Marie POV

Callie and Marie had been hanging out at their old studio in Inkopolis Plaza when Callie received a call that she had to go in to work. So, when Marie was left alone, she resigned herself to do what she typically did nowadays.

She walked up to the front door of (Y/N)'s home, but she had noticed something different today.

The door was unlocked when she got there.

She without meaning to got a bit excited for a moment, but quickly tempered her expectations before walking into the place and immediately looking around.

She didn't see anyone when she walked in, but she did hear some noises coming from (Y/N)'s room.

Marie could feel her heart beating out of her chest now as she approached his room.

When she reached the cracked open door, she pushed it open wide to see inside of it.

What she saw at first surprised her. Strewn around the room, (Y/N)'s stuff had been taken out of their places. And the one behind such an act?

Liz: Oh, you're here. What's up?

Marie: What do you think you're doing?

Liz: What does it look like? I'm lookin' for any sign of where he could've gone.

Marie: I already told you I checked his house.

Liz: Yeah, but I couldn't find anything else, and I thought it was better to check for myself in case you missed something.

Marie: I didn't miss anything.

She said slightly annoyed.

Liz went from squatting down searching his room to standing up.

Liz: True, I can't find anything out of place or any hints at where he could've gone either.

Marie had her arms crossed.

Marie: I told you so.

Liz: Yeah, I just had to be sure. You know how it is.

Marie: Yeah, I get it...

Liz: Anyway, I gotta check out the rest of the house now.

Marie: I thought you were done.

Liz: I was. With his room. Of course that was the first place I'd check, but I'm running out of options here.

Marie: I think you've made enough of a mess of the place.

Liz: Well, I'm soooorry if it gets a bit messy, but I'm trying to find a missing agent here. I get you wouldn't understand something like that.

She said sarcastically while walking past Marie to check other parts of the house.

Marie: I did have to find a missing agent once before if you care to remember that. You think I don't want to find him?!

Liz: I don't know, you don't seem like it. You seem more like you just care about keeping this place clean than you do whether he's okay or not.

Marie: I'm worried too! I want him back all the same.

Liz: Then why are you acting like everything's okay? I tell you there's no sign of him at Octo Canyon and you act like everything is fine. Have you even told Callie yet? Why are you acting like this?

Liz remained calm with her tone while prodding Marie which just aggravated Marie more with her questioning.

Marie: What about you? Have you even tried contacting him?

Now it was Liz's turn to clam up.

Marie felt a bit happy with how she had turned it around on Liz until she saw Liz look down saddened and remembered that this was her friend who was as worried about her friend, as much as Marie was.

Marie sighed at how she had gotten defensive.

Marie: Look I...

She paused and retracted herself back.

Marie: It's not that helpful, but he's probably not in Inkadia wherever he is.

Liz looked up at Marie, confused at her suddenly saying this.

Liz: Is there a reason you think that?

Marie: Either take it or leave it... there's nothing else to go on other than that.

Liz was still confused about a couple of things, but she held her tongue and instead just nodded and stood up.

Liz went to the front door but stopped before leaving and looked back at Marie.

Liz: I'm not sure why you didn't tell me that before, and I don't understand anything going on in that head of yours right now, but if nothing else... you really should tell Callie.

After saying her piece, she left with no response from Marie.

Marie stood there for a moment but didn't make a sound. Instead, she just kneeled down and proceeded to start cleaning up the mess Liz had made of the place.

Marie: I'll clean up the mess for you, don't worry... I'll keep it clean for you...

Eva POV

Eva was currently at Hotlantis, helping Harmony restock some shop items.

Eva: Seriously, who really is looking for some of this stuff?

Harmony: Don't ask me, I don't run the place.

Harmony responded while messing around with a toy she had.

Eva: It was a rhetorical question.

Harmony: What was?

Eva: Nevermind.

She replied while shaking her head.

Eva then heard her phone beep causing her to peek at her phone and check the notification. When doing so, she saw it was a text from the Captain.

Eva: I'm gonna take a quick break, 'kay, Harmony?

Harmony: As long as it gets done.

Eva: Thanks.

Eva then stepped out of the room and decided to see what it was the Captain wanted.

