Chapter 14: Rooftop Run

Luke was having that dream again, drifting amongst the water currents, unmoving alongside the verdant foliage of a mossy forest. Something felt different this time though. He couldn't feel the usual panic welling up from the dream, but instead something else. A buzzing sensation could be felt at the back of his head and along with it, an emotion. It was something foreign to him and yet he could feel how strong it was. The closest he could identify it to was…

Sadness.

Within a span to blink, the scenery had shifted he was no longer adrift in a forest creek but at a moonlit beach. The tide gently bobbed next to him as he was on this lonely beach. Something about this place both disturbed and resonated with him, although he could not place where the feeling came from. The only sound that was there was the waves.

Until something had plummeted onto the ground just behind him. It snarled viciously as it struggled to, like the wolf in his dreams that had hunted him so many times beforehand, but there was definitely something odd about it. It was veiled in shadows, the moonlight not penetrating the oozing blackness until its visage became something else entirely.

Its colors were purple, and its fur replaced by smooth tentacles, and at that moment it -no-her was soon standing above him.

He couldn't see her very well, but she was dressed in something he hadn't quite seen before. Slowly, she strode to him, each step closer, one step at a time.

He tried to call out to ask the many questions he had about that was happening, but the words stayed in his throat.

Finally, she sat down, placing his head in her lap and smiled with an out of place, gentle smile, and lowered her head to his ear. He began to feel his neck prickle as the wind of her words began to seep into his ear.

"You're running out of time." She told him. "I hope you're ready." He could definitely hear something off about her voice, like someone else was talking in synch with her. It was a deep, growling undertone.

And just as she moved her head away from his…

That angelic gaze crackled to reveal a sinister grin, her eyes narrowed as she as she watched him quivering there. Then she had opened her mouth; the last thing he could see was an unhinged jaw filled with serrated fangs.

"Ah!"

THUNK!

Luke grabbed his head as he winced. The sheer fact he was rubbing the spot on the head where he, apparently had collided with the wall, meant he was back in the waking world.

The first thing he noticed was the darkened hallways of his sister's apartment; he figured he likely passed out in the hallway.

He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. It was just a little after 3 AM. Luke groaned. He wasn't sure if he could go to sleep, or if he even wanted to. His dream tonight was even worse than the normally were. If he was getting hunted before then, if he was to believe his dream, he was going to get caught by something, he shuddered as that shadow creature melted away into Aeolia…or perhaps it was just borrowing her form? Something felt off about the whole thing to him.

Whatever…he might have been thinking about it too much. He sat up and looked behind him, then something caught his eye. There was a small blue stain on the ground where his head was just moments ago. Tensely, he brought a finger to the deep blue substance and sniffed it. Apparently, he had hit the floor too hard when he collapsed. His finger reeked with the strong coppery smell of blood. He took a deep, shaky breath in an effort to stabilize his nerves and got up. It wouldn't be good if his sister found him bleeding all over her floor, so he stumbled groggily into the kitchen and got the cleaning supplies.

Looking at them he couldn't help but chuckle, no doubt the apartment owners provided these. Half the time most inklings would be fine lounging around lazily, and his sister definitely fit that bill. That being said, he wasn't leaving evidence of his nap in the hallway behind. Not worth the questions.

Once he had cleaned the spot up, he went to the bathroom. He took a wipe to his head and looked at it.

No blood.

It must not have been too serious if it healed that quick, he surmised.

He pondered what exactly to do next. He didn't want to go back sleep. Even if he didn't feel rested, those dreams would probably continue, and if they ended up changing into something more nightmarish then tonight's dream, he wasn't about to go back to that. He thought about the morning jog Nova had planned earlier. Maybe he needed fresh air.

He straightened himself out before quietly opening the door to his apartment. He turned and walked to the opposite side of the hallway, where the stairs were located, going upwards till he came across the door leading to the roof.

He instinctively shut his eyes partially as the wind buffeted his face with brisk summer heat. Immediately the smells of late-night parties and romantic evenings at the restaurants filled his airways and made him hungry, despite him snacking on something last night. Perhaps, he was wanting something cooked?

