Chapter 3 - On Shift

Mavi doesn’t hate her job, in many ways she actually really likes it. Sure, it could be boring at times, and the music could drive her insane, but compared to other retail jobs it wasn’t that bad. Today she was working in the back of the store, they received their newest shipment of inventory, and it was her job to document all of it.

She was good at taking inventory, the best in the store actually. What took Mavi 40 minutes took Clare, her manager, an hour and a half, and the rest of her coworkers over two hours. Unlike the others, Mavi actually enjoyed doing the inventory. She got to be alone in the back of the store, away from the customers and music. The simple repetitive actions and the checking of items off a list made the time fly by, she could lose herself in these simple motions.

Often, when she worked her mind would wonder. Pull out the next magazine, scan it’s bar code, drop it in the other nearby box. Grab, scan, Drop. What can I do to help Tiara with the band? I’ve made music for a few of the in-store ads here, but that’s completely different to making an actual backing track. Grab, scan, drop. Here it was just mixing a few Squid Sister songs together. I guess it shouldn’t be too hard, I can surely scrape something together enough for us to make a demo at least. Grab, scan, drop. I mean, I already know how to do it, I just need to learn their styles of music. Grab, scan, ding! drop. Wait, ding? Oh, my phone!

Nine boxes in she encounters her first interruption. A text breaks her concentration. She sighs as she pulls out her phone, it’s from Asari, or Toolbox as her splattag would read.

Lusc and Rex again if ur down

Got plans for the afternoon already, |
sorry! Maybe tomorrow no
promises though!

She made her way through another 13 boxes without issue. She was halfway through a box of Splatsmas themed Callie and Marie plushies when different a beeping noise interrupted her flow. She frowned as she stood up, taking a moment to reorient herself. The beeping was coming from a small speaker mounted in the wall, triggered by a button at the front counter. Officially, it was used to request the manager to the checkout desk, but everyone used it to call for anyone available.

Mavi glanced over at the clock on the wall near the door, 11:07, damn that means Lindsey is on lunch. Clare’s not in today either, fine. Teddy I swear if this is another crinkled bar code you’ll regret it.

She stood and stretched, then began walking towards the door separating the two parts of the store. As she approached the doorway, a loud voice could be heard. Oh, great. A screaming customer. The voice was a deep baritone, and it had more volume than one would expect behind it. She and Teddy, who was at the front today, have played the manager-employee bit a few times before. She schooled her features, grabbed the spare “manager” name tag they kept near the door, and clipped it on right above her own, hanging it so it just barely covers her name. She pulls her most kiss-ass customer service smile onto her face as she opens the door.

The moment the door opens enough to hear the customer, she freezes on the spot.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? ARE YOU SLOW?” The customer screams at presumably Teddy. Mavi pushes her way through the door, pushing the anger she feels down to try and resolve this quickly.

What she saw didn’t surprise her. An older inkling, relatively short and plump was standing at the counter, screaming at Teddy. The natural yellow of the inkling’s mantle mixed with the anger-endued red of his ink, creating orange splotches that stood out amongst the sea of red. Teddy looked uncomfortable, clearly whatever was saying before she came out wasn’t nice.

“Hello sir! What seems to be the problem here?” She asks him in the most customer-service sweet voice she has.

The inkling’s head whips over to her, as he looks her over. His eyes spot the manager tag, and a smug smile overtakes his face.

“Ah! Finally. Someone with some sense.” He says snidely to Teddy before turning to look at Mavi.

“What. Seems to be. The problem, sir?” She asks again, the strain in her voice obvious.

He aggressively jabs a finger towards another customer in the store, an octoling girl with dark pink tentacles. She’s staring at him with open resentment, before she turns to look at Mavi, her face keeping the anger, justifiably, but gaining an inquisitive look as well.

Mavi understands exactly what the inkling’s problem is. “I’m not sure I understand sir, did that customer steal something? Or…” she trails off. Mavi’s impressed with the level of cool she’s keeping, you can’t even tell she’s mad enough that she could throw him through the window. That is, if you ignore how her ink color is rapidly shifting to a similar red to his.

The man stares at her for a second, before practically erupting with motion, thrashing his hands around as he screams. “IT’S THE DAMN LESSER SPECIES YOU LET IN! YOU ALL REPRESENT THE SQUID SISTERS YEAH? ONE OF THE ONLY MAJOR PURE INKLING GROUPS LEFT IN OUR BURNING CULTURE? HOW COULD YOU LET SOMEONE LIKE THIS IN HERE?”

