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It was a beautiful afternoon in Inkopolis Square. The scarlet sun was low in the sky. The sky was a mix of red, orange, yellow, pink, all the warmest colors, illuminating the bottoms of clouds, making them look like layer cakes from above. Very beautiful indeed. Here we see our good boy Lucas, patiently sitting at one of the tables near the Crust Bucket. Normally he would do turf war, but he was all “turfed out” for the day. His friends, however, weren’t, so he let them have their fun, while he took his break as an opportunity to hang out with his amazing girlfriend, Marina.
He saw her walking towards the table, her face glowing, literally from the bright sunset, and her sea foam eyes shining like the rarest pearls. And her smile, he could spot from miles away. Even just thinking about it, or thinking about her entirety, made him so happy, it just made him feel all warm inside like his body had a built-in heater. The fact that he was dating someone so famous and awesome in every way possible made him feel like the luckiest inkling alive, and he could never get over that fact.
As she walked closer to Lucas, she moved faster, and opened up her arms. “Hiyyyyy!” she said, in her sweet, jovial voice.
Lucas got up immediately, replied with a “Heyyyyy!” and leaned into her warm, loving embrace. Nothing could compare to getting a hug from Marina. She was so soft, smooth and warm, like a body pillow, and her head would always lean into the shoulder of whom she was hugging, and, if feeling affectionate, she would nuzzle your cheek a little. Sometimes her cute tentacles would attempt to hug you too, but a hug from her own arms was just enough. Whenever you were wrapped up in her arms, you couldn’t wipe your smile off your face. Even if you’re not in the mood for a hug, somehow, a hug from her makes everything better, like it was magic almost!
After a heavenly 5 second hug, the two lifted their heads up and looked in eachother’s eyes, then they leaned in for a quick kiss. They would always smile wide and giggle a little after a kiss. They both enjoyed the feeling so much, and would always get butterflies. Normally their kisses would last much longer, but they were in public, so they had to keep their displays of affection on the down low.
”How’s it going, sweetie?” asked Marina. They were at the point in their relationship where they started calling eachother those corny yet cute couple nicknames. Sweetie, honey, babe, all that stuff. They used honey most often.
“Oh I’m doing just fine, even better now that you’re here!” replied Lucas. He certainly had a way with compliments.
Marina chucked. Boy oh boy did she have a delightful laugh. “You’re too sweet, you really are.” Lucas smiled. He just can’t help but feel so good inside when Marina says he’s really sweet. He knows that at times he can be a bit mean or rude, maybe online, for example, but he never TRIES to hurt people’s feelings, and if Marina still sees him as a sweet person, then that was perfectly fine.
The couple walked over to that one building to the right of The Shoal, and leaned on the large glass window. Marina looked over at Lucas with one hand on her hip in a sassy sort of way. “So what have you been up to?” she asked.
”Not much,” her boyfriend responded, “just turf war, work, work outs, you know, the usual.”
”Good, good.” She smiled, and pinched his arm gently. “You’re gettin’ nice and strong!”
”Heh, yeah, I guess I am,” said Lucas, blushing a bit. He didn’t like to admit it but he was getting stronger. “Thanks, honey!”
“Speaking of turf war, the latest stage rotation is out.”
”Yeah I saw, but ehhh, I think I’m all turfed out today...”
”What?! All turfed out?! I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
”Well now you have!” They laughed.
”Where are your friends?”
”They’re doing turf war without me, and like I said, I’m turfed out. But I decided I’d take this as an opportunity to hang out with you.”
”That’s sweet, and thank cod! I’ve been wanting to hang out with you ALLLL DAY!”
”Me too! Seriously it can be so hard for us to find the time to hang out, with our jobs and everything. I feel like we should schedule another date.”
”That sounds like a great idea, honey!”
”Yep,” he put his hand on her cheek and stroked it with his thumb, smiling, “it’d be just you and me...”
