Sunlight glowed through the window, creating golden lines through the blinds. Agent 3 blinked her irritated eyes and rubbed them. She looked over at her phone to turn off her alarm when she realized it was set to snooze. I didn't do that... 3 thought.
She went to get out of bed when she felt like she was being held back. When the inkling looked down she noticed a pair of toned arms wrapped around her waist tightly. They belonged to Agent 8, who was sound asleep to the next to her.
3 immediately felt her face get hot. She simply fell back down onto the mattress and put a pillow over her green face. How did I get myself into this, she grumbled in her thoughts as her heart raced. 3 lightly tossed the pillow aside and hesitated to put her arms back around 8. She felt awkward now that it wasn't a time of need.
3 exhaled sharply and finally put her arms back around the octoling. 8's eyes flickered open for a second, causing 3 to panic and yank her arms back. She lost her balance and slipped off of the bed, dragging Agent 8 along with her.
"3!? Wha-" 8's eyes widened before she tumbled off the mattress.
The two of them fell to the ground with a thud. 3 winced as her back hit the hard floor. She quickly sat up when she heard a whimper from 8.
"Ow ow ow ow," 8 rambled as she held tightly onto her knuckles. She doubled over in pain and whined.
"Are you okay??" 3 got up and slouched in front of 8, "I'm so so sorry I-"
3 paused and sat down in front of 8. She helped the octoling sit up and calm down. 3 took her hand and gently unwrapped the bandage. The wound still looked somewhat fresh, and bruises were starting to form on her fingers. 3 sighed and examined her knuckles while 8 watched.
She frowned and looked back up at 8, who was watching what she was doing with calm eyes. The octoling wasn't afraid of 3 accidentally hurting her; she trusted her to the fullest. She noticed 3 paused, and when she looked up her orange eyes were met with 3's multicolored ones. Her left eye was a bright shade of pink, the kind you'd see in beautiful flower bouquets, while the other was darkened and cyan, the color of turquoise stone.
3 was about to speak before the bedroom door swung open. Agent 4 burst through the door, a huge grin on her face.
"Guys! You're finally awake, I got Marie to order us breakfast, and-" she paused to realize what was happening. "Am I interrupting something?"
3 blushed and struggled to find words as she let go of 8's hand. 8 seemed almost unfazed, but a small hint of pink crept up on her cheeks.
"Whatever, just come on! I don't want it to get cold, so," Agent 4 shrugged.
After the young inkling left the room, 8 stood up with a smile. "You go eat, I'll rewrap this," she said.
3 was about to protest before she realized 8 wouldn't change her mind anyway. She stood up and the two of them joined 4 in the kitchen.
4 was already halfway finished with a plate by the time they came in. 3 patted the top of 4's head and sighed. "Slow down, you can choke or get sick."
"Whatever, MOM," 4 shouted sarcastically as she scooped the rest of the scrambled eggs into her mouth and ran. "AND YOUR WELCOME FOR SHUTTING YOUR ALARM OFF," 4 shouted.
3 simply picked up her plate and put it into the sink. 8 sat at the table while she rewrapped her knuckles. Agent 3 looked back at her occasionally, making sure she wasn't in pain or making them too tight. She made a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon for 8, then she made herself two slices of toast and coffee. 3 sat down next to 8, who had a somewhat worried look on her face.
"What's up?" 3 asked as she put her coffee cup down.
Agent 8 hesitated. "Did I make you uncomfortable at all last night? I'm sorry if I did, that was never my intention, and I-"
"Uncomfortable??" Agent 3 raised a brow. "No, no, no, you're fine. I wasn't uncomfortable. It was kind of nice-," 3 shrugged before realizing what she said with wide eyes.
8 giggled. "That's good to know," she smiled.
3 gave a nervous smile and sipped from her coffee cup. Agent 4 came back out of her room wearing casual clothing; she wore a black t-shirt striped with thin white lines, navy blue jeans, and dark shoes. A couple of shiny rings became visible on her fingers as she bent down to cuff the edges of her jeans.
