Two Straws

Eight|| Blueberry Yogurt

"So, you want to have a threesome with Bobble and some girl named N-Pacer?"

I blushed, giving Headphones a confused smile. She let out a sheepish chuckle, "You make it sound like it's horrible."

I shook my head, "Not horrible. It's just... Bobble doesn't seem like she's ready for that. She doesn't really seem like she will ever be ready for that."

Headphones looked down into her blueberry yogurt.

"You're right. Us having 'alone time' is one thing and don't get me wrong we both enjoy it, but I guess a threesome is a little too intense for her," the blue inkling said.

"Well you two already have everything figured out, yeah? You two have already established a stable relationship, she doesn't want that to go away. It's kinda cute really, she wants you to herself," I said thoughtfully, chewing on my straw. "Jeez, didn't think you were some expert," Headphones chuckled.

I giggled before shaking my head, "Not an expert."

She hummed and stole a sip of my strawberry milkshake. "Not bad," she nodded.

"So you gonna tell me why you were kicking Salmonid ass without your brother?" I let out a long sigh.

"Got into a bit of a fight, that's all." She placed her elbows on the table and leaned in. "I'm listenin'," she insisted.

"There's this girl—"

She squealed, "You both have a crush on her!"

I shook my head, "No, that's not the issue. I talked to her once, almost a year ago. She kinda just disappeared, no one knew what happened to her. She was charming, pretty, funny, she was really the whole package." I paused, scrunching my face. "Go on."

"A month or so ago, I saw her again without even realizing it. This person... looked vaguely like her. But I didn't even realize it. We've been hanging out for a while now, we started a band with my brother and her friend. Earlier today, I found out it was really, y'know, her. I couldn't believe it, Hachi already knew. She told him not to tell me. I'm sorry there's a lot of gray area in this explanation but I can't reveal a lot of things," I mumbled.

"Can you tell me the difference between her then and her now?" Headphones asked.

I'd only known her for about an hour but I could already tell how intrigued she was; her light blue eyes sparkled with interest, her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, her posture made me feel the need to straighten my back, and her lip was being bit, still trying to take in all the information.

"When I had first talked to her, she had this beautiful and bright debonair smile that could sweep any squid or octo off their feet. Her eyes were as orange as fire, you could see the recklessness. She had a green scar over her right eye, made her look pretty badass. When I saw her again, she was different. Her tentalocks were pulled back into a ponytail, she had dark bags under her eyes, her green scar was gone, her eyes were a dark red, she was so different."

The blue inkling stared at me for a while in curiosity. She let out a small chuckle after a few seconds.

"What?" I asked. "Jeez, you're oblivious. Are you sure you didn't know it was her? 'Cause to me, it sounds like you were trying to convince yourself that it wasn't her. You didn't want to accept the fact that maybe she wasn't as perfect as you might have thought," Headphones suggested.

"I still think she's perfect," I insisted. "Just not your knight in shining armor like she once was?" she asked with a laugh.

So, maybe Headphones was right?

"I genuinely didn't believe that it was her," I insisted.

You're lying to yourself.

"I'm just interpreting it how I see it," Headphones said, "No need to get all defensive on me, it was just a theory."

I slouched down in my chair, almost in defeat.

"Oh, give me your number. I like you, you're fun," Headphones smiled. "Sure," I said, grabbing her phone to enter my number.

Shi frantically ran into the cafe frantically, almost slipping as she did so. "Nana! Are you here!?" she screeched.

"This can't be happening," I groaned. "What do you want?" I asked.

"Oh thank cod, you're here. We've been looking for you everywhere," Shi said in relief and slight exhaustion.

"Who's this?" the yellow inkling asked as she sat next to me and stole a sip of my strawberry milkshake.

Nothing new there.

"This is Headphones, met her during a Salmon Run shift," I briefly explained. "Headphones, this is Shi, a friend of the girl I was talking about," I said. "Ah," Headphones nodded.

"I have to take you back to my place," Shi said.

"Wh— No. I'm going home," I protested.

I stood and jumped over the booth since Shi was blocking my way. I headed out the door.

Shi came stumbling out of there in pursuit. "Dude, c'mon. I have to, Hachi is gonna beat me to death with his nails if I don't," Shi said.

"I'm not afraid to use force," Shi snarled suddenly, stopping in her tracks. I scoffed and turned towards her. "Yeah, how about no?" I turned around.

It all happened so fast.

She somehow got me in a bear hug; slinging me over her shoulder as if I were weightless.

"Sorry," Shi mumbled before carrying me back to her apartment. She stayed silent all the way there. She meant business.

Within the short time we spent together in the silence, I realized why Marie had hired her as Agent 4; under all her baggy clothes, she was strong. She seemed lazy but her determination was as sharp as my eyeliner.

"We're back," Shi called when she stepped into her apartment. Hachi and Sango immediately came
running to see us. Shi groaned, "Go sit on the couch, you chronics."

She set me down on the couch rather carelessly next to Hachi.

"Alright, family therapy begin."

•

sorry, extremely short chapter but i needed to post bc it's been like months already jesus

-emo onceler