---

Cap'n: You free to talk rn?

Eva: Im @ wrk rn but i can talk

Cap'n: I need your help with somethin

Eva: Nss business?

Cap'n: Sorta?

Cap'n: Its more of a personal matter I need help with but it does relate to the N.S.S.

Eva: If i can help i will u no me

Cap'n: Thanks

Cap'n: I need help finding a missing person

Eva: Woah tht wuz a bit unexpected

Cap'n: You remember how I told you about the other agents?

Cap'n: Well Im looking for agent 4

Cap'n: He disappeared and I dont know where he could be

Eva: & u think he mite b in the splatlands?

Cap'n: I just know hes not in Inkadia

Cap'n: I dont need you to go out looking for him but if you could keep an eye out for him thatd help alot

Eva: Np but do u hav a pic?

Eva: Not like i no wut the guy looks like

Cap'n: Oh yeah one minute

---

Eva then was left waiting a minute. She was just kicking her feet around waiting for her to send the message.

Just when she thought something might've happened, she finally got another message. And when she did, she got quite the surprise.

What she was looking at was a picture of the Captain wearing her Captain's hat, and an outfit she wasn't familiar with that had a yellow construction vest over a black jacket and matching shoes to go with them. Next to her was (Y/N) wearing an outfit she also hadn't seen: a yellow jacket with snowboard boots and a glowing headset. He had his arm wrapped around her while she looked so surprised and happy.

She was so surprised she didn't respond for a moment letting the Captain message a bit more before she finally snapped out of it enough to respond.

---

Cap'n: [insert picture here]

Cap'n: Thats him in the photo next to me

Cap'n: Also if you do see him dont tell him Im lookin for him

Cap'n: Just let me know where he is

Eva: Nice pic

Cap'n: Thanks

Cap'n: Its from when I got promoted to Captain

Eva: Y shouldnt i tell him ur lookin 4 him?

---

Once again, the Captain had gone no contact with Eva after she asked that question, leaving Eva more confused than before about what was going on here.

---

Cap'n: Just dont please

Cap'n: I did say it was a personal matter

---

Eva trusted the Captain, but she also was clearly leaving her in the dark on the situation right now, and with it being a friend of hers she was being told to "look" for, she just felt that this situation left too many questions for her, and the "don't tell him" part didn't sit right with her.

Eva: Please forgive me for this later, cap'n...

She said out loud to herself.

---

Eva: K

Eva: Ill b rite on it

Cap'n: Thank you

Cap'n: Like I said no big deal just look out for him

Eva: Ofc

---

Eva then shut her phone and put it away.

She had questions and she knew exactly where to go to get some answers.

Harmony: Hey, uuuuh, are you gonna get back to stocking the rest of the stuff?

