Archive of Our Own

Pearl stepped onto the bus and handed the driver the customary fee. The old, scruffy bearded inkling acknowledged her- or rather did not- with an irritated grunt before proceeding to reach for the handle that prompted the sliding door to close shut. Pearl responded with a hard scowl of her own before turning to walk down the aisle to her usual spot, her hands propelling her through the tight spaces of the seats. She passed by loudly crying babies with their mother’s futilely trying to quiet them, the groups of teenagers whose shouting and laughing were obnoxious and then the occasional, obscene couple who had no regards for privacy as they were too caught up in each other’s lips.

Over the years, Pearl had grown to ignore these daily life encounters, as she had to take the bus to and from band rehearsal every day. However, today's gig had been particularly rough, making it harder to ignore these common life endeavors. One of her band mates called in sick, their new, expensive amps wouldn't configure correctly with their equipment, and the sick sheet of lyrical genius she had written a few days prior had somehow evaporated out from her possession. Due to these stacking mishaps, Pearl was tired and more irritated than usual. She couldn't wait to get back home so she could undress, curl up in a bundle of warm blankets, and stuff her face with her special homemade, mayo-flavored cake.

A sigh of liberation puffed out from Pearl's pale lips as she neared section eleven, the holder of her escape from society. Once there, she could plug in her earphones, lose herself in her thoughts whilst looking out the window, and not have to deal with any of this nonsense until it was time for her to depart on her stop.

At least… that would have normally been the case,  if someone hadn’t had the nerve to take her seat.

You have got to be shitting me, she thought in annoyance.

Pearl stared at a girl who was sitting in her beloved window seat, her face taking on a mixture of shock and anger. This spot had always been open for her to take, literally for the past few years, every single day. Before her was a girl with short, teal-tipped tentacles that stopped and curled up the slightest bit at her shoulders. She was hunched over her stomach with some type of notebook in her lap. A sun-kissed hand was making light, swift strokes with a pencil, and Pearl quickly came to the conclusion that she was probably drawing something- not that she really cared what the other was doing, however. It had appeared that the sitting girl hadn’t even noticed that there was someone standing beside her, although this wasn’t surprising. Her face was literally buried within her paper.

Who in the fuck...

Already driven by irritation, Pearl was initially tempted to forcefully ask the girl to move, but she ultimately decided against it.

Not in the mood to argue, she thought.

Instead, she turned her head to look for an open seat elsewhere. This weird girl could have her seat for today, but today only. Pearl wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed social interactions with strangers, especially when it came to this damned bus, so in her eyes, the less talking she had to do, the better.

Also, she was still really pissed about that disaster of a rehearsal. It was probably for the best for her to hold her tongue and not make an unintentional scene.

Unfortunately, after a couple of moments of looking, Pearl had to come to the awful conclusion that there were no open seats today, apart from the one beside her. Groaning inwardly, she turned her attention back to the drawing girl, more so to the black and green backpack resting in the otherwise open isle seat.

She sighed inwardly.

I guess if this is the only option...

“Uhh, hey…” She started after clearing her throat awkwardly, trying to be as friendly as possible. “Can I sit here?” When she received nothing more than a brief, idle scratch of the head from the girl before her, Pearl felt her irritation rise.

She’d try again; maybe the other girl just hadn’t heard her.

“Hi, ‘scuse me, may I sit here?” Again, the girl ignored her, her right hand creating endless strokes and swirls on her paper. Pearl felt a pierced eyebrow twitch in agitation as her iconic scowl made its’ way back onto her face. She was going to get this girl’s attention in one way or another; there was no way in hell that she was going to spend the next hour standing over people. 

Although embarrassing to admit, that option wasn't even physical possible for Pearl, considering that she was too short to hold onto the high hanging hand-holds.

Her frown deepened.

Screw hospitality.

Quickly reaching out with a hand, Pearl not-so-gently tapped the shoulder of the sitting girl. “Hey! Is it alright if I can-” The rest of her intended words never left her mouth as she was abruptly cut off by a strange, oddly-pitched yelp. The girl had jumped cogently at feeling her touch, her short tentacles bouncing about vividly. She turned to look at her confronter. Her eyes, sharp with surprise and concern, were colored a brilliant gradient of green in which Pearl had never seen before. She was clutching her sketchbook close to her chest and her slender shoulders were stiff and rigid, as if she was anticipating something dreadful.

Pearl couldn't help but notice how the mask of the girl's eyes didn't connect together at the bridge of her nose, and that the suction cups of her tentacles were inverted from what she was used to seeing.

Oh.

This was an octoling, the new inhabitants of Inkopolis.

The pair stared at each other for an awfully awkward amount of time before Pearl cleared her throat again in an attempt to continue with her effort. “May I take this seat?” She repeated. The girl just merely blinked at her in what seemed like confusion. She looked around anxiously before bringing her green eyes back to meet golden. She then pointed to herself with her eyebrows raised in a nonverbal question.

