Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The night was quiet at this time of night in Inkopolis. There wasn’t much commotion in the city, and there was even less in the area where one Agent Three lived.

Three was sitting in the living room at the moment, looking at her phone for a message from Eight, who’s been ‘sick’ according to Pearl and Marina. She didn’t buy this for a second because if Eight was sick, she’d at least text her that she was. But according to them, she can’t even hold her phone because of it. That was five days ago.

“Just calm down Three...” She grumbles to herself, “Getting angry isn’t gonna help anyone, especially not me.”

“Sleep on it for now, then I’ll go see Eight, and I don’t CARE if Pearl or Marina wanna stop me. They aren’t going to.”

With that idea in mind, Three gets up from the couch and before she could walk down to her room, her phone starts vibrating in her pocket. Taking it out, she looks to see who’s calling and sees that it’s Four calling her. Three answers the phone, hoping to maybe get some answers now that she has the opportunity to.

The night was quiet at this time of night in the outskirts of Inkopolis. There wasn’t much commotion in the area near Mount Nantai and that was the way Agent 3 liked it. As for what the inkling was doing, she was sitting in the living room with the TV on in the background, looking at her phone and at the last message she received from Eight.

will be staying at home for a bit. please do not come over as i will be very busy until then.

The message was dated nearly five days ago, nearly six in a few hours. While she knows that the octo can handle just about anything that can be thrown at her, the message itself just gave her a bad vibe due to how it was written. Three squashed the thought at first but after the third day she would go over anyway and see what's up. It was when she went over and the two idols that Eight were friends with denied the inkling from coming inside. That was when Three went from ignoring the thought she had before to now wondering if there was some merit to it.

'And to top it all off, Four- Ashford, has been acting oddly as well.' Whenever Three tried to talk to her about the octoling she becomes deflective. Something is up with all of them, and if there is anything Three doesn't like, it's being out of the loop. With a frown on her face she looks at her phone, looking at Eight's message.

"If I don't get an answer by tomorrow, I am going to break into Pearl's house to get answers."

Content with her rash plan, Three turns off the TV and gets up from the couch. Before she could go towards her room she feels the phone vibrate in her hand. Looking to see who it is, Three can only raise an eyebrow that it was Four of all people calling her. Nonetheless the agent answers the phone, putting it to her ear.

It was quiet outside of the muffled mumbling of what was Ashford's voice on the other end. It wasn't long before the inkling's voice was more clear over the phone. "Heeey Three! How's it hanging?"

The cheeriness of her voice irritated Three. Here she was, wondering just why Ashford was being suspicious when it came to Eight and suddenly she gets a call from said inkling? And to act like nothing was wrong? Yeah that wasn't going to fly with Three. "Just stop Four. I am not in the mood. You have been acting weird for the past few days, especially when it comes to Eight. So you can either tell me what is going on right now, or I'm going to hang up and deal with you tomorrow."

Silence on the other end. That almost solidified the answer for the inkling before a sigh is heard on the other end. "Yeah no that is perfectly fair. Haven't exactly been straight with you. It was for a perfectly good reason though. And because of that I- We, are going to tell you everything. Just... Give us a few minutes ok? Travelling isn't exactly going to easy to say the least. I would put Ryne on the line but she's currently busy at the moment." The inkling on the other end takes a deep breath, "I know I am asking for a lot, but-"

"Fine." Three interrupts. "If you're going to explain what's going on tonight, then I can wait a few minutes. Could you-" She shakes her head, "Never mind. I can say what I want to Eight when I see her. I will see you then I guess?"

"See you then!" The inkling hangs up, leaving Three alone in her home. And with everything now calmed down to a degree there was only confusion from the agent. Confusion on how travelling here isn't going to be easy given that Four can drive from what Three knows, and how at this time of night there wouldn't be anyone around to block traffic. Despite all of these questions the agent can only wait and see what her friends have to say when they eventually get here.

Speaking of waiting, it is now up to Three to figure out what to do until she hears back from her fellow agent. And that on its own is not all that easy. The inkling for the lack of a better term, doesn't have much in her home when it comes to things to do. Three mostly just watches TV until either she passes out or just does nothing until she decides to pass out. She mentally grumbles at Eight berating her about getting more hobbies outside of work before shaking off the thought.

"I can do this." She says to herself, "I can occupy myself for a bit before they get here." Three crosses her arms with a confident grin on her face. "How hard can it be?"

------

(20 minutes later)

Three lays on the floor as the inkling groans. Despite her confidence she could not find a single thing to do what-so-ever. Which is likely the most shameful thing the inkling ever had to go through. The plus side was that no one was around to see her fail. As she grumbles to herself she starts feeling something on the floor. At first it was akin to a low rumbling before it grows more and more apparent. Picking herself up off the floor Three feels her home rumble with each passing second before it stops suddenly.

Understandably cautious at the sudden pause in rumbling, she flinches when her phone starts vibrating. Pulling it out the inkling sees that it is Ashford once more. Feeling her eyebrow twitch at this she answers the phone. "This better be good. My whole house just rumbled so I rather not be part of a potential earthquake thank you very much."

There was silence on the other end before the inkling lets out a weak chuckle, "Heh... Funny you say that actually. We uh, felt it as well. Either way we're here now so that's nice." Three was about to head over to the door before she is stopped by the voice on the other end, "This may sound strange but could you head over to your balcony? Your place is a bit on the low end of things so I can meet you there?"

Now Three was getting suspicious. Why the balcony of all places? Sure her place was decently sized for a single person house but that didn't mean there was any stairs built onto her balcony. And it was at the back of the house as well, so that only made the inkling narrow her eyes at this, not that the inkling on the other end could see it. Letting out a sharp grumble she starts walking up the stairs away from the front door and towards her balcony. "Fine. I'll meet you there. But you better have some answers for me by the time I get there. Got it?"

Three hung up before Ashford could respond back. Not that it matters. One way or another the agent will get her answers. Approaching the sliding glass door to the balcony Three sees the orange coloured inkling standing alone on her balcony, her bright colours a hard contrast against the black night sky. Keeping her frustration in check she opens the door, stepping out to meet Ashford outside. Ashford of course gives her a small smile and does a small wave at her.

"Hey Three. How's your night-"

Three holds up a finger, indicating the inkling to be quiet for a second. Eventually she crosses her arms, staring dead in Ashford's eyes. "I just want to know what is going on. I am getting frustrated at the lack of answers I'm being given, so I just want to know:" Three lets out a long drawn out sigh as her emotions go down the drain, "What is going on with Eight? Or Ryne rather? Can you just tell me that much?"

Ashford pierces her lips before a faint smile forms on her face. "Alright. I will tell you. Under one condition; Don't freak out in any way what-so-ever. Got it?"

"Don't freak out?" Now Three was confused, "What do you mean 'don't freak out?' Ashford tell me-"

Ashford looks up to the sky and shouts out, "Yo Ryne! You can lean down now!"

At first Three was confused by what the inkling meant by that. Then the entire house started to rumble, and it got so intense that the inkling fell onto her butt. All while Ashford stood still, as if she was used to this. Before she could confront her on this however Three's eyes widen as two massive dark pillars step into view. Even looking up at the pillars the inkling couldn't really see what was supposed to be there. Then against all logic the pillars started to bend towards her and Ashford, making Three shuffle back towards the sliding glass door on the balcony.

As the giant being finishes leaning down Three notices that due to her house lights shining inside, it is giving whatever this giant thing a sort of low undertone. And due to that undertone Three could make out a few large stray tentacles on the sides of what appears to be a head. That was when the gears started to shift inside the agent's head. Three starts to get up from the floor of her deck and takes a very close look at this low lit thing in front of her.

Once the gears finished turning her eyes widen and points at up at what, or rather who she is now looking at. "Is that-" Three says, starting to raise her voice.

Three is cut off as Ashford rushes forward and covers her mouth, sneering at her. "Be quiet. The last thing I want to happen is for us to get caught because you decided to get a little loud!"

The inkling grumbles at this before lowering her arm. "Good. Now I am going to uncover your mouth, and when I do I want you to be as quiet as possible. But be sure to make it quick. Pearl and Marina don't know we're out here and I want to keep it that way."

Despite wanting an explanation for literally every single question she has, the agent is aware of when to stop and listen. Taking a deep breath through her nose Three nods, the signal being enough for Ashford to take her hand off her mouth.

As the orange inkling steps back to allow Three some space, she looks up at the giant figure behind her and confirms that is in fact a giant Eight right there. Or Ryne as Ashford has taken to call her.

"Sooo..." Three starts to quietly ask, "How did this happen exactly? And how big even is Ryne?" The name sounded off for her to say. She chalks it up to not being used to it just yet.

Ashford lets out a chuckle, pointing a thumb up at the gigantic octo behind her, "About 130 feet tall."

"130-" Three was about to shout what she just heard but a quick glare from the inkling made her pause before making herself more quiet, "Can you please explain what the hell has been going on? I get a message from Eight saying to not come see her and even the idols bar me from entering when I come over for a visit! What gives?"

"It's a looong story." Ashford says as she lets out a groan, "And because it is a long story, we will be going out for a bit. At least until the heat dies down."

Now Three was more lost then ever. "Until the- Are you two in trouble or something?"

Eight lowers a hand down, making an 'eehhhh' gesture with it before Ashford interjects. "To put it simply we're not exactly allowed to be out. Ryne mostly. But I couldn't just leave her where she was. So we broke out. We figured we could make a quick detour before we take an improv camping trip into Mount Nantai for a bit while we figure this out."

Three was starting to get the hang of what was going on now. Though she still doesn't know the full story, she was at least glad that her friend seemed to be ok. "Well alright then. If you need to head over to Nantai then I won't stop you. Thanks for visiting at the very least."

Ashford and Ryne look at each other before facing Three again, "You're coming with us you know."

"Wait what-"

Before Three could even react Ryne had lowered her hand and picked up the inkling by the back of the shirt, lifting her up into the air. Predictably the agent flails while another hand is lowered to pick Ashford up and she hops off onto the shoulder once Ryne made her hand level to it. Three is placed right beside her, who grabs hold of the inkling.

Said inkling is slightly amused by Three's death grip on her as Ashford pats the inklings' back in reassurance, "Yeah it was rough the first time I was lifted up by her. Granted she was not as large as she was before but it still was tricky to get the hang of."

While Three mentally grumbles at another question she'll have to wait for an answer to Ashford and Ryne to answer, the inkling talks talking, "But either way I won't let you fall. And neither would Ryne. She's... Getting better at the catching part of the falling. So just hold tight until then ok?"

Three can only nod as she watches the massive octoling stand up to her full height and start to move away from her house, each step increasing the gap between the two. It was around the fifth step away that Three had no idea where they were going. The inkling beside her seems to get this and points over to Mount Nantai. "We're heading around there for the time being. I set up some camping things a while back so that we could hide out for a bit. It's a little bit into Octarian territory but it's at the threshold where they won't immediately come searching for anyone."

While the prospect of being within Octarian territory was not appealing to her she figured its better than being on the side of the mountain where anyone from Inkopolis can see them. 'And I don't think any octoling would be dumb enough to attack a giant. So she's a deterrent at best.'

Nonetheless, pushes that in the back of her mind for now. Even if it hasn't been long since she was scooped up Three has gotten used to the rhythmic steps of her friend in-addition to getting herself better footing she can see nearly everything from where she is. Though it probably was a bad idea the inkling looks down by the ground, seeing just how small everything was from this high up.

It's certainly a different experience compared to the agent work she once did before.

And though the steps were slow and careful, it only allowed Three more time to sightsee longer. Turning her head back she watches as the city gets further and further away as they approach the mountain. And when Ashford had to tell her that they'll be taking a slight detour Three didn't mind it so much. It just meant being able to appreciate the sights around her longer.

------

Later, near the base of Mount Nantai

As the three approach the bottom of the mountain the massive octoling stops in place. Wondering what was going on Three looks to the inkling beside her. Watching her clear her throat Ashford then points towards the mountain.

