#Why.... did I give him... inkling tentacles..... why did I do that........

[lovewireds]

been meaning to post my designs for these little guys forever. insane splatoon rambling under cut to explain design choices and lore related things ... read my autism boy

btw this is a repost from our art side blog this was written and drawn like months ago <- minorly rewrote some things tho

thx splatoon users drfreeman & drcoolatta for fueling my splatvrai autism brainrot ... i hate u /J

GORDON

idk how to explain this but Theoretical Physicist is inkling coded . maybe its cuz splatoon species social hierarchy

Native ink color is Orange, but he has Dark Brown tentacle roots.

Uses custom weapons to attach in place of his prosthetic; It works best with Splatlings but can be adjusted to attach other weapons.

If the thing above didn't make it obvious, he's a Splatling main. He switches out depending on his mood though.

sighhhhh technically an Agent... stares at the ceiling...Main character...

His arm loss is like pretty much the same as in-canon but it's with the octarian army shrugs. don't ask me why he doesn't just regenerate it cuz hes a squid thats for me to know and you to find out. (get partially sanitized loser)

Born & Raised in Inkopolis pre-splashtags; He wasn't informed of the switch to Splashtags being expected when participating in most activities around Inkadia.

TOMMY

I forgot why i made him an inkling why did i do that. I think it was bc i didnt wanna make them all octolings but i was wrong srry we all make mistakes /hj I ALREADY REDREW HIM ONCE IM NTO DOING IT AGAINNN

Native ink color is orange-brown.

His hat has an eye guard for sensory reasons; He covers up as much of his skin as possible because he doesn't like the feeling of foreign ink on him.

He isn't a specific weapon main, he just uses any long-range weapon to minimize the possibility of getting ink on himself. If he has enough guarding, he prefers to use N-ZAP '89.

Makes his own gear for sensory reasons as well :) It's legal when ur dad's the G-Man.

Exclusively plays in Turf Wars, Anarchy Battles, etc with friends. He hates playing with people he doesn't know.

Born in Splatsville !! He feels like a Splatsville resident. His occupation is resident I cannot imagine him doing Anything

His dad is that creepy curtain in one of flounder heights windows /j

BENR(E)Y

Octoling bc I wanted him to be sanitized :) Other than the visual part of being sanitized, I thought him being clinically dead fits /hj also lore reasons below

Pre-sanitization, his native ink color was blue.

Great Turf War veteran; He didn't do anything in the war itself, he was just enlisted lol. He was primarily security for the Octarian Domes in the years after the war. Yes, that also means he is over 100 years old.

"Raised" (debatably) in Octo Canyon.

E-liter main (4-star Base + 5-star Scope) and avid squidbagger. He also uses any heavyweight weapons (dynamo, tenta, etc)

Absolutely hates working at Grizzco, he only does Turf Wars and Anarchy Battles. He only works at Grizzco during Big Runs. The type of guy that does X battles.

Professional Anarchy / Ranked / X Battler btw. That's literally 90% of what he does.

Got on Gordon's azz over him not having a Splashtag; i wonder what that parallels.

BUBBY

Genuinely don't have a lot to say about his design. He gives off Splatoon 2 Octoling vibes (showoff /hj) also i wanted to make his hair wispy like it should be.

Native ink color is a light blue-gray gradient.

The drawing doesn't give it credit but I swear those are glasses not goggles .. they're opaque-colored slanted oval glasses !! ^_^ u can interpret them as spiked or just eyelashes, both are right.

oh also the text under bubby says "Is Best" in some splatoon font we downloaded awhile ago . i think it was ripped from splatnet

Blaster main. I don't know how to explain this one but it feels right.

helps with the practical Map props (ie ink rails) and with some weapon gear manufacturing ^_^ tech guy

COOMER

Was going to make him an Octoling for the convenience of making his hair curly but i didn't want to make all of them octolings + i think his personality generally fits Inklings more.

Native ink color is an off white gradient.

Slosher main cuz he likes moving his arms. this makes sense to me. Also is a fan of Splatlings and other Shooters.

i felt ill trying to design coomer without making his eyes two lines with eyelids

War Veteran...Stole some octarian tech and got fucked up super limbs. Cyber Inkling stealing from octos !! [inkadia crowd goes wild] /j

anyways outside of the war™ he's a data researcher. just generally. he does shit with splatfests and eggstra work.

If you splashed him with ink he would stand unmoving. He would not shake it off.

DARNOLD

Ok i'll be honest the Octoling choice is primarily bc Octolings have the afro style & inklings have no textured hair styles (i didnt have the energy to design smth that could work) . His personality fits octoling too though :3

Native ink color is red-orange.

The fucked up guy that makes those drink effects people never use ( i use them ... )

He doesn't participate in Turf Wars or Anarchy Battles, but he works some gigs at Grizzco for extra cash every once in awhile !

the type of guy that goes after flyfish cuz no one else will . god bles !!!

not a lot to say about his design & his place in inkadia , it kinda speak for itself . he just wants to get by and make his drinks in peace . #autism ... he is pretty much exactly the same as his canon self

[minniesmutt]

I saw your asks are open, idk if you are still taking rq for this or not https://www.tumblr.com/askgametime/705287969574158336?source=share but if you are can you do

11, 13, 29, 42, 50, 61, 79, 93. With Seung?

🌷

☾ ━━━━━━ 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

☾ ━━━ PAIRING: SEUNGMIN X READER ☾ ━━━ PROMPTS: 11; DP/TP/SPITROASTING 13; ROUGH SEX 29; CRYING DURING SEX/ EMOTIONAL SEX 42; MULTIPLE ORGASMS 50; TENTACLES 61; OVERSTIMULATION 79; CUM INFLATION/BELLY KINK 93; ANAL SEX/PEGGING ☾ ━━━ CONTENT: ASTRONOUT!READER, ALIEN!SEUNGMIN, ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP, MONSTERFUCKING, BREEDING, ROUGH SEX, STRENGTH KINK, NIPPLE PLAY, TENTACLES, FINGERING, SLIGHTLY SADISTIC SEUNGMIN, PRIMAL PLAY (?), SPIT-ROAST/TRIPLE PENETRATION/ DOUBLE PENERTATION, ORAL (M.REC), UNPROTECTED SEX (ANAL + VAGINAL), DACRYPHILIA, CUM INFLATION (MORE SO DESCRIBED AS A FEELING THAN IT BEING PHYSICAL), MULTIPLE ROUNDS, OVERSTIM, MULTIPLE ORGASMS, CLIT PLAY, ☾ ━━━ WC: 2K ☾ ━━━ 18+ work!! minors and ageless/blank blogs DNI! you will be blocked, put an indicator on your blog somewhere that you are 18+ before interacting with this work/blog

     How Y/n’s ship had made it out of the Milky Way was a miracle to her. What wasn’t was a crash landing on an exo-planet. She had zero clue if it was even safe for her to be here until she met Seungmin. He looked human but she learned quickly he wasn’t. Nonetheless, she still trusted him. However, she didn’t feel like she had much of a choice at this point. 

     Seungmin gave her a place to stay and managed to learn her language easily. She learned she’d landed on the planet called MIROH. Something she didn’t know on earth. Meeting his friends whom he threatened swore to secrecy. Not trusting many other people on the planet when it came to other species. Y/n didn’t mind staying in his home much. He was clean and he helped her adapt while she tried to figure out how she was going to get back home.

     His friends had taken a look at her ship with her and they’d concluded that it was fixable but it was going to take some time. It was damaged from its travels— most ships from Earth didn’t last long past the Milky Way galaxy. So she was here for a while.

     The eight aliens—or was she the alien now?— were great company in all honesty. But when you lived with one for so long and he was better than any other man she had met on earth, things were bound to happen. 

     After a good year— in MIROH’s orbit, not Earth orbit— of living with Seungmin, she’d come to realize she had developed feelings for him and she did her best to hide it since she could be leaving at any moment to go back home. But as the year dragged into the next, it looked less likely that she would be home on earth anytime soon. So, MIROH started to become her home and she became okay with having feelings for her roommate. 

     Seungmin on the other hand, had had an inkling of his feelings for her since he found her crashed ship. And like her, he kept to himself since she could leave at any moment and only acted on them when it appeared clear to him and his friends that her going back to Earth was highly unlikely. And if it weren’t for Jisung’s loud mouth, he would have kept them a secret too.

     But seven months after the incident, he was glad his friend had said something rather loudly.

     “Morning,” Y/n kissed her boyfriend’s cheek as he was making her a cup of coffee— or as she described it, coffee adjacent.

     “Morning,” He smiled as he turned and pulled her to him. Y/n smiled and wrapped her arms around him

     “Oh! Can I ask you a question?”

     “You just did but I’ll give you a second one.”

     “Haha, very funny. I was talking with Hyunjin yesterday—”

     “Terrible idea.”

     Y/n glared at him for a moment before continuing, “Anyways. He asked about our sex life.”

     “Why?”

     “Specifically about something I didn’t know you had.”

     “I have no idea what you are talking about.” He did. But he was deciding the best way to bury his friend’s body at the moment

     “Were you ever going to tell me you had tentacles? Or a breeding season?”

     “You’ve lived with me for two years and you didn’t know I had a breeding season?”

     “You were not around much when it occurred.”

     Seungmin sighed, “I was going to tell you eventually but I know it’s not something you’re used to and I didn’t want to scare you away.”

     “Min, respectfully, where am I going to go?”

     “I guess you’re right. But it’s still a lot more than what we do now.”

     “Well, tell me about it.”

     “Are you sure?”

     “Yep,” Y/n reached behind him, grabbed her cup of coffee, and dragged him over to the couch. Making him tell her every detail of it.

    His species breeding season was a few weeks away so they’d planned to just lock themselves away in the house until it was over, most of the aliens on the planet did anyways so it wouldn’t be weird. Seungmin had gathered supplies before the season started— most of which he had in the house anyway. He honestly wasn’t too sure how this was going to affect Y/n. He’d unfortunately heard from Chan and Minho that their species females were hyper fertile during the season so he didn’t know what to expect from his human girlfriend.

    Once the season changed, Seungmin felt it. They were up late again, Y/n was in the kitchen fixing something to snack on when she heard a loud groan from the living room. “You okay Min?”

    “No,” he groaned

    “What happened?”

    “It started.”

     It took Y/n a moment to remember what he was talking about. At first, she questioned if the men of MIROH got periods but then she remembered. Breeding season.

     “Come here, please,” Seungmin called.

     Y/n put her snack in the fridge and joined her boyfriend in the living room, at least for a second. Seungmin had stood quickly and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.

     “Minnie!” She squealed, surprised by the strength she didn’t know he had to begin with.

     “Sorry,” He mumbled as he got into their bedroom. Practically throwing her on the bed.

     Y/n’s face grew warmer at the action. Watching as he stripped away his shirt and pinned her to the mattress, lips immediately attaching to hers. Y/n moaned into his lips as his hands pinned her wrists down to the mattress. Y/n was so used to him being more on the softer side, only sometimes being a little harder— explaining it linked to his species’ tendencies. Now she knew it meant their breeding season.

     Seungmin’s lips moved down to her neck, giving her a quick warning about his tentacles before two appendages were snaking up her shirt. They felt warm, not slimy like the movies on Earth would describe them. Though they were strong. They managed to tear her shirt off her and then wrap it around her breasts. Kneading them and playing with her nipples.

     “Min,” Y/n moaned as she arched into him

     “Fuck, you sound so good,” Seungmin moaned as his hands moved down from her wrists to pull down her bottoms and underwear. Getting rid of both pieces in one go.

     His middle finger slid inside her, pumping in and out of her. The two appendages that were on her breasts moved up and wrapped around her wrists. Holding her down against the bed as he marked up her neck, finger pumping in and out of her.

     “More,” Y/n whined

     “Yeah?” Seungmin teased as he slipped another finger into her. Y/n moaned in reply before he pushed his lips back to hers. Tongue finding its way into her mouth and twirling around hers. 

     His fingers moved in and out of her as she tried reaching for him. Needing to hold him but the tentacles holding her wrists kept her from doing so. Seungmin smiled against her lips, feeling her struggle against him. He pulled his fingers out and grabbed hold of her hands. Y/n laced her fingers with his as his tentacles moved and pushed down his pants and boxers. Y/n barely noticed until the appendages spread her legs. Seungmin pushed himself right against her. 

     Y/n moaned against his lips as he ground against her. Tentacles holding her legs open before they flipped her onto her stomach. Seungmin’s hands were on top of hers and kissed down her back. 

     “I love you,” Seungmin mumbled

     “Love you too,” Y/n mumbled 

     She felt two more warm—slightly wet— tentacles on her body. Prodding at both her holes. Y/n moaned as she pushed back against him. Seungmin smiled as one pushed into her cunt. Listening to her moans. The slipperiness of the tentacle helped slide in easily, the other tentacle worked slowly past the tight rim of her ass. Y/n moaned and squeezed around him. 

     Seungmin mumbled praises into her back as both slimy appendages made their way into her. Her fingers tightened around his before he pulled her head up with one tentacle. “Open your mouth for me, baby,” Seungmin commanded. 

     Y/n opened her mouth like he said to and a tentacle slipped down her throat. Y/n moaned around the appendage as the one inside her pussy started moving slowly out to push back in her. The tentacle in her throat moved with it. The only one staying still was in her ass. Seungmin still letting her adjust to him being in there. 

     Slowly the pace picked up a bit and the third one joined in. Y/n moaned as tears pricked her lash line. Seungmin held onto her hands as he mumbled praises into her back. Somehow she felt the tentacles getting deeper in her with each thrust. She felt him everywhere. In parts, she didn’t know that could be reached. It made her eyes almost roll back. Her jaw relaxed fully, hearing the noises that came from the tentacle fucking her throat. 

     “Fuck,” Seungmin groaned. One hand went under her and rolled her clit. Her walls tightened around him as he stimulated the little bud. Her moans were silenced by the appendage in her throat. His fingers worked quickly on the bud as she tightened around him more. Her hips started to buck erratically against his hand as he kissed her shoulder blades.

     She felt warmth in her throat as she was about to tip over the edge. Warm and sweet. Y/n’s eyes rolled back as her orgasm hit while he was filling her throat with his cum. Seungmin groaned behind her as the other two tentacles released his load into her. Pushing deep inside her and letting the cum fill her. Y/n moaned as she came down from her high while the tentacle left her throat. She caught her breath as Seungmin held her close to him.

     “Minnie.” Y/n’s voice was hoarse.

     “Sorry. It’s gonna take a minute,” her boyfriend told her

     She could feel the cum making its way into her. After a couple more moments, he pulled out of her and turned her around, laying her on her back and pushing into both holes again. 

     “Min!” Y/n gasped

     “Gotta make it stick baby,” He said as he started thrusting into her. “Gotta fill you up.”

     Y/n threw her head back as the tentacles kept her arms and legs pinned to the bed. Not letting her move her limbs. She felt another on her clit. Sucking on the bud as Seubgmin held onto her waist with his hands. Watching the tears fall from her lashline from the overstimulation. He did not know how much she could handle but he was almost blinded by the need to breed.

     “Minnie! I’m gonna cum!” Y/n cried out

     “Cum. Cum all over me baby,” Seungmin groaned

     He watched her hand clench and her limbs spasm slightly. Feeling the familiar warmth of her cum coating his cock as he started picking up his pace. Fucking her through the high then pulled her closer to him as he fucked her to his second high. Wrapping his arms around her as the two tentacles pumped into her before burying themselves deep in her again. Seungmin held her as close as he could as his cum filled her

     “Min,” Y/n mumbled

     “I’ve got you,” Seungmin kissed the side of her head

     “Sleepy,” Y/n groaned

     “I’ll clean you up when I’m finished then we can go to bed.”

     Y/n nodded and weakly wrapped her arms around him. Once he finished, he took her to the bathroom, getting both of them cleaned up and redressed.

     “Feel okay?” Seungmin asked as he got her in bed

     “Full,” Y/n grumbled

     “Oh baby, we still have a whole month left.”

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[messydoodlesyt]

SMG4 Crew Redesigns Part 1

Finally got them done! I saw some people do redesigns for the SMG4 Crew and I wanted to put my spin on it. So far I’ve done SMG4, SMG3, Meggy, Mario, and Luigi. I'm for sure gonna do the others at one point. But it was perfect timing since I did finally finish all the arcs in order (and the important episodes in between for the most part) so I at least have some better context then all the stuff from 2022+ and all.

