"I can't believe you've never done a splatfest before Quinn! You've been in the city for a while, and they're like, the thing, you know?" Callie tried her best to put her hand on his shoulder, but she winced and backed off when her muscles screamed in protest. "Plus, with your battling skills, I figured you'd be all over them."

"They weren't really a thing for me at all until I moved here, and after that I had something bigger that needed my attention." Quinn shrugged as he eyed the weary idols. "Besides, I didn't really have a reason to play in splatfests. They don't pay more, and really they're just too crowded."

"You fight in splatfests for the experience! Even Marie and I joined in a bunch of 'em before we made it big."

"The themes used to be awful." Marie explained. "Seriously, who in their right mind would care even slightly about 'backpack vs bookbag' like, what?"

Quinn gave her a flat look. "I guess the theme doesn't really matter, since it's just an excuse for the city to throw a massive party every month."

"Pretty much."

A buzzing from Callie's phone drew everyone's attention. "That's the juice up alarm, you know what that means!"

Quinn jumped to his feet before either idol could twitch. "I got it, they're just in the fridge back here, right?"

"Yeah." Marie relaxed back into the recliner with a wave of her hand.

Callie wanted to say something about Quinn's determination to help, but the ache in her muscles was enough to keep her quiet this time. It was an endearing trait on the surface, but she knew he was still trying to 'pay them back' for everything. I can let it slide, just this one time. A tiny bit of pampering can go a long way with these things.

"Here you go," he said as he handed Marie a cup of coffee, "and here you go."

Callie took the can of Kraken Energy from his hand, cracked it open, and started chugging like she hadn't drank anything in hours. Because she hadn't.

On the couch beside her, Quinn opened a bottle of water, and joined the unspoken toast. He brought the bottle to his lips, but paused and made a disgusted face. "Gah, I can smell the chemicals from here, I don't understand how you drink those things."

"Oh, it's not that bad, don't be a baby. Everything is chemicals!" Callie took another drink while giving him a cocky wiggle of her eyebrows. Truthfully, she didn't really like the drink. The taste is kinda bleugh, but you can't ignore the results!

"No, Cal, he's got a point." Marie droned. "There's a difference between what nature intended and the mistakes that were made in a lab."

"If nature didn't intend for Kraken to be made, then why do the ingredients mix together so well?"

"Evil. Malice. Dark and twisted science." Marie sat back, swirling her coffee cup in thought. "That stuff was made to knock off rust, Cal."

"And there's not a spec of rust inside me!" Callie preened, framing her face with her hands for a moment. "And you want to talk about natural? Your death brew of coffee there would kill any plant you spilled it on!"

"It's not that bad—"

"Instant death. It'll shrivel up into the size of my claw and turn brown. A little skull and crossbones cloud would float up from it." Callie punctuated her sentence by chugging the other half of her drink.

"I think you're both insane." Quinn added with a roll of his eyes. "Water's good enough for everything, no alien chemicals or cartoon poison necessary."

"You've clearly not spent the last seven hours on a stage, singing and dancing at full tilt." Marie glared at him over the top of her cup.

"No, and I think I'm the smartest one here because of it."

"Oh psh." Callie waved her hand as she lowered her can. "The good things are worth the effort of doing this once a month."

Quinn squinted at them for a moment, like he was trying to figure something out. "Being Agents is a break for you guys, isn't it?"

That was enough to make both idols laugh.

"Haha... ow.." Marie prodded her side, but her smile didn't falter. "Usually, yeah, though it has its moments." She paused long enough to glance at the small clock on the counter, before sighing. "Speaking of moments, we've got to go back to makeup in a few. Before that though..." She wrestled through the folds of her chair, until she pulled out a small bag of coins and tossed it to Quinn."

He caught it, and gave her a curious look.

"Since this is your first splatfest, we wanted it to be a good one." Callie explained. "So we got you a little bundle of G so you can go out on the town and have some fun."

"And before you try to argue—" Marie gave him a look that made him close his mouth. "—we know what you're going to say. The answer is no, we're not taking it back."

