Chapter Text
The days seemed to fly by after Pacifico’s meeting with Alta. The closer the date got to the lunch meeting, the more anxious he seemed to get. He could handle the Squid Sisters, as famous as they were. He had just simply seen to much of them slipping in their own ink to really hold any idol-worship for them. It was Agent 4, recently revealed as Atla, who worried him. Outside of a few exchanged grunts while transfering Octavio into his glass prison, and the conversation in the square, they never really talked.
But, time stopped for no one, not even world-saving squids, and the day of the picnic arrived anyways. Thursday afternoon, Pacifico walked to the Square, looked around to make sure on one was watching and dove into the grate. He surfaced in a sunny area framed by rocky tentacles. A worn out sofa with much-loved pillows was pushed next to an oversized snow globe with an extremely grumpy looking octopus inside. A table was also shoved in front of the couch, a few mismatched chairs arranged on the other end.
In short, it looked like a comfy area slapped together just in time for lunch. Pacifico stepped down from the grate, glancing around. There was an orange box near the arch leading outside the area. Curious, he meandered over and opened the lid. He wasn’t expecting there to be piles of weapon schematics, blueprints and outlines. A few loose tools rolled around the box as he rifled through the papers. There was an upgrade plan for a charger, promising a faster charge and slower ink consumption. The Roller blueprints were slightly stained in one corner with what was undoubtedly octarian ink. Pacifico leafed through the handful he had picked up, occasionally raising an eyebrow a some of the sillier ideas.
‘Really?’ he thought to himself. ‘An autobomb you could ride? That sounds more like a pet than a weapon.’ his stack looked though, he placed them back in the box. A pair of pliers, clamped around a slip of paper, caught his eye. He frowned. Grabbing the tool, he rescued the piece of paper- which turned out to be a picture. The image showed nighttime in Octo valley, fairy lights softly illuminating the form of Agent 4, passed out and drooling on the raggedy couch while clutching what looked to be a very heavily modified Splattershot to her chest. Pacifico snorted.
“Aw man, is that the couch picture?” asked a voice behind him. Pacifico jumped a foot in the air as his heart attempted to leap out of his throat. He spun around, still tightly holding on to the offending picture. Atla looked at him, then the picture, then back at him. “I look dumb, don’t I. I keep asking Sheldon to get rid of it but he uses his Upgrade Master Privileges to veto me.”
Pacifico shook his head. Actually, it looked rather cute, though he would never say it. “You’re just being polite.” she accused.
He did as she asked, tightly shutting the lid of the orange box before following after her. She took a seat on the couch, and Pacifico elected to sit across from her, on a brightly-painted red chair. She rummaged through the bag previously slung over her shoulder, before turning and placing a stack of paper plates and cups on the table. “Give me a sec- the drinks are in Cuttlefish's Cabin, wait here.” she stood up and half-jogged over to the shack in the corner, disappearing behind the curtain serving as the door. Pacifico was left to sit awkwardly, unsure of what to do until she come back. That is until he heard banging right next to his ear.
“Hey kid! Never thought I’d see you again!”
How could he have forgotten about his once-greatest enemy and current table mate? Pacifico turned to fix the once-mighty DJ Octavio with a dry stare. “Yeah, it's me kid. Didja forget about me that easily? Even after my spicy beats and red-hot remixes?” Sweet Jellyfish just listening to this guy talk gave him a headache. “Well I didn't forget you, that's for sure!” he just didn’t stop did he? “I can't believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually glad to see you- I mean losing to you was humiliating and all, but at least you didn't come back to vent to me like I'm some personal diary! The girl is always ‘Octavio guess what happened in Tower Control today!’ or-”
At this point Pacifico tuned him out, not willing to listen to the Octarian complain for who knows how long. “-she squid-bagged in my arena every time she avoided on of my punches!-”He wondered what they were having for lunch. “-and then she slammed the Rainmaker into my FACE-” What was taking 4 so long?
After what seemed like an eternity, Atla finally emerged from the Cabin, carrying a cooler. “Sorry that took so long! Capt’n isn’t a very clean and organized person!” pulling a soda out of the cooler, she tossed it to Pacifico, who deftly caught it. “Do you want one too?” She asked Octavio, who just crossed his tentacles and looks away. “Suit yourself.” she shrugged. Twisting the cap open, Pacifico took a long sip-
“HEYA EVERYONE!”
Only to hack as the fizz went up the wrong pipe. What was with him and jumpscares around these people? Slapping a hand over his mouth to cover his coughs, he opened one eye to glance at the source of the sound. There, in all their pop-idol glory, were the Squid Sisters, dressed casually. Well at least Callie was. Pacifico wasn't sure if a Yukata and Parasol really counted as casual. But hey, Marie seemed comfortable, so who was he to judge? The Sisters has, evidently, brought the food, so they all sat down and exchanged greeting before passing it around.
It really was a wonderful lunch, and not just because of the High-class catering Callie and Marie had brought. Pacifico found himself thoroughly enjoying the conversation. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the back-and-forth banter between the Cousins until he was hearing it again. They all had a good laugh when Marie looked him straight in the eyes and deadpanned “I see you smell better nowadays.” once all the food was gone, and they had finished telling stories, the exchanged numbers. Now three names filled Pacifico’s almost empty contacts list. It felt good.
As the evening wound down, the Idols glanced at each other before turning back to the Agents. “Hey, guys…” Began Marie. “...We’d like to ask you something!” Finished Callie. Both 3 and 4 shot them questioning looks, silently asking them to continue. “We’ve seen how good you guys are at moving around and doing stunts-” “and so we want to ask you if you’re willing to be in our new music video!” Both Pacifico and Atla sat there, stunned. “You want us to be in a Squid Sisters music video.” stated Atla, her voice wavering. “Yeah!” cheered Callie. “We’ve been friends for too long to not have you in a video! So what do you say”
“YES! Of course!” shouted Atla, practically vibrating with excitement. Pacifico weighed the pros and cons in his head. And, well, there wasn’t really any cons. “I’ll do it too.” he agreed, causing Marie to crack a small smile. “We’ll text you the details.”
Pacifico smiled too. Things were definitely changing for the better.