Marina smiled and blinked her eyes slowly, flattered. She carefully reached out and held his hand.
Lucas and Marina were usually mindful of anyone watching them, but they didn’t notice one particular person who was watching. To make matters more unsettling, this person was one of Marina’s exes.
Steve could probably be best described as an incredibly rude “chad”. He really was only nice to the friends that would always be beside him, kinda like a... biker gang I suppose? Him being the leader, clearly. He spend quite some time on his deep-black hair, it being slicked back in a “trying time be cool” style. His eyes were a fierce, almost menacing shade of red, and he had earnings shaped like spikes. He and his friends wore black clothing, him wearing fake contacts, a black inky rider, and punk blacks. He watched the two in disgust. “You’re kidding me,” he said to himself, “That’s the guy everyone’s been talking about?”
I probably should have mentioned earlier that Lucas was starting to get a little popular. Basically ever since they had their first kiss, people have started wondering if Lucas and Marina were dating. Some weird people even made short articles about it on the internet! People would even take pictures of them without them knowing. Lucas liked but also disliked all the attention. Both Marina and him found all the articles and social media rumors super annoying. Marina decided it was best to just confirm that the rumors were true, and that Lucas was her boyfriend, with a social media post. It got pretty popular, and soon the rumors and articles stopped now that the answer was out there. Now people would just start coming up to the couple and talking to them. They didn’t mind answering any questions regarding their relationship. Now Lucas was glad he was getting positive attention, well, until now.
”When I saw the dude in all the pictures, I was like , ‘C’mon there’s no way that guy is her boyfriend!’ Looks like it is,” said Samantha, leaning over Steve as they continued to glare at the couple. Samantha was part of Steve’s “crew”. Long, cyan hair and dark grayish-bluish eyes, she was a girl with some attitude. She wore tinted shades, a black squideye, and black dakroniks.
The other “crew member” was Matthew. He had deep blue, slicked-back hair and teal eyes. Not as talkative as the other two, but is just as rude and rambunctious. He wore fake contacts, a birder corduroy jacket, and black trainers. “Cod it’s so uncomfortable to just watch em be all, eeugh, cute,” he said.
”I know right?” replied Steve, “Marina and I were never like that.”
”But you’re over her, right?”
”Yeah totally. She’s a bitch!”
”Damn right she is!” Samantha chimed in.
”What do you say with give them pieces of our minds?”
The other two agreed, and started making their way towards the two lovebirds, who were currently in a conversation about Salmon Run.
”The shifts definitely get a lot harder, the more you do,” said Lucas, “I’m not sure if it’s bad luck, but I’ve been getting a lot of rounds at night.”
”Oh I HATE the nighttime ones!” said Marina.
”I absolutely hate it when the glowflies are on you, you have a team that gets splatted every few seconds, and you’re equipped with a charger! A CHARGER!!”
”Oh my cod that sounds terrible. Yeah I can’t stand having a team that gets splatted all the time, that’s why I do all do my shifts with Pearl. She’s a lot more helpful.”
”Heh, yeah. She seems like she would just shoot every salmanoid in sight!”
They both laughed. Marina was about to say something else until she saw Steve out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at him. Lucas looked too, confused, since he didn't recognize the three inklings.
”Well well well,” said Steve, with his arms crossed, and one eyebrow raised, trying to look all cool and menacing, “What do we have here?”
Marina’s contentment shot out of her system like shots from a Jet Squelcher, landing far away somewhere. She felt uncomfortable, and tried to avoid eye contact with Steve, only glancing at him a few times. “H-Hi Steve...” she said, stepping back and a little closer to Lucas.
”You know this guy?” asked Lucas, quietly, into Marina’s ear (she could still hear with her headphones on).
“Yeah,” Marina whispered back, “He’s one of my exes...”
”Oh...” said Lucas, then to himself he said, “Oh boy this won’t end well...”