"Half, then." Quinn argued.

"W— no! Take the cash! You're fifteen! Go be stupid in the city wide party!"

Callie couldn't help but smirk a little bit as he sputtered. They had him cornered, he couldn't fight back without sounding like a whiny 15 year old. Please take the money Quinn, let us give you something nice. "Seriously. I hate talking like this, but that little bit of G is nothing to us, and it gives you a fun night. Get whatever you want with it."

"...Anything?"

"Go crazy!" Callie shouted and threw her arms up, making both of them jump. "But do go."

Marie made a show of waving him towards the door. "You can head back to the apartment when you're done if you want. Otherwise, You know where to find us. Just show that badge we gave you if you wanna get back in here while we're on stage."

Quinn stared at the money for a second before hesitantly nodding. "Alright. I'll... be back." He awkwardly stood and tucked the money into his pocket before walking towards the door. "Uh, good luck."

Callie gave him the biggest smile she could as he left. A few seconds passed before both Squid Sisters breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried he wouldn't take it."

"Tell me about it. He's smart but so damn stubborn."

Callie smirked. "I guess we're finally starting to get through to him, huh?"

Marie rolled her eyes but smiled. "I guess so. I just want to make sure he's doing ok after that attack."

The shift in topic made Callie's face fall. "We should have stopped after that. I mean, Marie they nearly killed him, and we let him run right back into the field after downing a bottle of water. What kind of senior Agents are we?"

Marie winced. "Not very good ones." It wasn't hard to tell she was thinking about the initial meeting again. "He seemed fine... but we both know how good he is at hiding things."

"But he took the money!" Callie put as much optimism into her voice as she could. "So hopefully he'll have his fun tonight, and recover some, and then we can be there to talk him through the rest!"

"I suppose so." Marie took another sip of her coffee. "He really is something else, isn't he? I don't think there's a single other kid in the city who would say no to someone handing them forty thousand G."

"It's kinda cute though! He's so modest."

"Yeah, I thought that was the habit we were trying to break."

"Oh, true." Callie forced herself off of the couch with a grunt, and walked to the back of the room to get an additional two cans of Kraken Energy. "What do you think he'll spend the money on then?"

"Definitely not any of the street attractions." Marie took another sip of her coffee. "It'll be something practical for sure. Probably food, and maybe a new weapon, or turf gear."

Callie slapped her forehead as she sat back down. "Oh we're so dumb. We should have put some constraints on what he could buy. He's gonna go buy a truck's worth of granola now."

"Cod, please no. We gotta ban him from the stuff or something, have you seen the little cluster of boxes he stuck in the bottom of the pantry?"

"He doesn't even like the stuff! I can see it in his eyes. Practical or not, I can't eat more than two of the things in a week, and he shouldn't either." Callie paused for a moment, her thoughts redirecting. "Have we taken him anywhere but fast food places?"

"Not yet. I think he'd explode if we tried to feed him something worth more than 500 G."

"That's true... maybe he'll go tonight?"

"Pff. No."

That got a chuckle out of Callie. "Yeah, fair. I hope the splatfest energy gets to him. You see the way he perks up around us, I'm sure he'll get swept up in the crowds.

Marie snorted. "What, you think he's gonna raid a candy store or something?"

"Oh my cod I hope so! He needs to find the whimsy in life, and artificial, sugar induced whimsy absolutely counts." And to prove her statement, Callie opened her third can of Kraken, and chugged the entire thing in one go.

Quinn rested his hand on the bag of coins in his pocket as he wandered through the crowd. He was carrying the equivalent of two months of earnings from his first weeks in the city. Sure, things had gotten better since then, but it didn't feel right to just be handed that much money. But he had been, and backed up by two weeks of them insisting he get better at accepting gifts, he started thinking of what to spend it on.

Honestly, he expected them to restrict his spending to only 'something fun' but they hadn't. He could get anything with it, and one thing in particular flashed through his mind. With a goal in mind, he set his sights on Arowana Mall, which was going to be a nightmare to navigate with the splatfest going on, but he'd manage.

