Holy hell, it has been a while since I started typing this one...

I'm sorry this took so long. I hit massive writer's block, and couldn't finish anything I tried to continue. However, I'm glad to finally be done with this one... it's about time to move on to the next boss of Splatoon and get more work done.

XxXxXxX

He couldn't hear anything outside of his little world. All that he heard was the dull, muffled pounding of his own feet as he ran, and the sound of music from his earbuds. The riffs on the guitar, the beat of the drums, the steady thrum of the bass... that was all he needed while he ran.

Despite having a fairly busy schedule nowadays, Cliff did try to find time to keep up with his exercise. Granted, his work as an Agent and the days he spent in Ranked Battles did keep him fit, but on days where he didn't have anything in particular to do, it was good to keep a little active. Today, he was running his usual path in Jelly Fields, a large public park that was open to everyone for any reason. The sun wasn't very high in the sky yet, so the cool air was welcome against his arms and legs. His sleeveless tank top was soaked in sweat, as he'd been running for an hour, taking intermissions to slow down and catch his breath every now and then.

Of course, this wasn't only for him to work out and get his heart pumping; Cliff also did a lot of thinking when he was walking or running. Especially, more recently, about his job as an Agent and his possible music career. On the one hand, he was not expecting to live for too long; the life of an agent was dangerous, if the disappearance of Agent Red meant anything. He could very likely be killed while on a mission, and his mother would be beside herself with grief. But Inkopolis needed someone to get the Zapfish back, and if he wasn't qualified for it, who the hell was?

On the other hand, if he did survive, he'd likely never be asked to work as an agent again if he requested. He could work on his music career. Those two inklings that complimented his skill at the studio the other day had set something off in him; before, music was more of a hobby. But now that he knew people enjoyed and would be willing to pay for his music... was it possible for him to make an actual career out of it? Could he keep writing songs, and get into the same territory that some big names had been holding onto for years, like the Squid Sisters? Or Turquoise October? Could he make it into the unforgiving industry and actually live the dream life?

I feel like I'm as old as the Cap'n, Cliff suddenly thought, shaking his head. Here I am, worrying about how my life might end soon, and what I should be doing with it instead. The Octolings are a viable threat, but the Octarians themselves? They're mainly just a joke. Besides Octostomp, I haven't really seen anything too threatening. I'll just finish this work as an Agent, and then, with Inkopolis safe again, I can probably do whatever I want. And at the rate I'm going... it'll only be about three weeks before I'll have returned all the baby Zapfish and hopefully figured out where they took the Great Zapfish, too.

At this point, he stopped underneath a tree, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a huge swig. He was about to go back to running and thinking when movement caught the corner of his eye. A familiar pale-and-pink inkling was jogging up to him, with a dark-skinned cyan inkling in tow. Aurora and Marina were both wearing workout clothes as well, with Aurora wearing what was essentially a black sports bra and grey sweatpants, while Marina was wearing a tight yellow tanktop and pink shorts that hugged her hips a bit too much.

Think about dying later, Cliff... you've got company, he told himself, ready to speak to them... until he realized he wasn't wearing his sunglasses. The red inkling cursed silently to himself; he almost never went anywhere without something to cover his eyes, but with the fact that no one else is usually in Jelly Fields at this time of day, he was certain he would've been fine without them. Now they were going to see his eyes and think him a freak, just like everyone else.

Let them find out now. They would've seen them sooner or later.

"Man, do you run fast!" Aurora panted, catching up as she bent over, heaving as she tried to catch her breath. "I knew you were fast with a brush, but how the shell are you so fast without that thing?!"

"Years of training", Cliff said, smirking a bit. "Ma didn't want me to be a regular Splattershot Jr. when I made my debut, so she trained me since I was 8 to be a brush battler."

