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Another Splatfest results announcement in the bag. Their last, until the powers that be say otherwise. Pearl won it handily – 3-0, a total knockout – and got to announce her amazing plan for Off the Hook’s future to Marina and the world.
She also found out Marina thought she wanted to break up the band.
And told Marina she loved her on live TV.
The first was completely unacceptable. When Marina brought it up during the theme announcement, Pearl wrote it off as Splatfest jitters and shut it down immediately; with how close they were, both as friends and as bandmates, and as Off the Hook’s popularity and reach grew every day, she couldn’t imagine it was an actual thought that weighed down on her partner’s mind. She had no idea what she ever said to make Marina think Pearl would ever stop making music with her voluntarily, but that she got that false impression at all made her stomach turn. Serves her right for insisting that they announce the final Splatfest theme unscripted for once.
The second… Well, she had exactly zero hope the fans would think she meant it platonically. Folks had been wondering about the nature of their relationship since they released their first song, and the more successful and prominent Off the Hook became, the more speculation grew. She’d seen the internet. There was only a small holdout of fans who didn’t think Pearl and Marina were pining for each other or already in an established relationship. As far as Pearl was concerned, the fans were welcome to think what they wanted, as long as they didn’t harass them over it. Meanwhile, the tabloids, whose opinion she cared very little for, were herby invited to pound sand.
(Of course, if anyone somehow came to the exact opposite conclusion and thought she disliked Marina, or vice versa, she’d have to throw hands.)
Marina, though? She sure hoped Marina would think she meant it platonically. Now was not the time to unpack all her unstated feelings for her bandmate.
For now, there was no hint of awkwardness as Pearl and Marina discussed Off the Hook’s debut on the world stage during downtime between live broadcasts. If anything, it seemed as if a heavy burden was lifted off Marina’s shoulders. As the pair bounced ideas back and forth, figuring out which genres they could realistically expand to and which cities would make for good stops on a future world tour, they bantered and joked around like they usually did, as if the entire Splatocalypse never happened.
After the 2PM broadcast came lunch. Pearl and Marina usually ate together in their dressing room, but today Marina had to take a call – SashiMori’s DJ wanted to talk shop, and their lunch break was the only free time the kid had between school and homework (“Why the hell would a prodigy DJ need to do his math homework anyway?” she’d asked Marina, barely containing her disgust, to which the octoling tut-tutted and rolled her eyes in amusement). After making sure her bandmate was good on the food front (somehow, Marina had enough time that morning to make a rather tasty-looking sandwich at home), Pearl left her signature crown in the dressing room, threw a large hoodie over her stage outfit, and donned an oversized pair of sunglasses. With this extremely conspicuous outfit that fooled absolutely no one ever (especially in late July, even with the sleeves rolled up), she stepped out of the studio to grab something to eat.
The kids at the Square were always surprisingly good about leaving Pearl to her business, despite clearly buzzing with excitement at the sight of Off the Hook’s MC in the wild. They seemed a little more abuzz than usual, which was to be expected considering that morning’s announcement, but she made it to Crusty Sean’s food truck and back without anyone asking for a shellfie. A lot of fans did call out to her, shouting their hellos, congratulating her on Team Chaos’ victory (even Marina’s orderly guppies were eager to cheer her on), and passing on messages to Marina.
One kid in particular caught her attention as she walked back to the studio. The teenaged inkling cupped their hands around their mouth and gleefully shouted, “yo, Pearl, good luck with Marina!” That earned them an elbow in their midsection from their octoling friend, who looked at Pearl with an embarrassed grimace.
Holding an already half-eaten Seanwich in one hand and a cup holder with two drinks in the other, Pearl could do little but smirk and noncommittally tilt her head at the two in acknowledgement.
Yup. Fans were already running with it. Great. At least they were supportive? Did she even want them to be supportive…?
Okay, no, now was really not the time to unpack all her unstated feelings for her bandmate.
Marina wasn’t back at the set when Pearl returned. She placed the drinks on the table – a shake for her, a smoothie for Marina – and worked to take off her hoodie. Once it was off, she slung the garment over her shoulder and headed out to the corridor, removing her sunglasses and lazily twirling them between her fingers as she walked. She had to retrieve her crown and drop off her oh-so-clever not-quite-disguise at the dressing room, and she bet Marina was still there.
