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Sitting in the Deco Tower lobby waiting for a match, Sebastian Fogs glanced around nervously. He readjusted the sleeves of his extra large Navy Eminence jacket, ensuring that they were covering his hands. Sebastian couldn't imagine the ridicule and bullying he would get if anyone saw his arms or hands. His life would be ruined.
With only 10 seconds before the lobby would be disbanded, and inklings sent back to the commons area, one finally walked in and took the only available seat, next to Sebastian. She was carrying either the H-3 or L-3 Nozzlenose, but Sebastian couldn't tell when she walked in. A quick glance when she sat down confirmed it was the latter of the two variants.
"Hiya!" Sebastian turned to look at the inkling next to him trying to get his attention. With her shooter on her lap, she wore a Wet Floor T-shirt, a Forge Mask on her face, and some shiny white shoes that Sebastian couldn't remember the name of. She had long red tentacles, an uncommon color for inklings.
"Uh, hi." Sebastian lightly waved his sleeve covered hand, and gave a weak smile.
"I'm Delilah! What's your name?" She stuck out her hand for a handshake, and Sebastian's stomach dropped. He couldn't do handshakes. If anyone touched his hand, even through a sleeve, his secret would be revealed.
"Sebastian. And I'm sorry, but I can't shake your hand. I'm not trying to be unfriendly, but I have reasons." He crossed his arms together, and Delilah pulled her hand back, slightly disappointed.
"Germaphobe?"
"Yeah." Sebastian knew that was a blatant lie, but if it made this Delilah chick not ask further questions about it, it was worth it. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of the lobby bell, signaling that it was time to travel to Port Mackerel for Turf Wars. Sebastian stood up and grabbed his trusty Carbon Roller that had been sitting on the floor next to him, and threw it over his shoulder. It was only the third weapon he had ever owned, and the only one he used. When he was old enough for ink battle, he had tried a Paintbrush and a Krak-On Splat Roller, but hated both. Moving on, he picked up the Carbon Roller and instantly fell in love with it, buying it from Sheldon without even testing it. Ever since then, the lightweight roller was his soulmate in weapon form.
The shoal of inklings stood in front of the opening steel double doors, behind which were the travel pads that would take each team to their side of the stage. On the left, the machine glowed orange, while the one on the right glowed blue. Being the last in line, Sebastian had no pick in what team he was, and was forced to choose orange. Walking onto the platform, he saw Delilah on his team, looking around at her teammates and opponents. Despite being excited to converse with him before, she looked away when he stepped onto the glowing machine and changed his ink color to orange.
Another ding sounded, and one by one, each inking went into squid form on the platform, then was sent off to their destination.
/******************************/
Sebastian emerged from squid form at Port Mackerel, and shook off the excess ink that stuck to him. He was second from the right on the platform, unofficially designating his job to be working up to the center. The squids on either end of the pack would handle the side routes. He quickly glanced around while the other team was preparing, and saw Delilah on the far left, L-3 Nozzlenose at the ready. Returning his sight to the stage, the bell rang loudly, and Sebastian threw a trail of ink with a vertical swing to swim in. Making it to the thin corridor created by the shipping containers and the wall, he layed down the drum of his roller and began painting the ground orange. Covering as much area as he could, he quickly gained enough points for his special, and he could feel his tentacle ponytail fluttering in excitement. Sebastian quickly threw another vertical swing of ink, and swam towards the center of the stage, ready to unleash ink-based hell. With enemies approaching however, he was forced to deploy his Ink Storm much faster than he planned, and it landed slightly too far forward.
"Damn it." Sebastian swung his roller to push back the incoming inklings, and turned around, planning to retreat to the maze of shipping containers and forklifts that was a couple dozen feet back. But before he could swim, a Splat Bomb landed in front of him, giving only a moments notice of warning before detonating. When he respawned at his side of the stage, he was pleased to see that it was well covered, and he didn't need to do any cleanup. Swimming down the left side this time, Sebastian heard a Stingray power up, and to his dismay, a bright orange beam was aimed at the ground in front of him, quickly rising up to meet him. He panicked and reverted to human form, when he suddenly felt a strong yank on his sleeve, making him fall into a small alcove in the wall.
