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"Aay! Ay! (Another great day hosting the news! Peaceful and no surprise news event to interrupt us!)"
Big man was full of energy from the chill day of podcast work and was holding the back door open for his two partners.
"Ay! (We still have enough time to stop by the ice scream place to grab a tub of Neapolitan ice cream before catching the train too!"
"Don't you usually tell us no dessert before dinner?" Shiver asked while hurrying through the door with Frye.
"Yeah. You've been reeeally bouncy all day for a guy your size. Did you chug a redbarracuda or got something to tell us?" Frye waited for an answer while locking up the studio for the night.
Even if Splatsville is known for chaos, Frye would rather none of it got into the studio while no one was there.
"Ay? Ay. Aaaay! (Really? I feel like my normal self. Must have been being around you two all daaay!)" Big man was leaning down and close to Shiver's cheek while they sent a message to all the crew to have a great weekend. The octoling looked at Big man and chuckled. "Yeah he's hiding something. Sweet talking and letting us get ice cream before we even figure out dinner. What's the bad news, you big goof?"
"Ay! Ay ay! Ayy? (No bad news! I'm just really happy today went well and I want it to end good! Can I cook dinner tonight so we don't spend a hour picking takeout, pretty please?)"
"Ooo! Dessert and dinner taken care of?" Frye made her way to the others and rested her head on shiver's shoulder. "What ya think? Should we let him spoil us for tonight?"
Big man had his fins together while waiting for the go ahead.
"Mmmm are you sure you don't want help when we get home? I know we're not the absolute best in the kitchen..."
"Ay! Ay. ( Don't worry! I've already got things prepped in the fridge so it won't take long.)"
Frye and Shiver gave each other a look before nodding.
"Alright Big, we'll take a break from take out for tonight but I'm the taste tester. Got it?" The inkling got a bear hug from Big man and a few kisses on her face before Shiver cleared their throat. The manta ray scooped the octoling up to hug them both and pepper both of their faces with affection.
"Ay ay! (You two won't regret it and I promise you two are going to want more my home-cooked meals than take out!)"
He put them both down after getting kisses in return from his partners.
"I'm still not sure if you're going to have it done in time. The ice cream place has been busy this summer."
"Ay! Ay. ( You two go get the ice cream and I'll go get cooking right away! Everything will be done when you two get back to the hide out.)"
"Sounds like a plan!" Frye threw her arms in the air before running off to the ice cream place.
"See you in a few and don't burn your fins." Shiver gave the manta ray a pat on the back before running after the inkling. Big man waved goodbye for now before running to the train station.
It's time to cook!
While the ice cream place wasn't really just for ice cream, Deep cut always came there just for the frozen treats. Just out of the way of most of the construction down the road from the lobby tower and always crowded after any day. The store more or less was mainly a deli place. Wanted a good sandwich? This was the place along with decent coffee, ice cream, side dishes and even sold the coffee beans they used for coffee.
It's a store with a little bit of something for everyone.
Shiver caught up with Frye once the inkling waited for them at the door. "Sorry. Had ice cream on the mind."
"You're fine." The octoling walked inside while Frye held the door open for them. There was a crowd but they had already ordered, now waiting for their orders in the few seats the place had. Frye and Shiver ran over to where the ice cream was to see if they still had anything at all and they hit the jackpot. No one had touched the one they wanted or it was just opened.
"Shiver! Frye!" The two looked over the L shaped counter after hearing their names. It was one of the workers who saw Deep cut coming here weekly for months now. "What can I get for you two?" The cookie cutter shark said while moving her way to a sink to wash her hands.
"Hey Bella! We need everything you got!"
"No we don't. We just need 3 pints of the usual."
"Aw but Shiver, Big man isn't here to stop us from getting the whole thing this time."
"No matter how big your stomach is, you won't be able to eat that much ice cream without ruining dinner. Pints only for now."
