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Shiver glanced over at the director who was frantically waving their tentacles, a clear sign that it was time to wrap up for the night–right now it was 23:01 so their next announcement would be the next day over.
“And that’s it… for now.” Shiver smiled at the camera, tapping her fan on her stand. A few seconds of awkward silence and Big Man jumped into action, “Ay!” he shouted in his usual comedic voice.
Usually, something like this wouldn’t phase Shiver, but this time was different. There was obviously something going on.
To explain, Frye and Big Man usually take turns on making a small remark after Shiver’s wrap up sentence, for example, Frye would say ‘Ooh spicy!’, and sometimes, Big Man would make a joke about work. This time was Frye’s turn, but… for some reason, she didn’t speak. Sure, she could’ve just forgotten it was her turn, but that didn’t seem like the case… To be honest, the entire broadcast Frye had been silent.
That’s why Shiver was shaken up. Something was wrong, something was off about today.
Shiver was snapped out of her trance when the director began to flail around angrily, you didn’t even have to read their tentacles to understand that they were mad. ‘Get on with it!!!’ was obviously what they were saying.
“W-Well then-” Shiver fumbled with her words, trying to desperately remember the lines she so diligently studied. Damn… was it always this hard? Something something Splatsville…
“F…From Splatsville, that’s a wrap!” she dropped her fan on her stand, quickly resuming Deep Cut’s catchphrase pose. Fuck… she messed up. Director would chew her out later. Jeez, could he give her some slack? There was definitely something off today anyway. Frye isn’t acting her usual self and that’s messing with everyone else's sense of coordination.
“Catch ya later!” The low hum of the camera cut short, the monitors to both sides of the stage cut to the usual ‘on break’ loading screen (though for livestream watchers it’d be a bunch of relentless ads until the next broadcasting.) The director grumbled something under their breath while throwing the pamphlet they had balled up in their tentacles. “Thirty minutes!” someone called, and with that, everyone dispersed.
Big Man sighed, stretching their fins about. “Aayy! Ayay… (Ahh i’m tired! I wish we had more breaks…)” Shiver gave a conceding grunt, they stood up and stretched their legs. “Being an idol is like a neverending nightmare.” she rubbed at her throat, “My throat is still sore from all the singing.”
The Splatfest, Handshake vs. Fistbump vs. Hug, had just ended. Of course, team Handshake swept (though it looked like team Fist bump had more wins.)
“Ay? Aaay? (Shiver? Did you get cold feet at the end?)” Big Man was genuinely concerned, as he’d never seen Shiver get cold feet before. Normally, she was more bold and wasn’t afraid to own up to her mistakes (even if she’d look like a fool.) This was new to him.
“I didn’t get cold feet!” she shouted, her face flushed up with embarrassment and offense. “You should be asking Frye what the hell she was thinking!” Oh that’s right! I totally forgot about Frye! There’s something off about her today.
“A-ay! Ayay? (Oh yea- there’s been something up with BOTH of you this broadcasting! Frye, you’re never this silent, did something happen? Did you forget to eat?)” Big Man stared at the other girl.
Frye wasn’t the type for silence, in fact, it was probably her biggest fear. Silence was usually a bad thing, it was associated with peace and order, and peace and order was NOTHING like Frye, in fact, they were TOTAL opposites, or maybe even enemies!
So why was Frye here quieter than a mouse? Frye shrugged, avoiding looking directly in Big Man’s eyes. “Just lost in thought.” she’d practically whispered that. Okay, something was wrong.
“Are you serious? You? Lost in thought? Do you even have a brain?” Maybe she was just down, nothing that a bit of poking fun wouldn’t fix. But Frye didn’t react, at least, not the way she expected her to.
“I’m going to the back.” Shiver blinked, wide-eyed and blown away. Not only had Frye ignored her… but she used proper grammar? Yea, something was up. If she couldn’t tell before, she could tell now. Shiver and Big Man shared a confused expression ‘what’s gotten into her?’ ‘i dunno but we better fix it.’ ‘pronto.’