After work. She knew exactly where to go to get some answers after work.

~~~

(Y/N) POV

Shiver: This just in, that makes another week that "Big Betrayal" is the number one song!

Frye: BOOM!

The two high-fived while Big Man was just left pouting with his fins crossed.

Frye: Come on, Big Man. Why ain't you celebrating? A song you worked on is once again number one!

(Y/N): I think he's just upset that a song bullying him is so popular and everyone is listening to it.

Shiver: It's not bullying him.

Frye: Exactly, he just needs to stop pouting already.

Big Man: Ay! (I am not pouting!)

He said while pouting.

Frye: Come oooooon.

She said while happily putting and arm on his back.

He turned his face away from her and kept pouting.

Shiver: Come ooooooooon.

She said while happily putting an arm on his back from the other side.

He once again turned his face to face away from both of the two and kept pouting.

(Y/N): Come oooooooooon.

He said while happily throwing his arms over both sides of his face.

Big Man just sighed realizing the three weren't going to quit.

Big Man: Ayyy... (Yayyy...)

Frye & Shiver: That's more like it!

(Y/N): Good on ya, Big Man. You did a great job under the conditions that were set for you.

Big Man: Ay..? (I did, didn't I...?)

Shiver then appeared over Big Man's side once again.

Shiver: So good in fact, I've managed to set something up.

Frye perked up at the sound of this and rushed over to the other three.

Frye: Ooh, is a catering company coming?

Shiver: No, it's-

Frye: Is it an unlimited supply of cookies?

Shiver: No, i-

Frye: Oh wait, I know, is it-

Shiver: Frye! It's not food-related!

Frye:  . . .

Frye pursed her lips and went silent.

Shiver: I set up a concert performance for us.

Frye: No way!

Shiver: Yes way!

Big Man: Ay? (Like a live on-stage concert?)

Shiver: That's the one!

(Y/N): Don't you three already do that sort of stuff like every Splatfest?

The three immediately all piled on him.

Shiver: Don't take this away from us!

Frye: Yeah, this is completely different!

Big Man: Ayyy! (We get to perform in front of a large audience who come to hear us play instead of us just playing in front of some people in the street!)

(Y/N): Alright, alright, I get it! This is awesome!

The trio then backed up off of him.

Shiver: That's more like it.

Frye: Don't tell us you've never gone to a concert before.

(Y/N): Of course I've been to a concert before.

Frye: It's okay, you don't have to act all tough for me. It's fine if this is your first time.

(Y/N): Hey, phrasing! Also, I have actually been to them before. Concerts are cool, I was just confused by you three's reactions at first.

Big Man: Ay! Ay..(Just imagining the wave of people all watching us up there is so exciting already! And makes me incredibly nervous when I think of that many people looking at me...)

(Y/N): It won't be that bad, Big Man.

Shiver: Exactly, because they'll all be focusing their attention on me.

Frye then bumped into her.

Frye: More like they'll be watching me!

The two girls were pushing off of each other.

(Y/N): I'm guessing you already got me a ticket?

Frye: Ya did get him a ticket, didn't ya?

Big Man: Ay? (Shiver, how could ya not get him a ticket?)

Shiver: Cod, all of you calm down. I did get him a ticket, sheesh. Or at least I will once there are tickets and that stuff for people to get. I already told them I'd need one though.

Frye: See? She got ya a ticket, no reason to worry.

(Y/N): Yeah because I was the one worrying.

Shiver: We've got time anyway. Apparently, there's a bunch of "setup" they do for concerts, I guess.

Frye: Booooriiiiiiing.

(Y/N): Well yeah, it takes a lot of work for them to set up something big like that. Tell them, Big Man.

Big Man: Ay. Ay- Ay!(Ooh, so many ideas. I wonder which songs we should do- No wait, I wonder what order we should do the songs in!)

(Y/N): See? He's already engrossed in planning for it.

Frye: That's just him being a lil' nerd and needing to think everything through. See, me? I don't need to think things through. Ever. I just know what I'm doing.

Shiver: That philosophy explains so much...

Frye: Shut it! All I'm hearing right now is that we have two reasons to celebrate. And celebrate we will!

~~~

After a while of celebrating, (Y/N) decided to step outside of the hideout to get a breather.

He was out there for a little while when suddenly, Eva had dropped by.

(Y/N): Oh hey, you're just in time. They're all inside celebrating.

Eva: Celebrating what?

(Y/N): Oh right, you wouldn't know. They've got a concert they're going to do.

Eva: Wait, really?! That's hype!

(Y/N): Yup, it's pretty cool.

Eva: Wait, focus, I came here for a reason.

(Y/N): Oh, what for? Did Frye "borrow" something again?

Eva: No, I actually wanted to see you.

(Y/N): What for? I don't think I've done anything wrong. Not recently at least.

Eva: Yeah, well, it's that "not recently" time I'm interested in.

She said while pulling out her phone and showing (Y/N) the picture of him and Liz celebrating her promotion to captain.

His eyes grew wide at the sight of the old photo.

(Y/N): Where did you get this photo?

Eva: What happened to you before you came to the Splatlands?

(Y/N) rubbed his hair back and then rubbed the back of his head taking a minute to think.

(Y/N): Who's looking for me?

Eva: Who said someone's looking for you?

(Y/N): Eva.

Eva: Did you do something that would make someone be looking for you?

(Y/N):  . . .

He sat silently as she tried prodding him for questions.

(Y/N): Did Liz sound upset...?

Eva didn't respond at first.

Eva: She told me as much as you're telling me.

(Y/N): Does she... know I'm here...?

Eva: I wanted to talk to you before I told her.

