eyes sparkling and her lips pouted softly.
And really, how could either of them say no to that face?
~
The three of them eventually finish up in the shower, Rhys shivering as O’Connor tries his best to quickly find something of his for her to wear. Eventually, Dustin finds one of his old sweaters after leaving to go look in his own closet, and O’Connor lets her wear a pair of his boxers.
Rhys giggles, happy and comfortable in their clothes. She really should remember to run to her apartment and bring over more of her own clothes, but she thinks she might wait just a bit longer, loving wearing their clothes a little too much to give it up just yet.
She plops onto the couch between Dustin and O’Connor after the two left her to get dressed, a package of winter themed Oreos in her hands. She makes herself comfortable, laying across the both of them, her head in Dustin’s lap and her feet curled up in O’Connor’s.
She sighs peacefully as Dustin softly pets one of his hands through her tentacles, the other hand occupied with holding a cookie to his lips. O’Connor flips through the channels on the TV with one hand, while his other rests on Rhys’ ankles.
“Merry Squidmas,” She says quietly, the boys answering with their own soft reply.
She smiles to herself as O’Connor settles on watching some cheesy Squidmas movie, giggling as she hears and feels Dustin groan in response.
She looks out towards the glass sliders, biting into an Oreo as she watches the snow still steadily falling outside.
Summary: Following one of the very first missions of newly made Agent Rhys and her experienced brother Rainer, as the two make their way through the kettles of Octo Valley, rescue the Zapfish together, and face any mishaps that might come their way.
Rhys lets out a soft sigh, the slight breeze that passes her by ruffles her uniform and chills her skin. She swings her legs back and forth, feeling not even the slightest bit of fear as her feet dangle over the edge. There’s nothing below her to catch her if she falls but she feels nothing but peace as her eyes slip shut.
She leans her weight back against her hands, her Hero Shot balancing hazardously in her lap.
She was still extremely new to all this Hero and Agent stuff; dragged into it by her brother with the promise that it would be a fun way to pass the time.
She guesses it is a little fun, but she still doesn’t quite understand why the two of them have to do it. Her brother never gives her full answers and usually just changes the subject whenever she tries to ask him about it.
He has told her to treat it like a game, though, just like the turf wars she’s heard so much about on the news.
“It’s simple,” He had said. “You remember hearing about turf wars, right? It’s sort of like that; shoot the ones that don’t have the same ink color as you. Their ink is always magenta, so if you see magenta, shoot, okay? It’s easy, I promise. I’ll be with you the whole time though, don’t worry.”
Rhys hears footsteps along the metal grates connecting the platform she was sitting on to a larger one. She grips her Hero Shot and quickly points it to where she heard the footsteps coming from, her eyes opening slowly and lazily as she turns to look at who the footsteps belonged to.
Her brother, Rainer, stands there with his hands up near his chest in surrender. “Relax, little sis. It’s just me.”
Rhys sits her gun back down in her lap, tilting her head to the side as she grins. “I know; I just wanted to scare you.”
A small smile forms on his lips as he shakes his head fondly. “Always keeping me on my toes.” He offers out a hand for her to take. “Come on, break’s over.”
Rhys nods and grabs her weapon with one hand and takes Rainer’s with the other. He pulls her up easily and the two make their way into the next kettle.
This was only their third kettle of the week; Rainer wanted to take things slow for now, just let Rhys get used to her Agent responsibilities at a slow but constant pace.
Rhys comments on their new yellow ink as they pop out of their spawn pad and shake off the excess. Rainer hushes her as Captain Cuttlefish gives them vital information to help them out with the new threat they will be dealing with in this particular kettle. Rhys sticks her tongue out in response.
“Roger that, Captain.” Rainer dismisses before looking over to Rhys. “Did you catch all that?”
Rhys crosses her arms over her chest defiantly. “I dunno, maybe.”
The action doesn’t even phase Rainer; he’s already very used to her stubbornness. “All right, Octocopters, they’re the new threat in this kettle. They’re a bit like the regular Octotroopers we’ve fought, but these ones are in the air.”
Rhys lets her arms fall. “Seriously? Wouldn’t you be better suited for this one?” She asks, looking pointedly at the Hero Charger in his hands.
“Yes,” Rainer answers evenly. She was right; he couldn’t deny his weapon would be much better suited for this task. He’s glad she’s gotten a good grasp on the way their weapons work. “But we’re using this as your training, remember? You have to learn to counterattack these things; I’ve already done my training with da-” He cuts himself off quickly and clears his throat. “I’ve done my training already, the focus is on you, now. I’m just here to provide back-up.”
One of Rhys’ eyebrows perk up at the sudden break in his sentence. “Who did you train with?”
