Chapter Text
"Good night, 8."
"Good night, 3. I..."
Agent 3 had faced a lot of dangerous situations in her life. Between fighting the Octarians in Octo Valley, saving the Great Zapfish itself, and even getting nearly sanitized, she's lived through quite a bit, keeping a calm and cool head through all of it. A situation she couldn't keep calm in, however, was being face to face in a dark room with a sleeping octoling who's attractiveness was just too unfair.
3 wondered where her calm from earlier that night went. Earlier, she was a good roommate and friend, helping 8 sleep peacefully by lying next to her. Earlier, she could focus on hugging 8 to stop her shaking. Earlier, she didn't have to deal with 8 sleep-clinging. Then, it was 3 A.M. Then, she was sleep deprived and probably blushing red to the point where she knew 8 was asleep but still was glad it was too dark to see properly. Then, she did have to worry about her roommate sleep-clinging. She wasn't exactly complaining, however.
I'm just being a good roommate. I'm just being a good friend. That's all. I can handle this. Years and years of minimal physical contact means nothing now. 3 thought, sighing as she awkwardly held onto her roommate. She saw one of 8's tentacles falling onto her face, and brushed it to the side with her hand. I guess she doesn't understand how pretty she is, does she? Although, if she did, she'd just use it to tease me, wouldn't she?
As time went on, 3 turned in bed to face the ceiling. She'd gotten over her initial flustered state by then. She started to think, the octoling next to her now sleeping soundly. She thought about how, just two months ago, she was sleeping in makeshift camps while traveling with the Cap. How, just one month ago, she and 8 were saving each other's lives down in the Metro. How, right then and there, she was back in Inkopolis, with the two of them living together. It had been the first time had properly lived somewhere in years, since before she joined Squidbeak all that time ago. She looked at 8's face again, and thought about who it was she was lying next to.
At one point in the middle of the night, 8 started to shake again, with her sleeping face holding a slightly uneasy expression. 3 pulled 8 a little closer to her, wrapping her arms around her as much as possible. She lost all hesitation for being physical, all inhibition, when it came to taking care of 8. 3 had an idea of what she was going through earlier. She wasn't exactly calm herself the first time she picked up the Hero Shot and started splatting Octarians. She could only imagine how much worse it was for 8, who lived that all her life and only now was realizing how bad it was. 3's only immediate regret was not noticing how much 8 was hurting sooner. She pulled 8 even closer, gritting her teeth and clenching her hands for a moment.
3 looked out the window to see the sun coming up. She'd spent almost the entire night awake, just thinking. She figured now was as good a time as any to sleep, mentally shrugging as she still wasn't too tired. She turned to look at 8's face one more time, staring for a second, then two, then a minute. It'd still be quite a long time before she actually fell asleep, but failed to see a light expression forming on 8's face, eyes relaxed and with the faintest hint of a smile.