Everything seems to freeze for a moment, Teddy’s face widens in horror at the man. The octoling’s face bares sheer hatred. Mavi though, is completely still, save for her ink. Her tentacles light with the brightest red anyone in the store has seen, the natural black of her mantle doing little to dull the sheer fury on display.

“Get the fuck out of the store.” Mavi practically growls as she stares the man down.

It takes a few moments for the man’s self-indulgent confidence to be overcome by confusion. He recovers his footing quickly, “What did you just say to me? That’s no way to treat a customer! Is everyone in this store den-”

’GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY STORE!” Mavi explodes at him.

“DON’T TALK TO ME LI-”

“OUT!!!”

“YOU LITTLE BRAT! I’LL HAVE Y-”

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY STORE!!!“ Mavi rockets forward towards him, the red of her ink pulsing with fury. She grabs him by the collar of his shirt, not pausing when he cries out in alarm. He doesn’t fight back as she pulls, too stunned to even react as she drags him through the sliding doors of the store.

She practically throws him to the ground as she screams “I SWEAR TO COD IF YOUR SUPREMACIST ASS STEPS EVEN ONE FOOT INTO THIS STORE AGAIN NO ONE WILL HAVE TO HEAR YOUR AWFUL OPINIONS AGAIN!”

He picks himself up and stares down at her. Her tentacles look like lava they’re pulsing so aggressively. He draws in breath to say something, opening his mouth before Mavi cuts him off again

In the most even tone, with all the fury openly on display laced within, she tells him simply “Get the fuck away from my store.” And he finally gets the message.

It takes her a few seconds to calm down enough to tear her eyes off his figure, but she manages it eventually. Once her breathing steadies, she walks back into the store.

“Teddy!” She calls. “Pull up the security footage for what just happened. I want to get a shot of that guy’s face for the ban board.”

“Uh, s-sure!, give me a moment!” He ducks into the back room to do as she asks.

Mavi walks the rest of the way back to the counter, where she finds the octoling girl from before waiting. She clasps her hands and bows her head down in the direction of the octoling. “Please accept our most sincere apology! You shouldn’t have to deal with that, especially here!”

She hears the girl chuckle, her voice oddly familiar, but not one she can place right away.

“It is ok. You sent him away as soon as you could!” She says in a chipper tone.

Mavi looks up at the girl, and sees her smiling. Her dark pink tentacles framing her face while her tanned skin glows slightly under the assault of pink and green. Her clothes are casual, a purple jacket with sweatpants and some white sneakers. W_here do I know this girl from?_

“And what a way you sent him! I have not seen an older man look so confused in a long time!” The octoling continues with a laugh in her voice.

“Thank you for understanding. I’ve had… experiences with a speciest before. She was the most vial, hateful woman I had the misfortune of knowing. I don’t stand for any of their bullshit.” As Mavi said this, the red color from before seeps back into her tentacles for a moment, before it fades back to its usual matte black. “Regardless of my past, I still shouldn’t have acted like that, it was very unprofessional of me.”

An awkward silence descends for a few moments, before it’s broken by Teddy’s return to the front room. “You know Mavi, you can actually get pretty scary! I’ve heard Kirio mention it before but he wasn’t kidding!”

“I do not think that was a wise thing to say” The octoling tells him, looking from Mavi and him as she says that.

“…Yeah, that’s what I’m getting from that scowl.” Said scowl doesn’t relent for several tense seconds, before Teddy speaks again “I’ll go print that picture for the board.” He steps back through the door behind the counter.

Mavi sighs, breaking the stare she was sending Teddy, as the full weight of what she she did starts to weigh on her. “Huh. I just drug a customer out of the store. That’s not…”

Before her spiral can truly begin the octoling girl reaches out and grabs her left hand in both of hers. “Please do not worry about it! I do not want you to lose your job because of me. If they try to fire you, you tell me and I will come fight the bosses with you!”

The girl’s determined tone and eager smile catches Mavi off guard, stunning her for a second. Something clicks. “…Clover?” She asks.

She octoling looks mildly shocked for a second, before smiling again. “Yes! That is me! Where do we know each other from? Wait! Don’t tell me!” She takes a moment, face scrunching up as she thinks. “Ah! Are you, ah, forgive me, Mary?”