”So,” said Steve, with an annoying smirk on his face, “this is your new boyfriend huh?”
Marina held Lucas’ hand a little tighter, and muttered out, “Y-yes...” Lucas looked at her, worried. He didn’t like seeing her like this. He didn’t like seeing her feeling anything but happy. Whenever she did feel this way, he just wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t really know how, at that moment.
The three friends laughed, and Lucas furrowed his eyebrows, confused as to why exactly they were laughing.
”Okay,” said Samantha, “No offense Marina, but like... how low are your standards?!”
The inklings laughed and Steve high-fived her. Lucas suddenly realized they were laughing at him. “Hey!” he said.
”That’s not nice!” said Marina, speaking up, finally, “My standards aren’t that low, and Lucas is more that meets the eye!”
”Ha! Really?” Steve scoffed, “I can tell by looks alone that he’s just a weirdo!”
”Yeah!” said Matthew, “He looks like a creep too!”
”Marina, I get that you’re desperate, but are you really THIS desperate? I mean c’mon!”
”For reals! This creep probably has a bunch of merchandise of you, Marina!”
Lucas, angry on the inside but ashamed on the outside, spoke and said, “Well... I do...” The three friends laughed hard, like they couldn’t believe it was true. Lucas then yelled, his anger coming out, “But it’s because I like her a lot!”
”Of course you do,” said Steve, “cuz you’re one of these creepy obsessed fanatics.”
”Seriously,” said Samantha, “I’d rather see her date PEARL than THIS loser!” They laughed again, “I mean c’mon Marina, of ALL the guys in Inkopolis you chose him! I thought you had good taste in men.”
Lucas was furious, his teeth and fist clenched. Marina was angry too, but also upset and humiliated at the same time.
”You really like her a lot?” said Matthew, trying to calm down from all the laughing he was doing, “Probably just because she’s hot and shows a lot of skin, right? Creep! Ha! I’ll bet she sits on your face every night!”
The three friends laughed hysterically, while Lucas and Marina gave out disgusted “awwwwwgh”s. “Good one, dude!” said Steve, giving him a high-five.
”That’s just terrible!” said Lucas, “We don’t have that kind of relationship!”
”I don’t know, seems like something a creep like you would enjoy!” continued Matthew.
”SHUT UP!!” yelled Lucas, absolutely infuriated.
”Oooooh I’m SOOOOO scared!” said Steve, sarcastically, “Don’t tell me to shut up, punk! I can say whatever the hell I want!” He shoved Lucas.
Now Marina’s anger finally came out. She hated anyone messing with her friends, let alone her boyfriend. She went up to Steve’s face and held her arms out in a protective way for Lucas. “Leave him alone, Steve!”
”And what are YOUUU gonna do? Crush me with your huge TITS?!”
Marina gasped, and put her arms around her own breast, shamefully trying to hide them. The other two friends wheezed and laughed. Marina’s face turned red. Lucas’ blood boiled he was so incensed.
”Yeah, seriously, they’re huge!” continued Matthew, “Which goes back to me saying that he really just likes you for your looks.”
“I DON’T JUST LIKE HER FOR THAT!!!” yelled Lucas.
”Then what else do ya like her for? Huh?”
”Everything else about her! She’s funny-“
”Funny, really?!” interrupted Samantha, “I’ve seen her on the show, her jokes are so corny and repetitive! Like, can‘t you joke about anything else beside’s Pearl’s height, Marina?”
”Seriously Lucas,” added Steve, “Why would you wanna date someone like her? She’s a bitch! I would know!”
”Hey don’t say that! And I wasn’t finished! She’s really kind and smart and-“
Samantha interrupted again, “Smart?! Not smart enough to make actually GOOD splatfest stages, and CLEARLY not smart enough to know how to use zippers!”
Marina looked down in humiliation as the other two inklings laughed. “Yeah!” said Matthew “Like I said, you also basically just like her cuz she shows so much skin!”
