Chapter Text
Flashes of blue ink merge with other colors as the turf war rages below. Four inklings dodge and weave between obstacles, flecks of bright sapphire clashing with their enemies.
Rider isn't sure why he's here. He hasn't really interacted with Blue Team a lot outside of their first fight not too long ago, but ever since then he's been drawn to watching the team's games, looking out for them, and trying to help them whenever he can.
Even if they don't really need any help.
A chirping Booyah! draws Rider's attention back to the game, and to perhaps the squid most responsible for Rider's interest in Blue Team. He watches a streak of blue rush ahead to the center, splatting two inklings on the way, just in time to help out his teammate. The metallic goggles on his head catch the vibrant sunlight and flash.
Before a few days ago, Rider really, really never expected to change his ways as a solitary player- and even if he did, he didn't expect the motivation for that change to come in the form of an idiotic, carefree squid he'd never met before battling him. But, that was exactly how his life had suddenly changed. Rider could clearly replay in his mind how his team had liquified in a critical moment, and the cracks in their offense had been filled by Blue Team, who had maneuvered perfectly as one like some sort of hivemind.
Looking back, it'd been obvious from the start that he hardly stood a chance.
When the dust settled at the end of the fight, there had been Goggles, the rest of his team of cobalt idiots behind him, just grinning at Rider with all the warmth a new friend has to offer.
Ever since, the shorter inkling had fascinated him. The whole team did, of course, but Goggles was an especially interesting case. Everyone called him an idiot- and, y'know, he was- but in battle, she still led the charge in a way that was impressive and very unexpected of someone like him.
Rider tuned back in to the fight as the Squid Sisters' voices blared through the speakers again, their words laced with excitement. It was coming down to the end- the air itself shifted as the last moments of the match caused tension to rise in the crowd. All eight fighters down on the map were running around, inking everywhere they could see and facing off with opponents whenever they happened across someone.
Rider's eyes caught on Goggles again as the inkling raced in swim form along the edge of the map and toward enemy base, close to where Rider was sitting in the front of the crowd. Someone on the enemy team noticed the blue squid dart past and began racing after him, and other members of the team began to pursue as well. It was a pinch- but if Goggles could make it to the other end unscathed, some of the others could jump to him and steal all the turf there. Other members of the audience began to realize this was Blue Team's plan as well, and the cheering began to ring louder and more intense in Riders' ears. Goggles was faltering as he noticed the other enemies closing in, but he was almost there, he was almost-
"GO!" Rider was on his feet and shouting before he even realized his mouth was open. "Just keep going forward, you've got em!" Goggles sprang upwards and out of swim form as he made it to a safer spot in enemy base, and seemed to hear Rider, looking over.
Time slowed for a moment, and Rider paused as he realized he'd just been cheering for Goggles. The blue-haired inkling finally saw him in the crowd, eyes widening in surprise to see him cheering…
…and the biggest, most confident grin ever spread across Goggles' face, eyes bright as sunlight.
A startling wave of warmth rushed through Rider's body, crackling in his nerves like lightning.
Then, as quickly as it'd come, time returned to normal, and Goggles sprang back into the fight with seemingly more confidence than before. The feeling in Rider's chest ebbed to an underlying hum.
Rider stood there in shock, blankly staring after Goggles. What the hell was that?
That had been the first time Rider felt that growing warmth. He'd expected it to be a one-time thing, something that would go away and let his mind stay at ease. But, as he'd soon find out, it was definitely not a one-time thing.
Instead, it only grew, and Rider felt himself act stupider and stupider around Goggles every time.
It went from a small warmth whenever Rider watched the blue inkling win a turfwar match, to a crackling rush through his nerves whenever Goggles smiled or winked at him, to brands of fire wherever they so much as momentarily brushed past each other. Rider would catch himself staring at the inkling while sitting around with Blue Team, smiling like an idiot at him for reasons he couldn't quite explain. He felt a rush of happiness and nervousness when he and Goggles had fought side-by-side as Agents for the New Squidbeak Splatoon. And still whatever was happening to Rider's brain wouldn't reveal what it was- it was just some strange feeling that turned his brain into mush whenever he was around Goggles.
Was he sick? Was Goggles some sort of mind-bending demon? Was this some sort of lasting effect of fighting with the Blue Team?
"Oh," Aloha chuckles. "You've got it bad."
Rider snapped out of his annoyed rambling and turned to look at the pink-haired inkling, who leaned against a wall with the most casual look on his face. Rider narrowed his eyes incredulously at him. "What?"
"That blue idiot. You love him." Aloha said it so casually with a flourish of his hand, an amused smile creeping across his already annoyingly smug expression.
