The sun was setting across the city, casting long shadows as the golden hour was coming to a close. The warmth of the spring day fading into the stillness of the approaching darkness.

(Y/N), Bobble-Hat and Bamboo-Hat sat outside a cafe, near where Spyke was glued to his laptop. They were hanging out, which was rare as usually at least one of the group of best friends had other things planned whenever a time was set. But, this perfectly free evening signalled a much-needed girl time.

"So," Bamboo took a long sip of her Very Berry Smoothie, "what was Army's face like after he realised he was beat by a team of almost all girls?"

"And Bapa." (Y/N) corrected.

"I said almost! Anyway, was he mad?"

"He's always mad, silly!" Bobble giggled as she lightly punched Bamboo in the arm.

"Actually, he complimented us and, come closer-" (Y/N) leaned into the table, lowering her voice to a whisper; "He smiled."

The other two gasped, mouths falling open and eyes wider than saucers. "Close your mouths, you might catch flies." (Y/N) smirked, pushing their jaws closed. "He even suggested another battle!"

"Woah. I've never seen Army smile! It must be weird." Bobble-Hat said, laying her head on her hands. Her companions only stared at her strangely.

"Oh! That's not what I meant. I bet he has a wonderful smile, I-I was just thinking about how rare it is, y'know, to see it." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"..." The awkward silence grew, and to escape it everyone played with their drink.

"Oh, and I met someone," (Y/N) said quietly as she swirled the straw around in her iced tea.

"Nice. What's their name?" Bamboo-Hat took a long sip of her smoothie.

"His name is Aloha." Bamboo spat out her drink, whilst Bobble's permanent smile widened.

"I know Aloha! He's sweet. He and Army are both in the S4, as well as two others I don't know if you've met." The cheerful inkling said as Bamboo-Hat regained her composure.

"I know Aloha too, he's okay. Skull is better though." She whispered the last part, even though Bobble knew about her crush on the S+ ranked inkling.

"Is he the one without eyebrows? I also met him, but briefly." (Y/N) recalled the few words that Skull had said to her, and decided against sharing it with the group. She didn't think they would understand it any more than herself. "Wait, do you like hi- YOU DO!" Bamboo blushed as realisation dawned on (Y/N).

"Okay, okay. It's true. But shush up about it, okay? It's kind of embarrassing!" Frantically looking around the square, Bamboo turned a shining yellow-green from her tentacles to her toes.

By now, the sun had sunk far below the horizon, dusk settling in for the night.

"This was nice, ladies. But it's getting late, so we should call it a day and hit the hay." Stretching, (Y/N) chuckled at her own rhyme before abruptly standing up.

"Woah! Watch out Pearl, (Y/N) is coming for your title with some fresh rhymes!" Bamboo joked, also getting up from her seat.

And as the three friends parted,

the only life left in the square were two unused napkins, tumbling in the evening breeze, dancing through the silent city.