Walking around the city did bring with it a certain sense of wonder. Inkopolis truly did come alive during a fest. Lights and people were everywhere. Street vendors set up all kinds of shops, flooded to the brim with merchandise, some of which was even related to the splatfest. Restaurants had games set up outside that anyone could compete in for meal tickets. Larger attractions were set up in the intersections; trampolines, go-karts, even a carousel in one of the larger ones.

All of this, and the city wasn't even operating at full power. Truthfully, he was a little apprehensive to see what it was like at full power after they got the Great Zapfish back. The festivities were overbearing enough as it was, he couldn't wrap his head around it somehow being more.

But that was later. For now, he had his own mission: Get through the crowds at Arowana Mall. Normally, this was an easy task. The splatfest battle scene made the process something else entirely. Six stages were opened in total: Museum d'Alfonsino and Downdeck Docks were opened exclusively for ranked play, while Arowana Mall, Shellshine Park, and Stingray Station were opened for casual play. Apparently Callie and Marie's return was far more popular than anyone had anticipated, so Saltspray Rig had also been opened to try and contain the bulk of hardcore battlers in one place. That way the more accessible stages could rotate through the casual players more consistently.

Even with the idols on break, the plaza was Packed full of fans dancing to the radio versions of songs. There was always a trail along the outer edge, left open for anyone to get to the Battle Lobby. Despite the overwhelming number of people, the line was pretty short. He made it nearly all the way around the Plaza, up to Ammo Knights before he had to stop. Now, it was just a waiting game to get inside, and then get onto the right bus. He wasn't going there to battle, but the transit system didn't need to know that.

Ignoring the wait, he made it through the Battle Lobby without any issue. He was nearly to his seat on the bus when someone stumbled into him from behind. At least, they would have, if he hadn't swapped forms while throwing himself across the aisle to dodge the uncoordinated footsteps. He shifted back in an instant, reaching for the Hero Shot that wasn't on his hip.

"Damn kid, you've got some moves!" A gruff, but energetic voice announces from behind him. He turned to see a large octoling standing in the aisle of the bus. She was quite tall, with a broad, chubby build, and the second brightest smile Quinn had ever seen. He turned back to look on the ground, where an inkling girl was picking herself up with a blush.

"Keep your feet under you girl!" The octoling playfully scolded her friend.

"Ehe, sorry about that," the inkling apologized, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "I got going a bit too fast..." She flashed him a smile that fought the octoling's for second place.

Quinn eyed them both for a short moment, mostly to let his heartbeats slow down. "It's alright, no worries." He quickly slotted himself into a seat so she could get past him.

The inkling scurried forward and pushed her friend into the row of seats in front of him in turn.

As someone sat in the seat next to him, Quinn sighed. Did he really just try to draw the Hero Shot on some random people? In the middle of the city? Granted, she had startled him, but still, to think he was that on edge right now... It was fine. With the big mission coming up, it was understandable he'd be a little jumpy.

"I can't believe you nearly knocked over such a cute boy." The octoling murmured, from the seat in front of him, presumably to her friend.

"Shut up!!" the inkling girl hissed back. Two dull whumps followed, which mixed with the octoling's laughter. "He can probably hear you!!" There were a few beats of silence, followed by a pained groan. Their conversation slowly drifted towards unrelated topics, and Quinn's attention followed suit.

He needed to keep his head on his shoulders. No more trying to draw his weapon at every sound. This was not the time to be getting distracted. One of the most important missions in Inkadian history was on the horizon. If he failed...

His gaze swapped from his lap to out the window. As the bus pulled out, he could briefly see into the Plaza. Callie and Marie were back on stage, dancing and singing their hearts out.

They were counting on him. They were all counting on him, even if they didn't know it. He watched the life of the city through the window as he rode. There were hundreds of people out and about, all enjoying the festivities. The extravagant light displays. The ramshackle little games people had cobbled together for others to play. The music that poured out of every bar, club, and makeshift stage on the streets. It all fell on him to keep it safe.