"Ok, so Ryne and I made a little camp past Mount Nantai." Ashford eyes Three for a moment before letting out a sigh, "You aren't going to like this but we decided that for Ryne's sake we would go over the mountain over on the Octarian side in order to reach camp. There's a forest between Nantai and Octo Valley and that's where we made camp."

Ashford was right. Three didn't like it at all. If anything she hated it. Being so close to enemy territory didn't suit her, even if the Valley itself has been mostly abandoned. She feels a hand on her shoulder and sees her friends' look of apprehension. "I know you don't like it but it was the best we could come up with given Ryne's... Issue. Better over on the Octarian side where there's more or less no one around then near the city. We likely already caused a disturbance with these footsteps getting here, the Valley was the most secluded place we could think of other than going deeper into their territory."

Three pierces her lips at this. She may have hated the current arrangement of being near the Valley but it was better than the alternative. There wasn't exactly a lot of other places to hide a giant octoling after all. Letting out some air she looks to Ford. "I get it. I don't like it but it's necessary for Ryne."

The other inkling smiles at this and looks back forward. She narrows her eyes and points to a spot in the forest, "It's right-"

The inkling was interrupted by a low rumbled voice, shaking Three's body as she hears Ryne speak, "I know where it is Ford. I'll be careful not to step on anything."

Ashford looked sheepish at this before the octoling blinked, "Oh you were telling- Sorry about that."

"No worries. You can see it better then either of us could anyway."

Ryne simply nods at this and approaches the campsite. Though it was very dark out here and the height she was at made it difficult, Three could make out the shape of a large tent sitting in the open. The octoling stops and puts out a hand for the two of them to hop onto. While Ashford hopped on like it was no big deal Three was still weary before she shuffled onto the hand. Staying on her knees she feels more stable as Ryne lowers herself closer to the ground and the hand is level with the ground. Three is just happy to be on the ground at this point and climbs off first. The other inkling follows suit and Three watches her make way towards the fire pit, which was already set up. Four does something to the fire and in a flash the fire was lit, illuminating the darkness around them.

With the light of the campfire Three does her best to relax, taking a seat on a nearby log. Curious about something she pulls out her phone and turns on the flashlight, shining it up at the still crouching Ryne. Now with both the campfire illuminating the octoling more in addition to her phone light the agent can see that Ryne is wearing that XXL from Grizzco that she got awhile back. Shining the light down lower Three can see the dark blue sweatpants on her before going down to her feet, which are just a pair of blue slip-ons.

'Least she has clothes to wear.' Three thinks to herself in relief, 'Can't imagine how she would be feeling if she didn't have anything.'

She watches Ryne sigh a drawn out breath of air, causing the fire to flicker from the intensity. After seeing Ashford give her a look Ryne stands up to her full height, groaning as the titan stretches her limbs. "Better hope that log doesn't hurt on the way down."

Before Three could understand what she meant by that Ryne, after lowering herself closer to the ground and laying her body all the way out, she releases her arms holding her up. This causes a resounding thump sound to echo out into the night, not to mention the force of Ryne doing this making Three lifted up a few feet before landing back onto the log. Unfortunately for the inkling, landing back on the log did in fact hurt, making her rub her butt in pain.

"Ryne."

"What? It was funny" Ashford glares at the massive octoling before letting out a small chuckle, "Sorry Three but it was kind of funny."

While annoyed that the two are laughing about her misfortune there was also a part of her that would've laughed as well if the roles were reversed. Nonetheless after getting herself comfortable once again the inkling watches as Ashford sets up the camping folding chairs. Once set up Three immediately goes to one, moving it closer to the fire. May as well be warm after all.

It was quiet between the three agents. Ryne's face was illuminated by the fire, Ashford placed another log onto it to burn, and Three simply looked at her massive friend. It wasn't long before the other inkling cleared her throat, gesturing Three. "Guess its high time that we told you what's going on right?"

Three frowns at her, not really phasing the other inkling. "Yeah we'll tell you the story. There anything you wanna say before we start? Because we will be giving you the long version of the tale."

Looking at the inkling and then glancing over to the giant octoling. Seeing as how the two essentially kidnapped her so to speak Three feels like she doesn't get much choice in the matter. Though at the very least Ashford was described by Marie as 'thorough' so there won't be a single detail missed unless it genuinely wasn't important enough.

"I mean..." Three looks up at the massive face of Ryne, "Other than sorry for being a little... Loud back home. It's not an excuse just wanted to let you know."

The giant raises an eyebrow at this before waving her off. "No worries. If the roles were reversed I'm sure I would be the same way." Three nods at this before the giant looks at Ashford with amusement, "So ready to tell the story Ford? Better do it before I wander off to look for something to snack on."

Three is confused at what she meant by that before hearing Ashford's chuckle, "I'll try to be quick. No promises though. You wanna start or should I?"

Ryne gives the inkling a shrug, making Ashford sigh. "Alright Three, this is the story of how Ryne got huge. Brace yourself for the this epic tale."

Ryne chuckles at the inklings' theratrics as the Agent begins to recount the tale of what happened to the octoling over the last few days.

Chapter Text

Eight days earlier…

Eight wakes up to the sun shining on her face. She tries to avoid its glare, but no matter what she did, it wouldn’t dodge the fact that she’s awake now and she has to deal with it.

Getting up from her soft heaven, she goes over to her closet. Looking it over, she didn’t really have that much to wear. Or at least what she could wear. So instead she just puts on the clothes she wore yesterday and goes with that. With that, she walks out of her room and makes her way down to the kitchen.

She sees Marina up reading a book, as normal. Eight mutters a good morning to her as she pulls the waffles out from the freezer and puts them in the toaster.

“So Eight,” Marina called from her couch chair, “how was your sleep?”

“It was fine.” Eight responds back, still partly tired. The waffles pop out of the toaster, puts it on a plate, smears peanut butter on it, and sits at the table. As she eats her breakfast, her phone vibrates. Pulling it out, she sees that she got a message from Four.

So what time are you coming over? You don’t have any plans right, so come by for a visit! Plus I was gonna show you that thing that I found.

Eight now a little more awake, sends a message back.

I don’t really get why you couldn’t just show me a picture. It still would’ve done the same thing.

A message returns,

Eight come on, that’d be boring. Plus you never really visit. Always hanging out with Three. Why don’t I get any love? I’m joking btw.

Even though it was a joke, Eight couldn’t help but feel guilty. She does hangout with Three more often then she does with Four. And she’s a friend as well. Four shouldn’t be left behind because of that.

No, you’re right. We haven’t been hanging out at all lately. So I’ll come by later alright?

Sweet! Thank you so much Eight! Maybe we can go out later as well if you don’t mind?

Not at all. That’d be nice actually.

With that done, Eight finishes her breakfast. She puts her dishes in the washer, and makes her way back to her room so that she can make preparations to head over to Four’s place. Most of that being turf war stuff in case they plan on doing that later. And even if that’s not what Four wants to do, at least they’ll be together hanging out.

For a moment, the thought of the mysterious thing that Four found crossed her mind, but shook off that thought. If she wants to know what it is, then she’ll just have to wait until she goes see Four. Then at least that piece of the mystery would be solved. Until then, she’s got things to prepare and set up.

———

It was around 11:26 by the time Eight got all of her things ready. Looking over what she’s bring over, she has her Octoshot ready to go and her wallet containing everything she needs. So all in all, she’s good to go.

With that all done, Eight says bye to the two idols as she makes her way out the door. She makes her way to the bus stop and by the time she gets there, the bus is just around the corner. When it arrives she gets on, takes her seat, and puts some music on until she’s at the stop closest to Four’s place.

She gets off once she reaches her stop and makes her way over to where Four lives. The walk there was easy enough; she’s been there at least a few times during her time on the surface, since Three doesn’t have anything at home for more than one person, so she just goes to Four’s place instead. Sometimes she tags along, sometimes she doesn’t. Though as of lately, Eight has been hanging out with Three as of late and the last time she went over to Four’s house was about a month and a half ago.

Eight shakes that thought from her head, focusing on how she’s going over to see her now, so she shouldn’t dwell on the negatives. She’s gonna spend the day with her, and that’s what she’s gonna do. She rounds the street corner and sees Four’s house not too far from where she is. She makes her way there and when she is almost to Four’s door, she sees it open, revealing Four inside the house.

“Oh Eight you’re here! That was fast.”

Eight walks into the house, “I just got lucky with traffic that’s all.”

Before Eight could take off her shoes and put her stuff on the ground, Four grabs her arm pulls her farther into the house.

“F-Four! What are you doing!? Let me at least take my stuff off first!”

Four stops once she hears this and lets go of Eight’s arm, “Sorry about that. I just got too excited that’s all.”

“It’s not a problem.” Eight says, calming down Four, “You got excited to see me that’s all.”

“Well, just come over and see this thing quickly alright? I’m planning on cleaning anyway so I’ll excuse the shoes on the floor just this once.”

Seeing how enthusiastic Four is being, Eight figures that it can’t hurt looking at the thing that Four wants her to see. So she gestures to Four that ‘yeah, sure I wanna see the thing.’ With a smile on her face, Four goes on ahead, with Eight following behind her. When they get to the living room, Eight feels her eye catch something on the coffee table. Looking at it, it looks like a rainmaker figurine, but more ancient, yet almost looks custom made to look like that.

Eight looks towards Four, who sees what she’s looking at.

“You like it?” Four asks, “Found it at a shop somewhere. Apparently it’s supposed to be one of those humidifier type things. But the person who had it said that something happened to it awhile back and it doesn’t work anymore. So I offered up to fix it, and the guy gives it to me for half price!”

Eight looks at the figurine. Now that she pointed out that it’s a humidifier, she can at least say that a lot of work was put into this. To have something this unique and have it broken is a shame. At least Four’s gonna fix it, though it does make her wonder…

“Four.”

“Yeah Eight?” Four says back.

“Did you invite me here to help you fix this? Just wondering really.”

Four shows surprise, “What? No Eight I did not ask you to come to that you can help me fix this that’s ridiculous, and you aren’t believing anything I’m saying are you?”

Eight lets out a laugh, “If you wanted me to fix this with you, you could’ve just asked.”

Embarrassed that she got caught in the act, Four rubs the back of her neck, “You really don’t mind then?”

Eight shakes her head, “Not at all. The real question though, is what parts are broken, and when can we start?”

There was a pause before it clicked in for Four that’s when she should go get the tools. As she’s going off to go get them, she asks Eight if she can look over the humidifier one more time to see if she’s missed anything she didn’t noticed the first time. Eight wordlessly got to inspecting the rainmaker-shaped humidifier for any surface problems. Noting the cord attached to it, Eight plugs it in to see if it’s an internal problem so that she knows if they need to, they can take it apart. Clicking the switch, at first nothing seems to be happening, making Eight wonder if it’s empty. Which would make sense, can’t really fix it if it still had the liquids still in it after all.

When nothing seems to happen for a bit, Eight leans towards the ‘mouth’ of the humidifier to see if anything’s wrong with that area. When she does however, mist shots out of the mouth of the humidifier and onto her face. Eight snaps back towards the couch, covering her face and wiping what she can off her face before it can get into her eyes. Who knows if it’s just water or scented oils or whatever people put in these things.

After feeling no more of that mist spraying onto her anymore, Eight clicks the switch off and unplugs it. Would rather not deal with that again if possible. Looking down at her body, she does she that some of the spray got onto her clothes. Eight’s not too worried about it though, it’s just water after all. She does feel a little bit of a tingle after that, though she disregards it as just being sensitive to whatever that mist was. She hears Four come around the corner, probably with all the tools they need.

“So Eight,” Four asks, “managed to find anything wrong with it?”

Eight looks over to the Inkling, “No, but I did get sprayed with what was left in it. So that was fun. I’m alright though. I covered my face just in time so it wouldn’t get in my eyes, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

Four nods and puts the tools on the table. There were things like screwdrivers of different sizes, a pair of pliers, and the other assortment of tools. With everything here, it’s time to start working on fixing this thing.

“Oh!” Four says, as if realizing something.