When she arrived at the room, she knocked on the door as a basic courtesy (she had some manners, thank you very much, she just deliberately chose to forgo most of them), then turned the knob. It was unlocked, confirming Marina was inside – Pearl had a bad habit of forgetting her key to the dressing room at home, resulting in Marina never locking the room when she was inside alone so she wouldn’t unwittingly lock Pearl out.
“Yo, ‘Rina! Where you at, girl?” Pearl called out, pushing the door open. “I know you said you don’t need anything from the Crust Bucket but I got you a—”
She stopped dead in her tracks. Marina was there, all right. She sat on the black leather couch at the corner of the room, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked at Pearl with a startle, the tips of her tentacles twitching nervously, her eyes wide and glistening, faint tracks of tears running down her face.
She’d been crying.
“Crap,” Pearl breathed. Within seconds, she shut the door behind her, tossed her hoodie and sunglasses aside, and bounded to the other side of the room. She grabbed a couple of tissues from a box on Marina’s dressing table and climbed onto the couch, sitting on her knees by her partner’s side. “Hey, hey, no more crying, alright?” she said as softly as she could, offering Marina a tissue.
Sniffling, the octoling accepted the tissue with a nod. As Marina tried to sort herself out, Pearl watched over her with concern, offering more tissues as necessary.
Finally, Marina took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
“Nope, nuh-uh. Remember what I told you? No apologies for crying,” Pearl chided. “If you gotta cry then you gotta cry. What’s up?”
Marina sniffed and readjusted her sitting position, uncurling her long legs and letting her feet back on the floor. She turned to face Pearl and gave her a teary smile. “I’m fine, Pearlie. Really.”
Pearl scoffed. “You’re crying, like hell it’s fine!” She practically shoved the last tissue into Marina’s hand. “What happened? Can I do anything? Do I need to talk to anyone? Do I need to punch anyone? ‘Cause if I do—”
“Pearl, it’s alright.” Marina dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. To Pearl’s utter confusion, she was still smiling. “After my call with Paul ended, I had time to myself and… I suppose I got sentimental.” She discarded the used tissues in the bin next to the couch and sighed. “Would you believe me if I told you I was crying because I’m happy?”
Pearl raised an eyebrow, incredulous. “Yeah, no, you’re gonna have to sell me on this.”
Marina let out a small laugh. “It’s just that… I’m just so relieved.”
“Relieved?” Pearl frowned. “Wait, is this about the Splatfest results?”
Marina nodded. “I mean, during the Splatfest, I did a lot of thinking… I really do like the world the way it is. I have Off the Hook, and Inkopolis News, and so many great friends… I couldn’t bear to think about any of that changing. And now it turns out you didn’t want all that to change either.”
She hummed thoughtfully. “I think we both wanted the same thing and ended up wording it very differently. You just have… loftier ideas. Not a bad thing, all in all, huh?”
She looked at Pearl expectantly, but the small inkling’s frown deepened.
“You really did think I was gonna break up Off the Hook,” she said, her tone flat.
She wasn’t trying to sound accusatory or challenge her bandmate. Any anger the statement was loaded with wasn’t aimed at Marina at all – it was aimed at no one but herself.
Nevertheless, Marina winced. “Pearlie…”
Pearl hissed through her teeth in frustration and averted her eyes. She tightened her hands into fists in her lap, her knuckles going white from the pressure.
Damn it all. Marina was worrying herself sick over this insane notion that Pearl would ditch her for nearly a month because of her and her big stupid mouth and she didn’t even notice. Cod-fucking-damn it. She did this.
“Pearlie,” Marina said again, almost pleading. Pearl felt the octoling’s hands on her shoulders, long, teal-tipped fingers squeezing them lightly, soothingly. The tension in her fists seemed to ease from her partner’s comforting touch, just a bit.
“Listen. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t say anything wrong. I swear. This isn’t on you.”
Pearl bit her lip, still not looking at her partner. She felt her stomach tie itself in knots. “Then how come…?”
“Because…” Marina sighed. She was quiet for a long moment. “Because I keep overthinking things. Because I keep coming to the worst possible conclusions for no real reason. Because… Because I…”
The octoling stopped talking, and suddenly Pearl’s shoulders were left cold as Marina pulled away from her. The inkling finally looked back at her bandmate, and all three of her hearts broke.