For now though, he had a much less important mission. Quinn had a lamp to buy.

Living in the other Agent's apartment had been a big adjustment. There was a lot they were all adjusting to, but things were slowly settling into a new normal. They even brought his couch up to replace their old one. Seeing his couch mix in so easily with all of their stuff had done a surprising amount to make him feel welcome. There was only one problem: the corner that the couch was set in didn't have good lighting, so he couldn't read a book while sitting on it.

The path through the mall plotted itself in his mind while the bus pulled up to its stop. A line of turf players three times the bus's capacity stood outside. Everyone on the bus jumped to their feet, fast enough to actually make the bus wobble for a moment, before they quickly started flooding towards the door. He chose to stay in his seat until most everyone else had left; just one less crowd to fight with.

His confidence dropped by a few measures as he stepped inside. Right now, Arowana Mall was more than just a turf site for the splatfest, it was the host. All the excess activity surrounding the fest would take place inside. For now, that was just challenge matches, like bomb only matches or eight vs eight fights. When the splatfest neared its end, though, the space would flood with more people than the mall could reasonably hold as the final festivities began. Each side of the splatfest had a pro team attached to it, helping with the marketing and promotion of each side. The splatfest officially ended when the final best-of-five fight between the teams finished, the result of which would go on to play a big role in the fest's winner. Different bands were often brought in to play live music for the final hour as well, culminating in a unique cover of Now or Never as the pro teams battled.

That was to say, this place was mere hours away from being so crowded he wouldn't be able to walk at all.

Quinn set off on his own when the crowd he was with broke off for the turf entrance. He didn't need to spend long here, just enough time to get to the discount furniture store at the other end of the mall. The one that the hoards of people were walking away from. He sighed quietly before turning and joining the flow. It was easier to move with the current rather than fight it, even if it was a bit slower.

All in all, the loop around the mall took about twenty five minutes. He was only stopped once by a 'pop up' match between some non-splatfest pro teams, obviously duking it out for the sake of publicity. These stunts occurred all the time, especially in the densely traveled areas like this. There would probably be at least five more in the mall alone before everything wrapped up.

The actual shopping part was quite quick. There was a very small number of people in the store, he knew exactly where to go to find the lamp, and the clerk had him through the line in under two minutes, including counting the coins. Now it was a simple matter of riding the crowd out, and then he was free.

He opted not to take the bus this time, instead planning his route to let him swing through a few stores on the way home to grab a few groceries for the apartment. The leftover G should be more than enough to cover the cost, and it'd be a good, neutral way to settle things. They did say anything after all...

“Burgers win! In your face, Marie!” Callie excitedly threw her arms in the air as she cheered.

“Aw, crud...” Marie sighed in turn, putting in a half-effort to look disappointed.

Callie swooned at the camera, flashing a bright smile. “I knew we could do it, burger lovers!”

Marie's signature smirk worked its way onto her face as she turned to look towards Callie. “You guys should celebrate with a pizza party!”

"Psssh, nah." Callie tapped her finger against her chin in thought. "You know what I could really go for?"

"A number five combo from Sammy's?"

"No, Tacos."

Marie rolled her eyes while her cousin laughed. "Ok folks, hope you enjoyed the splatfest! Check in at the battle lobby to get your prizes over the coming days."

Both performers jumped out of their chairs, doing a fantastic job at hiding their winces. They struck their iconic pose, with a cheery "STAY FRESH!" before the recording cut out.

The glamor fell from their frames the moment the camera's light turned off. Twenty four hours of near nonstop action finally allowed to show itself.

"Are you guys good?" Quinn asked as the Squid Sisters trudged from the recording room. The entire thing was rather amusing to him; it was rare to see the other Agents in such a state.

"Jus... just tired." Callie mumbled as she walked past. It was like a switch flipped in her. All the pep and energy from seconds ago was nowhere to be found.