Pearl suppressed the sarcastic comment that threatened to escape from her lips by cracking an emotionless, half-smile. “Yes, you.” She grumbled. “Can you move your bag so I can take a seat?” She was honestly getting tired of playing games with this girl. If this stranger continued to refuse to her an answer, she would gladly sit upon the backpack with no remorse.

Surely this octoling understood some Squiddish, right? Octolings had been flooding into Inkopolis for the past few months now. Surely she had picked up on something by now?

When the said girl persisted with her confused stare, Pearl nearly lost it.

“The seat.” Pearl began, making an obnoxious gesture to the cause of this unnecessary and easily avoidable confrontation. “This one right here. With your bag. I would like to sit. In this seat. Right here. Can you make that happen?”

Slowly, Pearl saw realization fill the teal eyes of the oblivious girl before her. Suddenly, she ran her hands through tentacles in disbelief, causing her notebook and pencil to fall to the floor. Hastily, she nodded her head and reached over to snatch her backpack to practically throw it underneath her seat. She then scrambled to recapture her abandoned pencil and pad before leaning over herself again to continue drawing. Pearl found herself to yet again be frozen with shock, but before this skittish girl could change her mind, the inkling took her actions as an invitation to sit down, and so she did.

Deciding that this was enough of a social adventure for one day, Pearl promptly placed her own bag flat against her lap to reach for her earphones. The quicker she could plug in those sacred pieces, the quicker she could unplug herself from the world. Hidetide Era had just released a killer new album, and Pearl couldn't wait to jam out to it. Going immediately for the pocket in which she kept them in, the small inkling was disturbed to feel her hand meet the smooth, cool elastic of the inside the backpack and nothing more.

Oh, you have really got to be shitting me today.

Groaning loudly, Pearl threw her head back against the cushioned seat and closed her eyes. A slender hand went up to run though her bobbed tentacles as she came to another dreadful conclusion.

She had left her cod damned earphones back at home and now, for the next hour or so, she was going to have to listen to the consequences. Rubbing the side of her temple, Pearl crossed her arms and legs and stared directly at the seat in front of her, practically boring holes into it with her scalding eyes. She remembered clearly that she had left her earphones on top of her counter in the kitchen, telling herself that she would get them before she headed out the door.

Hm.

Well, it was apparent that hadn't happened.

Pearl was soon snapped from her daydreaming when she felt a gentle nudge from her side.  What she didn't expect to see when she turned her head was the octoling girl looking back at her, hand outstretched with her gradient fingers holding a pair of green and black, over-the-head, headphones.

Pearl slowly uncrossed her arms and sat up; surely this girl wasn't doing what she thought she was doing…

...right?  

As if hearing her internal conflict, the octoling gave a small smile before shaking her hand slightly to emphasize her offering. She then nodded once in reassurance.

“O-Oh…” Pearl blinked back at her before hesitantly taking the headphones. "Erm, well, thanks...?" She murmured, still dazed by the fact that this complete stranger have given her something so valuable. The octoling nodded briskly before shrinking herself back into her own world, her brief display of confidence gone.

Left again to her own thoughts, Pearl stared at the vital possession now in her hands. If this strange girl had really wanted her to have these, or at least wear them for the ride, who was she to argue? Reaching for her phone, Pearl tilted it at an angle so she could plug in the aux cord. After scrolling through some songs, she eventually found Hightide Era's new album and pushed play. She then moved her arms to draw the set to her ears, but then halted, the personal speakers floating mere inches away.

A sudden wave of guilt and shame washed over Pearl, her heart sinking deep into her gut.

She had been nothing but rude and hostile to the generous girl, and she couldn't help but feel awful because of it. Yeah, her rehearsal has really sucked ass, but that didn't mean she needed to take her anger and frustration out on this poor girl.

Especially when it appeared as if the octogirl didn't understand Squiddish. She didn't know any better.

Cautiously, Pearl casted a sly glance to the stranger out of the corner of her eye. Although she could barely see the other's face, it was clear to see how youthful yet, mature it was. Pearl figured that the octogirl was roughly somewhere around her age. The stranger’s face was focused on her drawing, her green eyes clear with determination, completely contrasting the look of uncertainty she wore earlier. The toned muscles along her back pulled and flexed against her black, sleeveless turtleneck as her hand moved back and forth across her notebook.

Pearl also couldn't help but notice that the octogirl was rather… cute.

The small inkling quickly ripped her gaze away from the girl beside her when she realized that she was silently observing her. A small blush crept onto her face and she hastily shifted her focus to her hands, the headphones, the digital dashboard on the ceiling, just anything but the girl next to her.

Suddenly, there was a rather loud snap. Chancing another side glance, Pearl saw that the octoling appeared to be frozen in time, staring blankly at her paper. A piece of lead swiveled in a small circle before coming to a halt near her now broken pencil. After a couple of moments, the stranger nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders before reaching down to open a flap in her own backpack. At first, her hand calmly shifted through the bag, but after a while, it went frantic, as if she was worried about something. It was then that Pearl came to a rather obvious conclusion – like her, the octoling had forgotten something important of hers as well. Perhaps it was another pencil, or a sharpener.

