Chapter Text
On a scorching summer day in Splatsville, Deep Cut spent the morning recording for the splat cast, and the afternoon with their families.
They both enjoyed their traditions in their own right, but they left them both exhausted at the end of the day. Shiver and Frye arrived home to their shared shitty little apartment in Splatsville at roughly the same time before Big Man. Out in the dank, musty hall of the apartment building, Frye greeted Shiver with a sweet, yet fleeting kiss, one they quickly and gladly returned. The octoling wasn’t usually one to initiate physical affection, but they most certainly loved it when Frye did it. The other residents would see, at times, but they were all pretty convinced they were both just ‘homiesexual’.
Shiver opened the door to their apartment, and both inkfish set their things down, neither taking their gaze off the same prize.
The coveted good couch.
Among all their stolen furniture, the good couch set itself apart for being a rare luxury Deep Cut didn’t donate right back to the community. It could even be called the living room’s crown jewel. Not the framed pictures of them throughout their years as a band, or the shelf of old books and Big Man’s anime figures, or Frye’s million pillows and empty soda cans, or Shiver’s swords and paintings displayed on the walls, no. This couch.
They had a crusty old futon covered in Frye’s blankets and a couple of bean bags and barstools here and there, but they all paled in comparison to the good couch. With its singular, wide seat, built in massage features, near mint condition brown cushioning, and the ability to connect to wifi for no real reason, this thing was perfect. The legendary recliner could be shared, sure, but the tension in the air quickly revealed that wasn’t the plan for either of them.
Gold eyes met ruby, and the race was on. Sprinting footsteps were quickly cut short by a thud and an offended grunt as Frye stuck out her foot for Shiver to hit the ground. From their place on the floor, Shiver yanked Frye’s ankle as she ran and toppled her right down to the ground with them. The octoling did not hesitate to step over her on all fours and scramble up onto the good couch.
Their fingers immediately went to the little button on the recliner’s side that let them put their feet up, and they breathed a long, contented sigh. Shiver’s victory was assured in the cushioning of their cheeks on the pricey Inkopolis kelp leather, but not for long before their partner climbed up on top of them.
Shiver stared up at her with a half serious bite in their eyes.
“Off.”
“I’ll off you,” Frye growled back. “Move!”
With purple tinted fingers, Frye tried to somehow pry Shiver off the seat and wedge herself in there. They were both way too sweaty and tired for this, neither having even bothered to change out of their clan clothing, and yet Shiver pushed back at Frye in equal measure. For a little bit they tussled back and forth this way until Shiver said, “ You move! I was here first!”
“We can both fit! Or just let me sit on your lap or whatever.” Though her words implied compromise, Frye just pried harder at Shiver’s side, and it actually kind of tickled. The octoling fought a laugh and pushed back harder at their partner.
This wasn’t a big deal, really, they both cuddled on the good couch snuggled up beneath their Deep Cut merch blanket all the time. It was one of Shiver’s favorite things to do. Sometimes, one of them would go into swim form in the other’s arms to avoid this exact issue. Shiver especially enjoyed curling up on Frye and drifting to sleep. Sometimes, all three members of Deep Cut would even pile up on here and nap, but today Shiver wasn’t quite feeling up to it.
“I’m too tired to share, and my body hurts,” Shiver groaned. “Go sit on the big one with the stain on it.”
…
As expected, Frye did the exact opposite and laid on her partner like they were a cheap mattress. Shiver’s sore muscles creaked like an oldass door frame beneath Frye’s full weight. She was lucky they loved her so much. Frye pouted. “Can I stay if I pay the kiss tax?”
She always turned up all her cuteness dials to maximum overdrive for that move, and Shiver, the fool they were, was critically affected. Frye knew exactly what buttons to press to get what she wanted. Despite them having been together for years, the thought of Frye so pretty on their lap, lips melting into lips with her soft, steadying arms around their neck always turned Shiver into a blushing mess.
Cod, it was tempting. And Frye was right there, her lips just inches away from theirs. Maybe if they gave in just a little it’d be okay…
Shiver shook their head profusely. They couldn’t let that woman’s sly tricks work on them, not this time. They had a dignity to uphold and coziness to fight for. Frye couldn’t always get her way.
