#【ＶＥＲＳＥ：SPLATOON TWO.】

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@orbitaldeathwoomy // welcome up north, ruby!

A pale blue sky beamed sunlight down onto the blacktop, as Rayne Ortega surveys the block. It's the lull before 5PM, but he spots a lone figure, wandering her way up through the subway tunnel. He could spot a newcomer from a mile away, and this girl looked lost. It wasn't too hard to find your way in a grid system, and he's sure technology could play assistant if she really needed it, but... Well, where's the fun in that, when he could help her and make a new friend.

Besides, Rayne wasn't busy, and he was dreadfully nosy. So, he lightly jogs to meet her half way.

"New around here?" He asks, big grin across thick lips, "Where you tryin' to head, and I can point you in the right direction."

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@fooltrick said,

"no matter what they tell you, the future's up for grabs." ( lyric asks! )

"Got a lot of confidence, don't you, Biki?"

Eden shouldn't really be shocked; she knew Hibiki well enough. Still, she lets a little gasp out, and crosses her hands over her hips. "I wish I could steal some," she admits with ease. Slumping forward, Eden looks... diminutive. Like the weight of it all could crush her.

"It's like, sometimes I'm on top of the world, y'know? Like nothing could ever touch me." She smacks her hands together, bringing one fist into the palm of the other, "But then, I get hit with it all over again. And it's like - am I even good at this music stuff, or are people just showing up because they pity me?"

"Do people only care because Marina and Pearl know me - I swear, I see people say that every day now."

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@m1metic​ said to eden, ‘ try not to move. ’

WAYS TO REACT TO AN INJURY   // accepting!

    (  eden yaki is floating.  miles and miles below the beloved surface, eden is floating above herself, above a girl they call ten thousand and eight.  without and within herself, eden wonders what comes next.  out cold kamabo’s back rooms, with a yellow band around her wrist that reminds her - you are a test subject.  you are not eden yaki.  you are no one.  )

      silver eyes shoot open; then, eight gasps in too thin air, lungs burning.  she tries, desperately to look around - where is cuttlefish, where is the old man she’s come to call a friend - where is she?  none of those could be answered, as her attempts to move only garner her pain, as her side alights angrily.  what happened...?  

     ever rebellious, she is reminded by the angry claw marks in her side, she had found herself sneaking off where she did not belong.  exploring the parts of kamabo co. that could have her killed - or sanitized.  of course, she was caught, and though she fought off her too-clean attackers, eight was left with a wound that she finds is now conspicuously bandaged. 

       then, the voice.  try not to move only sends her flying.  eight jumps, despite herself, only spotting the sickly green with fright in her eyes,  ❛  t-too late for that,  ❜  she tries to joke, but fails miserably,  ❛  w-who are you?  why did you help me?   ❜ 

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@m1metic said, “i miss who i used to be.” 

midnights ( 3AM ) // accepting

     eden cannot think of what to say.  me too seems a little too blasé, no matter how true it is.  the girl who emerged into starlight on mount nantai is no longer the eden who sits here, one hand posed on dedf1sh’s lap. how she would kill for normalcy, to no longer be afraid of shadows, for her memories to no longer be knives.

      another truth crosses her mind, of course - she doesn’t know who f1sh used to be.  all she’s known is f1sh, her friend.  someone who has suffered so, and in a way only eden might ever really get.  but there was someone before, too, wasn’t there?  there’ll always be someone before. 

     ❛  we can’t go back.  ❜  is what she finally manages to say, voice choked.  it’s less thought out than she’d like, spilling out of her lips,  ❛  we can only go forward and grieve what we could’ve been, if it weren’t for them.  ❜

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@investigationshoujo said.

❛  just breathe, just relax, it'll be okay.  ❜ tsuuuu ❤️

Naomi's face, for what it was worth, is drawn into a straight line.

Shaking hands share her secrets, like a mask shredded. Her knuckles are white from her tight grip, and her eyes are trained downwards, away from the window. It was.... a bad combination. Heavy rain battered the windows, hitting strikes of droplets against the fire escape; her room was lit by taper candles, the box fan whirring by the grace of a generator.

Flood waters destroyed her first home, it was only natural to panic about the second. It's just panic though, she tells herself. The power would come back on soon, the storm will roll through, and unlike the deteriorating dome, Inkopolis had real drains.

Madoka's hand rests on hers, and Naomi squeezes back gently. " Thank you. " Her voice is soft, and she reaches one tentacle over to wrap around Madoka's forearm - it was considered kind, friendly, to the Octarian raised girl. Naomi comments, " Just a bad day for rain. "

SPEAK NOW ✰ ACCEPTING

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“All our dreams… Where did they go?” ( for eden perhaps >:3c )

agatha christie starters // accepting.