Without giving it much thought, Pearl effortlessly reached into her own backpack and scrambled around until she found a pen. After allowing the headphones to sit comfortably around her neck, she then turned to tap the distraught girl’s shoulder with it. Her response was another jump, although it was not nearly as chaotic as the last time. Her bright, teal eyes glanced from her golden ones to the pen, back and forth several times.

“We all have those days.” Pearl commented as she set the utensil on the other girl’s notebook. “Unfortunately, it ain't a pencil, but you can borrow it if you like.” She received a dumbfounded look before the other girl's frown of confusion slowly turned into a large, almost child-like grin. Surprisingly, Pearl felt a small tug on the corner of her own lips in response. Okay, yeah… She's just straight up adorable… Pearl watched, almost amusingly, as the octoling's eyes seemed to brighten when she picked up the pen before quickly flipping a page in her pad to scribble something down.

For reasons unbeknownst to her, Pearl felt almost crestfallen that the girl had went back into her personal cocoon, but before she could dwell on this thought for much longer, the octoling soon turned back to her, the notebook outstretched by her slender hands. Intrigued, Pearl took a chance and glanced down to the paper.

Thank you! The notebook said, written in fluid, uniform Squiddish. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to sit the rest of this ride without something to draw with. I would have probably pulled out my tentacles.

Pearl blinked at the message before looking up to turn her attention back to the stranger. So, she does understand Squiddish. The other girl looked back at her, teal eyes darting from Pearl's dumbfounded face to the pen, as if she was waiting for her to do something. Taking the pen from her, Pearl quickly scrawled down something of her own without really knowing why. This octoling was right next to her… did Pearl scare her from verbally speaking?

You’re welcome, said Pearl's scribbled writing, and I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who hates this damn bus. Thanks again for letting me borrow your headphones.

She passed the notebook back, her attention now fully on the octoling. She watched the other smirk as her green eyes scanned over the message. She then lifted her head up to Pearl, nodding in agreement before signaling with her swarthy hands to the space around them, her face taking on a rather cartoony, irritated expression. The octogirl then made a gun with her hand, raised it to her forehead and pulled the imaginary trigger, all while sticking out her tongue to top off the game of charades.

Pearl couldn’t help but crack another smile at the strange gesture, but she understood what the other had meant. The octoling also smiled before going back to her notebook to write something else down.

The people on this bus are crazy! It said. One time, I saw this guy eating a pretty messy burrito. The bus had to take a sharp turn, which made the dude smash the burrito against the window. There was sauce and meat chunks stuck on it, and I guess he didn’t want it to go to waste so he ate it off the window… When he caught me staring, I held my notebook up to my face to hide my horror. It was terrible!

Pearl shivered in her seat as she imagined the scene. From that point on, she vowed to never lean her head against a public transportation vehicle again. The small inkling glanced up after reading the message to give the friendly stranger a look of mischief. She then took the notebook from her to formulate a response.

Wow… that’s pretty gross, but if you think that’s bad, there was this one time I saw this woman wearing fishnets and she...

For a good portion of the bus ride, Pearl continued to converse with the younger girl, who’s name she learned was Marina, via hand-written messages. They passed Marina's notebook back and forth as they talked about their mutual disdain for the bus they had to commute on. Surprisingly, Pearl found herself easily smiling and laughing. Despite the absolute disaster that was her band rehearsal from earlier, she found that her bad temper had subsided.

And rightfully so.

Talking with this… Marina person was honestly really entertaining, however… Pearl found it slightly strange in how Marina never let out a real laugh- only the kind that involved a smile along with the sharp outtake of air through the nose. In actuality, Pearl found it really strange in the way they were communicating. Words were being used, just not verbally and it slowly dawned on the small inkling that she hadn’t heard Marina utter one single word, apart from her terrified yelp at the beginning of their unceremonious introduction.

But could one even constitute  “aaugh!”  as word though?

While Marina was busy writing another message, Pearl curled a thoughtful finger just beneath her lip ring.  What was the reason for this use of nonverbal communication? Was Marina embarrassed of the way she sounded? Was her voice weirdly pitched, or did she have a speech impediment that she was deeply ashamed of? That last one could be a plausible possibility, considering that Marina was an octoling. Perhaps she could read the language a lot easier than she could speak it, but who really knew?

Never in her life had Pearl ever wanted to hear someone speak so badly, something she never thought she'd ever be thinking. So, when Marina passed the pen back to her, she couldn’t help but pop the question.

“Hey, uhh… Not that I don’t like this notebook thing or anything,” Pearl started out loud, hoping that verbal communication would entice Marina to use her voice. “but... why don’t you talk?” The octoling looked at her for a long time, her green eyes flashing with realization before settling with seriousness. She turned her attention to the notebook to slowly write a response.

