Marina's cacophonous scream was like the sonic shriek of a killer wail amped all the way up to eleven. It could be felt reverberating throughout everyone's elastic limbs, wiggling their forms with minute vibrations.
So raucous and irrationally hysterical was it that everyone within earshot quickly slammed their hands over their ears, physically wincing as the muffled screech pounded at their heads. After what felt like an eternity, Marina finally calmed down, eliciting a sigh of relief from everyone as they let their hands down, though she remained no less distressed about Shiver and Tres's predicament, curious as it was.
Marina was flush with a bright turquoise hue, her natural coloration becoming even more saturated and luminous than usual. It was even pulsing sporadically with a dull glow. Her wide-eyed, horror-filled expression spoke volumes of her current emotional state as she slowly raised a shaky finger up to Shiver, attempting to speak between rapid sputtering breaths but found it difficult to form the words, let alone a coherent sentence.
"S-Shiver!" She rasped, voice raised several octaves. Then, from seemingly out of nowhere, she broke out in her native octarian tongue; a harsh sounding language with a great emphasis on hard consonants and trill undulations between syllables. "Ymg' quaf tn'Ta! Ymg' quaf tn'Ta! (Your tentacle! Your tentacle!)"
"Huh? My tentac- Huack?!" Shiver muttered bemusingly before choking on her own spit, she felt her voice die in her throat as her eyes wandered over to the intimate connection formed between her and Tres. There it was, exposed for all to see, her tentacle stretched over and clinging to the back of Tres's neck as it wriggled and writhed enthusiastically in contact with his skin.
A deathly chill ran up her back, the color drained from her face leaving her even paler than normal. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks and her hearts began to beat wildly with her chest. She could feel a panic attack come on.
"Wait, wha- Ha! Oh, ho, ho!" Tres yelped, finally registering Shiver's tentacle rubbing up against his neck, squelching and squirming excitedly. He fidgeted under her touch stifling the laughter that threatened to escape his lips at the ticklish sensation. "Ah! Shiv, hold up- Whoa! Heh, stop it, It tickles!"
"Tres! No, no, no!" Shiver exclaimed, frantically yanking away her tentacle from Tres with a wet pop sound. She stumbled away backwards, feeling deeply mortified at what she had unknowingly forced upon him. Just like Marina she slipped into speaking Octarian to cope with the shock, gibbering mad nonsense as she fell to her knees. prostrating herself in a fearful display of penitence. "Yg' mgepahn nahk ah'gohta! Y' Dqang je wanI'vetlh, Chev'v! (It was an accident! I didn't mean to, I swear!)"
The scene unfolding before the group was a peculiar one. Unlike Marina, who acted as if she just witnessed bloody murder, the others were more bewildered than they were judgemental. It was clear that they were missing some very crucial context, something that only Octolings were aware of. It was obviously a touchy subject to Shiver and Marina if it could shatter their calm demeanor like a hammer to glass and make them act crazy.
"Uh..." Tres gawked at Shiver, he'd never seen her act like this before. She was always so cool headed and in control, to see her break down like this in front of him was jarring. He rubbed at his neck awkwardly, tracing the large rings that were suckled onto his skin. "C-calm down, Shiv. It's not that bad, the marks will go away."
"Qo'! (No!)" Shiver pressed her forehead against the ground, visibly trembling. "Y' G'ep mgeph N'gh'agtl ta'! Y' ah Mu'tlhegh'e' qo' Hoch! Y' batlhDaj jIV'Ha! (I have committed a grave deed! I am not worth your breath! I am honorless filth!)"
"Pearl, what are they saying?" Marie whispered to Pearl.
"How the heck should I know?! I don't speak Octarian!" Pearl whispered back loudly.
"Marina's your best friend. You've known her for years, haven't you picked up a few things from her?!" Marie frowned.
"She doesn't like speaking in Octarian around me, or any Inkling for that matter out of fear of being ostracized. She made a point about it and I've respected that ever since," Pearl grumbled. "Look, that's just how it is, okay!? And besides," she gestured to the quivering Octoling on the floor sputtering unintelligible gibberish. "Is that a language that you can casually pick up context clues on?"
