Stan (Pearlina Story)

The Ticket

I'm probably the only person in the world to make 900 words about something that happens in around 4 minutes, FML

If Marina Ida could have one wish right now, it would either be engulfed into nothingness, or for her body to stop burning from the embarrassment she was facing. So far, she prayed both could come true as she looked down again; unaware of the eyes of her "friends" which looked confusingly onwards. Marina was making everything awkward again wasn't she? Typical.

"I think she forgot her ticket," Yuri piped up at last, as they looked softeningly at the wreck of the Octoling - who was still in their own world, magnifying every possible thought that flickered through her mind: Why does she always think everything works so perfectly well, when it could never be? Was it because of meeting Pearl? Was it because of her career? Her success story?

-----

The stans - who were no longer interested in hearing Pearl's rapping, or getting exclusive photos with the smaller Inkling - continued to stare blankly, trying their hardest to read any emotion from the Octoling's tense and frozen body, or her face which was covered under wraps of clothing.

Of course except for Sherry, who couldn't bear the sight of a sad cephalopod - especially one who stood right in front of her.

Sherry looked at the ground... not in awkwardness, but pure disappointment in herself. She was ready to complain internally about her own struggles to comfort her friend, yet her eyes simply refused, deciding instead to focus onto a white slip on the floor. Coincidentally (in their perfect life) an important, yet abandoned ticket laid on the floor. The redhead's eyes widened.

She hastily signalled to her surrounding friends, who all continued to lay open mouthed - the failure to ease Marina lingering completely in their minds, which was unsurprisingly taking all the attention away from Sherry's flailing arms. They were currently the only ones in the outdoors, as the other Inklings (and Octolings) were most likely comfortably waiting for the introductions to roll through, so Sherry didn't feel that dumb for silently waving her hands like a baby squid.

They continued staring, so the Inkling did the second best thing, which was to kick the purple haired Octoling's leg; successfully gaining the attention of the other green haired Inkling. They both still were in shock, yet their angry faces was enough to speak for themselves: THEY were angry at themselves, THEY were disappointed at themselves, THEY were sad themselves.

But they were also angry at Sherry though.

Before Yuri could cause a scene (which was fairly common from the last three concerts they had attended), the smaller Inkling pointed one hand to Yuri's mouth,while the other hand remained pointed towards the ticket.

The gasp from Stacy was satisfying enough as she visibly saw the girl take leaps onto the ticket - picking it up as if it were of royalty, and excitingly running back. Yuri was silenced, bathed in the shock; the excitement in her eyes was obliviously shining however, as she looked wondrously at the white and pink entry ticket.

"Marcy! Don't worry," Stacey's bubbly, yet teary voice rang through the solemn silence which still remained; Marina also remained silent, unaware of what was going on in her surroundings, since her eyes were on the floor, and her ears were ringing with a tone of sadness. The Inkling continued to speak, "We...We bought another spare!"

Marcy finally looked up.

And that was when they all noticed the brown skin, plus the beauty mark which perched below her lips. Gladly enough, the hoodie did the job of covering the rest of her face, so it was overlooked by the other stans in favour for a watery smile which rested on the Octoling's face.

"T-Thank you s-so much".

The entire scene unfolding watered the other stan's eyes, and a certain Yuri couldn't help but wipe early tears with her sleeves - just from the pure genuinity and tone that Marcy was currently displaying, "I-Its all good Marcy!"

--

Marina's smile which resided on her face, had got even more watery - reaching the point that she had to use the hoodie to hush the tears which were seconds away from falling. She didn't beat time, as the other stans must've caught on that she was about to become a literal mess, right in front of people... like the old days in their Octarian cabins.

"Heyyy Marcy! You wanna hug?" Before the referred Octoling could even give them permission, two pairs of arms were wrapped around her body, leaving the already relaxed Octoling to an even lesser state. She warmed into it.

Stacy looked on, watching from a corner at the trio hugging it out - she honestly wasn't good with hugs, or anything to do with contact, thus leaving her awkwardly staring at Marcy getting cuddled on at all sides. She whipped her head back in discomfort.

And that's when she realised - they was about to start the concert. They were so absorbed with Marcy at this point, and only now they could hear the megaphones blaring the one minute countdown!

"Guys, it's about to start!" Stacy's hurried voice alerted both cephalopods, who's attention were stolen from by Marcy's black hoodie. They both blinked their eyes open rapidly - they hadn't even realised they were still alone here.

"No! We're going to miss it again! We're going to miss Pearl! We're going to miss-"

"Off we go!" Stacy's voice rang out from ahead, as she started to sprint away, running towards the closing doors. The other quickly followed suit, cheering and whooping excitedly as the countdown (which was now so loud, they could hear it from outside) reached its single digits. 

Marina watched, simply watched as she took it all in: They didn't mock her for laughing? They weren't angry? They didn't leave her?

No they didn't.

And Marina couldn't be happier as she ran along, much to the happiness of the other stans.

Thank you so much for the #1 on Pearlina.. so while I can, I'll name some of my favourite Pearlina writers , so you could check them out!

https://archiveofourown.org/users/eqqplant/works

https://archiveofourown.org/users/floralQuaFloral/works

https://www.wattpad.com/user/GwynethBoylan

https://www.wattpad.com/user/Fade_Rose

https://www.wattpad.com/user/Endercon_Str8rico

Definitely check them out, they deserve it.