“What is it?”

“The time, it’s like half past twelve! And I’m pretty sure you haven’t eaten yet have you?”

Eight has not.

“Well since you haven’t eaten yet, we’ll put this on hold for now, at least until we have something. Working with a friend requires energy after all.”

With that now the to-do list, Four walks over to the kitchen to make some lunch for the two of them. Leaving Eight in the living room with the humidifier and some tools. Looking at the humidifier, Eight figures that she could at least do one more look over before they start taking it apart. As she’s looking it over, she feels another tingle shot through her body. Remembering her ‘sensitivity’ to the mist that might still be on her face and arms, she opts to instead head off the bathroom to wash it off.

By the time she’s done with that, she sees Four in the living room, with sandwiches on the coffee table.

When Four turns to look at her, she’s almost given an odd look, but disappears before Eight could properly gauge what that reaction was for. Deciding that it was probably nothing important, Eight plants down next to Four on the couch.

“So?” Eight says to Four, “What should we start with?

———

Hours later…

After hours of taking apart and seeing what was wrong with it and staying over for dinner, Eight was ready to call it a day. And she could see that Four was ready to call it as well. As Four cleans up the area, Eight is looking at the bus schedule on her phone for the next bus will arrive.

“Ah damn it.”

“Something up Eight?” Four asks, still cleaning the coffee table.

“Its my bus. There’s not another one for another hour, and I need to get home.”

“Well if you need a ride home, I’d be more then happy to give you one.”

“You mean it?”

“Oh yeah, I don’t mind. Least I can do since you spent the time here and all.”

Eight feels a small smile pull up on her face. Ever the helpful friend Four was.

“I’ll take you up on that offer. Not like I can say ‘no’ really anyway.”

“Alright,” Four says to Eight, “let me just clean this up. Then I’ll drive you back. Give me… Five minutes tops.”

Not satisfied with letting Four do all the work, Eight looks around for what she can put away. Eyeing the tools on the table, she picks those up and takes them down to where Four puts them: In her garage. After setting them down -in order of course- she walks back over to the living room, where Four looks almost done with what she’s doing. Well as done as it can get at least.

“Okay then, Four says as she gets up from the couch, “this is as good as its gonna get, so let me just grab my keys, and we’ll be on our way back to your house.”

Eight nods, and goes to grab her things. At the very least, she left them close by. And didn’t bring much either, outside of her Octoshot. So at least she won’t be able to miss it, even if she tried.

Once she’s gotten her things Eight walks over to the front door, where Four is just putting on a jacket. Seeing nothing else has been forgotten and their both ready, the two walk out the door and into Four’s car. With the rev of the engine and the sound of shifting gears, the car pulls out of the driveway and onto the road. The drive there was quiet, the two not really having much to say.

When they pull up to the front of Pearl’s mansion, Eight gets out of the car. Thanking Four for both driving her here and having her over, Eight walks over to the door. Once inside, the house is quiet. Eight figures that the two idols might be doing something at the moment.

Right now though, Eight just wants to go to bed. And to bed she shall.

When she enters her room, she doesn’t have the energy to take off what she’s wearing, and just settles for flopping onto her bed and under her sheets. Another small tingle shots her body, but Eight is too tired to process it at the moment. Eight only feels her eyes growing heavier and heavier.

Until she feels nothing but sleep take over.

Chapter Text

Morning arrives for the octoling laying in bed. Despite her want to sleep in a little bit more, her internal alarm doesn't seem intent on letting her do so. With a groan, Eight slides out of bed, rubbing her eyes. "Ugh what a night..."

To say she didn't sleep well was an understatement. For some reason her body just feels sore right now and the octo doesn't like it. Especially since there wasn't anything she could think of that could've caused it.

"Just must be one of those nights..." She says to herself. When Eight looks down at her clothes, she lets out a sigh, "Right I slept in these last night... Should probably change out of them, put them in a pile for later." Letting out a yawn she walks over to her drawers, trying to pick out what the octo might wear today. Eyeing a good enough shirt she pulls it out and tosses it onto the bed, along with a pair of shorts. Stripping down to her underwear, she goes to put on the shirt. Though she wasn't expecting it to be a bit difficult.

"What the- Why is it like this?" Eight pulls on the shirt a little bit more, eventually getting it on her body. It's not unwearable, but it is annoying that the shirt is somehow tighter than usual. When she tries to put the shorts on she finds that the same problem is happening: They're snug as well, much to her annoyance.

"Really? Ugh what a way to start the morning..." After forcing the shorts on Eight opens the door to her bedroom, seeing the clothes hamper empty in the hallway. That's when her tired brain wakes up a little bit more as Eight vaguely remembers that laundry day was yesterday and that needed to be done.

Eight lets out a sigh as the dots connected in her head. It's one thing after another this morning huh? "Probably shrunk in the wash or something..." As she goes past the hamper it registers in her mind that all the other clothes that were in her dresser likely suffered the same fate as what she is wearing right now.

"Just great." She can feel her mood was steadily lowering the longer the morning went on. And she's only just woke up. Grumbling under her breath Eight keeps walking down the hallway until she reaches the living room, where she catches a whiff of something cooking in the kitchen. Glancing around the corner the octoling sees Marina by the counter, making pancakes. Before Eight could even step into the kitchen the other octo turns to face her with a smile on her face.

"Good morning Eight!"

Despite her morning not being great in any shape or form, Eight couldn't help but feel a little bit better, "Morning."

Marina turns back to the grill, where upon closer inspection Eight sees at least 12 pancakes on a plate, "How was your night? Did you have fun with Four?"

"I would say so yeah. Turns out she bought something from a yard sale and wanted me to help her fix it." She lets out a chuckle at how much easier it could've been if Four had been straight with her from the get-go. "Just didn't sleep well though so not great there."

"Oh that's no fun." Marina says. Pulling out another plate she places two pancakes on a plate and leaves them to the side, "You're hungry right? Eat up then. It won't help you with your sleepiness but it might help you feel a bit better."

Figuring that she doesn't have much else to do at the moment, Eight takes the plate and puts some peanut butter and syrup before taking it to the table. When she starts to sit down however she feels her clothes get tighter, letting out a grumble as that happens. Unfortunately for the octo, Marina hears it, turning her head to look at the agent, "Is something wrong?"

Knowing that she would not be able to say anything convincing, Eight just decides to say the truth, "Yeah, I think my clothes shrunk in the wash yesterday. All of them it seems, except what I wore before." She rests her hand on her chin, "Did you do the laundry then?"

Marina shakes her head, which doesn't bode good feelings for Eight, "No I believe that was Pearl. She noticed that the hamper was full, so she did the laundry." A pancake is flipped before Marina looks over at the shirt that the other octoling is wearing, "You sure that they shrunk?"

Eight gives her a nod. The stuff she's wearing right now is manageable but who knows how long that will last. Tight clothes are not in any shape or form good to wear.

Marina hums in thought for a while, placing more finished pancakes on the plate, "Maybe we could take you shopping? If it's bad then maybe we can make it go faster for you?"

"It's not bad, just annoying. I should be fine for a bit. Thanks for the offer though." And Eight was thankful that Marina came up with the idea. The only problem with said plan however was that if anyone recognizes the idols while they're all out, there will be a swarm of people crowding them. And she doesn't want to be dealing with that, not right now. Luckily Marina doesn't push the question, leaving Eight to eat her pancakes in peace for a little bit. By the time she eats the first pancake, the octoling sees the other half of Off the Hook, Pearl, walk into the kitchen sluggishly, though with energy still in her voice.

"Morning 'Rina, Eight."

Eight mutters a morning to her as Pearl takes her own plate as well, sitting near the octoling. She takes notice of her tired face when she looks at her, "What's gotten you down? You don't look so good."

Marina answers for her, which Eight is thankful for, "Eight didn't sleep so good last night. And apparently when you did laundry yesterday all of her clothes shrunk in the wash, so they're a bit tight on her right now."

"Really? Man that sucks." Pearl gives Eight an apologetic look, "Sorry about that Eight. Thought I had it down this time."

Eight waves the apology off, "It's annoying, but I think I can manage."

While the octo could see that Pearl wasn't so sure of her response, it gets dropped as the idol eats her pancakes. Eight follows her example and eats her second one, getting up from the table with empty plate in hand. "Thanks Marina. They were good."

Marina forms a smile at Eight, "No problem. And you're sure you will be fine not going out with us?"

"Yeah I'm sure. Thanks for the offer though."

The other octo nods and Eight walks back to her room, still feeling off. When she enters her room again, she lets out a sigh as she closes her door behind her. Not knowing what else to do Eight goes over to her phone on the nightstand beside the bed. Seeing that there was a message on it Eight looks to see what is said on it.

hey 8! hope you slept well!

if it isn't too much to ask do you want to hang out again today? I'm just heading over to the mall to look at some clothes and I thought of you. are you busy with anything today?

Seeing that the message from Four was received about 11 minutes ago, likely when she was eating still, Eight considers her options. Either she stays here with a bunch of clothes that no longer fit her, go with Pearl and Marina and possibly get swarmed by eager fans, or she goes out with Four and gets some new clothes that way while also avoiding the problem with the idols.

'...You know, when I lay it all out like that, there's really only one good option to take. Plus it's not like I got anything planned anyway.' With that settled, Eight does her best to type out a message on her phone. It's a little tricky for some reason but eventually she answers back.

Yeah I don't mind going out with you. All of my clothes shrunk in the wash, so I need some new ones anyway.

Almost instantaneously another message comes back, aw man that sucks. well don't you worry 8, agent 4 here will help you decide what clothes to get! if there's nothing going on right now I can pick you up in about 20 minutes?

That sounds good. See you then.

Four sends her a little thumbs up emoji and the message ends there. Eight lets her face form a smile. Despite her terrible night and somewhat bad morning, things seem to be looking up for her. Suddenly there was a small pinch somewhere on her body. Even when Eight tried scratching at the spot where she felt it the most, it still wouldn't go away. However as quick as it came it just as quickly went away, leaving Eight confused. She shakes off the feeling, thinking it to be just one of those moments that Marina described. Where your body just creates something for no particular reason.

'Bodies are weird...' Shaking that oddity off Eight looks at the time, seeing that it is about 9:25 am. 'Four said she would be here in about 20 minutes right? So that's almost 10 o'clock when she gets here. What could I do until then...'

Thinking of something that she could do until Four gets here, Eight figures to at the very least check and see which of her clothes are actually small and which ones are still fine. With her plan set, Eight walks over to her drawers, ready to check and see how many clothes are still fine to wear.

------

15 minutes later...

Eight lays on her bed as she is surrounded by clothes, changing back into the clothes she was wearing before testing out all of the other ones. She lets out a breath of air as she glances at her phone at the time, seeing that there's about 5 minutes to go before Four arrives.

'I really spent 15 minutes testing out clothes to see which ones were good or not-' She tilts her head to the side, giving a shirt nearby an annoyed look, "Only to find out that all of them were too small on me!" Eight lets out a grumble as she looks at the pile of clothes all around her. About seven, maybe eight sets of clothes were taken out, and all eight of them were too small for her. This only reinforced the idea of going out with Four to get herself something that actually fits the octoling.

Seeing how her search for something that fits her was amounted to pointless, Eight sits up on the bed and gets off from it. She was too lazy to put all of them away, and Four was going to be here soon. Walking to her door she leaves her room and goes down the hallway, seeing Pearl and Marina getting ready to leave. Pearl notices her, and waves at Eight. "Hey Eight! We're just about to leave. You gonna be good here?"

Eight gives her a nod, "Yeah I'll be good. Four messaged me earlier and asked if she wanted to hangout with her. So I'll just be doing my shopping with her instead."

"Oh sweet! In that case then-" Pearl digs into her pocket, pulling out a wallet. Looking through it for a few seconds the inkling eventually finds what she was looking for, handing a credit card to the octoling. "Figured that if you are going to be clothes shopping, you could use my card. I got too many of them anyway so spend what you want with it."