Recovering from that, he looked up to see Delilah was the one who pulled him out of harms way. But she appeared to be looking at his hands? Sebastian shot his eyes to his hands and felt tears begin to form and run down his face when he saw that they were uncovered. His secret was revealed.
Sebastian didn't have regular arms or hands like normal inklings. Stemming from some birth defect, his arms were each a single orange tentacle, just like inkling hair. His "hands" were the larger part of the tentacle, where it widened to accommodate the sucker. They were as big as normal inkling hands, and he could control them like regular hands, sans having any fingers.
"What have you done!" Sebastian pulled his knees to his chest, placed his arms on his knees, and buried his face, starting to cry.
"Hey, hey, hey, Sebastian, It's okay." Delilah voice was filled with sincerity, and she put a hand on his shoulder. "Is this why you didn't want to shake my hand? You were trying to keep this hidden?"
Face still buried in his arms, he nodded. Delilah continued her questions.
"Why don't you want anyone to see this?"
Sebastian lifted his head, so only his eyes could be seen. "Didn't you see? I'm a freak!"
Delilah bit her lip, thinking of something to say. "Seb, you're not a freak. I think it's cool!"
Sebastian lifted his head more, and rested his head on his knees. "You wouldn't know Delilah! You didn't grow up a freak of nature!"
Delilah scoffed loudly. "Sebastian, you're lucky I'm the one that uncovered this. Because I have a secret too. I'm-"
Sebastian cut her off. "Woo, you have a secret too. I bet it's real important Delilah!" He immediately reeled back. "I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from. Please forgive me."
Delilah smiled. "Apology accepted. Now, my secret is probably the same, if not more damning than yours. But If I'm going to tell you, you have to promise me that when we walk out of here, we're going to do it together, secrets exposed. Can you promise me that, Sebastian?"
"Why would you do that? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Sebastian seemed to be calmer, and flow of tears was halted.
"Because I've been hiding something too." Delilah grabbed one of Sebastian's "hands" with both of hers. Both inklings blushed. "But I can't just hide my secret whenever I need to like you. If i reveal my secret I won't be able to hide it until I get home. So we're either in this together, or not at all. But you need to decide quickly, because we only have 2 minutes left in this match"
Sebastian pondered his choices. If he denied, he would continue to be chained to a life of secrecy, and would never get over his fear. But he might not be able to hide forever, and it might be worse if he has to reveal his secret in the future. On the other hand, this kind inkling was claiming that she had an even more severe secret, and was willing to work with him to help them both out.
After a handful of seconds thinking, he had made up his mind. He was going to go through with Delilah's plan.
"I promise."
Delilah swallowed nervously, and pulled her hands off of Sebastian's. "Here we go..." Her voice was shaky.
Delilah licked her fingers on both hands and started rubbing around and between her eyes. To Sebastian's shock, the famous inkling eye mask that was supposed to be part of her face was smearing off, staining her hands black. When she removed her hands, there was no black mask between her eyes like every inkling had; she had single black marks around each eye, with two "eyelashes" on the sides of the marks.
"There's more. Look at my tentacles" Sebastian did as he was told. Stacking onto his amazement, he watched as what looked to be four small suckers becoming visible on the outside of the tentacles, on the colored part. It didn't take Sebastian long to (incorrectly) guess what her secret was.
"Are... Are you an octoling?"
"Partly... I'm an inktoling; a hybrid of inkling and octoling. My father was an inkling and though I never saw my mother, It's obvious she was an octoling. I only recently moved to Inkopolis Square, but I've been scared the whole time. That's why I bothered you back in the lobby; I was trying to make friends.
Sebastian and Delilah jumped when the bell sounded that only one minute remained in the match.
