Chapter Twelve: Open Doors
Marie wakes up to the blinding rays of the sun, and more importantly, the humming of an inkling that sits beside her. She sits up, to Agent Four's surprise, as she listens in on the background noise. Machinery, wood, and metal, bang, hit, and clung each other in noises she quickly pieced together. Marie rubs her eyes before turning to look at the concerned Agent Four.
"You're not going to ask or say anything," Agent Four asks, with his voice slightly shaking.
"If you can defend me against an inkling who wants nothing more than to take over my life," Marie started, "then I think relying on you to answer questions throughout the day will not be an issue."
Agent Four sighed as he rests his head on his pillow. He begins to close his eyes, and slow his breathing to Marie's surprise.
"Still tired," Marie asks in a concerned tone.
Agent Four groaned, "Yes."
He quickly slipped into a deep sleep, as Marie completely exits. Agent Four seemed to have dark eye bags, which suggested to Marie that he stayed up. Remembering last night, she made an educated guess and thought that he stayed up comforting her. In reality, Agent Four was comforting her, but only until she fell into a deep dark hole known as sleep, he was just waiting for Callie to come in and confirm that the door is being replaced. That announcement was backed by hours of waiting and noisy conversations from Pearl. Agent Four could not go to sleep till he knew that Marie was safe for the next few hours. Marina and Pearl have already left the morning to start their news for the day, however, Agent Three prowled on the roof, waiting for the threat to return. Agent Four was reluctant on falling asleep, till finally Agent Three arrived after the announcement was made. Sleep was not a choice for Agent Four, he had to protect Marie, and a restless Callie, a dreaming Marie, and a half-thinking Agent Four was not secure enough. Agent Three, a profreshional in the business had to be there for sleep to be a worthy option for Agent Four's next step for the night. However, it was quickly interrupted by the sounds of construction, and once again, sleep became an inaccessible option. However, with construction slowing and noises becoming few and far in between, Agent Four slipped into a deep sleep, officially destroying his sleep schedule.
Marie kissed the unconscious Agent Four before finally standing up and stretching. She made her way out of her bedroom and into the living room. The living room looked different, with some of the floor being replaced, some of the walls were being filled in, and the door was different. Most of the construction has ended for the door, however, integration of new security hardware meant the possibility of changing small details within the walls and door frame itself. That meant, all progress made, is not permanent. The looming possibility of having an open house for the day scared Marie. Callie's tentacles stood up and she turned around to see Marie with messy tentacles and clothing.
"Nice resurrection entrance 'o faithful cousin," Callie chuckled in her deepest voice possible.
Marie could not help but giggle at the Callie's silliness, despite the dire situations.
"Give me a brief rundown," Marie instructed.
Callie cleared her throat before listing the events, "We got 'smelly' up top on our roof, ready to fight if that inkling returns. P and M arranged the construction and replacement of a new security door, electronically assisted, complete metal construct. They left because, well, they're still not 'off the hook.' We have workers on the door, and the walls and floors that were caved in last night. And finally, we got a bunch of workers running around making sure the new door, the new walls, the new floors, fit together. We wouldn't want any compromises now would we?"
"So Callie, how are we going to pay for this," Marie asked in a groggy tone, but also impressed that Callie did not reveal any secret information about the New Squidbeak Splatoon.
Callie's face fell flat, "What do you mean 'how are we going to pay for this' nonsense? We are literally the Squid Sisters. Not only do we have a butt-load of excess money, but we are also still making butt-loads of money!"
Marie was reminded of the tech room they had, which her and Callie used to record Fresh Start. She secretly wanted to record more, and with the ever rising amount of problems to fix, her wants cannot be fulfilled. For now, Marie is grateful that Callie even agreed to record a new single after being held captive and brainwashed by Octavio.
"Oh also," Callie slid in, "you two are gonna have a break from this mess. Number Four called in with Gramps, and said you two need some time to lay back. Which by the way, I entirely agreed with."
Marie nods and turns around to return to her room. Before she returns, she hears a worker asking for Callie's autograph, most likely the worker waited patiently for their conversation to close. Marie locked the door behind her before slipping herself underneath the blanket.
"Oh no no no," Marie whispered in a more seductive manner, "mister, you ain't wrecking your sleep schedule while leaving me out of it! I want in on the fun."
Then, Marie knocked herself out.
Agent Four and Marie slept their way into skipping breakfast, and finally waking up after lunch. The stomach of Agent Four could not keep quiet, so the inkling forced itself to wake up in pursuit of food. Agent Four felt an arm around him and turned his head to where the arm was sourced from. The arm lead to Marie sleeping peacefully. Her other arm was near her face, almost as if she were to start sucking on it. Agent Four shook Marie, slowly pulling her out of the dream dimension.
"Even when sleeping you sometimes look smug," Agent Four joked before shaking Marie more vigorously.
"Yes yes, I'm awake," complained the closed-eye Marie, "and I heard that."
Marie playfully punched Agent Four's hip before covering herself expecting retaliation. Retaliation did come, and Agent Four began trying to tickle Marie by squeezing her hips. Marie squealed, her high noises piercing the walls and barriers that come in between them and Callie. Callie turned her head to where Marie's bedroom is and began scratching her head. The workers popped their heads, wondering if some machinery broke or some construction failed. Callie approached the bedroom to rest her ear on the door.
Callie's eyes widened as she hear snips of noises in the bedroom, "Stop Four! No-keep-going-ha, hehe-holy..."
"First times for everything," Callie whispered to herself before leaving the premise, giving them privacy.
"A little more up," Marie requested as Agent Four's hands moved up her back.
Her back was still stiff from the hit in the metro, and Agent Four's pressure gave them an opportunity to slowly break apart and move fluently, without another large blow to the back. Marie was finally given an opportunity to lay with both rest and pleasure.
"How did you find out how to do this?" Marie asked.
Agent Four chuckled, "Doing more missions and assignments as you, while dodging ink every single second of them...a field inkling has to find a way to find a way to keep them alive."
Marie took the answer literally and asked, "So what do you massage your back when you're inked or something?"
Agent Four sighed, "No Marie...if you look in the 'factopedia' or whatever about me, every two or three minutes I stop moving. That's when I massage so I can keep moving and not even notice my back is half screaming."
Marie continues listening, blissful. Agent Four continued to stretch and bend her back, as he danced his fingers and hands up and down Marie's back. Callie continued overseeing the repairs, while Agent Three passes out on the roof. Agent Three was awake for so long, she gave herself a nap, without telling Callie, a risky endeavour if Callie were to hear of it. Returning to Agent Four and Marie, Marie sat up to face Agent Four and stretched.
"So about what he said last night," Marie whispered, "none of it is true. As much as he was my 'boyfriend,' I was too disgusted by him. His breath reeked of other inkling's breath. I'm not kissing a guy that probably kissed other girls and pretends that he is loyal."
Marie continued, wrapping her fingers on Agent Four's hands, "Nor did I let him lay a hand on me. Like his lips, I don't know where they have been. The only hands I ever wanted were yours."
Agent Four smiled, while looking down, enough confirmation that Agent Four believed her.
"Don't worry," Marie whispered, "I'll only be yours. My voice, my body, my love, only yours."
As much as Agent Four knew this relationship was serious, it became clear to him that this relationship might last more than a lifetime. He looked up to Marie's eyes, prepared to look at Marie's eyes and never look at another pair of eyes, other than hers.
