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It had been a week since the mermies got back to the mermicorno kingdom, since the kingdom was in ruins, walls that were cracked and decaying, stenches in certain places, crumbling pavement, etc. Our main cast of mermicornos spent most of their time working on rebuilding the place. On this specific occasion, Astra was organizing her pearl talismans. The only problem is that she couldn’t remember which talisman did what. Astra tested them out one by one. Once she figured out what one did, she made a large marker and labeled it, for example. “Upside down talisman” or “animal noises talisman,” she continued with this for about an hour or so.
Gwen, on the other hand, watched Astra from afar. Each mermicorno got one day off from helping around the kingdom, and today was Gwen’s day off. Gwen sat in a corner against a recently fixed wall, and Squishella, who was writing lyrics for her next song in her notebook, which fun fact had Pop-star princess as its cover, sat right next to Gwen. Squishella was such a poor helper that basically every day was her day off; she was only occasionally called to fix things with her singing creative force, so mostly broken walls. Squishella, looking up from her notebook, noticed that Gwen had been staring into space for an unusually long time. And she began to wave her hand in front of Gwen’s face to try and catch her attention.
“Helloooo… Gwen, you there..?”
Gwen didn’t respond.
Well that didn’t work. Squishella thought to herself.
She was slightly annoyed at this point, and in a determined attempt to get Gwen’s attention, she started poking at Gwen’s face, “Earth to Gwen..helloooo.” Gwen snapped out of her daze, swatted Squishella's hoof away.
“DONT TOUCH ME!!” Gwen looked very frazzled. Eye twitching, a fidgety demeanor and a flustered expression.
“Geez… no need to yell,” Squishella decided to ignore Gwen’s outburst because it was pretty typical of her. Squishella, ignoring the interaction, kept writing in her notebook. Every so often, eyeing Gwen, who was now too well aware of her surroundings, I noticed squishella constant eying and felt a bit of embarrassment and annoyance. After a while, Gwen mumbled a sorry, and Squishella simply smiled and nodded back. The two continued to do their thing until Gwen broke the silence once again.
“Hey squish”
“Yeah..?” Squishella pushed her notebook aside.
“You’re best friends with Nautique, right?” There was something about Gwen’s demeanor that seemed a bit more sheepish than usual. I mean, it made sense she was getting better at controlling her emotions, but she’s never been bashful before.
Squishella’s voice heightened at the mention of nautique.“Yup! Have been for two years now.. actually maybe even longer now that I think of it… I wonder how long I’d known Nautique for before the starfall, what if-“
“Alright,” Gwen interrupted. “Like I was saying, if you could describe your relationship with Nautique like... how would you describe it?”
“Well, he’s my best friend, and I care about him a lot.”
“Do you ever get nervous around him?”
“I mean, not really. You’re not supposed to get nervous around your friends.”
“Right..”
They sit in silence for a while before Squishella gets the realization as to why Gwen’s asking this question.
“Aww..Gwen, this is about Astra, isn’t it..?”
“SHUT UP AND KEEP WRITING SQUISHELLA!!!” Gwen yelled.
“THAT'S WHY YOU WERE SO DEFENSIVE EARLIER!!”
“Stop it!!” Gwen mumbled.
“You were thinking about her, weren’t you~” Squishella started snickering to herself like a child. Squishella noticed Gwen’s self-conscious expression and decided to stop giggling, genuinely feeling bad for making her friend look so sad. However, this empathy is soon to fade away as Squishella loves to taunt Gwen.
Gwen’s voice softens, “I-is it weird that I get really, really nervous around Astra.. am I a freak or something..?”
“I mean in which way..? You know, there are different meanings for freak, right~?” Squishella sneered
“YOU’RE SO WEIRD OH MY HORNS!!”
“Oh come on, Gwenifer, you know I’m just kidding! A girl can’t make a joke anymore!!”
“You know I hate it when you call me that!!” Gwen said, gritting her teeth.
Squishella, who is gasping for air at this point from laughing, finally gets her composure.“Alright, alright, I’ll stop… Well, we all know you're in love with Astra.. soo I don’t think you’re a freak for it or anything.”
