Marie and Jay had made their way back to Jay's apartment, the sun having long since left the sky. They sat on Jay's couch with a show playing on the TV, though neither of them was actually paying any attention to it whatsoever. No, they were too busy sharing yet another kiss. I think it's officially safe to say these two like each other, quite a bit. But not too far from the two blossoming lovers, back at the Squid Sisters' shared apartment, there was a visitor for Callie.

The buzzer was rang and the strange figure waits for a response. No voice spoken from either side, the door simply buzzes electronically, telling the figure they're allowed entrance, and so they step inside the building and make their way towards the correct suite. They moved silently and kept their hood up, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Fortunately it was late, so most people were asleep by now, or at the very least they were held up in their suites doing their own things.

Finally, they reach the suite, and knock on the door. Slowly the door comes open, and the figure walks inside, the door closing behind them. The lights remain dim inside of the apartment, in fact the light that was given off seemed to flicker like a flame. Upon closer inspection, the figure finds that the observation was correct, as the only sources of light at this moment were candles that lined certain strategic areas to give off the most light without being a fire hazard. And then, the figure saw… Her.

"Hey there lovely." Callie's voice calls out as she steps towards the figure and pulls their hood down, revealing the head of the very Octoling who'd protected Three until Eight could save her. Dedf1sh stood there blushing, though the blush was only visible on the left side of her face, as the right side cheek was still the old sanitized green. Her mind control was all but completely gone, but it seems that her scarring is permanent. That said though, her freckles are coming back and some are even managing to surface on top of where her skin is still green.

"Hey Cal, uhm… th-thanks for inviting me over, it's always good to see you!" Dedf1sh replies, giving Callie a good look over. The girl was dressed up quite nicely, wearing a long black dress that went to the floor, with reflective accents in the threads which were matched to her own usual pink ink color. One might reasonably assume that she was far too dressed up for being at home, but the candles and the visitor might give a hint as to why it's appropriate.

Dedf1sh drops her cloak to the ground, revealing her own outfit. Callie has to pause and blush because she was not expecting such a cleaned up look. Dedf1sh was rocking a full suit, it was black and had a white blouse under the jacket, with a black tie on to tie it all together. Ded smiles sheepishly as she watches Callie eye her over. She'd gotten this suit just the day before, it was tailored specifically for her and it looked absolutely stunning.

"Woah, you clean up real nice!" Callie blushes and giggles, stepping closer and putting one of her hands on Ded's waist. The pair of cephalopods stare into each other's eyes and blush, they'd been sneakily seeing each other ever since Alex went into the hospital, and things were starting to heat up. Callie figures Marie will probably be out the rest of the night with Jay, so it's the perfect opportunity for a private, in-home date.

"S-So do you Cal, uh, should we maybe get to the d-date part of the night?" Dedf1sh blushes a little harder, smiling sheepishly and drawing a giggle from Callie. Callie simply nods and leads her date to the table where a simple but elegant dinner is prepared. It seems Callie knows her way around a kitchen quite well. Sitting on the table is a pot of spaghetti with some sauce, it's simple but it looks very tasty.

"Try not to get any sauce on your suit, but any you get on your face I'll be sure to help you clean up." Callie winks at her date and giggles, blowing a kiss in her direction. They'd only been doing this for about two weeks, they'd clicked almost immediately and had been spending a little bit of time with each other between doing some collaboration music at a studio, and doing things like what they're doing tonight to get to know each other better. But Callie didn't want rumors to start spreading, at least, not until she was absolutely sure their relationship was going to work out. So that's why all the secrecy. That, and it's also a little fun to sneak around Marie like this.

"R-Right…" Dedf1sh blushes at Callie's words, taking her seat as Callie does the same. The two seem comfortable in each other's company, but also like they were still unsure how to act. For Dedf1sh, it was mainly because she was new to the surface, and even then had spent most of her life as a mindless drone. She learned quickly though, she picked up Inklish incredibly fast, but Callie knew enough Octarian to fill in the gaps as well as a result of her time with Octavio.

Callie had actually made it a point to keep her Octarian fresh, to make sure she was keeping it in her mind so if there ever arose a situation of an Octoling wishing to reach the surface, she'd be able to help them by being able to communicate with them in their native tongue. She had a very Inklish accent when she spoke Octarian, but as Dedf1sh put it, that just makes it more enjoyable to hear. Callie's Octarian was part of how she and Ded hit it off so quickly as well, since the formerly sanitized Octoling had very little knowledge of the Inkling language, only a few passing remarks. She knew "This way!" and "Booyah!" which, in all honesty, probably accounted for 75% of what Inklings say, at least the ones going into battles anyways.

Callie serves up a couple plates, putting one in front of the Octoling and one in front of herself, giving a soft smile as the two began slowly eating their food. She'd told Marie to text her when she was planning on coming home so that she and Ded could make themselves scarce, Callie was planning on just saying something like "got invited to a friend's place, gonna sleep over, there's spaghetti in the fridge if you want some!". Which technically would be true, Ded had no issues inviting Callie over. But the main thing there was… friends felt like too weak of a term now, they were growing to be something more rather quickly. But for now, the two would just enjoy each other's company, and the food Callie had prepared.

