Risks and Rewards (Of a Life so Simple)

Guilt

Four stretched her arms out. Solo scouting, probably extremely uneventful since the Squid Sisters had sung the Incantation personally in every single Kettle now.

It was more of a peaceful mountain trek than any actual attempt to scout. It was peaceful, and empty, and quiet. It got more so every day.

Octavio was secure, and Octarians were venturing out further as time went on.

By this point, it seemed like the only one worth worrying about was Ilkani. But Four had set her to a task so apparently difficult it took up all her focus so she wasn't much of a threat either.

Honestly the Inkling was a little proud of herself. Ilkani was volatile, and nearly attacked her and Three the first time they'd met, and tried a few times since then, but Four had managed so many successful interactions with the other without a hint of violence in any of them! She considered that a win.

Ideally, she would see Ilkani soon. It was still a day or two before the deadline was up, but the Squid Sisters had already finished their rounds so the odds of them showing up again before said deadline was low.

She had no plans to antagonize the other too much, of course. She'd be a hypocrite if she did, considering she still hadn't opened up about her own crush on Marie.

Though...she'd mostly given up on that herself, anyway. She'd accepted that that wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't really that big a deal, considering how good friends they were. That was more than enough for her.

Considering how empty the mountain was, it wasn't too hard to find Ilkani. So far, she hadn't ever been in a Kettle when Four had been looking for her so it was just a matter of wandering around until the other made herself known.

The Octoling was walking in her direction, when she found her. Arms crossed and head down, making it hard to see her expression.

Four smirked. She couldn't stop herself from ribbing her, if only as a greeting. "Hey, there you are! Done hiding from your crush yet or not?"

Ilkani didn't respond. She continued approaching, and now was close enough that Four could tell she was shaking.

Based on their interactions thus far, Four deduced it to be anger. "So you've moved on from deflecting to just ignoring me outright? That's not very nice. I haven't even done anything yet. Have you talked to her?"

Still the other was silent. Four tilted her head to the side. Usually the Octoling would have a snide remark ready after a rib or two, but...nothing.

"...Ilkani? You...you doing ok?" She asked tentatively.

Ilkani finally raised her head. Tears stained her face, trailing down her cheeks. Her beak was clenched tight. She looked like she was trying not to bawl.

Four's chest went tight, and she paled. She had never seen the other...emotional, not like this. She'd cried when she'd been yelling at Meep during their reunion, of course...but this seemed different. It was unexpected, and the Inkling wasn't sure how to respond.

"Oh...oh, geez did it...did it not go well?" She tentatively said, wringing her hands. She had a hard time believing Callie had done this, but...it wasn't like she knew how Ilkani dealt with rejection. From the looks of things, the answer was 'poorly'. "I'm...I'm sorry if I pushed you into this, I was trying to help but I-"

"No!" Exclaimed Ilkani, burying her face in her hands with a choked noise. "This, this isn't, this isn't, this isn't about, about that! I don't care! I don't, d-don't care anymore!!" She shouted. "Why did, did I ever?! Ever care, no, no, it's pointless!" She was trembling even more now, body shaking with the force of her sobs. "No, n-no no, no....!"