Eight couldn't believe it. Something like this with her? She goes to give it back, only for Pearl's hand to push it away, giving her a firm look. That's when the octoling knows that she won't be taking no for an answer. So being unable to refuse the card from the short inkling, Eight puts the card in her pocket. "Thank you Pearl. You didn't really have to do this."

"Don't sweat it Eight." Pearl puts her coat on as Marina opens the door, "Just be sure to grab something nice for yourself ok?"

"I will. And thank you for this."

Pearl gives her a thumbs up. With everything ready the two idols leave the mansion, leaving the young octoling behind as she hears the sound of the car leaving the area. With the two idols gone all Eight can do now is wait until Four arrives so that she and her can go shopping for clothes.

Right as she is about to turn around, Eight hears another car pull up outside. 'Well speak of the devil...' Opening the door, she sees Four outside in her car. And she sees that the inkling noticed her as well, seeing that Four gives her an enthusiastic wave, rolling down the window.

"Morning Eight!"

Eight gives her a wave as she walks outside into the cloudy sky, locking the door behind her. "Morning Four. Thanks again for doing this, I really appreciate it."

"Hey no problem!" Four unlocks the passenger door so that her friend could get in, "I just wanted to hang with you again, so this works out for the both of us. Shame about your clothes though."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Getting in the front seat beside Four, Eight felt like the car was lower than it was yesterday but shook off the feeling. Probably just imagining things. "And despite me not wanting it, Pearl gave me her card to buy my clothes with. So you don't have to buy anything for me."

"Well that's nice of Pearl to do." Backing out of the driveway, Four leaves the property and onto the road. "Least it shouldn't be too crowded today. Still early in the morning after all. Fingers crossed though!"

Eight chuckles at this as the two friends drive towards the mall for their latest shopping trip, doing small talk along the way.

------

Later, at the parking lot of Arowana Mall

When the inkling agent makes it over to the parking lot of the mall, she is glad that there is plenty of parking around still. Granted that can be chalked up to how early in the morning it is still, but she can't really complain. Finding a good enough spot close to the mall Four parks her car in the spot. She hears Eight open the door beside her as she turns off the vehicle. Following the octoling's example, Four gets out as well, locking the car as she does so. As she was about to look over at her friend though, something caught her eye.

'Is- Is something going on with Eight?' While the inkling can see her stretching her arms, Four also notices that the clothes that the octo is wearing seem oddly tighter than usual? They're not exactly straining, but she can see why Eight wanted to go shopping for new clothes. Though this feeling has been there since yesterday as well...

"-our. Hey Four!"

Hearing her name snaps her back to reality as she notices that Eight was looking at her. "Is something the matter?"

"N-No." Four said, "I just noticed the clothes on you that's all. Yeah you weren't kidding about needing some new ones..."

Eight lets out a grumble at this, "Well if you can notice it..." Pinching her temples Eight faces the front entrance to the mall, "Let's get this over with."

"Uh yeah sure." Four felt guilty about bringing it up. It's an inconvenience for her friend right now and yet here she is bringing it up like it was no big deal. Trying to think of a way to shift Eight's thoughts away from her situation, she gets an idea.

"Hey Eight." When the octo looks at her, Four knows that she has to be quick about it, "It might be a bit hard to do this, but could you not call me Four while we're in there? Keep agent names on the down low you know?"

The octoling narrows her eyes at her when she brings the topic up, "Really Four? Now of all times? No one will even notice much less care!"

Four shakes her head, "Well you never know right? Besides the point was made to me so often that it's ingrained in my head. So please just go along with it for now? I'll even tell you mine first!"

Digging through her wallet, she pulls out a little id card and shows it to her friend, "See? Names Ashford, though people just call me Ash for short. Or Ford, whichever strikes out to you." Ford hope that now that she has said her name, Eight would do the same. When she sees her let out a sigh, she knows she's succeeded.

"Fine, but only because you said yours to me." Ashford sees her think for a moment before digging into her pocket for a phone, showing the other agent a small list on it, along with a small circle around one name, "It's not really set in stone yet, but I was thinking of Ryne for my name."

Ashford smiles and playfully nudges Ryne's arm, "I think that's a great name for you! I say keep it, it suits you." Grabbing Ryne's wrist, she attempts to pull her towards the mall, "Now we can get you those clothes you need! So lets get going!"

She hears the newly named Ryne chuckle behind her, throwing the inkling off when the octoling starts to move, not expecting the sudden strength of Ryne's arm to start pulling her instead. "You're right, lets get going. The sooner I'm out of these clothes the better."

Seeing that her friend's mood is a bit better now, Ashford follows behind the octoling into the mall. Upon entry the inkling sees that she was right about one thing: It wasn't very busy right now, with very few people walking around. She knows it won't last long, but at the very least the two should be in and out relatively quickly. Looking up at her friend, Ashford lets go of Ryne's wrist, "So what store were you thinking of going to?"

Ryne lets out a hum as the two walk through the mall. Letting the octo think, Ashford also takes a look around to help her friend narrow places down. Despite her attempt to help out however, Ashford finds herself getting distracted as her eyes start looking over at other stores.

Ashford takes a slow breath through her nose, doing her best to get back on track. Though this immediately fails as her eyes drift over to a cinnamon bun parlor. She feels her mouth watering when she smells the sweet buns being baked over there, not paying attention to her friend, who has stopped in place. Bumping into Ryne's back, Ashford looks up at the octo before looking over towards the left where she was facing. Seeing the store sign aptly named 'Stretchy Styles' staring back at the inkling, she gives Ryne a small nudge. "Is this where you want to go?"

"Yeah." Ryne looks down at Ashford, "I heard from Pearl that this place was pretty decent if you want something comfy. So why not, I deserve something comfy right?"

Ashford couldn't argue with that logic. Maybe she could find something for her as well while she was at it... "Yeah lets go in then! If you want to go in, then lead the way."

The octoling smiles down at the inkling before walking towards the store, Ashford following behind her. When they enter the store she sees the grey walls of what many other stores tend to have at the mall. Nothing out of the ordinary, not even the mannequins standing idly wearing the in-store product.

With nothing sticking out to the inkling, Ashford lets Ryne do her thing before looking at some of the clothes on the hangers. She contemplates picking a few things for herself before disregarding the thought. Ryne comes first. With that in mind, she takes two shirts and a pair of pants that she thinks the octoling would like before looking for her friend in the store. Of course it doesn't take long to find her, considering that she sees Ryne with some clothes of her own in her arms.

"Found something you like?" Ashford holds up the little pile of her own clothes, "I got some things for you to try out as well. Not as much as what you have but anything helps right?"

The octoling nods at this before walking over to the change rooms in the back. Handing the clothes over to Ryne, Ashford sits on a nearby chair, "If you need anything, you know where to find me." Her response is a thumbs up as Ryne closes the door, leaving the inkling outside. As she waits for the octoling to put the new things on, Ashford takes a look at her phone, seeing if there was anything interesting going on. Of course, there wasn't much besides stage announcements from Pearl and Marina, along with the typical ranked modes in rotation at the moment.

"Ok," She hears Ryne say, looking up from her phone, "I think I am ready." When the door opens Ashford sees the octoling in a nice red and white striped shirt, and a pair of pants. The inkling gives Ryne a thumbs up when she sees the outfit. Red she thinks is one of the colours that suit the octoling best. Seeing her smile makes Ashford feel better since her friend is now in a better mood then she was back at the mansion. With the outfit approved, Ryne goes back into the change room, leaving the inkling once again alone outside.

This time though it seemed to take Ryne longer than usual to get the next set of clothes on. Slightly concerned at this Ashford stands up and knocks on the door, "Hey Ryne? You alright in there?" It was so silent that the inkling barely heard it, but there was a small grunt from the octoling inside. This gets her attention, though before she could properly address it, the door opens slightly, Ryne's head leaning out the door.

"I'm fine Ford." Ryne says, not 100% reassuring the inkling, "There was just a snag with one of the clothes that's all. Turns out it was smaller than I thought. Could you go grab me this-" Her arm sticks out, showing a blue plaid shirt to Ashford, "But in a bigger size? A large should do maybe."

"Yeah sure I can do that." Ashford says. She studies the shirt before looking at Ryne's face, "And you're sure you're ok?"

"Yes I'm fine. Probably just one of those cases where the shirt is smaller than its listed size."

Ashford knows that situation all too well. Sometimes clothes, despite being in a size you would normally buy them at, are just made differently and can feel smaller then there listed size. Telling her that she will be right back, the inkling leaves the back of the store to look for the plaid shirt that her friend wanted. It doesn't take her long to find the shirt and bring it back to her. The handover process goes smoothly enough as Ryne takes the shirt from the inkling's hand, closing the door for some privacy. With the bigger shirt size it doesn't take long for the octoling in the change room to dress up into the new shirt as Ryne opens the door to show the blue plaid shirt and a pair of comfortable looking sweatpants. Once again Ashford likes what she sees and gives her not one, but two thumbs up. Though as the octoling smiles and closes the door, she catches a quick glimpse of her friend when she was showing off.

'Was it just me or did the stuff Ryne was wearing seem... Tighter then usual?' She shakes her head of the thought. It was just the shirt most likely, the pants at worst. Sweats are stretchy after all so it's possible that they only looked tight on her, but in reality they were fine. Plus there's that 'new clothes' feeling where you need to break them in so to speak.

She shrugs off the train of thought as the changing door opens for the third time, showing the octo in a blue shirt and black slacks, along with a black and white plaid overshirt. Ashford lets a chuckle out as the octo does a little twirl before awaiting judgement.

"Out of all the outfits I've seen you in so far, I would say that one, is my favourite." And Ashford meant it as well. She was a sucker for plaid, especially if it looked good on a friend. Some people can pull it off and Ryne was one of those such people. Seeing the smile on the octos face puts her thoughts at ease about earlier, especially now that the inkling sees that these clothes weren't like the last set.

"Got any other outfits you want to try out?" Ashford asked.

With a yes from Ryne, both the inkling and octoling do some more shopping, Ryne even judging a few outfits for Ashford as well. By the time they were both done, the octoling was hold four bags of clothes, with a fifth bag belonging to the inkling who ended up getting something for herself after all. When the two walk out from the store, Ashford can see that the crowd is starting to pick up. Looking at her phone she sees that it's about ten past 12. Perfect time for some grub.

"Hey Ryne, you wanna have something to eat here?" The inkling would understand if she didn't want to eat here though. She knows that crowds aren't exactly good for her, so she can always pick some fast food place when they leave.

"Hmm..." Ashford can see Ryne think about it before looking down at her, "I think I should be good for something here. Thanks for being considerate though."

The inkling hums in approval, happy that Ryne is fine with eating here. With the plan in motion, the two make their way over to the food court. As expected, it's busy due to the lunch rush, but there was at least a free table for them near the back for them to sit at. Ryne takes her seat at one end of the small table, though it's a bit of a struggle for her due to how short the table seemed to be.

"Stupid table..." It didn't take long for Ryne to get comfortable in her seat before Ashford clears her throat.

"So what you are in the mood for?" The inkling asks her friend, "We got hot dogs, pheasant burgers, fish and chips, whatever it is you want, I can buy it for you."

"Wait-" Ryne says, digging into her wallet, "I can give you Pearl's-"

Ashford lowers the octolings hands as she shakes her head, "No need. You bought me some clothes back then, it's only fair that I buy you lunch." She gives her a toothy smile as she faces the food stands, "So take your pick! It's on me."

"Well..." With the inkling not budging on her stance, Ryne puts her wallet away before tapping her chin in thought. "I think... A burger would be nice. Maybe one with extra fries as well?"

"Heh," The inkling chuckles, "yeah sure I can get that for you. I was thinking of one myself. Alright just sit tight and I will be right back!"

Ashford makes her way towards one of the restaurants and waits in the lineup. As expected it takes a while for her to get moving in it. So every now and then she looks down at her phone to pass the time, not necessarily looking up anything. When she looks up from the phone and looks over in Ryne's direction, she has a double take at looking her. Even from a distance, the octoling seems to stand out. Her body seems to be much too tall for the table, it almost looking like her knees are touching the underside of it.