Big Man called out to Frye. Her lack of enthusiasm today was really frightening, “A-Ay! Ay! Ay! (F-Frye! Don’t leave so suddenly! If you’re going to the back, let’s go together!)” he had no intention of leaving the stage, but maybe Frye would stop and wait.
Safe to say, Frye did not wait. “Aaay! (Fryee!)” Frye continued on, not even pausing to glance back. “ Ayay… (Wow she’s kind of stuck up when she’s not being a little shit…)” Shiver nodded, she was stuck between being intimidated and being flustered, because sure, Frye was being an a-lord, but it was kind of hot.
“Ay? (You’re not ‘hoping to see this side of her more’ right?)” Shiver frowned, Big Man saw right through her. She reluctantly nodded, “...aay… (...you’re hopeless…)” “SAYS YOU!” she pointed at him, feeling her pride shatter at the insult to it (Add insult to injury… it’s probably true…)
Big Man sighed again, shaking his head in a really freakish way (the best he could do with a flat head I guess) “Ay… ay? (There’s nothing that can be done… why don’t you put your hopelessness to use?)” “Don’t get cocky, what do you mean?”
“Ayyy! (I mean, try and seduce her back to happiness or something!)” Shiver uprooted her face into a distorted, disgusted frown, “Do you even know what seduction means?” “Ay. (I’ve got a basic grasp of it.)” “You make me wanna hurl myself off a bridge.” “Ay?! (What are friends for, eh?!)”
Seduction was certainly not on her bingo card, and she definitely couldn’t do it either. Sure, she had fanboys and girls alike, but she wasn’t like this seduction goddess or whatever. More or less, she couldn’t just turn on seduction at will, and… was it even needed in a situation like this? Maybe Frye just needed some time alone…?
“Ay. (If she isn’t head over heels for you in the next hour you’ll have to shave your head like me.)” “Your head is pre-shaved. Like a packaged box.” “Aay, ay. (Yap all you want, I know where you sleep.)” “You should kill yourself.” “Ay! (All I see is a head needing a shave!)”
“Fine, I'll do it.” “Ay. (There was never a choice.)” Shiver scoffed, flipping her bang back, only for it to fall back into place mere seconds later.
Shiver stepped onto the creaky backroom floor. The walls were poorly painted and peeling, totally different from the broadcasting room, I mean… the lights even flickered! At least you knew where the budget was going.
“Frye?” she called out as though Frye would answer. Surprisingly, Frye did answer. “Yea?” her voice was low and raspy, but you could tell it was her, even over the loud buzzing of the light bulb. She followed the voice farther down the corridor to a small room that fitted only a couch and fridge. Frye laid lazily on the couch, she’d taken off her baggy pants and was just wearing her black leggings (1+ for the hot score…)
Shiver blinked, she didn’t exactly know what to say… ‘what’s been up your butt today?’ Or ‘why’re you such a pain in the neck?’ She couldn’t say something like that unless she was itching for a fight.
So, she just settled for a more relaxed approach. “Are you okay?” She wanted to sit next to Frye but with the way she was positioned- there would be an uncomfortable amount of room, so she opted for standing.
Shiver loomed over Frye, waiting patiently for a response. The only response she got from Frye was a low grunt and the girl rolling onto her side.
“...” Shiver didn’t expect a positive reaction, but this was just stupid. Whatever she was mad about, it couldn't have been that serious. Now she was just being a prick. “Are you okay?” she repeated again; Frye obviously heard her but she wanted to eliminate any chances that she didn’t.
Frye didn’t even give her the courtesy to acknowledge her this time.
Shiver scowled. Frye was really toying with her pride and patience right now, and for a little shit like her, she didn’t have much of it. “Seriously, what’s your problem? Are you really giving me the cold shoulder? You know our next show is in twenty to thirty minutes, right? If you fuck up, director’s gonna yell at us all.” the words slipped off of her tongue, coming straight from her brain. She was getting a bit frustrated, surely whatever she was pissy about wasn’t THAT serious.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to scold a person who’s giving the cold shoulder, but in Shiver’s defense, she didn’t mean to (at heart.)
