Disclaimer: Splatoon and associated characters belong to Nintendo. GrimGrave owns nothing.
This is part of a challenge-exchange with Supreme Distraction were we take turns; this time I issued the challenge of Drinks being the theme.
I also went with a fandom I haven't written for before and an unusual pairing.
Love & Alcohol
Marina groaned as she nursed her cold drink in a remote corner of the ` House of Iridescence Leaves´ bar (a quiet, lesser-known place away from the busy city-centre of Inkopolis Square). It had happened again.
/ "You know, Marina, money is what makes the world go round."
"But Love is what gives you strength – Love is what gives you courage! And that wonderful feeling of loving someone is just indescribable!"
Pearl rolled her eyes and slung her feet over the table as she leaned back. "I wouldn't know. Besides, Love just makes you blind and vulnerable."
Marina gasped. "You don't mean that!"
Once again Pearl just looked at her, unimpressed. "I do. Marina, money is where it's at; it can buy you happiness; it can buy you safety; it can buy you what you need and whatever you want." She sneered at her. "It can buy you love."
Marina stomped at the floor. "That's not real Love!"
"It's close enough."/
They were meant to have one side against the other, that's how Splatfests worked. They'd banter, be good sports about the results, and leave it at that, but this had bothered Marina a lot more than their usual bantering and as a result she and Pearl had had a fight.
While that wasn't unusual and was often settled as quickly as it had started, this time was different. This time it had escalated and here she was as a result, drinking to calm down.
"…It's only because she doesn't know what it's like to be in love."
Marina sipped on her beverage some more as she stared at nothing in particular. While she wasn't a lightweight the alcohol was definitely affecting her already; her breathing and heart-rate was slower for one, which was good as that meant she wasn't stressing out.
The bitterness on the other hand was still raging.
"What has got you down, cutie?"
She rolled her eyes. It figures that someone would recognize her and immediately make an approach in the hopes of an autograph or something else. Normally she would've liked that, but given her current state—
Marina blanched as she turned to face the person. "You're…"
"Hah! I thought I recognized you, but I had to take a closer look to be sure~!" The bright, grinning inkling exclaimed. "How's it going, Marina?"
Her heart-rate spiked back up and her eyes widened. "C-Callie?! I, uhm, w-what are you doing here?"
Callie: one half of the "Squid Sisters" pop idol duo, former hostess of the Inkopolis News and now a TV drama actress…and also Marina's idol. A wonderful singer with a voice that got you pumped up, a beauty of an inkling woman – no, an absolute drop-dead gorgeous woman!
…Standing within arm's length of her, dressed up in a pink cardigan, white-shirt-black-undershirt combo, black shorts, and a pink beanie.
Cute. Cute! CUTE!
The inkling snickered, and was more than a little read around her cheeks. "I was going through the manuscript for my next role and I ended up staying longer than I meant to." She raised a near-empty glass. "I rarely get days off so I wanted to really unwind, you know? So why are you sitting here by your lonesome, looking like you want to Splat someone in the face?"
A lump formed in Marina's throat. Her cheeks warmed up and her tentacles uncontrollably curled up. The reason she left the Octarian army – and society – was because of this woman and here she was casually chatting up with her. And hadn't Callie called her a `cutie´ just now?
Marina's multiple hearts all hammered unsynchronized and that couldn't be healthy.
"Uhm…I, ah…" The words wouldn't come to her and her cheeks grew hotter. "I…came here to b-be alone."
Damn that stutter-inducing shyness.
"Oooh." Callie sipped the last of her drink and then pushed the glass away as soon as it was empty. "I'm picking up what you're putting down. Sorry to have bothered ya—"
"NO! No no, y-you're not bothering me! Please sit!" Marina gasped. "I wouldn't mind the company!"
The smirk on Callie's face broadened. "Okay then." She took the seat next to Marina and scooted closer. She leaned against her elbow. "Maybe I can turn that frown upside down."
The heat in here was suddenly too much for the octoling. "I, ah…I had a fight. With Pearl. To answer your question."
Callie's grin became a knowing smile as she slowly nodded. "Gotcha. The next Splatfest is coming up so…I take it that's the cause of your falling out?"
