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After all the events that had occurred in the Deepsea Metro, all Furina wanted to do was live a normal life on the surface, and be the young teenager she never got to be.
Only one problem: The octoling didn’t have a single clue on how to interact with other living beings. Well, besides Cap’n Cuttlefish, Kei, Pearl, and Marina, but they don’t count. They were like family to her, sort of.
Now that Furina has reached the surface, her new mission has begun: To attend Inkblot Art Academy, and meet her new roommate in their apartment, in Flounder Heights.
So that leads us back to her dilemma: Socializing, her worst enemy, her dearly beloathed. No matter how many times she’s heard Marina’s advice, and Pearl’s concerningly enthusiastic promises to “beat up anybody that looks at you funny”, this was the only boss she couldn’t seem to tackle. Didn’t help that she barely knew how to speak a drop of Inkling, other than the small greeting the New Squidbeak Splatoon and Off the Hook have taught her. But would it be enough to make her new roommate like her?
The only way to know was setting it into action.
As her hand clutched the door knob, swinging the door open, the sight of an empty, messy but lively apartment greeted the pink-green eyed octoling. It was evident that the other owner wasn’t home. That checked out, since classes weren’t over yet.
Furina let go of the breath she didn’t know she had been holding back, sighing with relief as she carefully took her first steps into her new dwelling space. She finally got a better look of her surroundings.
A living room with pale yellow walls and a flat screen television, with stickers slapped on tons of different surfaces, minus the television screen. A long red coffee table stood before the television, with comic books, magazines, zines, and albums scattered amongst the surface, along with a few empty dishes, and a… hero shot? Why the hell was that just laying there out in the open? And how did her roommate even obtain it? Nevermind, worry about that later.
The kitchen stood to the left of the entrance. Despite the comparison to the living room, the kitchen was a bit more tidy, except for the unwashed dishes in the sink. She could tell just by a quick glance that the dishes must’ve been from breakfast. The door to the right was probably a closet or bathroom of sorts. Down and across the short entrance hall stood two doors, the one of the left with stickers on the surface,and a sign hanging in front of it, with something she couldn’t decipher written in Inkling with neon blue chalk. The other one was bare. She assumed that the latter belonged to her mystery roommate. A tall mirror hung in the wall between the two doors, with a few framed pictures hanging above and alongside it.
Furina let go of the door knob, letting the door sway shut behind her as she stepped further inside, her sneakers stepping against wooden flooring, keys jingling in one hand, blue suitcase rolling alongside her in the other, as she made her way towards the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her. Despite it all, she’s still herself. Nobody and nothing could take that away from her, she sees that now. A small smile formed on her lips.
Her eyes moved towards the framed photos, trying to look for clues on who this mystery roommate of hers was.
Before she could begin to do that, the door suddenly creaked open, letting in warm light into the dim apartment. A shadow casted from behind her…
The octoling quietly yelped, turning around in small steps to face the figure before her.
An male inkling with fair skin, looking to be about her age, with orange tied up hair, and teal-red eyes stared dead at her, mouth slightly agape. He wore a baseball jersey, octoglasses, and red & white squidkid V sneakers. If it wasn’t for his sudden appearance and her lack of inkling, she’d compliment how fresh his outfit was.
Frozen like a deer in headlights (at least, that’s what she’s heard of from history books), Furina took a deep breath in through her mouth, opening her lips to speak.
“Hey there, I’m your new roomma–” She spat out in broken inkling with a heavy octarian accent, nervously beginning to wave, before she was greeted with a dualie squelchers pointing right at her head.
“Who the fuck are you?!” The stranger yelled in perfect inkling, continuing to point the weapon at her petrified face, holding her at gunpoint.
“No– Wait–” Furina replied, vision becoming blurry, “I’m sorry–!? Please don’t shoot me, I don’t wanna die!” She cried out in octarian, her arms defensively rising up to protect her face and torso, salty tears rolling down her tanned cheeks as she began to sob. This was it. So this is where she was going to die, huh… So long for those teenage dreams, then…
The unnamed inkling blinked as he watched the octoling helplessly break down in tears before him. An instant surrender, it seems she means no harm. He hesitantly drew down his weapon, blinking as he continued to stare at the crying octogirl before him. Now he kind of feels bad… But even so, he didn’t let his guard down entirely. “Wait, wait,” He cleared his throat, switching to octarian as he spoke. “So you aren’t just some random octarian sent by DJ Octavio to splat me smithereens?” He asked, tilting his head to the side as he got a better look at her.
Furina wiped her tears away, blinking in disbelief at the ridiculousness of the question, and the sudden use of her native tongue from an inkling. “No?! Well, in the past, but I’m not- like– And– And how–” She answered, slowly putting her arms down as she stared at her roommate with utter confusion. “How do you even know octarian?”
The inkling hummed, covering his mouth with his hand as he stood there, contemplating who the fresh hell this stranger in his apartment could bbe. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up. “Ah, wait–” He pointed at her, speaking in inkling once more, before quickly realizing she didn’t understand him and reverting back to octarian, “You’re that roommate that they’ve told me about, right?”
“Yeah–” The ex octoling soldier sniffled, wiping her eyes and nose with the cuff of her annaki drive tee, “I am, you would’ve known if you didn’t interrupt my greeting with a gun to the face–” She explained, frowning with a roll of her eyes.
“Oup– Sorry–” The inkling nervously chuckled, putting down his daulie squelchers, “Force of habit–” He stated, before being abruptly cut off by Furina, whose head was only filled with more questions.
““Force of habit”? Where are you from where your force of habit is pulling out a gun at “intruders”?!” Furina pressed, stepping to stand only one foot in front of the inkling, “And why– why even have one on hand? And how’d you even have a copy of a hero shot–?” Her words rush out of her mouth, full of worry and confusion, along with some minor enragement.
“Well, I can answer all your questions in just a few words, dear pal,” The inkling shoved his hand in front of her face, motioning for her to hold her damn seahorses. “You see… I’m a proud agent of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Agent 4, Jay, at your service.” The agent inkling stuck out his hand for the ex octoling soldier to shake, looking at her with a smile.
As he patiently waited for her to take his hand, Furina hesitantly grabbed it, gently shaking it. “... Furina. Agent 8, or Eight, everyone calls me,” She responded, eyes wide with surprise. The octoling retracted her hand. “I didn’t know that my roommate was going to be–”
“A fellow agent, like you?” Jay finished, pushing his hands into his pocket. “Neither did I.” He shrugged, making himself a seat on the couch beside him. “... It’s good not to be alone.” He turned his head over to Furina, staring at her with a warm, welcoming smile, replacing his first “greeting”.
Furina stared back at him, slowly returning the smile with one of her very own, a rare sight. “... It’s nice to meet you.” She replied, joining him on the couch.
“... So, wanna tell me about yourself?” Jay asked, inviting her to properly introduce herself.
“... Sure,” Furina agreed, beginning to make herself at home.
Home. Home once and for all.