Three awoke with a loud yawn, she could smell something delicious and it was making her mouth water. It smelled like… pancakes? It was definitely pancakes. But why would she be smelling pancakes?
Three sits up and looks around. Oh yeah she slept on the couch, that's right. She looks around as her eyes adjust to the light. Finally once she feels like she can see again, she looks over to the kitchen and her hearts melt.
Three sees Eight, standing in front of her stove, with her hoodie still draped over her shoulders, except it looks like she's got her arms slipped through the sleeves as well. Eight was a filthy hoodie thief! Three smiled to herself before tossing aside her blanket and standing to stretch, loosening her muscles and making it easier for her to exist. All the commotion of Three getting up must've alerted Eight to the fact that Three was no longer in her temporary comatose state because she quickly turns to face Three once she's done stretching.
"Ah! Good morning Three! I saw you had pancake mix and figured you might want some for breakfast." Eight beamed like a ray of sunshine in a dark and dreary world.
Three let out a yawn before finally walking over to the kitchen where Eight was.
"Thank you Eight, you didn't have to do this." Three smiles, she doesn't know what else to do to show her gratitude. Even if it's from a mix, this is the first home cooked meal she's had since before Kamabo.
"It's the least I could do, you gave me your bed and also helped me out when I had a nightmare. So I figured I owed you one." Eight blushes and glances away from Three, she had done so much for her and been so nice.
Three appreciatively places her hand on Eights shoulder. "You don't owe me for anything, but I will gladly accept these pancakes cuz I am starving."
Eight giggled before finishing up the last pancake. "Ah there we go." She placed the last one carefully on the stack before sticking the pan in the sink and dousing it with water making it sizzle.
"Alright don't let them get cold." Eight says turning around as Three grabs an empty plate and plops a few pancakes on it. "Oh by the way, I don't know where your syrup is so I couldn't have it pulled out."
"Nah, that's fine, it's in the fridge. It throws most people off." Three pops open the fridge, snags the syrup out of it, then swiftly kicks it closed again and brings her plate and the syrup to the table.
Eight follows suit after grabbing a few pancakes as well. Soon they're both stuffing their faces full of the delicious concoction, Eight put a sensible amount of syrup on her pancakes. Three does not. Three emptied half the bottle onto her pancakes, and as she eats she's getting it all over her face, just like the sauce last night.
"My gods Three, how are you so messy." Eight chuckles as she takes another bite of her own meal. Three didn't care what others thought about her, she just did what made her happy, that was something Eight couldn't help but admire about the Inkling.
"Skills that's how." Three promptly shoves another half pancake into her mouth like some kind of monster. Eight just rolls her eyes and eats her pancakes sensibly. The pair exchange a few idle giggles as Three continues to be a menace to civilised inkling society.
Before long, however, they're both done eating. Three insists on cleaning up since Eight went through the effort of making breakfast. Three's dishwasher was actually pretty full after putting their plates, cutlery, and the pan into it, so Three decides to run it. May as well so she has clean dishes to use for the microwavable garbage she will likely be consuming once Eight is no longer around.
Three glances towards her turf gear, it's been a little while since she's had the chance to use it, what with her scar making it impossible to compete. But she felt like it wasn't going to bother her today, so she decides it would be good to get in some battles, if only to keep herself from getting rusty.
"Alright, well I don't know about you, but I'm gonna head over to Inkopolis Square and play some Turf Wars. I need to get my ink pumping. You're free to join me if you like, just be warned I will have no mercy if you're on the opposing team." Three winked as she grabbed her bag with her ink tank and her Hero Shot "Replica". Sheldon had managed to swap out the sub and special weapon tokens inside of it allowing her to continue to use her old gun instead of having to swap to something new. She was very appreciative of Sheldon for doing that.
"Well… maybe a few rounds. I just need to grab my Ink tank and Octo Shot from home." Eight smiled as she bounded her way up to Three. She was still wearing her teeshirt and jeans from the day before, but she had her baseball cap tucked under her left arm, and she was still wearing Three's hoodie too "Ready to go?"
Three smiled and turned away so Eight wouldn't see her blush.
"Y-Yeah, let's get going!" Three pushed open the door to the apartment and locked it behind them as they left.
After a brief superjump, they were at Pearl and Marina's house. Eight had told Three that it would likely surprise her how large it was, especially compared to her apartment. Eight had been very quick to assure Three that she thought her apartment was lovely and plenty big and that Pearl and Marina just simply had too much space.
Well the reality of Eight's words truly dawned on Three when they walked away from the landing zone and into the courtyard of Pearl and Marina's Mansion. It was unlike Three could've ever imagined. The courtyard had a fountain in the middle surrounded by stone walkways and luscious gardens with various flowers. Upon closer inspection, the fountain itself had an inkling and an octoling, in their squid and octo forms respectively, jumping into the air with a splash of ink around them. Or at least that's what Three assumed it was.
But then Three got a view of the mansion itself, and the sight before her was not what she expected at all. It was… big. Three couldn't quite believe how big it was. It was like the size of inkopolis square itself, and it had to be at least three stories tall, maybe four, but that's another storey.
Eight insisted that Three come in with her, and Three not wanting to disappoint, obliged. Upon entering, Three concluded that the house was bigger on the inside, because there was just so much SPACE!
"How. In the world. Do you not get lost in here." Three's jaw was held wide open as she scanned the area she was in. The entryway had a floormat they were standing on, leading away from it there was a sculpture in the middle of both Pearl and Marina doing their "Stay off the Hook!" pose, and flanking the sculpture on either side was a curved staircase that lead to the next level. Directly behind the sculpture was an elevator, because of course they have an elevator.