Marina was hugging herself, her eyes welling up with fresh tears, and the saddest smile Pearl had ever seen on her beautiful face. “Because… I’m so scared…”
“Marina…”
“It all seems… far too good to be true, sometimes,” Marina said, clutching at her own biceps like her life depended on it. “Everything I’ve done the past few years is just too incredible… Sometimes I worry that I’ll…” She let out a long, slow, shaky breath, and closed her eyes; a few errant tears rolled down her cheeks. “I worry that I’ll wake up, and find out I never left the domes, and everything was just a dream… That I never got to the surface… That I never got to make music… That the two of us… never…”
Marina choked down a sob, unable to continue. As if the idea of the two of them never meeting hurt her too much to vocalize.
Pearl understood completely. Thinking about that possibility was far too painful.
Which is exactly why she wasn’t going to let this train of thought last.
“Oh, hell no.” Pearl leaned forward, gently cupping the sides of Marina’s face with both hands. Marina’s breath hitched and she blinked at the inkling in bewilderment.
“It’s real, Marina. It’s all real. You’re never going back down there. You’re here, on the surface, in Inkopolis, and you have me. And you have Eight, and Gramps, and Callie and Marie, and all your DJ friends, everyone…” Pearl tenderly brushed away the tears on Marina’s cheeks with her thumbs. “We’re all real. We’re here. You’re here.”
As Pearl spoke, she felt Marina’s body loosen up, little by little. Her shoulders relaxed and her hands were no longer clawing at herself, instead gingerly grasping at Pearl’s thin arms, as if searching for something to ground her.
“Marina… I know I just said this on live TV to the entire world a few hours ago, but I’m gonna say it to you again right here, right now, because I one thousand percent mean it.” Pearl fixed her golden eyes on Marina’s seafoam green ones, resolute. “You and me are gonna rock the mic till the end of time. And if for some coddamned reason the universe doesn’t want me to make music with you? It’s gonna have to pry you out of my cold dead hands.”
To Pearl’s delight, this coaxed the tiniest smile from Marina. She closed her eyes and tilted her head just a bit, leaning into one of the inkling’s small hands. Pearl’s chest grew impossibly warm at the sight, her fondness for her partner overwhelming her.
“Seriously, ‘Rina… Why the hell would I give up on the best thing that ever happened to me?” she mumbled. “Cod, I love you…”
Pearl didn’t even realize what she’d said until she felt Marina’s hands stiffen around her arms. Her cheek was still flush against Pearl’s hand, but her eyes shot wide open, and her jaw fell slack. Her face almost immediately darkened several shades thanks to an intense blush.
Oh.
Fine, maybe now was the time to unpack all her unstated feelings for her bandmate.
Pearl loved Marina. She loved Marina’s melodious voice, and the way she seemed to weave musical notes together effortlessly; she loved how intelligent Marina was, and how she learned anything she put her mind to so quickly; she loved how excited Marina would get about the weirdest stuff, how eager she was to share her interests with others; she loved how kind and gentle Marina was, how often she went out of her way to help complete strangers; she loved how strong and resilient Marina was, pushing through and succeeding and thriving despite all the crap she’d been through. She loved how the tips of Marina’s tentacles would involuntarily twitch and curl up whenever she was excited; the way Marina stuck her tongue out when she was focused on a Shifty Station design or composition for a new song; the fact she always hummed to herself in the middle of household tasks like cooking or washing the dishes; that cute pout that would appear on her face without fail whenever Pearl teased her. She loved Marina’s long tentacles, her sweet smile, her expressive eyes, the adorable rounded ears she usually hid under her headphones, her beauty mark that mirrored Pearl’s own. She loved how Marina’s companionship made her feel, like she was a better person than the rebellious little inkling she was back when they met on Mount Nantai, someone who was worthy of all the trust and adoration Marina had for her.
Pearl didn’t just love Marina; she was deeply, hopelessly in love with her.
She’d felt that way for a while, but she had done well to keep her feelings in check. Except the stupid Final Fest forced her to start considering what she wanted from the world and her future with Marina seriously, and all those feelings have been bubbling up just under the surface the whole time like a fizzy bomb ready to explode.
The thing was, Pearl knew the feeling was mutual. She knew Marina had an enormous crush on her. She wasn’t stupid. Maybe a bit in denial at first, figuring there was no way an amazing girl like Marina could like her in that way, but Callie and Marie (of all people…) pointed out to her just how obvious the octoling’s feelings for her were to anyone with a working brain. They were right. Her bandmate really wasn’t subtle with her emotions.
