#seyu

“Hey, how’s it goin’?” Seyu asked as his two old friends came into sight.

“Oh my Cod, Seyu! It’s been so long!” Seyu was a little surprised when it was Three who jumped up from his seat and wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Hey, Three,” Seyu chuckled in response.

By the time they separated, Eight had stood to share a hug as well.

They all sat down, and Three and Seyu’s eyes landed on each other’s, excited smiles beaming. “Okay, first order of business…”

Three knew exactly what Seyu was talking about, and they both stuck out their hands over the table, their palms down with their fingers spread wide. The squeals burst forth as the light glinted off the tiny diamonds encircling their ring fingers.

“I can’t believe we’re both engaged!”

“I know, right?” Three’s hand trembled slightly as he stared at it. “It’s like… you know, I kind of used to think this would never happen to me…”

“Oh, shut up, Three, you’re being too hard on yourself,” Eight said as he wrapped an arm around his fiancé. Three hummed softly as he leaned in.

“Shouldn’t the others be arriving soon?” Eight asked.

“Yeah, but we’re still kind of early. How long have you two been here, anyway?”

“Oh, you know how Eight is, always insisting on getting everywhere half an hour early.”

“Hey!” Eight protested.

“You know it’s true,” Three shot back.

Eight just rolled his eyes.

“Any other exciting news I missed?” Seyu prompted.

“Well…” Eight replied, smiling at Three proudly. “Three’s the new captain of the Squidbeak Splatoon!”

“No way! That’s awesome!”

Three nodded. “Yeah. We’re moving out here to investigate some sort of strange affliction that’s been affecting the Octolings in this region. It feels nice to be helping for a change, instead of… you know. We’re also here to scout out my replacement—someone who knows this area well. The next Agent Three.

“Passing on the mantle, huh?”

“Yeah… and the responsibility of the title. I’m ready to start totally fresh, you know. New place, new rankings, new name. I’m still Three, but now I’m Captain Three.”

“Captain Three~” Eight swooned, but the effect was ruined when Three’s and Eight’s eyes met, and they burst out in giggles.

“What about you, Seyu? I mean, we all know how I got proposed to, but how did yours go?”

Seyu blushed hard, his attempts to cover it with his hands futile. “Oh my Cod, this is embarrassing. You know how stereotypically cis Leo is… so, of course, it had to do with food. We were at the restaurant down in Takosula, and he arranged with the servers to bring out an order of fried ice cream with the ring stuck in the top.”

“Oh my Cod, that’s not embarrassing; that’s so adorable!” Three gushed.

“No, no. The embarrassing part is that I was so excited to eat the ice cream that I didn’t notice the ring—but to be fair, by the time they brought it out to the table, it had sunk down so that it was almost entirely covered. So I’m going at it, and then he starts freaking out because he’s afraid I’m going to choke, and he grabs a spoon and starts fishing through until he finds it… and then he holds it out to me on his spoon, all covered in ice cream, and proposes to me. So yeah… that’s how it happened.”

“At least it’s something you’ll never forget,” Eight said.

“Yeah. That’s for sure.”

“AYYYYYY WHERE MAH FAV OCTOS!!!” came a sudden scream from a few yards off, followed by a quieter: “Uhhhhh, second-fav Octos! Marina, you’re—obviously—my—favorite… you can stop looking at me like that now!”

It took Three just a moment to switch gears from Octoling to Inkling language. “I see Pearl hasn’t changed a bit.” They all turned to look at Pearl and Marina, who were accompanied by three other sea creatures.

“You betcha I haven’t! But you know what has changed? Off the Hook is no more! Say hello to Damp Socks!”

A pause followed as they all tried to process that.

“Damp… socks?” Eight repeated hesitantly.

“Yeah! Damp Socks! It’s so much cooler than Off the Hook, right? And these are our new band members!”

“Uh, hi!” Seyu added a little wave, and the new band members waved back.

“So now we’re just waiting on—”

“Was someone about to say, Agent 4?” Four appeared behind Three, making him jump hard enough that his wobbly seat clattered loudly.