"So now that we know each other's secret, let's finish this match, together." Delilah gave him a bashful smile through her mask, and picked up her L-3 Nozzlenose. She helped Sebastian to his feet, and he grabbed his Carbon Roller. Before heading off to fight the losing battle, they exchanged a "Thank You" between each other.
/******************************/
The match was a complete and utter loss for the Orange team, only accumulating 30% ink coverage compared to the nearly 70% that the blue team got. But neither Sebastian nor Delilah minded, and their teammates didn't seem too upset either. When all 7 inklings and the one inktoling returned to the lobby, they were met not with ridicule and laughing, but with compliments and questions.
Most of their fellow inklings seemed to praise and not care about Sebastian or Delilah's difference, except for one: the Splat Charger user from the blue team. As the other inklings started to disperse, he was near the exit, staring at them with fire in his eyes.
"You two freaks should get together; you monsters would be perfect for each other! Mister and missus Horror!"
The lobby fell silent, with some inklings staring at the charger user, some staring at a blushing Sebastian and Delilah.
Sebastian will never know how where his courage came from in that moment, as he grabbed Delilah's hand with his hand-tentacle. In return, she squeezed her hand and pulled her mask down to give Sebastian a light kiss on his cheek. The rude inkling initially looked dumbstruck, however quickly brushing it off and walking out the door.
"I wish you luck, freaky lovebirds!" It was obvious to everyone that he was being sarcastic.
As everyone funneled out of the lobby, into the commons area, Sebastian and Delilah exited Deco Tower, hand-in-hand. To their relief, no one seemed to be paying much attention to them, instead focusing on their own matters. They leaned up against one of the screens showing the current maps, and began to discuss.
"Thank you Delilah. Thank you for helping me with my secret."
Delilah returned a shy smile. "I could say the same for you, Sebastian."
An awkward silence crept over their conversation. Sebastian let out a nervous chuckle.
"So, uh, we really, uh did a one-eighty on that jerk's teasing, didn't we?" Sebastian pretended to scratch his hand, his gaze shifting all over the place.
"Yeah, I guess we did." Delilah was holding her left tentacle in her hands, and casually looking down at it, trying to avoid eye contact with Sebastian.
Another awkward silence later, she spoke up.
"Well, I guess I should get going then." She stood up from leaning against the wall, picking up her L-3 Nozzlenose. Sebastian bolted forward and grabbed her arm.
"Delilah wait!" Sebastian let go of her arm, and she turned around and walked back to him. He was visibly shaking, and his face was flush. "Delilah, I know this is sudden and we just met, but you're really nice and you've helped me allot, and umm." He swallowed nervously and looked her in the eyes. "Could I take you to dinner sometime?"
Delilah blushed harder than before, relieving Sebastian.
"I would love to! How does tonight at 6:00 sound?" Delilah cocked her head to the side and smiled.
Sebastian was taken aback, not thinking she'd say yes. "That sounds great! Where do you want to go? It's your decision."
Delilah shrugged. "Call me a cheap date, but honestly? I'd be happy with just Crusty Sean's food truck. I was thinking we could each get a Super Seanwich for dinner, and share a 'Triple-Fried Galactic Shwaffle' for dessert."
"It's a date then!" Sebastian immediately covered his mouth, realizing he just admitted he was taking her on a date. He looked at Delilah. She giggled, and he immediately felt better.
They exchanged their goodbyes, and a hug, before departing to their respective homes to get ready for the evening.
/******************************/
Sebastian locked the door to his apartment, and gleefully made his way through Inkopolis Square on his way to Crusty Sean's truck. The sun sat low in the sky, providing only the slightest of light to the city. Pretty soon it would be night, and hard to see. Luckily the combination of city lights and streetlights provided ample illumination to see.
Stopping in front of a shop window, Sebastian looked at his reflection to look himself over one last time. He wore a tucked in business shirt with nice pants, and had his tentacles down, instead of in their usual ponytail. Satisfied with his appearance, he looked to his squidphone to check the time. 5:58 PM.
