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Here are the facts, as she understands them.
Agent 3 left the Deepsea Metro a few days ago, with the help of Off The Hook, Captain Cuttlefish…and Agent 8. The Octoling she attacked.
Callie was found by Marie and the new Agent 4.
Captain Cuttlefish gave her leave, something the Squid Sisters encouraged.
She ruined Agent 8’s life.
Three hasn’t left her apartment since she got back.
Today she’s been staring at the ceiling for an indeterminate amount of time.
Eight probably hates her. It’s not like she blames her though.
The thought of trying to do anything other than watch the sunlight slant across her tiny bedroom fills Three with a nonexistent-bone-deep exhaustion, so she just. Doesn’t. The day creeps along unheeded, and she wallows in her own misery like a sulky teenager. (Which, she supposed she is.)
By her head, her phone buzzed.
It’s enough to break her reverie. Feeling like Atlas, she turned over, reaching for the offending device. The screen lit up, and she blinked at the brightness, her various notifications coming into focus. The one that had made the sound was just some stupid mobile game she hadn't touched in weeks, but she saw a few more below, ones that apparently hadn’t woken her up.
Dream Team
Cal
Hey Three!!! Just checking in!! We’ve been missing you!!!
Mar
also you’ve totally dropped off the map.
Mar
which is usually cool, but cal’s kinda worried.
Cal
Text back when you can!!!
Three hadn’t, of course. She’d still been chasing her own thoughts around in circles. There were more, dated as a few hours later.
Mar
okay, you’re still not responding. that’s less cool.
Cal
If you’re sick or something, can you at least tell us?? ;(((
Cal
We’re both worried!!! ;(((
Mar
text back already.
Wow, if Marie wasn’t denying her concern, it must be serious. Tsundere , she thought before she could stop it. Three’s laughter sputtered like a cold engine, and she tried not to think about what that meant for her.
She got to the most recent messages, and felt her stomach drop.
Mar
okay, we’re not doing this. the two of us are in the area. if you don’t respond in an hour, we’re going to break down the door to make sure you’re not lying in a puddle of your own sick or something.
Cal
Sorry Three! But I’m ready and willing to do so!!!
Three checked the time. 47 minutes ago. Carp.
With a sigh, she typed out a message.
Tee
im alive
Tee
break my door, i end you
Three leaned back, feeling the brief relief of a crisis averted. She has time to at least come up with a good explanation-
Her phone stared buzzing. Dang it.
Callie’s profile picture, some basic shot of her that Three had slapped a cartoonish pie over, flashed on her screen. Her stomach churned, but she still accepted in the end.
“Yea-“ She coughed, her voice hoarse from disuse. “Yeah?”
“THREEWHEREHAVEYOUBEENWE’VEALLBEENSOWORRIEDANSWERYOURPHONE-!”
“Slow down,” she rasped, already pinching the bridge of her nose futilely. The idols may have grown on her since she was fourteen and much angstier, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready for Callie’s enthusiasm coming right off of…whatever that was. Callie continued, the sound slightly staticky in her haste, interrupted by a brief scuffling sound, and Marie’s voice taking over.
“Sorry, she was worried.” Marie’s deadpan tone is much more welcome. Easier to process anyway. “But don’t think you’re off the hook just yet.”
“What about the Squid Sisters?”
“Shut it, that was terrible.” Three smirked, hearing the smile she was trying to restrain, even over the phone. The humor doesn’t last though. “You were radio silent for days, none of us knew what was going on. And after last time...” And suddenly Three felt like the biggest idiot in the world. Callie had been quiet for weeks before she was officially gone, not to mention her own latest escapade, losing Captain Cuttlefish and vanishing into the depths of Kamabo.
“...Sorry.” It’s not soft exactly, but Three tried to make it sound as genuine as possible. “I just… I’m tired, Mar.” It doesn’t begin to encapsulate the breadth of what she’s feeling, but it was a start, and all three of them knew it. There’s a weighty pause as the rest of what she’s not saying presses against her throat, begging to be said.
(The anger, the guilt, the horror, it feels like it’ll drown her sometimes. There’s one other person who might really understand, and by all accounts, she should hate her.)
Callie spoke up. “It’s okay, Three. Take your time, but…” She hesitated. “We’re here for you. You know that, right?”
It's a stupid, simple sentiment. The clichest thing that she could’ve said. So why does it make her want to cry?
“Okay.” She nodded, even though they can’t see her. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Callie parroted. “Text us, alright? Love you.”
The words hit like a punch to the gut. Before Three can do something stupid like burst into tears or admit that she feels anything other than constant confidence, she managed a quick “You too,” and hung up before the call could go any further.
Her phone flopped pitifully from her grasp, the heels of her hands digging into her eyes. Dang it. Stupid Squid Sisters, with their genuine concern for her wellbeing. Why can’t they just let her melt into sludge in peace?
Like everyone else in her life?
Eventually, Three raised her head, looking around her dark room. Feeling disoriented, like she’d never seen the space before, she stood. With hesitant movements, she drew back her curtains, letting the sunlight in.
The sun was high in the sky, and even at this time of day, Inklings and other seafolk were still walking around near the apartment complex, laughing and smiling. It still felt a million miles away, but…
She could go for some takeout.
Flinging on a random jacket and grabbing her still-meager wallet (not eating for two days certainly helped save money), she forced herself outside.
She tried not to think about the bandages still wrapped around her face.
