Survivors of Alterna: Best for Last

Chapter 12: Unlikely Friend

Akikta awoke to the delightful herbal smell of soup. He hadn't even realized he passed out until Nakji and Inka shook him from his slumber. Judging from their expressions, they had fun making the clam soup, which turned out to be delicious.

During their meal, Akikta politely asked Inka some general questions regarding Marie. Each time he did, he noticed Inka's mood decline, so he switched it up and asked about both Squid Sisters, which seemed to keep her from getting suspicious.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much of anything new he learned about the idols; aside from the unexpected fact that they were not sisters, but rather cousins.

The information helped ease the guilt spawned from his conscious decision to abduct Marie, but only by a little.

Shortly after eating, Nakji snooped through Inka's fridge out of pure curiosity, a trait she shared with Akikta. She ended up finding half a coconut.

Akikta wasn't sure why, but for most of the day, Nakji was infatuated with the coconut. She wore it like a cap and called it her pride and joy for the next few hours, which the inkling somehow allowed. He elected to call Nakji a Coconut Fiend the entire time she had it on.

Eventually, Inka offered to wash Akikta's and Nakji's clothes while they showered. Akikta jumped at the chance to finally bathe himself, though he was adamant that he and Nakji showered separately.

It was a bit difficult learning how to use the shower. They didn't function like Alterna's, and the soap bottles had unreadable labels. All Akikta could do was take a leap of faith and try a random bottle.

Aside from the familiar smell of heavily filtered water and Nakji scaring the living shit out of him by coming in with his clean clothes unannounced, the shower was nice.

Later in the day, Akikta and Nakji- especially Nakji, grew fond of Inka. She was incredibly friendly, extremely helpful, and even had an artistic side, evident with the art pieces she shared with them. They also learned she was a big fan of everything historical, including humans. Something Akikta found endearing.

The only thing he didn't like about Inka was her inability to stop talking. He quickly discovered that if you let her speak, she'll ramble until the next ice age sets in. But he couldn't blame her. She didn't have many friends. Actually, she only had one.

Inka and Astro were close. They even lived in the same apartment room for a time. But according to Inka, after Astro got his job in the Deepsea Metro two weeks ago, he thought it best to live on the train so he could stop being late for work.

She had no one else to talk to besides Astro, so she must've gotten pretty lonely ever since he came around less.

Nakji didn't seem to care about her endless info dumping, so against his better judgment, Akikta allowed Inka to speak their ears off.

This would continue until the late evening rolled around, allowing the group to gear up for bed. Inka had some spare blue pajamas for Nakji since they fit her. As for Akikta, he had to sleep with his clothes on, which he didn't mind. As long as he got to sleep on something soft, it'd be worth it.

Inka allowed Akikta and Nakji to use the room that once belonged to Astro, which would have been fine if the room had more than one bed.

Akikta opted to sleep out on the couch so Nakji could have the more comfortable piece of furniture. He removed the utility belt, placing it on the table so it wouldn't bother him in his sleep.

Unfortunately, he found his thoughtful decision to be for naught, as when he went to sleep, it was only him on the couch; but when he woke up, Nakji was using him as a bed. Akikta sighed. He couldn't tell if she was the older or younger sister at this point.