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"Are you ready to dive in your happy adventure?!" Penny clapped once, keeping her hands pressed towards each other, as her eyes sparkled. "… or would you like to hear a live performance of my best jokes?"
Mirii chuckled, as her head shook.
"Maybe another time… I promise." Her eyes closed, while keeping her smile. "For now, I must fulfill my need of testing this new machine."
"And I will be more than glad to let you do it!" Penny tilted over Mirii, while standing sideways, as her forefinger pointed at her head. "But don't be too hooked on those glasses, ok?" She chuckled. "I'm too petite to drag you off them!"
"Ha ha!" The girl kept her smile. "No machine ever managed to affect my own status… but please, keep your jokes!" Her eyes closed. "Although, I'm glad she helped me improve my mood back…"
"Sorry!" Penny's hand went behind her head, as she grinned. "Those jokes are so irresistible…" She nodded, now simply smiling. "… I promise to hit a joke diet! I swear!"
Mirii covered her mouth with her hand, as she chuckled some more.
"Cu-curses...!" She took a deep breath, leaving her hand down. "If I don't do something myself…!"
The girl swift past the little woman, reaching the glasses before Penny would turn over her: Mirii's hands picked the glasses up, as her eyes were inspecting every inch of their black appearance.
"Hey, hey!" Penny shaped a sad expression, running with all her fear towards the girl. "Don't wear them just yet! Please!"
Mirii sighed in relief, holding still and enjoying this said moment for as long as she could take. Penny cracked a laugh, shaking her head.
"You sure can be a meanie little girl, uhm?"
Mirii laughed loudly, almost opening her hands wide and tilting back and forth in a rapid movement.
"Why are you laughing?" Penny kept her mouth open for a small second. "I haven't said any jokes! … ah no wait!" She coughed out a laugh. "Ha ha! I'm so stupid!"
"Penny, tell me…" The girl put down the glasses, turning behind and looking down at the woman. "… is there any procedures I have to take, in order to use this machine?"
"You need the special basin before wearing the VR glasses!" Penny nodded, now stepping forward and passing Mirii. "This basin needs to be filled with the ink of your color… but unfortunately I only have magenta in the office."
The woman bended her knees down, as her hands went on the last shelf of the larger, metallic cupboard.
"Thus, I have to make you use the Ink Pad…" She pulled a round device, almost fully black. "Which means we have to wait for 10 minutes before you can jump inside the pad and change your color."
"Understood." Mirii nodded, watching the woman putting down the pad and returning in front of the cupboard. "I will wait."
Standing on her tiptoes, Penny's right hand grabbed a bucket on the top-second shelf and slowly pulling it over herself: she was moaning a bit, squeezing her little eyes and making sweat jump out of her head. Mirii's eyebrows went down, as she walked over the woman, stopping behind her and stretching her arms over the item.
"Let me grab the bucket, Penny." Her hands landed on the bucket's edge. "I already latched my grip on it."
"Why, thank you!" Penny lowered down her feet and hand, looking over the taller girl pulling the bucket out and grabbing its green handle. "I usually have a ladder for all my cupboard climbing activities, but I have even more trouble bringing it all the way here!"
Mirii laughed, as her free hand went below the bucket. Penny closed her eye, raising her forefinger.
"A must-ask gift for this Squidsmas: an automatic ladder that makes my mind even lazier!"
The girl stumbled, laughing even more than before! Some ink spilled out of the bucket, landing on the floor.
"Pour the ink on the pad." The woman's hands pointed at the device. "Or at least stumble on it!"
"Ha ha ha haaa!" Mirii's hands slipped, as the bucket went head down on the pad.
Ink covered the top of the device, immediately absorbing all its ink and turning the middle part into a magenta color.
"… well!" Penny's hands picked the bucket, hugging it tightly. "That's one way to get the job done." She grinned a bit. "All creative Squids should take note of your deeds!"
Mirii fell on her back, as she began kicking her legs in the air and laughing so loud, she mixed it with coughs! Penny sighed, as she shook her head, closed her eyes and folded her arms.
"… I'm such a meanie little Squid…" She chuckled briefly.
Penny bit a hot-dogfish, while sitting on her office chair, as she began munching with her smiling mouth closed. A piece of paper was hanging on her desk's corner, standing right in front of her.
"Hmmmmmm!" She shook all around, as her eyes closed and her posture lifted. "It's so great…!" Her cheeks were puffed.
Mirii was sitting down on a small armchair, as a plastic plate was resting on her legs while holding a salad. Her fork picked a leaf and brought it to her mouth, as she gently bit on it. Penny took another bite at her meal.
"Hmmmmmm!" She shook all around, as her eyes closed and her posture lifted. "I-I can't hold my excitement over this dish…" Her cheeks were puffed.
Mirii grimaced a bit, as her irises pointed at the woman.
"Does she even know anything about etiquette…?" Her eyelids lowered to the middle, as her mouth took a bite on another salad leaf. "That thing must be full of fat and other chemicals I do not even want to know…" Her eyes closed. "At least she let me order a salad and not one of her nasty"
"Are you enjoying that salad?"
Opening back her eyes, Mirii was looking at Penny pushing her chair back and jumping out from it.
"That's my choice when I need to make peace with my stomach, after I gobble a thousand of hot-dogfishes…!"
Mirii chuckled.
"Thank you for offering me the lunch…" She nodded. "I still want to pay"
"Again?" Penny bit on the last part of her hot-dogfish, munching for some seconds before swallowing visibly. "I already said that this is a little apologize of mine, for making you wait and sustain all my jokes…"
Mirii bite one more salad leaf, releasing loud munching sounds while eating.
"You haven't caused me any problems, Penny." She stands up, while holding her almost-empty plastic plate. "I insist repaying you"
"You insist?" The woman's head rose, as she folded her arms and smiled. "Can you use your own insistence on my boss? He still hasn't gave me my bonus!"
The girl laughed.
"I-I'm sorry, bu-but" Mirii picked the last salad leaf, eating it rapidly and swallowing at the same rhythm. "But I can't wait any longer for"
"You can't wait any longer?!" Penny's hands went on her cheeks, as her irises shrunk a bit. "But I have so much to explain about the basics of Happy Squiddy Adventures!"
…
"… which is nothing more than exploring a large, virtual, Inkling water!" She grins, chuckling a bit. "It's not really like a videogame, since the only interaction you will have is to stay down in your ink and watch the scenery through my movement inputs from my computer."
Mirii blinked her eyes, nodding after holding her posture for a brief while.
"What else I will find, aside from this supposed virtual scenery?"
"That would be a surprise…" Penny's eyes closed. "… a happy one for sure!"
Mirii's eyes squeezed a bit…