It had been three days since Four left for his mission. The Squidbeak was fairly calm, as all the ladies did not have to put up with Four's constant pranks.
Three was awoken by a loud scream coming from Callie's room. She scrambled awake to grab her Hero Shot, and kicked open the door to the pop idol's room.
"What's the problem!?" Three exclaimed, raising her weapon.
"There's- a- BIRD- ON- MY- CHEST!" She yelled as she frantically waved her arms, trying to shoo away the large bird.
Three fired some shots at the bird, coating both Callie and the bird in ink. With a glare towards Three, the bird flew out Callie's window and into the sky.
The remainder of the Squidbeak was now awake, standing outside of Callie's room with confusion plastered on their faces.
"Hey, the bird left a note!" Eight noticed, pointing at the ink-covered paper on Callie's chest.
Wiping some ink off her face, Callie picked up the note and unfolded it, before reading it aloud.
"Dear Squidbeak,
I am simply having the grandest ol' time out here. There is a lot going on, and I'll be sure to tell you allll about the fun I'm having down under. A couple octarians have stopped to say hello to me, which seems a bit silly, but I digress. Hopefully you guys are having the time of your life up on the surface.
Sincerely, Four."
There was a brief moment of silence while everybody looked at Captain, who was turning bright red in anger.
"GIVE ME THAT!" she exclaimed, ripping the note out of Callie's hands. She angrily reread the note before looking up at the rest of the Squidbeak.
Sensing an outburst incoming, the members of the Squidbeak slowly backed away from Captain.
"WHY IS HE SENDING US LETTERS!?" Captain yelled in frustration. "I SPECIFICALLY TOLD HIM FOR NO COMMUNICATION!" She picked up Callie's alarm clock from her dresser and threw it against the wall.
Callie sat terrified in her bed as she watched Captain tear up her room and destroy it.
"Captain, you have to calm down," Three called from another room. "I'm sure he's alri-"
"I KNOW HE'S FINE!" She yelled back. "I GAVE HIM AN ORDER, AND HE ISN'T FOLLOWING IT!"
A loud growl sent the Squidbeak scattering into any other room they could get into. Callie crawled under her bed sheets as the Captain stormed out of the room.
"I'M LEAVING FOR A BIT!" she yelled to the Squidbeak, who were still hiding. "DON'T BOTHER ME!"
A slam of the door shook the entire house and the Captain walked away in frustration. One by one, the Squidbeak cautiously came out of their hiding places, reconvening around the kitchen table. In the chairs around the table sat Three, Eight, and Callie. Marie stood above the table, next to her cousin.
"So," Three began, still in her pajamas. "Four sent us a letter. What did it say again?"
"Hold on, I have it with me," Callie said, rummaging through her pockets. She produced a slightly crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Three.
Three quickly scanned through it before placing it on the table. "Octarians are saying hello to him?"
There was a brief pause as the rest of the Squidbeak were deep in thought.
"Wait, they said hello to him?" Marie asked.
"They said hello to him."
"Seriously?"
"That's what the letter said."
"But this is Four we're talking about," Callie pointed out. "When has he ever taken anything seriously? This is probably just another one of his pranks."
"I dunno. Maybe he's talking in code." Eight said.
"You think he's smart enough to talk in code?"
"Yes! Why do you doubt him?"
Callie sat in silence, stumped by Eight's question. She thought for a few seconds before responding to the octoling. "He just doesn't seem like the type of person to write in codes like that."
Eight rolled her eyes at the purple-tentacled idol.
Three and Marie were silent throughout all this, confused as to why there was even a letter in the first place.
"Wait," Three exclaimed. "Callie, there was a bird, right?"
Callie stared at her briefly before responding. "The one that landed on my chest and was pecking at my forehead? Yeah, there was a bird."
"What did it look like?"
"I don't remember. I was too worried about getting the bird off of me that I didn't recognize it."
As if she had summoned it, the bird flew back in through a window in the kitchen and landed on Callie's shoulder. It was a large, white bird with hints of black scattered throughout. Eight recognized from her studies that the bird was an albatross, and it had taken a particular liking to Callie.
Frozen in shock, Callie let the bird stay on her shoulder while it flapped her wings. Three and Marie broke out laughing at the idol's predicament.
"Well, it looks like it likes you. Quite a bit, even." Three teased. "What're you gonna name it?"
"I'm- not- gonna- name- it- anything!" She sputtered, still processing the presence of the bird.
The bird cawed and pecked Callie on the head when it heard her answer. All of the members laughed even harder, except Eight, and, of course, Callie.
"Maybe you should give it a name," The octoling suggested. "That might calm it down."
"Actually, that might be a good idea," she pondered for a moment before deciding on a name. "Oh, I have one, it's brilliant!"
The Squidbeak leaned forward in anticipation, excited to hear the name.
"It's Four!"
Everyone leaned back and groaned.
"What? I miss him."
"But you really could not have come up with a better name?" Three grumbled. "I mean, seriously, Four?"
The bird cawed when it heard its new name.
"Oh Cod, this is going to get annoying really quick."
"Don't worry, it will be fine!" Eight said cheerfully. "Aren't you the cutest little thing!" She stroked the back of 'Four' gently and the bird relaxed a bit.
"I suppose it will be alright," Marie said, reminding the other members that she was still there. "I'll get some bird food for him when I go out shopping next- say, what do albatross even eat?"
Everyone looked at Eight, who seemed to be their resident bird expert. "Well-" she stammered. "They eat most sea things- like fish, and crustaceans."
Three glared at Eight menacingly. "We are NOT feeding Crusty Sean to this bird." Her finger pointed at Eight's confused face.
"No, no, no- not like that, no, like, shrimps and crabs. From the ocean."
Three retracted her hand and slumped back into her seat. "Ah. I see."
"They also eat, ah, cephalopods…"
All four members turned to look at the albatross, who still sat on Callie's shoulder. It cawed in celebration, as it seemed to enjoy the attention it was getting.
"If that thing tries to take a bite out of me, I will cook it for dinner." Marie deadpanned, still glaring at the bird.
Callie gasped. "Don't do that to Four!"
The bird cawed. The Squidbeak groaned.