I’m deaf.

Oh...

Pearl let out a small gasp when she read the message, a hand slowly going up to cover her mouth in disbelief. She read the two simple words over and over again, but no matter how many times she scanned over them, she found it difficult to believe. She looked over to the girl beside her, to see if she was playing a prank, but when she saw the strong conviction residing in Marina's eyes, and the way she nodded her head in confirmation, it was hard not to believe her.

She’s deaf… Pearl thought, speechless. No wonder she didn’t respond when I– oh my cod… I am so stupid.

It had all made sense now. Marina didn’t respond to her when Pearl first spoke to her not because she didn’t hear her, but because she literally could not hear her. And when Pearl had tapped her shoulder, Marina jumped because, any sane person would have freaked out if they felt a sudden, rather harsh force. When Pearl had finally gotten the octoling's attention, the confused look she was given was because again, Marina could not hear her.

This whole time… the reason for the written conversations… Marina's lack of response to her verbal communication… Pearl blinked hard as she continued to stare at the lined pages. She had always had a really bad habit of jumping to conclusions when it came to strangers.

I am so, so, so stupid.

After a moment, she turned her attention back to Marina, her mouth opening to formulate a genuine apology, but she was quickly cut off as the octoling reached over her to scribble down some words.

It’s okay, you didn’t know. I’m used to it anyways. Save your pity.

A wave of awkward silence washed over them as Pearl shifted her gaze to the backpack in her lap, and Marina was lost in her own thoughts as she looked out the window, her brilliant, teal eyes staring out into nothing in particular. Even though there was little verbal talking between them in the first place, the air around them became uncomfortably quiet.

Twiddling with the chord from the headphones, Pearl anxiously bit down on her lip. She cast a chaste, unsure glance at Marina before quickly looking back to her lap. Those words kept replaying in her mind; I’m used to it anyways. Save your pity. She could almost hear the bitterness. How many times had people treated Marina poorly just because of their lack of knowledge and automatic assumptions?

Well, I just one-up’d that total, Pearl thought grimly. Gosh... I'm such a di-

Suddenly, the pair were harshly snapped from their personal thoughts as the loud crying of a child from behind their seats erupted into the air. Pearl slumped in her chair and groaned, rubbing the side of her temple. Obnoxious baby crying was the last thing she needed right now. Beside her, Marina merely blinked before leaning over to scribble something else down on the paper. She then passed the notebook to Pearl, much to the inkling's surprise. Pearl was almost certain that the octoling wouldn't have wanted to further converse with her due to her earlier behavior.

Perhaps not...?

With stuff like that, Marina wrote, I’m glad that I can’t hear it, although I can still kinda feel it.

Pearl’s lips quirked in a small smirk when reading the words. However, she was soon raising her eyebrows in honest confusion.

Feel it? What do you mean? She passed the notebook back to Marina, in which she promptly responded.

Well, it’s kinda hard to explain, but basically... even though I can’t hear with my ears, I can still kinda feel it with my body.

When Pearl's face scrunched up in further confusion, Marina elaborated the best that she could.

Think of it like being in a car with really loud speakers. Not only can you hear the music, but it’s so loud that you can also feel it course throughout your body. I know this sounds like sci-fi-ey weirdness, but I “hear” the vibrations through the air and I can especially “hear” them through direct contact.

Really? Pearl replied, slightly taken aback. That’s like… pretty legit shit, to be completely honest. I didn't even know something like that was possible. Sci-fi things are always the coolest.

Pearl started to pass the pad back over, but she halted. Holding the pen to her chin, she clicked her tongue in thought before tacking on something else with a grin.

Better watch out, or they'll make a superhero movie out of ya!

Marina laughed through her nose at reading the response, Well, if you think that's cool…

The octoling shifted her arm before bringing her hand up to rest it on top Pearl’s forearm. The smaller girl froze almost instantly at the feeling of the touch, her mind momentarily going blank.

“Y-Yo, uhhh… you need something?” She blurted out loud, her pointed ears flushing. Marina only gave her an amused smile before jotting something else down on the paper, her swarthy hand still touching her skin. The octoling  then made a gesture from her ears, down to her mouth before passing the paper back to Pearl.

I’m listening to you. It stated simply.

Pearl’s golden eyes stared at Marina in disbelief, her mouth hanging slightly ajar.

“You can understand me?” She was unable to hold back her childish question, Marina nodding once in response. “Really?” She received another nod. “ Seriously?!” Marina let out another one of her silent laughs, rolling her eyes amusingly before nodding once more.  

I wasn't born deaf. I only lost my hearing about two years ago. By reading your lips and feeling the vibrations through your skin, it’s not that hard for me to figure out what you’re saying.

Pearl shook her head, her mind completely blown. She’d never heard of such a thing!

“Dude… You really are a superhero.” She joked, genuinely awe. “How'd you lose your hearing?” The inkling’s eyes flashed momentarily with panic. “I-If you don't mind me asking.” She added on hastily.