So first up SMG4. I’ve seen people incorporate the glitch color pallet so I tried to put a little bit on the shoes and pant legs. That and I’ve seen him associated with stars. I don’t quite understand why people do redesigns with it; maybe it’s something in an old episode I haven’t seen yet or something but I thought it’d be neat to add. Added the number four roman numeral for him too cuz it felt off only having 3 have it. Shoulder strap off cuz vibes idk.

Next up SMG3! I’ve seen so many people give him long hair/ a mullet and dammit it was just too perfect to have. That with some ripped pants and gloves and earrings to add for his redesign. And of course the overall pocket for Eggdog because yes.

Up next Meggy! She felt like the biggest change to me but I think it’s mainly the hair being the reason. Originally I was keeping the long hair, but when I was watching the arcs and saw her inkling form didn’t have any tentacle things in the back just the front (forgive me idk if that’s what those are called a barely played splatoon) so I felt like after turning human she would first have the long hair but then cut it as a way to cope if that makes sense? Idk she seemed to have struggled for some time just trying to adjust to human form and at least she would have control over her hair. Then I gave freckles which I believe her first human model design did have them but it was so faded it was hard to tell so I tried to make em a bit more noticeable (though now that I’m looking at them maybe I should make em thicker idk yet).

Now friggen Mario. Good lord he was the last one I finished and it should not have been this hard. It’s all minor changed I feel like- I tried to make him still identifiable while still having some differences like the short sleeves, belt, and patches. That and I put his signature M on the gloves too to match SMG4 and SMG3. I was struggling with the mouth (not the cursed one just normal) because sometimes it would look off. Luigi I had more of a problem with though than Mario for whatever reason; maybe it’s the mustache.

Which speaking of Luigi as the final one for the list thing. He definitely gave me turtle neck vibes so I wanted to give him that, plus a belt that has those little bag strap things or whatever you call them to hold stuff like maybe some flower seeds or whatever he needs to. And I only did one of those little drawings with a mouth but when I tried doing it for the others it felt off. Probably for future drawings with these refs I’ll add mouths or won’t depending on the mood.

And yeah those are my redesigns. Definitely wanna do the others like Tari and Saiko for example. But some I know will be tricky because I don’t really know what I could add for redesigns like Mr. Puzzles and Karen for example. But we’ll see.

Part 2 of SMG4 Redesigns

[boleetz]

Day 2 - Chase

Characters - ler!Raine (oc), lee!Pike (oc)

Word Count - 1088

Summary - Pike decides to hide Raine’s e-liter from them. Raine doesn’t take too kindly to that and a chase ensues.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“PIKE,” Raine’s voice rang throughout their shared apartment. Currently, Raine was chasing their roommate and partner, Pike, around their apartment. Why you may ask? Because Pike thought it would be funny to steal Raine’s e-liter and hide it from them. Raine, of course, was not happy with this and decided to take measures into their own hands, causing Pike to panic and run away from them. The tri-stringer user was fast and slippery though, having experience running from his siblings back in the domes whenever they wanted to have fun.

The two chased each other around the small apartment for what seemed like hours while accidentally knocking pieces of furniture and decorations over until Raine finally caught up with the mischievous octoling, tackling him onto the ground and pinning him down. Pike tried to struggle out of the inkling’s hold, but Raine was far stronger than him so he just opted to giggle and squirm in anticipation instead. Raine didn’t have their respirator mask on, so they looked down at Pike with the most evil and predatory grin, causing the octoling to giggle even harder.

“I will give you until the count of three to tell me where my e-liter is or else,” they gave a small poke to Pike’s stomach, causing him to let out an adorable squeak. “I will not go easy on you.”

Pike’s response was only more giggling, his tentacle bouncing in anticipation as he had the cutest, wobbliest smile on his face.

“One…”

“Two…”

The inkling paused for a moment, giving their partner time to respond, their smile growing ever bigger. After a few more seconds, they striked.

“Three!”

Raine shot their hands underneath their roommate’s life jacket and started to skitter their fingers across his stomach, causing Pike to let out the most adorable laughter. The inkling always forgets how cute their partner’s laughter is, which is funny considering how many times they tickle him. Soon enough, the usually serious inkling found themselves laughing alongside the octoling; they couldn’t help it, his laugh was too contagious!

“R-Raihaihaine, stahap laughihihing at mehe!”

The silver inkling took a few moments to stop their laughter, causing them to slow down on their tickling.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Your laugh is just too contagious,” they smiled before going back to their serious persona. “Are you going to tell me where my e-liter is, or am I going to have to take more drastic measures?”

Pike did not like their tone of voice at the end. On one hand, he wanted to tell Raine where their weapon was, but on the other hand, the octoling loves being tickled and wanted to keep this going on as long as possible.

“Do your worst,” he responded with a confident grin.

“Do my worst you say? Well, if you insist…”

The inkling’s hands darted towards the octoling’s exposed underarms and started their attack, causing Pike to go absolutely ballistic. He thrashed underneath the inkling and started pounding his feet on the floor; the two of them were totally going to get a noise complaint after this.

“BAHAHAHAHA! RAIHAIHAINE, NOHOHOT *snort* THEHEHERE!”

“Y’know, I find it quite funny that you wear a life vest that completely exposes your death spot,” the inkling chuckled. “What if my teammate, Atticus, came up to you mid-match and tickled your underarms with his oh-so-tickly inkbrush, hmm? Would you try and splat him with your stringer or lay there and take the tickly attack? Oh, who am I kidding, I already know the answer to that you ticklish little ball of nerves~.”

Oh that smug bastard. They knew how much teasing like this gets to him and he loves it. His face flushed a vibrant orange as tears of absolute mirth poured down his face. His kicking only got worse as Raine drilled their fingers into his death spot, causing him to send a flip-flop flying off of his foot, which Raine chuckled at. Seeing his partner reach for his foot, Pike immediately turned into octopus form, causing Raine to stop their tickling momentarily.

“N-no foot tickles, please,” the octo shyly said as he looked away, causing Raine to let out a noise of acknowledgment.

“Got it,” they responded while looking at the octo. “Are you alright with, uh, tentacle tickles instead?”

Pike let out an ‘mhm’ as he reached one of his tentacles out towards Raine. The inkling grabbed the offered tentacle and looked at the octo with a sinister grin.

“You ready to tell me where my e-liter is?”

When the only reply they got was giggles, they started lightly scratching at one of the octo’s suction cups, causing him to shriek and let out squealy laughter. It’s common knowledge that a cephalopod’s suction cups are extremely sensitive, hell, even the stubborn and cocky Raine’s suction cups are, though they try to hide it because they’re “too tough” to be ticklish. The inkling then decided to go all out and used all of their fingers on their attacking hand and went to town on the octo’s tentacle, causing him to absolutely scream.

“OHOHOKAHAHY, OHOKAHAHAHAY! IHIHI’LL TELL YOUHOU WHEHEHEHEHERE YOUHOUR E-LIHIHIHITER IS! PLEHEHEHEASE STOHOHOP!”

Satisfied now that the octoling gave in, Raine stopped their tickling, giving Pike some much needed time to recover from the attack. The octo turned back into humanoid form and embraced the silver inkling in a big hug, letting residue giggle pour out of his system. Raine would never admit it out loud to the public, but they love it when Pike hugs them; they’re just so touch-starved that it feels really nice to be in the warm embrace of their lover. Once the octoling was calmed down, he looked up at the inkling with the biggest and cutest smile.

“Your e-liter’s in the coat closet, Rainestorm,” he said while nuzzling his face into his partner’s neck. “Thank you for the tickles by the way, it was really fun!”

Raine sputtered as they processed his last sentence.

“I-I-I, uh, w-what? Did you really steal my e-liter just so I would tickle you?!” Pike responded with a big nod and goofy smile, causing Raine to playfully roll their eyes and shake their head. “Y’know you could’ve just asked me to tickle you, you know that, right?”

“Yeah! But this was way more fun!”

Raine playfully rolled their eyes again and scratched behind one of Pike’s ears, causing him to let out adorable snickers and scrunch up his shoulders.

“Oh, you ticklish little dork, what am I ever going to do with you?”

[simp999]

A New Home Ch. 20

Various! Splatoon Manga x Skilled! Isekai'd! Reader

Wc: 1.6k

A/N: Why did I put so much effort into his tentacles, I don't even like the color yellow. Anyways, get ready to dislike Emperor :)

Back to the Start! Previous Next

“You’ve done well in advancing past the preliminary round. Strive harder to fight me.”

You noticed the way all of the inklings around you seemed to cower at the king’s voice, he sure knew how to control a crowd. Most of the blue team shuddered at the sight. You looked back to see Rider’s uneasy smile, as well as the way Stealth quivered on the spot.

‘So this is the absolute king.’

You refuse to let him sway you, staring him down with a look of determination written across your face. He seems entertaining. You two lock eyes for a solid few seconds, and you don’t even consider blinking until he’s got his eyes somewhere else. You look away from him to see how your teammates are doing, only getting reminded of how awesome they are when you see Leo with a bright smile, no doubts in his mind. Tasha’s analysing anything she can about Emperor, and Milo’s smile is much more focused. They intend on battling the Monarch team and winning, and nothing can stop them. 

Except for you of course, if you so choose to go easy on your opponents. But who are you to disrespect your teammates? It’s not like you have much of a choice, so going all in is the only thing you can do now.

“We’ve got lots of training to do, gang.”

You state, just loud enough for your teammates to hear. Tasha gives a curt nod, Milo a smile, and Leo punches his right hand into his left in front of him, letting out a “Hell yeah!”

The crowd begins to disperse when the first teams to battle are called up.

[Team Yellow-Green VS Team Cardigan!]

Your determined expression immediately turns into one of slight irritation, desperately wanting to shake your head and facepalm. You had forgotten about that annoying team.

[And Team Gloves VS Retro Gamer Team!]

Gloves and Rider announce how they’re going to crush their opponents, and fight about who’s gonna win the championship. The two battles will be happening at the same time, so you’ll have to decide who to watch. Leo makes his way over to follow behind Gloves, starting up a quick convo before the battle to get Gloves pumped. Huh, it looks like they’re fans of each other. Milo does a half-jog to keep up with Leo, not wanting to let him off on his own. Who knows what that dork will do without supervision. He'd probably jump the railing to go and join Gloves’ battle if nobody was there with him. Tasha walks over to trail behind Rider, wanting to see how his battle goes down. May as well go with Tasha to split up evenly.

You end up beside Rider after he slows his walking speed to match yours.

“I better see you in battle soon.”

You knew that was his way of saying ‘don’t lose’.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” You figure that this is the best time to slip in a hint, “Don’t be going easy on any opponents, now.” 

Get em’, Rider. The Cardigan team deserves it.

The battles go by quickly, and it seems like Rider took your words with a grain of salt. Though, he did become more relentless as soon as Team Cardigan’s identities were revealed. Rider and Gloves meet up after their wins, and get at each other's throats with some "playful" banter.

You stand with your arms crossed, almost wishing you got to see a battle between the two teams. Your attention is redirected to a team you’d love to see in action, if only it weren’t for their future miserable defeat. Aloha drops down to stretch a bit, hyping himself up for his upcoming battle. The blue team is still surprised to see the S4 actually working together.

“Thooough grouping together suuucks.”

…They still have terrible chemistry. That’s probably the main reason they weren’t able to win against Emperor, all trying to do their own thing and refusing to cooperate. No team is at their strongest if they can’t manage to work together.

After Goggles pulls a dish of dango out of nowhere and offers it to the S4, Skull tells the blue team that he wants to battle them, despite Emperor’s Team being here. How sweet, it seems he’s starting to warm up. The S4 is off to their first match, Rider trailing behind to go watch. Goggles wants to join too, but Specs reminds him of their battle. You’re about to follow your team, who’s following Rider, but you hang back for a sec to save Inkfall from getting his shirt dirty. You smoothly grab the dango from Goggles’ hand before it touches Inkfall, walking off while munching on it, without a word.

‘This stuff’s actually pretty good. I should’ve gotten some for the squad.’

Inkfall noticed the way you saved him from a messy situation, but decided to berate Goggles for nearly getting him dirty. Just as planned, the manga goes on as usual.

The S4’s battle goes on seemingly without any problems, but your trained eye can see much more than the average cephalopod. Army tried executing the plans from his manual alone, which proved futile without cooperating teammates. 

Aloha was still quite laid back, and didn’t function too well with the way Army was always bickering with him. 

‘Army doesn’t see that Aloha does his best when he’s chill. It may not look like he’s trying hard, but he’s much smoother with his agility when he’s comfortable.’

You lean on the railing, shifting feet because they were getting tired. The opponent is too slow to hit Aloha, so the party squid easily manages to dodge, but ends up nearly bumping into Mask.

“Waaaatch it, idiooot!”

You shake your head at the poor cooperation. Skull never missed a shot, but he didn’t shoot at times that he should have. He’s so used to Aviator nailing the opponents before Skull even bothers to attack, so it must have been weird working with new teammates.

Mask held back and used his sub weapons as usual, but it wasn’t nearly as effective when the whole team was doing other stuff. Usually, it worked best when Desi would throw toxic mist to slow down the opponent, then Mask would finish them off quickly with two perfectly aimed burst bombs.

The match still ends as expected, the S4 managing just under 75% of the stage. You’re glad they won, but the happiness quickly dies down, knowing how bad of a hit they’re about to take. There’s no avoiding the outcome, but it still sucks to see such skilled and respectable people get demolished. You recollect your thoughts, making your way out of Deca tower to meet up with the rest of the gang. 

Goggles enthusiastically congratulates the S4 on their win, and you stay farther away. Aloha isn’t paying attention to Goggles at all, only looking for you. When he does spot you, it’s almost like when a puppy is reunited with its owner. You could’ve sworn that he’d be wagging his tail if he had one.

“Hey, hey~ you saw my sweet moves, right?!”

You inwardly debate if you should tell him the truth about how badly they work together, or just let him be happy. 

Well, his dreams are about to get completely crushed, so you should put him in a good mood while it lasts. You put your hand out for a fist bump and point out one of the times he did a cool backflip while dodging some ink, splatting an opponent at the same time.

“You are lying. Not entirely, but you believe that we could battle better.”

Yet Army sees right through you once again. For the weakest of the S4, he's pretty sharp. Your smile drops and you look away dully, with a slight furrow in your brow. 

“...’Cause I know for a fact that you guys have the potential to be over one-hundred times stronger than this. You just don’t work well together. Being strong isn’t all there is to a team, you need to trust each other, too.”

The blue team had walked away a while back, and your teammates take their place, hearing you out. They saw it too. Of course, their clear bias for their idols fogged up the fact that they can be stronger, but your teammates aren’t stupid. Two of them, at least. Leo tilts his head in question, he still has much to learn. He really is like his idol.

“So, what do you expect us to do, then?”

“Lose, probably.”

Skull wasn’t expecting that response. Most people avoid talking to him altogether, but saying something like that? That’s pretty bold… Had it not been coming from you. You’re no longer at the ‘Unreachable idol + lowly fan’ phase, you’re now acquaintances. And you won’t sugar-coat it. Even your teammates behind you are shocked at how you ‘disrespected’ their idols, almost forgetting that you’re just as big of a fan, if not more, than they are.

“That’s not something you can fix overnight. Hours upon hours of training together might help that, but it’s completely useless if you guys simply don’t get along.” 

You glance back at Tasha, then Milo, and Leo,

“You need a family that would kill and die for you, and you need to bring the same if not more to the table.”

Next part

June.1.23

[jassygay]

How Shellington use the eye cancer?

Not the original just the adventure for the world in the future of horror AU ok this is how he died and lose his arm and his eyes

Inkling: Shellington… come here… I need to tell something after I give you this…

Shellington: The cruel for the demon infection and zombie infection! Give it back!

Inkling: I will tell you after I give you this ok trust me

Shellington: ok then…

Inkling: Look, listen, when I was missing Jez kidnap me and she said that Jassy also got kidnapped by her, Jez took me to the laboratory and this is why I became a monster, so do you trust me?

Shellington: yes, i trust you now, now will you give me that back now

Inkling: ofc

Shellington try to reach the cruel but Inkling did not do what he said

Inkling: *bite off Shellington’s arm and rip it off* Shellington: AAAAAAAAAAAAA INKLING WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU HURTING ME!

Inkling: *get out of the vent* you are my next meal time to died

Inkling: *stabs Shellington’s eyes with his sharp tentacles* Shellington: AAAAAAAAAAAA HELP ME PLZ SOMEBODY!

Captain barnacles: SHELLINGTON!

Inkling: *take out of Shellington eyes and eats them* Captain Barnacles: oh my fu¢king god…

Shellington: my face… my face? My face! MY FACE!!!! GIVE ME BACK MY EYES!!!!