-
“What do you even eat? You’ve never let us into your apartment.” Marie scanned the shelves, a strange facsimile of a boring family doing some boring shopping. “Do you need like...bread? Cereal?”
Three rolled her eyes, making sure to make it as obvious as possible. She knew she could act a bit...eccentric at times, but she still ate normal food like everyone else. With a huff, she shoved past Marie and the basket, grabbing a box of her preferred cereal and dropping it in with an indignant clatter. Marie raised a brow at her, and she raised one right back.
With her usual presence, Callie came stumbling back around the corner, arms loaded with various snacks that probably defied food groups. Marie gave her a withering look as she dumped her horde in, but she wasn’t swayed for a moment. “We’ve gotta get extras for Three! She’s a growing squid!” Her hands barely rested over Three’s shoulders, and she gave Marie her best sad eyes. While she was immune to her cousin at this point, Three mimicked the expression as if on cue, though the bandages that made her look like a recovering anime rival didn’t help much.
It was enough, however. Marie pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, grumbling a quick “Whatever...” As she moved to push the basket past them. Behind her back, the two exchanged a quick fist bump.
As it turns out, not caring for your basic needs has Consequences. Namely, no food in your apartment. Three, as a rule of thumb, hated receiving handouts, and had turned down the Squid Sisters aid on multiple occasions. She was better than that, and had managed fairly well for herself, but desperate times and all that. It helped if she did it like this, accompanying them and making herself as big a pain as possible.
And so it was.
She’d never admit it, but it was a lot of fun. The two of them were just so bright, that in their presence, she just couldn’t find the same shadows she could alone. The thoughts and feelings that haunted her.
(Three had been an only child once, back when she went by a name and not a number. This experience was novel as well, and she’d indulge the fantasy as long as she could.)
Callie, spying something-or-other that had grabbed her attention, dashed ahead to some distant shelf. She reached for a box (were those fruit snacks?), but found herself brushing against another hand. Three watched her jump back, an apology just on the tip of her tongue, when she realized just who the other party was.
“Pearl?”
The short idol quickly shushed her, raising a hand to the back mask that covered the lower half of her face. “Hey, hey! We’re incognito!” Three wasn’t sure that wearing a teal jacket instead of her usual pink, a low mesh hat, and a mask was enough to disguise one of the largest idol groups in Inkopolis, but it was none of her business.
Marina, wearing pink, with a dark beanie that hardly covered her long tentacles, appeared behind her partner, waving shyly. “We just need to grab a few things, and it’s easier not being stopped all the time.”
Marie nodded, leaning on the cart. “It’s nice not being known around the Square, the Plaza can be a nightmare...” Callie nodded in agreement, and even Three had to make a face.
Marina twirled a tentacle around her finger. “I do love our fans, but...”
“They’re cuckoo-crazy with no sense of boundaries.” She opened her mouth as if to protest, but shut it quickly, acknowledging the truth of Pearl’s words. “Anyway, what’s up with you guys? Feeding your agents?” Three spared her a Look, but Pearl just grinned behind her mask.
“Spare me, shortie.” Marie gave her a not-so-gentle nudge, while Callie quickly led Marina into a conversation about concerts and venues and all that idol stuff Three didn’t understand and had no interest in learning. Feeling a bit like a kid whose parents had met a friend in the store, she leaned back against an empty patch of shelf, tuning the chatter out. Though the thought had been a joke, she wished she had brought her DS after all.
Something tapped her shoulder, and now it was Three’s turn to jump. Someone had approached from her blinded right side, and her hand reached for her waist, grasping for a Hero Shot that wasn’t there.
Agent 8 pulled back her hand, looking just as surprised as Three. She smiled apologetically, a tiny toothless thing. “Sorry, I did not mean to scare you.” She cleared her throat, a bit awkwardly. “Hello again, Agent 3.”
Three tried to smile back, but really only leveled out her lips. Oh well, it's the thought that counts. “Hey, Eight.”
The easy response seemed to calm her nerves. Or at least make her look less like a sea bunny about to run for the hills. “How have you been?”
Screams, metal clanging, never-ending beeping like some child’s nightmare hospital. Teal discharge from her eye, the horrible thought of TARTAR still lurking somewhere in her mind.
She shrugged. “The usual. How’s the surface?”
That was obviously the right question, given how Eight’s face lit up. “It is incredible! The bright and shining I had always imagined! Marina and Pearl have shown me so much, and I...” She trailed off slightly, then shook her head. “I really should thank you.”
Three frowned. “For-?”
“YO, EIGHT!” Pearl’s delightful voice boomed from behind Three, who was getting really tired of being startled. “You good to go?!” Eight nodded, then turned back to Three.
“The next time?” She grabbed Three and pulled her into the briefest of hugs.
Before she could formulate a response or even return the gesture, she was already moving on, running back up the aisle towards Off The Hook, saying their goodbyes to the Squid Sisters. In what felt like no time at all, Callie was back, standing in line with Three. “Home stretch now, huh?” She frowned when she didn’t respond. “Yoo-hoo? Three?”
Three blinked, feeling like everything had gone out of focus again. She hummed, turning to Callie and nodding, expression carefully blank. Hopefully, they couldn’t tell the difference. As they continued their trek, thoughts raced around her head like a swarm of Tentakooks.
Thank her? Thank her? What could she have possibly done to get thanks from Eight? All she had done was attack her for no reason, get her stuck in the Metro, then barely free her in time to escape a death trap.
It just...didn’t make sense.
But then again, what about her life did? Agent 8 was just one more enigma.