❛ They're here. I know they are. ❜

It's hope that burns alive in her chest; hope for tomorrow and hope for the promised land. ❛ I mean, not in the way we expected them. There's... a lot more work, involved in peace and freedom. More than I anticipated. But isn't it worth it? Isn't our dream worth it? ❜

They both sit on the floor, Eden cross-legged as they speak. Swirly, soundproofing foam coat the inside of her closet, a makeshift recording studio. With f1sh across from her, their hands still scritch-scratching the discs on their turntables.

Maybe it was a weird place to have a debate this philosophical.

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@heartwilled / claude said to tsunaomi,  ❛  we always walked a very thin line.  ❜

folklore sentence starters // accepting!

     she mulls the answer, over and over.  like the last bit of dry cinnamon at the bottom of an over-spiced coffee, it catches in her mouth, the rub of it like sand on her tongue.  at least her actual coffee wasn’t like that, warm and the exact comfort needed for this conversation.  asking your friend to coffee was completely, and totally normal. 

    asking your friend to coffee to ask for advice about wether or not you should take on the mantle of a paramilitary group’s captain, now that was the right amount of fucking insane for naomi’s life.  did she even want to be captain?  the responsibility of reforming the group had, it felt, always been on her shoulders.  they had good intentions, had been blind to information that was obvious to her, and in doing so, had done so much damage.  (  and why was it on her, anyways?  was that her choice, or someone else’s?  she’s not sure anymore.  )

     she’d expressed it before, and naomi finds herself confessing it again.  the guilt still laid so heavy - she didn’t like taking zapfish, even temporarily, even to just move them out of a military district.  did the conscripted deserve less power for the “crime” of being conscripted?  not like they had a choice!  

     rain drizzles outside the window.  reminding her, there is a world outside your brain.

      ❛  well, i don’t plan on jumping over the line now.  ❜  naomi sighs,  ❛  you’re right, though.  it’s not easy, navigating these spaces.  i... just worry about slipping.  either you, me, or even the other agents - what happens when we fuck up, y’know?  ❜

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[ GAZE ] Eden and Cerrin!!!

DOMESTIC INTIMACY PROMPTS // accepting // @orbitaldeathwoomy

[ GAZE ] sender & receiver stargaze

Most people panicked during a blackout.

Eden and Cerrin went to the roof.

Normally, the stars weren't easy to see in Inkopolis. The city never truly slept - not everyone was diurnal, after all. Lights were always on, because people were always working. But, with the power out, the city blanketed in midnight, they climbed up the fire escape, a picnic blanket in hand.

They spread it out on the concrete, and lay down. Eden curls up to Cerrin, resting her head on his chest. Her silver eyes are wide, full of wonder. Tears of light drip down the sky.

"Look, look," she spoke quietly, excitement on her lips, "Shooting stars - I think that means we have to make a wish, right?"

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@xamountofmuse​  / callie sent: 🎶 

send a 🎶 to catch my muse singing / performing a song

      on most nights, when she cannot sleep, eden goes to the roof.  she will turn to the stars for guidance, and usually, just the reassurance of the night, of being under a real sky, with real stars, confirms that she made the right choice.  tonight, though, even that was not enough to quell her thoughts.  the stars do not bring her comfort, but instead, made her think of what she left behind her. 

     a sort of... survivor’s guilt forms in her mind.  escapee guilt?  why does she get to live in the sunshine, but those who she considered her closest friends live in darkness?  why didn’t she stay longer, free more people.  so, she goes to her second recourse: with her guitar bag slung over her shoulder, she travels out.  not specifically to octo valley, but it’s where she ends up, just walking, endlessly. 

      eden would never risk going down, but no one is around, not even the snow globe - some little corner of the valley that no one really used, just some abandoned platform. 

       maybe here, she can think.  maybe here, with no city sounds, eden can think.  ( and, like a true octoling, she thinks with music. )

      her guitar is her baby - well, all of them are, really.  but, she loves this one the most.  a hand me down, a reminder of family, of the hands it’s passed through.  and so, she just plays what comes to mind.

