Love & Responsibility (Pearlina)

Breakdown

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Chapter 14: Breakdown

Marina looked in the mirror as she puts on her headphones. Her cuts and bruises were not that visible unless you look closely, which she was kinda worried about since there were... very 'observant' kids out there. Taking a look outside, she decided to wear a teal light jacket, quite similar to her signature top but it's not zipped up.

As she put it on, she winced in slight pain as her arm flared up.

"Hey 'Rina! You alright in there?"

"Yes Pearlie, I'm fine. I'll be out in a second." Marina replied.

There was a sound of quick feet, shuffling away from the door for a few moments and then heard them get louder as they return to the door. "Are you decent? Can I come in?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah."

Pearl walks in, holding a first aid kit. "I know you said your fine but I just wanna make sure." She says, rubbing the back of her neck.

Marina smiled at the thoughtful squid and reached her hand out to grab the kit. Pearl grabbed her hand before Marina's hand grabbed it.

"I-I wanna do it, like you do for me too."

Marina raised her eyebrow at the inkling. The DJ appreciated the gesture but she noticed that Pearl wasn't acting like herself at all. Usually Pearl would just bust into her room without permission and would have that look of mischief on her face.

However, since their little incident in the living room, she was a lot more quiet and always had that far away look in her golden eyes. The DJ made a mental note to question her after the news.

Marina sat in her teal bed and allowed Pearl to work on her bruises. As she winces here and there, The tall idol watched the rapper gently clean and wrap the ones that needed to be wrapped. Marina frowned when she noticed that Pearl's face began to turn pink.

Using her other hand, she placed the back of her cool hand on Pearl's forehead, checking her temperature.

What surprised her was Pearl letting out a startled squeal and instantly switching to squid form.

"Pearlie?!" Marina picked up the small squid and held her gently. "What's up with you? I was going to wait until after the announcements to ask but you're really worrying me right now!"

When Pearl didn't respond, Marina sighed and pulled out her phone. Quickly she dials their manager and waits for him to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Gary! Pearl and I can't go do the news at this time... Pearl is acting strange and I'm worried about her right now... Please excuse us for today and I promise we'll be back tomorrow."

"I understand. We'll have SashiMori take over for you guys. However, We can't keep having you guys miss work everyday now..." Gary replied.

"We won't Sir! Things have been pretty complicated lately. We'll be back on track in no time." Marina said, looking down at the disoriented inkling. "I have to go now. Take care!"

Marina hung up and sighed. "Pearl what's wrong? Did I do something? Maybe it was when I accidentally judo flipped you...."

Pearl was finally able to focus on her friend and switched back. The rapper wrapped her legs and arms around the DJ and buried her face into the crook of her neck.

Marina wrapped one arm around her waist and the other holding the back of her head. The Octoling gently rocked them both in a soothing manner.

Knowing the rapper needed this moment, Marina closed her eyes and stayed silent.

Seeing Pearl like this, made Marina's hearts ache. She has never seen her partner look so lost.

Marina felt Pearl shake slightly and also felt something wet slide down her jacket.

"Don't hold it in Pearlie... let it out." Marina said, trying to contain her emotions as well.

That's when the inkling let loose. Pearl let out a choked sob and tightly clenched onto Marina's jacket, allowing more tears to fall.

Despite not knowing what the shell is upsetting the rapper, Marina can just feel her pain as her teal eyes begins slightly tear up.

No I can't cry right now.... Pearl needs me.

Listening to the rapper's cries was the something Marina did not like. Sure, She has seen her cry several times but that was only either because of physical pain, like that one time where she slipped and fell off the stage during a Splatfest or when she loses a game in Uno or Ultimate.

Even then she hated hearing it and wanted to stop them. Not knowing what was wrong with the rapper, made her feel helpless.

Pearl's sobs began to die down to sniffles and hiccups. Marina felt the inkling pull back from her neck and watched her wipe her eyes.

Pearl's eyes were puffy and pink from crying and her nose was running slightly.

"I-I'm sorry about that..." Pearl said, voice raspy from crying.

Marina shook her head and wiped a stray tear. "Don't be. I think you needed that. Come here."

Pearl buried her face into her neck again and sighed.

With her free hand, she tugged off her headphones and placed them at the foot of her bed. She grabbed Pearl's crown and set it down next to her headphones.

Then she held Pearl tightly as she hummed a soft melody. Once she heard a soft snore, she kicked off both of their boots and brought them both more into the bed.

Marina placed a kiss on her forehead and wrapped her arms around the inkling once more.

She looks across the room to see Vian still sleeping and then looks back at her partner.

She's so cute when she is sleeping! Wish I can tell her that though... I haven't even came out to her.

Marina closes her eyes and falls asleep, with a soft smile on her face.