Shellington: *runs faster as he could* Captain Barnacles: RUN RUN NOW!!!

1 day later:

Shellington is just making sure that no one break in the Octopod

Jez: hello there time to become one of us…

Jez: *put eye cancer on Shellington and put the robotic arm* Shellington: AAAAAAAAAAAA HELP ME SOMEBODY- *got mind control cuz of the eye cancer* The Leader: now you one of us now you had some jobs for me. Kill your husband aka your boss and your friends and everybody you know and don’t know will you do that for me

Shellington: Yes. Yes I will do Master

The leader: Wonderful! Now kill them except your husband because I had something for him, Jez make sure you got him but not kill him

Jez: will do boss

Later

Jassy: *checking on the characters in the list* well looks like I had to stop this

*Jez is not Jassy ok or is she, jk she not Jez, Jassy did not kill them*

[zawazawanightmares]

Marina Ida & Witch Hunter, With A Crossbow

You, Marina Ida, are connected to Witch hunter, with a crossbow. Your partner selected the 18+ server.

Marina Ida: H-hello...

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: Hey there, why are you wearing a wig like that?

Marina Ida: Wig? This isn't a wig. I got fish hair.

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: Uh, Can you explain to me how you got fish hair exactly? *the hunter grabs his crossbow from his back and aims it att the ground*

Marina Ida: Uh...*sees the crossbow and gulps*...p-puberty?

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he starts to slowly walk around her* You know damn well puberty does not give anyone fish hair, this is some dark magic going on is it not?

Marina Ida: Magic? No, it's not. It's science, for real! *circles with him to keep the two's fronts facing each other* Please stay where I can see you. It's kinda creepy with how you wanna see my back...

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he stops in his tracks and grips the crossbow with both his hands but still not aiming att her* Push it far enough, Science can become magic...And im trying to see if you are armed, why do you not want me to see your back?

Marina Ida: I'm not armed! I'm just weirded out by the guy who actually is...and what kind of Clarke's Third Law logic are you using?

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: I am not familliar with this Clark, but i know magic when i see it. And you hiding your back does not really give me confidence in your statement *He lifts the crossbow towards her* Could you just spin once for me.

Marina Ida: If I spin around, will you drop your bow?

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he frowns and contemplates before sighing* Fine, i will drop it if you spin around.

Marina Ida: *takes a deep breath...and suddenly leaps and spins around quickly, landing in the same spot* See? No weapon. I'm clean.

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He lowers the crossbow slightly and clicks his tongue* You really are not easy to work with huh, but i did promise *he straps it on his back and walks closer, looking down on her strange hair* Can you move your hair?

Marina Ida: Yeah...? *wiggles her tentacle hair*

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he puts on a leather glove on one hand and reaches over, Gripping one of the tentacles and squeezes* How can you tell me that this is not magic? Humans can not grow this kind of hair.

Marina Ida: Dude! *slaps his hand away* For starters, I'm not human...I'm an Inkling.

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he looks att his hand and takes off his glove with two fingers and drops it on the ground* A what now? You must be something the occult has summoned, or maybe you are possessed.

Marina Ida: No, listen! I'm actually an evolved form of sea creature from the future. When the humans were wiped out, we took to the surface. Gosh, this is why Pearl said time traveling wasn't worth it...

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He takes a step back, gripping att his crossbow but not pulling it off his back* You wipe out humanity?....I knew you were a witch, you are here to find our weakness?

Marina Ida: I'm not a witch! I don't know what wiped you guys out. The prevailing theory seems to be something called "global warming"...? There's a lot of water where I'm from anyway. The only real advantage we have on you is that we can breathe underwater. We don't want you guys to die!

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He inches forward, looking her over then putting on his other leather glove and reaching out. Gripping her jaw* A monster from the deep, with tentacles....You really are an occult creature. I dont see any gills on you how do you breathe under water? *he says while moving her head from side to side while inspecting it*

Marina Ida: Hey, stop...that's not---I SAID STOP! *punches him in the nose while taking a step back* I'm sorry but no one but Pearl is allowed to get that close to me without my permission!

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he stumbles back and grabs his punched nose* fucking hell, Who the hell is pearl? And you lashing out like that is not really showing me that you dont want to harm us *He covers one of his nostrils and snorts out a bit of blood on the ground* Just show me how you breathe under water, you are an unknown to me right now and i cant trust the unknown.

Marina Ida: You were touching my face! Is that you treat other humans?! Look... *points to the gills on her uncovered sides* These help but they're not the only way. Are they enough?

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He shakes off the punch and walks towards her again, reaching out his gloved hand* Can i look att them? I wont touch your face again.....And besides, you said yourself that you are not human so i dont see why i would treat you like one.

Marina Ida: Okay, no. You're a jerk and I think I've been nice enough to you. I'm going to go...and if you shoot at me with your bow, I'll make you regret a lot more than your fashion choices.

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he takes the crossbow down from his back again and aims it forward* is that a threat? And what exactly can you do i wonder, you little fish creature *He points it directly att her while looking att her frame* You look to frail to be making threats.

Marina Ida: I ain't big...but I'm packing. *takes out a Brella from her back* I'm not looking to kill ya but with the pressure this thing has, I can ruin the rest of your month if you don't back off.

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he fidgets with his crossbow and looks att the strange weapon* What is that supposed to be? Hah! You are bluffing, and think this through if you miss with whatever that is then i will capture you.

Marina Ida: I didn't get where I am by punking out whenever there's a risk. You make a move other than putting that ranged backscratcher back where you took it from and I break your cartilage with one shot from this thing.

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He stares her down for a few seconds before he drops his crossbow on the ground, raising his hands slowly* Fuck, if only i knew more about you and your kind i might be confident in this fight. But sadly i have no idea what you are capable of....You being from the future i assume you know a humans limits.

Marina Ida: I know enough to know where to shoot. Keep being smart and you won't see me ever again. *backs away while still keeping the Brella trained on him*

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He slowly follows her, walking a bit to the side* Why not stay for a little longer? Talk about stuff, maybe tell me what exactly you are and why exactly you are here?

Marina Ida: No dice, jerk. I don't like you...and I sure as shell don't trust you. *keeps her Brella pointed while matching his pace* I don't know what your problem is with witches but if you were smart, you would focus on staying alive so that you could kill more rather than do something stupid while an Inkling is letting you go. Don't be stupid.

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: Kill them? I dont kill witches, i only defend myself from witches. And all i want to do with you is understand you...Like why you look so human when you say you live in the sea. *Still with his arms up he follows her, looking around* Im starting to think you dont have the guts to shoot me down....Do you?

Marina Ida: You're not fooling me, fashion victim. You were all kill-happy when you got your bow but now you're suddenly chill? I ain't buying it. You say I look human...I say you're looking real fishy right now...and it's not that I don't got the guts to shoot you, it's that I don't want to. But if you keep following me... *glares at him while pointing the Brella at his legs*

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he stops for a second, looking att the weapon then trailing off and locking his eyes on something behind her* Hm well what about that? *he says and points behind her, A simple ruse but he had faith in it. He started to sprint towards her, making a gamble and trying to grab the weapon with both his hands*

Marina Ida: See, that would have worked...if Pearl hadn't used it on me eleven times already! *shoots a highly-pressurized stream of paint at the witch hunter's hands as he reaches for the crossbow*

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He recoils as he looks att his hands covered in paint* I thought that would hurt more or did it fry my nerves completely? *He scoffs while holding out his hands towards her* What is this?

Marina Ida: It's paint. This isn't really supposed to be a weapon, it's for a competition from my world...also, it's not supposed to hurt you. It's supposed to distract you while I do this. *unfolds the Brella so that it creates a shield while she darts off, keeping it to her back while it's shielding her*

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: What the hell? *He reaches down, fumbling with the crossbow that is now also slick with paint before he gets a good enough grip to loose a few bolts towards her, aimed att her limbs*

Marina Ida: *the Brella traps the bolts in its cover, dissipating a bit as Marina is yards away*

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *he keeps firing att her as fast as he can reload, but the paint makes that hard* Hey i tried to do this the friendly way! I knew you were here for trouble you Witch! *The last two bolts he fires att her explode into small clouds of smoke as he tries to keep up the chase*

Marina Ida: *squints her eyes through the smoke as she jumps off a nearby pier into the water, the Brella folding as she takes it under with her; she resurfaces to look at him* You might not learn anything from this but I hope you remember the next thing I'm going to tell you: that hat makes your hips look huge! *goes back under to swim off*

Witch hunter, with a crossbow.: *He stands att the pier, having stopped firing the bolts when she landed in the water. He clearly took offense to her remark and yells back* Well look who is talking, YOUR WHOLE OUTFIT MAKES YOUR ASS LOOK FAT! *He kicks a nearby bucket into the water and tries to catch his breath after the chase*

Marina Ida: *resurfaces to pout at him* PEARL SAYS IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO THAT! *dives back under to swim away*

You left the chat

[hypnothesis-au]

cmon T hes already held you when you cried at least once, you can have a LITTLE moment

Tartar huffed, and turned away to look at him with a wry side smile, clearly feigning disappointment, "You still haven't won a giant Judd for me… You haven't given up, have you?"

"Me? Give up?" Despite his cool smile, Octavio's body betrayed his fragility in the curl at the tips of his tentacles and the flickering of his eyes as they fought to stay trained on their face, looking for escape. He adjusted his hands at his sides, fluttering his fingers before balling his hands into fists. There was no danger. He was safe, he was fine. Octavio repeated this silently, finding a grain of clarity in the repetition. 

Mindlessly, he wiped his hands on his suit pants and turned to the stall where he had already tried three times to win them the promised plush. Yes. A goal. Something to fixate on. Something other than that cod damn prophecy. 

The jellyfish attendee approached and handed him a ball, happily anticipating they would receive a few more hundred gold from the stubborn man. Octavio turned the sphere in his hand. It was cold, smooth, and pitifully light, but still weighted just enough to fool you into thinking you had a chance at winning. He sucked in a breath, releasing air slowly through his mouth as he stepped back, wound his arm, and launched an adrenaline charged pitch.

The ball whizzed through the air, toppling the tower of metal cans and revealing the pegs meant to rig the bottom row in place, before finally leaving a hole in the back of the fabric tent.

“Oh my-” had they any less constitution, Tartar might have flinched at the aggression in the Octarian’s pitch. DING DING! The jellyfish rang a bell, small eyes wide as it stretched its arms to pull an oversized Judd plush from the top of the tent, quickly handing it over to Octavio.

They leaned back into his field of vision, calmly smirking, “On your first try, too.”

Octavio rolled his eyes and plucked the Judd from the Jellyfish as he turned to face Tartar. His posture relaxed as he handed over the stuffed feline, bowing slightly at the waist with a smirk.

"For you~"

They accepted the prize graciously, "Awh, you shouldn't have…"

Though the man was too proud to avoid their eyes, he didn't hold their mechanical gaze for long, casually looking to the sky to pick out a few visible stars past the flashing carnival lights. Watching his back as he turned away once again, Tartar’s processors hummed with life as they puzzled upon what exactly had put Octavio in such a sour mood so suddenly- and, why it was something he was making an effort to hide.

Octavio scrambled for something else to say; anger and grief battling to surface under a layer of aggressive repression.

Ancients torn apart.

Of course some part of him hoped that the third leg to the prophecy had applied the ancient bond between Inklings and Octarians, but deep down he knew that the prophecy was gruesomely personal. 

Still. It couldn't be Tartar, it couldn't. 

If he was so sure, then why couldn't he look them in the eye?

The Octarian drew a shaky breath, begrudgingly acknowledging the looming threat of hysteria. 

"Hey T, I'm getting a little tired." He yawned and stretched theatrically, before replacing his hands in his pockets. "Seems like a good time as any to head back.”

"I was thinking the same thing," They replied calmly to his petition to leave, and they joined his side quickly as they began the small hike to the exit. Contemplating further in the silence what to do to console their partner was quite the subtask. Their arm found its way around his with a delicate attitude, the demand to be escorted silent as they hugged the giant plush around its neck to their hip.

Something about the way the tacky fortune teller greeted them had upset him, they could gather that much. They acknowledged there was much to Octavio Takowasa they did not know or understand; they had never ventured to try knowing him beyond the basics needed to work together. But, after the time they'd spent being nothing short of torn to pieces by the man in his efforts to understand them, they could take a guess about what might be bothersome about divination (fake or not) to him in general.

"It's a good thing we didn't waste any gold on that clam," they laughed softly, "Projecting the future of a person without any substantial backing data is a fool's errand."

"And," They leaned into him, a slight bump to ensure his attention hadn't wandered away, "You are meant to determine your own path. You have more than enough power to do so."

Octavio inhaled deeply, looking up, and then at the ground as he considered their words. "Using my own words against me, neh?" 

The air was turning cool, the Octarian brushed his tentacles out of his face as he looked back at the bustling carnival, a slurry of light behind them. His smile was playful, as he glanced down at Tartar, wondering if they would give him the same answer if they knew it would encourage his pursuit of their affections. 

"So, you mean to say… I should leave it in the past, and seize the future now that it's in my hands?" 

They hummed a confirmation, “How do you expect me to believe it, if you don’t yourself?”

[Previous]

[mctwilight-mcd]

GUESS WHO FINISHED THE STORY SHE WAS WRITNG? 

me. it’s me. that’s probably why you’re reading this.

Anyways, here’s some cute agent 12 for u all to feast upon. I’m making a cut because this is  2,809 words long and I don’t want you all to hate me.

enjoy. (Title taken from ‘It’s Time to Dance’ from Prom)

But 'til That Day Comes, I Say Cue the Drums, It's Time to Dance

~ ~ ~

It had been a long night. Laura always hates these parties. Too many people, most of whom are drunk by the end of the night. Too tight dresses with too big skirts. She’s dying to be in a suit instead. The watchful eyes of her father all night long. Needing to pretend to like the boyfriend he set her up with. It’s all exhausting.

All night she’s been busy. All night, she’s been waiting to dance with Sophie. Laura doesn’t think she’ll get the chance as she watches Sophie’s glowing pink tentacles twirl across the floor, blue dress flowing around her perfectly. She’s being spun from one man to the next, smiling the whole time. Laura knows she’ll never be able to hold her like that. Not tonight, not ever.

Laura sips her drink while she leans on a pillar. The courtyard is strung with fairy lights and leaves blow in the light breeze. She watches them swirl around the short inkling, adding to her ethereal glow. She’s too distracted to notice the presence of a young man beside her.

“Long night?” Laura chokes on her drink in surprise. She then turns to look at her visitor. Of all the people to catch her, it had to be Serafin.

“For the love of cod, a little warning next time!”

“Sorry! Couldn’t help but notice you hanging here by yourself.”

Laura takes a long sip of her drink. “If you’re asking me to dance, I’m gonna have to say no.”

He chuckles. “Not a chance Laura. You barely even dance with Katashi and the two of you are dating. No, I came over here because you look lonely.” There’s a pause while he sips his drink. “I also wanted to ask you a question.” This gets Laura to perk up. Serafin’s questions are often funny in nature, sometimes close to riddles or jokes. It wouldn't hurt to let him ask.

“Shoot.”

“Why have you been staring at my girlfriend all night?” Well, no one said Laura Shouriki was never wrong.

Laura freezes. She would have choked again if she had taken another sip. She is so busted.

“She’s a good dancer and I was bored.” The lie does not convince Serafin.

“I agree, she is a good dancer, but you’re lying.” He looks her dead in the eyes. Then he grins. “I think you like her.” Laura’s whole face lights up green. She tries to hide her blush. Sure, Laura’s had a crush on Sophie since they met. It doesn’t mean she’ll get in between Sophie and Serafin. She just hopes that he didn’t tell anyone else.

After a few moments, Serafin bursts out laughing. Laura snaps her eyes to him, shooting him a wicked glare.

“Relax, relax! I’m not mad.” He gives Laura a genuine smile. “I’ve been picking up on it for a while. She seems much happier when you’re around and vice versa. I’m glad she has someone who loves her like that.” That makes Laura pause.

“Don’t you?” He chuckles.

“I love her as a friend. She’s an amazing person, but I don’t like her in that way. You’re not the only closeted homosexual in our age group.” That gets her to laugh.

“Alright. I’ll admit it. I do have eyes for Sophie. Who’s your pick?” It’s her turn to smirk at him.

“Why, your boyfriend of course!” Laura bursts out laughing, soon being joined by Serafin.

“You like Katashi? Mr. No nonsense, straight as a pin Katashi?”

“I will have you know that he can never sit without crossing his legs and has many posters of male idols in his room. The man is fruity, I tell you.” Laura takes another sip of her drink as she chuckles.