The muffled sounds of Wahoo World filled the silence that fell in the small hallway Rider and Aloha were holed up in. They'd ducked away here after Rider had first seen Blue Team wandering around for the costume tournament, and he'd stayed in the dim shadows of the place until game time in the hopes to quell his nerves as they once again acted up at the mere sight of Goggles. As they'd waited for the call for the tournament to start, Aloha had asked why Rider was so worried about potentially embarrassing himself in front of what were easily already the most embarrassing squids in the world. Instead of any sort of simple or coherent or sane answer, Rider's feelings on Goggles had suddenly filled his chest and head to the brim, and words had simply fallen out of his mouth in a frenzy.
But the idea that he- he was- oh cod.
"WHAT?" Rider barked. His voice echoed back off the walls.
"You're nervous around him, he's the only guy you cheer for in turf wars, you stare at him when he smiles, you like hearing his laugh- Rider, you've got probably the most pathetic, disastrous crush I've ever seen, and that's coming from the guy who's dating all of his rivals at once." Aloha chuckled. God, sometimes Rider really wanted to punch this guy. (That was sort of an effect Aloha had on people- he had a temptingly punchable face sometimes.)
"I can't like him though." Rider tried.
"Why not?" Aloha challenged.
"Because- he's- tch!" Rider threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "He's Goggles! The crown idiot of the literal Idiot Team! I can't like him!"
Aloha rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. Okay, Rider."
Rider got the distinct feeling Aloha didn't believe his poorly-constructed argument, and frankly, he was hurt.
"Whatever. Look, when we fight him for this stupid costume tournament, you'll see how not in love with that idiot I am. Now, let's go find a costume that hides my face so nobody can recognize me."
Aloha scoffed and pushed off the wall he'd been leaning against. There was still a flicker of coy amusement flashing in his eyes as he weaved past Rider. "Pssh. Sure thing, dude." Rider rolled his eyes as a snare of irritation coiled in his chest.
The two inklings poked their heads out from the shadows of the pathway, stepping into the steady current of pedestrians touring the amusement park. Multicolored lights washed Rider and Aloha in vivid, pale light as dusk began to creep into the coiling sky. Huge rollercoaster tracks climbed high up into the sky and swooped down low overhead, and a ferris wheel towered in the distance like a great beast watching over the goings-on of the whole park.
On any other night, even Rider would begrudgingly have to agree that it was a very nice evening. But the conversation with Aloha had shoved something out of place more than he wanted to admit, and it had caused a nagging worry to eat at his brain. He stormed along behind Aloha as they drifted through the crowd, trying to focus his racing mind on something other than the disturbing little feeling in the back of his head that Aloha might be right.
"Ah, here!" Aloha chirped, coming to a sudden halt in front of Rider, who nearly smacked into him. He ducked around to look at what had caught the pink-haired inkling's eye. A tall suit of knight's armor sat in the front of one of the marketplace's stands, among many other different costumes that lined the small little stand. "This is perfect- it'll hide your face from your cute little crush."
"Not a crush." Rider grumbled, trying to convince himself his face wasn't heating up. "But- yeah, it's good."
They quickly rented out the suit of armor for the competition from the eccentric little shopkeeper manning the front. Aloha left Rider to let him go change, saying he was going to go hold Rider's place in line for the competition before it started, and to find him when Rider was all suited up.
What Rider hadn't counted on was how annoying this costume was to wear. The armor made a thousand different little clanging noises from the slightest of movements, and it was way more unwieldy than it looked. It was heavy and huge, and in a crowd like this, it was way too easy to nearly bump into someone.
So of course, Rider bumped into someone. The worst someone.
"Ah!" A shorter inkling crashed into Rider and staggered back, making him stumble forward to catch and pull the other inkling up before they fell. Rider nearly took off his mask in surprise to make sure the other person was okay, until he recognized the pair of ocean-blue eyes he was suddenly looking into.
Goggles blinked up dazedly, pressed close to Rider's chest by sheer accident. Everything seemed to slow to a halt. Rider's heart was pounding, he was sure it was going to explode; Close, close, they were way too close-
"Sorry, Mr. Knight!" Goggles yelped, shuffling away on his own. Rider stumbled back like he'd been struck, too dazed to speak. Up ahead, Specs shouted for Goggles, and he startled. "G-gotta go. Sorry again!"
Rider stared after him, dumbfounded. The normal crowd continued to flow around him, like fish in a stream.
You love him, Aloha's voice echoed in Rider's head, more annoying than ever.
Of course it was not the only time they saw Blue Team. Of course their first match was with them.
Rider stood at the starting point, waiting for the countdown to the start. The turf map sprawled out ahead of the team, the many different rides of Wahoo World sprawling tall metal limbs into the sky and adorning the horizon with vivid colorful lights. The air was full of the excited chanting and cheering of the crowd, who sat as clustered silhouettes in big bleachers along the edge of the map. It all turned into a familiar tune of every turfwar, a song that filled Rider's ears in a thrumming buzz, and despite the messy tangle of emotions that was still turning his brain into a disorderly mess, he could feel the familiarity of this situation returning a sharpness to his senses.
