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By this point in her career—what was it now, 7 years in?— performing didn’t give Marina nerves so much as it did excitement. The comfortable rhythm of performing alongside Pearl never got mundane, not with her energy. Not with the chaos she sought to bring to everything they did. Now, Marina was grateful for it! Each day she got to perform on stage, Pearl beside her, was a gift. Every recording session was a rush, the thrill of creating something, creating music … Marina wouldn't have it any other way.
So waiting in the green room, it didn’t scare her anymore. This would be Off the Hook’s first show in Splatsville, but Marina only found that made her more excited. The anticipation of the stage was just a spark of enjoyment, before the thrill of the lights, the vibration of Pearl’s voice so close to her.
Knowing this, Marina could be certain that it wasn’t the oncoming performance making her hearts beat this quickly. It wasn’t the setlist causing that tiny jolt, a touch of anxiety no matter how she tried to hide it.
Though Pearl herself could make Marina’s heart race… well… she was with Frye now, running over their pre-show banter for possibly the dozenth time that day. Well, that was what they were supposed to be doing, but knowing Pearl and Frye, the conversation had probably long since spiralled off track.
So without Pearl, waited Marina, in the green room of the performance venue, alongside Shiver. And Shiver alone.
It was a small room, one perfect square. Two doors, two couches. The door to Marina’s left led into the hallways leading out to the stage, a small ticking clock above the door the only indication time was really passing. To her left, the hallways leading back out, a maze of hallways until their back exit.
On the other walls, each couch, and an accompanying side table. Marina sat on one couch, tucking herself into the corner. Opposing her, Shiver. She sat, one leg over the other, idly tapping her fingers across the couch's arm.
Neither looked at the other.
Dark brown walls surrounded them on all sides, broken up by a few advertisements for the venue’s services, and a tv screen above Marina’s head displayed a visual feed of the currently empty stage. While she couldn’t see it, the anticipatory chatter of the crowd's voices was more than loud enough.
No one within the room made a sound. The ticking of the clock was merely an audible record of each moment passed without a word.
Tension filled the room, at least to Marina’s view. With Pearl around, conversation flowed easily. Some question or barb would be thrown, and a quick retort. Of course, for Marina, anything was made easier if Pearl was by her side.
She was a grown woman now, a professional, and more than capable of representing her half of Off the Hook calmly and gracefully, without or without Pearl.
But sitting alone with Shiver still put Marina just the slightest bit on edge.
“Are you nervous?” Shiver asked, cool voice cutting through Marina’s thoughts. There was no emotion there, or nothing that Marina could pick up on at least. If anything, an idle curiosity.
“Oh, no, no,” Marina responded, maintaining the polite and friendly tone she’d practiced, “I’m looking forward to the show very much, and having you both open with us is an excellent opportunity. I’m very excited to have Off the Hook collaborating with Deep Cut, if only in part.”
Shiver nodded, raising her fan to her face.
“Thank you. The feeling is… mutual. However, that wasn’t what I intended. You seem… anxious.”
Part of Marina felt like this was the same song and dance she’d seen before. The way fingers that weren’t stilled were seen as nervous, that wandering eyes were afraid. She was far too experienced for any of that, no. It was simply the joy of it, and that won’t fade no matter how many years she performs.
But Marina gave Shiver a long, hard look. That wasn’t what she’d meant.
“I might be a tad… starstruck? Is all.” Marina settled on.
Shivers eyes widened before she could conceal her surprise.
“Naturally,” she responded as though Marina hadn’t noticed her prior shock, “Although I’d wondered if it was that and… that alone.”
Shiver was the trickiest of all of Deep Cut to talk to. Marina could never quite tell when she was still performing as part of the band, or the Hohojiro clan, or whatever part of her. Maybe she just never stopped.
But then, wasn’t Marina much the same? Trying to figure out how much of herself to show, which parts… Which facet of her looked best in their light?
Taking a sharp breath and raising a gentler, honest smile, Marina took a gamble.
“Really, I’m totally fine. As bright as a floodlight.” She let the words come to her in Octarian, spoken out for once instead of sung.