“You make a compelling argument my good sir.” They both continue to laugh, leaning against the pillar behind them for support.

“Did you two talk about it?” Laura asks. “How you don’t like her that way?”

Serafin nods. “Ya. She feels the same way. You?”

“Ya. Tash knows to fake it. I give you my blessing for what it’s worth.”

“Thanks, and same here. Our parents paired us with the wrong people it seems.”

Laura holds up her glass. “Cheers to that.” Their glasses clink as they both knock back the rest of their beverages of choice.

The song that had been playing during their conversation slowly comes to an end and a round of applause echoes through the courtyard. Serafin leans over to whisper in Laura’s ear.

“Mr. Fruity at 12 o’clock, heading our way.” She looks up and sure enough, Katashi is making his way over to the pair. “I’ll make you a deal. You go dance with our lovely disco ball over there, while I keep the gay man busy and keep the parents off our tails.”

“Deal.” She whispers back, just before Katashi reaches them. He clears his throat and extends his hand.

“Laura, may I have this-” He’s cut off by Serafin grabbing his hand. 

“Katashi! Great timing! I was about to come looking for you! I need to talk to you about something.” He starts pulling Katashi through the doors to the interior of the house. “Nice speaking with you Laura! See you later!” 

“Bye!” she chuckles. Katashi can’t get a word out before the doors close behind them. Laura swears she saw a bit of blush on his face. She sighs, then turns to the crowd.

Sophie is hard to miss, tentacles glowing under the night sky. Laura briskly walks to her, dodging around people as she goes. No one has approached her so far, but Laura can see a young man walking in Sophie’s direction. She speeds up ever so slightly and manages to get there first. 

“Hey.” The luminescent squid whirls around to meet her eyes. 

“Oh! Hi, Laura!” She smiles and Laura’s hearts skip a beat. She can’t help but smile too.

“Can we talk?” She asks softly, setting her empty glass down on the refreshments table beside her. 

“Sure. Here?”

“I was thinking somewhere a bit more private.” Sophie’s smile grows bigger. She extends out her hand.

“Lead the way.” Laura takes Sophie’s hand in her own and starts to pull her further from the house and the party. She starts to pick up her pace, jogging and eventually running, pulling Sophie beside her as they run through cobblestone passageways between ferns and bushes. Their laughter fills the night around them as the wind flies in their faces. 

Soon, they reach a dip in the foliage, camouflaged to only be seen if you know where to look. Laura pulls the other girl through the small gap and into an open space under a canopy of trees. Fireflies light up the air around them and the smell of fragrant flowers drifts on the breeze. They’re both out of breath and panting as they take in the area. Laura feels butterflies in her stomach as she watches Sophie’s eyes light up in wonder. Still not letting go of her hand, Laura tugs Sophie to a small stone bench off to the side so they can catch their breath.

“This is gorgeous Laura.” She sighs as she takes in the scenery. “It’s also very private.” They both laugh.

“Indeed it is.” They sit there for a moment.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Sophie sets her purse to the side as she swings her legs towards Laura’s and takes both her hands, looking into her golden eyes.

“Oh! I just wanted to see how you were doing. It’s been a long night.” Sophie sighs and hangs her head.

“Believe me, I know! Not many people approach you to dance, but I have 10 at a time asking for my hand. I’d been trying to come find you but I kept getting tossed around. I’m exhausted and my feet hurt so bad in these heels. Sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier.” Laura slips one of her hands from Sophie’s grasp and sneaks it under her chin, lifting her face so Laura can stare into her crimson eyes.

“Never apologise for something you can’t control.” They both blush as they lock eyes, quickly turning to look straight ahead, one hand still laced with the other. “Anyway, I’m assuming you’re too tired to dance with me right now but-” Laura is cut off by Sophie turning back to her and bringing Laura’s hand near her chest.  

“I’d love to.” She smiles and stands up, pulling Laura up with her. “Just let me-” She fumbles as she slips off her heels, setting them by the bench. “There. Much better.” Laura laughs as she does the same. Slipping her hand into her dress pocket, she pulls out her phone. No messages from her father or Serafin. She opens it and selects a song she knows they both love to dance to, setting her phone down on the bench beside them. Sophie’s comment about having pockets in her dress is lost as the tune begins and Laura takes her hand. She guides them both to the centre of the space. Laura’s other hand finds Sophie’s waist as Sophie’s sets on her shoulder. For the first time that night, they are both happy to be dancing.

The pair twirls and spins and sweeps across the grass. As the music builds, Laura slides both hands to Sophie’s waist and lifts her in the air, twirling her around before setting her back down again. They laugh as they drift through the clearing, getting lost in the music and each other's eyes. All too soon, the song is over and the girls come to a rest. 

They breathe as one for a moment. Sophie leans towards Laura, snaking her hand from Laura’s shoulder to the back of her neck. Laura comes with the pull and she can feel Sophie’s breath on her cheek. Sophie leans to close the gap and-

“Bbbbbrrrrringgggggggg” Just like that the moment is broken. Laura can see the sadness in Sophie's eyes as she slowly steps away, heading to the bench to fish her ringing phone from her purse. Her eyes go wide as she sees the name. She answers the call.

“Hello mother.” Laura’s intake of breath is just quiet enough to not be heard through the phone. Sophie slowly slides her phone down as she hits the speaker button, putting a finger to her lips as she does.

“-phie darling, where are you? It’s getting late and you and Laura have a photoshoot tomorrow.”

“Laura and I stepped away from the party for a bit.” Laura nods her head at the response. 

“Oh. And what of Serafin and Katashi?” Sophie looks to Laura for an answer. Laura walks up to the phone. 

“Serafin wasn’t feeling too well so Katashi walked him home. I can do the same for Sophie. We’re not too far from your house.”

“I see. That would be wonderful. Thank you Laura. Marcus and I will continue to mingle a bit before heading home as well. Be safe.” 

“We will. Bye mother.” The phone goes dark as Lucy ends the call. They both let out a sigh of relief. Laura runs over to the bench and grabs her phone. Scrolling through her contacts until she finds the one she’s looking for. She hits the call button and immediately puts it on speaker. Sophie gives her a questioning look. The phone picks up.

“Hello?”

“Serafin! Thank cod! Is Katashi with you?” Sophie gives her another weird look.

“Yes… he is. Why?”

“He needs to walk you home right now. Me and Sophie need to bounce and we told Lucy that Katashi already took you home.” Sophie’s eyes light up in recognition. 

“Because you’re not feeling well apparently. Good job on that, I had no clue you were lying.”

“Thanks.”

“Laura managed to lie convincingly for once?! Also hi Soph. Ya we’ll get right on that.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, but you owe me a favour for calling at an inopportune time.”

“I’m fine with that. See you tomorrow.” She reaches to hang up the phone.

“Laura, wait.” She stops. “I just wanted to tell you… THAT I WAS RIGHT OK BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” He hangs up.

They stare dumbfounded. Sophie eventually turns to Laura. 

“What was that about?” Laura sighs.

“I’ll… let him tell you later.” Sophie just shrugs and goes to pick up her purse.

“I guess we’re walking back to my place then.” She offers her hand to Laura. “Would you mind leading the way, fair lady?” Laura chuckles as she slides her hand into Sophie’s palm, interlacing their fingers as she does so.

“I would be honoured, my beauty.” Sophie blushes.

“Are you calling me beautiful?” Now it’s Laura’s turn to blush. She turns her head away, but still mutters,

“Yes.” It’s quiet, but Sophie hears it nonetheless.

The two walk together in silence. Hands interlaced. Once and a while, one will make a comment about the scenery or how vibrant the stars are tonight. Soon enough, they arrive at Sophie’s estate. 

“Well,” She says, sighing. “This is me.” Their hands stay interlaced.

“I guess it is.” Laura turns to Sophie, tracing her eyes over the intricate glowing patterns of Sophie’s tentacles and the glowing freckles on her skin. Then Laura’s eyes fall on her lips. Sophie notices and Laura shifts her gaze away, cheeks lighting up in green. Then she remembers something.

“Before you go,” She turns to Sophie. From her pocket, she pulls out a small, green box wrapped in a purple ribbon, matching Laura’s ink colour exactly. “You can open it now or later. I don’t care, but… I got this for you.”

Sophie unlaces their fingers, much to Laura’s dismay, before carefully taking the box in her hands. She smiles, showing her fangs and looks up at Laura. Crimson meets gold as the two 15 year olds lock eyes. Sophie slips the box in her purse and wraps her arms around Laura’s shoulders, one hand finding her neck and the other, her cheek. She leans in slowly to let Laura move away if necessary. She doesn’t.

They close the gap and all Laura can think is, “Wow! I’m kissing Sophie, I’M KISSING SOPHIE!” Eventually, the both need to breathe, and break apart. Sophie looks back at her house and slides her arms away from Laura. As she leaves, she stands on her tiptoes and gives Laura a light peck on the cheek. 

“Goodnight Laura.” She whispers in her ear, then turns and leaves, entering her house. Laura stands there for a moment, still processing what just happened. Then a huge smile slides across her face. She quickly pulls out a compact mirror and fixes her lipstick, noticing the small mark on her cheek.

Without a care in the world, Laura skips back home, humming as she goes.

When she gets home, she immediately rushes to her room, avoiding all the house staff and locks the door behind her. She collapses on her bed as she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls it out and opens the two new messages from Sophie.

The first message is an image. In it, Sophie is in her room, hair down and  flowing behind her. Lips pulled back in a smile, lipstick still smudged. On her neck sits a glittering, silver necklace that swirls like vines across her collar. Set within the metal are dozens of yellow sapphires, ranging in size from as small as a pea to as big as her eye’s iris. 

The second is a text message saying,

Thank you for the necklace! I love it! 💛

Laura smiles and sends a message back.

I’m glad you like it. Yellow suits you.

Sorry I forgot to say it before, but I

Hope you have a good sleep!💚

She sends the message and then clicks her phone off. She starts undressing and changing into her pyjamas when she hears her phone go off again. Laura picks up her phone, seeing another image from Sophie. In this one, she’s also changed into pyjamas, a loose fitting shirt and long pants, both silk per her mother’s standards. She’s still wearing the necklace, but her makeup is off and her tentacles are braided over her shoulder. Her ink colour, instead of the glowing pink it was before, has now switched to a no longer glowing, buttercup yellow that fades to brown at the ends. It matches the necklace perfectly. 

Laura sends hearts in her own ink colour back her way. She’s about to put her phone away when she gets one more message. A simple kiss emoticon from Sophie. Her heart flutters as she sends one back and promptly silences her phone so she can get ready for bed. 

Both girls dream throughout the night about the party, the dance, the kiss and the new relationship they are building. They’ve only known each other for 3 months now, but they know one couldn’t live without the other.

Luckily for Laura and Sophie, this is not the end of their story. This is just the beginning.

Happy Birthday Girls!

BTW! I made art for this a little while back! We don’t get a description for it in the story cuz it’s from Laura’s POV, but Sophie might have been watching Laura have a gay panic outside her house

Here you are!

[theaviskullguy]

Ink and Petals

@dapple-dualies-propaganda here's the au

Tattoo artist! Rider x Florist! Goggles

hope you enjoy!

---------

When was it not busy at Squid ink?

It was one of the top Tattoo Parlors in Inkopolis. and it was also on a pretty busy street. So, it got a lot of customers. Also the fact that one of the artists was a famous turfer.

Rider hadn't formerly retired, but he had eased out of playing Turf Wars. He had found other interests outside of the sport: Theater, art, reviewing old movies online... He still did Turf from time to time, albeit the adult league. He was too old for the more popular teen division.

So, he found a job as a tattoo artist. And he rather loved it. Not only did most of his friends consult him for tattoo advice (from where the best places are to good designs), but he also knew some gossip. One of his regulars had beef with her neighbor because he has a pet raccoon who keeps stealing her trash and Rider could NOT wait to hear more about this story.

Another thing was, well, Rider had seen some shit. From people covered head to toe in tats, to people eagerly wanting their first tattoo, even to shyer folk who wanted one to defy controlling parents or to mark something important.

None of that prepared Rider for the news he got when tattooing one of the customers. More specifically, Gloves.

You see, Gloves had been coming in for the past few days. They had wanted a pretty complicated butterfly tat, so for the last 3 days Rider has been exchanging stories with the resident enby about... pretty much anything.

This is how this exchange happened;

"So you remember Goggles, right?" Gloves asked.

Rider rolled his eyes. "What, you think I'd forget the guy who kept pulling down my pants?"

"Oh ha ha. Anyways, apparently he works at that flower shop now."

"...He what?"

"You heard me!" They said. "I went there yesterday to get something for a project and there was Goggles! He misses you, 'ya know!"

Rider was just. quiet. He hadn't talked to his crush in a while, contact dwindled when Rider stopped doing Turf as much. Never once did he think Goggles would miss him, but that was probably the self hatred talking.

"...I'll think about it." Was all Rider said.

The conversation continued like nothing happen; Gloves saying multiple cursed things and Rider sharing interesting stories he heard on his job. Time flew by and soon, the tattoo was done; a butterfly with the bi colors on one wing and the nb colors on the other. Rider was quite proud of it, and Gloves seemed to like it. They waved, and left the store, humming to themselves.

Rider looked at the clock. His shift ended in just a few minutes. He knew he had no other appointments that day, so he took to watching old recorded matches in his phone.

Those were over a decade ago. Yet he still remembered everything. His favorite part was still learning he won a match by such a small margin. It was just... amazing.

He sighed. Rider missed those battles. But he has to say, he missed his crush a bit more.

He clocked out, saying goodbye to the other employee-Cherry (business relationships were easy to maintain when your coworkers were your siblings), and headed towards the flower shop for more reasons than one.

Army had a performance the next day. And yeah, Rider knew it was romantic, but platonically giving your best friend flowers was always nice. Plus, he wanted an excuse to see Goggles again.

He looked into the shop-the blue inkling was nowhere to be seen, but then again neither was the front desk. So, Rider shrugged and stepped in.

The floral scent was strong, but not overwhelming. Plenty of blossoms lined the stands, along with tags of what the flowers were and what they meant.

Rider looked around, trying to remember which flowers Army liked again, when he heard a familiar, youthful voice.

"Hi! Need any help?"

The inkling turned around. Goggles had definitely changed since Rider last saw him; his tentacles were longer and in an actual bun, for once. His blue eyes still had that clarity, and he still had that goofy smile. Though he didn't seem to recognize Rider.

"Uhh... I'll be fine. I'm just trying to remember what flower my friend likes the most." He said, hoping his accent didn't give him away; there weren't many in Inkopolis with an Australian accent.

But, Goggles didn't seem to notice or care. "Oh, okay!"

Rider internally breathed a sigh of relief. That would have been awkward if Goggles recognized him.

He looked around the shop, before spotting a bouquet of lilies. He knew Army liked lilies. If they weren't his favorite flower, it'd be close enough.

Rider took a few of the bigger ones, and a few white roses for variety, and took them to the counter.

Goggles smiled. "This a special occasion?"

"Not exactly. Just, my friend's doing a performance for a musical and I wanted to get him something for it." Rider explained.

"What musical?" Gogs asked, arranging the flowers with a sheer, white ribbon tying them together.

"Hadestown. He got Eurydice."

"Oh! I went to go see it last night! Army's amazing at that role. He's your friend, right?"

Rider internally panicked, but calmed down after remembering he wasn't Army's only friend. "Yeah. We've been friends for a while now."

"Well, tell him I said hi!" He handed the bouquet to Rider. "On me, alright? It's for a friend anyways!"

Rider nodded. "Thanks, mate."

"You're welcome!"

------

A few weeks went by. Rider occasionally stopped at the flower shop and got flowers for...well, no real reason. He'd use them to add color to his house, or give them to friends. He just wanted an excuse to see Goggles.

He'd talked to the blue inkling a bit more, too. He'd gotten into the business since, well, he really liked flowers, and he wanted a job where he could just...relax! He still did Turf, of course, but the Adult league was more serious than the teen one, and he just wanted to have fun instead of be expected to take a game seriously.

He still didn't recognize Rider. The yellow-green inkling was a bit hurt by this, to be honest.

Though, it was a bit startling when Goggles actually walked into Rider's work. And Rider was assigned to give Goggles his first tattoo: A blue jay on his shoulder, taking off from a branch.

This time, it was Goggles' turn to ask questions as Rider worked.

"Sooo.... you've been coming into my shop for a while and I still don't know your name!" The blue inkling stated. "I mean, you can probably recognize me though!"

Rider shrugged. "Well, who can forget Goggles of the Idiot Blue team?"

Goggles giggled. "You do know me! I still don't know you!!"

