OctoSquids (Splatoon story)

Chapter 8 - No pain, No gain

Plum's morning was quite an unusual one today. After finishing his morning workout, the OctoSquids and the Inkling Brigade invited him to spend some time at Coral Shores Pastries. Of course, he couldn't say no to that. He really loved the sweets that they sold there, but was stuck doing additional chores and helping his parents with paperwork, now that they are working from home. They still had their previous jobs, but their tasks were changed drastically, now that they didn't have much equipment from the lab or the hospital.

Eventually, though, Plum finally finished his chores, helped his parents and made his way straight to Coral Shores Pastries, where he found Rainey, Alex and Maria behind the counter, along with a masked Murdoch, as well as the rest of his friends sitting on a table close enough to the counter, so Rainey and company could engage in the conversation and work at the same time.
"Hey, Plum! Help us settle a bet!", Calder called out as soon as he noticed him, but Ridley seemed to be a bit alarmed as Plum approached them.
"Come on, Calder! That's not important! It probably isn't gonna happen, anyway!", Ridley insisted.

Plum chuckled a bit as he made his way toward the table they were all sitting on.
"What's going on?", he asked.
"We're having a little debate.", Moray answered him as Douglas crossed his arms
"Calder says Ridley would freeze up if Marina were to ever walk up and talk to him. I say it's probably true.", Douglas explained a bit.
"I say he'd go for it! Probably go and ask her out on a date!", Moray teased Ridley as he was seen blushing.
"Oh, come on. That's a bit too straightforward, isn't it?", Ridley commented as Calder slammed his hand on the table.
"Dude, you would totally freeze up if Marina even made eye contact with you!", Calder exclaimed.
"What are you talking about!? I never freeze!", Ridley retorted with pride.

"You two also never seem to keep your voices down!", Alex complained to both of them as he continued working.
"What do you think, Plum?", Moray asked as she tried to get closer to him, but Plum saw Douglas's confused and skeptical look towards her.
"Well, I would honestly say he'd talk to her normally. I mean, he did help her fix a shifty station, right?", he explained as Calder's eyes widened.
"He WHAT!?", Calder exclaimed again, but an Inkling Squid plushie smacked him in the face.
"What did I just say!?", Alex complained again.
"Yep! That means you owe me some coins.", Ridley gloated as Calder groaned, handing over a handful of cash.

Moray picked up Alex's Squid Plushie.
"Alex really likes to carry that thing around, doesn't he?", Plum pointed out.
"Yes, he does! It's his favorite.", Moray answered as Douglas shrugged.
"Too bad he can barely lift it to save his life.", Douglas remarked as he was smacked in the face with it by Moray.
"Douglas, don't talk about him like that!", Moray complained.
"What!? It's true! Sure, he can lift the plush with no problem, but he can barely throw a punch. He can barely even lift my roller.", Douglas retorted in his defense.
"Oh, come on! He can't be that weak.", Plum tried to defend Alex, but as if it was on cue, he heard a thud somewhere over the counter, and right after, Alex's groans of struggle.
"Help!", Alex called out as Maria casually walked up to Alex and seemed to have picked up a large sack filled with what he could assume was flour. After Maria lifted the sack and laid it on her shoulder, Alex stood up right after. Did the sack fall on him? Plum slowly turned back at the conversation.
"I'll just pretend that did not happen.", Plum said ironically.

Moray giggled at the blunder, then headed to see if Alex was okay, but while Ridley, Calder, and Douglas continued talking to each other, Plum began to think. He only noticed now that Alex was not the fittest, and in other circumstances, he probably wouldn't have minded. But now that they have so much going on, with Diesel, their fight with Athena not too long ago, and the probability of a certain Leven pulling the strings, it might not end well if Alex were to be put in a fight like that. Even if he and Plum weren't too close, Plum still considered him a friend, and he really cared about him. Besides, if he could help him out, they both might even grow closer.