Chapter Text
Four agents stand in a spacious elevator, awaiting its arrival to their floor in silence. Bags of personal belongings sit at their feet, filled with any small items they hadn’t packed previously. Three’s head is tilted down, staring at the floor. Four scrolls through her squidstagram feed across from her. Eight stands upright looking ahead at the door with her hands clasped together in front of her. Nu3’s eyes drift back and forth looking at the other agents.
A sudden ding stirs them from their short-lived elevator habits. The agents pick up their bags and step through the doors; they’re greeted by an expansive glass lined apartment with views overlooking the city, decorated in the freshest modern contemporary style, minimalist fixtures and accents adorn the apartment, a visual reminder of the gilt-edged space the group now found them in.
“WELCOME HOME!” A boisterous voice cuts through the collective silence as an excited Callie greets them, “Marie and I spent all day getting things ready for you guys; oh, you’re gonna love it!” Callie beams a wide smile, barely able to contain her excitement at greeting the agents.
Marie walks out of a nearby room. “Everything’s ready for each of you, the stuff you packed up is already here and placed according to your requests, even Four’s air hockey table.” In her hands are a rag and a can of glass cleaner, obviously putting the final touches on the apartment before the agents’ arrival.
Four was the first to step through. “Woah! This place is huge!” Her head was turning every which way, trying to take in the scale of the apartment.
“Are you sure it’s fine for all of us to occupy this big space?” Eight asked, impressed the same. “It looks very much expensive.”
“Of course it is! Don’t worry about that kind of stuff!” Callie assured, leading the group into the large and open space ahead of them. The living area was adorned with a large couch and a glass coffee table sitting on a stand, stylized to look like an ink splash. In front of the couch sat the largest TV the agents — excluding eight — had ever seen; playing a recording of a Squid Sisters concert on mute. The six of them quickly take a seat on the couch, Marie stashing her cleaning supplies in a caddy nearby before taking a seat.
“Alright, so like I said earlier, everything is already unpacked and organized for you guys, there were five bedrooms but we repurposed one into a game room, at Four’s request” Marie had been the one to organize the apartment for the agents, she could have easily hired a professional to do it but she insisted on putting her own touch on things.
“Are our rooms already picked out for us?” Four asked, testing out the softness of the sofa.
“Yeah, like I said your stuff is all set up and all,” Marie responded, gesturing back toward the hallway to their left. “I even made sure to put all your books back on the shelf like in the picture you showed me.”
“Oh really? Sweet!” Four smiled at Marie's extra effort in organization. Tidying things up could be said to be one of her hobbies, after all. Callie had asked to use an excessive amount of pink decor around the building, but her cousin insisted the agents handle the decorating.
“What are being the special features we should be informed of?” Eight asked, having experience with the extravagant extras that typically come with pricey real estate.
“Well let's see… The panel on the wall over there lets you close and open the blinds for all these windows.” Callie gestures to an LCD panel on the wall by the entrance. “It will also let you program times for them to open and close, each room should have one for individual control, they also control the AC and all so everything you need is bundled up into one sweet package!”
Marie took over from there, with a slight frown.“Unfortunately… this place only has two bathrooms.” She proceeded to put on a small smile. “Both are pretty well equipped, though! No need to worry about being stuck with some crusty old showerhead, they each have those walk-in showers with multiple shower heads, and plenty of storage space so none of you have to worry about your stuff getting mixed up… unless you shove everything on the countertop and never put it away that is.” She finishes, narrowing her eyes at some unknown past transgressor who at least doesn’t seem to be Callie.
“The kitchen has a big fridge! And sink… and oven…” Callie trailed off. She was starting to realize that the entire place was designed to be larger than the average Inkopolis home.
Three shared some sentiment with Callie, and asked, “Is there anything here that isn’t excessively big?” Her voice reeked of sarcasm.
Marie rolled her eyes, “If you want to live with four people in a cramped apartment, be my guest.” Three just tsked in return.
“Alright, I think you’ll all want time to get your stuff sorted out and unpacked, right?” Callie made her way towards the front doors, while Marie added, “Remember, we’re just a floor above, so call us or come see us for anything.” The two cousins waved goodbye before leaving the agents by themselves, the doors closing behind them.
For a few moments nobody said a word. Finally, Eight broke the silence. “I guess I will go see my room and belongings then.” The others agreed and headed off to their preassigned rooms. Fortunately for them, the room dimensions were identical, ending any potential jealousy over who got the largest room to themselves. The bedrooms were all in a hallway off to the side of the main living area, with Three and Four’s rooms on the left; Eight and Nu3 had their rooms on the opposite side.