"...I can assure you, we've met before that day I got Army flowers." Rider said.

"Ooh! Can I try and guess who you are?"

"Ehh, why not."

"Okay! Umm..." Goggles thought for a moment. "Clams facemask?"

Rider shook his head. "Nope."

"Inkfall?"

"Wrong."

"Eging Jr?"

"Not even close there."

"Stealth Goggles?"

"Getting closer, I'll give you that."

"....Rider?" Goggles asked.

Rider chuckled. "Took you long enough, idiot."

Goggles smiled wide. "I finally found you! Hi Riri!"

"Hey, Gogs. It's been a while."

"Yeah! I'm a bit surprised I didn't recognize you, since we were pretty close!" Goggles stated.

Rider shrugged. "Well, I'm not the most memorable person anyways."

"Riderrrrr don't say that!" Goggles said. "You're still really popular!"

"To some people, maybe. Not everyone."

There was a tense silence, other than the hum of the tattoo needle as it made the drawing.

"....So." Goggles started again. "How's life?"

"It's...well, better than it was." Rider said. "Got my own place, for one. Though it gets a bit lonely.. You?"

"I'm still living in an apartment. I really want a roommate!" Goggles proclaimed. "Maybe we could move in together?"

"..I'll think about it, Gogs. Though it might be fun being your roommate."

"Really? Thanks Rider!" Goggled smiled.

The conversation grew more casual. Rider enjoyed it; turns out Goggles had his fair share of gossip. It was kinda cool.

And as the next few days passed, Rider looked forward to each of those sessions. His crush seemed to go from "this person would be fun to date i think" to "hOLY MOTHER OF THE GODS IM IN L O V E", and it didn't help that during those meetings, Goggles had to be shirtless.

The days turned into weeks and months. Goggles moved in with Rider, and the two became incredibly close friends.

And, it came to a head near valentines day. Goggles' shop was very busy, as expected. Luckily, Squid Ink wasn't as much.

So, on his day off, just before Valentines, Rider headed to the flower shop and got a bouquet of roses. Cliché to confess on Valentines day, Rider knew, but he's a pining gay cut him some slack.

And Rider came home right as Goggles was leaving for his shift. So, that left Rider with a good 3 hours to practice his confession.

"Alright, Rider. This has to be CASUAL. 'Hey, I've liked you for over a decade but just now had the confidence to confess!' No, too creepy sounding. 'Yo, Gogs. I really like you and maybe we could go out to dinner sometimes?' ...Too casual."

....Yeah, this went on for a while.

Rider groaned, collapsing his his bed. "I wish feelings were fucking easier...I should just call Army."

So, he grabbed his phone and selected the contact, Veronica Sawyer Kinnie

"C'mon, Army... pick up."

And not one ring later, "Rider, what is it?"

"...I need romantic help. Please." Rider asked.

"Look, just because I'm married to Aloha, doesn't mean I know how I ended up here."

"Yeah, I kinda know that." He stated. "Still. I really need some help."

Army sighed. "Who is it? It's totally that one person with the raccoon story-"

"Actually, no. It's, um.... It's Goggles."

The octoling on the other end of the line could be heard sighing. "Still a morosexual I see."

"OI! You're the one who married a fuckin himbo!"

".....Touché. Still, there's a difference."

Rider huffed. "Just... give me some advice. I wanna confess to him tomorrow but I've got no idea how. I'm giving him roses, but like, there's gotta be something more I could do, y'know?"

"Have you tried asking Prince?" Army suggested. "He is the one with the obsession with rom coms and romance novels."

"This is his exam period, Army. I'm not about to potentially interrupt a cram session by asking for romantic advice!"

"Fair enough. I'd say...well, just rip off the band aid. Like... 'Hey, Goggles, I really like you and was wondering if you'd like to be my boyfriend.'"

"...Thanks, Arm. I'll, uh, give it a try."

-------

Rider couldn't sleep that well. Mainly out of anticipation.

He was gonna confess to his crush of...over a decade, at least. He didn't fuckin know what was gonna happen!

Like, would Goggles reciprocate? Would he hate Rider after it? WHAT THE FUCK WOULD HAPPEN-

He sighed. He needed to get his mind off this shit.

Rider looked over to his bedside clock: 5AM. 5 hours before his shift. 5 hours to get his shit together and plan for confessing to the world's cutest but also dumbest man later that night.

C'mon, Rider. Think. Army said to rip it off like a band aid, but Goggles might find that a little sudden and out of the blue. He could write a letter and leave it for Goggles when he went to his shift (The flower shop was closed on Valentines day). That would be a safe option.

Rider sat up, and got out a piece of paper and pencil, writing a note.

"Hey, Goggles.

There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while. I really, really like you. As in, a crush.

I totally get it if you don't like me back, or think I'm weird, but hey, I was wondering if you'd wanna go out to dinner or something. Probably not tonight cause of Valentine's day but maybe tomorrow night or something.

-Rider"

Quickly, he folded it and wrote Goggles' name, putting a little heart sticker on it. It was corny, but hey, Rider had to use up those stickers somehow.

Rider attached it to the roses, and kept it on his desk.

And so, the morning went as normal. He had breakfast, got out of his pjs, put his hair up... the usual.

But as Rider left to go to work, he left the note and rose on the table, and left the house quickly.

During the day, he nearly forgotten all about it; He caught up with the gossip-Apparently the neighbor with the raccoon and the regular were now dating. So that was a nice little end to the story.

Squid Ink wasn't AS busy-probably because it was Valentines day, people were spending it with their lovers, not getting inked up (unless they made the appointment when single)

And it was near the end of Rider's shift when he heard his name mentioned. Probably someone making an appointment before he heard the familiar voice of Goggles going "Okay!!"

The blue inkling walked over to his station. "Hi Ridey!!"

"...Hey, Gogs. Getting another tat?" Rider asked, trying to keep his cool.

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!!!"

"A'ight anything specific in mind or-"

"Can I get just a simple quote one?"

Rider nodded. "Where do you want it?"

Goggles pulled down the collar of his shirt slightly. "Right here, please!"

"Okay. Just try to keep holding that down so I don't mess up.

-----

And so, tattoo conversations ensued.

The quote Goggles had wanted was a simple Pride one, that said "love is love". It was discreet, but a bit of it could be seen poking out if Goggles ever wore a v-neck.

"So, any plans for tonight?" Rider asked, trying to keep things subtle. Maybe Goggles hadn't read the note yet.

The blue inkling nodded. "Kinda! I had mental plans buuuuut nothing serious."

Rider raised an eyebrow. "Who with?"

"..I m-mean, I still have to ask him.." Goggles' face turned a shade of blue, and he averted his gaze.

"....Can I guess who he is?"

"If ya can!"

He smiled. "Does his name have an R in it?" Rider had a guess it was himself, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!"

"Got an accent?"

"Yep!!"

"Is he doing your tattoo?"

"....y-yeah?" Goggles sheepishly smiled. "I'm n-not that discreet, am I?"

Rider chuckled, but on the inside he was screeching. "Honestly? I had no clue myself."

"Really? I've been dropping the most obvious hints!"

"...Like what?" Rider asked, now a bit curious.

"Welllll I've been picking movies you like during movie night, I've made sure to get your drink on coffee runs, Oh! And I offered to cook dinner that one time!" Goggles stated.

"...Damn. I'm just oblivious then." The former dynamo user laughed, before turning off the needle. "There. It's all done." Rider held up a mirror for the blue boy.

Goggles' face lit up. "Whoa! It looks amazing!!! Thanks Riri!"

Rider smiled. "You're welcome. Now, uh, ...did you read my note?"

"..Y-yeah, I did. And, um...I like you too Rider!!" The blue man pressed a small, quick kiss to Rider's cheek.

Rider blushed. "S-so, you'll let me t-take you out?"

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!!!"

"I...thanks, Gogs."

"You're welcome Riri!!!"

----------

aAAAAA RUSHED END

but like. hope yall enjoy!

[lorebird]

I was just eating dinner and staring at the wall and I was like 'doesn't Lore have some crazy cool ocs??🤔🤔🤔' so I checked and was like 'omg Eva and AJ!!!'

May I get an info dump because I realise I know nothing about them? :]

AGAIN IM SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER I also wanted to draw something for this ask but have been Busy w other projects :,,,,,) I hope you know this ask has been a source of serotonin for like 2 weeks btw I get so excited thinking abt it THANK U SM

SO!! Those 2 are my Splatoon agent ocs -- Eva's 8, Aj's 3! I have some kinda out-there world building that ties into their story so. Bear with me SJFKSFMS

Aj was recruited as an agent at 17 and worked tirelessly to get his work done. They don't exactly. Enjoy it? She knows he's harming Octarian society, but the alternative is seeing Inkopolis invaded, so he feels pressured to keep going. They're pretty damn good at what they do -- she only ever took one injury, an incident where a sniper clipped their tentacle.

Cut to Eva! Back then, she was a bioengineer in the kettles named Niyana. She helped build the army -- Octarian soldiers were made with cloning tech and steroids, the latter of which was also used to buff octoling soldiers (which gives them green sclera). When Aj's tentacle was shot off, it was brought to her bioengineering team to make inkling clones for the war effort. There was a lot of trial and error, mostly error, and most attempts didn't survive long/suffered in a quickly degrading body. It wasn't long after the project started that Octavio was captured by the agents, and his replacement really cracked down on groups responsible for the creation + training of the army, which is why things were so rushed and clumsy. It was nearly 2 years into the endeavor that the 8th clone came out stable! Success, finally! Uuuuuntil that one's body started failing as well. There was an incident where they lashed out and attacked Eva, leaving her with her scar, before they finally succumbed to the physical degredation. While the steroids did accelerate growth, these clones were just kids as all this was happening. The attack snapped Eva out of her brainwashing and made her morally aware of just what they were doing. When the 9th clone remained stable and started training with hypnoshades, a very traumatic experience for the little guy, she took him and escaped octaria.

NOW BACK TO AJ. They were on patrol one day when they saw Eva in the canyon and went to investigate. They ended up falling into the metro, where they were succinctly given Juice That Makes You Forget by kamabo co. They wake up, receive their numbers -- 10008 and 10009 -- and start trying to escape the metro. Aj (9) is Way Better at combat than Eva (8), who's hardly touched a weapon, and carries the two of them through the trials. Eva is,,, conflicted about this 9 guy? She gets flashes of memories from looking at him that feel decidedly Unpleasant, but they haven't done anything to warrant her not trusting him. Their trustworthiness is soon proven tenfold when sanitized soldiers begin attacking the two of them outside of trials -- kamabo co doesn't want any stragglers, which Eva certainly is, and she's no longer safe at any point.

Idk exactly how the escape goes, but we do still end up with the sanitized agent 3 fight. Eva takes down the NILS and the day is saved!!! Wahoo!!!!

Aj has a uh. Rough Time recovering from all that. She does manage to recover almost all her memory, but being sanitized really fucked him up mentally. He completely quits agent work. Eva, meanwhile, remembers basically nothing about her past life (she ends up choosing a new name, that being Eva!). They've got a lot to work through, but things are Okay now, right...? Cue the entrance of Mini Aj

That's right baby!!!! Clone #9!!!! Marie found him wandering the canyon on his own, speaking in Octarian and incredibly dehydrated. Eva had hidden him when she saw Aj in the canyon the day they fell in the metro, and obviously she didn't exactly come back to get him. The kid was real sick, and Aj ended up taking him in after a big argument with Callie and Marie.

Things smooth out for the two of them from there. There's a ton to get adjusted to, but now they both have the room to process everything they've been through and focus on healing. The clone, now with the name Oliver, begins adjusting to his new life and gets on surprisingly well!!

There's some other characters that tie into their whole debacle, my agent 4 and his rival as well as ahato, BUT my internet connection is very spotty rn and I've already talked so much so I'm just posting this when I get the chance JDJFKDL again!! Thank you so much!!!

[devilmeows]

14 for the first prompt list and/or 15 for the second?

im a simple person, i see and/or, i disregard the or and i do Both

14. "But I love you!"

15. A and B reminisce about the first time they met.

again not beta read because it's midnight, my beta reader is Busy and my brain is Melting

14. "But I love you!"

Today was the day: Astrid was finally going to see Off the Hook live. Well, she’d see them through a screen, because train tickets to Inkopolis were expensive as hell. She was supposed to watch the concert with Viv, but unfortunately the inkling had caught a nasty cold and Finn had to practically tape them to their bed and bribe them with an astronomical amount of snacks to get them to stay home and rest. Oh well, at least they’d still be able to watch the concert. And there would probably be more concerts for them to attend together. One day.

There was still about half an hour to go before she would be sent the link to the website that would host the concert, but Astrid was already fully ready, sitting cross-legged on the floor with her bottle of juice and a packet of instant noodles she’d prepare once she received that link. Because then she’d have exactly fifteen minutes to do so, and it was just enough for her to cook and immediately inhale her food. And then the concert would start. It would be so cool. Her tentacles, which were tied in a simple ponytail for once, couldn’t stop twitching with excitement.

“Astrid?”

The octoling took her eyes off her computer screen to look at her girlfriend. His head was poking out from behind the wall that separated the living room from the corridor that led to their room. He was smiling one of those smiles that preceded him asking for a favour, because he knew Astrid couldn’t resist it. And he was doing the thing where his freckles flashed just a little bit for even more cute points.

“Yes?”

“Your concert’s starting in half an hour, right?”

“Yeah, about half an hour. Why?”

He stepped into the living room as his smile widened, holding two consoles in his hands.

“Wanna play some Pokémon with me while you wait?”

Astrid blinked. She hadn’t played Pokémon in a while, but Robin had been playing a lot of it since she’d introduced him to it. She figured he would like it, and she was happy that she’d been right. Sometimes, the sounds of Pokémon battles were her background noise as she worked on something else. Whenever she looked up from her work, she’d see Robin looking either very focused or smiling at his 3DS, both of which made her feel warm inside.

“Sure, why not.”

Astrid patted the floor next to her as an invitation for him to sit down. The other octoling happily complied, plopping down beside her and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He handed her her 3DS, the silver one. She checked the cartridge slot at the back, and saw that her copy of Pokémon X was already in it.

“I was thinking of doing battles,” Robin said as she turned on her console. “I have a bunch of Pokémon I need to evolve first, but there’s a few teams I built that I’d like to try out! And also I just want to kick your ass.”

Astrid scoffed. “I’d like to see you try, my dear. My Pokémon are unbeatable.”

Robin smirked and hummed noncommittally. Astrid squinted at him, but he only smirked wider. I’ve been playing this game for longer than he has, she thought, and my pokémon are strong as hell. There’s no way I’ll lose. She was certain she could wipe that grin off his face in less than five minutes. She’d kiss him to make up for utterly defeating him. And then she’d kiss him some more, because he deserved it.

After making an Onix, a Feebas, a Haunter and a Pumpkaboo evolve, as well as accidentally trading the same Pidgey twice, they finally started setting up their battle. A simple 4v4 so that it wouldn’t take too long, any Pokémon, no banned items- Astrid did think that last rule was a little strange, but she didn’t protest. None of her Pokémon held any items anyway. The screen of her 3DS faded to black as she accepted Robin’s battle invitation, and as the Pokémon selection menu and both their teams appeared, she frowned.

“Alomomola, Houndoom, Mienshao, Cinccino, Bronzong and Cryogonal?” She thought out loud. “That’s...a team.”

“That’s my team!” He replied with a smile. He was sitting in front of her now, so that they wouldn’t be able to see each other’s screens. “I like it very much. I named the Mienshao after you!”

“Because I punch people in the face with my long arms?”

“That, and because you’re really pretty.”

Astrid’s lesbian brain froze. “How dare you.”

“Love you!” Robin blew her a kiss.

Finally, the battle started. Astrid led with Blaziken, while Robin led with Alomomola. Hm, a Water-type. That’s not good. That’s fine, I’ll take the risk anyway. She used Slash to gauge how much damage her Pokémon could land, and to her surprise, the move only took a little of the pink fish’s HP. Said pink fish then used Wish. Huh. Well, I’ll try something more powerful then. Before her Blaziken could use Sky Uppercut, Robin switched his Alomomola out for his Mienshao. Astrid almost felt bad as her alter ego took a good amount of damage....only to be immediately healed by Wish. Hm. Well, that was fine. Nothing to worry about. It’d be dead by next round.

...Except it did not die. Strangely, it seemed to take less damage than it had taken the round before. Astrid the Mienshao proceeded to use Swords Dance. Astrid the Octoling smirked. I’ve got you now! One more Sky Uppercut, and the enemy was almost in the red. Could’ve used Flare Blitz and killed it in one go, but oh well.