"Big jaws come to snatch up crying children…" he heard these words quite faintly and although the winds were harsh this early in the morning, the echoes of what could be assumed to be singing were heard. Cautiously the young inkling stepped near the edge of the building and looked around. His eyes scanned the horizon until they fell upon somebody on a lower roof. Save for the long, purple tentacle, he couldn't identify the Inkling on the roof outside of being female. A lonely hum echoed through the cityscape, most of the noise being washed away by the metropolis below.

Luke continued to listen to the lonesome, and, frankly, rather haunting tune of the singer's voice for some time before he realized that it was becoming light out. Had he been out that long? He took a glance back.

And what he noticed shot a frost into his hearts.

His eyes locked on to the singer's for the next moment or two, and despite being yards away, the intensity of those familiar yellow eyes was locked onto him. He immediately straightened up and, while he was still nervous about her presence, began to clap. Almost as if she heard him against the roaring winds, he could faintly make out her expression, cheeks bunched on eyes in content.

He gave a shallow bow of the head and took a clumsy gait towards the steps.


Luke had walked out the door. Now that he had prepared himself for today he began his walk towards the plaza. If he was quick, he'd be able to get some practice in at Ammo Knights before his team got there. He went into the store, greeted by the horseshoe crab in charge.

"Why hello, hello Luke! Have you come to buy a new weapon already?" Sheldon asked while adjusting his glasses to better see the young inkling.

"Ah, um no… I'm actually here to practice with someone."

Eyes, lighting up in understanding, Sheldon nodded. "Ah yes! I do believe she's in the back!"

"Ok, thank you." Luke hurried into the back trying not to keep her waiting.

As he went into the back he saw a familiar face watching him expectantly.

"So, you came after all." Aeolia hummed, surprised leaked into her collected voice.

"I thought your performance this morning was convincing enough to give you a chance."

She huffed out an amused noise from her nose before turning serious, "Alright then, let's start practice."


"Where is he?"

Nova had been musing to herself for a while now. She was on her lonesome as she waited on a bench near the street intersection where she'd normally see Luke. It had been 20 minutes that she had waited on this dew-filled morning and there was no sight of him.

'I thought we were going to go running but I guess not.' The streets were clear of most of the traffic, but the morning rush would be here very soon and she couldn't waste a the pleasant lukewarm dew-filled morning such as this. 'He'll be at the Plaza, he didn't seem like a heavy sleeper…'

She jogged by her lonesome all the way towards her destination. Normally she'd be absorbing all the sights of Inkopolis. Being here is an experience everyone her age would die for after all. However, right now she seemed to be less enthusiastic about that seeing as she was hoping to walk to the plaza with her friend only to not have him here. And he seemed so enthusiastic about hanging out with her too…

She shook off her disappointment. No need to be sad when he'll likely be at the plaza sooner or later. With renewed pluck, she made her way towards the plaza.

As she walked passed the gates that separated the Plaza from the miscellaneous alleys that made up the pathways to the tower, she noticed a familiar figure wandering from Ammo Knights.

Was that…?

"Luke!" she called over to him. He seemed rather surprised to see her standing there.

"Oh heeey…" He replied, smiling rather hard. "Is it about time to meet back up now?"

She found his tone vaguely weird but supposed that she simply caught him off guard.

"Yeah, it looks like you were shopping at Ammo Knights…what did you get?" She could barely ignore the awkward tension of catching him exiting the store had caused. She knew he was bashful, but he was arguably more skittish then when she introduced herself to him.

"Is everything alright?"

He briefly expressed shock that she'd even ask but continued to keep a straight face.

"I'm fine. I just didn't expect you to be here just yet," As she donned a curious expression, he clarified, "I was hoping to get some shopping in so that I could practice on my own. That's all."

She seemed satisfied at the answer. "Oh, ok. Are you done?"

"Well I got my weapon, though you popped up before I could find anything clothes for myself."

"Well, why don't we go clothes shopping together?"

It didn't take long for Luke to follow Nova into Fresher Heads. The pest of a clownfish didn't have too much to say as they showed them their IDs, now displaying how much they had played on the turf, so they were free to browse the store. Luke had plenty of money from the turf wars but had no idea what to spend it on exactly. Nova, who was trying on a Tennis Headband, noticed her friend gawking at the wares.

