The troubles of knowing yourself

Well-deserved rest

It was a peaceful afternoon, and Three had taken the day to spend time with Eight. She was lucky to have gotten over when she did, because the moment she got there it started raining. A downright downpour; the biggest storm they'd gotten since before Eight arrived, even.

As it stood, Pearl and Marina were stuck in the studio, and Three was stuck at the idols' house with Eight. Not that either of them minded that particularly much.

Eight had her face pressed up against a window, mesmerized. "Rain is cool..." She said quietly. "I like rain..."

Three gave a tiny laugh from the couch. "It's nice to look at, but remember that it's kinda dangerous when there's this much of it. You'll start to bleed ink if you're out when it's this heavy."

Eight pouted, still staring out the window. "But don't you have protective clothing for that up here? Rain...coats? Marina and Pearl have some of those for situations like this, I think...and umbrellas, too..."

The Inkling nodded. "I mean, yeah, but unless you're wearing something that covers every single inch of you, it's kinda hard to stay totally dry when it's this bad."

Eight gazed up at the gray clouds through the rain-streaked windowpane. "The sky is pretty, at least. I always thought it was just...bright all the time up here. I don't remember much about my life with the other Octarians, but I'd never even heard of weather before I came up here. I love that the sky changes all the time...I love clouds..."

If Three was being honest with herself, she enjoyed watching the rain fall just as much as her girlfriend did. But, in that particular moment...she was paying much more attention to the Octoling herself, with her wistful, awestruck gaze.

A loud crack shook the air, and Eight flew backwards from the window onto her butt. "W-woah!" She yelped, scurrying back over to the couch. She stared at Three, eyes wide with slight panic. "What was that?! Are we under attack?!"

Three shook her head. "No, it was just thunder. When storms are this bad, there's usually a lot of thunder and lightning to go with it."

"Thunder..." The Octoling mumbled to herself, contemplative. "What's lightning then?"

"It's like...a bolt of electricity that comes from the storm clouds. It only lasts a second, but if you're looking for it you might see the lightning strike."

Eight scurried back to the window, staring out into the storm intently.

Three laughed quietly at the sight. She was so curious, and not at all scared of the loud sounds and bright lights. The Inkling had honestly expected her to be intimidated by all the new information, but no. Just wide-eyed and awestruck.

A flash of light caught the Octoling's eye, and she whipped her head around, beaming. "I saw it!! That's so cool, and you said that's normal when you get storms?!"

Three nodded, smiling.

Eight turned back to the window and let out a sigh. "The surface is...magical, Three. Down in the domes, down in the metro, everything was always dark, or fake, or both. But up here...even when it's dark it's...so beautiful. I can't believe I ever thought I could live in a world that wasn't this one."

Three felt her hearts beat just a little faster, and she remembered why she fell in love with the Octoling in the first place. "How much do you remember about the domes?" She asked.

Eight looked back at her, smiled, and walked over to the couch to sit with her girlfriend again. "Hmm...not much. Just that everything always looked the same, day in day out. Most domes were dark, and the ones that weren't always had the exact same light level all the time. I...don't remember anything about being a soldier, sorry."