"Yeah." Marina took a swig of her drink, this one heftier than the careful, slow sips she was used to. If she were going to talk to her idol for more than five minutes unlike past interactions Marina needed as much courage she could muster, and fast. "It's honestly really stupid…but she just m-made me so angry."
Callie nodded and motioned for the bartender to pour her another drink while Marina slowly continued.
"She…She genuinely believes money is more important than love and I…" She sighed and took another hefty swig. "I just can't believe it!"
"Ooh! That's right – that's the theme for the Splatfest, isn't it? `Money vs Love,´" Callie stated and nodded at the bartender as she accepted her drink. "Man that takes me back."
"Did you and Marie have arguments like this back in the day?"
The inkling snickered. "Definitely! In fact, we had a similar argument about that very topic about Money vs Love!"
Marina's eyes widened. "Y-You did?"
"Mhm." Callie brought her glass to her lips and sipped. "I remember telling her that `Money isn't everything. And in exchange for wealth you often trade in your personality.´ She didn't like that and…Huh. I honestly don't remember what she said!" She laughed. The way her face lit up as she did, with that bright, wide smile, made Marina's hearts flutter. "But I stand by it! And you know what else? Love won!"
"It…did?"
Could her poor hearts soar any higher?
"Heck yeah it did! Oh the look on my cousin's face when she lost~" Callie laughed again, the sound airily and kind of cute. "But she was a good sport about it. Still, that victory sure boosted a lot of people's confidence I'm sure!"
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Marina's confidence certainly seemed a bit boosted at the moment as she cracked a smile. "Then maybe I have nothing to fear for the Splatfest."
"Of course you don't! And at the end of the day it's just an event!" Callie declared. Her expression became calm as she eyed the octoling. "But your fight wasn't just about which was better, right?"
Marina briefly averted her gaze. "…No. Love is…Love, I feel, is so much stronger and more valuable than money. It's kind of…personal for me and I..."
"You're in love," Callie said. Marina nodded. "Mhm. No wonder you had a fight. I can relate to that."
"It's silly, I know."
"Perhaps a little; but that's what happens when opinions clash and someone feel that strongly for something. You want to desperately prove a point."
"…Yeah."
Callie grinned and her eyes lit up. "Well, it's up to team Love to ensure victory in the Splatfest," she said and immediately downed her drink surprisingly quick. "But from one team-member to another, let's drink to Love till our hearts' content! Let's celebrate with another round! Barkeep, give us a drink dedicated to Love! And make it snappy like a snapfish!"
Marina's face was hot as fire. "Ah, but I haven't even finished mine…"
"It's fine, it's fiiine~" Callie giggled. "We're drinking to commemorate Love and to forget those greedy partners of ours!"
Perhaps it was the alcohol or Callie's enthusiasm rubbing off on her, but Marina couldn't help but laugh along with her. Ever since she had heard Calamari Inkantation she had wanted to be part of their world and here she was, having a drink with Callie, and the alcohol helped her relax around the inkling.
The bartender put down a single drink in front of them (looking far too pleased with himself) and their laughing immediately ceased. The glass was large and the drink itself certainly had the colours of Love, but the thing that stood out was the straw; while it technically was two of them, they were intertwined into the shape of a heart.
"Oh. That's…I didn't even think drinks came with these kinds of straws…" Marina muttered.
"That's not what I had in mind, but…would be a waste to not drink it, right?" She glanced over at the octoling with a growing sly smile. "To Love."
Could an octoling possibly cook itself from the heat of sheer embarrassment and nervousness? Marina's gaze shifted back and forth between the straw and Callie, her hearts racing.
"T-T-To Love!"
At first it hadn't seemed that bad until Callie's face was suddenly several inches closer as the inkling's lips pursed around the straw. The way Callie's eyes became heavy-lidded and the sheer gratification on her face as she applied suction had the octoling's mind wander wildly—
"Sooo good," the inkling practically moaned around the straw. "Right?"
Marina nearly choked. "Y-yeah…!" True enough, the drink was incredibly sweet. It was what you would expect what "Love" would taste like and the effects made her realize that perhaps she was a bit more of a lightweight than she had thought.