"I can see that", Marina said, smiling at him. Unlike Aurora, she didn't seem as worn out. "When we battle together, you use a lot of advanced techniques that no newbie could know." The two had made it a thing to have regular private battles; Cliff wanted more practice against Hydra Splatlings, and Marina... well, she just wanted more time with Cliff (not that he needed to know that).

"Why thank you", Cliff said with a slightly cheeky smile. Marina gave a smile as well, but suddenly she paused. She was looking at his eye... or at least, that's what he thought. He had changed his "hairstyle" so that he had one large tentacle hanging in front of his left eye, while he had two long, skinny ones hanging behind his head, trailing down to just below his shoulder blades.

This is the part where she notices how weird my eyes are, he thought. She'll be polite about it, but she'll find an excuse to vanish and never come back. Then I'll be able to focus only on the missions.

"How did you get that scar?"

The words caught him off guard, and he instinctively ran his finger along the mark. The screams of Octostomp reverberated in his memories, and the stinging pain of the splinter piercing his skin came to mind. But he couldn't say anything about that; he thought up a story quick, praying it wouldn't cause more questions.

"Well, when you live in the country, you try to find some fun", he said smoothly, despite his rapidly beating heart. "I was playing on my Uncle Cecil's clam farm, and one of them was a bit ornery and jumped onto my back. I lost my balance and ended up cutting myself on a sharp rock. Wasn't fun, going to see the doc about that."

Marina frowned. She couldn't see the red inkling as clumsy or anything of the like, but then again, he was probably very different when he was a kid. She shrugged, while Aurora winced. "Ooh, sounds like it probably hurt." She walked over, taking a hold of his face with her hands while she gave a smirk. "But enough about that scar, brush boy. What I wanna know is why were you hiding those eyes?"

"M-my eyes?" Cliff asked, flustered. No one ever grabbed his face before... besides his mom, but that was usually when he was in trouble.

"Yes, your eyes! I've never seen a vibrant silver color before!" Aurora actually leaned in closer. "Ooh, and those pupils... you have beautiful eyes!" She turned to the silently fuming Marina, making sure to keep a good grip on Cliff's blushing cheeks. "Come here and get a closer look!"

Marina did oblige (begrudgingly), and her jaw dropped once she could see his eye clearly. "Oh my gosh, she's right!" She actually slipped her hands up, taking a hold of the boy's face and brushing the large tentacle aside so she could see both eyes. "Cliff, you really do have... pretty.." That was when what she did caught up with her, and now her mind went blank as she stared into his eyes... his silver, hypnotizing... what was she doing again?

"Girl, if you're gonna kiss him, I can give you both some privacy", Aurora said, grinning smugly as the pinkette immediately backed off, taking her hands back faster than if she had reached to grab a hot plate. Cliff, meanwhile, blinked rapidly, the very tips of his ears turning the same red color as his hair. He wasn't sure what to make of this.

Did they both just say that I have pretty eyes? he questioned in his head. Did they both just say they like my eyes? Why aren't they scared?! What the shell?!

Aurora noticed the slight color on his ears, and put on a knowing smirk. He probably wasn't used to stuff like that... and now she knew a weakness of his. Good to know for later. "So, moving on from the eyes bit... I haven't had a good chance to get to know you personally." She pointed to the earbud that was still playing music. "Like what kind of music you're listening to. Marina mentioned you used to be in a rock band?"

The mention of his old band brought Cliff back down to earth, and he cleared his throat, still flustered a bit. "Yeah... I play the guitar a bit. I'm nothing special, though."

"Nothing special?" Marina asked, butting in. "Drake freaked over that song you were playing. What was it called again? 'Through the Storm and the Rain?'"

"Well... yeah, there's that... but that's the only song where I can keep that kind of speed."

"Question", Aurora said, raising her hand suddenly. "What's so special about that song?"

"Well, the song was done by a band called Krakenforce", Cliff explained. "Basically, they wrote a song that takes fifteen minutes to play, with a lot of complex finger placements to play the notes on electric guitars. Hell, the song is so long, that they need two lead guitarists to play all the solos they wrote. Then, once it was recorded... they sped it up, so it's done in 7 minutes."