“WHAT! WHO-WHO TOLD YOU!”
“that you deeply in love with Astra? I think it was obvious, little miss, ‘I love you to the moon and back.’”
“HOW MANY PEOPLE KNOW?!?” You could almost see the color drain from her face (as if there were any color in her face to begin with).
“I dunno… like EVERYONE!!”
“WAS IT REALLY THAT OBVIOUS!!”
Squishella begins to playfully mock Gwen. “Duhh, do you ever get nervous around your best friend? YES, IT WAS OBVIOUS!!!”
“Damn..”
“Yeah, I’m surprised Astra hasn’t figured it out yet,” squishella deadpanned.
“Do you think I have a chance with her.. I mean, she’s so smart and pretty and I-“
squishella shushes Gwen “oh my mines..lesbians are corny..”
“SHUT UP, SQUISHELLA! NOW I'M EMBARRASSED!!” Gwen turns away from Squishella and crosses her arms. Grumpily mumbling to herself.
“Ugh, Gwen… you know I didn’t mean it… and yes, I think you have a chance with Astra.”
Gwen excitedly turns around and cheerfully yells out, “YOU REALLY THINK SO!!” Give a wide and enthusiastic smile.
Squishella bursts out laughing, and Gwen’s face goes from a smile to a frown at the speed of light. “PFTTTT…” squishella, who is gasping for air at this point, apologizes, “I’m sorry.. I’m sorry, you just look so stupid!!” She continues to giggle and simper, basically rolling on the floor at this point.
Gwen, even more embarrassed than before, begins to yell at Squishella. “I HATE YOU SO MUCH!!” Gwen began to stammer. “H-HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY S-S-STOP!!”
Squishella was still laughing finally caught her breath. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.. It’s just if you told me a couple of months ago that the mermicorno who supposedly took down Blackfin himself was gushing about little old Astra, I wouldn’t believe you!”
“You know I lied about that, right…” Gwen looked to the ground shame-faced faced remembering all the lies she told the Mermi-crew when they went to the ghost town.
“Yes, yes, Gwen, obviously I know you lied, all I’m trying to say is I can’t believe I used to think you were tough!!”
Gwen puts her head in her hooves and groans, “ughhh.. I’ve gone soft.”
“Aww, don’t worry I think it’s cute- and I bet Astra does too!!” Squishella bursts out laughing once again. “BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH” squishella stoping her train of laughing ever so often to catch her breath. “IM SO SORRY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!”
Gwen began grumbling to herself in annoyance and humiliation.
“What’s all the fuss about?” Astra says, appearing from seemingly nowhere, Astra's presence sends shivers down Gwen’s spine.
Gwen, basically falling over, yells in shock. “A-ASTRA w-what are you d-doing here!”
“Oh, I finally finished organizing my pearl talismans! It was not easy- I had to go through each one to find out what they did and-”
“Shit. I could’ve helped you- sorry, I just figured you’d rather do it alone and I-”
“Oh, you're fine... and you’re right, I would rather do it alone! I like doing everything in a specific way, and as I said, I’d get the organizing done faster if I’d done it myself, so there’s really nothing for you to worry about!”
“Y’all are such dorks,” squishella giggles.
“Huh,” Astra tilts her head.
“N-NOTHING! Astra, I need your help debating something.”
“Sure, what is it, squish?”
“We can all agree Gwen’s gone soft, right?”
Astra begins to giggle, “Oh, most definitely!”
“HEY!!” Gwen yelps.
“Oh, don’t be so mad.” Astra's voice softens. “I think it’s cute.”
Squishella playfully nudges Gwen, “See, I told ya.”
Gwen slaps Squishella away from her once again, and Squishella takes it upon herself to be Gwen’s wingman, completely unprovoked.
“Sooooo Astra.. Gwen and I were talking, and she was telling me she was planning on going stargazing tonight right outside the kingdom.”
Gwen, confused, looks at Squishella, “I am...?”
Squishella, gritting her teeth, responds, “Yes, Gwen, you are!” Squishella clears her throat, “like I was saying! She was wondering if you’d like to go stargazing with her.”
