pedaltothemegalodon

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Still sounds fine to me! Being able to make the "single pierced ear" look is the sign of someone really amazing."

"I ordered a pair of wing earrings, but they only sent me one?"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

...Had she just gotten vulnerable? She wasn't entirely sure. She didn't think she was really that worried about that kind of turn of events, she didn't think her face had betrayed any sort of underlying anxiety, if it was there at all. She'd gotten good at masking that sort of stuff.

Maybe it was real and they just hadn't noticed. That was the troublesome thing about having someone they were so close to as Frye- she'd be there to notice the little things, get to what lay underneath it all. They should've been annoyed by it. More often than not, though...they felt grateful.

"I guess the lack of excitement's got me forgetting how amazing we really are." A dismissive shake of her head, as if disappointed in herself. "You hit the nail right on the head there. Anything they try to throw at us is sure to fall short every time!"

The brief pause following the octoling's relent hung in the air for several moments, killing the immediate urge to launch into banter before it could swell all the way up into the eel tamer's chest. Frye angled her head to one side, golden eyes brimming with a look that rested somewhere in-between concern and incredulity.

"...is this actually bothering you, Shiver? I know we've been stuck here a while, but... c'mon, we're Deep Cut! Nothing can hold us down forever. Here OR there! If something gets us caught up back at home, we'll just bust outta that too."

Finishing the affirmation with a light nudge to the shoulder, she puffed out her chest, shoulders squared with pride. If there was one fire, one declaration that she was determined never to let die, it was undoubtedly that one. It was part of their pledge, after all!

As long as they had each other, there was no challenge too steep, no adventure too great; and even in the absence they faced to their trio right now, the missing presence only served as further kindling to that blazing spark in her hearts.

They'd get him back and get home to face whatever mysteries lay up ahead as a team, one way or another.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Another small step in the right direction. They really oughta let up on the nerfs already, but I get it- I'd be scared of Master and I's full power too!"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"My brain sometimes works in ways even I can't quite understand, Frye. Maybe some day I'll be remembered as one of the brilliant minds of a generation for such a visionary way of thinking...but for now, yeah, I should probably cut it down to 6 at the earliest."

In spite of their acquiescence, Shiver still couldn't help but feel such a turn of events was possible. Not simply the coincidence of being stuck somewhere unintentionally, but some strange new land existing beyond what they knew. Maybe living here for so long had affected her more than she thought...

"Uh, nope. You good, Shiver? All that 3 AM orange juice giving you weird dreams or something?"

What kind of place even remotely similar to this could exist back home in the Splatlands anyways? Unless a whole bunch of skeletons suddenly popped out of the ground, they didn't exactly have nearly the same number of humans wandering about.

She'd be first on the list trying to befriend them all if that did happen, though.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"...You ever get these weird feelings about going back home? Like, after being stuck in Spirale on this island for so long and finally getting to return to life as normal, some awful bout of cosmic irony's gonna strike and leave us stuck in a bizarrely similar situation as the one we just escaped from?

I don't know. Life just has strange patterns like that sometimes."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Mother's Day is fine, really. But does anyone around here know that Shark Awareness Day is in two and a half months? Let's not lose track of what's truly important here."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"In fact, I happen to know someone who did exactly that. If by "safe" you mean "won't kill you," then yes, it's perfectly safe! If you mean "will I regret doing this," well...maybe not if you eat less than she did." Not even the top ten most unusual things Frye did with sweets, honestly.

"do you think it's safe to make chocolate with every kind mixed together? you know, just out of curiosity..." definitely not because he's going to attempt it.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

DEEP CUT DOODLE FOR DEEP CUT DAY 💛❤💙

[pedaltothemegalodon]

@moraypower / QUEST: I DON'T WANT TO HEAR A PEEP

"This whole thing feels...so wrong to me. Capping off this big candy-coated campaign with having to blast baby chicks?" Though Shiver's reservations about the endeavor were freely voiced, a swing of their wand summoned forth their Bubblegum Bazooka. Its pink, sticky payload popped at the feet of the swath of marshmallow chicks charging toward them, ensuring they'd be at least briefly immobilized for Frye to freely wallop.