Mavi jolts slightly hearing that, before she quickly recovers, and returns the smile, “It’s Mavi, but yes! How funny is that, running into you again so soon!”

“It is a bit strange, but not an unwelcome thing! I did not get a chance to say it to you, but you played very well yesterday! Nobody has gotten the jump on Quinn like that in a long time!”

Mavi blushes, caught off guard by the sudden compliment, “Oh! Th-thank you. You guys were amazing too, what with the fight you guys gave us!”

Clover beams a bright smile at the compliment. “Thanks! I did have a question, if you are the manager, why are you worried about throwing that fool out of the store?”

“Oh, no, I’m just a normal worker here. I was pretending to be the manager.” Mavi reaches down and pulls the “manager” name tag off, revealing her own below it.

“Why would you pretend to be the manager?” Clover asks.

“Well, a lot of times when customers are angry they want to talk to someone they think has power over the employee. Our real manager isn’t here today, but they don’t know that. Whoever is working in the back comes out and pretends to be the manager, and usually the problem’s resolved fairly quickly after that.”

“Oh! I see. Very clever!”

Mavi nods, “You got anything in particular you were looking for? I gotta get back to work soon but I can squeeze a few more minutes if I’m ‘helping’ a customer.”

“Ah, yes. Could you help me find the newest edition of In the Deep?”

Mavi thinks for a second, “Yeah, actually we just got some shipped in yesterday, not out on the floor yet. I’ll grab you one from the back real quick.”

As she walks towards the back end of the store, she sees Teddy taping a picture of the customer she tossed out to a board they keep underneath the counter.

She calls out to him, “Hey you ok?”

He responds after a moment of hesitation,“Yeah, that was just, a lot you know?”

“Yeah. Honestly, I think he was the worst one I’ve had too. I’m uh, sorry for snapping at you earlier, I still hadn’t fully worked my anger out yet and you had to bear some of it.

He waves his hand, “It’s fine. I wasn’t joking though, you’re scary when you’re mad.”

She sighs, but then smiles. “I guess I can get pretty intense… Anyway, I’m gonna grab something from the back, let me know if you need anything else.

He nods, and turns back to fixing the picture.

A few moments later she emerges with the Magazine in hand and finds Clover out in the store, looking at posters. “Big fan of gossip are we? Or is this for the interviews.” Mavi coyly says as she passes the magazine over.

“Oh, not me personally, I’m getting this for a friend. I might get this poster, though.” She points to a poster that’s the expected mix of pink and green. It depicts a stylized drawing of both Squid Sisters, with their logo similarly styled in the background. “They changed my life, and my… friend’s. She’s kind of obsessed with them, so small things like getting this magazine a little early go a long way for her.”

“Aww, that’s nice! You know, if you want me to I can be your like, supplier, I guess. Anytime we get something new…” Mavi leans in and whispers “Or something rare…” she leans back and continues talking normally “I could set one aside for you!

Clover’s eyes light up in surprise. “That would be amazing! Thank you so much Mavi!”

“It’s no big deal, here, give me your phone number, I’ll text you about anything I manage to snag.”

The two exchange phone numbers as they moved to the register. Teddy was working with another customers so Mavi moved to briefly open the second register.

“Here’s your bag, thanks for shopping at the Squid Sister Center! Ah, sorry force of habit.”

Clover giggles as she takes the offered bag, “It was nice running into you here Mavi!”

Mavi replies with an easy smile, “I take it I’ll see you around?”

“Oh yes! I will definitely keep coming after such wonderful customer service!” Clover returns the smile with another bright one of her own.

Mavi bashfully replies, “Ahaha, yeah. Maybe we can get lunch sometime! I’d love to talk to Quinn again too, he was really nice last night!”

Clover gasps. “That is a wonderful Idea! I will ask him about it!”

“Sounds good! See you later then!”

Clover waves to her as she walks out of the door.

While Mavi’s closing the register she opened, Teddy speaks up. “She’s nice. Friend of yours?”

“Yeah, kinda. We only met yesterday in turf. What a fun coincidence to see her again so soon!”

“Well I’m glad you had fun. You deserve it after that asshole.” He gestures in the direction of the banned board, newly adorned with a picture of the inkling from earlier, with a brief description of why scribbled below it. “I think that’s everything out here, I’ll let you know if something else comes up. Lindsey should be back from lunch soon too, so we should be good.”

