Small but Fierce

Tartar gives a pained squeak before going limp in her arms.

Press F to pay respects.

“Oh no. Please do not squish me.”

SQUISHY

“Awesome, my cool friend Mani!”

Exhausted was actually the term - spending his whole week working at his more…legit job was more taxing than he remembered - and the week that was about to start would be as bad

“What about you, my radical buckaroo?”

She squints t him, apparently.thinking pretty hard. “Hmmm... I did Turf all day...” The apparent stickiness of her hands implied she had gotten something ti eat right after, too.

“Heeey, if it isn’t my favorite little screamer! Thanks for your kind letter!”

“Well, I do have a job that doesn’t require being a full-time member of the gang. What about you’re my cool friend, hang around with me and say how cool we are.”

“That would help us a lot!”

“Parashu and Macabre are clear about that, we’re not taking members under 18, because a lot of things we do are dangerous!”

“I know you’re mature and all, but if something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt, alright!”

“BUT I WANNA HELP.” She is, once again, being super determined. Even when the other party had already made it super super clear that she wasn’t going to be getting anywhere.

“Well, we have a very good benefactor who gives us money for our operations”

Grizzco, he’s talking about Grizzco.

“And aside from that, we do a bunch of jobs, like smuggling things in Octo Valley and the likes. Wouldn’t say we’re rich, but we get by.”

“Huh... well, uh..... I’m asking cause. I wanna know.” Well that’s how these things work, Mani.

Red didn’t mind the presence of kids - you had to be pretty dumb to hang around a placed filled with them -  but being friendly with them wasn’t her strong point. Obviously, she preferred the presence of her fellow adults

“Are you sure you don’t wanna hang with people your age - people who want to play and be fresh?”

“Don’t you think I’m a little too old to be your fresh buddy, kid?”

“But... I’m friends with lotsa adults.” She pouts a little, poking Red in the side. “So. I’m gonna be friends with you.”

She seems determined, if nothing else.

“Most people kinda think I’m crazy because I don’t care about being fresh, things like that. I got lots of friends, but none of them are teenagers - they’re all grown ups.”

“I ain’t miss popularity and I don’t wanna be, popularity is stupid!”

“Huuuh...” She squints at Red, looking like she doesn’t even compute. “Can we ... can we still be friends? Even if I am fresh?”

“Oh, it’s just most Inklings I see are a bit older. I was just worried.”

“…are you really sure you wanna be friends with me? Like, really?” 

“...yeah, why not?” She shrugs. “...you seem pretty cool!”