OctoSquids (Splatoon story)

Chapter 5 - Under Deconstruction

It was a pretty sunny day in Inkopolis, much clearer than usual. Surprisingly, Plum was not spending any time outside. Since it was the weekend, his parents got him to do some chores around the house, and as expected, he did not really complain. He has already taken out the trash, tidied up his room, and done most of the laundry. All that was left is one last batch, plus cleaning up the floors around the house. He was using a vacuum cleaner to take care of the dirty floors as he was listening to Ebb and Flow from Off the Hook on his headphones. He really enjoyed their music. If it wasn't for them, he would probably still be locked up in his room.

Everything seemed to be going pretty well so far. Plum then noticed a slight movement right outside his window. He proceeded to pause his music and, almost on cue, he heard someone knocking on the door.
"Hey, Plum! Are you in there?", Ridley's voice called out from outside.
"Yeah, come in!", he chuckled as Ridley proceeded to open the door. He noticed that Ridley's Gardening Gear looked more stained than usual. "How's the workshop?", he asked as Ridley proceeded to take off his gloves and put them inside his pocket.
"Today was a bit more loaded than usual, honestly. There weren't too many orders, but do you know how hard it is to repair a Shifty Station?", he told Plum as his eyes widened.
"You worked on a Shifty Station!?", he exclaimed.
"Yes! And with Marina too!!", Ridley exclaimed back with much more excitement, then sat down on the couch and sighed dreamily. "It was like a dream come true...!", he exhaled.

Plum chuckled as he watched his cousin daydream of Marina. It was pretty common to see Ridley like this, so it didn't surprise him, but it is probably the reason why he almost never gets work done at his workshop.
"Anyway, you came here for a reason, right?", he asked as he continued vacuuming the floor.
"Before I say anything, I'm still amazed by that thing.", Ridley said as he pointed at the vacuum cleaner Plum was using.
"The silence of it is deafening, isn't it? Dad helped me design it.", he said with pride, then stopped as he then got lost in thought. "How much would we make if we sold this in mass?", he wondered as Ridley stood up.
"I was going to invite you to Coral Shores Pastries! You know, Rainey's bakery?", he said.
"Oh, yeah! I've been meaning to go one day.", Plum realized as he continued to vacuum the floor.
"Well, we can go now if you rea.......", Ridley's voice suddenly began to get muffled. Plum could barely hear him anymore, or anything else for that matter. Only a blank ringing in his head that only deafened him more.

"Plum?", Ridley asked. Plum suddenly could hear again. So suddenly, in fact, that he jumped a bit and smiled nervously.
"Y-Yeah?"
"Did you listen to me?", Ridley asked, but Plum merely stuttered, not sure how to answer him. "Is it that time of the year again?", Ridley asked again, a bit concerned.
"Wh-What? Nah, it's too early for that. I was just listening to music.", Plum replied as he took off his headphones, despite the fact that he paused his music when Ridley knocked. "Sorry.", he apologized.
"Well, I said that, if you want, I could help you with your chores so we can go see Rainey now.", Ridley offered with a smile.
"That would be appreciated.", Plum agreed as Ridley smiled, and soon after, both of them finished Plum's chores in a matter of minutes.

Plum and Ridley eventually made their way toward Coral Shores Pastries. It was closest to the square than any other bakery, but even then, it didn't seem to get too many customers. The building itself looked pretty new, and there was a goofy, yet iconic face right over the sign. If it weren't for the title of the bakery, young kids would probably mistake this place for a carnival ride. As they both entered the building, the door hit a bell right over the doorway, making it ring loudly to catch Rainey's attention. She was laying her head on her arms with a lazy smile, and she had her arms laying on the counter. Next to her was another employee wearing his uniform, wearing an additional hood over his head and the bakery's iconic face as a mask.
"Hey, boys.", Rainey greeted them as Plum's nose was overwhelmed by the sweet scent of warm pastries and desserts fresh out of the oven.
"This place looks amazing!", Plum exclaimed. The building was pretty empty, but there were some teams enjoying their meals.
"Then you have clearly never been here before.", Rainey said sarcastically as she straightened her posture.