“What?” Rainer swallows nervously, his eyes darting away from Rhys’ burning gaze. “That doesn’t matter right now. Come on, the Captain isn’t getting any younger.”
Rainer walks off, not allowing Rhys anymore time to argue. They swim through pre-made paths of yellow ink, surrounded by the enemy’s magenta ink. Captain Cuttlefish comes in through their headphones, giving them advice and helping them through each new problem that arises.
Rainer’s words from earlier stick with her, though, throughout the entire time they’re in the kettle together. She thinks about and it bothers her so much, she barely misses getting splatted a few times. Luckily, Rainer has a sharp eye, and is able to take out any Octarians making their way towards Rhys while she’s, Rainer assumes, daydreaming.
“Focus, Rhys! I may be your back-up, but that doesn’t mean I should be the one getting all the splats. Forget whatever it is you’re thinking about and focus on the task at hand!”
Rhys snaps out of her thoughts at just the right time to see a bubble of ink being shot out at her. However, she’s not able to roll out of the way quick enough, a bit of her leg getting hit by the small blast.
She grits her teeth, biting back tears at the pain. The magenta ink envelopes her leg and starts dripping down into her shoe.
“You’re fine,” Rainer says calmly. “Dip down into your ink, it’ll wash away their ink. You’ll feel better once you’re back in your own color.”
Rhys heeds his advice and plops down into her ink, letting out a bubbling sigh of relief as the yellow ink washes over her and heals the slight burn.
She pops back out and lets the excess ink drip off of her. She looks sheepish, refusing to make eye contact with Rainer again. She sniffles. “Well? Let’s go already…”
Rainer gives a small smile. “It’s all right, little sis. You just need to forget about what’s bothering you right now and focus on getting through this kettle.”
“Yeah, focus, big bro. I got it, I got it. Let’s get going before I lose my motivation.”
Rainer pats her on the back. “I’ve got your back, Rhys, don’t worry. Just breathe and focus.”
~
They make their way through the rest of the kettle without any more hiccups and Rhys learns how to jump from platform to platform, with the aid of her ink.
“Your ink is your friend.” Rainer says as they finish jumping a couple platforms and splat some more Octocopters. “It helps cleanse you of enemy ink and you can swim through it to make you go faster, or to help you jump over wide spaces you wouldn’t normally be able to jump over. ”
“Got it.” Rhys nods and picks up the new piece of armor from one of the crates she shot open; a shiny new helmet that fits her perfectly.
“You’re doing great so far,” Rainer praises. “Keep it up, we’re almost done.”
She gives him a thumbs up before Cuttlefish comes in again, quickly explaining how to get the inkrails they see in front of them working again. Rhys shoots it, per his instructions, and lets out a soft sound as the railing takes on her ink.
“Jump in.” Rainer says before hoping in himself, letting Rhys see how to properly use them.
Rhys watches him swim through the rail and pop up onto another platform, where another rail waits for them. He shoots that one this time, and Rhys quickly catches up as she watches him swim through that one as well.
They’re at another platform with a few, short walls sticking up and Cuttlefish cuts in to tell them to use the walls to their advantage.
Rainer nods along. “We can use the walls for cover.” He looks to Rhys, “If you need to rest- Rhys?!”
Rhys laughs as she swims past him and onto the moving platform ahead of them. She jumps off that and quickly grabs the inkzooka that’s hidden behind another wall. She equips it, a wide grin on her face as she shoots down the Octarians with huge blasts of ink that send her back slightly. It takes her a couple tries of readjusting her position to splat them all, but she manages to get them all before the special depletes. She laughs and waves at Rainer, still a bit behind. “Come on, big bro!”
Rainer shakes his head, offering a small wave back. “Knew she’d get into it eventually.” He says to himself before following after her. He keeps an even more watchful eye on her now, though, happy she was getting the hang of all of this but still worried she might go a bit overboard with things.
They advance quickly, Rhys’ head now clear and focused on retrieving the Zapfish. She’s having fun the whole time she does it; laughing as she jumps from platforms, swims up walls, and shoots down Octocopters.
They make it to a platform with a large Octarian, one they haven’t run into yet. They get no information from Cuttlefish, and are left to hide behind a wall and think up a plan.
It was hovering a bit off the ground, so Rainer suggests he should be the one to take it out, just to make things go smoother.
“Mm, good idea.” Rhys nods slowly. “But, how about this instead?”
She runs off without saying anything, leaving Rainer behind the wall to watch in exasperation as she takes down the larger Octarian. He’s panicking the whole time, worried she’s going to cause some serious harm to herself. He’s watching her through the scope of his Charger and he pulls in a sharp breath as he notices something skid to a stop near her feet.