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@heartwilled​ / claude said to tsunaomi,  ❛ i came out here to attack people and i’m honestly having such a good time right now. ❜

𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒  𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

     ❛  i’d sure hope you’re having fun!  turf war is like.... a game, claude.  ❜

     his description of attacking people is apt, though.  the enemy team can’t score if they’re too busy respawning.  and having someone so skilled at strategy, even in a game as loose on rules as turf war, was honestly refreshing.  better than some of the raw kids who’d jumped into solo queue with her before.  thus, with a goofy grin on her face, she adds,  ❛  y’know, you should join me in a league match or two sometimes.  my team could always use an alternate, and i’m sure you’d love to get your hands on the rainmaker.  ❜

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@xamountofmuse​ / callie said to tsunaomi,  ❛  so apparently the 'bad vibes’ i’ve been feeling are actually severe psychological distress.  ❜ 

𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒  𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

      ❛  callie....  do i need to call marie?  ❜  callie’s voice crackling over the radio only makes her more worried.  any doubts she had were not listened to.  tsu speaks evenly, calm.  ❛  ‘cause i will.  or like, the doctor, or-  honestly, that’s concerning.  ❜

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    the lobby may as well be the home of awkward interactions.  wether having to pretend that she, marina, and pearl are simple acquaintances, or waving at someone that she mistook for her next door neighbor;  eden had become the queen of social ineptitude.  or, so she thought.  so, normally, she keeps her head down, with one earbud in, so she can hear when her team is called.  there’s something inaudible, over the intercom, and seconds after, the inkling next to her walks off.  the door slides open.

     eden looks up, and her heart stops.  the color drains from her face, the tips of her hair turn white.  here? now?  her heart starts back up, now running a marathon.  that flash - the cyan, the sick green, immediately, all eden can think of is that smell.  the smell of nothing but cleaning products, something too sanitary.  how many times had she failed, fallen against these very same sanitized octolings?  but, it couldn’t be !!  the deepsea metro was basically inescapable.  and yet,  there they were.  and instead of doing anything, eden just sort of...  stares at them.  eyes wide, silvery and saucer wide.

for: @xamountofmuse / saan 

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@hyperfreshisms​ / marina sent in ✐

a random sentence starter from my muse

     it’s so quiet now.  how could it not be - the whirring of helicopter blades, the circling wind, the sound of an earth-shattering wail, the screaming, metallic voice that refused to leave her head—  they had all stopped.  everything stopped, and tsunaomi opened her eyes to a world unchanged.  or, more accurately, a world saved.  the world she loved so dearly, saved.  were she not ashamed of herself, she would be proud of everyone else.  maybe both are true.

      once the noise subsided, there were only five left.  only five, standing alone on a pier.  they’ve since been dropped off, back in the city proper.  agent eight darted ahead, legs wobbly, but full of youthful excitement as they walk away with pearl and the captain.  naomi, though, does not move.  instead, she stares, up towards the setting sun.  in melancholy, under her breath, tsunaomi admits,

      ❛  i never thought about how important the sky was, until i didn’t have one.  ❜

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@xamountofmuse​ / pearl said to eight,  ❛ i’m sick and tired of being called ‘mortal’ like, you don’t know that. neither do i. i have never died even once. nothing has been proven yet. stop making assumptions. ❜

𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒  𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

     eight had, but a mere hour before, been crying and wailing.  it was not hard to spiral in the deep sea metro; the tests were grueling, and every time she passed through a ticket gate, she felt less and less like a girl, and more and more like a collection of numbers.  she tried to not let it show, but after a while, the words ten thousand and eight wore into her soul.  (  did she have one left?  was she real to begin with?  oh cod, what if she wasn’t-  )

      but she has been talked out and talked down, and now, lays across a subway seat, the radio held in her hands.  she’d even laughed since then, but now, only responds with amused confusion. 

     ❛  w-wait, but you’ve been like, splatted before, haven’t you?  marina was telling me about some of your turf war exploits, a... a few days ago?  a few hours...  no, it was definitely yesterday.  ❜   she shakes her head, and tries to continue on,   ❛  i would think that’s technically proof of your mortality.  but i’d like it if you are immortal!  ❜   what can she say, she’s grown to very much appreciate pearl. 

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@xamountofmuse​ / four said to tsunaomi,  ❛  you don’t look so good.  ❜ 

𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒  𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄  𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄  𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒.

       to say four’s observation is wrong would, in fact, be lying.  but, she always holds herself to standards far higher than need be; far higher than she would hold the rest of them to.  but there’s no hiding that she’s stressed, that she’s overworked, that her eyes continually unfocus as she tries to draw out a map.  battle plans, something she knew well, made her head spin.  

      tsunaomi glances up, to look at four properly, and the concern is sweet. perhaps tsu should listen to whatever they have to say.  she tries to look less serious, but really, nothing can break through the tired.

      ❛  i... your concern is noted, four.  ❜  and she reaches over, to pat their shoulder.  ❛  i promise, i’ll get some rest soon, ok?  ❜