“No, actually, I was going to say the Squid Sisters.”

“Oh, c’mon! Don’t act like you weren’t begging me to come!”

She looked at him knowingly, and Three took this as his chance to whisper, “You’re still on board with the pact, right?”

“Yep! With you and I on the same team, we can win this Splatfest easy. Single-handedly, even.”

“You know it takes four cephos just to have a battle, right?”

“We can take them. 2 on 4, no problem.”

Then they were interrupted by Seyu clearing his throat from across the table. “What are you two whispering about over there, hmm? Not strategizing before the Splatfest announcement, I hope?”

“Definitely not,” Three said.

“Honestly, what kind of Cephos do you think we are, Seyu?” Four said with her best innocent eyes.

“The Splatfest announcement is about to start,” Eight noted. “I wonder where are the Squid Sisters.”

“And Leo…” Seyu murmured.

“Have you tried texting him?” Three suggested.

“Eight times,” Seyu sighed.

“He’ll show. I’m sure he’s fine.” But Three’s hands were fidgeting under the table.

Suddenly, a jingle played from the speakers throughout the square, and everyone turned their attention to the giant screen. This was their first real look at the idols of the Splatlands—Shiver, Frye, and Big Man.

Listen up! It’s going down… began the purple-haired Octoling. Repping the Splatlands, we are DEEP CUT!

Anarchy Splatcast! the yellow-haired Inkling chimed in. We’re live!

Finally, Three spotted the Squid Sisters, who had traded out their by-now-iconic green and pink disguises for nearly-matching yellow ones. They were breathing hard by the time they made it to the table. “We made it!” Callie breathed.

“If you hadn’t… spent so long… fussing over our outfits… we wouldn’t have been late!” Marie struggled to get out between breaths.

“It’s all right! We’re here now! Did we miss anything?”

“Nothing yet!” Marina assured them. Let’s listen!”

...a Splatfest! Players pick one of three teams to battle it out! the ray explained.

“Wait—THREE?!” just about everyone at the table shouted, which gave Three himself quite a fright.

Eight was quick to explain, “Not you, Three! Three Splatfest teams! Did that ever happen before?”

“No,” Three said. “But I guess it makes sense since there’s three idols here. I bet all of the Splatlands Splatfests are going to have three teams. That changes everything, though.”

“Wow this is so exciting and chaotic! I wish I had come up with it!” Pearl lamented.

“How will that even work?” Marina wondered.

“Shut up! They’re revealing the theme!” Callie shouted, and everyone turned toward the screen to watch.

Which one’s the best? Rock, Paper, or Scissors!

And immediately the whole table devolved into chaos.

“Paper, obviously.” It was the clear choice for Three, being an artist and all.

“Scissors! With a sharp enough blade, you can cut through any restraint and break free!” Eight reasoned.

“Rock! A sturdy, unyielding force! And also, Shiver’s style gives me goosebumps!” Seyu gushed.

The three Cephalings all looked at each other in shock.

“No way… we’re all picking different teams?” Seyu said.

“Eight… babe. My sweet, sweet fiancé…" Three tried.

Eight crossed his arms. “Not happening.”

Defeated, Three turned to Four. “Four? Our deal?”

Conflict was written all over Four’s face. “But… but I love shiny sharp things!”

“No way! You made a deal, and you’re upholding your end of it! Come on, we’re going over to sign up for Team Paper right now!” He grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her toward the Splatfest Pledge Box.

“Alternatively, you could join Team Scissors, and then, technically, our pact would still hold up, and you’ll get to battle with your fiancé!"

"I’m not battling with that traitor. C’mon,” Three urged, a competitive edge belying his lightheartedness.

Back at the table, Seyu was less caught up in the post-announcement fervor and more focused on his phone.

“Still no response?” Eight asked.

“No… I’m starting to get worried about him.” Seyu could only take thirty more seconds of nervous foot tapping before he was standing up. “I need to go. Hopefully he’s just taking a nap or something…”

But they both knew that was a stretch.

“Good luck, Seyu,” Eight said, his attempt at hopefulness falling into a sad smile.