"Where are you going?" Agent 8 asked.
4 looked up with a smile as she dusted off her pants. "I'm gonna go out in Inkopolis and playing turf war for a while, see you two later!"
The inkling girl grabbed her phone off of the countertop and dashed out of the door. Agent 3 shrugged while 8 finished the rest of her plate.
"I think I should go grocery shopping," 3 said. "I feel like 4 asking Marie to order for us wasn't just out of laziness."
"Mm, right, the fridge is a bit empty," 8 tried responding to the small talk.
There was a short amount of silence between them, but a couple of seconds felt like it lasted for hours. 3 stood up after finishing her coffee, breaking the silence. She also took 8's plate and put it in the sink next to hers and 4's.
3 went to her room and changed into different clothing. As she walked out of the room, she zipped up her crimson red jacket and tied the shoelaces on her dark blue shoes. 3 grabbed the keys to the apartment and shouted to 8 while wiping her pitch-black leggings clean of her leftover toast.
"I'm gonna go buy groceries then, anything you want in particular?" She asked.
"Peach tea!" 8 shouted back.
"We already have a lot of bags left."
"...Honey for the peach tea!"
3 sighed and shook her head with a smile. "Right, I'll remember that. You can stay here and rest, I'll tell Sheldon about your injury so you can rest."
"Huh?" 8 responded, "It's not a bad injury, I can still work."
"Your wounds are still fresh and your fingers are bruised badly, I doubt you can even pick up a pen," 3 raised a brow.
8 looked away awkwardly and stared at the floor, the sides of her hair dangling down from the borders of her face. 3 noticed the sad look 8 gave and was about to say something before shaking her head and letting it go.
"I'm heading out, bye," she said. She heard a faint goodbye from 8 before the door quietly closed shut.
וווווווווווווווווווווווווו×
Agent 3 held a translucent white bag holding an assortment of items in one hand, and in the other, she held her cellphone. She leaned against Deca Tower and tapped away at her messages, Agent 8 on the other end.
"Are you almost done?" 8's message read.
Agent 3 was about to reply with a "yes" before she caught sight of a familiar figure. She then looked back down and answered with a different reply than planned.
"Something came up, gtg" 3 typed before going up to the person.
Marina Ida turned to 3 and waved; despite wearing a white medical mask, her smile was visible by her cheeks pushing up against her eyes. She adjusted a creamy blue-colored tote bag over her right shoulder and put her hands in the pockets of her yellow jacket.
"Hey, Agent 3!" Marina smiled. "I was just about to go out for lunch, care to join?"
"Where's Pearl?" 3 asked, accidentally ignoring the idol's question.
"She's at the studio doing vocal practices, so I was going to go out and bring her something back."
3 nodded. "Yeah, I don't mind coming along. I need to clear up my mind, anyway."
וווווווווווווווווווווווווו×
Marina pulled down the lip of her mask as she picked up a silver spoon in her turquoise-colored fingers. Agent 3 tapped a finger on a cold glass of lemonade and pursed her lips.
Marina noticed how nervous the inkling looked. "3, are you ok?" She asked as her already curved eyebrows furrowed.
Agent 3 looked up and shrugged. "Yeah, just kinda anxious."
"You said you needed to get something off of your mind earlier, what was it?" Marina paused to pick at her bowl of crisp, light green salad and croutons, "If you're comfortable sharing, that is."
3 sighed and shuffled in her seat. "I'm really worried about 8. She's been very jumpy recently and has gone through an episode at the apartment, and I'm sure it's happened more than once. She won't open up to me, I just wanna make sure she's okay."
Marina put a hooked finger up to her mouth before finishing her bite of food and speaking.
"Episodes? Like... what are we talking about here, panic attacks? Anger issues? I need details," Marina looked worried and fixated on the situation.
"She would be very sensitive to sound and she'd flinch at any noise. She wasn't breathing normally, was crying a lot, and when I held her I could feel her shaking badly, but-"
"Wait- held her?" Marina raises a brow.