Shiver seemed frozen, for a moment. Then her reply, Octarian in kind:
“I am glad to hear it. …But I must apologize, I am afraid I do not know what you might be referring to in regards to the phrase “as a floodlight”?”
Hitting Marina full force came the acknowledgement of what she’d already known.
Shiver had never lived underground.
The twin pupils in Shiver’s eyes analysed Marina, as Marina’s own did the same. They were so similar. The same pointed finger tips, where Pearl, Frye, Callie and Marie’s were blunt. The way her tentacles would curl up on their own, the cups facing towards the sun, instead of inwards.
But Shiver’s Inkling never had the lilt of accent Marina’s words did. Everything Octarian about her, from ears to hair to shape, were displayed proudly. Another worthy successor in a long line of great Octolings. Octolings who’d lived on the surface for generations. It really was so glaringly obvious looking at Shiver, how different they were. It was almost overwhelming, how stark the contrast.
“Marina? Might I call your attention?”
Even by Octoling standards, and by Shiver standards, Shiver’s speech was absurdly formal, and Marina almost wanted to laugh at the sound of her. She spoke much older than herself, drifting out of even elderly speech and into archaic.
Their roots were the same, a central pillar they were both moored to. But the distance between them had to be miles, for Shiver’s shape in the distance was nearly unrecognisable.
“It is nothing.” Marina replied, tucking her head down, “Do not trouble yourself.”
Nearly subconsciously, her language shifted into something more formal, befitting of someone of her station. Former station. Nearly.
“Please find yourself forgiving me, should I be so callous as to have insulted you.” Shiver said.
Marina bit her lip.
“Really it’s… please. You don’t have to speak so formally to me. We’re just… colleagues, yeah? Fellow musicians.”
Shiver ducked her head down and nodded.
“Ah, yes. I thank you greatly. However, I must request a kindness from you once more. This is the only manner in which I know how to speak. These words, they are what has been… gifted to me, by my family.”
One of Marina’s heart’s twisted.
“I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have assumed—” She shifted her speech; Inkling words she’d worked so hard to master flowing off her tongue like water, “You can speak however, whatever you like. Not that you… need my permission.”
Shiver raised an eyebrow.
“Very well then, this is the manner in which I will continue to speak.” Came her reply, Octarian as before.
Marina breathed a soft sigh of relief.
“Rather then, it is my place to thank you.” Shiver added, raising her fan over her mouth again.
“How so?” Marina asked, letting herself speak in Octarian again. It felt right, to match Shiver. A conversation flowing freely, words borrowed and returned.
“I appreciate the opportunity to speak in this way.” Shiver said, “It is rare I do, and on the occasions in which I am… Forgive my bluntness, but you are perhaps more relaxed about the correct usages of grammar than my family is.”
Marina laughed, awkwardly covering her face with her hands in a desperate attempt to hide it.
“Please, it’s nothing. It’s nice for me too.”
Shiver raised an eyebrow, peering up over the tip of her fan.
“Hm? But you are always singing in this language, are you not?”
Marina straightened slightly. It was much easier now, years later and having made many more Octoling friends out in the sunlight… But sometimes it made her nervous to be reminded. For the first few years of her career, singing in Octarian was her way of calling to her friends and family. Her inkling was still a bit rough around the edges, but in Octarian she could express herself in full vibrancy. Not only that, but a little part of her hoped that somewhere down there, another Octoling would hear her. Hear her and have something click, like it had for her. The connections down in the domes could be hit or miss, but there was always someone fiddling with radio signals to intercept music from the surface.
No matter what song it was she was singing, no matter the lyrics, she always hoped they’d understood what she was trying to say.
I made it, I’m safe, I’m happy . You can be too.
Eight confessed to her once, a few months after their journey to the surface, they themself had heard her. Once or twice, only a few times from below, through the static and fading signal strength. Her message had been received. There was no need for Octarian singing now, with Inkling language mastered and more and more Octolings coming to the surface by the day.
