Archie exhaled softly as he looked out the window, gazing at the blurry images of the trees passing by the train. For such an exciting day, the train ride was rather mundane.
"So what are your plans for Inkopolis?" Candy asked next to him, their pink eyes trained on a brightly colored fashion magazine. Their legs were crossed and swinging to the beat of the music playing in their rose earbuds.
He tapped a finger to his chin in deep thought, "I wanna try a couple splatfests and attend those famous parties we've heard about. I also wanna know what's on the other floors of inkopolis tower, maybe a restaurant or something. I'm also gonna decorate my apartment when I get to Flounder Heights! This time, hopefully with more band members besides the Squid sisters."
Candy took the rose earbuds out of their ears and scoffed, "That sounds like something a loser would do."
Archie scrunched up his face and furrowed his brow, "What the hell else am I supposed to do there? That's all I wanna do," He crossed his arms grumpily and sunk down lower in his seat.
"Well, when I get to inkopolis, the first thing I wanna do is find a way to get out of Inkopolis. I wanna travel at some point, but Inkopolis is going to be my first stop for who knows how long. Losers like you would stay in Inkopolis and do turf wars for the rest of your life. Me? I'm off to somewhere else being more productive," Candy shrugged, licking their finger and turning a page in their magazine.
Archie rolled his eyes, "Whatever, travel all you want, I'm staying in Inkopolis and you can go to that one city, Calamari or something."
"It's a county, numbnuts, how could you not know that the homeplace of the Squid Sisters is a county instead of a city?"
"I don't pay attention to all the facts, just the fact that they're famous and sound really good."
"You're an idiot." Candy finished the conversation, putting their earbuds back into their pointed ears and tuning out the world around them. Archie huffed, looking out the window once again at the shapes passing by. Before long, he fell under in his seat, lulled to sleep by the low chatter in the train cart.
...
"Now arriving in Inkopolis city. Newcomers, hope you enjoy your time here and strive to be the freshest you can be!"
The train slowed to a stop at the next station, all the people inside standing up and cheering at their arrival. Candy turned to Archie, deadpanning at the sight of him slouched in his seat and drooling all over himself. Walking in front of him, they kicked his legs to wake him up.
"Get up, loser, it's time to get off." They stated quietly, kicking Archie's legs multiple times in order to stir him awake.
Unfortunately for Archie, he'd jolted awake at the first kick, now just facing the wrath of multiple kicks to his legs by his best friend, "Ow! Dude! Stop that, I'm up! OW!"
"Finally! You're awake! Man, you made me have to kick you ten times until you were properly awake!" Candy snickered, picking up their duffle bag and striding out of the train's exit.
Archie muttered angrily to himself, picking up his luggage and hurriedly darting out of the train's exit himself before the doors closed.
Candy breathed in the fresh air, "Ah, for being a large city, Inkopolis has some nice air."
Archie looked around the place, "Forget the air, look at this place!" He gestured wildly at the sight before them both. Inkopolis tower stood proud and high, the Great Zapfish resting on it and its whiskers glowing with bright electric currents. Much fresher inklings were scattered around the place, chatting with one another about random things. Some of them even carried weapons, most of which the pink teenager barely recognized.
He almost went in to explore and greet the other inklings, but Candy grabbed the neck of his shirt and held him back before he could move an inch further, "Dude, we're noobs. Those inklings over there would either ignore us, spit on us, or laugh in our faces. Let's go get our apartments first, then we'll go to a weapon shop and then grab those dreaded noob guns so we can level up and get out of these stupid outfits."
Archie grumbled under his breath, reluctantly grabbing his luggage and heading off in the direction of Flounder Heights. He hated being wrong, and he hated it even more when he was corrected. Especially if the person correcting him was Candy, a huge annoyance but undoubtedly his most beloved best friend.
"Flounder Heights is the other direction, just an FYI." Candy snickered, taking out another one of their fashion magazines and heading off in the real direction of Flounder Heights. Archie paused and turned around, a deep scowl on his face as he walked beside Candy.
About five minutes into the walk, Archie spoke up with an exasperated look on his face, "How far away is Flounder Heights anyway?"
Candy shrugged and turned a page in their magazine, "I don't know, I was told it was about 10 miles away from Inkopolis, not too far of a drive. Unfortunately we're not of driving age, and we don't have money to catch a cab, so we're walking."
Archie shook his head wildly, stopping in his tracks, "No. We're not doing this. Hell no. I'm not going to spend who knows how long walking all the way to Flounder Heights. I don't have the feet for it, and I gotta ink and am NOT going outside."
The purple squid rolled their eyes, "What're we going to do then? Either come up with a plan or prepare to run down your feet to your ankles and pee outside, Whiny Pants."
Archie's ears suddenly twitched, "Wait wait I got an idea, remember when we were eleven and had learned super jumping in P.E. class?"
Candy looked at him as though he had just said inklings were made of peanut butter, "You are not thinking of what I think you're thinking. Because if you are, you truly are the biggest idiot I've ever known."
Archie whined, stomping his foot on the ground like a toddler having a tantrum, "C'moooon! Work with me here, I think we can do it. I know for a fact that our luggage is made out of condensed ink, so we should be able to bring it with us easily in our squid forms."
Candy raised a brow and put their hands on their hips in a questioning manner, "Don't you gotta know the exact location of your destination before you can super jump? We don't even know how far 10 miles exactly is! What if we overshoot or end up at the wrong place?"