"We're gonna mask up and try to get home before we pass out in the streets." At least Marie seems slightly more cognizant, judging by her voice.

Quinn stood by the door while the pair lazily donned their disguises. He couldn't help but laugh a little as Callie spun her beanie a few times in her hands looking for the front. It didn't take them long to be out the door and down the road.

"We need to go to Scout's!" Callie tried to argue as they walked past the bar's street.

"We'll go tomorrow," Marie pushed back. "You're barely awake as it is, you won't be up long enough to read the menu!"

"But we always go after a splatfest!" Callie took a particularly bold step forward, knocking her own balance off.

Quinn rushed forward to catch her. He looped one of her arms around his shoulder and gently directed her towards the apartment. "Why's she so much more...?" He trailed off while vaguely gesturing towards Callie's droopy form with his free hand.

"Cal's always been the drowsier of us." The fond smile Marie had dulled slightly. "Or, I guess I'm the worse of us at it."

"You have trouble sleeping?" Quinn asked.

"Sometimes. Not enough for any kind of insomnia diagnosis or anything, I'm just... more likely to stay awake I guess."

Quinn nodded slowly, shifting Callie's weight so he wasn't walking at a weird angle.

"That," Marie continued, "and she's probably experiencing the worst energy crash imaginable."

"That... is true." He slowed for a moment to look at Callie's half asleep face. "Don't tell me she managed to finish off the pack."

"She didn't."

"Ok, good, because I—"

"She drank two."

Quinn bristled for a moment, before turning his disapproval towards Callie.

She smiled at him. "Sorrryy..."

An odd smile found itself tugging on his lips. "It's fine I guess. Your organs are probably gonna explode though."

"Whaaat? Nooo, that's silly..."

Marie scoffed. "I don't know why she gets drunk when she's crashing. I swear she's not like this any other time. Honestly, I'm half convinced it's a front to get me to carry her home."

"Well, if it's an act, it's a good one." Quinn half-mumbled while glaring at Callie's quietly giggling form.

"She's good at that too." They finally stopped as they came to the front door. Marie swiped her key card and held the door open.

Inside, Chuck greeted them as enthusiastically as ever, though the conversation barely lasted thirty seconds before Marie was shoving them through the elevator door. The shaking and flashing lights still bothered Quinn, but he'd been in this contraption enough times that he was used to it at least. Callie remained practically asleep on his shoulder, completely unbothered by the elevator's latest assassination attempt.

At the apartment door, Marie made a point of peeling Callie off of Quinn as he walked past.

"Awwwh, Mar why'd you do that? I was just getting comfy!"

"We're at home Cal, go get ready for bed."

Callie looked blankly into the apartment for a few moments, before giving a tired "K..." and shuffling inside on her own.

Quinn watched as she slowly ambled her way down the hallway. "Is she usually that bad?"

"After we stop to get a drink, yeah." Marie answered with a smile.

"And you?" He gave her a questioning look.

Marie just shrugged. "I dunno, I'm kind of just riding the vibe. It's like a zen state or something."

"You've been pretty snippy in the past."

"That wasn't the zen state."

"Right."

Things were silent for a few moments, save for the sounds of Callie bumping things on her way to the bathroom.

"Well, do you want something to eat?" Marie asked him as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Aren't you going to bed?"

"Not yet." She looked back at him. "I need to do something to wind down. You don't typically see it, cuz you go to bed before me, but late at night, right before bed is when I tend to do my chores."

"Any chore?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I dunno." Quinn shrugged. "It just seems a bit weird to do the noisy things like vacuuming so close to bed."

"Cal could sleep through a killer wail if it didn't splat her."

"Fair point."

"Yeah. I don't know what to say, really. It's easy, kinda mindless work that gives you a chance to burn off a little extra energy without any actual effort." Marie snapped her fingers. "Like how you read before bed!"

"That makes a lot more sense, actually. It's nice to just... wind down after everything. Give yourself a chance to breathe and settle in and slow down before actually going to sleep.