”That’s just a clear sign that she’s a bitch! A thot! A whore!” said Steve, slowly walking closer to Marina as she let herself get insulted.
”STOP IT!!!!” screamed Lucas.
”Stop what? Telling you the truth?!”
”Just leave her alone.” He did what Marina did with him and held his arm out in front of her.
”Don’t tell me what to do you dweeb!” Steve shoves him aside and continued talking to Marina. “I used to think you had good taste in men, AND in fashion. Guess I was wrong.” He stepped back.
”We get it Marina!” said Samantha, “You’re hot! Everyone knows how huge your ass and boobs are! You don’t need to walk around showing them off!”
”Yeah!” said Steve, “Nobody needs to see you with half an ass cheek sticking out! Pull your pants up for cod’s sake!” Marina had never felt more embarrassed. She almost felt like crying. “And another thing: lay off the food, ya fat bitch! It’s clearly going to your thighs!”
Now Marina was ready to cry. She wrapped her arms around her waist in shame and stared at the ground. Lucas, on the other hand, infuriated and wrathful, more than ever before, but he couldn’t let anymore of it out. “*sight* Forget it. I’m done dealing with you shitheads. C’mon Marina,” he said, nodding to the side and holding her hand, “let’s just get out of here.”
”No...” said Marina, quietly while shaking her head slightly, “I’m just... gonna go...” Her eyes glistened with tears, and she let go of Lucas’ hand and walked towards the studio.
”Wait, Marina! Come back!” said Lucas, reaching his arm out for her, but she didn’t come back. He just watched as she drifted away, devastated. The three jerks just “ooooooo”ed like he did something bad.
“Look what you did, dude!” said Matthew.
”That’s just awful...” said Steve.
”Man if I was your girlfriend, I’d break up with you immediately!” said Samantha.
Lucas’s anger came back. He turned around and yelled, “Look what I did?! You guys were the ones who-”
Matthew interrupted and kept mocking him, “How could you say that stuff to your own girlfriend? You bully...” The three friends just smirked at him.
”Y-you know what?! Screw all of you!!!” Lucas turned and started to storm off until he was interrupted once more.
”Oh boo hoo, I’m SOOOO hurt. Grow a pair, ya big baby!” said Steve.
Lucas froze, and his anger grew to maximum. He clenched his firsts and gritted his teeth, as his eyes burned with scorching-hot rage. He turned around, went straight up to Steve, and slapped him across the face with all his might.
Steve’s smile disappeared. The other two gasped. They didn’t expect anyone to actually stand up to Steve like that. Steve turned his head back around and glowered at Lucas, as if his anger was sucked out of him and Steve absorbed it into his own body, and now Lucas was scared. He backed away, but Sam marched towards him, and POW!! He punched Lucas right in the side of his face. Lucas dropped to the ground on his knees and hands. Half the Square grew silent as they saw the scene.
Lucas winced in extreme pain, with his mouth agape, looking down at the ground. He slowly reached his hand to his face, and when he touched it, he jerked his hand back as the spot stung even more. He felt his lower lip, and realized it was bleeding a bit. He looked down at his bloody finger tips and panicked, breathing heavily for a second. Unfortunately, not of his friends were in the square to help him back up, so he slowly got back up himself and turned around to look at Steve.
”Wanna try that again, punk?!” yelled Steve, into Lucas’ face.
Lucas backed away, and before he left, he angrily, quietly said, “Marina made the right choice breaking up with you...” He walked away to where Marina went.
”Yeah that’s right, run away you wuss!” shouted Steve, then he scoffed and smiled. “Well we showed him! C’mon guys, let’s go.”
When Marina was walking away, she ignored the people who noticed her and tried to ask what was wrong. She tried to hide her face so they wouldn’t see her tears, too. Pearl was around the corner of the studio, by the garage where she and Marina entered to get in. She was just on her phone the whole time until she looked up and saw Marina.