“Goodbye, me!”

The Mienshao used Aerial Ace. Her Blaziken instantly fainted.

“Yeah,” Robin said with a smile, “goodbye you!”

“How-” she shook her head. “It’s fine, I still have enough Pokémon to whoop your ass.”

Her girlfriend had the audacity to snort, so she sent out her Gengar. With one hit of Psychic, Astrid the Mienshao was gone.

“Aha! Take that.”

“Hm, okay, didn’t think you’d outspeed me, but okay!”

Robin sent out Houndoom. Astrid immediately retrieved her Ghost-type, letting Houndoom use Nasty Plot in the process. She squinted. Time for a quadruped fight I guess, she thought, sending out Luxray.

“What?”

“I am not sorry~” Robin sing-songed as his Houndoom took out her Luxray with a single Flamethrower.

She had no idea how that had just happened. The Dark-type even took some damage for some reason. “Okay, you know what?” Astrid sent out Gengar. “Fuck you!” She made it use Dazzling Gleam, which took half of the opposing Pokémon’s HP. But a second later, it was taken out by Dark Pulse. “How?”

Robin giggled, looking far too happy at Astrid’s distress. She was down to one Pokémon now, while the other octoling still had three. This wasn’t fair!

“It’s all up to you, big bird,” she muttered, sending out Honchkrow.

At the sight of the Flying-type, Robin gasped. He retrieved Houndoom, instead sending out...

“Oh and I was worried that I’d lose,” Astrid snorted as she watched a Cinccino appear on the field, “but you send a pile of fluff at me?”

Robin said nothing. His Normal-type’s HP dropped to the orange after Honchkrow’s Wing Attack, but that didn’t seem to alarm him. Instead, he just smirked as he tapped on the move his Pokémon was going to use. Astrid cracked her knuckles, ready to watch Night Slash obliterate the fluffy chinchilla- except said fluffy chinchilla somehow attacked first. It used Rock Blast. It was super effective, but it was fine, it hadn’t done a significant amount of damage. Maybe the deities of random would smile down on her and let the move only hit twice.

Except the deities of random had nothing to do with this. Rock Blast hit twice. Three times. Four times...

“What the fuck,” Astrid whispered, eyes widening as her pokémon’s HP started getting dangerously low, “What the FUCK- WHAT THE FUCK!”

Robin didn’t say anything, because he simply could not stop his laughter. He only laughed harder as his girlfriend threw him a shocked and outraged glare when her Honchkrow fainted after the fifth Rock Blast hit.

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITH A CINCCINO???”

The other octoling was now laughing so hard he was practically crying. Astrid’s tentacles twitched so much they were threatening to snap her scrunchie.

“Skill Link-” he took a deep breath, “Skill Link is a wonderful thing, my dear.”

“You- I- I- What-” Her stammering threw Robin into another laughing fit. Oh, her pride was wounded, injured, deceased on the floor. She must’ve looked hilariously crestfallen, because he laughed harder every time he looked at her. She threw her hands up in the air, then lightly pushed him. “How dare you do this to me! Go away!”

“But I love you!” He protested, wiping his tears dramatically and making his freckles flash at the word love.

“I don’t!” She joked, pointing towards the kitchen. “Go away!”

Robin was still chuckling as he stood up, blowing her one last kiss before he disappeared behind the kitchen wall. Astrid sat there, pouting, staring at her 3DS that still showed the Cinccino’s smug little bastard face. How dare. How dare he be better than her at Pokémon while he’d only started playing the games hardly a month ago. It was impressive though, how he’d managed to do it. The Pokémon he’d used weren’t the most popular and you didn’t usually see them in people’s top 10 favourites. Maybe there was a reason why he had picked those Pokémon in particular? She remembered how Houndoom had taken some damage with every move it had used, and something clicked in her brain. Wait, isn’t there a whole section of players who play strat? Is that what he did? She’d never bothered to go into that, simply because she had no patience for all the grinding it took to get a perfect Pokémon: she was good with spamming Flare Blitz until it knocked something out.

Her computer’s ding made her jump, and suddenly she remembered what she’d been waiting for and all the adrenaline rushed back into her body. There it was: the concert link! Her phone buzzed with a few texts, probably from an equally as excited Viv. Before she read those though, she needed to make her food. She clicked on the link and reached for her noodles as the page loaded...only to be met with thin air.

“Peace offering?” Robin had returned, smiling, with a steaming bowl of instant noodles in one hand and a can of soda and a pack of cookies in the other.

You’re too good to me. Astrid pretended to still be annoyed for a second before she made grabby hands at the food.

“Offering accepted!”

The purple octoling’s tentacles twitched happily, and he once again sat down by his girlfriend’s side, carefully setting down the bowl so that it wouldn’t spill. When he put down the soda and cookies, Astrid shuffled closer to him and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the chopsticks lying on top of the cookies, “but you didn’t have to do this, I still have fifteen minutes before the concert.”

“But I wanted to do this for you,” Robin replied with a purr. “Also, sunshine, I love you, but you’re way too excited to be allowed in the kitchen. You’d burn everything down.”

She slurped her noodles very loudly. ...Can’t argue with that.

“Can you explain how you did that, like, after the concert?” Astrid asked, pointing at her 3DS.

Robin smiled, and his freckles glowed happily. “Of course I can.”

He leaned against his girlfriend’s shoulder. Both of them purred.

15. A and B reminisce about the first time they met

Reef's heels clicked against the hard floor as she furiously stomped towards her office. Several octolings hurriedly stepped out of her way as they saw her- as they fucking should. She was in no mood to deal with any of their bullshit today, and if anyone got too close she would not be held responsible for how her tentacles would react. They were already having an absurdly hard time not busting out of her kelp's grasp. When she finally reached her office, she kicked the door open and slammed it shut behind her, effectively making the walls around her tremble. She stood there for a moment, looking around for something to smash against the ground with her entire strength, anything she could tear apart to channel her rage, but there was nothing that could be spared in her office today.

Absolutely fucking peachy.

Instead, she settled for a frustrated roar and went to sit down on top of her desk. She brought her hands up to her hair, and her impatient tentacles almost slapped her arms as she untied the strings of kelp. Once that was done, she buried her face in her hands while her hair writhed wildly.

Reef had received a report on more deserters today. Four of them had died - good fucking riddance -, two of them had been captured - she'd pay them a visit later - and only one of them had made it to the surface alive.

And of course, that had to be fucking Oleander.

Out of all the octolings that had managed to make it out alive, it just had to be her, because the world hated Reef apparently. It had to be her ex, the woman who had had the nerve to break up with her simply because she thought that maybe the inklings weren’t that bad and life on the surface could be nice.

(And also because she didn’t like how Reef treated everyone around her, but Reef didn’t see what the problem with that was, so she’d dismissed that thought entirely.)

She wished she could’ve been there. She wished she could’ve been the one to catch these traitors in the act. She wouldn’t have killed them, no: death was much too kind a fate for the likes of them. There was another place, far deeper underground than the most distant domes, that was perfectly suited for traitorous octolings. A place where the sunlight they chased after would never reach them.

Had she been there, that was where Reef would’ve sent Oleander.

She tried to picture it: her claws gripping the scientist’s shirt, holding her at arm’s length above a gaping, dark hole as she tried to escape her grasp- but she flinched as she tried to have a look at her face.

Reef let out a low growl.

Reef had no friends. Reef didn’t need friends: she had been created for one purpose, and one purpose only, and she was going to make sure she’d be up for it. Friends would only slow her down. The mere concept of friends hardly existed in the domes, anyway: you either had siblings or sparring partners, and that was it. There was no time for friendship when you were fighting a war.

But for some reason, Reef wanted to be friends with that octoling.

Her hair was what first caught her eye: in the midst of all the vivid colours, her lavender really stood out. A pretty colour for a pretty octoling. Reef saw her once on her way to training, and then no sign of her for a solid month. But she sure was on her mind. Moderately tall, dark green eyes, a neutral, almost bored expression...Probably a scientist, judging from the long white coat she’d been wearing.

At first, Reef didn’t exactly like how much she thought about that octoling. It made her feel things. And she wasn’t a fan of feeling things.

She saw her again during training. Reef had just successfully beaten an elite soldier to a pulp, and she’d been so busy gloating about her victory to the other soldiers watching that she almost tripped over the pretty octoling she’d been thinking about nonstop for an entire month as she inspected the defeated soldier’s wounds. Dark green eyes met ice blue, and Reef smirked to hide her embarrassment. Always an excellent go-to reaction to have. Smile, your big fang freaks them out and makes you look scary. And for some reason, the scientist mirrored her smirk.

“Impressive,” she commented. “I am no expert on fighting, but even I can tell that you are quite skilled.”

Reef felt her hearts miss several beats. “Why, thank you,” she replied, having no idea how she managed to keep herself from stuttering. “But that was nothing. You should’ve seen the time I fought three whole soldiers on my own and won.”

She flexed her precious muscles in a way that she hoped looked cool and somewhat natural. And somehow, that worked: the scientist’s gaze flicked to her toned arms, and stayed there for a long moment. Reef felt like she might explode right under the octoling’s eyes as she then glanced at her exposed abs. Ah, yes, she was quite proud of those too.

Someone behind them shouted something that Reef didn’t quite catch. Immediately, she turned around, tentacles flaring and coiling like a snake about to strike as she aimed her octoshot at the crowd.

“What was that?”

Silence. The assembled octolings all looked away, looking either embarrassed or scared. Good.

“Thought so.”

She clipped her gun to her belt, then turned back to the scientist, who was now looking at her with a new, admirative shine in her dark green eyes. The two octolings smiled at each other.

“I’m Reef,” she said, holding one hand out while the other rested on her hip. “Reef Moltentide. DJ Octavio’s future second-in-command, as soon as he gets tired of his current one.”

“Oleander Rivea,” the lavender octoling replied, shaking Reef’s hand. Her skin was so much softer than her own calloused hands. “I am simply a scientist...for now.”

Ambitious. I like that. Her smirk only grew wider.

They saw each other regularly after that event. Sometimes, they simply waved at each other when they had no time to speak, and sometimes they talked and talked and talked, until Reef could practically hear her voice in the silence as well as recall every detail of Oleander’s face once they parted ways. Their feelings quickly evolved into something that went way past simple friendship, but as it turned out, Oleander liked to make it a little difficult for Reef. She could tell by the amused glint in her dark green eyes as she subtly flirted with her in front of Reef’s superior officers, and how she stared at her through lidded eyes just a moment too long as they tested their newest model of googles. Those were moments where it was impossible for the elite soldier to flirt back, or else she would lose her position, or worse. She loved it, though: it always left her wanting more. She wanted so badly to hold Oleander’s waist and pull her closer, so close that she would be able to see every single detail in her irises, so close that she would feel her heartbeats under her skin. Every time she thought about the pretty octoling, Reef realised how much she wanted to kiss Oleander.

And her wish was granted on the night that they were both promoted: Oleander as dome 1’s head scientist, and Reef as Octavio’s second-in-command. After the mandatory celebrations and hours of being congratulated by every meaningless octoling in existence, Oleander had pulled Reef away and into her room, and they’d hardly waited a moment after the door was closed before they kissed. It was just as intense and felt just as amazing as Reef thought it would be. She held her face between her hands, tilting her head whenever she wanted to deepen the kiss, while the lavender octoling slowly ran her hands through the elite’s black and red tentacles. Occasionally, she would pull at them to interrupt their kissing and simply see Reef’s playfully irritated frown. She was the only one who could poke fun at her without consequences, and she knew it.

They didn’t sleep much that night.

That memory was followed by cold, cold dark green eyes, staring at her for one last time before storming out the door. And as her anger and frustration rose once again, another nasty, nasty feeling wormed its way into the mix: sadness.

She still loved Oleander, and she fucking hated it.

“Fuck off!” Reef barked as someone knocked on her door. With Oleander gone, there was only one person who she couldn’t be rude to, and Octavio did not knock: he simply came in uninvited. Therefore, she was perfectly allowed to tell whoever was behind that door to fuck off. Besides, everyone knew that, if they valued their life, they stayed away from her when she told them to.

Apparently, this octopus didn’t particularly care about their life, since they let themself in anyway. Reef’s gaze snapped up to meet the other octoling’s eyes. Of fucking course it’s the Callisto sister. She didn’t know her name, but she didn’t need to know that to remember how much of a pain in the ass that octopus was. She had always defended her worthless sister before they escaped with Ida, and since then she’d been particularly keen on annoying the hell out of Reef whenever she could.

(She remembered with a pang of anger that her other sister had been Oleander’s student.)

“I said,” Reef enunciated in a dangerously low voice, “fuck off, Callisto.”

Callisto said nothing. She simply stared at Reef, her gaze even and pink and blue tentacles staying perfectly still as opposed to her superior’s, which were vibrating with fury. There wasn’t a trace of fear in her eyes or posture, and Reef hated that.

“I have orders from DJ Octavio himself,” she eventually said. “He wants to see you in his throne room.”

Just what I needed, the commander snarled to herself, clenching her fists. Out of all the people he could’ve chosen to deliver this damn message, he picked the one I want dead the most. Sometimes she wondered if Octavio was as smart as he pretended to be. She took a deep breath and stood up from her chair.

“You’ve done your job,” Reef growled, “now leave.”

“I have one more thing to do before I leave,” she pulled out a file from the bag that Reef only now noticed that she had. “Oleander Rivea’s personal journal. I thought you might want to...peruse it.”

The insolent octopus had the nerve to smirk.

Before Callisto had the time to react, Reef gripped her face with one hand, placing her sharp claws at the junction between her head and her neck. The octoling’s smug expression vanished instantly, and was finally replaced by fear. With some anger too, because this was Callisto, and she hated Reef as much as Reef hated her.

“You are on thin fucking ice, Callisto,” she hissed. Her writhing tentacles cast a shadow on the shorter octoling, and she pierced her skin as she tried to wriggle out of her grasp. Dark blue blood started trickling along her neck. Reef smiled.

She would’ve stayed and punished Callisto some more, but Octavio was waiting for her, and she wasn’t in the mood to put up with the King lecturing her, so instead she tossed the soldier to the ground like a rag doll. She immediately brought her hands up to her neck, hissing in pain.

“Now get out of my sight.”

[nomstellations]

Lunch Break

Just felt like writing a cute rp-inspired thing before I got started on my vore day story. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Yawning and stretching himself out a bit, Devon casts his frankly bored gaze out of the window. It was a quiet day here at Song of the Sea, though inklings were currently into the idea of buying records today was one of the slower days he’s had. Sighing, the blue ribbon eel rested his head in his arms and wondered when his shift was over. At the very least he wanted his lunch break to get here already, it was in about 20 minutes. It was boring being alone in this tiny store, and he was pretty starved...the chime of the door got his attention, and he gave it a disinterested look to greet whatever customer came in. A tall pink-inked inkling strides in, regarding the eel’s expression with an amused smile.

“Aww, not happy to see me Dev?”

