Sparkling Quartz

Love in Hiding

OK RLLY IMPORTANT DETAIL I FORGOR: quartz's squidmas takes place after broken quartz (without spoiling that book) but before sparkling quartz...idk if i said this in chapter 1 lmaoo

enjoy this very gay chapter 💞

"WAKE UP SLEEPYHEAD!" Celeste shouted through a megaphone while laughing. Quartz sprung awake and glared at his sister standing by his bed. "You're as evil as Ember sometimes!" he groaned. Celeste winked. "You're evil for not waking up on time for that date!"

"My what-" The octoling boy's eyes widened as he slowly turned his head towards the clock. It said 11:30am. The date is at noon. "SHIT!"

Quartz threw his blankets off the bed and ran out the room to try throwing together a somewhat presentable look. "Damn it, damn it...DAMN IT!!!!!!" he yelled, catching Haru's attention. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"I'm running late!" answered Quartz, his mouth full of toothpaste. "Could you maybe hold back Dad Ceru so he doesn't get all overprotective?!" he pleaded as he speedran his morning routine. "Of course I will." smiled Haru.

When he finally finished up, Quartz ran out the door and dashed down the street to find them. "H-Hey..." he panted in exhaustion. "Am I late?"

"Right on time." smiled Kai. "Did you sleep in again?"

Quartz blushed. "I was having a nice dream, okay?"

"Oh really? Were we in it?" asked Bay. "Shut up." scoffed Quartz. "I know damn well you were gonna turn that into a way to fluster me." he sighed. "You're no fun..." sighed Bay.

"We should go watch some turf wars!" suggested Kai. "Rebuilding a team is almost like starting fresh, so we should take notes."

"That's what nerds do." sighed Bay and Quartz, who looked at each other when they realized they jinxed. "But if Bay doesn't like it, then I'll love it." winked Quartz. "Besides, Heliodor could use those notes a lot..."

"Can't say no to a cutie~" shrugged Bay, kissing Quartz and taking his lovers' hands. They began their walk to the lobby. Quartz was once again reminded of the days he met them, both events being related to turf war. He felt a smile form on his scarred face.

"If it isn't the rat." growled a familiar voice.

Quartz's smile instantly faded. "I'm ready to fight you this time, asshole."

"I bet it's easier to fight without that pink weight pulling you down!" shot back Touma. "HE'S NOT JUST A WEIGHT!" shouted Quartz. "You're too unloved to know anything about protecting others!"

Touma nearly froze at the remark. "U-Unloved..." he muttered before clenching his fist. "WHY THE HELL DO I NEED TO BE LOVED?!" he shouted. "Friends, lovers, family, pets...THEY'RE ALL DISTRACTIONS!"

The peach octoling punched Quartz to the ground, but the purple octoling got right back up and pulled out his mini splatling. "I-Isn't it illegal to just pull that out?!" panicked Kai. "I don't care." responded Quartz. "I'm winning this fight."

Meanwhile, Heliodor finally woke up from the best sleep he's had in years. "Quartz must have gone on his date already..." he thought. "I really want to keep exploring Splatsville though. Maybe someone else could take me?"

The pastel pink octoling left his room and began looking around the house. Celeste was nowhere to be seen, but she was clearly out shopping since her favorite bag was also missing. Cerulean and Haru left a note in the kitchen about how they had to run to Inkopolis to find a specific store. Akari likely went with one or the other.

Heliodor frowned. "I could go myself, but..." he sighed. If he was out there alone, Touma or his father could easily catch him if they found him. "I've been able to get away from them for all this time, what makes this any different?" he asked himself.