Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day outside, one that had almost every Squidkid in the city rushing to places like the food court, the open-air mall, or even the dance machines outside the arcade. Almost.
“Come oooon!” whined an Inkling Girl, pulling the arm of an unimpressed-looking Inkling Boy. “It's a such a nice day, and FireFin’s even having a sale this afternoon!” she yanked the boy behind her, her captive not really putting up much of a fight. “Normally, I would agree with you Mackie,” began the boy, his blue tentacles, pulled up in a ponytail, bouncing as he was dragged along.
“But I know you, and this while it may start out as a simple FireFin sale, it will soon turn into ‘oh! Those shoes have 3 ability slots!’ and ‘wow, I’m hungry, lets get some Crusty Sean’s!’ until it's dark out and you’ve ran out of money.” He mimicked a slightly higher voice rather badly, making it contrast comically to the dry, serious one he began with. “It’s not my fault you have no fashion sense!” protested the girl. She whipped around, nearly smacking the boy with her long orange tentacles. “I mean, where did you even get a plain basketball jersey with just the number 3 on it?” she gestured to his outfit, disdain evident in her voice. “And why the number 3? The only team you were ever on was the Inkswim team back in 5th grade, and even then you were number 17.”
His already tapered eyes narrowed. “So says the one wearing a neon green hat.” Mackie huffed, reaching up to adjust her (very fashionable) beanie. “You wouldn’t know fresh if it hit you in the face, Pacifico.”
Pacifico, secretly known as Agent 3, merely rolled his eyes, a (fond) frown tugging at his lips. He looked around the busy main square, still letting Mackie pull him. Inkling, Inkling, Octoling (he was glad they were integrating so well), hey that guy still owed him money, Inkling, and…
His eyes widened, his body stiffening. The sudden resistance knocked Mackie off balance, nearly faceplanting when her trailer suddenly stopped moving. “Paci! What was that! You can’t just stop like tha-” she trailed off as she followed his line of sight. Her annoyed expression quickly morphed into a more mischievous one. “Someone caught your eye Paci? Well this is rare- lucky for you, I know her, whaddya say I introduce you?” Pacifico opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it when he saw the gleam in her eyes. He knew that resistance was futile at his point.
Mackie sped off, leaving Pacifico standing alone, trying to collect his thoughts. He had finally succeeded in regaining his default pokerface when Mackie returned, another Inkling in tow. The newcomer had brown, tanned skin, her yellow tentacles cut short contrasting with it. She wore a light tank top and flip-flops, a soda in hand as she talked to Mackie. “ -I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Pacifico-” Mackie was saying gesturing in his direction. The Girl nodded amicably, raising her cup to take a sip through the straw. She turned to see who her friend was talking about, and promptly choked mid-sip.
Her eyes were round like saucers as she sputtered, Mackie hitting her back in an attempt to help. She coughed twice, wiping a tear from one of her still-wide eyes. “Sorry-” she got out before coughing again. Mackie looked at her strangely for a moment before turning to Pacifico, a glint of something in her eyes. “Pacifico, this is Atla, we met back when she was still rank B.” she introduced.
The now identified Atla eyed Pacifico warily, before extending her hand. Pacifico shook it, screaming underneath his pokerface. “I'm gonna grab a drink, mind waiting here you two?” asked Mackie, already striding off. Pacifico internally facepalmed, a little embarrassed by Mackie's obvious ploy at matchmaking. There was an awkward silence for a few beats, before Atla turned to face him, meeting his eyes for the first time since the unfortunate drink incident. Pacifico noted with a small amount of despair that she was the same height as him, if not a little taller.
“Hey 3…” she trailed off, clearly unsure of what to say. “Hi 4.” he responded, his tone coming off as curt and annoyed to anyone who didn’t know him. To his surprise, she didn’t even look offended. “Now that you know my real name, the Code Names are kinda useless.” she said, making a face. “Unless it's on the battlefield, just call me Atla.” The surprise and gratitude didn't show on his face, but Pacifico was feeling it. “Then you should just call me Pacifico.” He offered.
She smiled at him and he could feel an almost invisible blush spring up on his cheeks. They settled into another silence, though this one wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable. Mackie was taking an awfully long time to return, most likely snickering to herself while in line for Crusty Sean’s. Eventually, 4- no- Atla broke the silence again, looking up from her phone to meet his eyes. “Have you talked to 1 or 2 since Octo Valley?” she asked, discreetly waving her hand in the direction of the grate. He shook his head. Neither Squid Sister had had much contact with him ever since his excursion to stop Octavio.
“Actually, have you ever been to the part of Octo Valley I was active in? It’s where they keep Octavio now. Sometimes I like to go down there to draw on his snow globe.” The corners of his mouth turned up a bit at this. He could picture Octavio fuming like a crab in a kettle while one of his greatest enemies drew doodles on his cage. “I haven’t. Maybe I should, didn’t get a chance to wow him with my artistic skills back when I was active.” Atla snorted at this, “Just remember to use washable markers, It's no fun if the canvas can’t be used again.”
A timer on her watch beeped, and an annoyed look stole across her face. “Uhg, My shift’s about to start.” she pressed a button so that the noise stopped, then turned to him for a final time. “I gotta go, but it was really nice meeting you, for real this time. 1, 2, and I are all meeting up for lunch next week on Thursday. You should come, it’s at the new Cuttlefish Cabin.” her offer given, she walked away, stopping to wave back at him before dashing off.
Mackie took this as the perfect time to make her dramatic re-entrance. “Aw, she left so soon!” she whined, holding not only a soda but a piled high Deep-fried Shwaffle. At least now he knew what was taking her so long. “Did you at least score a date?” asked Mackie, slurping loudly on her drink. Pacifico thought about the invitation that was extended to him. “Kinda.” he replied.
“What! You can’t just say ‘Kinda’, spill the details!”
“Nah.”
“You’re impossible. Well now at least I have an excuse to take you shopping. Can’t have you showing up to your date looking like you just wrestled a Salmonid.”
Pacifico sighed. He might of had a golden opportunity presented to him, but now he had to face one of the only things he feared- shopping. Well, maybe Mackie was right. He hadn't seen these people in a long time. He should present himself as at least a little nicely.
“...Fine.”
Maybe this was the start of something new.