"And... which version do you play?" Marina asked.

"I practiced for a few years to learn how to play it at the sped-up tempo", Cliff eventually admitted. "It took a long time, but now I have the muscle memory to-"

"That is AWESOME!" Marina suddenly shouted, cutting him off. "Drake sounded impressed, but I had no idea! We missed half of it that day, so I only heard the second half, but now I get it! You were playing that song for seven minutes?!" Then she noticed the odd looks she was getting from Aurora and Cliff before settling back down where she was, flushing a bit as she shifted her weight against the tree.

"So, mister Hotshot", Aurora said, turning back to Cliff. "Wrote any songs yourself?"

That was when Cliff felt a bit of shame. He did write songs, like Monster and a few others, but he couldn't really bring himself to try and advertise. The term "you are your own worst critic" was very true to him, and while he did often put his songs onto a site to sell them, he always felt he could improve on his songs.

"I'm sure you did", Marina pushed a bit. "You did say something you didn't like about Drake's band was that there were no original songs. You wrote a few, right?"

"W-Well... a few", the red inkling finally conceded. "I taught myself some basic drumming and keyboard skills so I could play all the instruments, and did record a few... but... well.."

"You think they stink, right?" Aurora said. "I don't think it's fair that you get to judge your own music."

"But I'm not good with other instruments", Cliff insisted. "If you girls heard it-"

"Well, you won't know what we think until we actually hear one of your songs", Aurora countered. "Come on, we're friends, aren't we?" She turned to Marina. "You're interested too, right?"

Marina blushed at the spotlight being put on her, but she nodded. "I do wanna hear you play a bit more..."

Cliff looked at both girls, and knew he wasn't going to win this battle. With a reluctant sigh, he used his squid phone to look up the site he sold his tunes on and handed the earbuds to them. "None of them are that good, but if you have to listen to one of them... I'd recommend Monster."

Since he was the owner of the song, he was able to play the whole song for them. He handed Aurora and Marina his earbuds, letting them hear the entire bit. He knew he had made some mistakes during the other instruments; drums and keyboard were not easy for him, and despite the similarities, a bass guitar wasn't something he was comfortable with. It took several hours for him to record something he thought could pass as music, and he was mostly driven by adrenaline when he recorded Monster.

The girls were quiet for a while, glancing over at him every now and then, before glancing back at each other. They were quiet for the entire song, listening to all of it. Once his work ended, they handed him back the earbuds, still quiet.

"Let me guess", he said, wrapping up his headphones in his hand. "It sucked."

Marina blinked, before starting to grin. "You squidding me? That was AWESOME!"

"It's not my kind of music, but that was really rad", Aurora agreed, nodding. "You can really feel the passion you put into your music. It's not something I can dance to, but I'm sure a lot of people would like it."

Cliff blinked. Hearing that his music was good from two random inklings at the recording station was one thing, but hearing that from people he knew - especially Marina - hit him a different way. For once, he felt... confident about his music. "Really?" he asked, not completely sure. "You both liked it?"

Aurora gave a curt nod. "Marina more than me, but yeah." Marina, meanwhile, nodded vigorously.

"You should have a band, seriously!" the pinkette commented, her eyes shining a bit. "I would totally come to every concert!"

"For more than one reason", the cyan inkling said softly, so that only Marina heard her (and glare in response).

Cliff couldn't help but feel his heart swell. People really did like his music? Maybe he had more of a chance than he thought. But a problem soon reared its ugly head. "I'd love to find a band... but I'm not good with people. And after what happened with Drake, I'd rather not join any group all willy nilly."

"Then all you need to do is hold auditions and be the band leader for once", Aurora suggested. "Just let me know when you have free time, and I'll get you some candidates. I know a few people that are looking for new gigs."