"...Point taken," Marie sighed. More than ever she was fully appreciative of the fact she had turned Deep Cut down gently about being their boss. If she couldn't deal with a total meltdown like that how could she be expected to handle banditry and exorbitant business expenses?
Shortly after, Marina rushed over to Shiver and peeled her from the floor, pulling her up and into a comforting hug as she hurriedly dragged the both of them backstage. She bowed apologetically the whole way through and was muttering something beneath her breath as they excused themselves, a repeated phrase or mantra. "Shha'N'thnK A'ktl, shha'N'thnK A'ktl, shha'N'thnK A'ktl. (Shelter us from the storm, shelter us from the storm, shelter us from the storm.)"
Tres, snapping out of his shock induced stupor, tried to run after them shouting, "Shiver, wait! I'm-!" only to have the door slam in his face at the last second, grinding him to a complete halt. "-sorry." He stood there dejectedly, wondering what it was that had gone wrong between them so suddenly. Turning his head, he could see that the others were just as confused about the situation as he was. "Did... Did I do something wrong?"
"I... I don't think so?" Frye blinked. "I've never seen Shiver act like this before."
"That goes double for me," said Pearl. "I mean, yeah, Marina's had her moments but they've never been that bad. It's like she was a whole 'nother person, and that's pretty whack yo."
"She's gonna be alright, right?" said Kuki, scratching her head.
"I hope so," Tres murmured, instinctively petting Little Buddy for comfort, something he often did when he was worried. Little Buddy chirped in delight, oblivious to everything that had transpired around him during the last five minutes.
Meanwhile, Callie was having an internal crisis of her own in the back.
She had anticipated a lot of things sending Shiver to Tres; maybe one of them would act awkward, maybe both will have trouble spitting it out, or maybe they'd admit their love for one another in a heartfelt confession and start making out on the spot, but she sure as shell didn't expect a freakout from Shiver, let alone Marina.
It went from zero to a hundred real quick and she didn't know if she could live with herself if she had a hand in jeopardizing true love. Silently, she resolved herself to right this wrong however she can.
A loud crash could soon be heard from behind. The doors down the opposite end of the hall swung open wildly as Agent 4 and 8 paraded onto the scene, tensed with weapons drawn and at the ready.
"We heard a scream!" said Quattro, custom dualies in hand.
"Is everyone okay?" 8 asked, clutching his modified octoshot.
Everyone exchanged worried glances with one another. This was going to be an awkward conversation.
Marina watched concernedly as Shiver paced back and forth backstage, gripping her twisted hachimaki tightly in her hand as she made perfect five pace steps before turning and performing another five paces in rhythmic succession. Distressed as she was, her innate sense of perfectionism wouldn't let up even when she was at her lowest. It was about the one thing that kept her from completely breaking down into hysterics.
"It's over..." Shiver muttered beneath each harried breath. "It's over. He trusted me. Tres trusted me with every fiber of his squiddy being and I... I betrayed him! I violated our sacred trust, our friendship!" Her face twisted into a grimace. She let go of her headwear and furiously pulled at her free tentacle, glaring at it with the fury of a thousand suns. "You! This is all your fault! All your fault!" She seethed before being overwhelmed with remorse. She slowed to a stop, weakly whispering, "All my fault..."
"Shiver," Marina began, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Please, take a deep breath and calm down, you're running yourself ragged."
"Calm down? How can I calm down?!" Shiver snapped, looking away. She faced the mirrors nearby, loathing the scornworthy figure that stared back at her. "When she's the cause of my misery! She's supposed to be in control, but her lapse in concentration has cost us dearly! Oh, I've never been more humiliated in my life!" She buried her head in her hands, choking back quiet sobs. "I didn't mean to perform the 'suckling' on him..."
"Shh... It's alright. It's not the end of the world, I promise," Marina cooed, rubbing at her back as she hummed a soothing melody. She patiently waited for Shiver's mood to even out, giving her all the time she needed to come to grips with everything that's transpired over the last half hour. Marina sympathized with her, the pain and humiliation for such folly was not so easily endured, even for someone as strong and proud as Shiver.
After some time, Shiver finally managed to get a hold of herself. Her breathing steadied and she stopped shaking. She was back in control again, for whatever good it was worth.