“Oh, Gwen, I’d love to! What time should we meet up?”
“U-uh I-uh.. 7:00 pm would be cool t-that’s when the sun goes down, right?”
“Smart thinking, Gwen! We can watch the sunset and the stars! Sounds fun, it’s a date!”
“B-bye Astra!!”
Astra giddily swims off, her face flushed red
Squishella turns to Gwen. “Guess who just got you a date with Astra. This gal!” She points to herself confidently.
Gwen responds, face completely flushed. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!? I WASN’T READY FOR YOU TO-”
Squishella shushes Gwen. “Shhh, it’s okay, a simple thank you will do.”
“I hate you so much, squishella.”
About an hour later, we cut to Astra in her room rocking Pearl Girl to sleep. She then hears someone knocking, she slowly opens the door and whispers, “Whoever it is, please be quiet. I'm trying to get Pearl Girl to sleep.”
Behind the door is Valentina, and Astra notices her stupidly smiling. “I heard about your date with Gwen!”
Astra gestures for Valentina to come in and sets Pearl Girl into her crib. “Oh come on, Valentina, it’s not a date, it’s just a simple get together, that’s it! Gwen and I haven’t been able to get much alone time lately l and what better way than to stargaze together!”
“Squishella told me you literally called it a date.”
“Shit, I didn’t, I..?”
Valentina nods
“So what if a girl gets carried away and calls her hangout with her super platonic best friend a date, why should it be taken so out of context, huh..?”
“Astra in the kingdom records you literally describe Gwen as the love of your life.”
“Well, that was Princess Hana describing Gwen, not me!” Astra sighs, “Oh, what am I saying to her? I totally want her.”
“Yeah, we can tell.”
“What do you mean we...?”
“I mean, everyone knows you too like each other, it’s like totally obvious. Literally everyone’s talking about the date you two are having tonight!”
Astra groans and sits in her bed, “Oh, brother.”
Valentina pulls out a bunch of papers. “I mean, I’ve even written fan fic-”
Astra pushes the papers away from her and laughs nervously. “Alright, I think we get the idea, Val-”
“Okay, anyway, to get to the point.. I’m here because I’ve read a lot about all of you guys in the kingdom records, and you surely wrote a lot about Gwen, so I’m gonna jog your memory on Gwen stuff to help you on this date!”
“Wow, Valentina, I appreciate the help, but I think I’ll be fine without you.”
“Oh come on..it never hurts to be prepared.”
“Fair enough..”
“Alright, first off! Though she’d never admit it, Gwen’s all into that cheesy romance stuff soooo-”
We cut to Gwen freaking out in her room, pacing around and talking to Squishella, who is painting her hooves.
“WHY‘D YOU TELL EVERYONE ASTRA AND I WERE GOING ON A DATE!!” Gwen yells
“Well, because you guys are...” squishella says, her voice muffled because she’s holding the hoof polish with her mouth. (Kinda like how to Earth ponies in my Little Pony write with their mouths)
“Yeah, a friend date! You know, for friends! Y-you told everyone we were going on a real date! I romantic date a. “
“Look, Gwen freaking out isn’t gonna help you! But rehearsing what you're gonna say might!”
“Shouldn’t I just be myself and all that junk..?”
“Oh my horns, you’re hopeless.”
“That’s a new one. Usually, it’s holy mines.”
“I’m trying new things out!!”
Gwen throws herself into her bed and screams into her pillow.
“Oh, calm down, you should be happy I got you a date!”
“I never asked you to,” Gwen grits her teeth
“Self-proclaimed Gwen the gutsy isn’t being really gutsy at the moment, is she?”
“Oh fuck you!”
Gwen’s alarm clock goes off, and her eyes immediately widen. “SHIT! I-I’ve gotta go squishella! W-wish me luck!”
“You’re gonna need it,” squishella mumbles to herself.
Gwen then burst out of her room in a panic and made her way to a little corner outside the gates of the mermicorno kingdom. Gwen then finds Astra sitting down, and she sits right next to her.
“HIII Gwen!”
“H-hey Astra- sorry, am I late..?”
