Chapter 31

2 hours Later…

I managed to find her playing air-hockey. She challenged me to a few rounds. I won a few, but she won more. We decided to play a few different games and ended up playing some ski-ball. It wasn't until a few minutes after that I noticed she was rubbing the side of her head every few minutes.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Y-yeah…" She replied. "I just…my head's been hurting a bit lately…and my ears have been ringing. This music's not helping…"

"You need to leave?" I was a little concerned.

"I should be fine." She regained her composure. "A little migraine can't keep this soldier down!"

"How long have you had these headaches?" I was curious.

"For a couple days now." She told me. "I've been asking the King about it, but he says I should be fine."

"King?" I was confused.

"Oh yeah!" She turned to me. "Your DJ friend is also a king. The same one from the Great Turf War."

"Huh…" That was interesting. "So wait, he's the leader of his people that were forced underground…and the Splatoon that protects Inkopolis squidnapped him…who's the bad guy in this scenario?"

"Guess we'll ask later." She shrugged. "Ooooh, I'd hate for our side to turn out to be the bad guys."

"I'm sure it's not black and white." I assured her. "…I think I'm gonna get something to eat. I'm starving."

"Okay." Sylvia said as she lined up her shot. "I'll get something in a bit. I'm gonna see if I can beat my high score."

I then left her behind to find the nearest snack table.

"Aw yeah!" I got excited. "Pizza!"

I got a slice.

"Pizza lover?" A girl in a school cardigan asked. "Me too."

"And you are…?" I didn't know her.

"Eileen!" She told me. "Ivan's twin sister. He told me about a little Octoling DJ dude in some nifty goggles and lookie what I found!"

"Oh, cool!" I said before taking another bite. "Wait, does yours have pineapple on it?"

"Oh yeah!" She showed me the slice. "We loooove pineapple pizza."

And I thought Ivan was a weird before…

"Well, I gotta go." She suddenly turned to leave. "Nice meetin' ya!"

Well, that went nowhere…

I opened a cooler.

Empty?! Not even a water bottle?

I could see a punch bowl though…

"Hey, uh…what's in this punch bowl?" I asked a nearby Anemone.

"…Fruit punch?" The Anemone shrugged and looked at an empty container. "Mixed fruit punch."

If it's just regular fruit punch, it should be fine, right?

10 Minutes Later…

The drink dasted good, but what wuz in it? I looked ad de box and it juss zed Fruit Punch…I've zeen id in da ztore bevore.

"Hey, Tim?" Sylvia walked over. "My head's hurting a lot. I think I want to leave now. I'll just take some pizza to go."

"Yeah me too…" I rubbed my head. "I veel funny…"

"You okay, Tim?" She looked at me. "You're wobbling a bit."

"Well, I had zome bunch an the box said juss bunch an I had a cub an now I veel vunny…" I explained.

"Someone messed with the punch?!" Sylvia was shocked. "Wait…you couldn't handle one cup?"

I was about to answer, but ended up losing balance and stumbling a bit.

"Let's…just go." She sighed as she got herself a slice of pizza. "My head's hurting too much."

30 Minutes Later…

"Well, dad wus a vun party…" I said.

"Too bad we had to leave early because you accidentally got drunk and I got a migraine." Sylvia remarked. "I didn't even get to dance. I don't know if you know this, but I can bust a move."

"I'd vlop like a vish." I told her. "I never bracticed…"

It took a bit, but we managed to get to Sylvia's apartment.

"So why we here?" I asked.

"Heard it's your birthday tomorrow…" She went inside and came out with a small box. "So I got you a gift!"

"Hey, thankss!" I opened it. "…Whass it say? My vision's blurry."

"I got ya Squidlancer 5!" She told me.

"dere are 4 other Squidlancers?" I said, wide-eyed.

"Eh, you don't have to play the others." She shrugged.

"…I don have a game zysstem though…" I pointed out.

"Oh…well, I'll bring my Splatstation over some time!" She decided.

"Wooooow…" I was excited.

"O-kay, let's get you home…" She started guiding me. "I shouldn't be doing this with this much of a headache…"

"I wish Zarah an Guyver were here…" I said. "Dey'd be a big elp."

"Too bad they haven't shown up in a while." Sylvia groaned. "They haven't even answered my texts. Those privates need discipline!"

20-ish Minutes Later…

We managed to get to my apartment. I felt like we had a conversation on the way, but I couldn't remember it. We went in and she sat me on the couch.

"You…gonna be okay?" Sylvia asked.

"I'm zure I'll be good after zome shleep, I'm ssure." I replied. "You?"

"Hopefully the same." She said, taking a seat and yawning. "I think I'll take a nap too…"

I guess we both decided to sleep on the couch.

After a while, I was about halfway to sleep when Sylvia got up and walked to the door.

"S-Silv?' I slowly turned my head. "Where're ya goin?"

She didn't answer.

She must've decided to sleep at her place rather than the couch.

Eh, it's fine I guess…I can lie down…

And drift…into…sleep…

…

Elsewhere…Some Time Earlier…

Hm…still fits…mostly…

"Hey, Amphia." Stanley opened the door. "We got the tickets…pffft-haha...what are you wearing?"

"What?" I looked in the mirror. "It's my old army uniform."

"That's a military uniform?" He looked down and up. "A little revealing, isn't it?"

"Don't ask me why." I shrugged. "I'm actually surprised. It's a bit snug in some places, but mostly fits like a glove…I am muffin-topping a bit though…I'll need to fix that…"

"Eh, that's just part of being a parent." Stanley told me. "You let yourself go a little bit."

"…The shell are you talking about?!" I looked down and up. "You're ripped!"

"I-I managed to keep a steady fitness schedule…" He told me. "Also both my wives liked it when I'd keep in shape."

"I can see why…" I had to refrain from staring. "Well, I'm going to change back so…"

"Oh, right!" He stepped back out and shut the door. "I'll leave your ticket next to the door!"

Geez, that guy…and his last wife left him?!

I need to cool my head before I start to develop a thing for Inklings…

I'll distract myself with a workout…need to get rid of this flab…