”Hey Marina!” she said. The octoling didn’t respond. She just kept walking towards the garage. Pearl smile disappeared when she saw her face. She knew that look anywhere. “What happened?” she said in concern.
Marina reached the right side of the garage door, turned around, and sat on the ground with her back against the adjacent wall. She curled up her knees, wraps her arms around them, and quietly cried, with her head down.
”Oh no...” Pearl thought, and raced over to Marina, knelt down beside her, and put her hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong, Rina? What happened?” she said.
”I don’t wanna talk about it!” Marina sobbed.
Pearl didn’t know what to do. She just stayed beside marina, patted her shoulder gently and hugged her. Marina just kept crying and leaned into Pearl. The one person she was with, Pearl remembered, was Lucas. She thought that he was the one who upset Marina. She grew angry and walked away from her band mate. She turned the corner just in time for Lucas to get down there.
”Marina? Where are you?” he called out. Pearl clenched her fists and stood in front of Lucas after he turned the corner.
”What, did, you, DO TO HER?!?!!!” she screamed in rage.
”I didn’t do anything!! I had NO control over that situation!! I was just trying to help her!!” Lucas rambled on, in a voice that indicated he was about to cry, until he started crying. He slammed his back against the wall behind him and slid down it.
Pearl’s anger faded away quickly when she realized this wasn’t Lucas’ fault. Lucas put his hands to his face, and Pearl said, “Heyheyheyheyhey! Hey!! Calm down!” Now she was concerned about Lucas, too. “Look... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped the gun and put the blame on you immediately.”
”It’s fine,” Lucas said, sniffling. Pearl knelt down beside him and put her hands on his shoulders.
”Hey. Look at me. Tell me what happened. Marina isn’t telling me anything.”
Lucas looked at her and wiped his tears, then he told her everything. “Okay... Marina and I were just minding our own business when out of nowhere, these three jerks come up and start making fun of us!”
”They made fun of BOTH of you?”
”Yes! Me AND Marina!”
”Oh no, ohhhh nonononoooo...” Pearl pinched the black line between her eyes and looked down.
”What? What’s wrong?”
”Okay, you probably don’t know this, but marina CAN’T handle criticism!”
”What do you mean?”
”Well she’s used to being praised and complimented and everything. She doesn’t have as many haters as I do. I’m USED to getting criticism, plus I honestly have a big ego, so I can handle it. Marina on the other hand is really sensitive, which you probably know.”
”Yeah I know, but like, you two make fun of eachother all the time!”
”Yeah cuz we’re friends! It’s just banter! We don’t mean it! We’d never try to hurt each other’s feelings on purpose. When people say mean things to her and mean it, she gets really upset...”
Lucas looked at Marina, who was still sobbing. His hearts sank. ”Poor Marina...”
”Do you know who these three people were?
”I know one of them was an inkling names Steve.”
Pearl’s eyes widened. “STEVE?! You mean Marina’s ex?!?!”
”Yeah!”
”That... son of a BITCH!!! I should’ve known it was him! Wait, oh my cod!” Pearl suddenly noticed the huge bruise on Lucas’ face and his bleeding lip. “What happened to you?!”
”Well, after Marina walked away, I slapped Steve, and then he punched me.”
”He PUNCHED you?!”
”Mmm hmm...”
Pearl growled in fury and stood up. “You stay here and comfort Marina. I’ll go take care of Steve!”
”O-okay,” said Lucas.
Pearl stormed around the corner and looked around for Steve’s friends, who were standing over by the side of the galleria where there was a small skateboarding ramp.
”You alright man?” said Matthew to Steve.
”Yeah I’m fine,” he replied, “it didn’t even hurt that much. What a wimp!”
”You got that right!” said Samantha, laughing.
Pearl then shouted, “HEY!!! STEVE!!!”, which made the three inklings jump. She walked up to Steve with her fists clenched tightly.