"Next!"

Ashford snaps back to reality when she hears the cashier call out. Food first, complicated thoughts later. Going up to them, the inkling orders the food that each of them wanted before waiting at the side for it. Luckily for her, she didn't need to wait too long as after about 3 minutes it is placed on a tray and slid to her. After checking to make sure everything is there, she thanks them and carries the food over to the back where the octoling is. When she's closer to her Ashford lets a smile form on her face as she puts the food tray down in front of her.

"One pheasant burger with extra large fries for you!"  She takes her own food off the tray and opens it up, revealing a double cheese burger with a side of poutine. "I didn't know what to get you for drinks so I went with ice tea. That fine with you?"

"Mmhm." Ashford could already see that Ryne was face first in the burger, prompting a chuckle out of her. Picking up a fork she munches on her poutine for a bit before taking a bite from her burger, alternating between the two and her own drink. Glancing at the octoling, who is wolfing down her food still, it makes her happy that she's enjoying herself compared to how her mood was this morning.

'Though I can't quite shake off this feeling I've been having with Ryne today...' As nice as it was for the two to hangout like this, almost every time Ashford has looked at Ryne, she's... The inkling wouldn't say different, but it's the best word she can think of to use. Even looking at the sleeves of her new shirt, she notices that they seem almost pressed to the octolings skin. That already doesn't seem right, as she had just bought that shirt.

She really hopes that it's just her imagining things. Despite that however, she couldn't help but look at Ryne, eating her food. Feeling that something just wasn't right, the inkling rests her chin on her hand.

"Hey Ryne?" Ashford asks the octoling, "Does anything feel off to you today? Like at all?"

"Hmm..." Ryne takes a moment to think before a frown forms on her face, "Other than my clothes pinching like crazy ever since this morning, not really."

The inkling doesn't quite believe that. "Really? Because it feels like something is going on but I can't put my finger on it. Like it felt like even while you were trying out the clothes at that other place I heard something in there. And like sure you told me you were fine, but I can't help but think about it you know?"

Ryne doesn't say anything for a moment before Ashford sees a smile form on her face, "Well I am glad that you're looking out for me, really, I am. But I'm fine. Promise."

Ashford was about to say something before Ryne places a finger on her lips, "Tell you what; If I start feeling off for some reason, then I will let you know. Does that sound good to you?"

Despite the feeling that Ashford has still lingering on, she also knows that she should trust her friend. "Yeah. Yeah that sounds good. Thanks for the consideration."

Ryne nods her head and the two get back to eating. Minutes pass, and the two friends finish their meals, with Ashford leaning back in satisfaction. Taking a breath, she eyes the octo across from her. Piercing her lips, the inkling sees if she's up for shopping a little bit longer. "Hey Ryne, how would you feel about doing a bit more shopping? Like find something for your room or something."

"Yeah I don't mind doing that." Ryne says, standing up from her seat, "Got time anyway." She picks up the tray and quickly places it in the middle where all the other used ones are. "So what store were you thinking of?"

Getting up as well, Ashford stands beside the octo in thought, "Well I was just thinking of just going to whatever place looks the nicest and most interesting. Mindless I know but sometimes you can find good stuff that way."

"Like your Rainmaker humidifier?"

"Like my Rainmaker humidifier."

The two have a chuckle at that, walking out of the food court area. As the two walk through the mall, going through the increasing crowd, Ashford looks at the line of stores to see what might be a good place to drop by for a moment. "Hey Ryne, do any of these-"

When she looks up at Ryne however, she notices that the octoling isn't looking so hot at the moment, letting out haggard breaths, "Hey you alright? Want me to take you to the bathroom?"

Despite her head shaking no, Ashford frowns at this, holding onto Ryne's hand, "Come on. The food probably didn't agree with your stomach or something. The cold might help you out a little."

Taking the octo over to the side hallway, she mumbles under her breath when she sees an 'out of order' sign on the bathroom door. This doesn't stop her though as she takes a glance around the area before opening the door, seeing that there's no one inside it either. With the coast clear on both accounts Ashford gently pulls Ryne inside the door to show a relatively clean area. And it's also chilly in here, so that will help the octoling out as well.

"Ok, we're safe here." Ashford guides her friend over to the middle of the spacious bathroom, "The stalls are over there, if you need to throw up or anything, go do that. I'll be right here" She leans by the sinks, "if you need me ok?"

Ryne nods as she shuffles towards the stalls. However before the octoling could properly get there, Ryne goes onto her knees, alarming the inkling, "Ryne?!" Ashford dashes to the octolings side, kneeling down beside her, "It'll be alright, it'll be alright... I can guide you to the stalls ok?"

"Tight..."

Before the inkling could even hazard a guess to what the octoling means by that, a small tear is heard somewhere in the room. Ashford gives Ryne a concerned look, "Wh-What was that Ryne?" Another tear is heard, but unlike the last one the inkling can see the small rip that is forming on her sleeve. The inkling gets more concerned at this before the tear increases in size and more form on the pants as well.

Ashford backs away, stunned at what is happening to her friend. Her eyes widen even more when Ryne seems to be getting bigger right before her eyes. Even while kneeled down, the octoling is steadily increasing in height, the clothes continuing to get tighter and tighter, with more small tears forming on her clothes. It felt like an eternity seeing her grow in size until it soon seemingly stops. While Ashford can see that her friend is visibly much bigger than before, she doesn't know how big she is, much less what she can do to help. But damn it, she's going to at least try.

"Ryne..?" Slowly walking up to the octoling, Ashford hesitantly places a hand on her back before patting it, "How are you feeling?"

When the deep breaths from her is all she gets, Ashford looks around before going to her front, "Hey. I'm going to take you home now ok? Do you think you can still shift forms?"

Ryne hesitantly nods her head before shifting into octopus form. Though when Ashford sees the size of it, she wonders if she could even lift her. She may have no idea of what the previous specials were like back during the plaza days, but she has seen images of them. And the kraken special is the best she can describe what Ryne's shifted form looks like. It's not quite as big thankfully, but the weight probably isn't going to be any easier either.

'Well only one way to find out right?' Resolved to get her friend out of this situation, Ashford picks the octoling up, not at all surprised that she was much heavier now. Gently placing Ryne down, she digs through the plastic bags with clothes in it, finding the thing she bought: An oversized sweater, that by all means would probably be big for her, but not for the octoling. That's when she gets an idea.

"Ryne, do you think you can hold onto my back while in octo form?" If Ryne can, then maybe she can use the sweater to cover the both of them up. It can't cover the octoling all the way, but she won't need to. Inklings may be stupid (as she too can attest to that), but there is an untold rule about using your other form in junction with wrapping said form around another person: It means that this squid may either have anxiety and is overwhelmed or is too sickly to stand. And since inklings think octolings are just squids with funky hair...

Ashford hears a hum from Ryne as the inkling feels the tentacles wrap around her waist and shoulders. At the current size the octoling is at, they could almost wrap around her twice and probably still have room. But that doesn't matter at the moment. Picking up the sweater, she does her best to slide it on with the octopus holding her back. Luckily she manages to slide the piece of clothing on, securing Ryne in place with her head slightly pocking out the top.

Despite the weight of her enlarged friend on her back, Ashford doesn't feel like she's struggling. If anything it fills her with resolve. Picking up the bags, the agent walks over to the bathroom door and peeks outside. Safe that there's no employees anywhere, Ashford does her best walk through the mall with as little attention as possible. Which is not easy to do since there is a big octoling holding on her back and waist, but she has to pull through for her.

Luckily for her, most of the people she passed by only looked for a moment before minding their own business. It wasn't long before Ashford walks out the front entrance of the mall, feeling the crisp afternoon air brush up against her. Taking in a quick breath of air, the inkling does her best to quickly walk over to her car. She eyes Ryne still holding onto her back as she unlocks the back door for her.

"Ok, we're at my car now. The back seat is free for you, so if you want to lay down there I won't stop you." Ashford slides a hand underneath the sweater, holding onto one of the tentacles wrapped around her waist, "If you think you can sit down at the front, then you can try that as well. But you have to shift forms again. Do you think you can manage that?"

The question makes the octoling groan slightly. No doubt that the choice is giving her a headache. Eventually Ashford feels Ryne's tentacles unwrap themselves from her body as she slides off her back and into the back seat of the car, propping herself up. The inkling smiles at this before noticing something.

"Ah-" Ashford buckles the seatbelt onto Ryne's nearly kraken sized form, "Don't want you shaking around and making it worse right?" Despite the poor attempt at a joke, when she hears a weak giggle from her it makes the inkling feel just a little bit better about the situation. Placing the bags of clothes beside the octoling, Ashford gets into the drivers seat, starts the car, and leaves the parking lot of the mall with the goal of taking Ryne home.

40 minutes later...

After a long drive back from the mall and having to deal with the afternoon traffic rush, Ashford finally drives into the driveway of Ryne's home. Seeing that the idols are not home yet fills the inkling with some relief. The last thing she wants is questions about what happened to Ryne, and why she seems to be much taller than before. Looking in the rear view mirror, she sees the octoling in the back still the same size as when they left. She has been checking periodically during the drive home to make sure Ryne hasn't increased in size, and it makes her feel better that she hasn't. Getting out of the car she opens the door for the tired looking octo.

"Hey Ryne," Ashford says gently, "we're home now. Do you think you can walk or do you want me to carry you again?" She wouldn't mind having to carry her again. Yeah it was rough the first time but unlike walking through an entire mall, she only has to lead her to her room.

"I..." Ryne quietly says, "I think I can walk there. Just- Be patient ok?"

"Yeah no worries. I was going to be holding onto you anyway so I can be patient." Unbuckling the seatbelt, Ashford lifts the octopus off the seat and places her onto the floor, "Whenever you're ready you can shift back."

She hears a small hum from the kraken octo before finally shifting back. And to say Ryne was tall would be an understatement. Ashford herself is like 6 feet tall and that's not too bad for an inkling.

But Ryne as of right this minute? 7'8. The octo she called her friend was easily almost a head and a half taller than she was. Despite her want to know more about her friends sudden height increase, Ashford can see that the sudden vertigo is affecting her, so the inkling puts the thought to the side for now, doing her best to hold onto Ryne's side with her arm.

"Easy there Ryne..." She strokes the octos side, "Just take baby steps. We'll get into the house and you can lay down. That sound good to you?"

Ryne hums at this and the two slowly and carefully make their way over to the front door of the house. Ashford can bring in the bags later, not that they'd fit her enlarged friend anyway. Ryne opens the door and Ashford leads the octoling into the house, going down the hall. As few times as the inkling has been here, she remembers where her friend's room is at least. Upon arriving at the door to Ryne's room, the inkling takes her inside and guides her over to the bed. Once she was sure that her friend was stable enough Ashford releases Ryne's side.

"Um..." She feels awkward now, the question she is about to ask, "Do you need help changing...? Into something more... Comfy maybe?" She doesn't want to intrude on anything, especially in a delicate situation such as this.

She can see a smile tug on Ryne's face, "I think I'm better enough to do it myself. Thank you for offering though."

The inkling lets out a breath of relief. "Ok. I'll let you, um, do that now." Not exactly knowing what else to do for her, Ashford slowly walks out of the bedroom, looking back behind her, Ryne giving her a small, weak wave before attempting to remove the shirt. Leaving the room before she could see anything else, Ashford closes the door to give her some privacy. Letting out a breath of air she didn't know she was holding in, she made her way over to the kitchen. Maybe she can give her a fruit bowl for her to munch on if she needs it?

Before she could give that a go however, her phone vibrates. Checking it the inkling swore under her breath, "Shit. Forgot I had a Grizzco shift later today." It's not for another two hours, enough time to make that fruit bowl for her but the fact that she forgot about her shift doesn't make her feel any better what with Ryne feeling the way she is now.

Wanting to distract herself from the upcoming shift, Ashford gets to work on making the fruit bowl for Ryne. Pulling out some apples, bananas, and maybe an orange since that might help a little, and whatever fruits she can find in the fridge, she finds the biggest bowl she could and starts tossing everything in. For some added flavour she adds in some yogurt as well in case Ryne wants to use it as a dip.