She watched as Marina's teal eyes darkened and clouded over for a brief moment. Her slender shoulders seemed to slump as she her hand danced solemnly over the notebook once more.

Bad mechanical-engineering accident. One of the reasons why I moved away from my old home to start a new life here in Inkopolis.

Oh...

But it's okay, really, Marina continued on, her facial features relaxing once more. It hasn't been easy, especially learning to decipher Squiddish through mouth shapes, but I've been able to adjust well enough. Thankfully, I had already knew your language, for the most part, before my accident.

Pearl clicked her tongue and hummed in understanding at reading the message. Unfortunately, a rather juvenile question flew out of her mouth once more before she was able to filter it.

“What's it like not being able to hear?” Realizing her mistake, Pearl slapped the heel of her hand to her forehead and reeled her neck back. “Sorry… again…  it's just…” She anxiously twiddled with the fingers, her face lowering as it heated with shame. “I've, uhm, never met a, uh, deaf person before, and I'm just really… curious, sorry.”

Marina had to strain her neck down to capture Pearl's last words because although she was still holding Pearl's forearm, feeling the vibrations of her voice, she also needed to be able to see her lips in order to read them so she could truly  hear what was being said

Hey, I get it, She wrote down, I now see that you mean well, so it's okay. I've actually… never really talked to anyone about this, so I think it would be good for me to do so.

Pearl met her eyes and blinked with gratitude as she passed the notebook back to Marina. Several minutes passed by as Marina wrote up a storm of a response.

To answer your question: If I was given the choice to lose my sight or my hearing, I would have originally chose my hearing, but now… I'd say I much rather lose my sight instead.

Pearl tipped her head to the side in confusion, her golden eyes widening. “ What? Why on earth would you chose sight over hearing? You would be blind! You wouldn't be able to see a single thing, and would need help getting around everywhere!”

That much is true, Marina began, But… if you're blind, you can imagine so many things with your hearing. You can tell how close, or far away something is. You can hear and understand the world around you, even if you can't see it because if you lose your sight, it's very easy to remember what things looks like.

If you lose your sense of hearing, however…

It's a lot… harder to remember what something sounds like. You begin to forget the little things in life, like what it sounds like to tap your fingers on a desk, or how cars sound when they pass you, or the difference in pitch a bottle makes when it's full of water versus when it's only half full.

“O-Oh…” Pearl murmured in realization, pausing for a moment to look up to Marina. “I guess I hadn't thought about that before.”

She continued to read: You forget… what your favorite song sounds like. You know all the words, but your memory of what key the song is in slowly starts to go sharp, or flat, or even out of key all together. The world around you is deadly silent, borderline scary, and honestly Pearl...

It's lonely.

Marina wiped a finger across the bottom of her eyelid. Even if you can see everyone, you still feel so alone… I feel so alone. It's only ever me and my thoughts now.

If you're ever in an... off mood, you can't just listen to music anymore, or something similar to help you cope through it. You also have to learn a new language, but what's the point of learning that language if most people don't even speak it? In addition to this… I've stopped speaking myself because I don't even know what I sound like anymore.

I… used to speak after my accident, until I felt through the vibrations of my throat that I was slowly developing what felt like a lisp. I couldn't tell what things I was beginning to mispronounce because I wasn't able to hear it, and as a result over time, my syllables started to become muddled and blurred together.

Marina blinked solemnly, a hand going up to subconsciously rub against her neck. My voice… it's what I miss the most. I used to enjoy singing, but now... I wouldn't dare to do such a thing. I probably sound so terrible and weird now.

Pearl's heart dipped heavily with weight as she read Marina's words. She glanced back up to the octoling, her eyebrows knitted with concern.

“I'm sure you still sound just as amazing as you did before your accident.”

Pearl wasn't sure what urged her to say something of that nature, but she found that she genuinely meant it.

Marina shrugged her shoulders, seemingly unconvinced. Maybe, she wrote.

Pearl shifted uncomfortably in her seat, unsure of what to really say next. She sheepishly dipped her chin to her chest, which caused it to brush up against the forgotten headphones resting limply around her neck. Remembering their presence, Pearl's eyebrows knitted together in genuine confusion once more.

She didn't mean to play twenty questions with Marina, but the longer she conversed with the octoling, the more she wanted to know about her.

“Wait…” She began, rubbing the soft, black soles of the headphones in between her fingers. “If you can't hear, aurally, then what's with the headphones?”

Despite the solemn atmosphere, Marina decided to lighten the mood by raising a single, mischievous eyebrow.

Remember the vibration thing? She scribbled down, Even though I can't enjoy music like I used to, I still like to listen to songs that have a lot of bass in it.  

Pearl snorted in light humor. “Oh, so you like bass boost everything, huh? Remind me to never listen to any of your music.”

Marina shivered in her seat before shaking her head back and forth, her short tentacles gently bouncing as she did so.

A healthy smile crept onto her features. Fine by me, She wrote, her teal eyes twinkling. If only there was some way to “listen” to sign language, I'd be set.