Four smiled as she threw her door open. Her room lay in front of her, in all its glory. Her room was spacious, the white walls dotted with posters and wall decor of various types. She had celebrities hung up on her wall, Turf War team decor, and even more. Her room was definitely a reflection of herself, and she beamed with pride. Her queen-sized bed had a colorful striped blanket on it; it had been a gift from her parents when she first moved out. The agent smiled as she glanced at her bookshelf: true to Marie’s word, several books had been neatly stacked in place, just as she wanted.
Four placed her bag down on her bed, spreading her legs out as she took a minute to sit down. “This mattress is actually really comfy!” She lauded, leading a hand to give her pillow a test squeeze. Soft, just the way she liked. Four proceeded to pull her laptop out of her bag, and place it down on the wooden desk beside her bed. Suddenly, realization hit her. She hadn’t asked Marie for the Wi-Fi password.
Three’s expression didn’t change much when she walked into her room. It was… average. Her stuff had been unpacked where it needed to be, and her legendary captain’s cap sat perched on her seat. Contrary to Agent Four, her room was devoid of anything interesting. At the very least, her room was tidy. Three wasn’t one for taking care of her own living space; her old home reflected that heavily. She rarely spent much time at her old place, anyways.
What caught her attention, however, was a medium-sized cardboard box resting in a corner by her closet. The box didn’t surprise her, she was the one who packed it, after all. She picked up a small piece of paper taped to the box, with text clearly written with Marie’s handwriting. ‘Thank me in advance,’ it read. The Captain rolled her eyes. She didn’t like people snooping around with her stuff. There was a reason she kept this box shut, after all.
Three then glanced towards her bed. Her bedsheet and blanket were a plain and monotone gray. Most importantly, on top of her pillow sat the Zapfish plush that Cuttlefish had given her years ago. Three wasn’t one for plushies, that was probably down to Eight or Four, maybe. But she respected the former captain intensely, so she resolved to keep it around. Secretly, she had even grown a bit attached to it…
A slight grin of satisfaction crossed Eight’s face as she entered her room. The living space was quite simple: her bed, in a corner, draped with the white bedding she used while living with Pearl and Marina. The wall across from her bed was lined with a table, sporting the desktop computer Marina built for her. To the side, a wall filled with weapon maintenance tools as she had requested. The wall by her bed held a framed photo of Eight with Pearl and Marina placed above another framed photo of the entire Splatoon. Everything was placed methodically, organized in labeled containers, and even the room itself maintained an even color scheme. Everything was in order.
Eight placed her bag on the table and began unpacking her things, grouping personal belongings, toiletries, and miscellaneous items in different areas for each before carefully folding up the bag and placing it in a container labeled “Utility Accessories”. Eight hummed as she inspected her meticulously arranged room.
Nu3 entered her room with a nervous look, not sure what she was to expect. Her previous lodging was… nonexistent, to be frank. Still, the size and magnitude of the apartment had intimidated her quite a bit. She was greeted by a room decorated in a splatlands inspired motif, her bed had yellow bedding matching her ink color and in a corner of the room was a cordoned off section for her little buddy to live in.
Nu3 yelped as Smallfry suddenly burst out of his pouch on her backpack, and began scuttling across the bedroom. The octoling yelped and ran after him. If he damaged anything then the Squid Sisters would surely be furious! Smallfry gave the room a thorough checkup, always managing to slip out of Nu3’s grasp the moment she had her hands on him.
“Ugh… you are too much fast for me…” With a sigh, the defeated agent threw herself on her bed, her face flat against the sheets. With a triumphant chirp, Smallfry hopped on her back and flopped down. At least he was good at imitation.
The agents had a few moments to spare for themselves before a voice hollered out from the living room. “EVERYONE, FOODS HERE!!!” The scream had barely finished before a door had been flung open, with Agent Four sprinting out without hesitation. The others followed the ecstatic squid at a more reasonable pace. The Squid Sisters waved at them from the dinner table, the pair had laid out a feast worth of takeout on the table; plates and cutlery were put out for everyone, and the agents took their seats. They shoveled piles of noodles and rice onto their plates, eager to dig in after the stress of the move in. After each person had their fill, Four went back for seconds. And thirds. When she finished her last and final plate, she glanced at the table with anticipation, then sorrow.
“W-where’d all the food go?!” She cried, checking if it hadn’t been taken by someone else. The agents all stared at her.
“It went down that void you call a stomach, Four.” Three explained, her voice sounding as monotone as possible.
“Yeah, Four, calm down or you’ll eat the entire pantry that we got stocked!” Callie added. Four’s eyes went wide. Callie clasped a hand on her mouth, but the damage had already been done.
It wouldn’t even last a week.