Work Text:
Ding!
Marie trudged into the gas station, beelining for the slushie machine. It had been a long night, and she needed her "latte". Callie would have called it a "Marie Mashup", but well, that was irrelevant now. Surprisingly, it was easy to admit that she missed her energetic cousin.
Grabbing the biggest cup she could find, Marie slapped it under the coffee machine. She watched it with a dead stare as it dribbled coffee into the cup, until it was about a quarter of the way full. Snatching it up, she took a quick sip before turning to the slushie machine. It tasted like burnt dirt. Perfect.
Marie placed her cup under the Blue Berry Blaster nozzle, slapping her hand onto the lever. The machine made a "Chunk, chunk, chunk" noise as it struggled, managing little more than causing a localized earthquake.
Chunk chunk chunk
A piece of ice plopped into the coffee.
Chunk chunk chunk
Marie sighed, tapping her foot impatiently.
Chunk chunk chunk
Marie was about to go ask the employee for help, when someone appeared beside her. A fist banged on the side of the machine, and Marie jumped internally as it finally spat blue slush into her cup.
Looking over, she was met with the tired, dead eyes of another inkling. They blinked at her, their tentacles messy and face smeared with makeup.
Gramps had always talked about that look in someone's eye, the spark that is telling of a warrior. Marie had never understood that, until now. Staring into this inkling's sunken brown eyes, she saw something.
"Hey, uh, you almost done?" They spoke, looking down at her now overflowing cup. Marie cursed under her breath, shoving the lever back to its original position.
Marie stepped back, allowing the inkling to use the machine. Marie eyed the several cans of Khaotic Juice Monster energy drinks under their arms.
Marie turned around to grab a few 5 Hour Energies, and when she turned back, the inkling had a cup full of lemon lime slushie and monster energy. Finally, they topped it off with marshmallows from the hot chocolate station.
Marie waited by the counter, ringing up her "latte" and energy drinks. The inkling approached the counter, holding several empty cans their 42-oz "slushie".
"Hey, let me get that for you," Marie called, waving them over. They nodded, trudging over to the counter and dropping their items onto it. Marie was slightly taken aback, although her face was as dead-eyed as ever. Usually, people put up some sort of resistance when she offered to pay for things. Not that she minded, she had more money than she knew what to do with.
The cashier scanned all the items, speaking up after Marie handed them her credit card.
"Hey, you're Marie, right?" They asked, not waiting for an answer before they continued. "I love your music, I've been watching Inkopolis News since 2017! Do you and Callie have any plans of getting back together?"
Marie would have flinched at that, if she wasn't so tired.
"Yeah, I'm working on that," Marie responded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You want an autograph?"
A few minutes later, she was out of the store, drink in hand. The inkling had followed her out, sipping on their extremely fragrant drink.
"What was that about? You famous or something?" They asked as the door closed behind them.
"You want to be a secret agent?" Marie blurted, turning to face them.
Sunken eyes met hers, a blank expression on their face. Marie was sure she looked the same.
"Eh, sure," they responded, shrugging.
"Welcome to the team, agent 4," Marie forced a smile, some of the weight lifting off her chest.