Pearl grinned at her response. “Heh… I still think it's pretty cool that you know both Squiddish and SSL, along with Octarian. Squiddish is my native language, clearly, but I only know, like, one phrase in Squiddish Sign Language, aheh....”

The octoling tipped her head to the side in intrigue before writing something else down.

Really? She asked. What?

With a impish gleam in her eyes, Pearl sat up and brought the nails of her fingers underneath her chin before quickly flicking her hand out, letting her fingers drag across her pale skin.

What does that mean? Marina prompted, unfamiliar with the gesture.

Pearl couldn't keep the wide grin off her face even if she actually tried. “It means, ‘fuck you’. When I can't let out my anger at someone, I just flip them that silent bird, and no one even knows what it means.” She slumped back against her chair with a content sigh, making sure that Marina still had access to her arm. “It's great!”

You're ridiculous, Marina laughed silently, rolling her eyes in amusement. Although with your punk get-up, I'm not sure why I'm surprised.

“Oh, are we judging a book by it's cover now?” Pearl stuck out her lip in a childish pout. “Well, I think you look like a… like a…”

Fuck, she thought.

She honestly couldn't find a single thing to poke fun at with Marina because dear cod , she looked amazing. The octoling's sleeveless black turtleneck revealed a rather nice, toned set of arms that Pearl had unabashedly stated at more than once during their conversation. Dark blue, stylistically ripped jeans cover the other girl's long, slender legs while a few accessories like a watch and bracelet decorated the dark skin along her wrists.

And then, you had those wonderfully brilliant teal eyes that were gazing back to her with wide, genuine curiosity.

Were all octolings this… endearing?

Pearl gulped sheepishly, her cheeks flushing in temperature. “Y-You look like a weirdo…” She finished lamely underneath a grumble, her eyes darted down to the side in barely disguised embarrassment.

Marina's own face flushed in temperature before she raised a questioning eyebrow. However, before she was able to conjure up a response on paper, the pair was interrupted when the bus made a loud fzzzzz ’ing sound as it rolled to a complete stop.

The old, grumpy driver's voice sounded from the overhead speakers.

“Stop thirtuh-five.” He barked before hacking up what sounded like some sort of inkling hairball. “Door will be closin’ in ten secunds, and not'uh moment later! Gotta tight sched’lah to stick tuh, y'here?!”

“Aw, shit-” Pearl panicked, scrambling to gather up her things, passing Marina back her headphones. The bus driver was unnecessarily strict about their stop schedules, Pearl being on the receiving end multiple times when she didn't get off within the allotted ten seconds. “This is my stop, I gotta bounce!”

Clawing her small hands at the edges of the seats, Pearl catapulted herself up and began to speed walk to the swiveling door. As she squeezed through the tight isles, she turned her head behind her back in Marina's direction. “See ya!” She yelled out, cupping a hand to her mouth over the noise of the other passengers. “It was nice meeting you, Marina! Oh! Feel free to add me on Snapperchat at MCPrincess, no spaces!” She caught a brief glimpse of the octoling given her a concerned yet, dumbfounded look as she was practically shoved off of the bus by the door hinge forcefully closing behind her at the tenth second.

Frazzled, Pearl adjusted the straps on her backpack and gently patted her ruffled black tank top down against her flat stomach.

Well… that was the most ungraceful and  unceremonious goodbye she had ever bidded anyone.

Taking a deep breath, Pearl turned over her shoulder and glanced behind her when she heard the bus’ engine crank up again as it switched back into drive to pull away. Glancing up to the glossy windows, Pearl managed to catch sight of Marina looking back down to her. As the bus rolled away, the inkling waved her hand in a small goodbye, the corners of her lips curling upwards into a faint smile.

Pearl frowned when, at her last glimpse of Marina, she saw those teal eyes flash with what appeared to be horror.

Huh… weird.

Perhaps she's gonna miss being able to talk to someone, Pearl concluded as she began to walk away from the bus stop. I've never seen her on the bus before, so there's no telling when, or if, we'll see each other again.

Well… at least she's got my plug.

As her small feet thumped quietly against the pavement of the sidewalk, Pearl's heart suddenly sunk to the pits of her gut as she realized something rather terrible.

Aw, shit… There's no way she could have understood what I was saying as I was leaving! I should have just written her down my number…

Bad play, on Pearl's part. She couldn't believe that she just let someone as intriguing and endearing as Marina just slip through her fingertips that easily.

Well fuck me, Pearl thought in annoyance, she was really cute, too… A black sneaker kicked angrily at a displaced, pebble as she began her trek towards home.

As Pearl sulked down the sidewalk, wallowing with a cloud of despair hanging above her head, her scuffling shoes soon halted when she heard a suddenly loud and abrasive honk. Startled, she whipped her head around behind her and was soon met with a rather… interesting sight.

What… in the actual fuck.

