soft shiv soft shiv soft ShiV SOft SHiV SOFT SHIV

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I LET MY MIND WANDER WHILE FINISHING B-MIX ON VACATION, PLEASE ENJOY

(P.S. - Shout outs to Side Order~ If you'd be interested in seeing me do some Pearlina or Agent-focused content in the lead-up, lmk!)

Callie's squeaking note peaks her audio track a split-second longer than the rest, and then all three vocal channels on the mixer drop to a flat red pellet. Mountains of red-to-yellow-to-green sedimentary stone continue rising across numerous panels, but these too contract as the repeating chorus for "Liquid Sunshine" fades to silence.

Right when the track ends, Marie pulls one scratchy pleather muff of her headset, letting her studded right ear breath. It twitches until pointed straight out.

She always hated this brand.

Soon Marie is using the full set as a neck pillow, and she leans her rolling chair back until the wire to the console runs taut. Her eyes drift across the ceiling, tracing a maze of grout connecting each glossy wood-grain tile.

"Well. That's what we've done so far." Her plush arms cross a loose gray tee, blocking any hope of reading the faded print of some band she adored a decade prior. "Still needs a bit of mastering, but you get the gist."

Marie breaths deeply, imbibing the mix of heated metal, leather seeped in hundreds of puffs of smoke and cup ramen dust, and a hint of kelp tea on the breath of her peripheral companion. She leaves her sandals behind and kicks manicured pink toes over buzzing gauges.

It's a nice reminder that her cousin is out somewhere with a matching green set.

"Dunno how to feel. I think I like it, but it's real old-fashioned, y'know? We haven't performed as 'The Squid Sisters' in so long, I'm not sure anybody's going to care. There's so much new stuff to hear out there, even with Big Man's backing.

"And don't even get me started on the whole 'diss track' idea he's cooking up. It feels so transparent and silly, right? I said, will people see right through this song when they realize it exists for some elusive Deep Cut reconciliation in the future? Like, sure, mend the divide between Inkopolis and Splatsville. For whatever that's worth – if it even really exists in any meaningful way.

"Are we really the best band for that in the first place? Pearl and Marina are more entrenched in the current music scene, and we can get 'em hooked up. I'm sure Captain'd be happy to see us work together on something. Not that she'd admit it."

Marie scratches her nose, all-too aware of the pimple blooming inside her nostril. She'd surely be dealing with that for weeks.

The back of her neck burns as she speaks up again, husky voice more reserved by the hyperawareness of how much space she took up, bouncing off the sharkskin walls of the recording studio.

"What, too much yapping for ya'?"

As Marie swivels her neck toward the next chair over, her lazy posture tenses.

Shiver sits upright, red fingers folded into the shawl of their typical stage attire. The twin studio headset obscures chunks of their face, but not their cheek.

Marie can see a translucent red line running down the pale flesh, ending where the tear ran out of space and dove off Shiver's chin.

"Shiv?" Her voice drops another octave.

No response.

The Inkling clumsily folds her satin black sweats back to her core so she can sit up, nearly unplugging her tether in the process. She turns Shiver's chair as well, facing their dead stare and quivering infinite iris that shed the tear.

"Shiver." Marie runs both hands up the length of Shiver's cheeks, fingertips pushing earmuffs aside. "Hey, are you okay?"

It takes Shiver a beat to crash back to reality. The moment is clear; they blink back a trickle of tears that prick their eyes, and they snort mucous.

They clear their throat, words as weak as their thin-lipped smile.

"Glad to see you care, Boss."

Marie resists the urge to roll her golden eyes.

"Of course I care, shark-for-brains." Her palms squeeze the Octoling's cheeks. "Did something happen?"

Shiver's exposed eye darts away, lingering on the sound-mixing console to avoid meeting Marie's.

"You'll think it's silly," they reply. Pursed lips warp each word.

"Nonsense."

The emphatic rebuttal is immediate; Shiver has no choice but to believe it. Marie releases their face and removes her headset entirely, but continues leaning forward in her chair to listen intently.

"Well," Shiver starts, voice rasping.

They take a few breaths, growing slower and steadier, until they can speak.

"You know how much the Squid Sisters mean to the formation of Deep Cut." They shrug, head drifting this way and that. The shadow cast by their bang drifts alongside it. "To me, specifically."

Marie nods.

Shiver is encouraged.

"You say the song is 'old-fashioned.' I say it's a cold-blooded classic. Like listening to you and Callie in your prime again."

Shiver's left eye sees the warm light of the studio as they wipe a tear off their cheek. The tentacle holds firm to keep it exposed as the Octoling leans in, grasping for Marie's hands.

She lets the bridge hold, swinging her arms to Shiver's beat.

"It felt… More than nostalgic. Like sinking into a warm bubble bath, feeling lavender suds fizzle in your pores." Shiver brushes Marie's hands with their thumbs. "Or diving into a cartoonish ocean of cash, brilliant gold coins as far as the eye can see."

Marie snorts at the more characteristically Shiver answer. They smile, and raise Marie's hand to nuzzle with their oft-covered cheekbone.

"Reminds me of so many good times. Meeting Frye and Big Man. Band practice in our shitty old apartment. Sitting on a rooftop overlooking the Splatlands, sketching silly mask designs. A cold beverage perspiring in hand, my chest burning the first time I walked out in binding, knowing people would see the real me. Like your words saw me.

"All of those memories bathed in gossamer hope. All thanks to this song.

"I think people are going to love it." They drag her hand to their lips, mumbling against it. "They can't not love you like I do, Marie."

The Inkling squeezes her companion's hand until both sets of fingers run numb. Her mouth hangs agape, breathing to keep up bodily functions as her mind spirals, sinking into the rolled-back puppy dog stare of Shiver's dual infinities like… Well…

A warm bubble bath.

She mouths, "Shiver."

Then, she pulls Shiver into a tight embrace. The vice-like grip cuts off Shiver's air with a gurgle, and they struggle to ground their arms around Marie's back without popping back into octopus form.

A long moment passes under the buzz of nearby electronics.

Marie's nose burrows into Shiver's neck. A whiff of tea.

Shiver's chin digs into the grey on Marie's head. A sharp scent of sandalwood.

Marie's fingers curl against the small of Shiver's back.

"We really have to sort out the 'Boss' thing, Shiv." She mutters jovially, words reverberating throughout their slight figure.

The Octoling's body tenses, and they take a deep breath.

"Old habits die hard," they whisper to the tinted glass of the recording booth. "Just wait 'til you hear the lyrics Big Man has kicking around for our next song. You'll be mad at him long enough to give me a bit of leeway."

As Marie's long, wispy laugh trails, her eyes flutter against Shiver's skin.

"Hopefully it's not too egregious, I'd hate to kick him out of the wedding party."

Silence drapes the room as the duo run through wildly different reactions; Marie cringes as Shiver slowly brightens.

They pull the hug apart.

"Are you already imagining us on the alter, Marie Cuttlefish?!"

Marie groans and hides her head in her hands.

Shiver pulls out their fan, using it to cover the sharp-toothed grin of their echoing guffaw.