By that point though, it was tradition. Marina was all for mixing up genres and switching up her style but this was special. A sort of singing totally unknown to Inkopolis when Marina had first started, and now one she could display proudly to Inklings and Octolings alike.
…but when she’d started, she was always a little scared that someone would realise what she was singing wasn’t just Not-Inkling, but Octarian .
“I am…” Marina said slowly, “It just… it felt right when I was starting out, and I never stopped.”
Marina glanced over at Shiver, trying to gauge her reaction. To Marina’s surprise, Shiver only nodded, quietly.
“And you?” Marina asked, ever so slightly hesitant, “Your singing…”
At this, Shiver grinned, pulling her fan down so the corners of her lips could be seen peeking out from behind.
“For Deep Cut, I am singing in the Inkling language. My voice will reach as many people as possible, thus I should sing in the language most people speak. It is our music, still. The style, however. That is from my family. No matter how well your haunting voice may imitate it.”
Marina grinned, “Oh, so that one you meant, hmmm~?”
Shiver barked out a laugh, pointed teeth bared wide.
“I do not lie about such things!”
Marina leaned forward, tentacles brushing against the edge of her couch.
“Awww, now you’re going to hurt my feelings. You say such terrible things in our song~!”
Her voice lilted at the end, singsong as she teased.
“This is a surprise,” Shiver replied, equally as amused, “From your lyrics I would have believed you were unaware I was even insulting you.”
Marina shrugged.
“What can I say, I like to play nice.”
Before either one can say another word, one of the PA’s, an inkling in all black, sticks her head in the door.
“Ladies, 5 mins before we need you backstage.”
“Oh, thank you very much!” Marina replied, startled slightly.
“Thank you.” Shiver said in unison, both girls switching back to speaking Inkling on a dime.
Marina sighed as the Inkling nodded and exited, quick as she’d appeared.
“Right then… are you ready?”
Shiver nodded, quick and sharp.
“Always. Are you?”
It was a simple question, really. The baggage Marina had tied to everything was invisible to Shiver, so there was really no way she would’ve known. Even if she’d cleared the air with Shiver, to say the tension had been all because of her wouldn’t be right, exactly. The tight feeling in Marina’s hearts remained.
Marina shifted slightly, tentacles bobbing up and down as they curled and uncurled.
“…Yes, I’m ready.” She replied, a beat too late.
Shiver scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.
“You’re a worse liar than Frye.”
Marina shrugged, avoiding eye contact in lieu of elaboration.
“If you’re going to have some issue with our performance, make it known now,” Shiver said, “There’s no time for it once we’re onstage. Spit it out now or else I expect nothing less than a perfect show. I won’t have you embarrassing us.”
Marina bristled.
“I’ll have you know I can perform just fine. I would never give anything less than my all at any performance, let alone one debuting a new song!”
“Then what’s your problem?” Shiver asked, collapsing her fan and jabbing it out towards Marina.
Caught between defensiveness and uncertainty, Marina leaned back, creating a touch more distance between her and Shiver.
“Suffer no Fools.” She said after a moment, not looking towards Shiver. “You’re proud of it, yes?”
Shiver raised an eyebrow.
“I refuse to release any song if it isn’t perfect .”
Marina smiled, her eyes wide and a touchy watery.
“Then you wouldn’t understand.”
Shiver crossed her arms, “Try me.”
There was that air of superiority to her, a statement made bluntly, backed heavily by the weight of confrontation. But with the weight of her words came a release as silence– sans the clock– filled the space. A relaxation of sorts, in that lull. So Marina spoke.
“Pearlie’s never cared about her image, not as long as I’ve known her. She does whatever she wants, when she wants, regardless of who’s looking. It’s… one of the things I love about her. And Frye, well she’s kind of the same way, right?”
Shivers grin was sharp, stretching wide past her fan.
“Naturally. No one can contain our Frye. Her power and drive are unparalleled.”