While he might have looked cool as a sea-cucumber on the outside, Sebastian's excitement and nervousness were through the roof. Just around the side of the store he was in front of was Inkopolis Square, and more importantly, the food truck. He took a deep breath, and exhaled, then turned the corner.
There she was. Sitting at a table by herself looking at her phone, was Delilah, all dolled up for their date. As he approached, she lifted her head to look at Sebastian, and a large smile formed across her face. Standing up from her chair, she walked in front of the table and greeted Sebastian with hug. Afterwords, they stepped back to admire each other's apparel. Delilah had a blue dress with sequin squid patterns, and a blue bow tied on the top of each of her tentacles.
"Well look at you, you handsome devil!" Sebastian blushed, and tried to think of a witty compliment.
"You're quite the treat yourself, Delilah." A blush from her signaled that his compliment was successful.
Sebastian's stomach growled, and he asked Delilah, "You ready to eat?"
She nodded and went to grab her purse off the table to look for cash, but Sebastian held it down with a smirk. "Nuh uh. I'm paying." She gave him an accusatory glance, but let go of her purse.
"Alrighty then." She extended her hand, and Sebastian grabbed it with his "hand", and together they walked up to the food truck.
"What's crackin' squiddos? What can I get for you two?" Crusty Sean was as enthusiastic as ever.
Sebastian ordered for the both of them; one Super Seanwich each. Faster than either of them thought possible, Sean returned with their meals, including drinks. Returning to their table, they began to chow down, and discussing their life.
By the time they finished their seanwiches, the sun had set over Inkopolis Square, turning their date even more romantic. The screens and advertisements from around the square lit their dinner, and made the designs of Delilah's dress sparkle.
Sebastian bought and brought their dessert over to the table, along with two spoons. Upon seeing the culinary masterpiece, Delilah's mouth dropped.
She whispered, "Oh my cod." Grabbing her spoon, she and Sebastian dug into the meal before them.
"Hey Delilah." She looked up to see Sebastian holding a spoonful of shwaffle in front of her. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth to accept the offer, and Sebastian noticed that her beak was different. Her beak looked like an inkling's except that there was a third fang between her other two in her upper beak.
Once she had eaten the bite off the spoon, Sebastian put his spoon down, and sipped from his drink. There was still a few bites of dessert left, and Delilah was eyeing it. He realized what she wanted, and told her "You can have the last couple bites if you want. I'm full." Delilah happily munched down the rest, and leaned back in her chair, also full. After finishing their drinks, they stood up and threw away their trash, then returning to the table.
"Thank you so much! I had tons of fun tonight! Before we forget, how about we trade numbers, eh?" Delilah pulled out her phone, and he did the same, and they exchanged contact info.
"Oh, one last thing Sebastian. Come here." He walked back over to her, curious to what she could want.
Out of the blue, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. Their faces were only inches apart, and Sebastian could feel his hearts beating out of his chest. Delilah just seemed to be staring at him, a thin smile on her face. He tried breaking the ice, telling her "You're eyes, uh, are very pretty." Her smile grew wider, but she remained unmoved.
"You know what I want. So give it to me." Delilah's voice was at a whisper, and Sebastian was filled with concern. What could see want? Was all this affection just a ruse to get something from him?
He tried thinking of something to say, but was interrupted when Delilah locked lips with him, her eyes shut in bliss. Overcoming his shock, he shut his eyes as well, letting the taste of her lips flood his mind. She tasted like sweet grapes, and though she could have never known it, grape was Sebastian's favorite flavor of basically everything. Several seconds later, Delilah pulled away and stepped back, Sebastian still paralyzed from the encounter.
"Take that as a sign of my gratitude." She winked, spun around, and began walking home. Sebastian sat down and reminisced the kiss. He spent several minutes mumbling to himself, his head enthralled with the thought of Delilah.
Only a few minutes later, his squidphone buzzed, and he opened his messages, seeing someone had texted him. Upon further inspection, it was Delilah.
"So when's our second date? ;)"