"It's salvageable, you know? I know it looks bad but have some faith in yourself and our friends," Marina explained. " Look, we can play it off as an accident and I'll try to smooth things over with the others. I'll come up with some kind of explanation, they don't have to know about the suckling. As a fellow Octoling I won't allow you to be subjected to that kind of terrible stigma."
"A-accident, right. That's what it was, just an unfortunate accident," Shiver breathed. "Thank you, Marina. I don't know how I would've gotten through this without your help. Maybe I can still turn this around."
Marina smiled warmly, hugging Shiver. "It's no problem, we Octolings gotta stick together."
"Heh, you're not so bad, Marina Ida," Shiver returned the hug. "You know, for a former Octarian grunt."
"Hey, not all of us come from a foreign clan of noble Octarians shark tamers like you do, Shiver," Marina joked as she pulled away. "Look, it's been a rough for you. You should probably retire for the night, you're still fragile after all that. And maybe keep away from Tres for a while, just until things cool down."
"I... I could definitely use some sleep right about now," Shiver nodded. "I, uh, guess I'll head out then. Sorry for making a mess of things."
"It's okay. And like I said, you'll get through this. Just stay positive," said Marina as she helped to guide Shiver out of the studio. "I'm just kinda bummed you didn't get to see your new outfit though. It's a gorgeous blue kimono with snowflake studs. It would've looked perfect on you..."
Silence fell as the two left the backstage area. For a brief moment you could hear a pin drop, only to have the quiet be broken by the sound of a toilet flushing, followed by the rushing water of a sink and jaunty whistling. The door to the restroom then swung open as Big Man stepped on out, feeling like a new manta ray. He had his signature smile on his face and a spring in his step.
"Ay, ay. (Ah, I feel five pounds lighter.)," Big Man sighed elatedly. "Ay! "And my fins are shiny!) Ay, ay, ay. (There's really nothing like practicing good hygiene.) Ay, ay? (Though, I wonder what that was all about?)" he wondered aloud. "Ay, ay. (What's a suckling?)"
"...And that's what happened," Frye concluded her long winded explanation. She crossed her arms and nodded. "It was kinda weird."
"Weird?" Quattro raised a brow. "Sounds like it was a fiasco." He turned over to Tres. "Rookie, what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything!" Tres protested. "We were just having a friendly conversation, that's all." He looked away, rubbing at the rings around his neck. "Everything was going just fine, then Marina screamed and Shiver started wigging out and speaking in Octarian."
"Don't forget about the bowing," Pearl added. "She went straight up old school on you, Neo-3."
"I wasn't going to bring that up, but..." Tres frowned. "In any case, it's like Frye said. It's weird."
"Hey, 8," Kuki called out, addressing the tall boy. "What do you think about all this?"
"Oh! Um..." 8 blinked. He was hoping no one would ask him about Shiver and Marina's outbursts. He didn't like to lie, but under the circumstances he had no choice but to go against his captain's inquiry, much as it pained him to do so. "I-I do not think anything." He shrugged, feigning ignorance as best he could, coming off even more awkward and aloof than he usually does. "Perhaps it is a unique female thing?"
"A unique female thing, really?" Kuki raised a brow.
"...Is it?" 8 asked, his question genuine.
Kuki opened her mouth to speak but promptly closed it as she looked over the rest of her female friends for support. They each pantomimed to her a series of complicated gestures, top secret female code that no male could ever hope to understand. She nodded understandably at their silent replies and turned back to 8.
"Let's change the subject," Kuki concluded.
8 blinked at her response. "But I-"
"Changing the subject!" Callie interjected, pointing to the door. "Look, Marina's back."
"Finally," Marie groaned, turning to Marina as she spoke, "Girl, what was that all about?"
"Er, what was what all about?" Marina flashed a sheepish grin, trying and failing to act as nonchalant as possible.
Marie gave her a look that said, 'really?'
Rolling her eyes, Pearl cut to the chase. "Marina, we all saw what happened. Can you just tell us what happened? Why'd you and Shiver go cray cray all of a sudden? And where is Shiver anyway?"