"These wouldn't happen to be people you've... dated before, would they?" Marina asked, raising an eyebrow. The way she put emphasis on the word "dated" made Cliff look to Aurora oddly.

"'Course not", the cyan inkling responded, waving a hand dismissively. "I have friends, too. I don't focus on only trying to ask out everyone I see."

The red inkling raised an eyebrow as well, but shrugged. "Alright... I appreciate the offer." He put his earbuds back into his ears. "I'm gonna finish my jog and go home", he told them both. "Thanks for talking to me... and for listening to my song. You've given me a lot to think about." He started jogging, playing his music once more as Marina and Aurora both waved goodbye to him.

Once she was sure he was out of earshot, Aurora let out a groan. "Damn, the more I learn about him, the more I don't want to let you have him. Did you see how mysterious his eyes looked? I've never caught sight of any eyes like those before... colorwise or otherwise." When she didn't get a response from Marina, she turned, about to chew her out when she spotted the phone in the pinkette's hand. "... what are you doing?"

"Buying his album."

Aurora blinked, looking at her friend, before a warm smile formed on her face. Even when Marina had been dating Drake, she didn't seem this invested in anyone. It had been a long time since Aurora saw her put so much effort into anything, and now with Cliff in her life, Marina seemed to be turning into a more positive, energetic inkling. But how did he feel about her? Was it going to end well for the pinkette? Or would the crimson boy end up breaking her heart?

XxXxXxX

"Cliff? I didn't expect to see you here today. Is everything alright?"

The red inkling had headed for Octo Valley. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here, but he needed someone to talk to. Someone that wasn't too close to the situation... and wasn't his mother. She was probably busy with stuff at the farm, anyway; she was working with Cecil again during the busy time of the year.

"I know, Cap'n, but I need to ask for certain days off", he said. "I know I'm supposed to be helping collect the zapfish back... but I need to hold auditions."

"Auditions?" the older inkling said, leaning against his bamboo cane as he eyed Cliff curiously. "What kind of auditions?"

"Well... I'm trying to start a band", Cliff explained. "A rock band. And I need a day to hold auditions for other instruments."

At the word "band", Cuttlefish let out a grin underneath his beard. "That brings back memories", he said, smiling as he reminisced a bit.

"It... it does, sir?"

"Indeed, it does, bucko", Cuttlefish confirmed. He pulled up a beaten-up chair, sitting on it while Cliff moved to sit on a somewhat comfortable-looking rock. "My granddaughters have careers in the music world as well. When they first started, it was a real shock to the system, but I got used to seeing them working so hard for something they're passionate about. And now I can see they really enjoy what they do for a living." He then looked down at the red inkling, raising an eyebrow. "Is this something you're sure about? It's not an easy road to go down."

Cliff paused. He remembered hearing those words before, from his mother so long ago. It seemed like when he was a kid, he had plenty of time to think about what he wanted to do. But now, it was like he was suddenly thrown to the wolves.

The look of joy he saw on Marina's face as she told him how much she liked his music made him set his jaw, and he nodded.

"I wasn't until not too long ago... but I think I have what it takes", Cliff told the older inkling. "A couple of my friends listened to my music for the first time and said they'd love to see me in a concert. If I can make some people happy with my music... that's all I really need."

The Cap'n stared at the sunglasses Cliff wore on his face, trying to gauge a reaction. Finally, he leaned back in his chair, sighing. "Well, I suppose I can let you get to business... starting next Saturday."

Cliff's smile grew wide, and he stood up, bowing a bit. "Thank you so much, Gramps!" He gathered his things. "I'll need to get some paperwork done today while I still can, but I'll be back tomorrow to get back to work on the missions."

"Of course", Cuttlefish said with a knowing smile. As the boy was about to slip back into the sewer, he called out one more time.

"Oh, and I'm sure that girl who loves your music will be happy to hear the news, too!"

Cliff felt his ears turn red as he quickly turned into a squid, hiding his blush from the Cap'n.