Since it's a bowl filled with fruit and yogurt it does not take long to make, but it gives Ashford a good feeling nonetheless. Picking up the bowl she walks over to the closed door of Ryne's room, using the bowl to tap on the door. "You decent in there? I made you a fruit bowl you could munch on whenever."

The inkling hears a loud enough hum in there, which is enough to tell her that the octoling is at least decent enough in there. Opening the door, she is greeted to the sight of Ryne standing up wearing pyjamas both fitting her friend and yet not fitting enough. The arm sleeves are straining against her body and the shirt is small enough to show off some of her midriff, but it's still at least on.

Ashford feels a small blush start to form on her face when she sees that a spare housecoat had to be used for the lower half. Luckily it was big enough that nothing would show but it's still a housecoat at the end of the day. Her only saving grace was that Ryne would be under the blankets and pass out and not walking around like that. Pushing that out of her mind, she walks up to the octoling and places the fruit bowl on the nightstand.

"So um..." The inkling feels awkward now standing beside her much taller friend, "Made you this bowl, like I said. Eat it whenever." As if Ryne knows things were awkward between the two, she sits down on the bed and pats the spot beside her. The inkling smiles at this, knowing that while it doesn't help the height difference at all at least she's more level with her so to speak.

Sitting down beside Ryne, the two sit in silence for a bit. Eventually Ryne looks over at Ashford with a tired expression, "Thank you for doing what you can to help. Really, I appreciate it."

"Hey not a problem." Ashford says, "I'm just sorry I didn't notice this," She gestures to her enlarged body, "sooner. If I had then..."

The octoling shakes her head, placing a hand on her shoulder, "There was nothing that could've been done. Neither of us knew what was happening. So don't blame yourself. Ok?"

Hearing this from her friend, while it doesn't set her at ease, makes her feel something. Taking a deep breath Ashford looks up at her tall friends eyes, "I have to go do a Salmon Run shift in a few hours so I have to go soon. Sorry..."

"Don't be. You helped out enough as it is. And maybe-" Ryne lets out a yawn as her body slouches on the bed, "Maybe some sleep might help me out. Thank you for the bowl though. If I feel hungry I will have some."

"Cool. Cool cool cool." Ashford gets up from the bed, though she is stopped by Ryne's hand around her wrist, "Don't worry about me Ford. This could be temporary, who knows."

"Hey that's what I should be saying to you."

The two laugh at that before the octoling lets go, laying down more on the bed, "I'm gonna take a nap now... Good luck with your shift."

Ashford nods and whispers a thank you, closes the curtains for the octo before leaving the room. Quietly closing the door behind her, the inkling is thinking about leaving before eyeing a piece of paper on the counter. Knowing that the idols would want to check in on Ryne, she picks up a pen and starts writing them a note.

Hey just letting you two know that Eight Ryne didn't feel so well while we were out, so I brought her home. I made her a fruit bowl as something to eat. I would have stayed longer but I had a Grizzco shift coming up and I couldn't. She would like to be left alone in her room for the rest of the day, since she was taking a nap when I was writing this. So please respect that and hope that it passes soon.

Thank you, signed Ashford.

Reading it over a few times, the inkling is happy with how it turned out. There was the thought of saying something about Ryne's height increase, but given how she wouldn't have believed it herself had she not been there with her, she is understandably hesitant on adding it in the note. With not much that she could really do, Ashford leaves the note on the counter, leaving the mansion, and getting in her car. Ashford takes one last look at the mansion before driving off with the hope that her friends condition is only temporary.

Chapter Text

When Ryne woke up, she did so with a splitting headache. While it was tricky at first given her new size, she managed to turn on her phone without cracking it, seeing that the time was about 4:21 pm.

'Slept for nearly two hours and I still feel like garbage...' She looks down at herself, still covered in her midriff exposing pajama top and housecoat bottom. Didn't even bother going under the blankets, not with how she was feeling. Letting out some air Ryne sits up on the bed, noting that the floor isn't further away this time. 'Well. Didn't grow again. That's good. Still doesn't help me get back to normal, but I'll take it.'

With all of her thoughts more or less gathered, Ryne eyes the slightly aged fruit bowl sitting nearby on the dresser, complete with spoon in it. While she isn't hungry, the octo figures she should at least munch on something while she figures out what to do now. Taking the bowl Ryne puts it on her lap, she digs into the yogurt fruit bowl.

'So, I am now 7'8. Letting Pearl and Marina see me like this is a definite no but I might not have a choice.' While it could be a hard sell, Ryne can probably bluff it by saying that it was a side effect of that ooze back down in Kamabo. "Ugh... Just need to figure out how this happened... Not going to take out the Kamabo reasoning though, that at least has possibility."

While the bowl was small in her hands, it did help her feel a little bit better as she tries to think of possibilities as to what caused her growth, ranging from contaminated salmomid ink to secret bioweapons projects back when she was in the military. The near 8 foot octoling lets out a groan as she thinks of theory after theory before laying down on her bed.

"I can't think of anything at this rate." She mumbles to herself, "I need a second head to figure this out with."

The octo's eyes widen once she realizes there was in fact someone who can help her better, "Ashford! She can help me figure this out!" She frowns at the idea however. As of now, the inkling is out doing Salmon Run and won't likely be answering her phone, not for awhile.

"So much for that..." Ryne hums in disappointment. The one person that could help her and she's off busy doing Salmon Run. As she laments the missing inkling, her eyes start to drift. When they glance over towards the clothes she wore at Ashford's place the day before, she notices something off about them. Getting up from the bed Ryne stands over them, picking up the sweatpants. And right away she noticed something off about them.

That being, they were somehow bigger than they were before. While Ryne was wondering what was going on, she sees the sweats seemingly grow an extra inch, causing her to drop them.

"What. The Hell." Thoroughly unsettled by this, Ryne hesitantly picks up the pants again, seeing them unchanging, but still bigger then they were before. In a bid of both desperation and curiosity, Ryne attempts to put the sweatpants on.

"Come on... You can do it... Ugh!" Only for them to not really fit. At least, not at her current size.

"If only I was just a little bit shorter..."

Ryne tosses the sweatpants onto the floor, grumbling at the unfortunate luck that she seems to have before her stomach grumbles.

'Maybe the two left me some food. Or I can order pizza. I am good with either.' With that out of the way, and the mystery of the clothes remaining unsolved for now, Ryne walks over to her door, placing an ear against it. Once she was sure that neither of the two idols were home the 7'8 octoling opens the door, ducks under the frame and steps into the hallway. Keeping her head low as to not scrape her tentacles against the ceiling, Ryne makes her way through Pearl's manor towards the kitchen, making it to the living room where the octo can properly stand up straight.

"Hmm, that feels much better. Now then-" Making her way towards the kitchen, Ryne hopes that there was something for her to eat. Unfortunately for her, there wasn't anything out. There was a note on the counter though, along with what appears to be Pearl's credit card and an open laptop with some tabs open to various takeout places. Picking it up Ryne starts to read it.

Ryne, if you are reading this, that means we aren't home yet. We came back earlier but when we saw Ashford's note, we decided to let you sleep for now. We needed to do a few more announcements before we come back home, but in case we're late Pearl took the liberty of leaving her credit card out for you. I also left my computer here as well, so that you can look at what you would like to eat.

Hope you get well soon. - Marina.

Ryne smiles a little at this. Thoughtful of them to think about that. And she doesn't have to pay either, technically speaking. Leaning against the counter the octoling drags her finger on the mouse pad, clicking onto the pizza one. She was in the mood for it after all. Looking through the types of pizza, eventually Ryne settles for a single cheese pizza.

As Ryne was about to confirm the order, her stomach grumbled. Then the thought of having a bigger pizza occurred to her, changing the cheese pizza from medium to large. Then to extra large. 'That should be it for me. Now to say to just leave it at the front door...'

The octoling frowns. Was one cheese pizza really enough for her?

"I'm sure Pearl won't mind if I ordered another." Changing her order she adds on another extra large pizza, this time with chicken ranch on it. However looking at this order Ryne still wasn't satisfied. When her stomach roared she threw up her arms in frustration. "Gah! Fine then! I'll just order more!"

Now grumbling and driven by the whims of her hunger, Ryne added four more pizzas. A vegetable pizza, a supreme one with all the bird meat Inkopolis can get, an everything pizza, and just because her stomach won't shut up, another everything pizza with extra cheese and stuffed crust. All of them extra large. Once she was sure this would be enough, Ryne went to the checkout menu.

Looking at the total of nearly $100, the octoling would think this was too much. But she at this point wasn't in the mood to justify her poor decision making, clicking the buy button. On the next screen it asked if payment would be done at the door, to which Ryne clicked no. She doesn't want to be seen, not at her current height. Upon the next screen over saying to enter in the card that will be used, the octoling realized there was a problem.

Her fingers were bigger then they were before. Not too terribly big, but even with her claws poking out it would be tricky to type it all in. Taking a deep breath Ryne gets started on typing in the information on Pearl's card onto the checkout screen. The fortunate thing was that it was just numbers. Numbers were easy to type in.

Once Ryne was done with that however, the next hardest part came up: Asking if there are any special requests when delivering.

"Great." Ryne groans, "Need to do this now..." Getting her fingers ready she starts typing out the message. Which was supposed to say, 'am sick, please leave it at the door and ring the bell.

' How it actually ended up going was *not* that message. Instead it actually read was: Asm sdick. plz leave at dooor and ringf bell.' Better than nothing but Ryne hates looking at it. Pressing the back key all the way she looks around on the counter before finding a pen. Taking it out she instead uses that to type out the message she wanted to say. Once that was entered Ryne pressed the pay button, showing that her food will be in progress.

She lets out a sigh, "Finally. That's done. As for what to do now..." Ryne glances out of the kitchen and into the living room. Now, Pearl's place was not small by any means. The roof was high and was more or less like those penthouses she saw on tv. It's better than the hallway and her room that is certain, and since she has to wait for the pizza anyway, she may as well take a stroll around the place. Leaving the kitchen and entering the living room Ryne can already notice the smaller furniture placed around. Though it isn't the furniture that's smaller. She's just bigger now.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to be back to normal..." Letting out some air strolls towards what Pearl called 'a storage closet' and opens it to see bathroom curtains inside. At first Ryne was going to close the door but then she looks down at her body. "...Maybe I should check just to be sure." Pulling one out she unfolds it, seeing that it was very big and a little bit on the hazy white side. And when she wraps it around her lower body the octoling feels a little bit better, though not by much. With the idea set for later down the line Ryne puts the curtain over her shoulder and walks away from the storage room.

Tossing the curtain on the couch, Ryne keeps walking around. And with every door frame she passed the tall octo only saw dust lining the tops of the frames. Even the upper parts of the walls, while difficult to see at times, saw dust lining the walls. "Jeez, you'd think with how much money Pearl has she would hire someone to clean this place..."

Dust aside, Ryne walks back over to the computer, though she felt a chill down her back as the octoling made her way over. "Damn... Really hope that was just the house being chilly and not what I think it is..." Once Ryne looked around for a bit, she concluded that it might've been nothing, and walked over to the computer, seeing that the time was 5:35 pm, and according to the delivery tracker it was on its way.

"Huh. Shocked that they're done." Ryne says, "Must be a dead evening for them."

Now with her mood better now that the pizza is almost here, Ryne walks near the front door, seeing the upper window now just now below her chin. While Ryne was annoyed at seeing more dust up there, it was quickly replaced with dread at how if someone were to look up they would see a tall octoling on the other side. Stepping as far back from the door as she could, Ryne looked around to see if there were other ways that people could see inside. Only when the octoling saw no other way to look in did Ryne slightly calm down, taking long deep breaths.

Then the sound of the loud doorbell echoed throughout the house, snapping Ryne out from her breathing. While she did want to chase off whoever was at the door, she had to hold herself back. Then she heard a voice on the other side of the door.

