rainy days - goggles x rider

chapter 1 ☁️

the muffled sound of falling rain was all that rider heard, minus the soft chatter of inklings and octolings, as he stepped out of deca tower and stood underneath the covered front lobby. outside, gloomy rain and a chilly breeze was seen in inkopolis square. only a handful of people who didn't mind the weather were out and about, most of them with raincoats or umbrellas.

rider grumbled, fixing the strap of his gold dynamo roller case on his shoulder. "great," the yellow green inkling grunted. "now i have to run through this just to get home. i'm never forgetting a stupid umbrella ever again."

rider didn't like the rain. it made him cold and wet, and the look of it just put him in an grumpy mood (possibly more grumpy than usual). the yellow green inkling had wanted to do some ranked matches with his dynamo as practice, so he did earlier in the day when the rain was only a slight drizzle. however, after he'd been gone playing for a few hours, the rain worsened. it wasn't hammering down, but it was still more than what rider wanted to deal with.

rider huffed and used his forearm to cover his forehead and shield his eyes from the rain he was about the jog through. the nineteen year old inkling approached the rain, and he was about to run out before he heard a sudden familiar voice stop him.

"hey rider~!"

rider lowered his arm and looked ahead to see a familiar blue haired inkling approaching him. he was almost a foot shorter than him, and he had bright blue eyes. the inkling was wearing an eggplant mountain coat, and he held an umbrella over his head.

"goggles?"

goggles smiled and stopped in front of rider, still standing in the rain. raindrops streamed down the edges of his umbrella, and his pointed ears looked a little red from the chilly air. "ha! i knew it was you!" the blue inkling laughed. "what're you doing out rider? i thought you didn't like rain." goggles curiously tipped his head to the side.

rider folded his arms and averted his eyes away from goggles. "of course i don't," the inkling insisted. "i just wanted to go and do some ranked since they still have indoor maps open." rider glanced over at the shorter inkling's umbrella. "hm? you're finally using an umbrella for once?"

"ha, yeah.." goggles grinned sheepishly. "i don't really like it since i can't feel the rain on my skin, but specs and headphones insisted that i use it since i told them i was going out. i still like to not use it sometimes though!" after he spoke, goggles lowered the umbrella and tipped his head back. rain slid down his face, and the inkling opened his mouth and let some of the raindrops fall into it.

"hey, stop that!" rider wrapped his hand around goggles' and forced the umbrella back over his head. after realizing what he did, the inkling blushed and let go of the other's hand quickly. "specs and headphones tell you off for doing that for a reason! you can get sick."

"aww, but i almost never get sick!" goggles pouted.

"that's no excuse to get yourself all wet," rider huffed.

goggles' pout subsided, and the inkling inspected rider. "you're telling me off," he began, "but you don't seem to have your own umbrella, rider.. do you not have one?"

rider blushed a little from embarrassment, realizing how hypocritical he must've sounded to the slightly younger inkling. rider looked away, lowering his pointed ears.

"i.. left mine at home.. but not on purpose!" the yellow green inkling turned on goggles quickly, his cheeks flaring with red. "just because i left mine doesn't mean it's okay for you to not have yours up!"

goggles giggled a little in amusement at rider's quick mood change, but it lasted shortly. "are you going home?" the blue inkling asked. "you shouldn't walk by yourself in the rain. you could catch a cold too, ya know!"

rider shrugged. "i don't have many other options," the inkling sighed. "i'm not going to sit here all day and wait for the rain to stop. it's been going on and off since last week, so who knows when it'll even stop." rider looked past goggles at the rainfall, and he frowned. he definitely didn't want to run through it, especially since he had nothing to protect himself with. he could use his weapon case, but he only did that one and it resulted with him losing his balance and dropping it. rider did not want that to happen again; he almost damaged the precious dynamo inside.

goggles put a finger to his chin and thought for a moment. finally, the blue inkling's eyes lit up. "hey, i have an idea!" goggles exclaimed. "how about you borrow my umbrella?"

rider blushed at the sudden proposition, but he forced himself to keep his cool. "no," he replied. "thanks, i guess.. b-but i don't want to take your umbrella and leave you to sit in the rain and get a cold. i don't care how well you think you could manage without it."

"no rider!" goggles smiled broadly. "i meant that you and i could share it! we could walk to your place, and then i can turn around and go home! i don't mind walking with you! i was wanting to stay out longer anyways."

rider stared at goggles, unable to control the new wave of blush spreading across his face. the inkling shook his head to snap himself out of it. "y-you want to.. share it?" oh cod.. rider covered a cheek with his hand, feeling how hot it was as he thought. people are going to think w-we're a couple or.. s-something.. rider was a rather popular x rank player, so he cared for his reputation, even after all these years. even if it was true that rider.. sort of liked goggles, he didn't want people to start spreading rumors about them dating.

"yeah! i don't mind," goggles beamed. "i know you don't like getting wet. you're like judd!" the blue inkling laughed, then looked at rider. "you don't have to if you don't want, but i thought i'd ask." goggles smiled kindly.

rider huffed, then looked at the square. barely anyone was out; not even the jellies weren't walking around like usual. perhaps if they did share the umbrella, then nobody who knew rider would see it. praying for that to be true, rider gave in and nodded.

"okay, fine. we can share."

"great!" goggles happily offered the umbrella's safety to rider, and the inkling slowly obliged. rider ducked under the canopy, but then took the handle away from goggles. their fingers brushed as he did so, but rider pretended that it didn't happen.

"i'm holding the umbrella though," rider insisted, holding it over both him and his friend. "i don't want to have to duck the whole way home."

goggles giggled. "alright then," the inkling smiled. "i don't mind! before we go though, i wanna do something." before rider could ask what he wanted to do, goggles ran out under the rain and opened his mouth up to the gray sky again. goggles only got to do so for a few seconds before rider caught up with him and pulled him back under the umbrella.

"you idiot! don't do that!" rider swatted goggles' head, but not too hard. goggles laughed and apologized while rubbing his head.

rider looked around to see that some people were looking at the two inklings. rider blushed, then cleared his throat and began to walk. he tugged goggles along with him. "let's go," he said.

goggles didn't seem to notice rider's embarrassment, nor the people's stares. he instead agreed and tagged along with rider, beginning to ask him about how his ranked matches went.

rain continued to patter on the canopy of the umbrella, and it — along with goggles' sweet voice — was all that rider heard.

☁️ ☁️ ☁️

hey everyone! thank you for deciding to check out this story! votes and comments are both appreciated! i wouldn't mind suggestions either! i hope to finish this fic since i'm feeling really motivated to write it! again, thank you for checking out my story!

- chariie