Upon seeing just who it is he beams, the tip of his tail that's peeking out from behind the counter starting to wag in delight. "Sierche! I didn't think you'd come in today!" His mood's improved greatly now that his boyfriend is here, and he leans over the counter as he walks up to it. "What, and miss out on seeing you? I wouldn't dream of it." He leans up to kiss him, and Devon returns the sentiment with a smile. “So, what brings you by? I thought you were going to be battling today, I had planned on going in to watch you after my shift.” Sierche smiles, shaking his head gently. “I had wanted to, but I decided I wanted to surprise you by bringing you lunch!” Devon smiled, Sierche was always so thoughtful and it was one of the many things he loved about him. However, he doesn’t seem to have a food bag or anything on him...where was it? “I appreciate the thought, but where’s the food? My lunch break is coming up but you don’t have anything…” Sierche smirks, before throwing his arms up and making a dramatic sigh. “Oh noooo, it seems as though I forgot to bring the bag!" He leans up against the counter now, giving Devon a sly look. "I suppose I'll have to make up for it some other way…" Dev gives him a curious and confused look, but when he realizes what he means he flushes. "H-hey, I'm on the clock! I can't do that!" The inkling just smiles, leaning over the counter and poking his belly. "I know you've got a pretty big appetite, and a taste for squid...and I just so happen to be a pretty big squid~" Devon huffs, the red on his face showing that he doesn't truly mind being called out. A loud grumble from his stomach grabs their attention, and he sighs as he rests a hand on top of it. "Alright, you got me...but can you get small for me? I don't want anyone to walk in on me while I'm swallowing you." Sierche beams and nods in agreement, hopping up onto the counter and transforming into his smaller pink squid form. Devon picks him up, he's still pretty large but being all inked up will help him go down easy. He kisses him on his head, making his boyfriend wriggle a bit as he starts to get pushed into his mouth. Dev hums at his savory taste as he licks at him, his hunger starting to take over as he greedily starts to gulp him down. Sierche remains limp to make things easy on him, already comforted by the sounds of his body and the fact that his boyfriend enjoys his taste. It only takes a few gulps to get him down, with Devon slurping on his tentacles and sighing happily as he feels him start to fill his first stomach. He rests a hand on the gentle bulge he makes, gently rubbing it as he feels Sierche doing the same from within. "Uh, Devon? Is it okay if you move me to your second stomach? I want to stretch out…" "Mmh? Oh, alright." He starts to gently press his hands to him, pushing him down into the bottom of his stomach. After a moment of this pressing he's pulled deeper into his body, this time it takes a good few minutes for him to reach his longer but more cramped destination. Sierche unshifts back into his regular form, earning a surprised hiccup and a groan from Devon who now has a large bulge sitting in his coils. His stomach is more than happy with the sudden change, and it grumbles in delight as it starts to churn around the inkling. "A-ah, love...you always hit the spot, thank you…" Devon shifts his coils a bit to make sure he's comfortable, laying his head down on the counter to enjoy his filling meal and hide the bright blush on his face. Sierche doesn't respond, opting to show his love by giving his stomach a nice massage from the inside. This stirs it up more, causing it to groan loudly in satisfaction as the churning picks up. Devon's eyes start to grow heavy, nobody's here anyway...he could get away with a little post-meal nap on the job, right?The chime of the door says otherwise and he sits up quickly, trying to play off the fact that he was almost asleep. An octoling with bright yellow hair spotted with blue rings strolls in, regarding him curiously. "Oh, Ruth, it's just you...thought you were a customer." Ruth was his roommate and another frequent visitor, and she laughed quietly at him. "Sleeping on the job, huh? I wonder why that is….did you eat?" Still a bit flustered from before, he tries to hide his face from her as he's suddenly very invested in a poster on the wall. "Uh, yeah. Just had lunch, see…" Ruth smiles, being fully aware of her roommate's predatory behavior she decides to press further. "Really? What did you have? Or...who did you have?" She grins at the surprised face he makes, unable to hold back a snicker. Not one to just let himself be teased, he retorts with some of his own. "Why so curious all of a sudden, huh? Are you asking because you want in too? My first stomach's got plenty of space in it, you know…" He leans close to her, licking his lips and giving her a smug look. The octoling pushes his head back, giggling a bit as he playfully licks it. "No way! I've got a battle to get to in a bit, I was just stopping in to say hey. I'm gonna head out now, actually…" Before she does, she leans over the counter and notes the large bulge in his bright blue tail and the quiet burbling coming from it. "Tell Sierche I said hi, too." She winks at Devon, who flushes at being caught. He shifts a bit, calling out to her as she turns to leave. "Uh, do me a favor Ruth…Could you ah, flip the sign on the door for me? I want to enjoy this for a bit." She looks back at him, nodding and doing so as she leaves the store. Devon sinks beneath the counter, scooting himself underneath it a bit to make himself invisible to any onlookers. He sighs, resting in his coils and laying himself atop Sierche, who squirms gently at the pressure. 

"Is it just us now, Dev?" "Yup. Wouldn't have it any other way, either." He sighs contentedly, rubbing at his boyfriend through his tail and listening to the sounds of his stomach harmlessly working at him. He'll keep him through his entire shift, and though he has to get back to work eventually he figured he could afford some time to cuddle with him on what was his lunch break. The perks of being a predator...lunch and cuddles can very easily become the same thing.

[mangorokie]

Adrienne's moving castle (Agent 24, Howl's moving castle AU)

(This AU is based off old cross over artworks I made of Adrienne and Livia with howl's moving castle. Sophie is Livia and Howl is Adrienne!)

Chapter #1- Magic

The sun shined throughout the town of Inkopolis. A crowd of people came and go as they pleased, buying any essential needs, kids happily laughing as they chase eachother, planes rushing through the air.

But throughout a little window of a manor, peeked a pink octoling. She was sewing her own handmade hats to show off in her little hat shop. This was basically her whole life, needle comes in, thread comes out, and the whole thing repeats. "Oh look! It's Adrienne's moving castle!" She heard Callie giggle, Adrienne's moving castle? Livia never thought such a thing exists...She looked through her window, seeing a big machine moving through the gray clouds. She has heard some tales of this so called 'Adrienne'. Most of them was about her stealing any beautiful maiden's heart. She won't need to worry about that though, Livia doesn't really think her own self is beautiful.

"Livia!" a knock on the door startled her. "Yes?" She turned her head facing the door, a turquiose octoling opening the door smiling, "Livia dear, do you want to come along with Pearlie, Callie, Marie,and I? You haven't shopped with us in a whole while." Livia smiled back, "I'm fine, Marina. thank you for the offer." "Oh okay- Suit yourself then! Let's go girls!" Marina walks out leaving the door open, she could faintly hear the laughter of Callie and Pearl. The then laughter cutting off by the sound of the front door shutting. Happiness and Enjoyment is something Livia craved....

Making hats was the only thing that kept Livia stable, it's what her father always did. And she knows her father would be proud of her, even though it's the only thing she did her whole life ever since he died...that thought made her frown. She looked at the window infront of her, the train passed, gray smoke covering her view. Marina was right though, she hasn't been outside for a while. Turning her head, Behind her was a dark pink dress,along with her favorite hat on the stand. Yeah, maybe just this day could be a time to get some fresh air. She should pay a visit to her friend,Diana, who has been working at the very popular bakery near the royal city. Livia grabbed the dress and went into her bathroom, she set the hung the dress on a rack and washed her face with water.

Drying up her face with a towel, she looked up at the mirror. Her face... one of the last things she'll ever want to look at. Everything about the way she looked made her feel really uneasy. Livia shook her head, No. Stop. Stop looking at the mirror. Stop looking..... She turned her head to the dress, putting it on layer by layer. Then putting on her hat, walking out the bathroom, purposefully avoiding to look at the mirror.

Livia walked out the room, heading to the main door. Taking one small glimpse at the house before closing the door. She walked down the front courtyard, her little hat shop right next the main gate. She waved her hand, ordering the guard to open the gate. The guard nodded and pulled a lever, the gate slowly opened. Livia quickly exited her home residence, hearing the chimes of the cart that come by every few hours so. The brakes got hit, screeching on the rails. She saw that the cart was full inside so she clinged onto the bar entrance of the train. The conductor rang his bell, starting the cart to move.

The wind swiftly gusted through, her hair and hat slowly moving. She gazed at the horizon, boats moving around, seagulls flying, and the endless area of water. It was a radiant sight,one of Livia's favorite things in the town..

She dozed out while looking at the view, until she got startled by the agressive bell the conductor was ringing. "Royal City! Royal City! Now aboarding and deboarding all riders! Next stop will be the Village!" That was her que, she let go of the bar and joined into the large crowd. Parades were happening, apparently they were wishing the soldiers luck for the upcoming war. The soldiers were marching in sync, their black metal boots making noises as they stomp, golden medals on their straps, and their ocean blue monkey suit uniforms as they hold their guns. Livia's eyes widened in satisfication, they looked rather fashionable. Though she didn't like being stuck in a crowd with multiple people, so she quickly rushed her way to an alley.

She sighed and calmed herself down, then continued to walk down the alley. Small shops were there as well, 'Fortune telling' 'Potions and brews' 'Spells and Scrolls'. All of them had to do with...magic. Magic is one of the things Livia doesn't understand in this world. Is it a curse? A gift? What could it be? What is the purpose of magic? Nevermind that, she shook her head and slightly walked faster in frustration, but she was stopped by 2 tall soldiers. One with blue tentacles, and the other, orange tentacles with a big mustache.

"Hey there, seems like a little mouse has lost its way~" The blue inkling winked at Livia, "Oh no- I'm fine really," she slowly started to back off to keep her distance but they kept getting closer, "I'm just taking a short cut to the royal bakery." The orange inkling bent down, "Well then, how old are you and where do you live? you sure you don't need some company?~" Livia pushed him off, "Leave me alone!". The blue inkling nudged the other soldier's arm, "See? Your mustache scares all the girls." He nudged him back, "Hey, she's even cuter when she's scared."

A hand gently got placed behind Livia on her shoulder, causing her to flinch a little bit. "There you are, sweetheart." A soft, tendered voice immediately came in, "I'm sorry for the wait, I was looking everywhere for you~". Livia looked up, seeing a tall, green inkling by her side, she blushed at the sight. The blue haired soldier raised an eyebrow, "hey,hey, we're busy here!", "oh really? I thought soldiers were supposed to be guarding in their position right? So you both be good little soldiers, and go back to your post." The girl behind Livia raised her finger, then pointing it in the opposite direction, commanding the 2 soldiers to stand up straight and march unwillingly down the alley,"Woah-Hey!"

The taller girl looked down at Livia, talking in a concerned tone, "My dear, you can't go through these allies by yourself. You know how much I don't want you to get hurt. Now let's get going to the royal bakery, shall we?" She turned her hand infront of Livia, waiting for her to place her own hand there. Livia was confused, who was this tall...gorgeous inkling that was standing right next to her? She's quite charming, it won't hurt to ask right? "I mean...I'm flattered but..who are you?" The inkling girl was about to answer, but she glanced over Livia's shoulder, noticing the sanitized goop moving slowly. She had to do something quick, "I'll explain that later. Just hold onto my hand. I'm being followed." The pink octoling was left confused, but she did it anyway. As soon as they interwined fingers, they started walking rapidly. Livia looked around, noticing mint green goop starting to form into one whole pile, then chasing both her and her other companion. "Sorry, seems like you're involved. Just act natural okay?" The inkling somehow kept a straight smile on her face, but Livia was shocked. She whispered to the taller girl, trying to keep a calm tone, "What are those things and why are they coming for us?".

"Shhh, just follow my lead," She comforted the octoling, "On 1," Livia grunted in annoyance, but looked forward and noticed they were walking towards a dead end. Oh god what was this inkling thinking? "2," She noticed the green tentacles slowly starting to float, wait...what's going on?! "3!" The inkling exclaimed and jumped high up, bringing the shorter girl along with her. Livia looked down, seeing the mint goop smush together. Ew, though her attention quickly went back to the inkling right next to her. Next thing she knew was that she and her were floating ontop of all those people!

"Wh-" Livia gasped, but Adrienne positoned her to keep her steady. Her fingers interwined with the octoling's, their arms spread out and their clothes and hair slightly floating, "Just spread your legs, and start walking!" The two of them waltzed through the air, Livia's eyes widened. All those people jammed up, dressed up all fancy, soldiers chatting with eachother, people sitting at tables and laughing. It was scary to walk so high above, but it was an enjoyable experience at least. The green inkling smiled, "See? Not so hard is it?"

The two started to slowly descend, landing on a wooden balcony of the royal bakery. "Hey, Livia." The octoling raised her head, how'd she know her name? "Make sure you wait for a bit until I draw those nasty monsters off, okay?" Livia nodded her head, "That's my girl~" Adrienne smiled and jumped off, disappearing into the crowd. "What..." she was still slightly confused.

Diana smiles at all the soldiers and customers, giving out sweets and pastries. "Alright!," her sweet voice giggled, "one at a time will you?". "Hey Miss Diana! Care to bring over the blueberry sweets? You look fabulous by the way!" A soldier called out to her, "Alrighty! Just let me find that and-" she got pulled over by a friend of hers, whispering a few words into her ear. "She what?!" Diana rushed out the counter and went up the stairs, "Hey! Hey! what about my treats?" A random customer called out.

Diana rushed on the top of the wooden balcony, catching her breath, then seeing Livia leaning on the fence,looking out the crowds. "Livia! Someone just told me they saw you waltzing in the air!" "I really don't know what happened...a random inkling girl just picked me up and it all happened in a flash-" Diana grabbed Livia's hands, "It's Adrienne! That no good sanitized playgirl! Livia you have to be more careful!" Livia let go of Diana's grasp. It was Adrienne? The one who...has the moving castle? That made a whole lot of sense now.

The two of them walked down the stairs. Diana escorting Livia to the exit, "Still Livia, you need to be more cautious...or else she'll steal your heart!" "That's nonsense,she only goes for beautiful girls." Her voice faded, "Don't give me that, you know what I mean. " A door opens from beside, a baker with a bright smile "Hey Diana! The customers are in need for your service!" "Alright, I'll be there in a bit!"

She dusted her dress, Livia twirled her hair, "Whatever, she won't find me anyway. I'll be hiding in my hat workshop. It's suitable for me also so-" "No- Liv- That's another thing. You can't spend your whole life working in that hat shop!" "But it's what my father would've wanted,he always wanted the shop to keep living for generations." Diana frowned, "I'm not talking about what your father wants, i'm talking about what you want!" A random guy walked by holding 3 boxes, "Hey Diana!" "Hello there!" Diana smiled back at him. Livia walked back, feeling unwanted, "I should get going..." Livia walked away, The orange girl shouted back at her, "Do something for yourself just once, Livia! Please!" She waved her hand at the inkling, "Bye, Diana."

Livia walked down the street, boarding back onto the train cart. Riding back to her little manor.

[a-table-of-fics]

Cull to Adventure, Chapter 8, Draft 1

           Cull let the Zapfish swim out above him as he took a moment to breathe, letting his arms dangle over the ladder rung. Two Zapfish in a day, and he was tired. He wasn’t used to so much action, and he hadn’t had that much peril in forever. The pain he went through wasn’t as bad as that one time, though, so that was something.

           “You coming?” he heard Marie ask, some way above him.

           “Y-yeah,” he nodded, banging his head on the rung above. He rubbed his head with one hand as he climbed the rest of the way with the other.

           “You all right?” Marie asked. “I heard a clang—”

           “I’m fine,” Cull replied, waving a hand reassuringly.

           “Well, okay then,” she nodded, before her face hardened. “Now, about you calling yourself a failure…”

           “F-forget it,” Cull said, turning to look for another kettle.

           “No, we’re not forgetting it,” Marie said, sternly. “I’m not having you go into enemy territory saying that kind of stuff. What even got you thinking that?”

           Agent 4 didn’t answer, instead fidgeting with one of his longer tentacles.

           “It’s that personal, huh?” Marie sighed. “All right, but I don’t wanna hear—”

           “No, no,” Cull sighed. “I g-guess if it’s j-just us…”

           He pointed to his hairstyle.

           “I, uh… I-I…” he started, before taking a deep breath. “This was my fault, okay? I…I didn’t know any better…”

           He stammered and choked before falling silent again.

           “Hey, uh,” Marie started. Cod, she wished Callie was here; she was so much better at this kind of thing. Well, maybe if she tried what Callie once told her, it could help…

           “You know, you still came through,” she tried, giving a small smile. “A failure didn’t just save three Zapfish on his own.”

           The two were interrupted by a loud whining from a huge black Kettle. As they both watched, enough steam built up to lift the lid several feet into the air. After just a few seconds, one last burst of hot air shot it into the stratosphere.

           “Ah,” Marie finally said, lifting a hand to close Cull’s jaw. “That would be an Octoweapon activated.”

           “W-what’s that?”

           “An Octarian war machine of some kind.”

           Cull cringed. Fighting Octarians was one thing, but some kind of tank or artillery?

           “Don’t worry, though,” Marie said, patting him on the back. “They haven’t got a lot of those things, and we’re gonna keep it that way.”

            “Uhh…”

           “I’m sure you can do it! All you gotta do is find the weird giant tentacle you can splat!”

           “…The what?”

           “You can’t miss it. Glaring weak spot.”

           Just hope they didn’t fix that, Marie didn’t say.

           “W-well… okay,” Cull tentatively nodded. “That s-sounds easy enough…”

           “I didn’t say easy,” Marie corrected him. “I just said you could do it. I’ll be sure to watch the thing from here, see if I can help you out, but it’ll be up to you.”

            Cull nodded, looking into the Kettle. He couldn’t see too far into it, but he could hear rhythmic clanging and whirring coming from far below. He swallowed.

           “J-just hope I don’t have to swim too much…”

           With that vote of self-confidence, he dove in, hoping he was ready for whatever came to greet him.

* * *

           Nothing greeted him other than a launchpad in front of him. Looking around, there wasn’t much to see, either. It looked like an abandoned warehouse to him, something he was no stranger to. There were even stickers and paint jobs tagged everywhere, though it looked to Cull like they were all placed by one person. Strange, especially given how much warehouse they would have had to tag.

