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Mesh was no stranger to the walk of shame which led from the Towers to the station, thanks to their fearless leader’s incredible ability to pick fights only with teams far better than theirs, but today’s defeats had a bit of an unfortunate aftertaste. It hadn’t been enough for them to lose once to Matcha’s team, oh no - Stitch wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d had his ass handed to him and also humiliated one of his team members.
The squid gave a sympathetic look towards Hickory, hanging her head as she trudged up the street. There was basically no way she wasn’t about to cry right now.
Well, there wasn’t anything they could really do about it, right now at least - they’d treat her to lunch or something to try and get her mind off of things later, but right now they might as well try to get their own mind off of the day’s failures.
Mesh slid casually over towards Newsie, the roller-using squid who played on Matcha’s team, and almost didn’t notice as the enemy sniper, Olive, made a very similar movement in the opposite direction, towards Hickory.
“I bet you wish you’d thought twice before challenging us, huh?” Mesh said in a sarcastic drawl, smiling when the boy chuckled good-naturedly. They hadn’t spoken to Newsie very much, but he’d always seemed pretty laid-back.
“Oh, absolutely.” Newsie replied. “Next time I’ll ask Matcha if he’s really sure he wants us to beat you guys up again.
“From now on, I want you to tremble when you hear the name Stitch.”
“Already do. I laugh so hard my shoulders shake.”
“Tough, but fair.”
Newsie’s own face was sporting an amused grin. He gave an easy sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “That leader of yours needs to learn when to call it quits. Or at least when to stop talking and start practicing. He makes some funny faces when he’s pissed, but I can’t imagine it’s very fun listening to it all the time.”
An unhappy fog passed through Mesh’s head. He definitely wasn’t wrong about that.
“Stitch’s fits are one thing,” the squid said cheerlessly, “but I could live with it if he was the only one getting embarrassed. He doesn’t care much about how the rest of us get affected, as you can probably see.”
Newsie hummed. “Hickory, right?” he asked. When Mesh nodded in confirmation, he continued. “Stitch really did her dirty today. No clue why he thought she could beat Olive - no offense.”
“None taken, Olive’s a great shot, and Hickory isn’t exactly a charger main. I think what bothers me the most is that I’m not sure if Stitch did think she could win. I feel like he just wanted to get one over on Matcha any way he could.”
“Sorry about Matcha, by the way.” Newsie said, glancing over to look Mesh in the eyes. “Making Stitch foam at the mouth is like a hobby to him at this point, but he should’ve probably backed down after seeing how upset Hickory got. I know Olive wasn’t too happy about it either.”
Mesh sighed, feeling themself deflate a little. “Yeah, it’s fine.” they replied. “Stitch should’ve kept his mouth shut. I know you guys didn’t intend to embarrass her, don’t worry. I just know that Hickory looks up to Olive. That must’ve been a rough way to take her charger for a test drive. Hope she doesn’t get scared off by this whole thing.”
With a thoughtful sound, Newsie looked past Mesh towards Stitch’s team. Slowly, the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smirk. “I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
Confused, Mesh turned their head to follow the roller user’s gaze.
Hickory and Olive were walking side-by-side, a few feet behind Stitch and Flip. The cool-looking charger user was speaking very easily to Hickory, and though Mesh couldn’t make out what the two of them were saying, their friend was already looking much better.
As a matter of fact...
“Damn, is Hickory blushing?” Mesh murmured.
“Olive is, too.” Newsie noted, sounding amused. “That sly squid, didn’t think she had the nerve.”
The two of them were silent for a moment, watching as the girls’ conversation continued. They spoke too quietly to make out anything distinct until Hickory gave a very enthusiastic ‘I look forward to it!’
“A deal just got made.” the roller user mused.
Mesh grinned. “More like a promise.” they corrected. Hickory was looking much better now, after only a minute or two of chatting with Olive. It sounded like they’d had a very fruitful chat, too. “Wonder what it could be.”
“Want to hear my guess?”
“I’ll bet it’s the same as mine.”
They exchanged glances with Newsie. The two of them nodded simultaneously.
Definitely a date.
“So,” Newsie began, raising a hand to his chin, “who do you think’s gonna confess first?”
This guy didn’t mince words. “Hickory’s already a mess, so no way it’ll be her.” Mesh replied. “Olive seems really put together, plus she made the first move. Gotta be her.”
“Olive’s just good at putting on a brave face, you’ve never seen her before a game.” came the boy’s reply. “She might’ve made the invitation but she’s definitely too chicken to actually do anything. She’ll be putty in Hickory’s hands.”
“You think so?”
“I’d bet so.”
“300G?”
“Done.”
The two shook hands, and Mesh couldn’t suppress either their pleased grin or the gentle sensation of happiness that they felt when they looked back towards Hickory, her eyes on the street as her talk with Olive continued. She’d tried to be sneaky about her attempts to practice the charger, but Mesh wasn’t fooled - and they knew that it was all because of Olive, too. They knew that Hickory really respected the other girl, so to see her chatting so animatedly with Olive was a wonderful sight.
They had a feeling that there’d be a lot more charger practice in Hickory’s future, now.