#mari3

what if I made a video game trailer for my silly splatoon / OC rpg maker game. for fun

it's here if you want to play (it runs in-browser, access password is fayriesmile). game about lesbians on a birthday quest :]

this is the only mari3 dynamic i'll accept

Rating: G

Pairing: Marie x Jinx (Agent 3? Commander??)

Obligatory.

——

“How’s it fit?”

It’s a loaded question. It shouldn’t be, but it feels like a too-full ink tank on her shoulders, ready to burst if she doesn’t start firing to empty it. It’s a weird allegory, now that she’s thinking about it, but it’s the only way she can describe the feeling in her stomach. In her chest.

Jinx stares at her reflection in the hotel mirror, trying to recognize the inkling staring back at her from beneath the brim of Cap’n Cuttlefish’s old hat. Hers now. He’s not the Captain anymore, he’s just Craig, and she’s not Agent 3 anymore. She’s the Commander.

It makes her stomach churn to consider it.

“S’too big,” she manages when the quiet has lasted too long.

There’s a gentle sigh from the couch on the other side of the suite, and before she knows it her reflection is joined by Marie’s decidedly more attractive one in the mirror. Of course she’s strikingly beautiful in her new outfit, prepared to go out and face the day with grace and confidence.

Marie offers her a little smile, fondness mixed with… Jinx doesn’t want to assume it’s sympathy. It’s something, but it can’t be that.

“C’mere,” her partner turns her so they’re facing each other. She reaches up and adjusts the cap, watching it slowly tip to one side as it slips from Jinx’s crown. Marie has to suppress a laugh. “Oh. I guess it is, huh?”

Jinx grimaces. She can practically hear Callie’s voice saying it could be a new fashion statement. Alas, her best friend has already bounded out to hunt down breakfast and get a head start on their day. It’s just the pair of them in the suite.

“That’s alright. It looks fine—“

“Marie, I don’t know if I can do this.”

Jinx blurts out the words so unceremoniously, too loud for their conversation— they ring in her ears and hang heavy in the air. She can’t be the only one who thinks this was a bad idea, putting her in charge of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. She can barely be in charge of laundry, let alone a group of squids trying to save the world one tea kettle at a time.

Marie blinks at the outburst, her smile dropping into a look of surprise. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she says. Her tone is gentle. “You were the only one qualified. You deserve this, after all you’ve done for Inkopolis.”

“It should be you,” Jinx insists. “You’d be a much better leader. He should have picked you.”

Another smile touches Marie’s face, this one teasing. “Nah. That hat would look awful on me.”

The former Agent 3’s brow furrows, almost a scowl, and Marie sighs.

“Jinx, listen.” She presses a gloved palm against her partner’s cheek, the one not marred by sanitized ink. “Gramps knows what he’s doing. Callie and I both trust his decision, and we trust you.”

She smooths her hand down Jinx’s cheek and tips her chin up a little when brown eyes cast downward, brushing some of her fringe with a free hand.

“You’re going to do fine. Trust me.”

Jinx wants to. After all these years, how far they’ve come, the least she can do is trust Marie’s opinion. Maybe she can fake it until she really believes it. Her throat feels thick when she swallows and gives a tiny nod.

“Okay.”

Marie leans in and kisses her forehead, trying one last time to make the cap sit properly on her head— and failing. With a little huff, she draws back again. “Good. Now let’s go catch up with Callie, before she eats all the breakfast.”

As she slips away again to finish getting ready, Jinx takes one last look in the mirror. From the worried look on her own face, to the weary circles beneath her eyes, the scar spreading across her cheek and ear, and finally the Cap of Legend resting (askew) on her crown.