"Fine. Only 3 pints." Frye reached into her pockets to get her card out but Shiver already had theirs' out and handed over to Bella. "Don't worry Frye. As the last winner of splatfest, I'm going to be paying for this one for us."
"Money King spreading the wealth? That's unheard of but thank you. I'll pay you back some day." The inkling put away her wallet.
"Is that with or without interest?" The octoling had to ask while they waited next to the counter for the ice cream. Frye leaned in quickly to give them a kiss on the cheek while no one was looking.
"With a lot of interest if you get my drift." The inkling leaned away while Shiver did their best to hold their composure. The worker came back with the pints in a bag and handed it over to the octoling. "Here you go! Three pints of neapolitan! Say hi to Big man for me!"
"Will do Bella and thank you!" Frye grabbed Shiver's hand and the two were out of there.
The sun had started to set while the two deep cut members got to the train station. All of the energetic turf war players and Anarchy competitive players were winding down for the day while making their way home. A few fell asleep on benches, using each other as pillows while others joked with each other or were on their phones.
Frye and Shiver found a spot to wait for the train. Shiver took out their phone to text Big man.
ACutAbove: Ice cream secured and we'll be there in 15. Thanks again for cooking.
Frye breathe in deeply while stretching her arms out before leaning onto Shiver's shoulder. "Shiv, Big was right. It's been a little bit too chill here for a while."
"Yep. Even after splatfest, you would expect some more... lively?."
"Not one fight or fuss in the street after the results got shown."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Slap the city with some energy?"
"Bingo."
The train was approaching and the announcement had woke anyone sleeping at the station so they could get on. Shiver and Frye had got on and went to a fairly empty train car to talk about a few things.
Big man had just finished setting the table in the kitchen. He had got the message from Shiver a few minutes ago that the both of them were on their way back with dessert and he hurried to clean out all the dishes he used to make dinner. The other two members might have forgotten about their national debut. It's been a year of splatfests, partying, rough times and even rougher fights but they had made it a whole year. Big man was reminiscing about the 'first' splatfest the three held. Rock vs Paper vs Scissors. All of those 'Big man sweep' posts, all of the fans having fun and so many new people in splatsville saw how to really party.
That's when all that chaos started. It was great for a while but now everyone in the Splatlands had calmed down and started to relax after a year. Sure some splatfest got people riled up for a while but it seemed like everyone got use to it after a few hours.
The door was unlocked and opened.
"Hey Biggie! Ice cream is here and not melted!" Frye yelled down the hallway to announcing the two getting home. She tossed off her shoe socks on the shoe rock nearby. Shiver took off their sandles and put them on the shoe rack before heading to the kitchen. "And we got something to plan." Shiver said while handing over the bag of ice cream to the manta ray.
"Ay. (Planning can wait after we eat.)" Big man said while putting the ice cream away for now. "Ay? Ay! (And some extra sprinkles from Bella? Hell yeah!)"
Shiver giggled at Big man's reaction. "She said hello. So what's the real reason you wanted to make us dinner, love?" Shiver saw the homemade food on the table. It was just about everything all three of them loved to eat. Big man's favorite bread and some kind of stew with shrimp and other things manta rays loved to eat in it. Frye's favorite foods on a couple of plates. Pan fried mackerel with curry, rice, and still steaming hot naan bread. Shiver saw a plate full of mussels, clams, shrimp in white wine with some pasta. They couldn't help but grab a piece of shrimp from it and take a quick bite.
Yep it was cooked just how octoling liked it. Full of love and a bit spicy!
Frye had came after putting her jacket away and without missing a beat, she was sitting in the spot of the food she knew was hers. "Thanks Big! But I still feel like you did this for a better reason. Spill the beans ya big loving machine. Why are we celebrating?"
"Ay? Ay! Ay! (You two still haven't figured it out yet? It was our anniversary of Deep cut going live across the world a few days ago! I wanted to do something special for us!)"
The octoling and Inkling went wide eye for a second. They both didn't realize how fast a year went by.