With one motion she took her friend's hand, "Alright, I see I'm going to have to help you out." Luke didn't even let out a syllable before Nova continued. "You're just looking around and not touching anything! You don't seem to know how to clothes shop so let me help you with that. HEY ANNE!"

The clerk seemed startled but looked over to give the excitable girl some service. "Y-y"-yes? How can I help you?"

"Do you mind giving us a few hats on sale? My friend wants to try out some things."

"R-right away!" Hastily, the sea anemone gathered some hats and have them to her. "H-here you go…"

"TRY NOT TO STINK 'EM UP!"

Trying to ignore the remark from her most hated person of the Base, she brought her friend over to a mirror.

"I really don't think that you have to do this…"

Nova rolled her eyes, "Oh come on! At least let me help you pick something that fits you; I promise you'll look great!" She picked up the first hat and shoved it enthusiastically into his hands. "Now try this on."

Luke put on the designer headphones, and after a moment of assessment, "Nah, that's not for you." He took it off and put on the next one, a Basketball Headband.

"It's simple…" Luke started.

"-but probably a bit too sporty for you." He took it out and swapped it out with the Zekko Mesh.

"Better…I think this next one oughta be perfect." As soon as he sat down the mesh cap, she slammed another cap onto her head.

"BOOM A VISOR! Fits you just right!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms and was quite proud of herself. "And that brand will give you some freshness for sure."

"I-" he was going to reprimand her after he adjusted the visor, but she kind of had a point. It DID look pretty nice on him. He smiled to her, "I like it."

"Great! Cause now it's time to pay for it and move onto Jelly Fresh!"

After they were rung up at the register, the two went into both Jelly Fresh and Shrimp kicks and searched for clothes and shoes in a similar fashion.

When they were done, he had on a Blue Inkline brand shirt and Cyan Trainers on. It had cost him quite a bite of his earnings, but he had to admit, he didn't look too bad and the experience wasn't terrible.

By the time their clothing crusade was over, the rest of their team had gathered around the Squid Sister's Studio. It didn't take long for Deborah, to notice the two wandering their way.

"You go two go on a date?" They couldn't even voice any protest before being cut off, "You know what? Nevermind, it's time to go, c'mon Luke."

It didn't take long for the embarrassed expression of Nova's to twist into one of contempt "Wait what? Since when were you in charge?"

The pink tentacled girl rolled her eyes, "I mean obviously I'm not since we decided fair and square, but we can't exactly make progress if he doesn't know what he's doing."

Nova gave her an indignant huff in return, "And if Luke WANTS to do what you want, he can say it." She turned to him and gave him a smile. "Just tell us what to do."

Luke didn't know what to say. Nova's advocation for his position…it made him more aware that if no one else was relying on him to be trying to make this work, it was her and he honestly didn't know HOW he felt about it.

"H-how about… you guys go ahead?" We'll catch up and swap with anyone who isn't feeling like practicing anymore?

"Don't YOU need to do this with us?" Deborah pointed out.

"While I do need the practice…you guy can manage on your own right?" He was trying to look her in the eye. It was very difficult for him, as he could tell she seemed frustrated at his decision. Whether it was because he wasn't going along with her words or it was because he seemed to be doing something most leaders probably didn't do with their teammates, he wasn't so sure.

"Why?"

Luke looked at her with a tilt of his head, signaling his confusion.

"Well you are our leader. Why are you not going to be here with us personally to coach us?"

He… supposed she had a fair question. He couldn't exactly skip off on a whim.

"Well my muscles are actually still a bit sore from yesterday." He told her. "I haven't exactly gotten accustomed to being here and doing Turf Wars yet, so I guess it's taking me a bit longer to recover from the muscle pain."

She stared him down. Her flame-licked glower glanced him over as if trying to use her eyes to pierce his mind and intentions. Luke almost winced away from the pressure of her truth tracking eyes.

"Alright." She turned around. "If anyone else wants to stay, we can spare a person-"

"I can stay behind."

Everybody gave Nova an odd look before Deborah began to drag Tytus by his upper arm, with only an, "I'm fine with that," before dragging him along to the tower.

