Work Text:
With every step Acht could feel the weight of their backpack knock back into them as if taunting them, teasing them with their failures and reminding them that they’d fail. They should have just said yes and taken Pearl’s offer to be driven, but they’d rather not show up to the meeting in a ten million G car.
Rushing past a group of jellies a hand reached out and grabbed them. Their soldier training kicked in as they got into an attack stance ready to knock the lights out of the bottom feeder who put hands on them, until they saw the tiny hat they wore.
“Paul!” Acht said as they embraced their brother. “I was just heading to meet you.”
Their little brother shook out of the hug, but he still had a smile on his face, even after seven years he was “too cool” for hugs from his older sibling. “Yeah, I knew you’d probably be late so I knew to take my time getting there.”
The DJ winced at that assessment. It was fair that they had a habit of tardiness but they still tried to arrive on time. The voice of their teacher yelling at them that if they were late to class they’d be late to important things echoed in their head.
“Sorry, I was really trying to be on time,” Acht said.
A painful silence filled the air of the busy city street. Ever since Marina found them in the Memverse they’d been trying to build a new life for themselves on the surface while also trying to reconnect with their little brother. It had been years since they were separated trying to flee the domes and even though they were the lucky ones who made it to the surface they still had to rebuild their bond after so many years apart.
“No sweat, to be honest with how fast you were running down the street I’m sure you’d have been waiting on me,” Paul said. “Seriously, it looked like you were going to plow into an old lady with how fast you were going.”
“Hey, I’d never hit an old lady.” Acht said, readjusting their rumpled clothing.
“Ha! Yes, you would, remember that time you ran into Aunt Brunhilda,” Paul said.
“I was twelve!” Acht yelled. Why couldn’t Paul stop reminding them of that one incident?
“Still counts,” Paul said, laughing at their sibling’s expense.
The pair made their way through to their destination, a cheap but kinda fancy restaurant. The members of the Splatoon ate at. One order of Big Macs later and the two sat down to eat their food.
“I dropped a new song. Did you get a chance to hear it?” Acht asked.
“Yeah it was totally cool, the melody sounded so tense,” he said. Their brother smiled even after all this time Acht was still their cool older sibling dropping the freshest beats.
“Thanks, I based that off of driving school, I was totally panicking taking my driving test,” they said. It was embarrassing that their latest song was based off of such an event but at least the song was popular.
Paul looked at them funny. “You based a song after an experience?”
Acht blushed, they taught Paul that their music should come from feelings and vibes, so this was a betrayal of what they taught him. “Yeah, a friend thought I should give trying to write music based off of experiences a try and this was me giving it a shot.”
“Either way it sounds good,” Paul said. Their younger brother looked around scanning the area to make sure no one was listening before he spoke in a hushed tone. “This new friend wouldn’t happen to be Callie Cuttlefish would it?”
Acht’s face filled with more ink than they thought possible. Even their little brother had heard the rumors that they’d been dating Callie.
The DJ knew they needed to nip this in the bud.
“Whaaaa? No, I-I’m not dating that popstar.”
Their brother’s scowl didn’t budge once. “Flippers, you are the worst liar I know.”
Acht deflated a bit. It was harsh, but fair they did suck at lying, especially to their little brother.
“Look, I’m not dating Callie, honestly,” Acht said.
Paul looked at them concerned. “Is this another Marina situation?”
The pain of that name still hurt. Even after years and no confession the reminder of their first crush hurt them in a way nobody else could.
“No, this isn’t a Marina situation. I think Aori has feelings for me,” the DJ said, trying to push away old feelings.
“So what’s keeping you from making a move?” Paul asked.
That question had been in their mind for a few weeks now. They liked Callie, Callie might like them, why shouldn’t they just ask her out. There was no good reason why they should hold back but for some reason they couldn’t make a move.
“I haven’t brought it up with her,” Acht said.
Acht hated the sorry look Paul had on his face. “You should make a move, you don’t want another Marina situation.”
Paul’s words hurt, but he was right. They’d pined after Marina for years without so much as a peep and when they finally were reunited with their oldest friend and first love she was madly in love with a gremlin. Those who don’t learn from history were doomed to repeat it; could they really afford to have another chance at romance dashed away because they were too lily-livered to make a move.
Paul reached out his claw to theirs. “Hey Flippers, I like you, your friends like you, heck you even said Aori likes you. I’m sure if you put yourself out there Aori will say yes.
“Thanks, bro.”
It was dusk when Acht arrived home or rather Pearl’s home. They saw Pearl and Marina snuggled up on the couch watching an action movie, Marina was talking a mile a minute about trivia about the movie. Acht couldn’t help but smile and feel a little jealous silently watching the pair.
They made their way up to their room looking out at the view of the setting sun. The DJ took out their CQ 80 and played with the device, flicking the joystick around, toggling between calling and texting.
What’s the worst that can happen?