But Pearl held back, for once. She was an inkling of emotion, impulsive and reckless, and far too often she’d let her feelings take the reins and ruin perfectly good friendships in the process. She’s had several love confessions that went horribly wrong under her belt, and the breakup of her old band also happened because she couldn’t keep her emotions in check. She just wasn’t willing to take that chance with Marina – if she pushed too hard, she could lose her best friend and bandmate in one fell swoop. She didn’t want to scare her off and ruin this wonderful thing they had together because she caught a case of the feelings, as powerful and all-encompassing as they were. Pearl wasn’t going to broach that subject – the ball was in Marina’s court. Whenever Marina was ready to confess, Pearl would be there to reciprocate, however long that takes.
Except she just told Marina she loved her twice in less than twelve hours. There was no chance of Marina thinking it was meant platonically now. But it was never platonic in the first place, now was it?
Pearl carefully, reluctantly withdrew her palms from Marina’s warm face, not wanting to escalate the situation by having her hands in the wrong place at the wrong time. She felt her own face heat up to an almost unbearable degree.
“Uh,” she said eloquently.
Any further thought that began to form in her head dissipated when Marina closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against Pearl’s.
It was chaste, and small, and a little wet and salty from Marina’s tears. But it was also soft, and warm, and for a moment there was nothing but the thump-thump-thump of Pearl’s hearts beating a mile a minute and Marina’s lips against hers, and nothing else in the world mattered.
After what seemed both like too short a moment and a blessed eternity, just as Pearl got it in her mind to try and return the favor, Marina drew back, ending the kiss. She mumbled something in Octarian – she still defaulted to her native tongue when flustered – and then just. Sat there, clearly unsure what to do next.
For her part, Pearl looked at Marina in awe, taking in every detail. The octoling’s blush was even deeper than before, her eyes wide as saucers. She didn’t quite let go of Pearl’s arms, but her fingers flexed unsurely against the inkling’s skin. The ends of her tentacles wiggled of their own accord, nerves and excitement mingling into something new.
She was beautiful, and captivating, and absolutely adorable, all at once, and all Pearl wanted to do was just kiss her silly.
It was really too bad that the kiss seemed to have short-circuited her brain entirely, her thought process now fuzzy and sluggish. It was entirely embarrassing for a rapper and self-proclaimed wordsmith like herself, how difficult it suddenly became to scrounge through the recesses of her brain for even the most basic words, let alone ones that could communicate how she felt.
She had to try, at least.
“Uh. So. Like. D’you mind repeating that?”
Perfect. First try, 10/10.
This, at least, seemed to shake Marina out of her daze. “W-what?”
“I mean. You know,” Pearl babbled. “Repeating. That thing that you just did? With me? Hell, maybe… I’ll repeat that too, and we like. Make it a collab?”
She accentuated the last bit with a gesture of her hand, pointing back and forth between her and the other girl, as if it could get her to make more sense.
Very articulate.
After a beat, Marina’s lips twisted upwards. “Pearl, what are you even saying…?” she asked, sounding like she knew the answer.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” admitted Pearl. “I just. Really want you to kiss me again?”
Aww yeah, third time’s the charm.
Soon, Marina’s lips were on hers again, and this time, Pearl was ready.
They kissed slow and languid, exploring, testing. Pearl’s arms were hooked around Marina’s neck, and she idly caressed the back of Marina’s head between kisses. Marina’s hands moved from Pearl’s arms down to her slight hips, holding her steady. They matched each other’s rhythms with ease, years of close companionship showing their mark.
At some point – Pearl had no idea if it was initiated by either of them or an accident – Marina ended up falling back onto the couch, pulling Pearl with her. Marina made a small, surprised sound, but Pearl, unperturbed by the change in position, just smiled against Marina’s lips. She moved to support herself on one elbow and brought her other hand to caress Marina’s face, and Marina hummed into their kiss, bringing a hand to the nape of Pearl’s neck to pull her closer—
They separated when they heard a knock on the dressing room door, accompanied by their manager’s voice.
“Girls, you in there? You’re live in fifteen!”
The girls both looked at the closed door in alarm, but Pearl recovered first. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll be there!” She shouted in reply, trying not to sound too agitated or breathless, though she was both.