Confused, Pearl took a few hasty steps forward to get a better look at what was going on. From about a block away, the bus that she just departed from started to swerve left and right, all while honking nonsensically. The dim, yellow hazards were flashing frantically while the brake lights pulsed on and off as the bus jerked from stop to go repeatedly. The other automobiles on the road began to blare on their horns themselves, swerving to the side at the last possible second to avoid being hit by the out of control bus.

Pearl watched on, shocked, her mouth hung ajar like a loose hinge.

...HELLO?!?

Had the bus driver finally snapped and gone mad, taking the rest of the passengers inside hostage?!

Suddenly, the bus slammed on its’ brakes, hard, throwing itself to a final, complete stop. Pearl blinked in disbelief as the front door to the bus flew open, to the point of where it almost looked forceful. A few seconds later, someone calmly stepped out from the bus, dusting their pants off with delicate hands.

Squinting her eyes, Pearl soon identified the person to be-

Marina?!

The octoling turned over her shoulder to the bus, a hard scowl adorning her otherwise soft features. With her shoulders squared, she brought her fingertips underneath her chin before quickly flicking them out, a gesture dealt to the driver. There was some indiscernible yelling from inside the bus before the doors slammed themselves shut. The bus gave a few last angry honks before revving its’ engine once more to speed off into the horizon, nearly running over innocent passing vehicles and pedestrians in the process.

… Uhh...

After releasing that looked like a deep yet, content sigh, Marina glanced around the area, seemingly confused, as if looking for something. When her swiveling head eventually met Pearl's confused gaze from down the street, a pair of sun-kissed lips slowly parted into a bright smile. Curling a hand to her chest, Marina stood on her tip-toes and waved her other hand high above her head in excitement before beginning to jog towards Pearl.

“... Marina!” Pearl squeaked out, her hands clutching her bobbed tentacles in disbelief as she also began to move towards the other girl. Pearl's “jog” was more of a clumsy, frantic sprint however, and she soon had to dig her heels into the concrete to keep herself from slamming into the octoling. “What in Great Zapfish’ name?!?” She exclaimed, her mind still trying to catch up with the sudden, unexpected turn of events. “What did you do in order to make that old fart stop?! And better yet, why in the world did you-”

Pearl's flurry of questions were abruptly cut off when Marina suddenly outstretched her hand, a black object residing within her curled fingers. As her chest heaved in and out, granting her lungs the ability to catch their breath after the abrupt cardio session, Pearl allowed her eyes to focus on the swarthy hand before her.

She soon realized that Marina was holding the pen that Pearl had loaned her earlier.

Shocked, the small inkling quickly flipped her head up to the other octoling to stare at her in utter disbelief. “Wha-?”  Marina's smile grew into that of a child-like grin. Her shoulders shook with an inaudible laugh as she waved her hand in front of Pearl until the inkling took the pen from her.

What.

“So… let me get this straight…” Pearl began slowly, curling her hand thoughtfully underneath her chin. A pale thumb found its way to the top of the pen, frantically tapping at the push lever, causing it to obnoxiously  click  over and over again..

Pearl's short legs began to move on their own accord, making her slowly wander around Marina in a circle a few times as her brow furrowed pensively. “So… you did cod knows what to get that bus driver to stop, nearly causing several car wrecks in the process, and then proceeded to, presumably, force yourself out of those air-locked, double doors…” Pearl stopped her pacing, glancing up to Marina once more.

“All so you could return this pen to me? A pen that I got from Mako Mart for 99 cents?!?”

Marina started blankly at Pearl, her expression hollow as her eyes wandered down to stare at Pearl's forearm. A swarthy hand began to reach to the pale skin, but it quickly hesitated, as if unsure. The octoling's eyes darted to the side, her fingers twitching as if she was in an internal dilemma.

Oh, Pearl realized.

She kept forgetting that Marina couldn't hear her. She hadn't heard a single word of what Pearl had been blubbering on about.

Letting out a deep sigh, Pearl shook her head from side to side in amusement, taking a step forward to gently grab a hold of Marina's wrist, granting her the ability to hear. At the feeling of the touch, the octoling quickly cast her teal eyes back to Pearl, blinking in surprise.

Pearl decided to sum up what she had said earlier with just a few simple words.

“You're ridiculous.” She laughed quietly, watching with delight as Marina's eyes brightened at the fact that she could understand Pearl again. “But... thanks for going through all that trouble to return this pen, even though you like, totally didn't have to, ya goof.”

The octoling shrugged her shoulders meekly, the hue of her cheeks darkening in the slightest bit. With her free hand, Marina instinctively reached behind her back, but soon frowned when she realized that whatever she was looking for wasn't there. Her teal eyes flashed with hurt as she glanced over her shoulder to where the bus once was. Sighing in defeat, her shoulders sagged with weight as she gave Pearl a look of silent despair. The two looked at each other for several moments before the dilemma finally clicked with Pearl.

Marina left her belongings on the bus and, although that was indeed a bummer, Pearl realized there was a much bigger problem.