"Why couldn't they be vicious li'l chocolate bunnies? Or feral gummy bear cubs? That'd be easier to stomach."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

SUGAR QUEST IV CHARACTER SHEET

SHIVER HOHOJIRO | PASSION CASTER (Mage)

WEAPON: Rock Candy Wand ARMOR `FLAVOR’: Citrus fruit(mostly lemon)

SKILLS

Candy Shark Infestation

Bubblegum Bazooka

Fiery Caramel Apple

Sugar Plum Fairies

(This is in fact the base list but with the sharks moved to the top because that’s all she cares about and is going to be using /j)

STATS

STRENGTH: 1

MAGIC: 10

ENDURANCE: 2

SPEED: 7

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Frye had stocked up on the winter-related desserts last time I checked...so I should still get some for myself before the festival ends. Whatever supply she had's only lasting another day or two after the month- I certainly won't be getting an equal share of it."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

A brief pained look overcomes their face when she trails off. Where that sentence was going is obvious, and Shiver hates how likely it feels.

A moment later, any pain has dropped from their face. The place it was before now is masked by a layer of well-practiced indifference.

"I-if you could...that would be the best way to get to the bottom of this. Or at least compare why your phone might be showing her and mine wouldn't."

Maria leans over to get a better look at the screen. She rests a hand on her chin in contemplation.

"What's that mean, when somebody's not on the list? They changed their name, or...?"

Maria trails off.

"I... guess I could take a look at my own phone. If ya want me to check and all," she says.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

A blue envelope is shoved beneath the doorway, with Shiver's name scrawled on the front in hasty yet unmistakably familiar handwriting. Tearing it open would reveal two things: first, a gift card for a day at the Golden Dawn Resort & Casino's finest spa; second, a pair of shiny tickets for a night out bowling, attached to a yellow sticky note featuring a tiny, scribbled drawing of an eel and a shark together down in the corner.

There's no signature, apparently forgotten in her haste... but there doesn't really need to be.

Shiver locked onto the wild handwriting upon the envelope immediately. She didn't even need a moment's thought to recognize it, upon which her hand shot out to snatch it up. With frightening precision the seal was torn off and its contents examined. A day at a luxury spa, and tickets to go out bowling- it was hard not to recall those "coupons" they'd made the three of them for Squidmas one year.

An elated smile came across her face. Even more than all this, knowing that she'd be able to spend the holiday with Frye after she was gone for a bit was as great a gift as she could've asked for.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Just some kind of memory glitch, I'm thinking. See, I was looking for my friend's info in here- Frye Onaga, someone I know from back home and has been in the city all the time I have. Well, just recently, I'm looking at the F's..." She held on the F section where the name "Frye" would be alphabetically before throwing her thumb up to slide downward on the list. "...and the O's, and it's not showing her for some reason. I feel like it just has to be a bad software update for the things..."

"I'm still gettin' used to this thing myself... Why, what's the problem?" Her contact list, huh? Maria taps the side of her pocket where her own phone is kept.

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"...Hey, do...do these phones glitch for anyone else sometimes? I think my Contacts list is bugging out."

[pedaltothemegalodon]

Shiver hopes the shocked expression that springs to their face is one more of "Frye's been STEALING?!" than "Frye got caught?!" They certainly don't plan to be so open with the truth of their habits of banditry as the other had been before.

"O-oh, then yeah! It's probably better to stick to more straightforward tactics, even if you'd just be getting more sweets out of it."

｢𓆄｣ "No reason! Not one at all!!!!!!!!" Though, he shimmies closer to Shiver, shielding his face with his hand to whisper something her way.

"I'm the guy who kept chasing her: for stealing!"

"So misplacing people's trust isn't in my best interest, chickadee!"

[pedaltothemegalodon]

"Oh, you know Frye? Yes, she and I are friends, as well as bandmates. For what sort of "no reason in particular" do you ask?"

｢𓆄｣ Now THIS sounded familiar! "For no reason in particular: are you friends with Frye?"