The two couldn't help but admire each other. Callie found that Ded's scarring combined with the ocean of freckles on the unscarred skin was absolutely gorgeous. It gave character, and told a story, while also letting her natural beauty shine through still. Dedf1sh couldn't help but stare into Callie's eyes, the unique Cuttlefish pupils were golden, just like Callie herself. She also appreciated Callie's physique, she was strong enough to do whatever she wanted, but doesn't have big bulky biceps or anything of the sort. Just a simple, beautiful Inkling.

After a short while, the food is consumed, and the pair are sitting awkwardly on the couch right next to one another. They'd been all flirty earlier but now, now they had to figure out what to do. They could put on a movie, but they didn't know when Marie was going to be back, and they didn't want to commit to something like that just yet. They could get a bit frisky if they really wanted to, it wouldn't be their first time being touchy-feely. But once again, when was Marie coming home? Callie didn't like the fact that they couldn't really decide on anything until after they knew what Marie's ETA was, but what could be done? Well they could just go back to Ded's place, but Ded liked the Squid Sister's apartment better, more spacious. They really thought they'd be completely unable to do anything, but then as luck would have it, right when Callie was about to suggest something to pass the time, her phone dings with the preset sound for Marie.


Marie: Hey Cals, don't wait up for me, gonna spend the night at Jay's.

Callie: Ohhhh! Okay! Have fun Mar! But not too much fun, we still need her able to do agent work after all ;)

Marie: Har har, night Cal

Callie: Night!


"Oh… my gods…" Callie looks up from her phone with a gigantic grin on her face, accompanied by a large blush as well. She could hardly believe her luck! She had already assumed the night would end with Marie and Jay getting a little more familiar with each other, but she wasn't sure if that would end at Jay's apartment or theirs, and for some reason she assumed it would be theirs. But luck was on her side, and Marie would be out of the apartment until tomorrow morning at the very least. "Ded, dear, we have the apartment to ourselves all night!"

"A-All night?" Ded blushes hard, her hearts racing as she imagines what such a thing could mean. Maybe tonight she'd finally… no that was taking it too far, she had to keep her expectations realistic. But still, she was hoping this meant she could stay the night, in Callie's bed, snuggled up to Callie. Judging by the smile and blush on Callie's face as well, the Inkling was quite on board with this idea as well.

"Mhm! All night! Marie's gonna spend the night at Jay's!" Callie beams with excitement as she bounces a little, inching closer to the Octoling. Callie's hand lands on Dedf1sh's thigh, and the both of them blush as they both glance between the hand and each other's eyes. Then they just lock eyes, staring intently at each other. They lean closer, the distance between them falling from inches to centimeters, and then to millimeters, and then to nothing as their lips touch and the world fades from their minds, and all that matters in this moment is the Cephalopod they're now kissing.

Dedf1sh's hand finds its way to Callie's waist, and Callie returns the gesture. They scoot their bodies closer together as the kiss deepens. Callie brings her other hand up and cups Dedf1sh's face as they continue kissing each other. Callie's blush warms her face, her fingers gripping Dedf1sh's hip tighter and pulling her closer. They were both cooing softly and they both were very excited, with Marie remaining out of the house for the rest of the night they had the entire evening to get familiar with each other. Actually, speaking of getting to know each other. Dedf1sh breaks the kiss after a moment.

"C-Cal, wait… I-I need to tell you something… something about me I only recently remembered." Ded says with a nervous blush on her face. She didn't want to break the kiss, but this was important, something that wasn't going to change much, but it was also going to change everything.

"O-Oh? What is it?" Callie shuffles a little to listen, wanting to show she's being supportive. She isn't sure what to expect but she can tell it's important to Dedf1sh, and she wanted to make sure she did everything she could to show her support, especially because she wanted this relationship to work out.

"M-My name… it isn't… actually Dedf1sh… I mean, it has the number one in it, that should really be a giveaway…" Ded chuckles awkwardly and tries to keep the mood positive, despite how nervous she is about what she's saying. She hasn't revealed this information to anyone, and Callie would be the first person to hear it spoken. "M-My actual name is… Mizuta Ahato"

Callie has to stop, and then she blushes extra hard. She's a little shocked, she wasn't sure what to expect, but the name was so cute! It was wonderful and it suited her so well. While Dedf1sh was a wonderful stage name, and would look good on albums, it wasn't a good personal name. Mizuta Ahato was a much better personal name, a name that suited the Octoling that owned it.

"Your name… is absolutely gorgeous!" Callie beams and giggles again, leaning closer to Mizuta. The Octoling was unsure how to react. She was blushing hard, and smiling, she was very happy that Callie likes her name. This evening was really going to be good now, because Callie was leaning right back in for another kiss, which Mizuta was very eager to return. The two Cephalopods spend more time than they'd care to admit locked in this embrace, but eventually, Mizuta did get her wish of getting to sleep in Callie's bed. There were just a few less clothes involved than she'd envisioned.