”What do you want, you literal child?” he replied.
Suddenly, Pearl slapped Steve, right on the same spot where he was slapped by Lucas, then she reached up, grabbed him by his hoodie, and pushed his back into the wall with all the strength she had, pinning him there. He winced, and his friends gasped, and tried to reach out and pull Pearl away, but she clawed at them and yelled, “BACK OFF!!” and pulled her attention back to Steve.
”Listen here you little SHIT!!!” she said, glaring into Steve’s eyes, her anger burning with an eternal flame, “You and Marina are THROUGH!!! But that does NOT give you the right to make fun of her OR Lucas!” Steve tried to move his head away to avoid the spit that was flying at him from Pearl’s shouting. She moved her face closer to his, nearly touching it. “If you EVER say anything like that to them again OR lay a FINGER on them, I SWEAR to cod I will splat YOU and you’re WHOLE F*CKING FAMILY DO YOU HEAR ME????!!!!”
”OKAY! OKAY!!” replied Steve in compliance. Pearl jerked him to the side, away from the wall as he got to his feet. Mat and Sam helped him up. Pearl glared at the other two, huffing and puffing, exhausted from the amount of anger and strength it took her to get the point across to Steve.
”That goes for you two also! Don’t MAKE me come after you!!”
They all stepped back, and Pearl turned and went back to the studio.
”You’re insane!” yelled Steve. “Let’s get outta here guys.” And so, all three friends super jumped out of the Square.
While that was happening, Lucas scooted over and sat next to Marina. He put a hand on her shoulder, which made her look up a bit to look at him, then she cried even harder. “I’m sorry!!” she cried, “I was trying to stick up for you, but they were making fun of me too, and it was just too much to handle!”
”Hey hey, it’s okay,” said Lucas, putting his arm around her, after which she leaned into him, “I really appreciate you sticking up for me. Not a lot of people have done that. Thank you.” Marina’s crying settled down a little. “*sigh* I can’t believe those guys said those things about you. You don’t deserve to made fun of.”
”Well neither do YOU!” replied Marina, still upset, “You don’t deserve to be made fun of at all! No one deserves it, especially not you! You’re too amazing!”
”Oh honey. That’s so nice of you!” He hugged her, and she hugged back. In doing so, she noticed Lucas’ face and gasped.
”What happened to you?!” she said, putting her hands on his face.
”Steve punched me.”
”He did?!?!”
”Yeah...”
Marina started sobbing even more, releasing all of her feelings of guilt with each tear and whine. She felt even worse for not staying behind. He could’ve protected her boyfriend, but she didn’t, and now he got hurt because of it. “I’m so sorry Lucas!!! I didn’t want you to get roped into this. I should’ve been there!”
Lucas held her in his arms as she hugged him tightly, crying into his jacket. “It’s okay, honey. It’s ok... I know you didn’t mean for any of this.” Marina nodded, but still sobbed, even thought it was diminishing. “Also I can see why you broke up with him.”
”Yeah... I thought he was nice at first until I realized he’s only nice to his friends. He insults everyone else and I just didn’t like it. Plus, I’m pretty sure he just used me to make everyone jealous!”
”That’s terrible! I would NEVER treat you like that!”
”I know... but now that we’re broken up, he apparently just want to make fun of ME!”
”Don’t listen to him or his friends. They only want to get under your skin”
”I just *sniff* I just feel like some of the stuff they were saying about me is true...”
”What?! NOTHING they said about you is true!”
”I don’t know... because I feel like, like I’m really not funny, and my Splatfest stages really are bad...”
”Marina you’re hilarious! You NEVER fail to make me smile! And your stages are incredible. I know you work really hard on them and they’re just so good! Everyone loves them. Maybe they’re just mad because they kept losing splatfest battles on your stages. That’s THEIR fault, not yours.”
Marina snickered a bit, but tears still rolled down her face. “Yeah... but they also said a lot of things about me that I never even really noticed! I mean, my boobs aren’t THAT big, are they?”