It didn't matter what his thoughts may or may not be on Goggles, or the rest of Blue Team for that matter. Rider had a game to win. He took in a deep breath of the crisp evening air, and energy flowed through his veins anew. He tightened his grip around his dynamo roller, letting the dark metal flash in the light menacingly.
The speakers blared an announcement of both teams overhead. Pearl's energetic voice then steadied out into a countdown alongside Marina, and the air seemed to go quiet and tense in anticipation.
"2... 1.... weapons up, ink ready! SPLAT 'EM!" Pearl whooped into her mic.
Without hesitation, Rider shot off the spawn point and slammed his roller down where he landed and inking as he weaved through the map with expertise. He could hear the weapons of his teammates rattling off behind him as the others dispersed through the map to scatter ink.
"And it looks like we've already got a lead from Idiot Team!" Pearl announced.
"What?" Rider lifted his head up in alarm, narrowing his eyes and shifting his weight instantly to set off toward the sounds of fighting. He'd never played with these ragtag teammates and had no clue how good they were. He swam toward the center and up a wall to a higher vantage point, just in time to see Goggles fumble a fizzy bomb he'd caught in a panic, tossing it away just in time. Idiot. With a flick of his wrist, Rider swung his Dynamo Roller forward, spattering the middle area of the map with his color of ink and sending Goggles and Bobble stumbling backward. A shot of ink whizzed past Rider's ear, and he sucked in a breath. Headphones has sight on me.
Rider wasted no time jumping down, landing between his team and the stragglers of Blue Team, and slamming his roller down on the ground with enough force to shake the rotating platform they were all stood on. His teammates shot past him, the little details of their costumes catching the light, and instantly took advantage of the lead Rider had given them to start pushing back. They were done here. Rider turned to go back to inking when a flash of blue caught the corner of his eye. Oh, shit- Goggles had fallen back and taken another route towards friendly spawn, slipping past where Rider and his teammates had been holding a line at the center. No you don't! Competitive determination crackled like lightning in his veins and he jumped down from the platform to chase after the tricky little inkling.
"Well, well, well, everybody! Looks like Idiot Team's taken a beating- but what's this? Goggles appears to be pushing ahead on his own!" Another announcement rang, this time from Marina.
Rider surged forward and flicked his roller toward Goggles. Ink spattered around her, but Rider wasn't close enough to do damage. Instead the blue inkling was alerted to Rider's position, whirled around to face his attacker, and began firing rounds from her Splattershot. Rider swam forward and out of the way, then resurface from the ink and flicked his roller again, and the two inklings began falling into a speedy back-and-forth fight; dodging each other's attacks, and then retaliating with all their might.
The natural effect Goggles seemed to have of always getting you to have fun was once again rearing its head, but this time Rider couldn't resist falling for the bait. The way they both would just barely dodge each other's attacks- Goggles' speed mixing with Rider's range and strength- it always felt more natural and fun than any other part of Turf War. There was almost a laugh bubbling up in Rider's chest, if not for the fact he was still deathly afraid of having his voice recognized. Goggles, however, did enough laughing for both of them, giggling every time he narrowly avoided Rider's attacks.
Suddenly, a much more mischievous grin split across Goggles' face and he darted directly forward, catching Rider off-guard. What is he- oh, dammit. Despite their unofficial title as Idiot Team, the four inklings always had some sort of trick up their sleeve, a detail Rider had forgotten in the moment when he'd raced after Goggles on impulse. The other members of Blue Team darted through the base, inking everything, speedy little cobalt blurs of energy as they claimed as much turf as possible. Goggles jumped up into the air, special fully charged, as Rider realized how badly his team had been beaten. How'd he gotten so distracted with Goggles?
He didn't really get an answer to that question. The next moment he was stumbling backwards as he was hit with the force of a splashdown, blue ink whirling around him and spattering the area. Rider dodged to the edge of the blast just in time to not be splatted, but the force of the attack still sent him into the nearby wall behind him. He wheezed as the air was knocked from his lungs, and panic blazed in his veins all at once. Shit- his helmet, his helmet was gone!
Goggles touched down in a whirlwind of blue ink, the special aura leaving his hair. His eyes instantly flitted up in surprise to his once mysterious assailant- and as the wonder grew on Goggles' face, the dread grew in Rider's chest.
"Rider!?" Goggles yelped. Rider could feel his face burn a bright lime color. "That was you!?"
Rider tried to talk, but everything seemed to be shut down from embarrassment, and words wouldn't form on his tongue. God, why did making a fool of himself in front of Goggles have to matter so much? It was like huge talons squeezing his heart, and it was so unfamiliar of a feeling that it only made the chaos inside his head worse.
