The troubles of knowing yourself

Close to the heart

"To...meet you nice it is?"

"It is nice to meet you." Eight corrected.

"It is...nice to meet you." Ilkani repeated, frowning a little. "...I don't think I'll need to say that at any point anyway." She grumbled.

Eight gave a light laugh. "Well, it's good to have basic phrases down regardless. But...you're probably right."

"I don't even think I'll need all that nonsensical verb conjugation anyway. As long as I can get the point across, it doesn't matter how proper I sound." She remarked with an eye roll. "That way is danger! Found something! Help!" She chirped out. "See? Who cares about the fine details."

"Fair enough. If it helps, I hear Three isn't doing much better." Eight said with an amused look on her face. "The last time I heard how her lessons from Mr. Cuttlefish were going she said that I was a pretty ink rock?"

Ilkani nearly choked on her own laughter. "Sh-she what?! Where'd she get rock from?!"

"I have no idea!" Eight replied. "Maybe she was trying to compare my hair to a crystal or something! But she knows how to say 'I love you' perfectly. I can only imagine that was the first thing she asked to learn." She laughed quietly at that, cheeks coloring slightly.

Ilkani averted her gaze awkwardly at that. "...oh. Of course. Obviously."

".......yeah." Eight looked away as well. There went that conversation. It was always hard to talk to Ilkani about Three. She didn't quite understand why; Three never minded when she talked about Ilkani to her.

What could they talk about? Eight didn't want to think about Benny lately, it only served to stress her out. But who else, who else...

"...whatever happened to the others?" She began.

Ilkani looked back at her. "Who?"

"...Lumin. And Ingo." Eight replied. "I...remembered something a bit ago, about the picnic when I...first became an elite I think. I remember them, now...but not anything besides the picnic."

The other Octoling's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Well...Lumin went to the concert with you." She began. "It was you, him and Benny who went. He left not long after. You and Benny were still here for a good while before you left. I don't know what happened to Lumin after he disappeared."

Eight looked down. "So he could be in Inkopolis, then...that's good to know." She murmured to herself. 'Or he could've gotten taken by Kamabo.' A nagging thought added. She ignored it. "What about Ingo?"

Ilkani looked away again. "...hm..." She wrung her hands together, looking a bit nervous. "...you probably don't want to know."

Eight's hearts sank at the implication behind that answer, but she pressed. "I...I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know."

"...you'll think less of that friend of yours."

"...no, you're kidding me." Eight murmured in response. "H...how did..."

"...he was stationed in Slimeskin." She replied. "Wrong place at the wrong time...though really, was there even a right place? That Inkling destroyed everything in her path." Ilkani continued. "...don't look at me like that." She murmured after a moment.

The Octoling averted her gaze. "I'm...I'm sorry. I wouldn't have brought it up if I'd known..."

"What? No, I'm not upset. That kinda stuff is just what's to be expected in a war. Folks don't make it out. I just didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd be upset." Ilkani explained. "You're weirdly sensitive about stuff like this, I don't really get it."