Mavi nods, “Well, I’ll be in the back sorting the rest of the new inventory.”

“Yikes. Have fun with that.”

She does.

===

Quinn was good at fighting, he was one of the best. He knew this, he had to be after all. He was the highest ranked non-pro player in ranked turf battles. He was Agent Three of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. He who defeated DJ Octavio practically single-handedly. He who fought through the employee only section of the metro and won. He who… got splatted once in a turf battle.

Logically he knew it wasn’t that big of a deal, they still won the match! It wasn’t his reputation, being brought down a peg would bother most people, but Quinn didn’t particularly care what the general public thought of him. He only played turf for the combat practice these days anyway. The Octavians haven’t been an active threat in years! They’re still there, proven by the trickle of refugees they’re receiving. They’re plotting something, Quinn is sure of it. They could strike any day. That’s why, he thinks, that’s why yesterday’s slip up is bothering me. If I can’t keep up this level of fighting then who’s going to be able to stop them!

“Quinn!” a hand gently shakes his shoulder. “You are lost in your own head again, yes?”

Quinn looks over to see his companion. Clover walks to his right, shopping bag held in her left hand. It takes him a second to get his bearings, he did get pretty lost in thought.

Quinn sighs before nodding. “Just… thinking,” he eventually drawls.

“No!” she says loudly, her hand begins shaking his shoulder in a friendly manner. “When you get thinking it makes you sad!”

He sends her a confused look, but before he can respond she doubled down. “No thinking for you! You are going to have a nice, relaxing break with friends! No getting upset!”

He shakes his head, but a smile forms on his lips while he does so. She’s right, I should relax he thinks. We’re in the middle of Inkopolis, the Octavians aren’t even close to the city. Slowly, his shoulders begin to relax, and his breathing seems to slow slightly. Clover smiles softly at they round a corner.

“The funniest thing happened to me while I was shopping earlier,” Quinn sends her a curious look, prompting her to continue. “I was just looking for the new magazine for Marina, when this jerk started yelling at the counter! The manager came out and asked what was wrong. He started yelling a speciest tirade! She drug him out of the store by the collar of his shirt, She was so angry you could not even see the black of her mantle! When she came over and apologized, it was actually Mavi!” A surprised look crosses Quinn’s face. “She was just pretending to be the manager, but she got me this copy–” she holds up the bag–“out of the back!”

“She threw that asshole out of the store?” Quinn asks after a moment.

“She actually banned him!” Clover replies with a smile.

“Good,” he emphasis his point with a curt nod. He hesitates for a second, before he adds “How was Mavi?”

“Other than furious, she seems to be doing well,” She answers.

“That’s good.”

“She asked about meeting us for lunch some day. Oh!” She pulls her phone from her pocket and fiddles with for a second. “After she brought me the magazine–”She shows her phone screen to him– “She gave me her phone number!”

Quinn raises an eyebrow.

“She’s going to save me rare things that arrive at the store,” She explains.

Quinn’s face relaxes as he nods again.

The two continue to walk in silence for a few minutes, content with the relaxed air. Quinn’s mind had other plans. Callie was grabbed in the middle of Inkopolis it whispers to him as his shoulders re-tense. Clover frowns, but doesn’t say anything.

A few more turns and Clover stops them in front of the Sea Leaf Cafe. She pulls the door open and the two head inside. Instinctively Quinn scans over the room, 17 people; 3 employees, 14 guests. Those 3 are most likely to be hiding weapons. Tables make for cover in a pinch, only real cover is behind the counter. He shakes his head as Clover pulls him toward the counter to place their orders.

“Coffee?” she asks him. He nods. She returns his nod and gets in line to order. Quinn walks on into the dining area.

He walks near the back of the dining room, where the two’s companion waits. He looks over the booth, noting the small mess already on the table. There’s several pencils scattered across it and a small collection of books stacked haphazardly off to the side A few napkins litter the area around her drink, a cup of green tea, that sits closer to the edge of the table than Quinn would like.

Nora, agent Four, sits in the middle of one of the booths, drawing fervently. Between frantic pencil strokes her hand comes to her head, brushing back short yellow tentacles back into their usual asymmetrical bob. She’s hunched over her paper, making her seem even shorter than usual. Her tanned hands slide up and down the paper making quick lines as her right leg bounces aggressively..

A few moments later, she finishes with a flourish. Her hand flies off the edge of the table as she draws the last line, knocking the cane that was resting against the outside of the table down. Quinn catches it before it can fall.

