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Eris dug desperately through the clothes in her wardrobe for something she could wear tonight. She couldn’t just wear whatever clothes to a date with the Callie Cuttlefish! Being the Great Agent Three didn’t win you any points when the person you were asking out was the Great Agent One (although it probably didn’t win you points anywhere else, considering the NSS was supposed to be a secret).
Okay, sure, she’d been friends with both the Squid Sisters since she met them those years ago in Octo Valley, but this was different! This was a date. Like, a date date! And Callie, for all her wonderful smiles and bubbly sunshine personality that sent Eris’ heart aflutter, was a celebrity. Y’know, someone who probably had standards higher than ‘week old t-shirt stained with burger sauce and depression’… Man, maybe she should take Marie’s advice on seeing a therapist, but then she’d have to- You’re getting distracted again, Eris!
Flipping through her closet, she found a denim jacket and a nice sundress; perfect for a sunny day at the park. She snagged the clothing off their coat hangers and swept them into the bathroom so she could get ready, mind wandering to that morning.
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Eris had been working up the courage all day. Shell, if she thought about it, she’d been working up the courage for a couple of years, but specifically today; she needed to make a change. She landed back at the Octo Canyon Outpost, steeling her nerves for what she was about to say as she began to pack away her hero shot. It was… not going well.
“Come on, girl,” she psyched herself up quietly. “You can’t just ignore this forever, you can’t just spend the rest of your life pining. Either you go out, or you don’t. Worst thing she can say is ‘No’…”
“Ew.”
Eris whirled around at the sound of Callie Cuttlefish, picking at some food in front of her with a grumble. Her face was scrunched up in a mixture of concentration and disgust that was downright adorable… Wow, Eris really did have it bad. She crossed the courtyard to where Callie sat in front of the cabin as Callie flicked another piece of broccoli out of her rice.
“Skipping out on your greens again?” Eris asked playfully.
“Uggh, it’s not fair, Three!” Callie pouted. “Two keeps going on about how I have to eat right and get my strength back, but c’mon, broccoli??”
“Broccoli is perfectly fine, One,” Eris sighed with a shake of her head; if Callie was going to follow Code Name Protocol while in the Canyon, Eris was going to as well. Callie looked up at her with a mischievous grin that sent warm lightning through Eris’ heart.
“If you think it’s fine, care to help a girl out and have mine?” Callie pleaded with a giggle, and oh, this was why Eris had fallen in love with this girl. Just spending time with her, chatting back and forth about the silliest things filled her with joy and laughter.
“I don’t feel like having Two hunt me down,” Eris waved her friend off, eyes trailing to the floor. “H-hey, One?”
“Yeah, Three?”
“I… did you wanna, I dunno, have a picnic tomorrow at park? I hear it’s supposed to be a nice, sunny day.” Eris hesitantly looked up to see Callie’s reaction, and felt like a rock dropped inside her at the stunned expression.
“Err-I-Uhhhh s-sorry we can-”
“I’d love to!”
Eris flinched at how excited Callie was, wide smile beaming across her face.
“Oh, that’ll be relaxing! Nice day in the sun, oh, I gotta bring some of Grandpa’s Crabby Cakes and- Oh, can you bring some of that homemade fizzy cordial you make? Maybe we could bring a few different things each so there’ll be some surprises!”
“I’ll uhhhh, we’ll see what we can put together, I guess.” Eris managed to keep her cool, but internally she felt like she was soaring through the clouds; Wow, she’d… she’d done it. She’d asked out Callie. And Callie had said yes! She skipped over to the grate back to Inkopolis. “I-I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow!” Callie replied with her usual jubilance and a smile so bright, Eris worried she’d go blind. Worried her heart would give out from joy, she dove down the pipe in a flash.
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Eris patted down her yellow sundress, smoothing out any of the wrinkles, and beamed in the mirror. She wasn’t gonna lie, she looked good! Take that, Marie, there’ll no snipes about her hygiene today! Except… She squinted at the mirror, looking intensely at the right side of her face, scoping for anything, any sign. But nope, everything was clear, nothing was there, just like always. Just like every time she felt something crawling on her face. Just like every time- ok stop that train of thought, time for a fun date! She grabbed her phone and wallet, scooped up the basket she’d packed for the picnic, and left her apartment, head swimming with the prospect of an evening with Callie, just the two of them.
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“Hey Eris, thanks for inviting us out!” Callie gave Eris a bright smile, arm linked with her cousin’s. “It’s been so long since the three of us spent time together off the clock.”
“Don’t mention it,” Eris made sure to keep the smile on her face and in her voice genuine, while kicking herself internally. She wasn’t going to hold it against Marie for tagging along, especially if Callie mistook Eris asking her out for a group get-together, she wasn’t. But boy oh boy, were the intrusive thoughts going to make her imagine Marie mocking her for her misfortune with an evil grin.
