Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Such was the sound that had ensnared Sophie's mind for the better part of an hour. She peered down at the watch on her tanned wrist with a bored frown. With each minute-no, each second- that passed by and activated that sound, the more the octoling grew restless. One minute too late she had arrived at the Square, yet that was all it took for the lobbies of the afternoon rotation to fill up entirely with players, leaving Sophie to do naught but curse and shout out her frustrations to any and all interested ears. Such was the price for tardiness, sadly.
So now the only thing she could do was to entertain herself on her phone for a few moments, to then continue to torture her sight with a watch that merely slogged forward in time. How fun.
Slowly but surely the current hour passed by, and once the clock striked 6:00 pm a loud yet brief alarm rang out throughout the square. Sophie looked up from her phone to see a gathering of cephalopods spill out of the Deca Tower, their expressions ranging from joyous smiles to disappointed frowns to bitter scowls and everything in between. Nothing new to see..
Returning her attention to her phone and sliding a finger across the touch screen, Sophie checked on the maps available for this period—surprisingly one of her favorites was on rotation— before taking a peek at the insides of her bag. Weapon, tickets and wallet where inside, thankfully, and with a silent nod of approval she sat up from the chair she was in and began to approach the doors to the shimmering Deca Tower.
Yet despite having taken only a few steps toward her destination, the octoling froze in her tracks upon laying eyes on a certain something near the entrance. Or rather, someone.
This inkling was unlike any Sophie had seen before: a well-built but nonetheless slim physique, slick spiky cyan tentacles, golden eyes filled with what she could assume was confidence, and that smile.. somehow, it enthralled Sophie in an inexplicable way. He just looked so, so… perfect.
How should she approach him? What should she say? Should she try being more outgoing or stick to tried and true methods of 'socializing'? Maybe-
Wait.
Was he- oh squit. He was looking at her. Directly at her in the face and she didn't even realize it. He was smiling too.
The mystery boy sent a friendly wave from where he stood, an action that only sent the octoling into a frenzy, hastily covering her face and turning away from him. She forced herself to take repeated deep breaths both to calm her rampant thoughts and the hearts that began to beat faster within her chest.
"Be still," she whispered, her strained voice muffled by the facemask covering her mouth. Her command came out more like a plea, however, for fear began to worm it's way inside Sophie's mind.
"It's o-okay, just take deep breaths. Keep breathing and you won't have to deal with.. the blackouts"
Sophie followed her own advice, and soon returned to a tranquil state. With one final exhale, Sophie's hands slid off her face, and the octoling girl turned around ready to face that inkboy for real. There was a problem with that however: a glance around revealed that he was nowhere to be found, and that people were already scampering inside the Deca Tower. "Stupid!" She mentally berated, already grabbing her bag and hurrying off to the tower.
While checking in at a counter and applying for the evening turf war rotation, Sophie couldn't help but think about the boy again. Where could he be? Would he still be playing in one of the lobbies, or has he already left Inkopolis Square for the day? Gosh, she really hoped the latter wasn't the case. That smile was too handsome for it to never be seen again...
"...iss?"
Huh?
"Miss, you hear me? I said you can go to lobby 16," The starfish clerk that was attending her said in a louder tone, pulling Sophie out of her thoughts and back to reality. She shook her head once more and quickly thanked the clerk before running off to the designated area. The girl took the time to adjust the cuffs of her sweater, and soon she snagged a spot in the lobby. Somehow, she was the first to enter the room.
Her sky blue eyes drifted down to her hands, noting them to be sweaty and lightly trembling, and by putting one on her chest she felt her heart beating profusely. Sophie whined sadly and closed her eyes.
"What is it with me today? He's just another inkboy and yet.. he looks so handsome and— and so different too. I don't even know his name.."
"Feeling butterflies in your chest?"
Sophie jumped in her seat when the sound of a new voice filled her oval ears. A jerk of her head in the direction it came from and immediately she felt the wind get knocked out of her and her hearts restarting their frantic beating.
It was him!
Eyes wide awake, Sophie was struck speechless as she stared at the mystery boy in full. The octoling somehow managed to blurt a shaky greeting at the inkboy, and he in turn gave a toothy smile at Sophie. A gesture that inadvertently hastened her hearts and brain even further.
"Heya! Need some company?" The inkboy asked joyfully, sitting down beside Sophie.
"Be still. Calm yourself. Focus on the conversation." This mantra repeated and fluttered in Sophie's head, and was the fuel that kept her going whenever she entered a situation that required contact with other cephalopods.
"I'm quite alright here, but thank you. Um, h-how are you?"
"Never better. Actually got a pretty good winning streak today, and I'm really hoping I can keep this up 'till it's night!"
"That's.. wonderful!" Sophie congratulated, smiling behind her mask. A little simple, though..
"Mhm. Hope you achieved something you wanted today as well."
Sophie nodded 'yes' with her head in a rapid manner, before her gaze fell to the metal floor. "I wish I could be that good…"
She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see the boy give her a thumbs up. "Hey, it's alright! You don't have to be winning 20 times in a row to be good. If you're able to hold your own and contribute to your team no matter what happens or how the match unfolds, that makes a pretty reliable player in my book."