“Nope! I just got here early! You got here right on time,” Astra smiles.
“Well, that’s good.” Gwen takes a deep breath. “I can’t believe you can see the sun shining so bright this deep into the ocean.”
“Yeah..” Astra sighs, “We could go on land to see it better if you want, I mean, technically we’re hand and sea creatures.” Astra flaps her wings.
“No! I mean, that would be great, really. But I’m not ready to go on land yet. I mean, I was barely ready to go back to the mermicorno kingdom! Let alone on land. Plus, last time we weren’t in the ocean, we kinda fell from the sky, so there’s that too, and-”
Astra laughs, “Look, you're fine if you don’t wanna go then you don’t wanna go. There’s no need to justify it or anything. I’m not gonna force you to go out of the ocean! Plus, you’re right, a human might spot up or something.”
“I mean, do humans even know we exist..? O-other than Kameko and her dad obviously- I mean technically Kameko's dad is a turtle, and she’s part turtle, so there’s that.”
“They probably think we are like a myth or something! And who knows! Maybe we have interacted with humans other than Kameko before, and we just don’t remember!”
“Y-yeah, we just don’t remember.” Gwen looks down and sighs.
“You okay..?” Astra looks concerned.
“Yeah, it’s just- I hate the fact we don’t remember anything! It’s like a whole chunk of our lives is just gone-“
“Yeah.. it really sucks, I always wonder what life was like before the starfall being a princess and all.” Astra looks down. “P-princess Hana… that name feels so foreign to me, and yet we’re the same person. I get snippets of who I used to be, but I’ll never be able to get the full picture. I get snippets of talismans I used to make pages I would write in my diary, giving Valentina direct quotes to put in the mermicorno records.. conversations I used to have with you.. but I’ll- I'll never know the real me! And you’ll never know the real you either! It’s like we’re completely different people now! I mean you- I’ll never get to know the version of you that didn’t have trauma from ebb and flow- and you’ll never know the version of me who was a princess! We’ll never know the versions of Nautique and Squishella before the starfall. We’ll never know how Riptide and Sun-Sprite were. We’ll never get to know Sawtooth pre-Ika or the version of Valentina who isn’t socially awkward because she was stuck in a room by herself for two years! They’re all gone- and I feel like I’m to blame… I’m the one who suggested creating the ultimate talisman, which drained all our memories in the first place. I told Valentina to stay in her library. I didn’t realize we were losing our memories fast enough, and I never got to tell Sawtooth anything! I mean, I was stupid enough to trust Squishella with my diary! And worst of all..” she grabs Gwen’s hooves “I-i I wasn’t there for you when you lost your memories..”
Gwen looks down at her hooves and blushes. “W-well, that time I got to be there for you.. a-and don’t blame yourself for all that stuff! Hell, all I told you was-" Gwen puts on a funny mocking voice “duhh protect pearl girl your hearts are linked or whatever!” Gwen laughs to herself. “I didn’t even tell you your own name!”
“W-well, that’s different, you were under a lot of pressure!”
“And so were you.” Gwen scoots closer to Astra, making Astra blush a deep red. “So please… don’t blame yourself…”
Astra sulks over Gwen’s closeness. Astra sighs as the two mermicornos sit in silence. Gwen, a few minutes later, breaking up the tension, “soooo how’s Pearl Girl?”
“She’s fine. Nautique is taking care of her right now. Why do you ask?”
“I was just thinking about her. In t-the most respectful way possible because I know she’s your sister and all I-I’m kinda scared of her.” Gwen takes off her ice crown and begins to nervously fidget with it.
“Why..? It’s not like she’s still possessed by Ika or the stars or anything.”
“Y-yeah, I know it’s just- when you watch her kill your best friend, it kinda messes you up.. you know..?”
“Fair enough, but- s-she’s changed! She’s not like that anymore, and we’re safe now!” Astra smiles. “Uh oh, looks like I’m gonna turn to stone again!!” Astra giggles to herself, finding her joke very humorous.
“D-DONT JOKE ABOUT THAT!!” Gwen raises her voice by accident and quickly covers her mouth in embarrassment. “I- just… It’s just I’m scared I’m gonna lose you again! I can’t lose you again! You’re my best friend.”
