Chapter Text
“It’s a pipe dream, but I’ve always dreamed of going to that place. But… an octoling isn’t meant to be there. It’s absurd.”
Elaine padded about her apartment before stopping and smiling in front of her bedrooms mirror. She briefly looked over her lithe figure before she slipped on the hoodie in her hands, flipping the hood up and tucking in her blue ring speckled, magenta tentacles to conceal them and pulling the hood strings tightly. Sure, maybe it was just needless paranoia, but she wasn't taking any chances of someone noticing she was an octoling.
Paranoia or not aside, Elaine had shopping to do! Her fridge had about two vegetables in it, and unfortunately that wouldn't sustain her for the week, especially with upcoming academy work. However, double unfortunately, that meant taking the monorail into the Square.
The… cramped monorail.
It's fine. She would just take some headphones and it would be fine.
And so she did, grabbing the headphones beside her bed and popping them over her rounded ears before swiftly taking her backpack too, heading out of her apartment toward the train station and enjoying the mild weather the whole way.
It wasn't an eventful walk, nor did Elaine think of much aside from how beautiful the flowers lining the gardens' of Inkblot looked as she hummed along to the familiar tune from her headphones. When she finally arrived at the station and got on the monorail, Elaine sighed. Her palms slightly clammy as she shifted in her seat.
She was currently cramped between a fish and an inkling who looked equally as uneasy as herself. This was probably her least favourite part of Inkopolis; given it always made her feel trapped, but enduring it wasn't so bad. She could endure it for the short ride. She… always did. No matter how much her anxiety played up from being stuck in a metal box with strangers, unable to leave.
But at least it wasn't as cramped as the barracks...
With a slight adjustment as the train shifted about and came to a halt in Inkopolis Square Station, Elaine patiently waited for the other passengers to get up and leave before sitting up herself, putting her backpack back on and timidly following behind everyone else.
The monorail station was pierced by sunlight, and the glass (or whatever material made up the—) windows of the station gave way to a majestic view of the city: Towers and shops and bustling streets and—Oh, of course! The big main tower in the middle of the Square where the news would play.
Elaine took in the view as she got off the train. It was certainly a sight to behold, and it never got old no matter how many times the octoling made this trip. It was… an inspiration – much like a lot in this city. She had made countless pencil drawings and sketches of Inkopolis from when she had arrived to when she got into Inkblot, and if she's being honest, those definitely had a part to play in being accepted into the academy.
She was very proud of them, to be honest. It made her slightly giddy remembering when she first got here despite it only being a few months ago, stars in her eyes, and notepad in hand from…
Elaine bit her lip, pushing whatever memory just surfaced to the back of her head. She decided to just leave the station, holding tightly onto her backpack strap as she stepped down the stairs behind several other city folk and made her way into the Square… but not before hearing a certain melody grow louder, reaching it’s apex in volume once she got to the bottom of the staircase.
She remembered it distinctly from when the inkling child fought with Octavio.
That… heavenly melody.
She slipped her headphones around her neck and turned around just outside the station, spotting an inkling woman by the stairs sat just out of the way, like she was trying to blend in with the scenery as opposed to stand out.
But she most definitely did stand out. To Elaine, at least.
She strummed away at an old looking acoustic guitar with a small, tattered amplifier beside her. It was obviously an acoustic cover of the Inkantation; soft and melodic and played much slower than it had been live. Elaine looked up at the woman playing it, who—similarly to the tune—looked soft: they had shoulder-length white tentacles that slipped into a purplish hue at the tips; focused, faded green eyes; a slim physique; soft features, and casual yet tattered clothing—equally as tattered as the amplifier.
But what stood out the most was the way she played. Elaine could only describe it as beautifully hypnotic as her fingers moved so naturally as she plucked and strummed, her posture wasn't stiff, and changing between chords looked so simple when she did it. Music was a form of art, and Elaine found it equally as beautiful as any painted masterpiece or sculpted-to-perfection statue.
She found herself getting lost in the tune until she shook her head. “Focus...” She muttered, giving her cheek a light slap for good measure.
It was already later in the day than Elaine would've liked to arrive in the Square, so getting distracted by a street musician wasn't really ideal. So Elaine slipped her headphones back on and continued down the street...
Elaine heard the same acoustic guitar as she approached the station, and as she got closer, she saw the same musician. But she was playing Maritime Memory this time, a less familiar tune but definitely nice.
Besides that, Elaine had to have spent an hour or so in town, considering Elaine couldn't find a specific item on her list and spent a good while popping into shops to try and find it. And… maybe she got distracted by some drawing materials—but that’s besides the point. Elaine kind of assumed they’d move to a different area considering the lack of attention they were getting, maybe to the main square or just any area less frequented by inklings who were going somewhere with no time to stop and appreciate the music.
Elaine furrowed her brow and looked at the open guitar case infront of the inkling, noticing the few coins that had been placed into it… few being exactly nine. Isn’t that more of a reason to move? It didn’t seem like she was getting much money from where she was stationed.
She felt bad for the inkling.
Elaine sighed, reaching into her pocket and looking into her wallet. She’ll be honest, she only had five coins and the receipt for her groceries, but it'd be rude to just pass the musician twice in a day and not even mildly acknowledge their talent, right? Even Elaine—despite her incredibly limited musical knowledge, capping at knowing some basic chords on guitar—knew that this musician was incredibly talented.
So despite her less than ideal money situation, Elaine picked out two coins and walked up to the guitar case. Her palms were slightly sweaty (she hoped that wouldn't reside on the money for too long) as she awkwardly crouched down and quickly put the coins in the case before backing away and trying her hardest not to make eye contact, lest she have to interact with the inkling.
They gave her a small wave and smile before returning to playing.
Oh.