"Exactly! See, you know the joys of being minorly productive while not stressing about it."

"Sounds about right." A few beats of silence passed before he continued. "So, what chore's up for tonight."

"Oh fuck that. I'm just gonna make grilled cheese because I can't be bothered to do anything else."

Her delivery was dry enough to make Quinn laugh. "Sure, I'll take one if it's not too much hassle."

"Mm." She turned back to the kitchen, but stopped halfway when her eyes landed on something. "Wh— where did we get a lamp from?"

"Earlier, while you guys were performing."

She gave him a completely bewildered look. "We gave you 40,000G, and you bought a lamp?"

"I got some groceries as well," Quinn shrugged before walking up to the kitchen island. The stools there weren't the comfiest, but they weren't that bad either.

"Why?"

"I like sitting on the couch when I read, but I can't see the pages without turning the kitchen light on. I figured I'd get a lamp."

Marie stared at him for a few moments longer, before shaking her head and walking into the kitchen. "I don't think I'll ever get you, Quinn." Her words weren't hostile or accusatory, if anything she was just exasperated. "No other kid in the city would argue against being handed free money, and then use it to buy a lamp."

Quinn eyed her for a moment. "Is there something wrong with it?'

Marie deflated. "No, it's just..." She trailed off as she pulled a tub of butter and a few wrapped slices of cheese from the fridge. "You're so practical, Quinn. You spend your free time reading how-to books and exercising. All your spare G goes towards household amenities. You don't... you don't do kid stuff."

"I'm not a kid."

"No, you're not a kid. You've more than proven that." Marie sighed, and started buttering four pieces of toast. "But you are fifteen, and most fifteen year olds aren't this dogmatic about it. Even the ones that thrive in the city."

He was quiet for a few moments, mulling over his words while Marie put the first few slices of bread into a pan. "Am I doing something wrong?"

She stopped suddenly. "No, Quinn. You're... I just... are you ok?"

"I'm... fine?" What was she trying to get at?

Marie stood still for a few moments, before reaching forward to turn the stove on. "When I was an inkblob, my mom made me work. From the moment I could talk in full sentences, she had me attending business meetings and studying charts. I was responsible for more money than every other person in this building will see in their lifetimes before I had fingers."

"Sounds stressful."

"It was awful. I ended up running away and staying with my aunt. At least until me and Cal were old enough to move out on our own." There was a pause long enough for her to layer a few pieces of cheese on the bread . "It took a long time, learning how to live without that stress. I still struggle with it today. "

Quinn watched her for a second, before narrowing his eyes and pointing towards her. "Is that why you became an idol?"

"Heh, maybe. Trading one stress for another. The idol thing's an entirely different kind of stress." She flipped the sandwiches, before turning to look at him. "What I'm trying to say is, it might not be quite the same thing, but I know what it's like. If you ever want to talk about it..."

Things were quiet for over a minute, the silence only broken by the sound of sizzling butter, and the distant bathroom sink.

"Is that why you guys are doing so much for me?" His voice was smaller than he'd intended, but it had been hard to get the question out in the first place.

"Yeah." Marie gave him a tired , but genuine smile. "We might've been a bit too forward at times, but we wanted you to know that things are different here."

They were. He wasn't forced onto any schedule, nor was he ignored or belittled for every little thing. They genuinely respected him, cared about him, and listened to what he had to say. Being valued like that was so strange, but at the same time, it was also nice.

A small smile snuck onto his face as he looked away. "Yeah, I suppose they are."

Marie set a plate in front of him. "We do try our best, now dig in." She walked around the island and sat on the stool next to him. The silence that settled while they ate was a comfortable one.

Quinn was the first to finish. "Thanks for the sandwich, and... for caring."

"No problem." Marie polished off the last bite of her own sandwich. "Now, I'm going to bed. You do whatever, I genuinely don't think you could wake us up if you tried."

He took Marie's empty plate from in front of her, and stacked it on his own. "I'll probably follow you that way in a few. Night."

"Night, Quinn."