3's face flushed red as she became flustered. "Mo... moving on," she stuttered a bit. "I don't think this is the first time. The other night she came home with very bruised, bloody knuckles and vomit on her shirt."
"3, eating," Marina said vaguely before what 3 said registered. "Wait-BLOOD?!?"
"Yeah, then she locked herself in her room for a while when I noticed. She seemed very distant."
Marina still looked shocked and worried. "I don't... know what to say, that's nothing like 8, shutting people out..."
After everything I told you, that's what you notice is worrying?? 3 thought as she rolled her eyes.
Marina's curved eyebrows furrowed as she leaned forward on her elbows, her turquoise fingers intertwined and resting above her lip.
"I'm not exactly sure how I can help..." Marina mumbled, "I guess I can try talking to her, but I'm not sure what else we can do until she opens up."
3 leaned back in her chair. "That's the thing, I keep telling her that she can, but she never does."
Marina looked up at 3. "Did she seem like she was ready to talk?" The octoling woman unfolded her hands and searched through her purse while speaking, "There's a difference between receiving an invitation and accepting an invitation. Sure, she received it, but that doesn't mean she's ready to accept it. Give her time and patience, she'll let you know when she's ready to discuss what she's going through."
3's eyes widened slightly. "I never thought of it like that... I just thought she'd tell me right away."
"Trust takes time, be patient with her, 3. This doesn't sound like just an ordinary panic attack." Marina found her thin rectangular glasses and put them on. "Do you know the triggers?"
"Uh, no, she just woke up in the middle of the night during an episode. I don't know about the other times."
"Sounds like nightmares can be a cause, she could be losing sleep from that, too. Poor girl..."
"Maybe I can try and ask here, or-"
"Hey, remember what I JUST said, be patient with her!" Marina seemed to have a bothered attitude, "Try to focus on the things around her and how anxious she is when presented with things, maybe they're the trigger."
3 nodded.
Marina smiled and put a hand on 3's shoulder. "She's going to be okay in the end, just be careful with her, okay?"
She took out her wallet and looked at the bill that was placed on their table when a jellyfish worker came by.
"Come on, let's pay and get outta here, I know you're anxious to see her."
וווווווווווווווווווווווווו×
"Where have you been, anyway?" 8 asked Agent 3, "Agent 4 got home before you and said she didn't see you around the square." 8 sounded like she was both worried and curious.
3 put the grocery bags down and looked at the time on the clock; it read 1:30 pm. Agent 3 furrowed her brows.
"I didn't realize I was gone for that long, sorry 8," 3 apologized.
"Oh, no need to say sorry!" The octoling went over to the kitchen sink and turned the faucet on, "I just wanted to make sure you were alright," she smiled as she put a plate under the running water.
3 couldn't help but smile. "After groceries, I met up with Marina, we talked about some things and what's been going on with you."
8 paused. She blinked a couple of times before looking up at 3 with a confused expression that was on the verge of changing to anger.
"You did what-?? Why would you tell her...?" She mumbled.
"I thought we could help you-"
"Snitching isn't going to do anything," 8 said in a harsh tone as she washed soap suds off of a plate.
3's eyes widened. "Snitching?? I just said I was trying to help you!"
"I don't need help from you, 3! Quit treating me like I'm some sort of hurt animal."
"How have I been treating you like that at all?!? I thought I was solving the problem!" 3 threw her arms out in confusion.
"That's the thing, it's not YOUR problem to tell people about, it's MINE. MY PROBLEM, I'LL FIGURE IT OUT ON MY OWN." 8 slammed the plastic plate on the other side of the sink,
"Leave me alone." 8 mumbled as she reached for a cup.
"8, I'm sorry I didn-"
"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE-" 8 threw her hand out in anger.
3 paused. 8's eyes widened as the glass cup slipped out of her hands and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces with a loud crack. The inkling reached a handout and quickly dragged it back as she looked at 8.
Agent 8 looked frozen. Her hand began to tremble as her breathing quickened. She stared into nothing, a dull emptiness in her eyes as she seemed to remember. 3's eyes widened in realization. 8 was going through another episode.