Chapter Text
The bright light from the television screen aided Marina in seeing the sheets of potential lyrics sat on the table in front of her. She pushed the center of her glasses up, thankful to have previously taken out her contacts hours before in preparation for the crunch she found herself in. The sensation of dry contacts in tired eyes would undoubtedly end poorly for her considering how quickly she felt she needed to get these new songs finished. Essentially, she and Pearl had been working so hard on them for the past week, staying up day after day and night after night to ensure their best quality work. After all, in their eyes, Off the Hook was about to make it big-- they would be the new hosts of the Inkopolis News segment in just a few months. Their journey so far had been tough with getting their feet off the ground, gaining some fans and then losing them, but things were finally starting to turn around. Marina took a look away from the sheets of lyrics and instead looked at Pearl, who was drifting to sleep beside her. She smiled.
There was a definite appreciativeness in Marina’s heart for everything Pearl had done for her: meeting up with her on Mount Nantai, helping her with inkling culture, becoming her mentor in a sense, helping her find a place to live, and being an overall great first friend in this strange and confusing new world. As she stared, Marina couldn’t help but wonder if Pearl already knew Marina was different. The physical differences between inklings and octolings were immensely evident, yet Pearl had never mentioned anything of it. Marina had definitely gotten some odd stares from those around inkopolis (alongside some comments after their first performance), but nothing at all came from Pearl. Marina couldn’t tell if she was hiding it or if she genuinely didn’t realize she was helping a runaway octoling. Either way, Marina held Pearl’s kindness close to her heart.
Finally, she turned to the television, watching a late-night cooking show play out in a low volume. Then, she turned to the digital clock underneath. It was an ungodly hour in the morning, even later than Pearl and Marina’s usual hours of putting the constant work away. She began to stack up the messied sheets on the coffee table, suddenly noticing Pearl stir beside her.
“Did I fall asleep?” Pearl questioned slowly, rubbing her eyes. “Carp. Sorry about that, ‘Rina.”
“You’re fine!” Marina replied. “I was thinking about heading to bed. We can just finish these last songs up tomorrow, I think. They just need a few more finishing touches.”
Pearl nodded, then grabbing a few of her own sheets and stacking them in the same fashion. They both cleaned up and rose off the ground with Pearl letting out a long yawn. Marina stretched and followed Pearl’s motion.
“Alright, well, goodnight…” Pearl said, making her way towards the extravagant staircase that could only belong in Pearl’s manor.
Marina thought about walking to the guest room she was staying in, but instead sat on the couch in front of the still-running television. She let out a slight sigh before speaking.
“Wait,” She began. “Could I talk to you about something?”
Pearl turned around, noticeably surprised. She walked over and sat next to Marina. Her face changed from that of surprise to that of confusion when Marina let out another long breath.
“What’s up?” Pearl asked. “You alright?”
Marina couldn’t help but fiddle with her fingers as she searched for the right words to describe how she felt. She found that she couldn’t even decipher her own feelings in her mind, let alone speak them aloud. What was it she wanted to say, again?
“You good?” Pearl asked again after the few seconds of silence.
“I just wanted to thank you,” Marina spat. “For helping me out.”
Pearl’s expression of concern soothed into that of her usual. She leaned back and crossed her legs, her mouth forming a smile.
“That’s, like, the fifth time you’ve told me this week,” She pointed out. “It’s no problem, really!”
Marina looked down and continued to fiddle anxiously. Quickly glancing upward, Marina made quick eye contact for a split second and then returned her view down to where it once was. Pearl was too kind, too cool, and Marina felt she was nothing but awkward compared to Pearl. She desperately needed to express something she couldn’t put into words. Whatever that thing was, she wasn’t even sure.
“Marina?” Pearl said slowly. “Are you okay?”
Marina nodded her head, having quickly been returned to reality.
“I’m just a bit nervous about the show, that’s all,” She explained.
“You’ve got nothing to be worried about!” Pearl exclaimed. “We’re gonna rock it out there. Trust me, it won’t be that hard. We’ve done harder, probably.”
“Yeah…” Marina agreed, internally chastising herself for blurting out the excuse (though it wasn’t entirely untrue).
“If this is about the punks who said that thing online,” Pearl began. “Don’t listen to them! They’re just a bunch of pricks.”
Marina had shoved the recent memory into the back of her mind to the best of her ability. She let out a laugh.
“No, it’s not that,” She clarified. “Just nervous is all.”
Pearl leaned forward to meet Marina’s scrunched-over sitting position. She placed her two hands firmly on Marina’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes. In response, Marina’s eyes widened and she stiffened her back, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. Through the dim light provided by the television, she could make out Pearl’s light eyes staring into hers and her fair skin, distinguishable from the piercings and rings poking out from Pearl’s face.
“We’re going to do great,” Pearl assured her.
“Yeah,” Marina nodded. “You’re right.”
They held that position-- staring at each other with a mix of determination and nervousness-- for a few seconds until Pearl let go. She got up from the couch and held out her hand. Marina stared at it, then adjusting her gaze to where Pearl stood before her.
“C’mon, follow me,” Pearl said. “I have to show you something.”
Marina took Pearl’s hand and followed her throughout the large mansion. She hated to admit it, but without Pearl’s guidance, she would most likely never be able to navigate the massive palace on her own. Even the underground labyrinths of Octo Valley proved to be nothing compared to Pearl’s home.
Pearl stopped in front of two massive double doors-- her bedroom. She pushed them open dramatically, making Marina giggle slightly. Pearl led her to one of the bookshelves on
the far wall and took off a photo frame surrounded by stuffed animals. She handed the photo to Marina, and Marina observed it carefully.
It was a framed photo of a clearly younger Pearl in that same punk-rock getup Marina had always known her for. In the photo, she gave a peace sign to the camera from the stage she stood upon. Marina smiled at the familiar sight; during the first weeks of their friendship, she had attended one of Pearl’s concerts. Despite how recently it occurred, it was undoubtedly one of her favorite memories.
“What’s this?” She questioned.
“This was my first concert,” Pearl explained. “But there’s something wrong with it now that I’m looking back on it.”
“There’s something wrong with it?” Marina repeated. “What do you mean?”
“I was missing something important to my music,” Pearl answered. “Something that’s gonna lead to our success.”
Marina tilted her head, trying to think of what that could be, but then felt her heart race and cheeks redden as she realized what Pearl was trying to get across. Just as she was about to respond, Pearl pointed her finger at the empty space next to herself in the photo.
“You’re not there, of course!” She grinned. “How are we supposed to rock the world if we’re not Off the Hook?”
“Aww, Pearlie…” Marina gasped, trying her best to hold back the emotions flowing through her mind.
They hugged for what felt like the thousandth time that week, that with all of the stress swarming around Marina’s head. After they put the old photo away, both engaged in a conversation atop Pearl’s bed about their new stage outfits, and then realized that neither of them had remembered to contact their agent about the designer’s progress. That, of course, ended with Marina making several reminders on her cell phone in a desperate attempt to remember in a couple hours. Pearl fell asleep soon after the situation calmed down a bit.
As Pearl slept (curled up into a ball atop all her blankets and pillows), Marina got up and looked to the photo on her bookshelf again. She approached it, carefully taking it off the shelf and holding it in her hands. All of her insecurities and fears about being the only octoling in inkopolis began to boil up inside her, but they dissipated once she remembered Pearl’s words.