"Honestly I said the same thing when I first got here. Fortunately, Marina insisted on labeling all the doors, so you can usually figure out which part of the house you're in by what room you're near." Eight shrugged idly, she'd gotten used to how absurd their house was.
Three's face changed from "awe" to "What the literal fuck" In a matter of seconds, Eight, hearing this silent communication loud and clear, continued her explanation.
"Honestly a lot of the rooms are just storage, old props from shows, memorabilia that didn't get sold, some stuff they only give out to people they know. Honestly I think Pearl might be a hoarder, but Marina at least keeps the hoarding organized."
Three chuckles a bit at that comment, and as if being summoned by the mentions of their names, Pearl and Marina enter the room from opposite sides, but in perfect synchronization.
"Oh hey Eight, hey Three. Glad to see you two still alive." Pearl states as she approaches the pair standing in their front room.
"Yes, thank you for thinking to let us know she would be staying overnight Three, we appreciate it." Marina continued.
"Hey it's no problem, she seemed like she needed sleep so I just kina let her sleep." Three blushes and rubs her neck. Eight blushes and looks to the floor.
"Well that's good. So what brings you to our home today Three? Just taking Eight home, or?" Pearl inquires as she folds her arms.
"OH! Eight and I were gonna go do some Turf Wars, she said she needed to grab her ink tank and weapon though. I was gonna wait outside but she insisted I come in."
"Alright, Eight you know where it is. We just want to… have a chat with Three." Marina smiles, Eight nods and runs off.
Once Eight is out of sight, Marina turns back to Three, her eyes scream murder but her smile screams "it'll look like an accident." And Pearl now had her Dualies out… where did those come from?
"So Three… What are your intentions with Eight?" Marina's voice rang inside of Three's mind like a bell, it wouldn't stop and she felt herself sweating. Three could feel her soul leaving her body with every passing second.
"U-uh well, really I just want to get to know her better! Her and I seem to get along well and um… I think she's kinda cute?" Three blushed and gulped.
Marina places her hand firmly on Three's shoulder. This is it, Three thought, this is where she dies. They'd unplug all the spawns and splat her and there'd be nothing left but ink.
"Did you… DO anything last night?" Pearls voice rings equally loud in Three's mind, but rather than like a bell it was more like a car horn, more alarming and concerning.
"Wh- oh FUCK no! For one, she fell asleep! That would be wrong!" Three calls out. "Why would we do anything of that nature anyways? It wasn't even a date!"
Marina looks at Pearl, who looks back to Marina. Oh gods a silent conversation, Three HATED these, Callie and Marie would do it all the time and it pissed her off.
"So, you take a girl out for coffee, end up spending the entire afternoon chatting, then you take her to dinner and insist on paying, and THEN said girl falls asleep on you as you watch the sunset… and you DON'T think that's a date?" Marina cocked an eyebrow.
"Wait what, who told you what happened?" Three paused. Then brought her palm to her forehead. "It was Marie wasn't it."
Both Pearl and Marina nod as Marina pulls her hand off Three's shoulder and Pearl puts away her dualies. Both of them were smirking.
"You're fucking with me aren't you?" Three sighs, Pearl fucking chortles and Marina giggles.
"I'm sorry Three, we figured you didn't have any ill-willed intentions, but it was… too easy." Marina manages to get out through her giggles.
"Whopdeefucking-doo. Now I wish you HAD splatted me." Three rolls her eyes, but quickly spots Eight returning with her ink tank and Octo Shot. "Oh! Eight!"
Pearl and Marina quickly compose themselves, trying to appear like they weren't just having the worlds best laughing session.
Eight looks to Three before smiling and asking "Ready to go? It'll be fun to play with someone I know instead of by myself!"
Three smiles back and blushes a little. "Y-yeah! Let's go!"
Eight said her goodbyes to Pearl and Marina, and then her and Three head out to Inkopolis Square.
Eight and Three were almost always on the same team, and as such, were both winning a lot of games. Sure there'd be the odd match where they got split up, but those matches wound up being almost too close to call.
So in short, Three was having a fucking blast, and Eight was just happy to be there. They often switches up lobbies so they wouldn't be playing against the exact same group every time, which the other players were grateful for. Before long they'd both acquired enough extra cash from winning so many matches that they honestly would probably be set for a few months.
As the day drew to a close, Eight and Three had just finished up their last match of the day, another landslide victory for the pair. Turf Wars paid surprisingly well for effectively being just a drop in sport. But enough people enjoyed just watching that it brought in enough revenue to allow the players to get a kickback.
"That was so much fun! Thank you Three!" Eight squealed with delight.
Three couldn't help but chuckle at Eights delight. "Heh, it's no problem Eight. Honestly I'm happy to finally have someone to play with."
Eight hugged Three without warning, which caught Three off guard, but soon she was returning the gesture. Eight then pulled away from the hug slowly, and Three could see a visible blush on the girls face. Before she could ask, Eight quickly pecked Three on the cheek.
Three blushed hard, oh my gods did that just happen? Three couldn't even form words. Her entire face was orange.
"Um, th-thanks again." Eight bit her lip as she averted her gaze.
"A-Anytime…" Three replied while doing the same.
No more words were shared between the pair, but they could both feel something within them growing, and neither could deny it now. They both headed home thinking about how cute the other looked when they blushed.