They sipped on the drink continuously in silence. Marina, try as she might, couldn't help but steal glances at Callie with her face so close—
"You know, Marina, you have really pretty eyes."
She nearly sputtered. "Huh?"
The inkling smirked. "With the way you're leaning in they're quite distracting."
She could practically feel the colour on her face drain. "S-Sorry, I-"
"I don't mind." Callie inched a bit closer. "I like the way you're looking at me. I remember I've caught that look a few times in the past."
Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.
"The way the tip of your tentacles change colours like this is pretty cute too, you know."
Marina blinked, puzzled, and caught the end of her feelers shifting to a rosy-red, which by itself wasn't unusual, but rather where her longest tentacle had moved on its own accord; entwined around one of Callie's.
"Oh gods, I am so, SO sorry! I, uhm, didn't mean to—!"
"I don't mind," the inkling repeated. The look in her eyes became inviting. Her smile, though sly, was friendly. "I think I fully understand now why you got so worked up."
Callie's limb squeezed and Marina shuddered.
"…Pearl doesn't understand why this is so much more powerful than money."
The inkling chuckled. "I know that feeling."
Their faces were closer now.
"I didn't mean for this to happen…like this," Marina admitted.
"Nothing like a touch of alcohol to make you brave and honest, right?" Callie inched even closer. "Maybe we just needed that little push."
Their tentacles squeezed and in a leap of alcohol-fuelled courage Marina closed the final, tantalizing distance and sealed her lips over Callie's.
Her hearts raced like never before. Her mind went blank.
Their tentacles entwined further, pulling each other closer.
It was the sweetest, single most passionate kiss Marina had ever had.
x.x.x
No amount of painkillers had helped Marina with the migraine the next day. She walked into the Inkopolis News office rubbing her temples and for once had opted to not wear her headphones. Now was not the time to pump loud noises into her ears.
Her mind was a fuzzy haze. She had somehow made it back to her apartment last night after staying out longer than she had meant to. At least she didn't feel sick so that was one small victory, but she couldn't for the life of her remember how much she had had.
"Well, well, well, look who's finally showing up!" Pearl exclaimed as soon as Marina stepped inside the studio. "I gotta hand it to you, Marina; I didn't think you would go this far to boost your team for the Splatfest!"
Marina stopped in her tracks. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
She hadn't done anything to promote her team…had she?
"Don't play innocent!" The short inkling laughed. "It's all over the news!"
Pearl turned on the T.V and conveniently one of the news channels popped on, and Marina's hearts skipped several beats.
It was her and Callie in the bar from what looked like a photo taken from outside; their tentacles were curled around each other and barely covered their kiss.
Marina paled as last night came rushing back to her.
/ Their kiss had been chaste and soft, a careful gauging before fully diving into the deep end. One of them – had it been Callie? – pulled them closer and a tongue begged for entrance and upon access the kiss had been long, hotly passionate and increasingly intimate.
A hand had settled over another. Fingers threaded. Tongues danced and explored and the sweetness of the drink mingled and made the kiss so much better – so much more addictive!
One of them – hadn't it been Marina? – soon slid off their seat and straddled the other's lap—/
"Oh my god." Marina swallowed a lump in her constricted throat. "Oh no."
Of course someone had taken a photo of them! They had still been in public after all!
"Look at you, being all over Callie!" Pearl chortled. "You should've been a bit more careful though. Let's hope this doesn't get you in trouble with the higher-ups!"
"Shut up, Pearlie…Ugh. Can this day get any worse?" Marina said whilst ignoring her co-hostess' bouts of mirth and reached into her pocket. Some painkillers for the headache were certainly needed—
Feeling around, she noticed there was something else in the way-too-small pocket and fished it up. It was a crumpled up piece of paper with something doodled on it.
Her hearts nearly jumped up her throat (and wasn't that a morbid thought) as she unfurled the paper and read the line of digits, with a silly doodle of a heart and what Marina assumed to be Callie winking at her.
Surely if she had given her a phone-number it was a promise for something more…right?
Whether or not Marina won the Splatfest event, this was a victory all on its own. And she was happy to take it.