“Oh, it’s so wonderful today,” Callie sighed as she twirled in the sunlight. “Oh, it’s a shame Tara couldn’t join us today, I know she would love it.”
“Sorry, Cal,” Marie shrugged with a sigh. “Four’s gonna be busy for the next few weeks; girl’s taking her university finals seriously, and I’m gonna be the last person to try and intervene on that.”
As the two cousins chattered back and forth, Eris sat glumly on the blanket she’d just rolled onto the grass, picking through her basket. She’d been waiting for this for a whole day, she was even too excited to sleep, and it felt like all the wind had been sucked out of her sails by the dull realisation that Callie had not understood what she’d been asking the other day. It felt like nothing could perk up her spirits now.
“Eris, your outfit is so cute!” Callie chirped as she sat next to Eris. “Where have you been hiding this dress, I’ve never seen you wear it.”
And just like that, Eris’ spirits steadily climbed again.
“Err, thanks; just something I got a few years back,” Eris squeaked, feeling her cheeks growing warm. “I don’t find many excuses to pull it out very often.”
“Well, you have good taste, girl,” Callie giggled as Marie sat across from the two. “I’ll have to take you shopping with me someday, I know I’d be in good hands with you.”
Eris didn’t quite know how to handle the compliments, save for a nervous giggle. Desperate to distract herself, she dug through her picnic basket again to pull out some bottles of cordial; Callie had asked specifically for these, she was going to get them. She turned to hand a bottle to Callie, then to Marie. Accepting the gift graciously, Marie dropped the bottle by her side so she could unpack her own offering.
“Mmmmm, Marie sandwiches,” Callie crooned, and Eris immediately perked up, all intrusive thoughts now perfectly silent. She’d had a lot of good food since moving to Inkopolis, but easily top five was Marie’s homemade bread. Callie wasted no time digging into the sandwich she’d been handed, and Eris was quick to start enjoying too. Okay, today hadn’t gone according to plan, but… this was still nice; besides, she’d have other chances to have a proper date with Callie.
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Once again, Eris stood in front of her mirror, rolling up the sleeves of her black paisley button up shirt to her elbows, glaring at the right side of her face for a speck of turquoise that wasn’t there. She turned this way and that, proudly noting how good her jeans made her legs look (her tenure in the NSS may have had some hardships, but it had blessed her with a well toned physique she was immensely proud of). She slipped on some Cuban heels and grabbed her wallet. Lastly, she double-checked her phone to see if she had actually sent Callie the address of the restaurant she was taking her, or if she’d just imagined it, something she’d definitely only done once today and not fourteen times.
Looking at the clock with a sigh, she grabbed her keys and left her apartment, nerves coiling in her belly. Tonight was going to be fine, she tried to convince herself. She was going to go to the restaurant, she was going to look good, Callie was going to look even better, and the two of them would have a great night!
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“It’s really weird, Eri,” Callie hummed as she headed towards their table, “We got here, and they said the booking was only for two! Not to worry, though, I was able to clear it up with the staff, and they had an open table they could move us to.”
“Yeah, I guess that happens, sometimes,” Eris laughed with a roll of her eyes. She trailed behind the two Squid Sisters, because once again, Callie had decided to bring Marie along with her. Fantastic.
“I hear the pizza they make is pretty good,” Marie muttered absently, “If you two want to split one.”
“Maybe you two can,” Callie said as she swiped up a menu, scanning it eagerly. “I think I’ll grab the carbonara this time.”
“Yeah, I guess we can,” Three sighed, leaving the choice of pizza to Marie. She leaned back in her chair to sulk, as the two cousins blissfully perused the menus for their drinks.
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Slumping down on the couch at Cuttlefish Cabin, Eris began to disassemble her hero shot to clean it. Since she’d gotten here, she’d trained until her body ached, patrolled until she was starving, read every document she could find. All with the attempt to distract her from the impulse to curl up and cry.
Each time she’d tried to ask Callie out on a date, Callie had somehow managed to bring Marie along with her. Once was a funny little misunderstanding. But at this point, she’d begun to come to the realisation that Callie just couldn’t see any of these outings as dates.
-DING-
Eris yelped at the sound of her phone on the table getting a text. She plucked it up and had a look at the message from… Marie?
“You need to stop asking Callie out.”
Wh… what?
“She isn’t dumb; she knows they’re dates you’ve been asking her on.”
Oh.
“She just kinda sucks at expressing herself sometimes.”
“Oh,” Eris felt her heart sink; so Callie wasn’t oblivious to her advances; she just didn’t feel the same way. She knew it was likely that Callie would have no interest, she even kind of expected it, it was supposed to be relieving, it wasn’t supposed to hurt so badly. Still, she wasn’t going to force anything if Callie wasn’t interested.
“I’m sorry. I’ll back off,” she texted back, then leaned against the couch and tried to fight down the impulse to cry; she wasn’t going to cry, not here, not where anyone could see her. She tried to clear her head of it so she could get back to her work when her phone dinged again.