Pearl reluctantly pulled away from Marina and took a moment to catch her breath. She was warm all over, hearts pounding in her chest so hard she could feel their beats from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. She felt dazed. Euphoric. Well-kissed. Loved.
In her haze, she was vaguely aware of Marina’s long, lithe form still laying on the couch, and the sound of octoling’s heavy breathing mixing with her own. Then Marina sat up, and Pearl was made acutely aware of the fact she was now sitting in Marina’s lap. She was sorely tempted to stay put and push Marina back onto the couch, going for another round, but they didn’t have that kind of time.
She let out a puff of air, banishing any intrusive thoughts with it. “Well. Damn!” She said, a little too loudly, and placed her hands on her knees. “Guess we’ll have to put a pin on that.”
Marina just nodded in response. She was absentmindedly playing with her shortest tentacle and biting her lip lightly, barely concealing a bashful smile. The collar of her cropped zip-up top was rumpled, and her headphones were slightly askew, revealing one ear that was just as flushed as the rest of her face. If Pearl hadn’t been there to see it, she wouldn’t have been able to tell Marina was crying just a few minutes ago. She looked relaxed, contented, completely and utterly infatuated.
Pearl’s chest swelled with pride at the sight. She did that.
“Hey, ‘Rina. When was our last post-Splatfest movie night?”
Marina let go of her hair, momentarily confused by the sudden change in topic. Her confusion was quickly replaced by her brows furrowing and lips pursing in what Pearl liked to dub Marina’s ‘thinking face’. “Oh, wow. Uh, Knight vs. Wizard, I think? We got so busy after that…”
“Well, we’re not busy now,” Pearl offered. “So how about it? Last live broadcast’s at 6, so after that we can go straight to my place, order pizza, pick some really bad movies, and…”
She stopped and looked down at her lap, trying to find… not the right words, but rather the courage to say them. She gulped and flexed her hands open and close, as if the fidgeting would help.
What did help was Marina, who placed her hands on Pearl’s, unprompted. Pearl’s fingers moved on their own, lacing themselves between Marina’s; if Marina was surprised, it didn’t show at all, as she gave Pearl’s hands a light squeeze in turn.
Looking at their entwined fingers, Pearl felt bolder than she had in months.
“We’ll… talk. About this. About us. And it’ll be a good talk,” she added quickly. “’Cause I think… we got something really good going on.”
“I’d like that,” Marina said quietly. Then, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against Pearl’s, giving the small inkling’s stomach a pleasant jolt. “Before we go back, though… This can’t wait anymore. I have to say it now.”
Pearl locked eyes with Marina, gazing at her expectantly. Marina’s eyes shone brightly, and her blissful smile grew to the point her eyes crinkled up.
“I love you too, Pearl. I love you. So, so much.”
Pearl chuckled. “Yeah… I kinda got that impression.”
Marina let out a laugh, giggling as Pearl kissed her again, short and sweet, just enough to tide them over until the end of their work day.
“And on that note, let’s go.” Pearl hopped off Marina’s lap and to the floor, smoothing down her dress. “Can’t keep Inkopolis waiting, I guess.” She made a big show of rolling her eyes, to Marina’s amusement, and offered the other girl a hand to help her up.
She walked over to her dressing table to grab her crown. Marina followed and stood behind her, using Pearl’s mirror to inspect her face and set her collar and headphones straight. She had her own mirror, of course, but Pearl’s dressing table was just by the door, and… well, after everything that happened, Pearl had a feeling Marina had another reason to stay close.
“Don’t worry, you look great,” Pearl said, placing the crown on her head at its usual angle. “The only thing you should be worryin’ about is your Special-Up Smoothie. Hope it hasn’t melted into Special-Up Juice by now.”
Through the mirror, Marina beamed at her. “You got me a Special-Up Smoothie? Aw, Pearlie, you really know what I like.”
Pearl grinned. “Hell yeah I know what you like.” She swung around to face her partner and gestured to herself with both thumbs. “Me!!”
Marina laughed. “Pearlie!”
Pearl crossed her arms and smirked, a cheeky and giddy thing. “I’m not wrong though.”
This earned her a tender smile, followed by a soft kiss on the forehead from her wonderful bandmate—no, her wonderful girlfriend.
“No… You’re not wrong at all.”