"Oh! Shiver was under a lot of stress so I told her she should take the rest of the day off," Marina explained. "She's been really wound up lately and I guess something was said between Shiver and Tres that must've triggered her."
"Stress?" Pearl wasn't convinced in the slightest. If anything she was made more suspicious of her best friend. "That's your story?"
"Yeah, that doesn't explain why you freaked out or why it was such a problem to you two," Kuki knitted her brow. She examined Marina's features, noting the tense brow, dusted cheeks and nervous smile. Marina was definitely hiding something, but Kuki decided it probably wasn't worth pursuing. "We're not gonna get a definitive answer out of you, are we?"
"Don't take it the wrong way, captain. I'm just looking out for her and I can't say anymore than I need to," said Marina, hoping that would be the end of it. To her relief, everyone had decided to drop the issue.
"Marina, you're my bestest best friend in this dogfish eat dogfish world. And if you believe keeping a lid on this jar is going to help out our other friends then I'm just going to have to believe in you," said Pearl, being shockingly understanding and mature about Marina's choice. "Don't make me regret this," she quickly added.
"Oh, Pearlie, I knew you would understand!" Marina smiled gently, pulling Pearl into a great big hug. "I'm sorry. I really am, but this is a delicate matter and I can't risk undoing everything by blabbing about Shiver's problem."
"I guess that means we'll just have to pretend this never happened," Callie suggested, hoping to sway the conversation in a more positive direction.
"Hmm," Marie pursed her lips. "Callie's right. Let's let the drama die. I am not opening up that can of worms."
"I hope Shiver is doing alright," Frye said worriedly.
"She's a tough girl, I'm sure she'll bounce back soon enough," replied Marie.
"There's still one thing I need to ask," Kuki addressed Marina, her expression stern. "This isn't going to be a problem, is it?"
"I can promise you that it won't affect any of our activities, professional or otherwise," Marina assured.
Kuki let out a tired sigh but accepted the answer regardless. "I'm gonna hold you to that. Shiver is our best guide to the Splatlands and you're our only IT girl. As captain of the NSS I need you to all be at your very best, no matter what."
"Even when we're singing?" Callie asked.
"Especially when you're singing," Kuki nodded. "Now, let's put this behind us and get back to work."
"I guess that means me and 8 are free to rummage the fridge again," Quattro shrugged, gesturing for 8 to follow him. "My tentacooler better still be cold when we get back."
"Quattro, do you know about unique female things?" 8 asked again.
"Oh, I know plenty. I'll tell you all about them over lunch," Quattro replied, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.
As the group dispersed, Tres was stopped by Marina, who pulled him aside for a private conversation.
"Tres, I need to speak with you, privately," said Marina, rubbing at her arm nervously. "It's about Shiver."
"What is it?" Tres asked, worry evident on his face.
"First things first, I need to say that what happened between you and Shiver wasn't your fault. It was all circumstance and you're not to blame," Marina explained, being as tactful about the matter as she can without drawing any form of suspicion from him. "Second, Shiver is extremely sorry for what she did. It was an accident and she hopes that you don't think any less of her for doing it to you."
"Why would I-?" Tres started, his expression perplexed but he was interrupted as Marina placed a finger over his lips.
"Third, and I'm not trying to sound harsh, but you should probably avoid her for a while," Tres's face fell at that. He had hoped to speak with Shiver, to clear the air between them. It seems that plan has gone out the window. "She's working something out and needs a bit of space. But, I wouldn't worry. Shiver's strong. You'll be back to being friends before you know it."
Without another word Marina bid farewell and returned to the others, leaving Tres with more questions than he had answers. From what he could understand, it was all about Shiver, though for the life of him he couldn't fathom as to how or why. He subconsciously gripped at his chest, his heart ached knowing she was suffering and he couldn't even be there to help. He only hoped whatever happened would come to pass soon.
He was missing her already...
A/N: For those interested, the fictional Octarian language I wrote is actually a combination of two other fictional languages, Klingon from Star Trek and R'Lyehian from H.P. Lovecrafts' Cthulhu Mythos.
Both I feel encompass the aesthetics of the Octarians, the octopus aspect and their war-like presentation in the story mode.
The idea for Seven Day Forecast was inspired by the girl group Fifth Harmony.