Though Frye didn’t talk, Shiver could see that her words had some sort of effect. The way Frye shuffled and curled up on the couch was an obvious sign. But still, Frye refused to respond.
”You’re not even gonna tell me what’s gotten into you?!” Shiver thought that she sounded like her mother whenever she’d come home to Shiver’s bass-boosted love songs; confused, irritated, and concerned all in one. Frye did not budge. That’s it. If Frye wanted to be a crybaby she could do it on her own. “If you’re not gonna answer me I'm not gonna waste my breath.” she huffed, feeling defeated and pissed off. Frye wouldn’t even THINK to give her the piece of mind! Okay, be a bitch! I’m not here to babysit you so you can SULK all you want.
“Eleven times.” Shiver turned back, tilting her head as if she was a dog (those don’t exist anymore), “What?”
Frye lifted her head so she wouldn’t sound as muffled. “I’ve lost eleven times now.”
Shiver felt as though her legs would buckle and her face would make contact with the floor. You can’t be fucking serious…
“...the Splatfests?” She didn’t want to jump to conclusions but she could’ve sworn she’d just heard Frye complain about how many times she’s lost the Splatfests. Frye didn’t respond, but the echoing silence was a good enough confirmation.
Shiver snapped a response “Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” were the first words she could think to say. She couldn’t even express how frustrated she was at the girl. “You’re getting angry over a fucking Splatfest?!”
Frye obviously didn’t respond, just taking the scolding (or just tuning her out) willfully, this just pissed Shiver off more. She has NO right to be laying on a couch right now, not with the stress and worry she’d put both Shiver AND Big Man through (all in the span of seconds.) On top of that, she wasn’t even facing her!
Shiver continued on yelling, taking out her frustrations on the person causing them. But soon enough, those frustrations died out. In no time, she was back to her mature, calm self.
So Frye was both childish AND hot. Damn… how can you be struggling and winning at the same time?
Shiver couldn’t help but smile, before, the sight was the bane of her existence, now, seeing Frye all huddled on that couch was hilarious. I mean, here was this awfully loud and frisky (also cute) girl playing pity party on a couch because she couldn’t get her way.
Ah, she can’t stay mad at her.
Shiver knelt down on the floor so that her’s and Frye’s faces would be eye-to-eye. She pulled the girl in for a mini hug, any other time she’d be head over heels but right now, it was obvious that the main thing Frye needed was comfort, not overly obsessive, hopelessly romantic affection.
“You’re the definition of silly.” her voice was filled with hysteria. Frye peeked over her shoulder, just enough to send Shiver into cardiac arrest at the sight of her helpless, soppy eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean…” she finally responded. Thank god, Frye was slowly reverting back to her normal self. Hopefully, she’d be back to normal by the next broadcast.
“You overreact because of stupid things that no one else would.” Frye groaned, turning back around. “Asshole.” “Not as much as you are.” “Cheeky asshole.” that’s not any better… Shiver gave a triumphed ‘hmph.’ The air felt a lot less tense than before which was a good sign.
The two girls lingered in silence. Frye, outstretched on the thin backroom couch, and Shiver, kneeling on the floor with her head resting on the couch’s cushion. Silence wasn’t always ideal, especially not in the chaos-packed city Splatsville; but there were times where it was needed. Needed in a space that only silence could fill.
Silence wasn’t a bad thing (Frye would tell you the opposite). But it didn’t last long. At least, not in Splatsville.
A loud thud made Shiver’s heart pop. She looked down to see that Frye was now rolling on the floor next to her.
“What the hell? Are you okay?!” she shook the girl.
“I’m fine…” the voice was pained but not to an extreme extent. Frye had probably just scraped something, or fell on the wrong leg. She would be fine. After all, she was Frye.