Elaine felt her face heat up, and she began to speed-walk to the station steps, tugging at the strings on her hoodie, causing it to securely wrap around her face and conceal it further.
Oh. They were pretty. Prettier than Elaine first thought. Super duper pretty. Like… Callie and Marie levels of pretty.
“Pretty.”
The word banged around inside her head the whole way home.
Maybe Elaine was hoping she saw that inkling again, or maybe that was her mistaking her anxiety of not wanting to see them again as the opposite. Who knows? Certainly not her. But even then, as she strolled into Inkopolis the next day, she couldn’t deny that it would be nice to see them again—if only to listen to whatever they were playing this time. And it seemed whatever deity overlooked the land listened in on Elaine’s thoughts, because upon reaching the bottom of the steps and turning left… there they were.
They weren’t playing this time, however, instead just tinkering and setting up their amplifier with a focused look in their eyes. A mask concealed the bottom half of their face, and Elaine couldn’t blame them for wearing one considering it was chillier than usual. Unfortunately for her anxiety though, it seems she was staring a bit too long.
The inkling turned to face them, pulling down their mask to around their neck and smiling warmly before standing up. “You’re the girl from yesterday, right?” She began, but barely let Elaine formulate a response before continuing, “Yeah, I remember you! Thanks, by the way. It felt kinda rude of me to not say thank you just cause I was playing, but thank you.”
She was about Elaine’s height, which for an inkling would be tall, and her voice… was incredibly soothing.
Elaine cringed a bit at that. Her voice was… uh…
Every word going through Elaine’s head was immensely… well—romantic? They all sounded weirdly romantic.
“No—no problem! I mean… you’re very talented.”
The inkling chuckled, blushing bashfully. “Aww, you’re too kind! What’s your name, mystery stranger?”
“Elaine… my name is Elaine.”
“Annie!” The girl—Annie—extended her hand, her smile still plastered on her face as Elaine cautiously took the invitation and shook her hand, swiftly putting it back to her side after. It seemed that Elaine’s nervous behaviour was amusing in some way to Annie, cause she chuckled a bit. “I’m not gonna bite! So, anyway, are you from Calamari County?”
“Eh?” Elaine tilted her head. Where even was Calamari County? It sounded familiar, so perhaps she’d seen it on a map somewhere…
“Hmm… I’ll take that as a no then! It’s just that most people taking the monorail are usually coming from the county.”
“Oh, yeah… I mean, no. I uh—I came from Inkblot. The… art academy.” Was this okay? Elaine wasn’t sure if talking like this was okay.
Annie let out a fond “ooo” before nodding. “Artist, huh? Interesting! I don’t get art—uh, more so I can’t draw! But anyone who can is fresh in my books.”
Fr… fresh? Oh. Right. The fresh thing that Elaine never got. It meant cool, right? Or was it skilled…
“I… could say the same about you…” Elaine mumbled, but she quickly realised that Annie couldn’t hear her. “Um, thank you. Where… are you from? I’m not very familiar with Inkopolis, to be honest…”
Annie crouched back down to tinker with her amplifier again, smiling slightly as they answered, “I lived out in the sticks before coming here! I barely even knew who the Squid Sisters were until they had retired from their old newscast days.”
“Ah… I mean, despite not knowing who they are… you know their songs quite well.”
“I just love music. It was inevitable I’d eventually hear some of their stuff!”
Elaine rubbed her arm and looked down as Annie turned the volume up on her amp, then flushed slightly once she turned back to face her. “So can I ask if you have a phone?” Annie asked.
With a nod, Elaine got her old tattered phone out, some cheap thing she only got to make sure she could read emails and use the calender.
Annie held out her hand. “I’ll put my number in your phone. Ever tried Turf War? Maybe we can go play a few rounds tomorrow!”
A… friend? Did this count as a friend? Elaine felt her heart flutter slightly—not out of love, but out of the idea of a genuine connection with someone. It wasn’t foolproof, and chances are this would end in horrible, horrible heartbreak once Annie found out she was an octoling…
But it was too amazing of an opportunity to pass up. So Elaine handed her phone over, watching with quiet glee and even quieter—yet way much more—nervousness as the girl input her phone number into Elaine’s contacts before handing it back.
“There we go!” She grinned. “I’ll text you tomorrow, but for now…” Annie gestured to her guitar, which she promptly sat beside, picked up, and plugged in.
Right…
“Oh, right...” Elaine bowed politely, holding her phone close to her chest. “Thank you.”
With a finger gun and wink, the inkling began tuning her guitar, and Elaine took that as a sign the conversation was over and she should probably go. So she did, a slight smile on her face the whole rest of the day.
Elaine immediately stripped herself of her hoodie upon opening her apartment door, chucking it on the floor beside her wardrobe before closing the door behind her and instinctively walking over to her desk. It was muscle memory at this point – just something she did whenever she felt a strong emotion and needed to get it out of her head.
As she sat down, she pulled out a sheet of paper from under her desk, and delicately picked out a pencil from the holder on her desk, tapping it against the paper a few times before beginning a rough sketch. She probably had hundreds of rough, unfinished sketches in the box under her bed, but couldn't bring herself to throw any out simply due to pure nostalgia.
This would probably be another.
But as afternoon turned to evening, and the sun slowly faded over the campus buildings… Elaine realized, in a half asleep state, that what looked her back on the paper was...
That same musician.
And yet again the word “Pretty.” bounced in her head as her eyes begged to close. Elaine tried to keep them open to admire her work, but ended up slumping her body down onto the desk, sighing softly as she slapped her phone carelessly onto the table and took a quick peek out from the slits in her eyelids, admiring the growing darkness outside before…
She relaxed fully, her pencil falling from her hands onto the carpeted floor as she snored quietly into the night.