Chapter Text
Apparently the weather varied wildly away from Inkopolis, too, because the two of them had barely reached the trees of the forest before the rain started coming down. Hyacinth had heard about rain before, of course; if it ever started raining when he was on an above-ground delivery, he had to get to shelter. Rain wouldn’t...it wouldn’t kill them, exactly, but it could hurt a lot and it was best not to be caught in it.
But though he’d heard about it, he’d never seen it. Underground, you just didn’t get rain. And you definitely didn’t get rain in the metro. On top of that, Inkopolis tended to be a very warm place, and the weather was always pretty much the same. So the weather was yet to change while he’d been around.
Apollo glanced up, looking slightly annoyed. “Let’s get under a big tree,” he said, brushing a raindrop from the brim of his cap. “It’s less likely to get us there. We could probably do with a break, anyway.”
Hyacinth nodded, just looking back where they’d come from, beyond the trees. It was...certainly something. He just didn’t know how to describe it. It gave him a feeling that felt sort of like there were words swirling inside his mind, except there weren’t.
They walked deeper into the woods in silence for a few minutes, before they came to a tree with a larger trunk than the others. When Hyacinth glanced up, he could barely see the grey sky through the huge spread of all the branches above him. The ground was almost dry here, only a few drops hitting the ground here and there, so the pair of them slowed to a stop.
“Definitely time to stop,” Apollo said cheerily, practically flopping down onto the ground. He grinned up at Hyacinth from where he was sat, cross-legged. “This tree drops soft, fine leaf things,” he said. “Sit down, it’s nice!”
Cautiously, Hyacinth prodded the ground around the tree with the toe of his shoe, and then he sat down on the ground next to Apollo, his back against the trunk. This was a position he was used to. He’d spent hours, when he was tired, just sat, alone, with his back to a tree. But he wasn’t alone anymore.
“I really like the rain,” Apollo said. “I used to sit under an umbrella out in the rain every time it happened in Inkopolis. Just because I like the sound. It gets quiet in the city, too, because people don’t like just hanging out in the rain.”
“It’s a good sound,” he said. He smiled up at the sky and closed his eyes. It was unlike anything he’d heard before, really. It was uneven, yet so regular, and it just felt relaxing. It was a sound that just...he didn’t know, but he liked it. “I’ve never seen rain before.”
“You haven’t?” Apollo asked. “Well, I guess you have now. I guess you don’t really get rain underground...I hadn’t thought about it.”
Hyacinth managed to hold himself back from saying that there were lots of things Inklings just didn’t think about. It sprang to mind in a sort of teasing way rather than a malicious way, but he didn’t want to put Apollo under any stress again. “The weather’s always clear down there,” he said.
“How did you...how did you grow things?” he asked with a small, thoughtful frown.
Hyacinth shrugged. He’d never been told the specifics of how to grow things. It just sort of happened. “I didn’t know,” he said. “It wasn’t really my job to know or care.”
“What was your job?” Apollo asked. “If you- if it’s okay to ask. Obviously.”
“I delivered things,” he said. “You know, like Inklings order stuff and get it delivered to their doors? I collected and delivered things between military bases and stuff. It was boring, but relatively free, considering.”
“So you just...went back and forth carrying packages?” Apollo asked. Hyacinth nodded. “Was it...dangerous, or anything?”
Hyacinth laughed. “No, that was the point. It was a super easy task that almost anyone could do, which is why I was doing it. Octoling men don’t tend to be combat units.”
Apollo grinned, and leaned closer to him. For a moment, he felt distinctly embarrassed, but he couldn’t fathom why. “Because you’re squishy and soft?” he asked, poking the large tentacle on his head. It occurred to Hyacinth in that moment that maybe Apollo didn’t actually know why Octoling men were kept off combat lines.
“Something like that,” he said with a smile. Apollo didn’t have to know. If...if no one knew, then maybe people wouldn’t look at him the same way he’d always been looked at as a man. “I mean, think of me, think of Marina. Which is scarier, really?”
“I feel like I’ve seen your scary side, though,” Apollo said with a laugh. “All I’ve seen of Marina is her cuddling her girlfriend and performing on TV.”
“Octoling women are so much scarier than the men,” he said. “Though that’s probably because of combat training. Marina is a weapons expert, right? My expertise is more like...trying not to be late.”
“I’m sure you have Inklings beaten at that,” Apollo said with a grin. Hyacinth tried not to notice how he hadn’t actually moved away at all. He was still there. Still close enough that they were almost touching, huddled under this tree. “I swear, everyone I know is late for everything.”
“If everyone is late for everything, is everyone on time?” he asked. Apollo just started laughing.
“No, because people are late to different degrees. Sometimes I’ve organised a match with friends and we’ve started half an hour later because someone wanted to have a different kind of bread for lunch.”
“Is...is Inkling culture real?” he asked, and at this point, Apollo was doubled over with laughter. “I just...how.”
“It is pretty funny, explaining it,” Apollo managed to squeeze the words out between gasping for air and laughing. Then a bright flash of light filled Hyacinth’s vision, followed almost immediately by a loud rumble of...something.
He jumped, his hands immediately going to Apollo’s arm. “Wh-what was that?” he asked, looking around them frantically. Nothing had changed, it felt exactly the same around them, but...maybe the rain was disguising the sound of something.
Apollo put a hand on his back, and gently just moved his hand up and down, slowly. “It’s okay,” he said. “Hey, don’t panic. It’s the weather. Thunder and lightning. It tells us that a storm’s close, so I think we should move on. Don’t want to be under a tall tree in the middle of a storm, but it’s nothing to worry about, okay?”
Hyacinth nodded, still looking around. Just to check. They didn’t have any weapons out here, but...no. No, it was going to be fine. Apollo said it would be fine, and, really he- he sort of trusted Apollo. In a strange way. But the trust was there and he could...he could work with that.