Five days had passed since the three members of the Ink Jets had begun their search for a fourth inkling to act as substitute in place of Myrtle. It had gotten dark out, and everything was quiet and calm at Aureolin's apartment, though the front door could be heard unlocking as the doorknob jiggled, the door itself opening up.
"I can't believe this," Aureolin said while she entered into the dark living room, flicking the lights on. Her boyfriend was right behind her. He closed the door behind them as they got inside. They both looked tired and clearly irritated.
"Five days and not one person able to substitute for us," Linen sighed. He saw his girlfriend plop down onto the couch, brushing her yellow tentacle hair aside. The two of them had spent nearly the whole week trying to find someone to replace Myrtle just for the one match tomorrow night, but since they found no one, it appeared they would be forced to forfeit and contest from the tournament. He took a seat beside her.
"I thought all the stress would be on the turf… not outside of it," Aureolin admitted, having not expected half of this when she joined their team, but she had no regrets. It was fun to be fighting, either way. Experience and effort were worth a lot. The inkling girl was depressed, imagining not being able to compete any longer. Her boyfriend had a good idea to cheer her up.
"C'mon, Aure. Don't be down, or else," Linen grinned. Aureolin quirked an eyebrow, seeing his hand on her leg, trying to reassure her.
"Or else what?" she responded, hoping he wasn't going to be making bad jokes in a mere effort to try and cheer her up, though whenever he had an idea, he tended to go for it, even though they usually went wrong. She saw him get closer, crawling toward her on the couch.
"Or else, I'll just have to make you cheer up!" Linen playfully roared. His girlfriend didn't even get a chance to react before feeling his fingers against her skin, forcing her to begin giggling, feeling him beginning to tickle her sides.
"Li-Linny! Stop it! I swear…!" Aureolin tried to threaten through her giggling and laughter. He was on top of her, continuing his tickle attack. She was actually getting tears in her eyes from how hard she was laughing. Linen had no clue she was that sensitive, making a mental note of this. However, their fun was stopped when they heard another voice chime out.
"Hope I'm not interrupting," Folly spoke up as he stood at the kitchen doorway. Linen stopped his tickle assault when they both saw him, letting his girlfriend take a well needed break. She sat up, catching her breath.
"H-how long have you been there?" Aureolin embarrassedly asked, having not intended to display their affection between them in front of their team leader.
"Oh, I've been waiting for you two to get back. I've been here for about three hours," Folly answered, not seeming to have much care about the two playing around.
"Yeah, we didn't find a sub…" Linen got cut off mid-sentence, trying to explain what the efforts of their day had brought.
"I know," their pink tentacle haired leader stated. He already figured that much out, judging by how depressed they sounded while he was in the kitchen. The yellow inkling got up, glaring at her leader.
"Wait a sec. How'd you get into my home?" Aureolin questioned, hoping he could give a straight answer, though she saw him look slightly amused by the query.
"You really should lock your windows," Folly claimed. He had gotten in through an unlocked window very easily. The teenage squid girl looked annoyed. That was the same thing she heard from Myrtle a few days ago. She didn't like knowing her entire team didn't have any hesitation or care about breaking into the apartment. She wouldn't mind if she was even home or not. Linen though didn't really mind himself; in fact, he had his friends breaking into his home a lot as well, though he started to wonder if he should be more concerned.
"Thanks for the warning. What is it you needed to talk to us about?" Aureolin asked, seeing him come over and take a seat beside them on the long couch. He rested his feet on the coffee table.
"None of us have found anyone who isn't on another team… but we still have someone we can try and convince to help," Folly pulled out his wallet, digging around through it and then pulling a small photograph out, handing it over to Linen. Within the photograph, there was a girl that was their age. Her light purple tentacle hair was extremely short and spiky. The photo showed this girl wearing a white shirt with red stripes on it and a black turtle shell as a symbol.
"Hey… that's Amethyst," Linen pointed out, recognizing the former leader for the Blank Slates before she supposedly retired, whereupon their old friend Sky had taken over.
"You want us to go try and convince Amethyst to fight with us on the turf," Aureolin said the train of thought aloud. Their leader nodded. That summed up the whole idea in a nutshell.
"Yeah. I know where she lives, so all you two have to do is the talking," he claimed. It was certainly the best idea available.
"Why do you carry a picture of her in your wallet?" Linen chimed in. That was certainly an oddity that hadn't crossed his girlfriend's mind. Folly didn't respond, immediately snatching the picture back and stuffing it back into the wallet.
"Sometimes, emotions can cause you to act without thinking," Folly said. Aureolin and Linen had to wonder about their leader's history. Maybe Amethyst could tell them some more once they found her. Folly wrote down the address on a small note before handing it over to them.
"Hey, this is an apartment complex across town!" Aureolin exclaimed. This would take a while to get to on foot, and it already was dark out. The clock hanging on the wall showed that the time was 7:36pm in the evening, but they needed to get someone for the next round of the tournament tomorrow.
"Have fun," Folly grinned, showing his sharp teeth. That was the first time he really had displayed emotion. Normally he kept a straight face, and he was the type just to stay objective if he could help it. The inklings gave up. They had no choice but to go. The young couple left the apartment complex, aware they were burning time. Once they were gone, the pink inkling boy looked to the couch.
"May as well crash here for the night," Folly thought, thinking Aureolin wouldn't care if he spent the night after breaking into her home in the first place. He went off to try and find some spare blankets.