Archie shrugged his shoulders before quickly shifting to a pink squid and preparing to shoot off into the sky with a great force, "Only one way to find out!"
Hitting their face with the palm of their hand, Candy sighed. Then they shrugged, this honestly would beat walking to their apartments for an hour or two, so why the hell not? Without hesitating, they shifted into a purple squid and built up a force inside of them to super jump as well.
After a moment, they both released the pressure at the same time, soaring into the sky at great speeds. Archie cheered, enjoying the wind blowing in his face and causing his tentacles to flop around like mad. Candy wasn't having as much of a good time, scared that they were going to miss the apartment buildings and end up in a dangerous area.
Soon it came time to land, and both squids prepared for it. Candy slammed on the ground as gracefully as they could, swiftly swinging their duffle bag over their shoulder and looking around the new area. Archie could've had an easier time landing, as he had landed face first and started flopping along the dirt until he came to a stop on his back, groaning in pain. His luggage soon landed on top of his stomach, making him cry out and Candy snicker.
Candy helped up Archie with a hand, before the latter of the two brushed off the dirt on his clothes with a disgruntled expression. Candy looked in a certain direction and pointed, spotting the Flounder Heights buildings just a distance away, "There it is! Flounder Heights! Wow, your dumb idea came in handy after all, props to you dude."
Archie hummed quietly, picking up his luggage and speed-walking in the direction of the buildings, "Yeah yeah whatever, let's just hurry up and go before I get pink stains on my white shoes."
Laughing loudly at the blunt statement, Candy picked up the pace and started heading towards the apartment buildings as well, not wanting to stay outside anyway. They looked up towards the horizon, seeing the sun starting to set and creating beautiful hues of orange and purple across the sky. The sight made them smile, as it was a nice reminder that nature could be beautiful at times. And gross as well. Nature was every adjective.
Reaching the apartment buildings, the two young inklings looked around for the main office, hoping to get their rooms registered as soon as possible. Spotting it, they both hurried inside, wanting to get their room keys and finally be able to sleep after such a long day.
They both spotted a young pufferfish humanoid at the counter, most likely looking at paperwork and anything that was urgent. They sprinted up to her, causing her to jump in her seat and nearly puff up before looking down at the two in surprise and excitement.
"Oh, hello! Are you two new? Well, you must be, since you're wearing the typical noob clothing! What can I do for you two little squirts?" She chirped excitedly, a sparkle in her eyes as she looked down at the two teens.
Archie shifted his feet and started talking rapidly, "Yeah I have an apartment that was registered by my mom a couple weeks ago, under the name Archibald Coral. I'm that inkling just to let you know! Can I get my key now, please? I'd love to have it right now it's very urgent and I gotta have it so I can finally have the sweet release of dea-"
Candy cut in before he could finish his statement, "What he's trying to say is that we've gotten here late in the day and are both exhausted. We'd love to have our apartment keys that are registered under the names Archibald Coral, which is this doofus-" they pointed at an ansty Archie, "-and Candace Reef, which is me. And we'd love to have them quick, or otherwise this dumb nut that forgot to go earlier is going to mess up his shorts."
The pufferfish lady made a face, before immediately going to search her computer for the two names, "Alrighty, the data here says you two were registered three weeks ago under those names, and the first two months of rent were covered by your parents, is that right?"
Archie and Candy both nodded, although at extremely different speeds.
"Okay then! Let me get your keys, and you two can head straight over to your apartments. Archibald, you were registered under building C apartment 13. Candace, building D apartment 2. I hope you both enjoy your stay and have fun battling in Inkopolis!" she cheered, happily handing the two their respective keys.
After the two grabbed their keys, they both walked out of the office and said their goodbyes to each other for the night, heading to their buildings to get some shuteye.
Archie managed to find his apartment soon after he left the office, and went in without hesitation. He shut the door behind him and locked it, before dumping his luggage on the ground. He was almost tempted to look around the apartment and explore, but an urgent reminder told him to do otherwise.
He'd almost darted into every room in the apartment before he finally found a bathroom, finally able to do his business. After he was done, he gave a sigh of relief, looking in the mirror as he washed his hands. He gave a large grin, his three fangs shining brightly in the bathroom's light.
"Tomorrow I'll begin my quest to become a level 50! I'll be one of the freshest there ever was!" He cheered to himself, walking out of the bathroom with a pep in his step. He walked to his luggage, pulling out his isquid from one of the pockets in the bag. Turning it on, he slipped off his shoes and walked to the bedroom in his apartment, hopping onto the mattress and sighing in relief at how soft it was.
He brought the phone to his face, scrolling through his contacts before finding his mom. Feeling too exhausted to call her, he settled for a simple text instead.
"hey mom i made it to the apartment buildings. i love you and miss you"
It wasn't long before she texted back, sending a text that made Archie smile with tears pricking the corners of his eyes.
"I love you and miss you too sweetie! Take care of yourself, I know you're strong! You're growing up, I believe in you! Goodnight, sweetheart, have a good sleep and enjoy your first day tomorrow!"
Texting back one quick goodnight back to her, Archie turned off his phone and pulled the covers over his body, feeling too tired to properly shower and change out of his noob clothing. He yawned, snuggling his face into a pillow and falling asleep for the rest of the night.
AN: Candy is genderfluid with They/Them pronouns. Updates are not regular. Hope you enjoyed!