Marina smiled softly, directing her gaze towards the ground. “I admire that more than you could possibly know. But for me… I can’t do that. I worry about what In- what everyone will think of me. I want to be me , but even now I also want to be the me that… that people like. At least, not someone they would hate? And I don’t… Even if it’s not real– I don’t want to be…”
Marina bit her tongue, trying to find the way to convey this, a way to describe all her hang ups and fears. In any language, she couldn’t find it.
“Shunned.” Marina finished, words still not quite right falling flatly to the floor. Shiver remained silent, taking this in. She nodded, hummed slightly, but there was no verbal reply.
“So then… you?” Marina prompted, “You’re like the others, aren’t you. You don’t care if people see this and get the wrong impression? And think you’re… mean?”
At this, Shiver threw her head back, a barking laugh echoing around the room.
“Oh no, no, no! Of course not. I am mean.”
She said it so plainly that Marina almost wondered if she’d misheard at first.
“Wh- No, you aren’t!” Marina cried, snapping her focus up towards Shiver. She didn’t look upset, there was no hint of self deprecation lingering in her eyes. As always, Shiver’s gaze was piercing, matter of fact.
Shiver shrugged. “To each her own, I suppose. But optimism doesn’t change what I am, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Marina kept silent. What could she even say?
Shiver continued for her.
“Maybe in Inkopolis it’s better to have a squeaky clean rep, but that’s never really been Splatsville’s style. And a messy, chaotic town needs music to suit, no? Playing it safe and sweet doesn’t fit this place, and it certainly doesn’t fit me. Besides, some sugary sweet pop star isn’t what Splatsville needs.”
“What Splatsville needs?” Marina echoed.
“Someone like us.” Shiver answered, “Someone mean and sharp and who loves Splatsville as it is without trying to sand down its edges. A hometown hype squad, loud and vicious and ready to strike first. Sharks don’t scare you when you know they’re on your side, after all. We ought to make a show of defending our territory.”
Marina looked over Shiver. Her proudly displayed ears, her jagged teeth and pointed finger tips. Everything about the way she carried herself, her family crest emboldened against her fan… In so many striking ways, they were so different—
“‘Cause it’s mine to protect.”
—But in the end, quite the same. This time, Marina thought she could say she understood. Despite the distance, it all came back to home.
Marina blinked heavily, clearing her throat. No time to get choked up, not when there was an audience anticipating her, not with Pearl awaiting.
“I’m sure the 40/60 profit split doesn’t hurt either, no?” Marina added playfully.
“My, you do catch on quick!”
Snapping her fan shut, Shiver began to straighten herself, preparing to be called to stage.
“Still,” Shiver mused, adjusting her shark bite earring, “If any pop group had to invade Splatsville, I’m glad it was Off the Hook.”
It’s far from the highest praise Marina’s received, but something about the way Shiver said it filled Marina’s hearts.
“I’m glad,” Marina said, “Coming from you, that means a lot.”
Shiver rolled her eyes– “Don’t read into it too much” –But Marina didn’t miss the tiny smile she let slip.
“I mean, with the devastating insults you’ll be slinging at me on stage, I was so worried you really hated us!” The sarcasm was so thick in Marina’s voice it could’ve been used for soundproofing.
“Oh no, if this’d been a real threat you’d be long gone.”
Marina giggled, “I’m glad you’re so… confident in yourself~!”
Shiver threw her a side eye.
“Bit late to be switching up our lyrics, but I’m more than happy to bring our fans a more authentic experience.”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”
The roar of the audience could be heard in the distance, through the soundproofing and distance. Thousands of cheers as Pearl and Frye take the stage, arguing as planned.
By the time the PA came in the door, Marina and Shiver were already standing, heading out to join them.
“Ah, you’re already prepped?”
The fluttering feeling of anticipation lingered in Marina’s hearts even now. But she heard the echoes of Pearl’s voice rebound in the hallway, bouncing against Frye’s. At her side, Shiver gave her one last nod, and a small smile.
So then, she could be certain she meant it to say,
“Yeah, we’re ready.”
Because when Marina stepped out onto the stage she could hear it, alongside the cheers of a thousand different voices and the faux arguing of her friends. That sound, of everything connecting where it should.