"Holy shit a year really went by quick." Frye said while looking at her partners. "Big man, Shiver. It's really been an amazing time spending with both of you."
"Ay.. Ay. (Don't get sappy... You're going to make me cry.)"
"She's right. I know ever since we went live around the world, things have got a little more crazy then you like Big man but despite all of the chaos tossed in the mix, I wouldn't ask for any of it to go differently."
"Ay... (Shiver..)"
"No crying, Biggie! Only eating!" Frye shouted and started to eat.
"Yeah, you want to celebrate this day crying? Dig in!" Shiver said before they sat down and started to eat. Even if he wanted to cry, Big man held back those happy tears to his seat and join in on the food made with love.
Only 15 minutes had past when Big man and Frye had finished their food. Shiver still had enough on their plate to save it for the morning. Big man had went to the fridge and got all of them a can of rum with cola.
Big man and Frye were leaning back in their chairs, sipping on the drink while Shiver was on their phone and sipping out of the can with a straw.
"Big man, you out did yourself with like all of that food. I don't want to move from this spot." Frye give a thumbs up to him before downing the rest of her drink.
"Ay. Ay! (It's only because you gave me the recipe. I'm happy to cook for us anytime so just ask!)" The manta ray said happily before getting out of his seat.
"I got dishes tonight." Shiver said without looking up from their phone. Big man sat right back down and went back to drinking out of his can.
Again it was peaceful. Big man loved it.
After a moment, Shiver had put their phone down and gave Frye a nod before getting up to gather the dishes for cleaning. Frye stopped leaning back in her chair and rested her head on the table while looking at Big man.
"Hey Big? So you remember making a whole new song for the Squid Sisters right?" The inkling asked while smiling.
"Ay..? (Yeah..?)"
"Since it's been a year since we made our lil podcast known to the world, me and Shiver have been thinking about giving Splatsville some more life with a new song."
"Ay? Ay! Ay? (You two want to make a song for the podcast anniversary? I'm all for it! Do you two have something in mind for it?)" The manta ray scooted his chair closer to Frye so the two could talk more about it. Seeing the giant manta ray hopping along the floor in the chair made the inkling snort out a laugh for a moment.
"We've got a lot planned for it actually but we wanna make sure you're up for it too." Frye lifted her head off the table while talking. "We want to make this next song something that puts a fire in everyone's soul AND we want to spice up things around here."
"Ay? (Spice things up?)"
Frye had explained everything she and Shiver wanted to do. Some fake band drama to get eyes on them with the public, having Big man be chased by Shiver and Frye. The manta ray didn't say anything or asked anything while Frye was explaining the plan. Shiver had just finished putting away any left overs and was finishing the last of the dishes when Frye was done saying the plan.
"We both understand if you don't want to go through with this, Biggie. We're not expecting you to say yes to this but we just thought, it's been a minute for anything to really rile up the people of Splatsville a little. Before the new season comes out with all those new weapons and new clothes and new dance moves and new music from other bands. We thought we could bring in the new season with a bang!"
"Ay! (Sure!)"
"You're fine and don'- Wait you said sure." The inkling stared at him for a few seconds before whipping her head towards Shiver. "WAIT SHIVER HE SAID YEAH!?" Frye yelled at the top of her lungs. "THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUCKIGN SICK!" Frye jumped out of her chair to give Big man a hug, almost knocking him off his own chair.
"Ay! Ay ay? Ay. (Careful sundrop! We don't want to break another set of chairs and go hunting for more do we? So tell me more about the plan.)" Big man had gave Frye a hug in return before she went back to her chair.
"Well, we're just gonna be yelling and chasing you out of the dressing room in the studio. A lot of dumb people out there think we don't know you made a new song for the Squid Sisters so maybe we can pretend we figured that out and chased you because of that." The inkling kept talking and Shiver finally came back to their seat.
"Ay. (You know we might have to make it look real.)" Big man's tail had started to wag.
