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Two and Rivers have been working for Octavio since they were 10 and 8 and being impressionable 10 and 8-year-olds; he decided to favor them, to feed them a bunch of lies about inklings and being the uneducated kids they believed it all, but they didn’t know better.
“ So who do you think Octavio took this time? ” Rivers said, filling the silence. “ Um, I don’t know, maybe that Pearl girl? You know that really short inkling. Oh! you know that ida girl? I think her name was Marina. Anyways, you know how Octavio used to favor her? Did you know she escaped? What a traitor…now she’s like doing the news or whatever just talking about her makes me disgusted..oh! And… " Rivers smiled as his little brother went on and on about random stuff he had heard. It was always nice to hear him be happy.
“ Two, Rivers. ” The little one of the two shut his mouth when he heard Octavio’s voice. “ Yes sir! ” They said in unison facing the voice. “ Follow me, ” Their leader said, walking past them and smiling slightly to himself when he heard the two follow him. “ Have you two ever heard of the squid sisters? ” He raised an eyebrow as he looked forward. “ Um, I think so.. ” the younger octoling mumbled, he knew who they were but he was scared of getting in trouble for it.
“ So you know of Callie cuttlefish? ” He turned his head to the younger octoling. “ Uh, yes. ” Two nodded, trying to keep his focus in front of him. “ Good. ” Octavio smiled as he opened the door to reveal an inkling tied to a chair. Rivers tried his best to pretend not to care.
“ Two, can you go get the hypnoshades? ” The adult octoling turned to the younger boy, who nodded and walked out. “ Do you see this, Simon? ” He smirked as the inkling started to stir. “ Yes sir. ” Simon nodded, biting back all the stuff he wanted to say. Octavio shook his head while chuckling slowly. “ All of this.” He gestured to the grey room they stood in.
“ Will be yours once I retire. I would say you and your brother but that boy.. Something tells me he will betray us when he gets older. Just like Ida.” The teen octoling froze. There’s no way his brother would betray him.. Right? His leader seemed to notice his still state, grinned wider before moving on.
“ Once we get those hypnoshades on her we can finally win, we can get revenge on inklings and be on the surface again. ” He grinned widely as the inkling fully woke. “What the- hey let me go!” Callie screamed into the dimly lit room, trying to get the ropes off. “Hello Callie.” Octavio said, walking into her view as Rivers did the same. “Ugh Octavio let me go!” She yelled, struggling against her restraints. “I don't think I will,” He laughed slightly before turning around when the door opened.
“ I got them sir! ” Two said, handing him the hypnoshades only for him to reject them. “I think you should put them on her.” Two's eyes went wide with excitement, he grinned as he walked up to her. “Come on kid, I know you know this isn’t right.” She sounded desperate, too desperate for Rivers’ taste. “S-Shut up, inkling scum.” Two growled out in slightly broken inklish before putting the hypnoshades on her.
Callie’s head fell before coming back up with a smirk. “Callie, at your service.” She grinned as Octavio untied her and instructed her to follow him. “ Ahhhhh! Did you see that? Did you see that?” Two said, jumping up and down. Rivers smiled nervously at his brother and nodded.
He had no idea why he was feeling this way, inklings were the enemies, they killed their parents for cod’s sake! But deep down he felt empathy for the inkling, especially after the conversation he had with Octavio.
Rivers took his brother's hand and walked with him to the cafeteria. Maybe food could clear his mind, especially since they had his favorite food in stock. “ Did you and ‘Tavio talk about that thing while I was gone?” Two asked as he munched on his Crusty Seanwich. The older octoling scolded him for eating with his mouth open before it hit him.
‘Shit.. I was supposed to tell Octavio about the older kids bullying Ray.’ Rivers thought for a bit, then nodded with a slight smile. He knew lying was bad but he couldn’t bear to see his brother sad anymore.
“ Yeah.. Yeah I told him, he said he’d take care of it.” Seemingly satisfied, Two went back to his rant about whatever gossip he heard from the adults. He had a habit of being nosy and spying in on people’s conversations.
— 🐙 —
Rivers knelt down next to his brother, who was fast asleep with his Dino toys (which he got for ratting out an inkling in disguise.) in hand. He cracked a small sad smile before picking him up and carrying him into bed. The teen tucked Two in, giving him a hug before going to turn off the lights. But before he could he was interrupted by someone.
“Hey fag!” A voice called out, a voice Rivers knew well. He turned around to see Jake, or ‘JJ’ one of the most infamous bullies in Octo Valley. He was known for hurting anyone in his way but he wasn’t in his way, right? Wrong.
The nervous octoling took a deep breath and looked at the other boy. “What do you want JJ?” Rivers asked, hoping it didn’t sound too annoyed. But unfortunately that wasn’t the case because Jake scoffed and stomped towards him.
“Take that attitude out of your voice, cuck.” He said, pushing Rivers into a wall, he groaned in pain as his back smashed against the wall. “P-Please, J-Jake.” The younger teen whimpered out as JJ bit his neck like a vampire. “I’ll teach you not to get pissy with me.” He said as he slipped his hands into Rivers' shirt and brought his body in close.