And, more secretly, they liked bickering with her (and they knew Frye did, too).
“That won’t work on me right now, love, I’m exhausted.” Shiver placed their hands on the inkling’s hips and gently pushed her backwards. “Move your ass, you’re crushing me.”
Frye’s eyes went wide with mock offense.
“I’m tons more exhausted than you! You just shake your fan and ride your pony all day,” Frye scoffed. She sat up only so she could plant herself more firmly on top of Shiver.
Like a mighty stone against an unrelenting stream, Shiver didn’t let her words outwardly affect them. They simply flipped their fringe in an effort to exude elegance. “I do far more than that as a Hohojiro-“ Their eyes shone mischievously- “and besides, babe, all you do is play with your eels all day.”
Shiver couldn’t help but smile as Frye’s expression went ‘serious’. She was too adorable when she was worked up.
“Uh, no! Onaga stuff is way harder than that!” Frye paused, realizing the need to clarify, “I mean, not for me, ‘cuz I’m awesome, but for you it’d be so hard!”
Shiver laughed.
“I could do ‘Onaga stuff’ blindfolded.”
“I could do Hohojiro stuff double blindfolded.”
Shiver smugly tilted their chin up to look down at her.
“Oh, really?”
Frye furrowed her brow, a little taken aback maybe. “Well, maybe not double blindfolded. But I bet I could do all that Hohojiro stuff zero blindfolded.”
One key word there got Shiver’s ear twitching with interest. A bet?
“Bet how much?”
Frye quickly mirrored the smirk on Shiver’s face. Deep down, they were really just having fun playing with each other, egging one another on. Despite the fact that they were definitely betting real money.
Frye straightened proudly, saying, “I’d bet the priority seat on the good couch AND 100K gold that what you do is easy and I could do it way way better!”
Big Man stood in the doorway with his fins tensed. He’d gotten home just a couple of minutes ago, but already he’d overheard to the point he no longer had plausible deniability.
He knew his bandmates loved making up random stuff to bet on, and decided to turn right around before he got caught in the middle of yet another petty fight. But alas, it was too late.
Frye caught him red handed. Red finned. Whatever.
“What about you, Big Man?,” she asked, peeking over the top of the good couch. “I see you lurkin’. Who’re you gonna bet on?”
Big Man sternly raised his fins with the bags of food from home he was holding.
“Ay. Ay. (I’m not doing this. One of you is gonna get mad and not wanna talk to me anymore. It always happens.)”
Frye shook her head.
“I’m not gonna get mad, man, I’m not a little baby like Shiver,” she said. Shiver rolled their eyes.
…
“Ay. (I’m betting on Shiver.)”
Shiver winced at the extra weight as Frye borderline stood on top of them to shout, “What?! No way!”
“Ha.”
Big Man frowned and waddled over to the kitchen to set the food he’d brought down. He knew it’d be good to bring it home, to spare himself the risk of either of these two ever stepping foot in the kitchen again. He also knew he hated making Frye feel bad by participating in this bet at all, but he had to tell the truth if they were twisting his fin. “Ay, ay. (Shiver has more discipline. The second you find you’re not immediately good, Frye, you’re going to start goofing off and not taking it seriously.)”
Steam practically shot out of Frye’s ears she looked so mad.
“That is so not true!” Frye looked down at her partner, her only hope at a defense here. “Shiver, tell ‘im!”
Shiver exchanged a glance with Big Man and pursed their lips. “You are very talented, my love, but he is sort of right…”
Shiver felt relief at the sudden loss of the weight of Frye on them, but would be lying if they said they didn’t miss the warmth. Frye stood with her hands on her hips, fiercely saying, “Well, you know what, both’a’ you better get your 100k G ready for me ‘cuz I’m gonna be the best Hohojiro that ever Hohojiroed!”
“Mhm,” Shiver hummed. As unrealistic as it was, they figured this bet would be entertaining enough. And they’d never pass up easy money. Shiver dug into their pocket and pulled out their phone. “I will call my family then and let them know they have a new child.”
“I’ll-“ Frye cut herself off, digging in her pockets for her phone- “Do the same thing! But better! Just watch!”