"We should probably go follow them before they make their way in and get into the first stage." Cass made his way down the ramp, main eye contact to his other teammates.

"Hope you guys have fun! We'll make you proud boss!" It took a moment for Luke to even register that Cass had been referring to him, as he made his way down the ramp.

Brodie was the last one with the two. "Well... here's hoping we level up in the turf wars ahead." He paused for a moment. "I mean sure Deborah's still trying to be a Bossy Bess but at least I think we can pull off whatever it is we're trying to accomplish?" he nervously laughed. "Well… I can't wait to get squashed today…the question is who'll get me first, the opposite team or Deborah's nagging…"

With that, he headed into the tower as well.

"Let's go hang out." Nova did a following gesture with her hand as they walked out into the Inkopolis streets.

Luke had a lot on his mind right now. Why did Nova want to pair up with him? Sure, she had been nothing but kind to him, but it felt like she explicitly had a reason to want to cool off with him.

Then there was his team…his team…it was a very foreign idea for him to be heading a Splatoon of all things. Granted it's not like it was an actual war squadron like that of the Great Turf War. It wasn't like they were out to actually win victory for the honor of their families or whatever but still the thought of being in charge of something he may not be cut out for was most definitely a thought that was making him shake a bit.

Then there were the peculiar circumstances between both Aeolia and his dreams. Both were mysterious in their own way. Aeolia seemed a lot nicer than her reputation seemed to imply, though her words were often terse, and her overall demeanor seemed extremely…restrained…as if she were keeping her emotions and self under a strict discipline. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but she had to be like that for a reason…right? The more he thought about it, the more he decided the best route would be asking about it, even if he really didn't want to.

He didn't even want to go into how twisted up his brain felt since he arrived in the city. The dreams he was conjuring up were all reoccurring and anything but pleasant.

The fact each and everyone of them ended in his bloody slaughter and the pain almost felt real even though once he awoke, the only major pain that was there was mostly dull aching from whatever sleeping position he settled into before descending into deep sleep was concerning as it was disturbing.

'I don't think I'd want myself to get hurt like that. I don't need to go speak to a therapist, I don't think. Or maybe a dream interpreter would be more appropriate?' He suppressed the sigh he wanted to let out. Think on this was just irritating him.

Instead of opting to stay silent until she chatted him up again, Luke turned away from his mullings and to the girl who was currently walking beside him.

"So…" he looked around, unsure of where to start. "Where exactly are we going?"

"For a run across the rooftops, of course! Just because we aren't doing turf wars doesn't mean we can't train in other ways!"

"And what exactly is jumping on the roofs supposed to do?"

"Lots of cardio, lots of muscle building and it fun!" She looked over to her bemused friend, who quite clearly wasn't convinced and added, "It'll get you into shape in no time and best of all, it'll let me get to know you better!"

He let out a little chuckle, a bit amused wither her optimism. "I doubt you want to know any more about me then you already do, I don't really have an interesting life…"

"Don't be modest!" she gave him a playful slap on the back, which unbalanced him a bit but he managed not to fall over, "While we gets to some suitable rooftops, you can start by telling me where your house is in the suburbs. You can't live too far from me; your parents were seeing you off."

Luke scratched his head. Oh right, she did see him saying goodbye to his family as he boarded the train to Inkopolis. "Well, I live in a house down on the end of Sargassum Boulevard-"

Nova's head snapped towards him, and her eyes sparked in recognition. "Wait, you live down there!? That's YOUR house?" He nodded. "WOW! Your parents must be well off for that kind of place."

"It's not that amazing." He insisted. "I mean, it probably is the most unique looking building in the neighborhood, but everyone's probably living just as well as we are."

Nova looked like she wanted to say something to that, but changed the subject on him.

"Well where exactly are you living now? My parents sent me to the city with half a wardrobe of casual clothes and the basic gear set that they issues for my birthday and some coins for the ride here. I take it your living in-" she widened her eye in remembrance, "Oh yeah, your staying with your sister right?"

Luke had nearly tuned her out completely in order to take in his surroundings until she had specifically called for his attention. "Yeah…thought I had said something along the lines of that before?"