"Being chased isn't enough already? What else can we do?" Shiver asked while back on their phone, messaging a few people to get everything set up for Monday.
"Ay. (Now don't judge me for saying this.)"
Frye and Shiver stopped what they were doing, giving the manta ray a questioning look.
"Ay? Ay. Ay! Ayy? (The people of splatsville can be smart just like us right? They'll be able to sniff out a staged stunt within minutes! Soooo why not rough me up a little and make it look real?)"
"Biggie, if I hurt you in like the smallest way I'm gonna panic on the spot." Frye shook her head while talking. "You're right about the fans being able to tell if drama is fake though."
"What about make up?" Shiver had looked up fake injuries and turned their flip phone to show the others a a video about using makeup to make bruises. "I know we have what we need back at the studio."
"Ay! Ay. Ay. (That can work! And Frye don't worry about hurting me. I might be a big love blanket but I don't fold like a blanket.)" He proudly claimed while flexing his fins.
Goddamn this ray and his cuteness.
After dinner, Deep cut spent the rest of the evening was spent coming up with a script that would be believable for anyone in the Splatlands to hear and coming up with a new beat for the song that will come along with this drama. After the sunset, it was time for bed for Shiver and Frye.
Big man was in the living room, on his computer with headphones on and trying to figure out how the song would go... Frye said she wanted a song to put some more life in Splatsville. What's something that could get people's blood pumping while grooving?
"Biiiig." Shiver popped their head in the door way. "Not coming to bed? Frye's already knocked out if you want to take the other side of the bed."
"Ay. (I'll sleep on the pull out couch.)" He held up a mug filled with coffee. "Ay? (Why are you up?)"
"Thinking about the plan and your part." Shiver made their way from the door way and over to Big man man's desk. "You're usually the type to try avoid fighting but you jumped at the opportunity to get beat up by us."
"Ay. Ay ay- (It's because it's you and Frye. I wouldn't agree to do something like this with just anyone because I don't trust anyone else in this world like I trust you tw-)" Big man stopped talking when he noticed pressure on his shoulder. Shiver had rested their head on his shoulder. "Ay? (You alright sleeply head?)"
"Mhmm."
"Ay. Ay. (You should try getting some sleep. I promise I won't stay up past 5 am.)"
"But I want to see how far you've got with the music."
"Ay. (I haven't got much down right now but I'll show you what I got in the morning.)"
The octoling made a pouting face at Big man, making him chuckle and gave them a pat on the head. "Ay. Ay. (Fine. I'll call it a night here but I'm still taking the couch bed.)"
"Good." Shiver leaned closer and gave him a peck on the cheek. "We'll go over what you have and everything else again tomorrow."
"Ay! Ay. (Okie dokie! Good night, starlight.)"
Shiver left the living room, making their way back to the bed room down the hall while Big man did a few more test of what he had before saving and getting the pull out bed ready for the night.
When morning came around, Shiver was awake in bed, trapped by a clinging and still sleeping Frye. They could get out of the hold easy just by going into swim form but who would want to leave the comfort of bed and warmth of someone like Frye? Shiver differently didn't but when the smell of some fresh coffee came into the room, the octoling slipped out of bed and tipped toed out of the room.
Big man was the last to bed and usually went to sleep when the sun rose. He just made some toast for himself and was reading the news on his phone while sipping on coffee.
"Impressive." Shiver was walking into the kitchen to grab a cup of orange juice. "You're not a dying husk from focusing on music for once. I'll give you credit for that."
"Ay. (Only because you were making faces at me to go to bed last night.)"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." They gave Big man a sweet smile.
"Ay. (Alright whatever you say.)" The manta ray went back to reading the news. "Ay. Ay ay. (The new kits just got shown off. There's a new slosher I'm eyeing and the new maps.)"
"New maps? Let me see."
By the time Frye was up, Shiver and Big man were talking about the new weapons for an hour.
