Agent 38: In The Making

Chapter 24: Ah, Young Love

Eight got off the chair and leaned just a little bit towards Three's face, eyes wide. His once tear-streaked face now looked surprised and somewhat knowing, as if he knew what was coming next. He got off the chair too and leaned towards her face, noses now nuzzling. There was a small moment of disbelief and shock that crossed his face that practically screamed "Are we really doing this right now?". She angled her face so that it fit perfectly in between his nose and mouth, like clicking together the last piece of the puzzle.
     He drew a bit closer, orange locked with opal-white, pupils dilated, cheeks dusted with pink, lips brushing together.
     And there went her caution.
     Eight took his face in her hands as they kissed, a tangle of lips, teeth, and tongue. His hands slid down her body like seducing snakes, coming to rest on her hips. It was like a dream, she'd never felt her head so high in the clouds. In that moment, she realized that this was what she wanted, even though it was forbidden. She closed her eyes and savored the moment, letting his touch sink into her body and soak into her veins, dreading the second that he would pull away. But he didn't. They stayed there for a long moment, before finally pulling away, noses still bumping together. Her hands drifted down to rest on his shoulders and she giggled. Three chuckled a little bit before his eyes went wide.
     "Squit." He whispered. "I shouldn't have done that."
     "I'm pretty sure we both enjoyed it," Eight said. "Wow, that went from emotional to romantic very quickly, didn't it?"
     He laughed in a way that made all three of her hearts melt.
     "I guess it did, didn't it?" His hands reached for her shoulders. "Thank you. I needed that."
     Eight laughed. "The kiss or the cry?"
     "Both! It felt very good, is all I'm going to say." Three said.
     Knock knock knock! Went the door. They both instantly pulled away from each other in alarm as the door busted open.
     Four sauntered in like he owned the place, a few drinks and bags of squid rings in hand. "Hey, guys! The door was unlocked, so I-" He cut himself off when he saw Eight and Three, barely a few inches away from each other, cheeks deep red. His face immediately turned from a smile to a sly grin. "Wow, you both look fascinatingly guilty. Am I, by any chance, interrupting something?"
     Eight subtly walked away from Three, changing her guilty face and forcing the blush off her cheeks, before coming to a stop in front of Four with a strong glare.
     "Not at all. Please, do come into our apartment unannounced, not like anything only for our eyes and ears could be happening at the time." Eight said.
     Now he looked guilty. She heard Three chuckle behind her.
     "Well, that's a snicker I haven't heard in a while!" Four said, changing the subject. "What changed your usually grumpy mood, my friend?"
     Three's smile instantly faded. "Do you always need to know everything, Aaron?"
     Four laughed. "Good to see you too, bud." He held out his hand and Three rolled his eyes with a smile, grabbing it and pulling him into a quick hug.
     "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever..."
     "But actually, did I interrupt something?" Aaron asked, sly grin returning. Three and Eight exchanged a glance with each other. "Yep, I definitely intterrupted something. And I bet it was juicy too, awe!"
     The peppy Inkling sat down on the kitchen chairs, laying down the snacks and drinks he bought. They both sat down on either sides of him.
     "So, Four..." Eight said. "What do you think of my little brother?" At the day of the duel, she'd noticed that Gabriel and Aaron had been sitting awfully close. She was fine with anything that happened between them, of course, but she wanted to know what had happened if he was going to make them spill the beans as well.
     As she'd suspected, Aaron instantly reddened. "If I tell you, will you tell me what happened before I got here?"
     She leaned back to glance at Three. He nodded and subtly pointed to his lips. Eight shook her head up and down.
     "Sure." She said, turning back to Aaron. "You first."
     "Well, I mean..." He said. "We were introducing ourselves at the duel, and I told him I was gay. He said he was gay too, and shared with me how he found out. I thought it was cool, and I mean, he is kind of handsome... Stop laughing at me, Eight! You told me to share!"
     Her giggles came to a slow stop. "Aw, I've never seen someone have a crush on my little brother before! But then again, I don't remember much, so he could've had someone before this, I wouldn't know.
     Three laughed. "I've never seen Aaron this fidgety. He's usually very confident. Must really be bugging him."
     Aaron burst into laughs with them. "What! If a guy is cute, he's cute! I can't help it!"
     "If a couple is cute, a couple is cute, and I'm not going to get in the way of that." Eight said.
     "Speaking of cute couples..." Aaron said. "You two look great together. Spill it!"
     "Um... so," Eight started, twisting her hands together.
     "We might've, kind of, sort of..." Three said.
     "We kissed." Eight blurted. She saw Three press his eyes shut and cover his face with his hands. She stared at Four and waited for a reaction.
     He jumped off the chair and practically started dancing. "I knew it! I knew I was right! From the day I saw you two, I knew it would happen! Yes!" He ran over to Three and yanked him off the chair, shaking his shoulders. "Bro, you finally did it! Someone finally accepted your grumpy moods!"
     Eight laughed. "Four, settle down. You're going to kill him."
     Aaron snatched their wrists and threw open the door, running out, down the stairs, into the Square, through the crowds of Inklings that gave her dirty looks, straight into the Deca Tower. He let go and stopped, panting. "I figured..." Four panted. "We'd celebrate?" Eight laughed.
     They headed into the tower once Four caught his breath, selected their weapons and gear, and started the match.

*Around 3 minutes later...*
     The word "DEFEAT" splatted onto the screen, Lil' Judd smacking his bigger twin with the flag. The word rung in her ears as C.Q. Cumber flashed behind her eyes.
     Test failed Test failed Test failed Test failed Test failed Test failed Test failed
     Eight remembered the beeping of the bag, C.Q.'s deep voice informing her of her failure, the explosion going off in her mind as she let out a surprised, blood-curdling scream that quickly cut off once the ink enveloped her in excruciatingly horrible pain.
     TEST FAILED.
     She crouched down, grabbed her head, pressed her eyes shut, and waited for the same pain that had haunted her nightmares. But it never came. Three tapped her shoulder and she peeked one eye open, only to see him crouched in front of her, eyes worried. Eight popped open her other eye and looked around, expecting to see nothing but black, or a respawn point. But there was nothing.
     "Are you ok?" Three asked, gently grabbed her chin and turning her face to stare at him. His eyes glinted in the sunlight of the Manta Maria stage, deep blue crossed with sky blue in his fiery eyes. Eight scrabbled for her back, expecting the same teal-green inkbag below her tank, but there was nothing there. She took off the inkpack and searched for a hidden compartment, something that would store the explosive ink, but it wasn't there. Strange.
     "What are you looking for?" Three asked, eyeing her with a puzzled face.
     "Um-" Eight stuttered awkwardly. "Back in the Metro, there was a pack of sanitized ink below my own inkpack. If I messed up, C.Q. Cumber would detonate it, and I would be killed."
     His eyes went wide with rage. "What?" He asked, an angry edge to his voice. "So- whenever you did a test, it would basically be risking your life!?"
     She nodded, and then an odd whooshing feeling passed through her body as she stood up and was teleported back into the Deca Tower. Eight wondered how it worked, but didn't exactly want to ask anyone, especially because all the Inklings gave her dirty looks. Four wrapped his arms around their necks and pulled them into a hug. She felt as though this is where she belonged, with her silly gamer friend, mysterious, strong, compassionate boyfriend, and with the Squidbeak Splatoon. These are the people she felt comfortable with.
     These are my people, my squad.

So I kinda wanted to make this a bonding chapter, idk if ya'll are cool with that, but if not, sorry lol
Word count: 1499