Marina left her notepad on the bus as well, meaning…

She couldn't communicate with Pearl.

“Hey, uhh… It's okay. Hold on a sec.” The inkling let go of Marina's wrist, throwing her own backpack to the concrete before stooping down to one knee. Her small hands scrabbled through all the pockets and sections before thankfully stumbling across a loose leaf of crumbled paper.

Standing back to her feet, Pearl took a hold Marina's wrist once more, the paper and pen in the other. “It's kinda jank, but you can use this.” The octoling stared at the offering, yet, she hesitated to take it. To Pearl's surprise, Marina ultimately shook her head and gently pushed the items away with a shaky hand, her eyes hardening with conviction.

Pearl's own eyes went wide as she watched Marina cautiously open her mouth.

...Was she gonna…?

The octoling's mouth opened and closed several times as she struggled to find her voice. “...U-Uhm…” Marina's body was trembling, her eyebrows knitting together as she did her best to formulate her words.

It was easy to see that Marina was clearly scared out of her mind.

After several moments of failed attempts, a tiny, strained “hi” was the only thing she managed to conjure up. Marina's teal eyes darted down to the side in defeat, as if ashamed that it took so much effort to get out one word.

Upon hearing her speak for the first time, Pearl's eyes sparkled with delight, a soft smile found its’ way onto her lips. “Hey.” She replied simply, gently squeezing the wrist within her hand.

Marina nervously danced on her toes for a brief moment, her free hand balling up at her side. “Uhm… h-hard.” She blurted out, looking down to Pearl out of the corner of her eye. It was clear that she was intentionally using the least amount of words possible to speak, worrying that her voice sounded terribly juvenile. Marina's pitch was uncertain and a bit raspy, truly indicating how long it had been since she utilized her vocal chords.

She eventually pointed to herself, and then to her mouth, her eyes clouding with concern. “... Bad?” She asked anxiously.

“...Do you sound bad?” Pearl concluded, chuckling quietly. She received a sheepish nod in response. “No, Marina... Not at all.”

You have a wonderful voice, Pearl thought earnestly.

Pearl noted with amusement how Marina's cheeks flushed in color. One of her teal-tipped hands quickly made its way back up to an eye, wiping away at what appeared to be a lonesome tear. The octoling gave a faint smile, her gaze warming with relief.

Her clenched fist slowly loosened.

“Happy… to hear… that.” She murmured eventually. At hearing her slowly string more words together, it was evident that Marina's quiet voice did in fact carry a small lisp with it, certain syllables less annunciated than others, but Pearl didn't care, or rather, she wasn't phased by it at all.

She was honestly touched that Marina was willing to face one of her biggest fears, even though she didn't have to, just for her. She overcame a severe obstacle for a complete stranger, nonetheless.

Just for her.

Perhaps they could move on from being only “strangers”, and there was really only one real way to do that.

“So, uhh… hey...” Pearl rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand, shrugging her shoulders as nonchalantly as possible. “You wanna go, like… get some grub or somethin’? There's this new place called Crusty… uhh, Simon's? Sam's? Crusty Crab? Uhm…” The small inkling's ears burned a bright red out of embarrassment and before she knew it, she was rambling.

“Crusty something, I forget the name, but anyways- it's like this new food truck place or whatever that's apparently poppin’ and I've been meaning to try it out and since, y'know, going by yourself can be kinda lame and, uhh, I know we just met, like, an hour ago but I just figured, well, ‘Hey, maybe Marina would want to go as well’, and y'know, so, that's what I am doing right now, is asking ya if you want to come with me, because, well, why not.”

Pearl wanted to slap herself across the face after finishing that absolute verbal abomination. She hadn't fumbled with her words that badly since grade school.

When she finally mustered the courage to avert her eyes back to Marina, the octoling was looking at her with her eyebrows knitted in deep, utter confusion.

Pearl then felt her chest swell with warmth as the tiniest, yet most authentic giggle phased from out of Marina's lips. “…What?” She murmured out quietly, tipping her head to the side. She opened and closed her free hand several times in a manner similar to that seen with a “talking” hand puppet. “Too… fast.”

Pearl gave an exasperated groan, rolling her eyes in amusement at herself. Of course she had spoke too fast for Marina to read her lips to hear what she was saying. Hell, she didn't even know what just came out of her mouth.

Pearl realized that Marina was just as genuinely patient with her as she was with the octoling.

She laughed quietly to herself. “Do you want to come with me to get some food and hang at the Square?” Pearl tried again, sporting a sheepish grin. “I think it'd be cool to get to know eachother better.” Her nose wrinkled in mock disgust, golden eyes glinting with mischief. “Well, get to know each other better, in an environment that isn't a gross, crowded bus.” She tacked on playfully.

Marina answered the offer with a small, endearing smile of her own.

She was able to understand Pearl this time.

Shuffling her fingers down to gently hold Pearl's hand, she met the inkling's friendly eyes with a warm, appreciative gaze.

“Absolutely.”