The following morning was a slow one. The long day, plus the lack of any commotion out in the apartment to wake him up meant that Quinn was the only one to make it out of bed before noon. Not that he really did anything now that he was awake. He sat on the edge of his bed, bleary looking around his room. This was far from the first time he'd done this since moving into the apartment. It just didn't feel... correct? Right? Neither of those were the right words to describe the feeling. The space was his, but he wasn't doing anything to earn it.

But that was ok. People were allowed to care about him. He could have things; nice things, even. Callie and Marie had been keen on him understanding that. He still didn't believe it. Quinn understood what they were saying, they'd been so consistent with the message it'd be impossible for him to have missed it. It just didn't feel... true, really.

Not for lack of trying on their part, of course. Callie and Marie had been nothing but true to their words so far. That first night, right after they'd given him his stuff back, Callie had insisted all three of them have a 'living room sleepover' because they hadn't had the time to clear out the spare room for him yet. It wasn't just these big events, though, there were hundreds of smaller things each day that seemed almost second nature to the Squid Sisters. His breakfast portions were larger, on account of his bigger appetite. Marie had asked him if there were any groceries he wanted them to keep in stock. The few bits of kitchenware he did have integrated with the stuff in the apartment without so much as a blink of hesitation.

He might not believe yet, but a growing part of him wanted to, and Quinn was ok with that.

He blinked as his eyes slowly came into focus. Despite his freedom to decorate his room, it was still quite simple at the moment. Just a new bed, desk, and wardrobe, since he didn't have a closet. Marie gave him an old bookshelf from her room to hold his collection of books on. Everything else was either somewhere in here or had found its way into the appropriate shelf or drawer in the kitchen. Despite the plainness, it was a comfortable space. His space.

Figuring there wasn't much use in laying around, Quinn pulled himself to his feet to get ready for the day. Despite living in the apartment for nearly two weeks now, he was still incredibly amused by the aggressive pink and green color coding of everything. Towels, toothbrushes, blankets, keys, and even a few pieces of silverware, just to name a few items, all fit into that scheme. It made a lot of things around the Cabin make more sense in retrospect too. Seeing the blue of his own items steadily mix into the system made his hearts twist in a weird way he wasn't sure he disliked.

When the clock hit twelve thirty, he decided he'd been dragging his feet long enough. He set his sights on the kitchen, and started planning out breakfast for his overworked companions. Callie had taken the time to show him how to make pancakes, and he knew how to fry eggs well enough to not burn things down. With just a few moments to read instructions on the back of a box of chicken bacon, he had a proper breakfast cooking for everyone to enjoy.

"Mmm... mornin' Cal." Marie mumbled as she stumbled down the hall a few minutes later. "Smells..." Her eyes narrowed a comedic amount before she finally processed what she was seeing. "Oh. Morning Quinn."

"Not morning anymore." He deadpanned while he flipped some pancakes.

"Would you look at that." She shuffled past him, headed directly for the coffee machine on the end of the kitchen. "Did Callie put you up to this?"

"No. I figured it was late enough, and you guys would probably want to actually be awake before we started planning things later."

Marie was quiet for a few moments while she stared at the machine. "I might need your help to get Cal out bed, she's usually the one who cooks the post-splatfest breakfasts." She tapped a button, eliciting a loud beep, before looking back to him with a tired smirk. "Heh, the sequence break will probably scramble her brain for a few minutes."

True to her word, Marie ended up needing Quinn to bring a plate of food in to entice Callie out of bed, but not long after that, they were all three ready to get on with the day. Well, ready was a relative term. No one was in a particular hustle, and with the obvious lethargy still clinging to their bodies, Quinn didn't feel right pushing them to go any faster.

Still, they found themselves at the cabin after not too much longer, preparing to plan the upcoming operation in detail. Spirits were high, and confidence in the soon-to-be plan was strong. With a few hours dedicated to the few rough patches left, they could sort through everything no problem.

At least, that's what they all thought, until Quinn saw another radio recording had been captured while they were away.