The game alarms blared overhead, signaling the end of the match. No surprise: Blue Team had won. "Tch!" Rider finally found the means to move, whipping around and scooping the discarded knight helmet off the ground as he went. Embarrassment burned hot in his veins, and the lime blush on his face was definitely still there.
Aloha was waiting for him with raised eyebrows as he left the map and melted back into the thankfully-distracted crowd. To Rider's dismay, a coy smile split the pink-haired inkling's face as Rider drew closer. "Well. That went sour, didn't it?" Aloha's tone said what he didn't need to say out loud: Why'd Goggles make you freeze up, Rai? Hmm? Rider narrowed his eyes, and his face burned hotter again.
"Quiet, you- losing already stings enough without being nagged by the most annoying inkling in the world." His words were lighthearted, if not genuinely grumpy. The fake venom didn't deter Aloha. "...I can't believe I messed up that bad." Rider sighed.
Aloha's brow furrowed in a trivial expression, and he shrugged. "Well, you tried, slugger. You don't owe me for that keychain anymore, even if you didn't get it back for me. I think you've suffered enough." He patted Rider on the back, and the inkling flicked one pointed ear. "Go to the lockers and take that awful knight costume off."
Rider managed a weak laugh. "It is awful."
Aloha grinned back. "Seriously, it just looks uncomfortable to wear."
"Hah! You have no idea."
The cool air of the dimly-lit locker rooms was comforting, especially after so long of Rider's skin burning from embarrassment. Turfwar locker rooms look the same anywhere, and the familiarity brought a sort of calmness to Rider's nerves. His composure slowly returned, mostly.
The knight armor was just slid over his normal clothes, being just big unattached pieces of light metal. He slid off the body armor easily, then pulled his namesake rider jacket back over the red-and-black longsleeve he'd worn underneath. He turned around and knocked Goggles on his ass.
"Agh! Goggles!? What the-"
Goggles?
The last person he wanted to see right now, for a variety of reasons. Of course it was him.
Rider helped him up with one hand, then looked away, pointed ears pinned back irritably. Obviously, this had never deterred Goggles before, and it didn't now.
"S-Sorry about the splashdown!" Goggles suddenly yelped out, like she'd been holding back the apology.
"What?" Rider turned back to look at him, uncomfortably aware of how close they were. Again.
The shorter inkling launched into a flurried ramble that was full of confusion and naivete. "The splashdown! I swear I had no clue it was you, or that your knight helmet would come off so easy, or that you'd be mad- ugh, you looked so mad when you stormed off, I-"
"Goggles, Goggles, calm down!" Rider said quickly, grabbing one of Goggles' arms to redirect his attention.
"Huh?" Goggles blinked and stared up at Rider, snapping out of his rambling. Something squeezed Rider's heart in a very… discomforting way.
"I- I wasn't mad at you. You're fine, you didn't do anything wrong in there."
"Wh- you weren't mad?"
Rider managed a small laugh. "No!"
"Oh, thank goodness!" Goggles sighed, practically going limp. "I was worried you'd be mad, and then I'd have to go get you, like, one of those big letters the size of an Octosniper that says sorry in glitter text, or maybe I could do some sort of big apology song and dance number to cheer you back up? Or…" The blue inkling began listing off an endless string of dumber and dumber ways to apologize. Despite himself, Rider felt a genuine smile start to tug at his lips, and before he knew it, he was laughing.
Goggles blinked at him in surprise, a smile appearing on her face. "Wh- hu- what? What'd I do??" Her own voice was tinged with a light laugh.
Rider wiped tears from his eyes, trying to compose himself. "You're just… ridiculous!" There was a surprising warmth in his voice that startled himself, but Goggles didn't seem to notice. He was smiling up at Rider, also laughing lightly now.
The way he was smiling-
Everything crashes down on Rider's head at once; this growing warmth in his chest, the way his mood's improved 1000% just from being around Goggles, the friendliness of her smile, the fact Rider had laughed so hard just now…
Oh..
Oh my god.
Rider damns Aloha a thousand times over.
"I- uh- I have to go." He was instantly aware that he was still holding Goggles' arm, and pulled away, heart doing squid-rolls. No, no, no-
"Huh?"
"I... I just noticed the time, Aloha needs me." Rider scrambled for a believable excuse and reassumed his normal gruffer demeanor as fast as possible, sidestepping carefully around Goggles and hurrying toward the door of the locker room.
"Wait, Rai!"
Despite every bone in his body, Rider turns around, flicking an ear. He meets the cool blue of Goggles' eyes.
"You- you played really well today." Goggles says, and he's smiling far too genuinely for Rider's head to handle right now. A now-familiar squeezing feeling wraps around Rider's heart for the nth time.
"Yeah... you too." He manages a smile, and then ducks through the door as fast as he can.
He can already feel the headache Aloha's about to give him.