"Ay! Ay! (Morning Frye! Coffee is still warm!)" Big man waved at the inkling wrapped up in a blanket and walking in the living room. Shiver and Big man were sitting on the couch when the sleepy squid gave them a morning kiss before following her nose to the coffee.
"Alright I think that's enough time wasting." Shiver got up from the couch, taking out their phone and sending a text to all of the studio crew. "If we get this right, everything will be set to go around monday afternoon. Big, are you sure you want to do this? This is just something we're doing for fun."
"Ay! Ay ay. Ay? (Yep! I love the peace and all but that's not how Splatsville is. Can't know what peace is without keeping up a little chaos right?)"
"You got that right." Shiver hit enter on the massive group text before putting the phone away. "We'll go over what we need to do after Frye stops being a zombie."
"Ay!" Big man got off the couch to head to the kitchen while Shiver went to the workshop room to grab a few things. Frye was still wrapping in the blanket, sipping on a cup of coffee, eyes closed. She did hear the familiar sounds of fins walking into the kitchen and tried to say morning to Big man but a yawn decided to make an escape out instead.
The giggle that left Big man's mouth made Frye finally open her eyes to squint at him. "What you laughing at, punk? Got something to say?"
"Ay. Ay? (Yeah. Did you sleep well?)" Big man asked and leaned down to give her a hug.
"Yeah until the bed got empty and really cold." The inkling leaned into the hug. "Could have used a second blanket."
Ay ay. Ay! (Well after today, you have the the best blanket in the world to keep you warm tonight. That's a promise!)"
"And the next time with sharky too?" Frye asked while looking up at Big man with puppy eyes.
"Ay. Ay. (With Shiver too. A promise.)"
"I'm going to hold you to that promise." Frye reached up to pinch Big man's cheek.
The giant manta ray laughed getting his cheek pinched and started to swat at her hand. "Aaay ay. Ay ay. (Nooooo stop it. We got to get to the backyard and practice for Monday.)"
"What? Don't got time to play around with me for a bit?" Frye asked jokingly and let out of his face. "Fine I'll back there in a few. Tell Shiver to give time to brush my beak."
"Ay ay! (Ay captain!)" Big man quickly give her a pat on the head and hurried out the kitchen, down the hallway and out the back door.
Today would be a fun day for Deep cut and you can't have fun without a little chaos!
"Just making absolutely sure, love." Shiver was putting the finishing touches on his fins and face. The bruises had to look real enough to fool anyone not in on the little stunt they were about to pull. "You are okay going through with this?"
"Ay? Ay! Ay ay? (How many times are you two going to ask me that? I'm ready for this! Who would pass up the chance to be chased by a pretty inkling and octoling?)"
Frye nearly choked on her tea and Shiver couldn't help but shout a laugh out. "Okay okay NOW we really know why you agree to all this?" Shiver had put down the makeup brush and took a step away from the manta ray. "If you wanted to get chased and beat up by us, we could have done this way sooner and out in the desert."
"Ay... (But that's not as fun...)"
"Big, you're weird, we love you and please never change." Frye put down the tea and got up from her spot to join Shiver in front of Big man. "So we got the lines down packed and the crew knows this isn't real. The camera is rolling when we run in there so we're going to have everything you need for the song."
"Ay! Ay? Ay! (Alright! What are you two waiting for? Let's get this ball rolling!)"
Shiver held their fan in front of Big man's face before he ran out the dressing room door. "Hold your sea horses. If things get out of hand for you, we need a signal to know so we can drag you back here and get you feeling better."
"Ay? Ay! Ay! (C'mon on really? I'm strong as Frye! I can pick both of you up like a sack of potatoes!)"
"Shiv is right. What if I forget this is fake and don't pull a punch? You might be strong but you're not tough. You're a big softie!"
"Ay! Ay. (Hey! You're right but that doesn't mean I can't try.)"
"We're just making sure we don't hurt you, Big man." Shiver gave him a pat on the shoulder. "How about you say 'The squid sisters suck' if you want us to dial it back? That's something we know you would never say unless you were forced to."
