Eight looked herself up and down in the mirror. It was about time to go, and she had spent at least thirty minutes tediously inspecting herself for any flaw. She knew Three didn't need or necessarily want any extraordinary effort from her, but she couldn't help it. She really wanted to look nice. She was about to go on a date for Cod sake! With Three! That still gave her an indescribable fuzzy feeling in her chest, even hours after they'd agreed to go out together.

She craned her neck to get a look at the clock hung up in the corner. It read 8:36 PM. They had agreed to leave at 8:30 so… she should probably hurry up.

Giving herself the once over a couple more times, Eight finally decided she was content with her appearance. She was wearing the extremely adorable pink Octo-satin jacket and short beanie Marina had been so kind as to buy her. Eight didn't have much money, so being the unofficial adoptive daughter of pop stars was rather nice. Of course, Eight loved those two for reasons far beyond their money but… she wasn't going to complain about the money. Not if her jacket had anything to say about it.

In the wise words of Agent 3, "Marina and Pearl are mom-types with no kid to spend their ludicrous amounts of money on, so Eight, who's all but their literal fucking child, gets the royal treatment." And thank goodness, because Eight's outfit was really cute and she wanted nothing less for her first date with Three.

Wait… 'first date'…? She hadn't even considered the possibility of more to come. Obviously, she knew second dates happened sometimes, and maybe even thirds and fourths, but that all felt so alien. If this went well… could something more happen between them? Could they become more serious? How serious? Holy shit now Eight was just standing there, spinning her wheels, imagining all the countless possibilities.

Looking back up at her reflection, she noted the copious amount of ink rushing to her face.

Taking a deep breath, Eight turned and made her way out of her room. It was a short yet intimidating walk to the living room. You'd think their sweet little interaction earlier would be enough to quell any lingering doubt, but she couldn't help it. She was a bit nervous.

Luckily, and none too surprisingly, Three was already ready and waiting. Eight greeted her with a bashful smile. "Hey Three, you ready to… oh…You look cute!" The octoling beamed at the ensemble Three had put together. Toni Kensa Longcuff Sweater, a clean pair of jeans, grey sneakers and a black FishFry Bandana tied around her head. As expected of the inkling, it wasn't anything fancy. But it did suit her quite well.

As did the cute green blush which quickly colored her pale cheeks.

"I… uh…" Three opened and closed her mouth several times but nothing besides awkward mumbling managed to crawl out. "Y-you uh… you too…"

It took an incredible amount of willpower to not tease the poor thing. She was reeeeaaally adorable, and Eight wanted nothing more than to capitalize on that. But she wouldn't, because she was a good friend.

Friend?

…

Girlfriend?

No, they weren't dating yet. They were just testing the waters. Hmmm…. Why was romance so complicated? Well, whatever. Point is, Three was a cutie and Eight wasn't going to say anything because she was nice.

"Thanks, Three." Eight gave the inkling a small, appreciative smile. "So, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, for sure." Three had her arms ridged against her sides, while her feet shuffled awkwardly against the carpet. "Uh… anywhere you wanted to go?"

Eight hummed absentmindedly as she thought. The previous night, she'd spent quite a while imagining the ideal date. In the end, she hadn't decided an anything and resolved to cross the bridge when she came to it. "I hadn't anything in mind," Eight replied. "How about… the mall? Arowana?"

The look Three made in response said everything she was thinking and more, yet still, she decided to vocalize her opinions. "Eight, malls are an amalgamation of everything wrong with the world."

"What… does that even mean?"

In what way, shape, or form was the mall everything wrong with the world? Because there was a lot wrong with the world. And though Eight may have been relatively new to the surface, she was fairly certain shopping with friends wasn't what society needed to fix before all else.

A hand was placed on Eight's shoulder, and the look Three wore was comparable to the face of a parent explaining to their child for the first time an unfortunate reality of the world they live in. In this instance, the reality was Eight being tricked into participating in the soulless, corporate scheming and frivolous insecurity exploitation that name brands and the cosmetics industry practically got off on. "Poor sweet octopus," Three chimed satirically, "so new to the surface and already you're blind to the moral ambiguity shopping centers rely on to survive."

"So… do you not want to go to the mall?"

Three blinked. "Huh? N-no," she quickly amended. "We can go wherever. Don't mind me I just… like to complain I guess."

Not like Eight minded, she thought it was endearing. "It's alright, Three. What would you like to do while we're out? Eat something? Clothes shopping?"

The groan Three emitted in response was a pained and guttural sound; much like a dying whale. "I think I'd rather fucking fling myself into the ocean than play dress up."

"That's… dark." Eight timidly observed.

"Dressing up is just… not for me." Three explained. "Being… cute doesn't suit me." She gestured toward the outfit she picked out for their date. "I-I mean like… I know you said I was a minute ago but… eh."

Eight didn't even know what to say to that. Sometimes Three said or did things which Eight perceived as mildly concerning. Preferring watery demise over wearing a cute outfit being one of those things. Besides… whether or not Three agreed, she was definitely cute. If not cute, then at least attractive. Though knowing how Three felt about her scars… It was unlikely they'd agree on that front either. Unfortunate though that was.

"Three, there's a lot I could say, but I honestly don't know where to start. So let's just say I think you're cute and leave it there." Eight took Three's hand gently within her own and offered a sincere little grin, "I want to buy you a cute outfit. Is that okay? Only if you're fine with it." Of course, as previously stated, Eight thought what Three was currently wearing suited her pretty nicely. But this was about the principle.

"I…" The older agent looked extremely conflicted. "Well… I guess. Fuck it." She looked somewhat uneasy about the notion, but at least she'd agreed. Though Eight firmly decided to keep in mind that if Three was actually miserable, they'd stop and do something else. They were gonna have fun today, damn it! She refused to have this date be a trainwreck. The second Three became legitimately uncomfortable, she'd abort mission.

"Sweet!" Eight, without a moment's thought, gave Three a short, sweet kiss on the cheek. "I promise to find you something you'll like, alright?"

"I… Uh… Yep." Three nodded along, rendered temporarily stunned by the sudden show of affection. Eight was equal parts amused and confused by this. Between the last several little kisses they had shared, you'd think such a simple gesture wouldn't fluster her so much but… any opportunity to see Three all green faced was an opportunity the octoling was willing to take.

"Awesome," Eight chimed. Her tentacles swayed joyously and the light honey glow on her cheeks emphasized her nervous excitement. "Ready to go, then?"

Three spoke with a tiny little grin of her own. "Sure. Let's get going."

Seconds later, the inkling opened the held the door for her Octarian date, who gleefully skipped outside. Leaving their shared apartment, Eight couldn't resist the urge to link her arm around Three's own. It made it harder to walk, and Three seemed surprised by it, but there was no protest. Thank the stars too, because Three was really really warm. It was nice.

Destination in mind, the two began to make their way to the train station. They'd be at Arowana in no time, and hopefully it'd be the start of a fun night.