Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Morning. 8:00 AM.

Aloha had come to notice that he was waking up later and later as of late. He tried to think of when this little phenomenon had started, but ended up drawing a blank. At least he wasn't missing any meetings or practice.

Yet, he added to himself.

It was only a matter of time before he overslept and ended up missing something important. Army was already prone to getting cross with him for not paying attention. His eyes had their tendency to wander at the worst time, and he knew Army hated him for that.
Why was he on this team again? He didn't know. Something about skill? He didn't really have much of that at this point. At least the other three, four if you count Rider, had something going for them. Army could plan, Mask could intimidate, as well as Skull and Rider. Skull also had a sharp eye, and Rider had brute strength at his disposal. What did Aloha have that hadn't been outdone or made mundane by the shifting tides of time and meta?
Nothing, he supposed.

The alarm he tended to sleep through went off again. Wait, again? Wait...
Oh.
Oh no.
He had just been laying in bed for a whole hour.
Nowhere close to being ready for the day.
He was gonna be late for the meeting!

...Honestly, it felt like it mattered less today.

Aloha slunk out of bed and made his way to his deskchair, which had his usual attire hanging from it. He snatched the clothing and slipped into it before heading to the bathroom to give himself his usual touch ups.
He trudged over to the mirror and peered at himself through it.
The pink of his tentacles should have been striking and bright, but instead it was subdued and darkened, as if trying to hide.
The bags under his eyes were darker than he recalled them being, and were decidedly too noticeable to not be covered up like always.
Thank cod for concealer. It could cover up the bags along with the numerous other blemishes on his face that made his own reflection hard for him to stomach. Speaking of...
Aloha stepped away from the mirror to get a better view, his eyes squinting as he inspected himself.
He looked...doughy. More than any player of his level should, he felt like. He looked back up at his face to to see that his expression was one of disgust. He nearly flinched seeing himself with such a look. He'd really let himself go, hadn't he? Maybe it was the countless nights of partying that had finally caught up to him, maybe it was that second helping of curry that one time...
He eventually looked away, beginning to panic just the slightest bit. He hoped it wasn't there. Just a simple trick of the eyes, because no player of his status should loo this way, right? What would his teammates think of him if they noticed? Cod, what if they already did? They wouldn't think any less of him, right? He tried to convince that they wouldn't, but it wasn't working out to well. Especially because he was already convinced they hated him anyway. This was just another reason to dump him, wasn't it?

With such things now fresh in his mind, he went to make himself some breakfast before he set off.
Toast was a balanced breakfast, right?
Hopefully it was.

He rushed out the door of his cheap apartment, hoping he wouldn't arrive too late.
He could hear Army scolding him already. How could be he so irresponsible? How was he expecting to improve at this rate? Did he even care at this point? Why should they bother with him if he wasn't going to bother with being on time and paying attention? How would he respond to such questions? Would he give an honest "I don't know," or would it be one of the many things he said to provoke the drill sergeant on a daily basis? Would he tease him about being uptight, telling him how "uncool" it was? That he could chill and just leave him be? Or would he just give him silence? Aloha quite honestly didn't know if he'd even be able to respond to Army's inevitable barrage of questions.

("You're off the team. You can bitch and moan all you damn please.")

He could hear that almost as if he were there right now, and he wasn't even close to the Square yet. The closer he got, the more he didn't want to be there. The more he wanted to turn tail and run back to his shitty apartment.
The more he wanted to simply disappear.

At long last, Aloha entered the Square and found the table his teammates were sitting at, one protected by the shadow cast by an umbrella. He slowed his pace and sauntered over in the most casual manner he could.
"Hey, guys. What--"

A living blaze of orange spoke up first, the glare his was giving sharp enough to seemingly pierce the pink squid approaching him. His voice was scolding and dripped poison.

"Aloha. You're late."

Chapter Text

"Aloha. You're late."

The very situation Aloha had dreaded since he woke was now coming true.
He was late for a meeting. And Army looked furious. Skull and Mask themselves looked rather annoyed with the pink squid, their eyes ever so slightly squinted as they gazed at him from afar. They didn't really look as if they'd give the time of day to say anything to him, though.

"Mind explaining why?"

Army's voice cut through Aloha's trance, bring him back to the situation at hand.

"I...uh...overslept. Yeah. Sorry 'bout that."

Army sighed agitatedly, but didn't push the issue.

"...Take a seat so we can start. Luckily, you didn't miss anything."

Aloha trodded over to the table and sat in his usual place next to Mask, whom he knew was scowling behind his namesake gear. The cyan squid was always annoyed with Aloha for one reason or another, whether it was him interrupting meetings, being too loud, or just plain existing. He was used to the looks he got from him at this point. He'd be looking at himself that way, too.

Army started off with the assortment of strategies he had come up with for today. It was a wonder that he could come up with so many, and for any stage. Aloha wished he had that kind of mind. Then he'd be contributing something to this team. But unfortunately he was stuck with a head with none of the smarts and the cockiness of a 90's mascot with none of the charm.

The orange inkling's explanations started to become indistinct as the meeting droned on. Aloha could have sworn everything was slowly getting darker and darker. He started to grip his legs as if doing so would keep him connected to the the world.
It did not.

"...loha! Aloha! Wake up!"
"Hah?"

Dammit...he didn't fall asleep, did he?
"You fell asleeeeep..."

DAMMIT--
"Aloha, you know you should be coming prepared! You can't just party the night before and expect to be rested enough!"

"But I didn't have a party yesterday..."

"Why else would you be this tired?"

"Sometimes I'm jus' real tired, nothin' else to it."

"Just try to stay awake for the rest of the meeting."

"Aight."

The rest of the meeting left Aloha feeling uneasy. It was as if Army's entire demeanor had changed after he had confronted the pink party animal. The latter had likely spaced out at some point, as it finished quite suddenly. Everyone was dismissed without a word.
Aloha tried to talk to Army last minute to apologize, but the orange inkling simply scowled and walked away.

Aloha simply trudged away from the meeting place with his head hanging uncharacteristically low. He'd really screwed up, hadn't he? Just another day in the life, he supposed.

His phone buzzed about midway through his trek home.
It was his team, and they were asking if he could help them with throwing a party. Aloha breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he had promised himself to lay off on these, it was exactly what he needed right now. Just a really good time to get his mind off all the bad.

weedman_420: yo loha you wanna help us with a party tonite

bloominghibiscus: yeah of course

weedman_420: cool

thestrawdacity: we're meeting to plan it in an hour!!

bitch: don't be late lohi!!

bloominghibiscus: i wont,,

"Heh..."

Even theses little interactions with his teammates put a smile on his face. Could he ask for a better team?
He stuffed his phone back in his pocket and continued back home so he could get ready, a wide grin on his face, glad to have something to look forward to.

Chapter Text

i'm sorry but i genuinely can't continue this
i have grown to hate this whole work and i can't even think about it without. crying or something so

this is the last update before i orphan it and never come back to it again

i want nothing more to do with this stupid fic it's awful and i regret ever writing it
and i am so sorry if i disappoint anyone who's interested, i know there's people who are and wanted to see it continue. and i can't say how awful i feel about doing this, but it's for everyone's good, including mine.

i might write something after this, i might not.
but until then, goodbye everyone. and thank you for supporting and waiting, even if this got nowhere.