(Y/N): How come?

Eva: I wanted you to explain where she didn't.

(Y/N): I left, now she's looking for me.

Eva: You really think that's enough of an explanation?

(Y/N): Would you trust a friend that that's it?

Eva: I do trust you, that's why I was hoping you'd explain more.

(Y/N): What more is there to explain?

Eva: What do you mean what more is there to explain? There's a lot to answer for.

(Y/N): There sure is. Why hasn't she tried to contact me instead of you? Why is it that I left that long ago and yet only now does she care to look for me? Why-

The more he listed off, the faster he got and the more his voice wavered and failed him. His eyes were glistening with the tears building up in them. He had been holding himself together since the moment she showed him the photo, but that didn't seem to be an option anymore.

(Y/N): Why... why did they leave me..?

Eva was taken aback by his current conduct and wasn't sure how to approach the situation.

Luckily for her, someone else showed up to help him instead.

Shiver: I think he's had enough.

Shiver said as she grabbed both of (Y/N)'s hands and proceeded to lead him away, leaving Eva there by herself outside.

Once they had walked off far enough to be alone, she stopped and let him just relax for a bit to get it out before she said anything.

(Y/N): How long were you listening to us?

Shiver: I heard enough of it to fill in the blanks of what I missed.

(Y/N): And you only intervened right then?

Shiver: I was building up suspense.

Her casual response interrupted his sadness and broke it up by causing him to laugh.

(Y/N): Cod, you're such a jerk.

Shiver: Only when I need to be. Don't deny you love it.

The two chuckled.

Shiver: Isn't this what you wanted though? For one of those two to try and reach out?

(Y/N): Yes... no... I don't know what I wanted exactly...

Shiver understood his emotions were a mess when it came down to this sort of situation, and wouldn't press on past that.

Shiver: Okay.

(Y/N): That's it?

Shiver: Yeah, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters. It's okay to be selfish sometimes.

(Y/N) smiled at her and how she always knew the simplest thing to say to make him happy.

~~~

Eva POV

Eva was back at her place, just lying on her bed while Little Buddy was just resting at her feet.

She heard her phone beep causing her to check it.

---

Cap'n: Heya

Cap'n: I know its only been like half a day but I just wanted to check to see if youve found out anything yet

---

Eva sat staring at the messages for a moment, not knowing how she should respond. She was still thinking about the interaction between her and (Y/N) earlier.

One was the person she looked up to, and the other was a friend.

---

Cap'n: Heya

Cap'n: I know its only been like half a day but I just wanted to check to see if youve found out anything yet

Eva: Sry not yet

Cap'n: Its fine

Cap'n: I was just checking

Cap'n: See ya

Eva: Ltr

---

Eva shut her phone and set it back down.

Eva: I'm not sure what happened between them exactly, but at least he gave me a bit of a look into how he feels about the situation. I'm sure the Cap'n would understand and would forgive me if she found out. I trust in how he was feeling when he let all that out earlier.

She said while looking at Little Buddy who just did nothing but blink at her as she said all that out loud to him.

Eva: I am not a sucker!

~~~

(Y/N) POV

Frye: (Y/N), psst... Wake up... (Y/NNNNN).

(Y/N)'s eyes started slowly opening as she repeatedly patted his face.

She was lying on top of him and was right up in his face.

(Y/N): Ugh... What time is it...?

Frye: Doesn't matter. Look at this.

She held her phone up to his face which caused him to squint his eyes almost completely shut after having that bright of a light in his face in such a dark room.

Through his barely-open eyes, he saw her phone clock said it was sometime in the middle of the night.

Frye: Look at this meme I found.

He looked down from the clock and saw a picture of just a plain old stick and rock labeled "him" and "her".

She peaked her face out from behind the side of her phone that she was holding in his squinting face.

Frye: It's us!

(Y/N):  . . .

He went from squinting at the meme to squinting at her.

(Y/N): Frye... that's the funniest thing I've ever seen...

Frye cheerfully smiled largely and wrapped her arms around his neck as she put down her phone while he wrapped his arms around her and the two went back to sleeping in the dark together.

3071 Words

April 4, 2024 - 10:50 P.M.