Valentines Day
Mindy woke up by the sound of her alarm. She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She stretches her arms, looking at the time.
As she turns off the alarm, she yawns. She slides out of bed and walks over to the small closet.
Mindy walks down the stairs, adjusting her black gloves. She looks over to Three, who was sitting on the couch.
Mindy opens her mouth, but no words come out.
It's the morning. I'll wait to talk to him, Mindy thought, walking into the kitchen. She then looks over at a calendar on one of the walls. She sees that today is kind of a special day.
Valentines Day?
She looks over to Three. "Morning, Three."
Three turns to look at her. He smiles, standing up. "Morning to you too. Did you see what day it is today?"
"Yeah, I did. Valentines Day." Mindy hummed. The octoling walks out of the kitchen. "Guess today is going to be filled with shopping, right?"
Three chucked. "Yeah, I guess. Hopefully today we can hang out, just the two of us."
"But, we always do that, Three. What's so special about this day?"
"Well, it's called Valentines Day. It's really a day in Inkopolis where we, octo and squid alike can share how much we love and care for each other."
Mindy nods, listening. "Sounds very sweet."
Three walks over to her. "Yeah, it does. But, just before I forget, I need to go and do something quickly."
"Understandable. I'll just be in the tower if you need me, doing what I always do."
"Are you going to give her a gift?" Minka teased as Three and her walk into Arowana Mall.
Three blushed, embarrassed. "Keep it down, Minka. Do you want people to know?"
Minka giggled. "Come on, squid. I was just teasing you."
"I don't like that."
Minka sighed. "You are no fun." She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff.
"I just want to find a gift, then leave."
As they continued to walk, the two inklings were seeing others going in and out of stores, bags in their hands.
Guess it's busy, Three thought. Hopefully I'll find it.
"I see something golden over there." Minka pointed to a window.
"That's the one!" Three says with a smile. "I wonder if I have enough money for it, though."
"I bet you will, come on. Let's go inside, Three."
Three was tapping his foot, looking over at the front door to his apartment.
A bag was on the kitchen counter. Some pale pink tissue paper showing out of the bag.
When is she getting here? She should be out of the tower any minute.
He then hears a click.
Three jumps up, his heart beating in his chest.
Mindy walks in. "Hello." She then looks over to the kitchen. "What's that?"
"It's nothing, you don't need to worry about that. Come over here, sit."
Mindy closes the door behind her. She walks over to the couch.
"I see that you don't have that cloth over your eye."
"You know, I was thinking about that," Three says, sitting down next to her. "I decided that this is the only place that I don't need to hide it. Public, sure."
Mindy nods. "Did you have anything planned?"
Three stands up, walking over to the counter. He grips the bag, walking back to the couch.
"This is for you, Mindy." Three looks away for a moment, embarrassed.
Mindy takes the bag. She then looks inside, taking out the tissue paper from inside.
Three sits next to her, waiting for a reaction.
"Are you," Mindy trails off her sentence. She looks at him. "Did you?"
"Keep looking, I'm not telling."
She then sees something golden. She starts to tear through the paper. She takes out the gift, looking at it closely.
"You found a golden toothpick?"
Three nods.
Mindy looks at Three. "I've seen these on some people in the square. They told me that I had to earn it, but, you found it?"
Three smiles. "Yup. It's for you."
Mindy blinks away the tears in her eyes. "Three, thank you."
The octoling suddenly hugs him, smiling wide. "Thank you."
Three hugs her back. "You are welcome."
After a moment, they let go of each other.
"Do you mind helping me?"
"I'll do it."
He takes the toothpick from her hands and places it near her ear.
She then feels the toothpick. It's cold to the touch.
Mindy smiles, looking into Three's eyes.
"Happy Valentines Day, Mindy."
"You too."
They then share another hug, enjoying the moment between them.