Big man thought for a moment before giving up and nodding. "Ay ay. (Fine fine I'll say that if I have to.)"
"Then it's all settled!" The inkling hugged her two partners for luck before Shiver and Frye cleared their throats.
The shouting could be heard down the hall and through doors. Deep cut were arguing about something and it sounded bad.
A loud crash was heard from inside the dressing room before the door was thrown open with a panicking Big man running out and yelling.
"GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" All of the crew stayed out of the eel tamer's way as she ran after the manta ray. Meanwhile the shark tamer was following at a leisurely pace. The bottoms of their shoes clacking with every step as Shiver took their time. They knew Frye would have Big man pinned in the main area of the studio.
Ol and behold, they were right. Frye was yelling at the manta ray while waving a photo around and had his head grabbed.
"Yo Big man, wanna explain this photo? 'Cause it looks like a thoughtless, careless, champ.. cozying up to those inkopolis sisters!"
"Ay! Ay! Ay- ( No, no, no! That's just lan BGM! Uh- I think he's a vocalist of no relation whatsoever-"
"DO YOU THINK WE'RE THAT DUMB?!"
Shiver had made their way to the other side of the fallen manta ray and sat on his fin while jabbing their fold family at Big man's throat.
"Aww, don't worry. It's nice to see you having fun with new friends. Maybe you should spend ALL your time with them if they're so great!"
"Ay- Ay... AY! (Alright, listen- it's just- I want artist from Splatsville and Inkopolis to get along! And thought doing a collab would-)"
"You anted a collab? Well, I want cold, hard cash! Next time we get a piece, capisce?!"
This was going just how they all planned! A crowd was forming in front of Deep Cut's studio, taking pictures and video while the camera that was left on by 'accident' was recording everything for Big man to sample for the music. So many of Big man's fans were trying to get into the place to help him but the doors were locked from the inside, others of Deep cut fans had started talking about what was going on and what would this mean for the band. Was this about the upcoming splatfest? Was this caused by the upcoming splatfest? They wouldn't know because Frye was dragging Big man back through the hallway doors and to the dressing room while Shiver followed but they did stop to turn and give the crowd a small wave with a smile.
With the doors shutting behind the band, the fans outside started typing away on their phones to post online about what they saw, a few yelling at the empty stage in the studio and some even had video to upload of the incident.
Deep Cut's little stunt worked perfectly!
More chaos was back in the city and while it was the plan all along, in the dressing room the feeling wasn't happy. While Frye chased Big man to the stage, he tripped over a cable and gave himself a black eye.
"Ay! (That was fun!)" Big man was all smiles while Frye was getting a ice pack for his eye. "Ay? (Can we go again?)"
"I swear to Cod, Big. You're going to give me a heart attack and I can't be wasting my hearts on those." Frye was holding the ice pack carefully on his face. "Are you ok? Can you see out your eye? How many fingers am I holding up?" The worrying got Big man laughing and gave her a hug.
"Ay! Ay ay. (I'm great! You're more of a worry wart then me and it just makes you look cute.)"
"Biiig!" Frye didn't try to move away from the hug. She was hugging him back, burying her face in his chest. "It's not funny!"
Shiver locked the door before hurrying over to join the hug pile. "You two did great!"
"Ay! Ay! (We all did great! Ice cream for dinner tonight!)" Big man wrapped his fin around the octoling and inkling to bear hug them both. Swinging them in the air for a moment before putting them down. "Ay? Ay (You two think it's going to be enough to spice things up? If not, I really don't mind you two bringing in the eels and master mega.)"
Frye slapped Big man on the head. "No! We're staying in for the rest of the day!"
"You know, Sunflower, I think some of your personality rubbed off on him." Shiver was smiling at the inkling who just stuck her tongue out at them. "We can relax for now, I asked the crew to go home and the break room is full of snacks for us. We can watch the chaos unfold here for a bit. Sounds good?"
"Ay!"
"Yeah!"