Nora catches his eyes as he rests the cane against the side of the table again. “Quinn, there you are! Nice catch by the way, thanks.” He nods as he slides into the booth opposite her. She grins as she grabs the stray pencils and sets them next to the books. “How have ya been? Its been a few days eh?”

A troubled look flies across Quinn’s face before he can quash it, and it does not go unnoticed by Nora. He answers in his usual slow, toneless drawl, “I’ve been alright.”

“Nah,” Nora says, “something’s buggin ya. I can tell.” Quinn remains completely impassive. She sighs, “You’re not still worried about me are you? I’m doing fine, see?” She holds up the picture she was just sketching for him to see. It’s a view out of the window they’re sitting next to. Quinn thought the drawing was not very good, but she is showing improvement compared the last few weeks. Instead he just nods.

Nora frowns, then sighs. “Quinn… we signed up for this. Well, no, but we had plenty of chances to opt out later. We knew the risks of what we were doing. Callie’s scar, my leg, your… experience, they’re all the risks of the job.” Quinn averts his eyes from her, a troubled look mixing with his scowl.

“That’s not it, well not all of it at least, is it?” She asks him. He looks down, weighing his choices.

“I… we’re… the Splatoon is losing power,” He eventually says.

Nora pauses for a moment to think, “Huh. I guess we are. It’s just you and Marie once Callie’s on set again huh?” He nods. She takes another few moments to think.

“Maybe I can get a drone or something,” she says. Quinn sends her a questioning look. “I’m serious!” she insists, “I’ll get Clover to help me make it, and then I’ll fly it around to scout and help you with missions! Maybe I can load some bombs into it or something.”

Quinn sighs, relenting. “That’s not a… bad idea” He says, begrudgingly. A smug look works its way onto Nora’s face at the praise.

The two sit in silence for a moment, before Norra speaks up again. “By the way, sorry to hear about your record. Can’t imagine losing that on top of everything else did anything nice for you.” He just shrugs.

They didn’t get it; it wasn’t losing the record that bothered him. It was the lapse in judgment, the moment that was exploited. The weakness it showed. Octavio could have a spy watching his games, trying to understand how he fights. They’ll have seen his weakness. His first slip up in years, that’s certainly going to catch their interest. They’re probably already planning a new attack, the fearsome Agent Three is slipping after all, it’s the perfect time to str-

The sound of snapping fingers jolts him out of his thoughts. He looks over to Nora, who was holding her hand right in front of his face.

“I know that look,” She frowns, “that’s the one from when you’re spending wayyyy to much thought power over something either so minute it’s irreverent or so improbably it’s not worth the time. Also, Clover’s on almost here with your drink.”

Could she really read him that easily? Could the Octavians read him that easily too?

Quinn rests his forehead against his hand as Clover slides next to him in the booth. She places a small cup of coffee in front of him, he grabs it and takes a sip.

“Heya Clover, how ya hanging?” Nora asks as Clover settles in.

“Hello Nora! I have been fantastic recently, I made a new friend in the store today! How are you doing?” Clover asks, as chipper as ever.

“Glad to hear that! I’m doin petty good myself. Tried writing poetry the other night like you suggested, but I didn’t have much luck with it. But look!” Nora excitedly holds up the drawing she finished earlier for Clover to see.

Clover replies excitedly, “It’s beautiful! You caught the shadow of that building perfectly against the sidewalk! And the sign is so good too, you got it all lined up just right!”

Nora smiles wide as she tucks the drawing between the pages of one of the books on the table. “Thanks! I’ve been practicing!” She grabs her tea and takes a drink while eyes scan over her companions. “I’m glad you guys were out and about today, Makes my wait so much nicer! Even ole’ grumpy over here,” she says, nodding towards Quinn.

“You’re waiting for someone?” Quinn asks.

“Yup! I was planning on meeting another friend for lunch today, but she’s still got like, an hour left on her shift. I mean, reading’s great and all,” she nods towards the books, “but conversation’s better if you ask me!”

Clover sets her cup of tea down, having taken a drink while Nora was talking. “I am glad we were available to help alleviate your boredom!”

Nora looks over to Quinn, and sees a slight frown on his face, “Quinn, don’t worry about me, I coulda come here later if I didn’t want the wait!” He frowns, but relents as the conversation continues.