”No, not at all! I mean, they’re a little bigger than average, probably... BUT that doesn’t matter! I don’t care how big your boobs, butt or thighs are. You’re still beautiful to me! I love you JUST the way you are!” Marina sniffled, wiped away her tears and looked up at Lucas. “Thank you, but they also mentioned the way I wore my clothes and...”
”Marina you can wear your clothes however you want, I mean, it fits regulations right? Plus no one else has really complained about it. I don’t really think they’re anything wrong with it. Sure you may wear your pants a little low but it’s not like you’re showing your entire butt right?”
She laughed a little, “Right... I’m not gonna do that. I’m more dignified.
“It’s okay, Marina. Everything they said was a lie! You’re not a bitch, you’re anything BUT one! You’re the sweetest person I know.” Lucas held her face. “Marina, I love you for YOU! You’re the most perfect girl in the world, and if they can’t see that, then joke’s on them!”
Marina smiled, her eyes sparking. “Oh Lukey...” They hugged eachother tightly. If there’s one thing better than a hug from Marina, it’s a hug from Marina after you cheer her up. She just hugs you even tighter, and for even longer. As they hugged, Lucas stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “Thank you so much, for sticking up for me and for being so nice to me! I love you so much!”
”You welcome, Marina. I love you MORE!” said Lucas.
Marina looked up at him and giggled. “And you’re right,” she continued, “NOTHING they said was true! We shouldn’t care what they think! They might hurt our feelings but they can’t hurt our relationship. They just don’t understand our love.”
”That’s right, honey!” They both smile and Lucas holds her face and kisses her. Getting a kiss from Marina is just as amazing as getting a hug from her, if not, better. Her lips were big and soft, and they would overlap either your upper of lower lip, which ever one it was, it just felt awesome. And if she’s extra passionate, you better be prepared for some tongue! After kissing they looked at each other passionately like they always do. Lucas’ smile turned to a frown all of a sudden. “Oh no, I’m sorry! My lip was still bleeding!”
Marina still smiled. “I don’t care!”, she said, and she grabbed Lucas’ head and pulled him in for another, much more passionate kiss. Nobody was nearby, so they didn’t have to worry about the length of the kiss. This was one of those moments where the two felt that they didn’t have a care in the world. All they cared about was each other. They stopped once they noticed that Pearl returned.
“Ummm I’m guessing you’re feeling better Marina?” she asked.
”Yep! Totally!” the octoling replied, “And it’s all thanks to Lukey!” She giggled and nuzzled his head a little, both smiling.
”So did you take care of them?”
”Hell yes I did! I just scared em off so good they won’t be back here for weeks! I think they learned their lesson: not to mess with my friends ever again!”
”Oh thank you so much, Pearlie! Come here!” Marina held her arms out for Pearl, and the little inkling ran in and hugged her. Lucas wasn’t the only one who enjoyed hugs from Marina.
After hugging Marina, she walked over to Lucas. “Thanks, Pearl,” he said, holding out his hand for a high-five, “You’re a lifesaver!”
”No problem. And hey, if they ever DO come back, just give me a call.” She made the “call me” sign with her hand.
Lucas chuckled. “I will.”
”Great job puttin’ up a fight by the way.” She gave Lucas a friendly punch in the shoulder. “If someone talked to me or my girl liked that, there’s no way I woulda let it slide!”
The inkling boy smiled and thanked her. “I mean for me it’s really best that I don’t get physical but yeah, I think I deserved a pass for this.”
”Definitely!”
“You know, regardless of what I do in situations like these, I’m glad I have you two to stick up for me.”
“And I’m glad I have you both to protect me!” said Marina.
The three inseparable friends smiled.
“C’mon,” said Pearl, “Let’s go fix you up, Lucas. There should be a First-Aid kit somewhere in the studio.”
”Thanks, Pearl.”