His eyes widen. “Rhys!” He yells. “Look out!”
Rhys looks over to him, a proud smile on her face, happy that she was able to take down the Octarian by herself. Her face falls at the look of desperation on Rainer’s. “What-?” She tries to ask before a bomb goes off right next to her.
It’s definitely a strange feeling, one moment being super proud of herself for taking down an unknown Octarian without any help, and the next moment being engulfed in complete, sudden silence and emptiness.
She respawns at their most recent checkpoint and she shakes off the excess ink as she stands up. She’s a bit disoriented and her ears are still ringing from the blast. She tests her footing, making sure she can walk okay, before she makes her way back to Rainer.
He’s still hiding behind the wall and when he looks to Rhys, she’s incredibly grateful looks can’t kill.
“You realize now why we make plans for these sorts of missions, right?” Rainer asks, his voice calm and steady despite the apparent angry flush of yellow ink heating up his ears.
“Yes…” Rhys says quietly, gripping her Hero Shot so tightly her knuckles start to whiten around the gun. She refuses to say anything else, her face burning a bright yellow in embarrassment.
“You’re extremely lucky that we have respawn pads and checkpoints, Rhys. I should make you redo this whole kettle by yourself just to teach you a lesson.”
Rhys opens her mouth to protest but Rainer holds up a hand to keep her quiet. “I won't though, because I want to get home as much as you do. But you need to learn not to throw yourself into things head first. It’s better to take a breather and think about the best course of action.”
Rhys bites at her bottom lip and nods her head. “I understand,” She says sincerely. “Sorry…”
Rainer pats the spot next to him. “Sit, let’s think up a plan for this next part.” Rhys plops down and sets her Hero Shot in her lap. “All right, I scoped it out a bit and there’s about five or six Octarians right before the Zapfish. Two are up high, on a few stacked crates, but the others are on the ground. I was thinking I could take down the ones on top first, and you take out the others.”
“Sounds good,” Rhys nods. “Let’s try it.”
A goofy, lopsided grin makes it’s way to Rainer’s face as he holds up his hand, clenched in a fist. Seems like he’s not too upset anymore. Rhys is grateful for the forgiveness. She looks down to his hand and snorts before knocking her own fist against his. “Let’s go, you loser.”
They put their plan into action and things go pretty well from there. Rhys stays back and watches from behind the wall as Rainer takes the shot on the two Octarians higher up. The two trade spots and it’s Rhys’ turn to shine now. She’s more careful this time around and takes out the Octarians easily. One gets past her but Rainer’s there to take it out, the shot from his Charger sounding loudly next to Rhys.
Rainer holds out his hand as he walks up to Rhys and she giggles as she slaps her own hand down on top of it. “Nice job, little sis. You’re getting the hang of this. Slowly but surely.”
“Thanks, big bro. You’re not too bad yourself.”
Rainer gestures out in front of him to the Zapfish. “It’s all yours,” He says.
Rhys grins and shoots some ink on the wall, quickly swimming up. She shoots at the protective bubble surrounding the Zapfish before reaching out and taking it. She holds it to her chest and pats its' head, her fingers tingling a bit from the electricity surrounding it. “Hey there, little guy. I’ve got you.”
She jumps down from the platform and a warp pad appears in front of them. The two hop in and make their way back to Cuttlefish. He congratulates them and thanks them for for their hard work before taking the Zapfish from them, promising it’ll be returned to its rightful place. They turn in their weapons with Cuttlefish as well, just for safe keeping until they come back again.
They leave Octo Valley with their tentacles slowly starting to return back to their original aqua, a slight yellow hue still mixed in. Rhys’ body was thrumming from all the exertion today and she lets out a loud and exaggerated sigh as she stretches her arms out above her head.
“I’m starving, Rainer.” Rhys says, folding her arms behind her head as they walk through Inkopolis and to the train station together. “Let’s get burgers to celebrate a job well done!”
“Should we celebrate the time you ran into things head first and got yourself splatted, too?”
Rhys lets her arms fall with a pout. “I said I was sorry, okay? I was super into it! Shouldn’t you be glad I’m getting a hang of all this stuff?” She whines as she shoves her hands into the pockets of her vest.
"I’ll be glad when I don’t have to worry about you letting your emotions get the best of you, ultimately leading you to your splatty demise.”
Rhys groans. “I’m still learning, cut me some slack.”
“I suppose you did do a pretty good job today… All right, burgers. We can get them to-go. I recorded last night’s game, too, we can watch while we eat.”
"Yes!” Rhys says excitedly. “Burgers and football, come to mama!”