A comfortable 20 minutes pass for the trio, Quinn eventually begins to relax as well, though his eyes still jump to the door the door anytime someone enters the cafe. As the conversation begins to wind down, Quinn and Clover finish off their drinks as they go to stand.

Norra smiles and reaches over to her pile of books. “It was nice talking with you guys! I know we see each other often at the cabin but.. I don’t know, this is different you know?” She says.

Quinn sagely nods, and then pokes Clover’s arm “The meeting,” he reminds her.

“Right, the meeting,” Clover starts. “Agent One has requested a meeting with all of us, later tonight–” Quinn holds up his phone, so Clover can see the time– “In 3 hours or so, at 4:00.”

“Huh, sure, I guess. I doubt lunch will take that long, and it’s not like I have anything else planned. I’ll do my best to make it on time,” Nora replies with a smile.

Quinn gives her a thumbs up, his face completely blank. His companions crack a smile at his dry response, as they all say their goodbyes.

Quinn and Clover head for the door, a few more shopping destinations in mind, while Nora settles back into her booth with a book, content to wait for her friend.

===

“See you guys on Monday!” Mavi calls out as she slings her bag around her shoulders. Her coworkers shout similar parting words as she walks outside. It’s only a moderate walk from here to the cafe, theoretically less if she wanted to cut through the Square, but with the crowd right after lunch it’s definitely faster to take the side streets.

So that’s what she does, weaving her way closer through the maze-like streets of the city. She would occasionally slow as she passed some stores, gazing through their windows for anything she might want to double back for later. She spent a fair amount of this walk lost in thought, still thinking over her decision from the previous night. What do I need to do to get the project off the ground… I’ll need to set some ground rules, regular practice, that kind of thing. Definitely gotta make them start writing things down. Maybe convert an empty side room into a recording room? Wait, Tiara said Queen has a basement. Maybe we could use that, some cheap foam panels for now should be enough… I guess I’ll need to some work of my o-

Mavi’s thoughts are interrupted by someone practically running into her, sending them both to the ground with a loud thud. A duo of surprised shouts, pained grunts, and bags hitting the ground fills the air for a moment.

The other person rolls off of Mavi in an instant, and before Mavi finished processing that she’s on the ground the other person is on their feet again.

A chipper voice filled with concern quickly fills the silence. “Oh my cod I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was running and you slowed down, not that it’s your fault! I just didn’t see you until it was too late! Can I um, help you up?” Oh god another rambler…

Mavi groans as she pulls herself to a sitting position. She looks to see a female inkling offering her hand to help pull her up. The inkling’s head is covered with a bright pink beanie, a star shaped pin on the front right side. Her eyes are a bright gold, with plus shaped pupils. Her tentacles are a similar black to Mavi’s but ending with a pink tint, and run down her back in twin tails. A pink cardigan adorns her chest, buttoned up for the slight chill in the air. She feels so, so eerily familiar…

Mavi grabs the offered hand, the resulting tug surprisingly strong. “It’s alright, no one’s really hurt so no harm done in the end.” Now on her feet, Mavi bends down to help the inkling recover her stuff.

“Oh good!” She says as she joins Mavi in retrieving her dropped items.

The two make light conversation as they recreate the original nightmarish bundle of items.

“I had a sudden meeting come up, I had to gather some snacks for it!” The inkling says.

“Snacks for the meeting, huh? Wish my meetings had snacks.” Mavi adds.

“They help a lot! You’re more easily agitated when you’re hungry so it’s important to take that edge off before you make any important decisions.

“That’s really smart actually, I never gave that much thought.”

Mavi hands the inkling the last bag. It only then dawns on her that the inkling is holding 6 grocery bags across both hands, 4 of which are full of heavy combinations of drinks. She doesn’t even seem to notice the weight of the bags.

“Well now you know! Thanks for helping me pick up, you didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s the least I could do, good luck with your meeting!” Mavi tells her.

“Thanks! Good luck with your… er… day!” The inkling calls, as she runs off.

A few minutes later, Mavi approaches the doors to the Sea Leaf Cafe, and steps inside. It takes her a minute to scan through the lingering lunch crowd, but she finds who she’s looking for in a booth towards the back. She walks over to the table, and slides her bag across her side of the booth.

Her companion looks up from her book, and smiles at Mavi. “Heya! Glad ya could make it!

Mavi smiles in return, “Hey Nora! How are you holding up?”