"Pizza delivery! Six extra large pizzas, right outside your door! Hope you have a good night Pearl!"

Hearing the pizza guy reminded Ryne that she was in fact hungry. But before pizza, she needed the person to go away so that there is a minimal chance of them seeing her. Stepping towards the front door, Ryne quietly opens it, looking outside. When she sees the person walking back to their car in the driveway, Ryne takes this opportunity to snag all six boxes inside the house.

Placing all six boxes onto the counter Ryne can just feel tempted to just dig in with zero remorse whatsoever. "No!" She shakes her head, "Just because I am alone doesn't mean I can make such a massive mess over pizza of all things." Glancing at all the boxes Ryne opens one up at random, seeing the cheese pizza she initially ordered. "There we go! Just eat this one, then go on from there."

Pulling a cheesy slice out, Ryne bites into it. She recoils at first from the heat before getting into the rhythm of eating the slice. Letting out a hum as the slice of pizza is eaten she takes another, shoving that into her mouth as well. It didn't take very long for the box to be empty, pushing it to the side. And yet...

The octolings stomach roars, wanting more food. "Uuuugh... Still hungry." Ryne looks at the other five boxes of extra large pizza, still hot and waiting to be eaten. Taking the next box, the supreme once she opens it, Ryne starts munching on a piece, feeling unsure about the whole thing. Is it helping out? Yes it is. Does she ever eat this much? No. No she doesn't.

Her stomach grumbles again, interrupting her train of thought. Looking down at this box and then at the other boxes on the counter. Ryne then lets out a long breath of air, about to pick up another slice before frowning and placing it on top of another. "To Hell with it. I'm hungry, and I don't care at this point."

Bringing the stacked pizza to her mouth Ryne bites into the two slices at once, savouring the hot pizza before doing the same thing again with a third slice. Before long the supreme pizza was gone, and only four boxes remain. Almost in a hunger induced mania, Ryne opens up the next box, tearing into it with no regards as to what box she even opened.

Even after the third box was eaten clean, her stomach was still not satisfied. Opening up another Ryne sees that this one was the everything pizza with extra cheese and stuffed crust. Eyeing it hungrily the octoling closes the box, setting it to the side. "I want to savour that one right before I tear into it. The others are free game though." Flipping the box containing the vegetable pizza open, Ryne decides to try something new. Rolling up each slice of pizza into a roll, she shoves each one into her mouth. "Likf a vegfie roll."

Going through the improv veggie pizza rolls at a quick pace, Ryne opens up the second to last box, seeing that it was the chicken ranch one. Wondering how she could be different when it comes to eating this one, eventually the hunger got the better of her, shoveling the chicken pizza into her mouth and getting more sauce on her face and her makeshift clothing. After consuming every single piece there with no regard to the sauce on her she eyes longingly at the box containing the final pizza.

"The final one..." Ryne's stomach grumbles, and instead of being annoyed at it, the octoling simply gives it a gentle pat, "Don't worry my love. Soon you will be unsatiated no more." Ryne laughs as she opens up the box, seeing the most stuffed pizza she has ever known. Upon seeing the loaded pizza the octoling was half tempted here and now to just shovel it all in her mouth. However, she held back. She needs to make this moment perfect.

And to do so, she rolls up half of the pizzas in the box, while stacking the other six on top of each other. When she still wasn't satisfied by this Ryne digs into the fridge, looking for something else to have with it. She grumbles as she doesn't find the last thing to make this moment good. When she checks the freezer on the other hand, Ryne spies two things that will go well with her hunger induced mania.

"Yeeees... Ryne pulls out the still unopened tub of ice cream, and a chocolate peppermint cheesecake. Placing both of those next to the still full pizza box, the hungry octoling pulls out a large spoon, opens up both the ice cream tub and the cheesecake package, and stares longingly at her next meal. Now with everything is set, the feast of her lifetime shall begin.

Ryne laughs maniacally as she takes the pizza stack, shoving it all into her mouth as best she can. Even the melted cheese stuffed crusted did nothing to deter the octo from making a mess of herself as she plows through the pizza rolls. Once those were tapped clean she lifts up the full cheesecake with both hands before taking a bite out of it, then many more until it was all gone. All that remained was the ice cream, now more of a soft serve as Ryne digs into it with the spoon.

When the ice cream was halfway done Ryne gets her senses back. She blinks, looking down at the ice cream then glancing over at the discarded pizza boxes scattered around in the kitchen. In that moment she Ryne felt exactly two emotions: One was shock, at losing herself like that all because she was hungry. The next was amazement, at being able to consume all of this food.

When the octoling looked down at her improvised clothing and how her shirt was covered in sauce, grease, and ice cream, and even some of her belly wasn't safe from the mess she had made. That's when she felt disgust over the whole thing. Because she essentially ate what most people consider a feast all by herself, and for what? Because she was hungry?

Ryne balls up her fists. She didn't know what emotion to feel as a result of this. Leaving the kitchen with indescribable emotion, she stomps over to the bathroom, ignoring how her heavy steps were shaking parts of the house. When Ryne looks in the mirror her disgust increases tenfold. Even bent down, head avoiding the ceiling she saw all of it. All of the mess on her face, her body, all of it.

There was a part of her that wanted to smash the mirror in front of her, if only to make her feel better. The octoling however was better than this. She may be sulking and being reasonably angry about this whole thing, but she's not going to get anywhere where she is now.

Taking a deep breath Ryne leaves the bathroom to head back to the kitchen. She may be unable to really clean the kitchen, but that doesn't mean the ice cream couldn't get put away. As she was approaching the area however her entire body starts to feel like it's on fire. Grabbing her chest Ryne kneels to the floor, trying to take deep breaths as she does so.

'Wha- What's happening to me?' She thinks to herself, feeling her body heat up more, 'Did I eat too much? What's-' Her thoughts are cut short as her body starts aching, causing her to hunch more towards the floor. "Make it stop."

Ryne balls up her fists, feeling sweat form on her body more from the intense heat. She just wants it to stop at this rate.

Then, she hears a careful knock on the door.

------

Ashford, ten minutes earlier, Inkopolis

Ashford couldn't get out of Grizzco fast enough. While Salmon Run was fun and she does get paid a lot, she was worried about her friend. It was two and a half hours ago that she brought the bigger octoling back home to Pearl's place and let her sleep. Now though she just wants to check up on her, see if there's anything she can do for Ryne.

Getting in the car the inkling drives her way towards the idols' manor, where Ryne should still be. She knows that neither idol is home yet. She passed by them on the way over to her car, so that means they likely haven't seen the changed size of the octoling yet. Which was good. And luckily for her the dive over only takes about ten or so minutes to get there so she can see the taller octoling as soon as possible.

With traffic being as smooth as it was as Ashford expected, the inkling already sees the manor in the distance. Parking nearby the inkling gets out and walks towards the front door. It takes a moment for her to get there but once she does the inkling almost feels hesitant. Why Ashford felt this way she wasn't sure. Easing the thought to the back of her head the inkling carefully knocks on the door.

There was nothing at first. Not surprising considering that the last time the inkling saw the octoling she was about to have a nap. So taking a deep breath she knocks again.

"Ryne? Ryne you awake? Sorry if you were sleeping I just wanted to see how you were doing!" When the second time she doesn't hear anything Ashford considers leaving since she might still be asleep. Right before she could think about walking away she hears her friend behind the door.

"Ford?" Ryne's shaky voice says through the door, "Is that you?"

Now the inkling was very concerned. Something was going on with her, and she needs to get in the house. Fast. "Yeah it's me! Is the door unlocked, I need to be able to help you!"

"Negh... It is but-"

That was enough for the inkling. Grabbing the handle Ashford flings the door open, quickly entering the house, "Ryne? Ryne where are you?"

"Ford wait-" Hearing the octolings voice Ashford makes for her friends' voice. When she gets over to the kitchen where she heard Ryne, she stops at seeing the octoling hunched over on all fours on the floor. Feeling concern, worry, and everything else, Ashford dashes over to the octoling, kneeling beside her.

"Ryne? Are you ok? What's wrong?" Ashford goes to put a hand onto her friend but stops when the octoling tilts her head to glance at her before looking back down. Ashford nods in understanding, retracting her hand back. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The inkling only hears haggard breaths from the octo, not answering the question. Before Ford could think about getting her something to drink, Ryne screams. Recoiling from the sudden loud noise, Ashford looks at her friend, and her eyes widen.

Ryne is growing again. And it wasn't the small amount like it was at the mall either. It was a big spurt, watching as from where the inkling was at, Ryne was sliding larger on the floor, hearing haggard breathing and a pained grunt every so often. The inkling was worried for her friend, and places a hand on Ryne's back despite her wishes.

"What do you need Ryne?" Ashford says, concern in her voice. There was only more pained grunts from the octoling, leaving the inkling lost on what to do. Before she could stand up Ryne forcefully grabs a handful of Ashford's shirt, hurting the inkling, "R-Ryne-"

"Curtain."

"Wh-What?"

Ryne looks up at her, a harsh glare staring back at her, "Get me the curtain on the couch. Now."

She releases the shirt, allowing Ford to catch her breath. Standing up she looks around before seeing the haze coloured curtain on the arm of the couch. Rushing over to pick it up the inkling returns to her friend. "Here! I got it for you. What do you-"

Looking up from the curtain tells the inkling everything she needs to know, as the housecoat bottoms start becoming undone, the shirt that covered her midriff riding up her body and ripping apart as Ryne continues to grow. Ashford stared at her growing friend for only a moment before jolting back into action, unfolding the shower curtain and covering Ryne as best she can.

"T-There! It's on you!" Ford stutters, "It's the best I can do for now!"

Another surge of growth happens once the inkling finishes her sentence. And right away she can see that she will need a lot more curtains. "I'll be right back! I'm gonna get you more to wear!"

Ryne only lets out a pained grunt as acknowledgement, making Ashford move away from the growing octo and searches for where she could find more curtains for her friend. Opening a door she sees nothing in it. One of those infamous 'storage rooms' Pearl mentioned in an interview once. Closing the door the inkling quickly runs up to another, opening it to show all of the different coloured shower curtains inside. Giving herself a small fist pump Ashford grabs an armful of shower curtains, running back to her friend.

"Ok Ryne, I got you some more curtains, I'll just ohmyCod-" A deep blue forms on Ashfords face as she now sees the housecoat skirt that the octoling was wearing form show off more of her butt, and while the position Ryne was in made it hard to see, she can see more rips on the shirt as Ryne grows more. Fumbling with the curtains, Ashford tries to get another over her. It succeeds but then a frown forms on her face.

"This isn't enough." The inkling says. Kneeling down towards Ryne's face, she sees the sweat on her forehead, "I know this is asking a lot, but I'm going to need you to move. Just to another room, that's all. I'll properly cover you up there ok?"

Ryne glances up at the inkling, and there was a moment of hesitation before she gives Ford a slow nod. The inkling gently smiles at this, "Great. I don't think standing up is a good idea, so we're going to try using your swim form. Do you think you can manage that?"

The octoling nods, shifting into her swim form. Upon seeing the other form of her friend, Ford wonders if there even is anywhere for her to fit. Nonetheless the inkling steels herself, carefully guiding the octoling out of the kitchen. There was no way that the inkling was going to be able to lift her. She barely could when Ryne was almost 8 feet tall! Though if things continue and Ryne can't move anymore? She will go all the way with it.

Now moving down the hall after Ryne slid out of the kitchen, it really showed just how wide her new swim form was. While the purple octoling was sliding down the hall, her form was rubbing against the walls. Because the swim form doesn't really have a solid shape per-say, Ryne could, albeit at a slower pace, 'swim' down the hallway. But even that has its limits, as evidenced by the octoling getting stuck every now and then.

When Ashford opened up one of the rooms as she went by, she saw how spacious it was. Likely another 'storage room' according to Pearl. But, it was good enough to house her growing friend in without knocking anything over. Entering the room, Ashford turns to look at the octoling and gestures her to come,  "Come on Ryne, there's enough room in here for you. Maybe since there's nothing in here you'll fit better!"

