Adjust (Agent 3 x Agent 8)

Woomy #5: Room

"It's getting late," 3 commented, sitting up on her seat and stretching. Her ears drooped and her eyes closed shut as her arms stretched. "I'm almost done," Nova responded, finishing up the last plate that was in the sink. However, it hit the octoling the question as to where exactly he was staying and he perked up. 

"If you don't mind me asking," He started, drying his hands with a little towel. "Where am I staying?"

3's eyes widened, forgetting that he was actually staying here instead of him being a guest. Their eye contact broke with her slowly looking at the sofa. 

"Sofa it is." The octoling chuckled. 

She shook her head no and stood up, motioning with her hand to follow her. Nova obliged, and slowly followed behind. There was a small section of the apartment, turning the corner of the kitchen, with a very small hall with two doors facing each other on opposing walls. The inkling walked up, to the door on their right and turned the knob slowly. 8 peeked over her shoulder, attempting to see inside. 

It was dark, and a pretty small room. But all he could make out was stacks of cardboard boxes. 

"Are you moving..?" He asked curiously, pointing at the pile of boxes as he looked at her. She shook her head no, "Just old stuff." 

They both stepped in, and 3 flicked the light switch on. It was made clear that this is where he was staying but there was no real place for him to rest on. No mattress, no bed, no nothing. Just boxes. At least nothing here looked dusty. 

3 then explained that she recently began remodeling the room, something about a pipe creating a huge mess and damaging the walls, but took it as an opportunity to move things around. She had a temporary bed in the room they stood in. 

Nova's eyes stared at her with a sort of sparkle in them as she spoke. Something about her voice was calming, soothing even. Maybe it was because she was tired, but it didn't sound as stern as usual, like how she had scolded him to put his weapon down earlier in the day. "There's a lot of boxes though," 3 finished, yawning again and rubbing her eye. "I'll help you take them out."

Before Nova could respond, snapping out of his daze, 3 had already walked over to a box and stared at it. It was almost as if she was mentally preparing herself to pick it up. Slowly, she bent down, slipped her fingers under, and began pushing up to bring the box upwards. The wooden floors creaked a bit under each step approaching the small room door. "Is it heavy..?" 8 asked her, watching as she struggled a bit. Shaking her head no, she continued, though it was clear to the octoling otherwise. 

"H-Here," He stepped in front of her, handling the box with care and lifting it off of her hands. "I got it." In the process, his hands lightly grazed hers. Agent 3, caught a little off guard by the sudden action watched him carry it with a little less strain. "Where to?" He asked, maintaining eye contact. 3, cracking the smallest smile with a sigh, pointed towards an empty living room corner. 

She was thankful for his help, but there were a lot of boxes with junk, and many of them were heavy. 3 truly didn't want to continue, her body was already starting to feel heavy and she couldn't think straight. However, she'd feel bad leaving Nova to sleep in the living room couch..

Agent 3 turned back around and walked back into the room for another box, the floorboards creaking a little bit. Nova set the box down, and headed back towards the same room. Though this time he paused in the doorway. 

"3..If you really want to, I can handle it myself."

"It's okay."

8 scratched his head, "I know you're tired 3."

This caught her attention, and she stood straight, meeting the octolings eyes. They sparkled with the innocence she knew since meeting him. Meaning no harm whatsoever with the words he said. 3 attempted to deny it again, but the frequent yawning had given her away. 

"I know you've had a long day," He smiled. "I think you deserve to rest."

3's eyes shifted to the boxes, back to 8, and back to the boxes. Giving a sigh, her ears drooped and she slowly trudged her way back to other bedroom door. Briefly pausing in front of the octoling, Nova could barely make out the words "Thank you, Nova." 

The words gave him a warm feeling, even giving him light goosebumps. It continued to fascinate him how someone so serious still managed to show gratitude. Just earlier today she was just about to splat him, and now they're living under the same roof. 

He wished her a goodnight, to which she nodded back. "You too," She rubbed her eye, opened her bedroom door and quickly shut it behind herself. 

Nova spent the following time moving the boxes back and forth, slowly creating a small pile and emptying the room. At one point, he felt that one of the boxes were in fact bigger and heavier than the rest. It wasn't taped correctly, the cardboard flap waiting to be opened. Nova stared at it, curious about the contents inside. After a quick check of his surroundings, he lifted the flap and peaked inside. There were several weapons, more specifically shooters, all broken, dirty and other damages. He quickly noticed the hint of lime coloring on all of them resembling that of her weapon. 

Another box had opened by accident, surprising the octoling and nearly causing him to drop it, and a small paper had glided out. It landed onto the living room carpet, the opening fold facing upwards to him. "I shouldn't be poking through her stuff anyways," He controlled himself. "I'll just put it ba-"

The flap lifted slightly, giving 8 an insight into the first couple words of the note before the flap covered it. 

"Agent 3," It read, followed by a small drawn heart. "I know we've only been dating for a week-"

The octoling processed the words in his mind as he settled the final boxes. "Is she in a relationship?"

8 fixed his posture when he stood, and faced her door on the way out dropping off the final box. 

"There is so much I don't know about her..." He continued to think about their lack of conversation. "I don't even know her real name. The only thing I know is the remodeling situation really...Hopefully we can get to know each other better."

~ 

There was almost no dust once all the boxes were cleared out, and he was pleased to find much less on the bed covers resting atop of the mattress. With an exaggerated yawn, the octoling jumped atop of the bed, the back of his head landing immediately on the pillow with a pomf. 

The room, empty with nothing but the bed frame and mattress resting atop of the wooden floor boards, was only lit by the moonlight slipping through the blinds of a singular window. The paint on the walls seemed pretty old, some of it visibly peeling. There was no furniture, no anything to consider it a normal bedroom. Agent 8 didn't question it however, "She only intended to use this room for storage.."

After he 'relaxed', the newbie's mind raced, thinking about Inkopolis as a whole, the fact that he met the Squid Sisters, and meeting someone who was willing to take him in and help. His mind lingered on Agent 3, pictured her serious, then the soft smile she had when he asked where to move the initial box. 

"I managed to make her smile.." He whispered to himself. "That's a start to this bond.."

Slowly, his eyelids closed, shutting out the outside world. 8 was tired as well, but it hadn't hit him until he lied down. Gradually, he fell asleep. 

"But maybe she only smiled  because she was tired already..."

~

A.N. Writing these helps me escape my worries...(so does Splatoon 3)

Word Count: 1358