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Today was Marina's 20th birthday, and Pearl desperately wanted to celebrate it. The truth was, Marina was never really into birthday parties or big celebrations. Not because she couldn't handle a big party, but mostly because she didn't really associate birthdays with them. In her youth, she almost exclusively celebrated them by getting a nice slice of cake and a few gifts, and it felt nice enough. And for the last four years, Marina pretty much wanted to keep it that way. She would get a nice meal with Pearl, a couple of very nice gifts often handmade by Pearl, which was often worried that money would never be enough to please her. And honestly ? Getting a cute little handmade pottery mug was so much better than just a random pair of fancy shoes.
But this year, Pearl had enough. She wanted Marina to have something better than just a good meal at home and a piece of cake. And after a bit of negotiations, she managed to bring Marina to a really nice secret pub made specifically for popular artists that needed a bit of privacy.
It took the octoling a bit of time to get used to the place. She wasn't exactly someone who went into bars often, nor did she drink much. But after spending a bit of time in this place, finding herself surrounded by faces she already knew and love, and watching Pearl trying everything she could to make her happy, Marina caved in and began to have fun. She ordered plates over plates of food that she shared with her friends, sung at the karaoke like a goddess and most importantly ... She drank. A LOT. After finding out that some cocktails could have an awful lot of sugar in them, the idol began to try as many sweet combination as she could find on the menu, ending up with quite a lot of alcohol in her system. It wasn't enough to make her drunk to the point where she'd feel bad or would act completely out of character, but Pearl could definitely see her change throughout the night, having a lot less inhibitions and singing louder every time she got a mic in her hands.
In the end, they both decided to get out of the place at around 1 AM. They were getting a bit tired, things were becoming slower, and getting more drinks would definitely not be a good idea for Marina.
So here they were, walking towards the parking lot in the middle of the night, sitting down on the pavement to wait for their driver to arrive. Pearl was slightly teasing Marina for how drunk she was, and the octoling couldn't help but agree that she was indeed pretty deep into it, slightly leaning against her friend's shoulder to avoid falling down against the concrete.
"Tch ... Really, I've never seen you like that, Reena. But you looked like you were having fun so ... Maybe we should do that again next year ?"
"Yeah, yeah ! We should absolutely try it again. It was nice. But pleaaase... don't leave me singing alone again, it's not the same without your pretty face next to me ..."
"... Excuse me ?"
"Singing !! I mean like. Uuuuh ... When I had the mic and sung with Warabi. It was nice, but ebb and flow is OUR duo. And you didn't even move out of your seat to join me !! I was sooo sad ..."
"Oooh gotcha. Welp, you should've called me back then ! I just thought you two were having a moment and I didn't want to disturb you."
"Mmmh ... But you don't disturb me. You NEVER disturb me. You're so nice and sweet and pretty and cool and ... Andddd ... And I always want to be with you. It doesn't feel right when I'm not with you."
With these words, Marina wrapped her arms around Pearl, slightly lifted her up and threw her against her chest for a hug. The squid didn't know how to react, simply accepting her fate and looking at her friend's face who seemed to suddenly be saddened by something.
"You were ALWAYS against me in splatfests and it made me so sad because we could never talk when we fight and it made me feel lonely ..."
"Awh ... Sorry Reena but it was kinda like the whole point. We had to represent each team !"
The octoling let out a whimper before hugging Pearl even harder.
"I KNOWWWW ... But it was SO BAD during Chaos vs Order, I thought we were going to break up and now I don't want to sing without you ... Because I don't want you to think that we'll break up ... Even if we're not a couple. But I want us to be a couple. So we can say that we won't break up. Because I love youuuu ..."
Pearl just completely froze. That ... That was a fucking love confession, right ?! Did she just. Get a love confession from a very drunk Marina in less than five minutes when she's been trying to tell her how she was feeling for the past two years ?! Woaw. Talk about an irony.
"Hey ... We can be a couple if you want."
"Nooooo ... You're too perfect and pretty and I'm just ... So clumsy. I would ruin everything. But you'd forgive me and be sweet to me. And that would be nice. But I'd still feel bad. And then we'd need to hug. Oh ... Wait that could be nice too ..."
"We can hug right now if you want too ? I mean. We're already doing it."
"WE ARE ?! Oh my cod ... We're hugging ... This is the best birthday ever, I love you Pearl ..."
The little squid chuckled, getting back up on her feet and helping Marina to do the same as she watched her driver arrive.
They'd probably leave it at that for the rest of the day, but ... Pearl was going to have a serious talk with her partner next morning.