She tapped at her head and scrunched her face up trying to remember. "It's been a few days so I don't really 'member, but you probably did."

In a matter of moments Nova had led the two of them to an apartment, this one was a bit more run-down looking then the apartment he was living in with his sister, nonetheless, it wasn't terrible once they got into the lobby and Nova checked them in. Though, in this case, it was less of an apartment check-in and more of a passing acknowledgement that she was back and bringing a guest in with her.

She brought him to the roof of the building and once she reached the top, Luke saw her begin to look over the edge of the apartments.

"What are you doing?"

She lifted her head slightly and looked over, "Trying to see how busy it is. We don't want the cops to start getting on us for hopping roofs."

What.

"Why would they 'Get on us' for doing this exactly?" he nervously, spoke suddenly looking over the edge with her. His palms had gotten noticeably clammy from not only realizing her could get in trouble for this but also that they were really high up too. While Inklings weren't susceptible to the vertebrate issue of breaking bones, it would still hurt and hurt a lot.

Every moment up here, he was beginning to regret his recent life decisions as his body trembled a bit with shaky exhalations before a firm hand on I shoulders brought his attention to Nova.

"Everything's gonna be alright, ok? I'll tell you what to do and we're gonna build those muscles up."

He hesitantly nodded and was then guided by Nova to the closest building to the apartments they stood on.

"So, what you're gonna do is grab your gun-you did get it right?" a nod from Luke as he shuffled his weapon bag forward was what she got. "-then your gonna ink, from the edge of this building to the side and edge of the other, and then you're gonna squid jump."

Luke's immediate response was to shout, "WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" he smacked his hands over his lips and reflexively looked around, hoping no one heard that.

"Look you'll be fine, I'll go first." She shot her ink on the ground with her own splattershot before splattering the other building with her ink. Once the side had be thoroughly inked, she submerged herself in her ink and promptly charged the side in squid form.

Leaping off the apartment, she barely hit the ledge of the next building. She clambered up the remaining length with her tentacles pushing her upwards. As she transformed back, she gestured Luke to come towards her and shouted, "Do what I do!"

Nervous, he inhaled and exhaled before changing his ink to the colors of the ink before him and taking a running start into the ink and dived in, not slowing down even as the weight of gravity started to lower him down. He jumped, hoping he wouldn't splatter into the alleyway below.

He let out a squeaky cry of terror as his velocity plunged him into the wall. His hearts pumped as he swam upward in a frantic attempt to stay alive. He didn't turn back until he was well beyond the edge. He was seated as he looked back at the distance the both of them crossed.

That small divide wasn't quite as short as it looked!

He looked up to Nova with fear in his eyes, and despite the hammering in his chest and the heaves of him filling his lungs with air his body was taut from experiencing something that was…thrilling? Maybe…he knew it was scary, but he couldn't help thinking he did at least enjoy some of it.

That being said, "You didn't tell me that it'd be so scary…" he complained.

"Eh?" she looked at him, with a perplexed look, "You had to expect something like that when I said we were hopping roofs."

"I-I mean I did, but that was before I actually committed to leaping across the actual building!" He stood up, quick enough to show his offense at her assumption, but slow enough that he was sure he wouldn't lose his balance and go tumbling over. "Can I just wait for you to get done?"

Luke would have expected disappointment from the peppy inkling, but instead she simply said with the slyest smile he'd probably ever had seen on her: "Well sure, if your willing to jump back onto the building you just leapt down from, you can hang out there by yourself until I get in a few hops and then we can go chill for ice cream."

Oh…well…

Luke had to admit, even if she didn't plan that all along and just thought about it then, she had a good point. With a withered gaze he looked about the current roof they were on. No access, and even with one, he then thought about the roof access being locked, and the hassle of actually trying to make it work in his favor without giving an explanation to the police. He probably could leap back… but he really didn't want to. And the hop over was much more difficult then the first due to the apartment roof being higher by a good percentage.

"Tell you what Luke," Nova extended her hand, "You try and conquer any fears about this by hopping with me, and if you do it, I'll pay for your cone."

He looked at her hand skeptically before looking her in the face, something fairly rare for him to do. "Is this just to do what you want?"