           He heard a clatter over his headset – apparently Marie had just made it to whatever system she was using to monitor – and she quickly asked, “You ready, Agent 4?”

           After giving an affirmative grunt, he stepped forward, to look at where he was going. He could see the Zapfish in front of him, in another bulb. For some reason, this one was floating in the air above a pond of purple ink. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to reach it once he landed there, but hopefully he could get to the poor thing before the so-called Octoweapon did.

           In any case, he wasn’t going to get anything else done up here, so he walked forward and squidformed into the launchpad.

           The moment he landed, he looked up to see the imprisoned Zapfish descend. He took a couple of tentative steps forward, and he could even see the fish smile as it saw him, giving a small squeak as it did so.

           Cull smiled back, getting his Splattershot out and preparing to make a trail of green to meet it. Before he could, though, he heard bubbling, and stopped.

           Suddenly, an enormous octopus tentacle burst out of the ink, grabbing the Zapfish. The poor thing could barely even scream before its bulb was pulled under by the green-scarred arm. Electricity sparked through the ink, and soon a light burst from the center.

           Cull had already started backing up, but the rumble as… something rose from the depths knocked him off-balance. Even as he landed on his back, he was scrambling to get away, but he soon realized there was nowhere to go – he was on a disk-shaped platform floating above Cod-knows-what. All he could do was watch as some kind of hexagonal cylinder emerged, with green glowing eyes. There was a pair on each face, Cull realized.

           The light faded, and the inky mist dissipated to reveal a behemoth of a machine. Six eyes sneered at Agent 4 behind panes of glass, and the vents either side hissed plenty of steam…

           Wait, was that some kind of oven?

           His suspicions were confirmed as the bread burst out of each door, the faces screaming in unison. Cull felt shaken to his core, and he saw the ink on the floor dry up and flake away instantly. He was just glad that wasn’t him, and he was soon able to get back onto his feet, ready to face this thing.

           “Looks like the tentacle’s on top,” Marie said, as the oven approached.

           Three pairs of green eyes looked at him, but Cull’s attention was pulled to an enormous red robot eye glaring at him, right above the front face. It tracked him as he ran far better than the bread did. The fact that all the mouths were saying something in unison with the same high-pitched voice wasn’t helping ease his mind.

           Suddenly, one of the doors opened, and Cull barely leapt out of the way as the bread shouted, lunging towards him before quickly receding back in. Cull could feel the heat from the bread even as it left. He looked at the trail of ink it left behind, and cringed as he could see a bit of steam coming out of it. The bread gave him a mean sneer from behind the glass as the oven spun.

           “That’s why I don’t eat the end loaves,” Marie joked.

           Cull couldn’t help but snicker at that, but only for a moment as another loaf lunged at him.

           Marie could hear the loaves speak as one through her headset. She only knew a bit of Octo, but it was enough to raise concerns – she heard “…nutrition…ingredient…value…” among words she didn’t understand. That, alongside its open-mouthed charge towards Agent 4, painted a picture that, frankly, she didn’t want Cull seeing. Maybe if she kept things light, that would help more than scaring him with reality.

           “Hope you’re bready to find a way up,” she said, forcing a grin. “It’ll get you out of this jam.”

           She couldn’t help but give a more genuine grin as Cull groaned between dodges.

           Meanwhile, Cull attempted to shoot back at the bread, but even when it was exposed all his ink did was cover the crust in green. It seemed there was nothing he could do about those loaves. Well, nothing other than frustrate them, if the tone of their screeching was any indication.

           As he kept evading lunges, he could feel the ink trail left behind get even hotter. Pink steam rose from some of the later trails. Steam also emerged from the oven itself, and a lot of it. Finally, all of the bread started to screech at once, before they all burst out of the oven. They stayed there, hanging in shock.

           Agent 4 put a tentative hand onto one of the loaves. The crust felt firm, like this was the high-quality bread his old neighbor sold. Of course, this was less nostalgic, as he did have a job to do.

           His ink was still on the side of this one, but he wasn’t sure if he’d have time, so he hoisted himself up by hand, looking for any way to the top.

           Well, he had to ink the sides, and the fact the bread was breathing heavily did not help his discomfort. Hopefully, he could at least make it easier by climbing less wall, so he looked to his left, at one of the higher loaves, and took a running leap.

           He was able to catch the next platform, but only barely, as his hands were slipping and losing a bit of their form in the heat. With some effort, he clambered upwards, leaving bits of green as he stood up. Thankfully, he could still fire his Splattershot, and paint the wall that faced him. Swimming up it was another matter, but he would have to do it somehow.

           He eyed the wall up and down, and realized he didn’t coat the whole wall, instead more or less making a thick line up it. Maybe he could work with this…

           Agent 4 dove into the green, struggling for a moment before a slim white tentacle emerged from the ink, feeling around for half a second before slapping onto the wall. It trailed upward as Cull swam a little bit, and then circled further upwards, helping pull him up. Cull still wasn’t as fast as the average Inkling, but Marie could see he was making his own personal record for swimming up.

           Cull didn’t pant from the excruciating swim this time, but more from the heat. Thankfully, he was at the top, and could see the tentacle in front of him. He opened fire, keeping his footing as stable as it could between the oven shaking like mad and his feeling a lot softer and slipperier than normal.

           Finally, the tentacle burst, spewing pink ink everywhere. Cull was already close to slipping, but this deluge was enough to knock him over. He landed on a spongy loaf of screaming bread. As quickly as he could, he leapt off it, making a break for anywhere that wasn’t right next to the mechanical monster.

           “Donut stop!” Marie cheered. “You knead to keep going!”

           Cull couldn’t help but snicker at that, despite everything going on around him. It was short-lived as he saw a new tentacle peeking out above the top of the Octoweapon, and the bread glared at him all over again. What was worse, new things were bursting from the tile walls, revealing more mechanical eyes and massive vents that made it look like it had a crown. As soon as the tentacle sunk into its slot, it blasted way too many ink columns into the air. Agent 4 had no choice but to move closer to the Octo Oven.

           “Mmm, Churros….” Marie joked.

           Cull paused for a moment, looking up at the spiraling Ink Pistons that embedded themselves into the ground. He chuckled, before moving closer to the Octo Oven.

           He was suddenly aware of music that was playing through speakers here, that was getting his ink pumping. It was some kind of weird techno music, with furious guitar strumming over it and incomprehensible vocals. As he dodged the attacks from the Oven, he felt a fresh determination to see it splatted.

           The heat wasn’t doing him any favors, though. His movements were starting to feel sluggish, and the soles of his shoes were starting to stick to the floor. Even his arms felt a little longer, and he could see ink drip from him every so often. He grimaced, trying to keep together long enough to continue fighting.

           Meanwhile, the oven was shouting things at him. Cull thought he could hear the word “cook” in there, but he chalked it up to fighting a giant bread monster. He couldn’t ignore how the loaves were looking at him like they were about to lick their lips, or how the two robotic visors were intensely focused on him, as if they were scanning him.

           “Mar—” he started, realizing his mistake as he dove out of the way again, “Agent 2, y-you know what this th-thing’s deal is?”

           “Er, I do,” Marie replied. “It’s hoping to put Inkopolis in a jam, but it should have loafed us alone!”

           Cull groaned. If all she was going to do was make puns, he wasn’t going to try to encourage her anymore.

           Meanwhile, Marie quickly muted the mic to breathe a sign of relief. That was too close; having Cull know and then panic was the last thing she wanted to happen. At least he had a chance while ignorant.

           Finally, the oven got too hot again, and all the bread launched out to cool off. As it panted, Agent 4 clambered onto the first loaf once more, and cringed at how much of his form was sticking to the bread. He swore he could see some of the loose ink getting absorbed by it.

           No matter; he had to find a way up again. He saw that the huge eyeball had a grid around it, and that meant an easier way up. He went to leap, but his shoes were sticking to the spongy floor beneath him. He reached, straining as hard as he could, but he could barely even reach the vents below, and the heat there certainly wasn’t helping.

           Still, he was able to drag himself up off the platform, and now he was getting a faceful of hot air. He had to fling his arms upwards like he was in squid form – limp, but with good grip. It was awkward, and he was terrified of getting caught in moving parts, but it was the best he could do, with so little control over his own body.

           It actually reminded him of when he was around seven, and he and Soy used their still-not-fully-formed bodies to get to all kinds of places. He remembered his childhood partner-in-crime teaching him how to scale places with their then-loose limbs. The two of them got into all sorts of places they really shouldn’t have. Those were always good times.

           As much as he missed those carefree days, Soy, and having all his tentacles, he was already at the top. No more time for reminiscing.

           It was a good thing the tentacle he was targeting was so large, because his aiming game wasn’t going to be great in these conditions. He tried aiming for the massive green scar on it, but was lucky to be hitting the arm at all. Eventually, though, the tentacle burst, and the oven started to spray pink ink everywhere.

           Stepping back was becoming less of an option. Instinct kicked in, and he squidformed as best he could. Ink pressure built up, and he was just able to launch before he got doused in Octo ink.

           “Good,” Marie said. “But dougn’t get careless or things might go a rye.”

           Cull was upset that he was laughing at these stupid bread puns as he prepared to land. At least it was cut off briefly as he landed with a splat! Besides, it distracted him from how hard kidforming was getting. He was becoming more puddle than Inkling at this point.

            Was it just him, or was the arena far hotter than it was before?

           Meanwhile, there was the sound of metal scraping as plating emerged from the oven, covering bits of the bread before it screamed again. Cull had to focus to not get flung from the roar this time, but he managed to stay on while everything else was cleared of ink.

           “Right,” Marie continued, after a moment of silence. “Hang in there, and the…armored…bread… shouldn’t stop you too much. Just watch for that… um, glazing machine.”

           Cull watched as a pipe emerged from the oven, and several nozzles started pouring a wall of ink. He prepared to run, but that was a tall order as he tripped over his own feet repeatedly. He had to settle for an uncomfortable shamble as he rushed to avoid getting glazed. He shot a sloppy trail of green once he wrapped around the Oven and was reaching a perfectly painted pink floor.

           He and Marie both sighed a relief as the spouts stopped and the pipe rolled back in.

           Agent 4 readied himself; he didn’t know what this thing was planning, but given the way it was spinning and muttering, it was nothing good. He thought he could hear it say something that sounded like “flavor”, but he wrote that off as coincidence.

           He was almost glad it was back to launching its many bread faces at him, albeit far more rapidly. He ducked out of the way of the first, he tripped just in time to dodge the second, but before the third shot out, he found it far too difficult to move, and was punished for it. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a nasty splat.

           Except, that didn’t happen. Sure, he was knocked down, and it hurt, but he was still there. What’s more, he felt a wash of cool green ink over himself. Daring to open an eye, he saw his armor was broken again, and he was able to solidify just a little more in this heat. Not much, but just enough to stand up somewhat normally for once. Just in time, too; the Oven had one more lunge before the bread had to cool off again.

           Cull couldn’t blame it for that; the ink from the armor helped, but it wasn’t enough to beat the heat.

           He tried to clamber onto the metal, but not only was it far hotter than the rest of the Oven, but it was also impossible to get a grip on the inkproof surface in his inky state. So he was back to climbing on weird talking bread. Once again, he swung with loose limbs over the mechanical eye and made it to the top. He hoped this was it as he burst the tentacle one last time.

           Once again, he was able to Squid Jump away, and landed with an awkward splatter.

           “This guy’s toast!” Marie cheered.

           Quietly, Cull cheered too. If the Oven didn’t kill him, any more bread puns would.

           He turned around and saw that the Oven was rumbling once again, but this time, the bread shot out all burnt and charred. The smell of burnt seafood filled the air as the Oven twitched, the panels denting outward. One on the back fell off, and the faces on the bread started to wince from whatever complications their body was going through.

           With one last synchronized scream, the Oven exploded, sending gallons and gallons of green ink everywhere.

           As soon as the ink oozed off the camera, Marie could see the Zapfish, safely encased in an electric bulb in the middle of the platform. But there was no sign of Agent 4. She had seen Agent 3 destroy the Octomaw, and even as that kid was doused in ink, she was still clearly visible.

           “…Agent 4?”

           A mound rose, and gave a blobby thumbs-up.

           She breathed a sigh of relief, watching him try to kidform. He mostly succeeded in flopping around, though.

           “Look, 4,” Marie said, softly. “You might wanna swim until you cool off a bit. Don’t worry, you can take your time.”

           One slow shamble and a Splat Bomb later, Cull had a concerned Zapfish looking over him, and he could see Marie climbing down the ladder to greet him as the platform rose up to greet her.

           “Need a lift?” she asked, casually as ever.

[crqstalite]

wip whenever.

I’m like, two or three days late on this tag from @mallaidhsomo but I did have something lying around based on Redamancy. not exactly a wip since it’s not part of the book, but it is something. if you see this, go on ahead and post something you’re working on -- i’m curious!

mass effect 3, post-coup. brione petrakis-centered, because i bugged @delinquest about this last night and needed to write about it lol.

-

“You did this, you know. Personal bias notwithstanding, I’m disgusted you can’t see why you should have even an inkling of guilt. You’ve gotten thousands killed.”

It wasn’t my fault.

“You lost nearly the whole damn platoon. Got a good majority of them killed, and for what? Because you just couldn’t wait. Damned impatient fool.”

I finished the mission. It wasn’t my fault.

“Insolent child! Do you even understand what we’ve lost here today because you put yourself above every single other person here?”

I got the supplies. It wasn’t my fault.

Thousands was an overestimate. Shepard was too soft, and kept dragging her feet. I wasn’t even directly involved, if she thought it was such a moral failing, she should’ve done something about it beforehand.

(That wasn’t my fault)

The Batarians were gone and wiped out, and I finished the mission. Kyle knew what he was signing up for. It isn’t as if any of us were guaranteed to see the end of the mission either.

(That wasn’t my fault)

That gang would’ve come after us at some point of another, and we needed the supplies for the winter. I’m small, and they wouldn’t have found me if no one said anything. I wasn’t selfish.

(That wasn’t my fault)

None of it ever was. It was never supposed to be. She did what was best in that time, and if someone had a problem with it, then that was on them, not her. The objective was complete, the job was done. 

(It wasn’t my fault)

If they thought she was so bad, then why do they keep bringing her back? First as a strategist, then to the Normandy, then with the councilor.

(None of it is my fault)

They saw something in her. Everytime something went wrong, it was a slap on the wrist and then a promotion within the next few years.

(It can’t be my fault)

They ask her why she does this. Why she’s like this. Why no other lives matter but her own.

(It never was my fault)

It’s dark out now, and yet she can still the flickers of flames in the Presidium. Smoke still rising, destruction all around her. 

(Never)

The office is quiet. The desk is empty. She shouldn’t be here, people would come in to investigate Udina’s belongings soon.

(But..)

She glances at her hands. None of this meant anything if they died in the next few days, weeks, or months by the Reaper’s tentacles. It didn’t affect her, not really. She could just run to the next foxhole that’d accept her.

(Was it?)

No skin off her back. Not really. Shepard could stay mad for all she cared, and it wasn’t as if Alenko’s look of disappointment could phase her if she told him what happened. Garrus didn’t need to know.

(Is it her fault?)

No. It never was. It can’t be. She’d believed what he said, she’d thought it all shook out right. She didn’t run the numbers herself, but this? This wasn’t on her.

(Is it my fault?)

She turns away from the window, sliding her jacket on over her shoulders and not giving it a second thought.

It couldn’t be. The mission hadn’t failed, and she was still alive. No one could fault her for it, and if they knew what was good for them, they wouldn’t.

She lingers in the threshold though. Udina was gone now. Dead by his own agenda. 

“You’re going to be the one dead if you keep this up.”

“If someone doesn’t want me to do the job, then I won’t. You people keep putting me in charge of things, what do you want me to do about it? I’ll do it my way, or you can hit the highway.”

He’d looked at her, but didn’t retaliate. He never did.

She’s seventeen again, inside a broken down building, drinking out of a near shattered glass. That was the third time someone had died because of her.

No, not because of her. Because they hadn’t kept up with her. Because they didn’t listen to her, because they didn’t think.

“You’ll be a hit with the Alliance. Think they’ll love hardasses like you, kid.”

“They don’t like murderers like me.”

He pauses again, before downing the rest of his drink, “You’re not a murderer. You’re what our friends would call morally grey, and most of the time, you’re unconventional and reckless. Makes you a hoot with everyone else in this little gang though.”

“I kill people. People get killed because of me. And yet it keeps happening because they’re determined to see it one way. It’s as if they’re blind.”

“You’re the one willing to take the risks. In the end, it’s your job to decide whether it was worth it.”

This time, Brione doesn’t know if the reward outweighed the risk.