But Shiver had to know what she was thinking, “Why would you do that?”
Frye turned over, she gave Shiver a cheeky, idiotic grin. “Because I want to be next to you!” the reasoning was even dumber than her stupid grin.
Shiver blinked, “...huh?” was the only thing she could utter. In the span of mere seconds it felt as though she’d lost 40% of her brain cells and common sense.
This idiot… why didn’t she just get up and lay next to me? Better yet, WHY would she want to lay on the floor?
“I——forget it.” no point in trying to understand silliness in its true form. She flopped next to Frye, laying on her side. Before she knew it, the two were intertwined. Frye hugged her close, squeezing her like a ragdoll (at this point she might as well give up her idol career and become one.)
“Shiver, you’re like a portable friend.” God FUCK friendzoning and whatever that comparison was supposed to mean. “Mhm.” she nodded, feeling Frye’s face nestled in her hair.
Maybe one day she’d tell Frye how she felt.
It was even harder to believe that Frye didn’t ALREADY know how she felt.
Maybe she did know and was just sadistic.
“Frye?” Shiver broke the now painful and awkward silence.
“Mmpf?”
“Do you…” she held out her hand, balling it up into a fist. She recalled the Splatfest and something she’d been bottling up for a while now. “...know how to fist bump?”
Frye pushed herself away from the hug, she sat up and stared down at Shiver. Shiver looked up, feeling her pride being threatened again. “YOU WHAT?!”
She flipped her bang back, “It’s the reason why I chose team Handshake…” Frye gasped, surprised that she actually got to know the ulterior motive behind Shiver’s team choice (also that it was something as simple as an inability to do anything else BUT a handshake)
“Obviously I know how to fist bump!” She did a comical fighting pose where she pushed her fists out, like she was punching the air. “I know– you want ME to TEACH you how to fist bump!” “If it’s not too much to ask… yes.”
“Easy!” Somehow, Shiver felt like it wouldn’t be that simple. “You just ball up your fist, then you shoot out ‘BLAM!’, like this! Not like you’re about to hit someone, but with enough force that it isn’t just like a flick. Do you get it?” She turned to Shiver.
“Ah-” she frowned, somehow Frye made fist bumping seem harder than Rocket science. “I think i’ll stick with handshaking… i’m more experienced with it after all…” really, she just didn’t want to bother with learning all the overly complicated steps. “Oh, okay.” Frye sounded let down.
And back to silence it was. Frye went back to laying down and cuddling Shiver.
Frye’s grip loosened, leaving Shiver a little puzzled. Why did she let go? she thought, reaching out her hand to hold onto Frye’s.
“Frye?” she called out to her, but no one responded back. “Frye?” she craned her neck so she could look behind herself, “Frye, what’s up?”
Frye had her eyes closed, her mouth slightly ajar. Oh. She let go of Frye’s hand. She’s sleeping.
This idiot. How can she fall asleep so easily and quickly? And without thought either? She was just hugging me and now she’s fast asleep! she felt an urge to flick Frye on the face as payback, thankfully though, she resisted temptation.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to unwind a bit? I’ll get some of my energy back at least.” she sighed, resting her head in Frye’s lifeless palms.
The agitated voice of Big Man echoed down the hall, Shiver shot up. “Ay? Ayy? Ay? (Frye? Shiver? Where’d you two go?)” Big Man’s footsteps got closer and closer and in no time, Big Man had found the two girls.
“A- ay! (Hey! If we’re not back at the stage in five minutes the director will have a heart attack! What are you two doing anyway…)” he stared at Shiver who was still locked in a hug with Frye.
“Aaay?! Ay? Ayay? Ay… (Oh?! You actually did it? You seduced her with your hopeless romantic skills? I didn’t think you’d get this far…)” “Shut up.”
“Ay! Ayy! (And you’re cuddling with each other too! Awe- it couldn’t get anymore cliche than this! In the end, team Hug prevails!)” Big Man raised his fin in the air, and Shiver felt as though she could choke him.