Despite her head cocking at her curious friend, she answered, "I mean yeah, but it would make you come out better in the end, the only thing I'd have to gain is bonding with you more."

The tips of Luke's ears got hot. Was he just reading into that too hard or was it just him? He tried to gain control of his emotions and sense of awareness and shook her hand as he groaned. "Fine, I'll give it a go…"

"As a show of good faith, I'll be ahead and guiding you. Just let me know if you're not feeling too confident. Let's try 6 buildings and then head back ok?" he hesitated before nodding. "Alright, let's go."


"C'mon Tytus, PAY ATTENTION!"

The command made the fiery Inkling wince before he ripped his roller from the ground, whirled around and flung it to the ground. A yellow inkling behind him scrambled and kicked up dust, noticing the massive roller about to descend on him from above but couldn't get away from the impeding shower.

Deborah huffed disappointedly as she briskly turned her attention to her other teammates on the stage, which in this case was Urchin Underpass. Brodie was dueling with an inkling with a Tentatek Splattershot and Cass had dived into the heart of the enemy's base so she had no idea if he was ok.

"Please be ok…" Steeling her gaze, she spotted an approaching target, her fully loaded shot had found its mark and splattered the ground in Moonlight Sonata's ink. The sound of an inkling exploding to her left had her twitch her eyes to find that Brodie had trailed their colors through their alleyway. One dart of the eyes back, coast clear and she dives into the trail of blue ink and up the ramps into the alley. As she approached the end she crept to the edges to find the rest of the Inkling participants warring with each other.

Holding up her charger, she tugged the trigger tightly as she heard the ink gurgle from into the loading pressure chamber. She put her aim on the Inkling that Brodie was fighting with and-

BAM!

Another charge. Shift aim up and left.

BAM!

"Why not me…?" Right corner.

BAM!

"Why didn't I prove myself capable enough?" With a fatigued sigh, she leapt down from her perch, checking her flanks before moving up the slope, her teammates were already ahead of her. She proceeded with brisk-paced caution.

Her position as a charger allowed her to stay behind for defensive advantages, and the slow pace allowed her mind to wander into other things. Things like her plans on how to turn the squad into her squad and how she was the better leader, better then Luke by far.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a nasty sound of a bomb about to detonated and the searing sting of foreign ink. She fled, cursing and stumbling away.

"Dammit! You guys only had one job!" she hissed to herself. She had begun to nurse her wounds in the most inconspicuous puddle as her opponents took their turf back.

The inkling who had assaulted her-an inkling with an Inkbrush-didn't give her quarter as she swatted her out of the ink.

Sliding against the ink, Deborah backed away as she rolled out a Splat Bomb. It didn't stop her assailant from accosting her and she would have been sent back to spawn had her assailant not been reduced to a puddle. Cass jogged up to her and extended his hand, "You ok?"

Deborah tried to fight the blush forming on her face, and took his hand, "Y-yeah…"

Once she was on her feet Cass was already going back into the fray.

"C'mon guys! Let's take the win!"

Deborah could only look at him, her eyes softly looking at him as he dashed away.


After about half an hour of vaulting the buildings, Nova took a break on an apartment building with Luke not far behind her. Despite him having some fears earlier, he seemed to actually be trying to adjust himself to be more in sync with his partner. He was noticing he was less hesitant about this and was actually. He looked down at the city. At first, he might have been worried about falling or getting caught but, he had to admit, the adrenaline rush he was feeling was definitely helping him to ease his apprehensiveness and the distance they managed to cover was actually quite amazing considering how much his hearts pounded. He was tired though and once the rush had begun to lower, he turned to Nova.

"I-i think I'm ready for that ice cream now…"

Nova laughed, "Alright, I think it's well earned."

The two found a building with a fire escape and leapt down to it.

Nova lead him to a nearby ice cream bazaar. There, she bought him a plain strawberry ice cream while she fancied a Banana Split dappled in nuts and sprinkles. As the two enjoyed their treat, Nova was eying down Luke. It didn't take Luke long to surmise what she might have wanted to do now that they had time to cool down from their highs.

"…so…" she drawled anxiously, her voice having a sort of unsteady undertone to it. "H-how did you like jumping across th' tops…?"