“… I think I also suck at expressing myself.” Huh?
“I meant to say, ‘you need to stop asking Callie out”. Eris stared at her phone with a frown, watching the ‘Marie is typing’ icon at the bottom of her screen.
“Look, Cal wants you to spend some time with her, she does, but what happened with the Hypnoshades rattled her way more than she’d like to admit. She hasn’t been able to comfortably go anywhere without knowing I’m right by her side; only time she’s been comfortable being apart from me is when we’re home. She can’t shake the fear that she’ll get pulled back in…” Eris lifted her hand to her cheek; she knew that exact feeling all too well.
“So just, y’know, think of something.” Eris felt like she’d just been on a rollercoaster, her thumbs flying over her phone screen.
“Ok. Thanks Marie.” She placed her phone back on the table, and began to think.
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The microwave beeped loudly as Eris pulled out the bag of popcorn and ripped it into a bowl with a sigh. She padded over to the TV in a hoodie and pajamas, placing the bowl down and flicking through the options for movies or tv shows.
“Smells like the popcorn’s ready, Eri?” Callie bounced into the room and leapt over the back of the couch, landing next to Eris. “What’re we watching?”
“Haven’t decided yet,” Eris sighed. “Figured we could pick as a group.”
“Pick together,” Callie giggled, taking the controller from Eris’ hands. “Marie’s gonna spend the evening on voice call with Tara. They’ve not been able to spend any time together coz of how busy Tara’s been with University, and the lovebirds miss each other. So, it’ll be just us tonight.” She picked some animated show and grabbed for the bowl of popcorn, pulling it into her lap.
There the two sat, in comfortable silence, only the rustle of popcorn mostly drowned out by the tv. Eris heard a sigh, and froze as she felt Callie lean into her side. She hesitated for a moment, but slowly brought her hand to wrap around Callie’s shoulder. Her heart was beginning to drown out the show.
“Hey, Eris,” Callie sighed. “I know I’ve been acting silly about all this, I know you’ve wanted to spend time with just us, but-”
“I get it, Cal,” Eris mumbled. “I’m sorry, I should have realised, like, how everything had affected you.”
“It’s dumb, though,” Callie sulked as she nestled further against Eris. “It’s been a year since we were able to disable the Hypnoshades, I should be okay. I shouldn’t have to worry anymore, but it took me so long just to be comfortable being in different rooms from Marie, and going outside at all filled me with dread, and it’s been a year and I’m still…”
“Still worried it’ll come back,” Eris finished glumly, hand once again going to check her cheek. “Hey, Cal, does it… I know it hasn’t gone away, but does it… fade at all? Even a little?” Callie turned her head to smile up at Eris.
“It does,” Callie sighed. “It may take a while; it may not fade much, but… it does.” The two returned back to the comfortable silence.
“Say, Eri… What made you finally wanna ask me out?” Eris arched an eyebrow.
“Think I’ve been waiting a long time, do you?”
“Eris, I’m pretty certain I’ve seen you getting flustered and blushing for a bit over a couple of years now,” Callie teased, giggling as Eris did just that once again. “So, what changed?”
“I guess… it was down in the Metro,” Eris leaned back against the couch. “Like, yeah, I’ve kinda had a crush for a couple of years, like you said, and I was just… intimidated by it. You were one of the most famous squids in Inkopolis; I was some no-name squid still trying to find her footing. I figured I didn’t have a chance, so I just… tried to ignore it, wait it out. Maybe something would change.”
“But down in that Metro, I just… That was almost it. I’ve had close calls, but none as close as that, and if it weren’t for Eight…” She didn’t want to think about that. “And all I could think of was all the ‘what if’s in my life, all the things I put off coz I was scared of the answer… I didn’t want to worry about those ‘what if’s again. So, I decided to ask. If it didn’t pan out, I’d at least have my answer.”
“Well, I’m glad you finally did,” Callie grinned, pecking Eris’ cheek with a kiss that turned the squid scarlet. “You wouldn’t believe how long I was waiting for you to finally ask me; poor Marie had to deal with all the pent up excitement after you left.” The blush slowly faded from Eris’ face as a thought occurred to her.
“So wait, if you’ve been waiting that long,” Eris questioned with a raised eyebrow, “why didn’t you ask me?” Suddenly, it was Callie’s turn to blush and stammer.
“I- well- okay, look,” she stuttered as a smile overtook Eris’ face. “Maybe, just maybe, I wanted you to ask coz… I was kinda scared about asking myself?”
“Really, now,” Eris laughed.
“I did mention I was being a little silly,” Callie sighed with a smile. “Point is… I’m glad we have this.”
“I’m glad too,” Eris replied. The popcorn bowl was empty, neither of the squids cared. They were just too comfortable in each other’s arms.