"You.. think so?" Sophie asked softly, her eyes lighting up once more. The boy nodded enthusiastically in response before continuing.
"I mean if you made it to… wow, S rank?! Not bad," he cheered upon glancing at Sophie's ID that was peeking from her pocket.
Sophie involuntarily gasped for joy, her cheeks gaining a hot purple blush as she continued to gaze at the inkling's face.
He saw her. He knows who she is. He's talked with and praised her when he hasn't even seen her in action, and yet with that encouraging, precious smile this boy had welcomed her. Sophie felt a certain warmth the more she continued to gaze at the boy and she couldn't explain how or why. This was.. good, right?
"I… like him. I want to be with him more. Would he let me?"
"Here's to a good match, yeah?" He asked, holding out a hand. Sophie nodded and shook his hand in turn, gazing at him with subdued determination. She was going to win. She will show her all she's got, and then, surely then, he'd want to speak with her more.
"Be still. Stay cool. Focus on the match."
The mantra bounced within Sophie's mind as another turf war began anew, with squids and octos alike facing off on the low and high elevations of the Sturgeon Shipyard. At the moment, she was perched on one of the higher platforms, using her trusty splat charger to survey the central area below. Her teammates where in no trouble at the moment, and only concerned with painting away. Good.
But as to be expected, they were soon faced with opposition. A blue-team inkling girl leaped from her side's ramp and fired at one of Sophie's teammates, leading into a brief confrontation that ended in the opponent winning. Her brief victory dance was her undoing however, for Sophie took advantage of the girl's distraction to splat her with a blast of ink. It was her job to cover for her teammates after all.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed another blue inkling step into their territory. Upon setting her sights on them her heart skipped a beat before increasing it's pace.
Looks like she and the mystery boy ended up on opposite teams after all.
Sophie sighed. It would've been so much better to be partnered with him, though perhaps she could use this opportunity to show off her skills.
Soon after he defeated another teammate, Sophie fired at the inkboy, however he rolled away from the ink trail just in the nick of time.
"Nice try, but it won't help ya!" He shouted with a big grin on his face. Sophie grunted in annoyance, before firing another shot. He dodged again, to both her dismay and wonder, before proceeding to paint the ground blue.
Sophie shook her head wildly and proceeded to continually take breaths of air. Her gaze focused on the bouncy boy, She unloaded several more shots of ink on him. The boy was shocked to say the least, and barely managed to roll or dive out of the way of each of the ink trails.
"So nimble! a-and so fast, too!" Sophie panicked internally, continuing to 'chase' after the young man all around the central area. A solid minute had passed and he was still swimming and firing and rolling all over the place, with Sophie having gained nothing for her efforts. She could even hear some of her teammates below complaining about her efforts.
Mind frantically running, palms sweaty, and hearts beating at a mile a minute, Sophie began to lose focus. Her gasps for air were becoming increasingly shorter and more ragged, and her grip on the charger began to slack and shake. The boy meanwhile, seemed to be almost dancing with his purple opponents, splatting them with no trouble and continuing to hold the central area. However, whether confidence got into his head or he decided to pat himself on the back, the mystery boy stopped to cheer and celebrate another splat he got.
Now was her chance. Mustering enough focus and willpower, Sophie charged another shot. But of course, seeing that boy's smile in full caused her to falter, and for her shot to miss completely. Once more, he sidestepped and began to advance towards her team's side of the map.
A failure..
Sophie looked down frantically in search of him, but only saw ripples in the now blue ink below. Where was he?! He couldn't have-
"Found ya."
Her eyes widened, and she quickly turned around to see him, right in front of her and point one of his dualies at her.
She was cornered. Beaten.
Her hearts couldn't handle it. Sophie's knees buckled under her, and when she fell flat against the ground she couldn't help but cry.
The boy lowered his dualie, and stood speechless at the sight of the wailing octoling. He reached out for her, but flinched when Sophie wailed loudly again.
What was she expecting? That they would end up on a team together and proceed to beat the competition? That somehow he'd congratulate her for every little thing she accomplished? Boy, was she kidding herself.
Now that he saw her for the terrible player she was, he would surely want nothing to do with her again. Who would want to be with a loser, anyways?
Sophie was broken from her moment of grief upon feeling a pair of arms envelop her in a tender hold, and with tearful eyes she looked up to see the boy gazing at her with concern. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything the inkling put a hand up, as if telling her to stop.
"It's alright."
"B-b-but I-! I failed! I couldn't do anything, I'm so-!"
"Don't be. Take it easy, ok?"
His golden gaze was tender and almost pleading. His words… all doubt and fear vanished from Sophie's mind upon hearing them, as if it were magic. How could she say no?
Her heartbeat slowed and her mind cleared with a new sense of peace. Sophie leaned in closer to the boy, and with one final exhale she drifted off into slumber with a prevailing, victorious thought in her dreams.
Author's Note
Hello. Figured I might as well upload something for the day, and to hastily make up for the lack of updates in general. This was originally a submission to a writing contest, but I decided to post it here for all to see. Feedback is welcome.
Please enjoy, and until next time, whenever that may be.