Luke had his tongue darting to scoop up a few layers of ice cream before answering with a quick, "It was fun."

When Luke noticed her shuffling in her seat awkwardly with this rather stressed and pensive expression creasing her brows, he mentally sighed. He was both a bit exasperated towards himself for not really making anything clear, and her for not seeming to take his initial answer with satisfaction. "I wouldn't mind doing it again." He added. "Maybe we can same time next week?"

Nova's face almost immediately broke out into a more delighted mood, and again he had to mentally sigh at her ability to change her mood seemingly at a moment's notice.

"Sure thing! Maybe we can go farther than we did this time!"

"U-uh…s-sure."

When they were done enjoying their frozen treats they walked back to the square.

"-so yeah I didn't realize that I had managed to move from my bedroom to my couch and I passed out there."

"Wow."

Once they had walked past the gates, Luke suddenly felt the urge to go to the bathroom.

"U-uh hey I'll be right back. Bathroom." He jabbed a finger in the direction of the tower to emphasize his meaning. He didn't wait for a response before he sprinted off to relieve himself. He barely brushed by Aeolia, giving her small wave before disappearing behind the lobby doors.

The motion was a bit strange to see, if Nova's cocked brow was any indication,out of him. It'd be one thing if Luke seemed like he waved at a lot of people and was kinda outgoing, kinda like how she was in the suburban district she hailed from and how she might eventually act when she became a bit more accommodation. BUT this was fairly interesting due to him barely even greeting his teammates and he kept thoughts to himself most of the time.

Nova didn't really need to put that much thought into it: Luke seemed to be on fairly good terms with the fearsome turfing queen all things considered since he at least acknowledged her presence.

Couldn't say the same for her teammates, they still wore some annoyed or wary looks from them but Aeolia had seemed to say something and the gang had calmed down before most of them, save for their leader as a matter of fact, had departed.

Despite her growing unrest thinking of the idea, she kinda of had multiple questions. After all, she wanted to become better friends with Luke and what was better then getting out of one of the two parties.

However, Aeolia making direct eye contact before striding over to her before she even made it a third of the way across the plaza was far from what she had anticipated. She felt her hearts suddenly drumming in her chest and she took in a breath that she was trying not to hold onto for too long. Like a heated knife, she parted through the crowds easily as they gave way to her. Despite the glances and some muttering within each social group there, nobody really seemed eager to be near the lone inkling. Nova felt a twinge of pity, but this was soon overcome with a rooting nervousness.

Nova felt the need to sit as she could feel her legs ready to give out, but she stood there nonetheless. Didn't all the movies and TV Shows she watched as a kid say that being brave means staring scary stuff in the face anyway?

When the purple Inkling was only a few feet away from her, she immediately took in here height. While there were taller inkling girls in the world, pairing that with how much bulkier she seemed kinda made her a bit intimidated as she was wearing a nice amount of tone on body to the point where Nova could definitely see her being a soldier instead of a turf war player. Her being fairly developed in a lot of ways aside, she also wore a rather bored scowl on her face.

"You're one of Luke's friend's correct?" Jolted her head up to snap her attention to the blazing amber.

"Y-yeah, you remember…"

"You seem like your trustworthy." She told her, analyzing eyes doing the slightest once-over. "Make sure to take care of your friend. He's going to need you guys if you're going to have a chance at not embarrassing yourself."

She began stepping away, "H-hey!" Nova called after her. "How did you guys get...acquainted?"

"I chatted him up once on the way home." Nova didn't get to interrogate her any further as she had briskly walked out of reasonable earshot for her to keep privacy. She was left to her own devices in the subtle amber hues of a summer's eve settled above her.


Hello, still around! Just gonna say that updates are still gonna be going out and I'm going to try and make it a priority to finish this within the next two years. No guarantees but after wondering and wandering around with ideas, I think I got a direction. I apologize again to the steadfast readers and if your new, one way or another, you'll be in for a ride XD.

Oh yes, still thinking and working on a potential rewrite guys. I decided that i'll likely replace chapters and delete some but I'm hoping for some coherency and perhaps a bit of peace of mind.

Staaaaaaay Fresh!