Despite the optimism that the inkling attempted to pass onto Ryne, the octoling wasn't having it. Sliding into the room and towards the wall on the other side, Ryne switches back to normal, and while Ashford can somewhat see that the octoling is looking better, it's certainly not by much. And it was right there that the inkling realized that she may have forgotten to grab the curtains as she led Ryne over to this room.

Why does she think that? Because Ryne's clothes, if you could even call them that, were just barely holding on, the shirt stretched and torn to oblivion, even the bra barely holding on as it showed underboob and tears along the front of the shirt, the housecoat bottoms, while not damaged in any way, was basically the equivalent of a towel that was a size too small and could barely cover everything about the octolings lower half, in addition to Ryne's current sit down position, her back against the wall. and her long legs extended all the way out exposing even more of the octoling.

All of these factors, in addition to Ashford still seeing Ryne grow even now, made for one very flustered inkling. "OH! I- Uh-"

The agent had dealt with a lot of things in her life. The Great Zapfish being taken, Callie being brainwashed, her overall adventures with the Squidbeaks and her Salmon Run shifts being the icing on the cake. None of those things ever made her prepared for a half naked growing octoling that also happens to be her friend.

"C-Curtain! Go, get!" Dashing over to the door, Ford opens the door before slamming it behind her, sliding down to the floor and covering her heated blue face, "Oooooggggghh why did this have to happen to me?" The brief thought of how toned her body was briefly flashed in her mind before she shoved it away. This was the least opportune time to be thinking like that. Regaining her composure, Ashford slides back up the door, walking away from the room where her friend is in order to get her something to cover up in and not be as exposed. Fortunately for her, she left all of the shower curtains near the living room, so grabbing them was easy.

Now the hard part was giving them to her friend. Walking back to the room where Ryne was, the inkling takes a deep breath before opening the door, closing her eyes as to not see the octolings' nearly naked form. "Got you the curtains! If you're feeling better and have stopped growing you can try to put them on?"

While she could not see what Ryne's face was at the moment, when she felt the curtains being lifted off of her arms. That did help the inklings' nerves but since Ford wasn't sure about Ryne's size at the moment, she kept her eyes closed just to be sure. What she heard however was the sound of shuffling of legs on the floor, and the creaking of the wall around where her friend is. While Ashford's eyes were closed, that just made it harder for the inkling to not visualize what was happening in the outside world from the safety of her self made darkness.

'Don't visualize your friend, don't visualize your friend, don't visualize your friend...' Ashford mentally repeated in her head. The shuffling of clothes she hears however does not help at all. Much less the tearing she heard immediately after.

"There goes that stupid shirt..." She hears Ryne say, making the inkling feel heated. Ashford very much considered stepping outside of the room so that she isn't subjecting herself to this, but the thought of leaving her friend alone like this makes her not do it. She would feel bad if she left Ryne alone, when she needs someone to be with right now. Bearing through it she simply waits for the curtains to hopefully be on her friend well enough. After what felt like forever, she feels a tap on her shoulder, snapping Ashford from her thoughts.

"Alright... I'm more or less dressed now." She hears Ryne say, "Best I can do anyway... You can open your eyes now."

Hesitant at this, Ashford slowly opens up one eye. That one eye sees Ryne, wrapped in shower curtains. Two were tied up like a rope on her upper and lower halves, allowing a few sets of curtains to hang from the curtain ropes. It wasn't perfect by any means, as by the heat forming on Ashford's face when seeing the slightly more see-through curtain draped over her chest. But considering the circumstances, it was pretty good.

"Looks good on you." Ashford says, opening her other eye to see the octoling in full. Ryne was still sitting on the floor, where much to Ford's relief, the growth that Ryne was exhibiting was in fact slowing down to a crawl. It was tough to say how big the octoling was, but she certainly was bigger than 8 feet tall like she last saw her proper. Seeing the sweat form on Ryne's head, Ashford steps forward to wipe it off when her foot catches on the remains of the torn up shirt. Picking it up, the inkling uses it to wipe the sweat off.

"Thanks..."

Ashford hums, acknowledging the thanks. Despite the pieces of the shirt doing their job, the inkling can still see that she looks hot. Tossing the shirt rag on the floor and walking over to the door, she looks back at Ryne, not really paying much attention to her. "I'm gonna get you something cold ok? You look like you need it. Be right back."

Ryne doesn't say anything, letting the inkling walk out of the room. Heading over to the kitchen, she sees the absolute carnage that the kitchen is under. Pizza sauce all over the counter, bits of melted ice cream with the spoon still in the half empty tub, an empty box that once contained a cheesecake, and to Ashford's astonishment, six empty pizza boxes. 'Did she eat all this?' She thinks to herself.

Tucking the question away for the time being, Ford looks for something that can hopefully cool her friend off. When she opens up the fridge, she doesn't really see much that she could use. Closing it she opens up the freezer, seeing the half tub of vanilla ice cream, and a slightly smaller tub of banana and peanut butter ice cream, in addition to some ice cream sandwiches. While she has a feeling that she won't really need all of it, it's better to be prepared. Finding an ice pack as well, she pulls all of the necessary things out of the freezer, wraps the ice pack in a towel, and carries it over to the room containing her big friend.

"Ryne?" Ford quietly says, looking at the seemingly tired octoling, "I got you some cold things to munch on. Mostly another tub of ice cream and an ice pack, but still something. Maybe we can have it together, just so that you aren't so lonely."

The inkling can feel the octos eyes stare deep into her when she makes the suggestion. Eventually Ryne lets out an exhausted sigh, "Alright... Only because I could use something cold right about now. Keep the ice pack on hand though just in case."

Nodding at this Ashford sits down beside her friend, unwrapping one of the ice cream sandwiches, holding it to the giant octoling. Ryne takes it, along with the smaller tub of ice cream before she starts munching on the sandwich. With the octo eating hers Ford does the same, unwrapping it before taking a bite from it. She shivers at the sudden coldness of it before getting used to it. Glancing over at Ryne, Ford frowns as her friend slowly eats the food.

'Must still not be feeling the best...' Ford thinks. Not that she can blame her. If she were in Ryne's shoes she wouldn't be really feeling up for anything either. That doesn't mean she can't try to cheer her friend up.

Taking another bite before finishing it, Ashford holds the ice pack, about to ask if she needs it at the moment. That's when she noticed something about Ryne. One that makes her concerned. And that source of concern?

Ryne was growing. It was slow, but it was there. 'She must've been growing still, and I only just now noticed it. Damn it...' With ice pack in hand the inkling stands up, taking a careful step onto the slowly growing octoling. There was a grunt from the bigger octo as she looks down in confusion at her friend who started crawling onto her for no reason. Attempting to make Ryne not notice her growth, Ashford holds up the ice pack.

"Just felt that you needed it at the moment." The octoling hums at this, accepting the answer as the inkling hesitates to lift herself up more. Understanding this, Ryne leans her head down towards the inkling, to which Ashford puts the ice pack on her forehead.

"Thanks." Ryne mumbles.

"No problem. Can you-"

As if the octoling could read her mind, Ryne tucks an arm underneath Ford, lifting her closer to her head, near the shoulder. "Appreciate it."

There was a hum from the octoling as she goes back to eating her tub of ice cream, all while she continues to grow at a slower pace. From where Ashford was, she could see all the way down to the floor, and sees how long the legs of her friend are. Almost touching the wall but starting to get there, the inkling feels uneasy at the whole thing. Given the room they're in right now it's only a matter of time before something has to give.

'Ugh.' Ford mentally grumbles, 'Need to find out just how big Ryne is right now. And fast, before the room makes it more difficult than it already is.' From her position near the shoulder, Ford scans the octolings' body, starting from the legs. 'Hmm... If the legs are approaching the wall- No wait, the feet just touched the other end. Damn it.' Shaking the frustration off, the agent looks at the legs again, trying to measure out how long they are. Once she got the mental calculation down, Ashford drifts her eyes up the body before placing the ice pack in Ryne's hand, hopping off the octoling. Now with a ground view of the octo, Ashford hums as she looks at the body of her friend.

"Got it."

Ryne glances at the inkling, curious at what she means by that. "From what I could gather, though given the size of the room, I might be a little bit off."

'And since she was still growing a little bit while I was still mentally measuring her out I wouldn't be surprised.' She thinks, "But going by the rough mental math I did, your height is around..." She drags out the result, seeing the growth stop just as the empty tub of ice cream is placed on the floor. With that motion done, the inkling puffs out her chest as she looks up at her friend, "24 feet tall! Give or take, given how tight the room for you is right now."

As the inkling expected, Ryne was not happy about this, letting out a drawn out sigh as she buries her face into her knees. "Just great..."

Ashford wasn't sure on what to do. So she simply sat on the floor, giving her friend as much space the room would allow, the silence taking over. Despite the situation at hand the agent wants to help. She just doesn't know how to exactly help out a 24 foot octoling when neither of them even know what caused this to happen in the first place. Faced with what was an impossible task, Ashford lets some air through her nose and puts her head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.

Minutes pass of no words being said between the two agents. However after a while Ashford felt something tap her side, bringing her out of her trance. Looking at Ryne she sees the octoling pull a finger back, who is glancing at her with a single eye peeking out. Taking her head out from her knees the octoling pats the spot beside her. Ashford scoots closer to the octoling, both of them letting out some air. That's when Ryne speaks up first.

"I... I'm not sure how or even why this happened to me, and I want nothing more than to be back to normal." Ryne looks down at the inkling at her side, "But neither of us can do that as long as we're sulking on the floor like this. So difficult as it is, do you wanna work together to solve this mystery?"

Ashford stares up at the octoling in silence. Then she lets out a snort. "Heh, sappy things are my thing. You're supposed to be 'serious agent number 2' like Three is serious agent number one."

"Pft. Three is not as serious as she claims to be. I know for a fact."

The two look at each other before giggling at their shared attempts to cheer the other up. Ford manages to stop first, placing a hand on Ryne's leg, "Well first thing I'm gonna figure out is where to put you. You aren't exactly subtle you know. Though before that-" Ashford looks away with a bit of heat forming on her face, "Could you adjust your curtain? I think the material is still too see-through..."

Ryne looks down at her curtain clothes then back at the inkling. "No promises."

Ford nods. Guess she may have to deal with partly exposed Ryne every now and then. Taking a breath she looks back at Ryne, "So first thing we should do? Find out how to get you out of this room."

Ryne nods in agreement, taking a look around the empty room. With no windows in sight there was only one exit that either of them didn't want to attempt. "The door..."

They both groan at this. That was the last place they wanted to leave from. But given the circumstances, they may not have much of a choice. Looking up at the octoling, Ford holds up a hand.

"Alright, I will go towards the door, and on the count of three I open it, and you go through it as fast as possible in swim form."

"Wha-" Ryne gives her an incredulous look as she looks at the smaller door, "That's your plan?!"

"I don't have any other ideas! I could go out and I don't know, grease the doorway to make it easier? But it's either that or you break a wall to get out. And I *know* you won't do that."

Ryne stutters as she tries to find a rebuttal that she can say. However it becomes clear that her options are limited, letting out some air. "Our swim forms are more malleable so it might be able to work..."

"That's using your head!" With the 'plan' in motion, Ford gets up off the floor and walks towards the door. Once she was there the inkling looks to her friend, "You ready for this?"

"Not really but I don't have much of a choice."

Humming at this, Ford places a hand near the door handle, holding up a balled up hand. "One... Two...Thr-"

Just before the inkling could finish saying three, the door swung open, slamming the agent into the wall behind the door. Despite being in pain, from behind the door, Ashford heard a voice that filled her with dread.

"Ay yo Ryne!" She heard Pearl say, a distant voice in the background saying 'Pearlie!' "Wanna explain what's with the mess you left in the kitchen? It's not like you to-"

As if the shorter inkling finally realizes that there is a giant squatted in the room, Pearl pauses. Ford lets out a moan as she stumbles out from behind the door, just in time for the rapper to let out a few choice words.

"What the fu-"