The two watch the sun set over the horizon, and the stars are finally coming up; they shine through the ocean like beams of light, and Gwen watches in awe before her Entrancement with the stars gets interrupted by one of Astras ' bursts.
“AND YOU DON'T THINK IT MESSED ME UP WHEN I ALMOST LOST YOU!”
Gwen, breaking out of her daze, responds with a simple “w-what..?”
“YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ALMOST TURNT INTO A SQUIDION!!”
“Oh come on, that wasn’t that bad.. I mean, in the end, you saved me, which I really appreciate by the way… like I REALLY REALLY appreciated it.” Gwen subconsciously gets closer to Astra, slightly yearning for her touch but not saying anything.
“I watched acidic black goop slowly infest your body as you whimpered in pain, yelling, “Astra, don’t worry about me, save Pearl Girl!” It wasn’t just nothing!”
Gwen mumbles to herself, “Nobody ever talks about how much it hurts to be Squidified... it felt like my insides were bleeding.” Gwen shudders in disgust from the memory. “B-but that’s not the point! At least I didn’t actually die!! You… you did die.. i-i.. I watched my best friend die because I couldn’t save her in time! How pathetic is that? I was too slow to save you. WHEN HAS THAT EVER BEEN A PROBLEM FOR ME! pfft.. I can’t believe you died because of me.”
“YOU’RE ACTING LIKE IT'S YOUR FAULT WHICH IT ISN’T, GWEN. NOBODY COULD’VE SAVED ME FROM THAT. IT WAS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE!!”
Gwen laughs to herself, “and the worst part is I wasn’t even the one to save you.. I-it was squishella and her dumb song, I can’t believe I-i wasn’t even the one to save you. It was Sawtooth and Squishella’s dumbass song that saved you. I-i I didn’t help at all- all I did was cry like an idiot- if it weren’t for them..” Gwen put her face in her hooves in humiliation. “Y-you wouldn’t be here, Astra!”
“Gwen..”
Gwen’s voice breaks. “In so sorry.”
Astra grabs Gwen’s face, leading her to look up at her. “I-I guess we both have something to feel guilty about, huh..” Astra gives a weak smile.
Gwen, breathing heavily, smiles back and nods. “Yeah..” Gwen then realizes that at this current moment, Astra is literally holding her face, and in a flustered attempt to do something about it, she grabs Astra and embraces her, as a way to somehow self-soothe. Gwen then realizes how dorky she must look and immediately pulls away, blushing in shame and embarrassment. She mumbles a bunch of swear words to herself before looking back at Astra and trying to explain herself. “I d-don’t know what got over me I-i mean I hate hugs.” Gwen nervously chuckles and turns away, incredibly embarrassed.
“You’re fine.. I’m not like mad at you for hugging me! A-and uh Gwen-“
Gwen turns around. “Y-yeah Astra”
“I-I love you, okay- I love you a lot, and I’m glad you invited me to watch the stars with you.”
“Oh! Uh.. I-I” Gwen’s face flushes red “I love you too, Astra..”
Astra looks away from Gwen, and her voice gets a little softer and quieter than before. “I don’t think you get it.. I really love you, Gwen… I-i I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way towards anyone before, to be honest.”
Gwen started nervously picking at the seaweed next to her. “I-I I feel the same I-uh YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND… AND I-” Gwen said, stammering.
Astra Interrupts Gwen, her words having the tone of a long sigh. “t-that’s just the problem… I-i I think I like you more than a best friend…”
“Uhhh, like a super best friend..?” Gwen genuinely looked confused.
“NO YOU IDIOT! Like I wanna date you!” Astra put her head in her hooves, feeling the adrenaline in her blood rush through her body as she eagerly waited for Gwen’s response.
Gwen’s heart started beating a mile a minute, and she gave a cheesy grin. “I can’t believe you confessed before I could! I mean, I’m supposed to be the brave mermicorno!”
Astra looks up at Gwen. “Does that mean you like me back..?”
Gwen began to giggle, and she hugged Astra tighter than ever. “Yes, it does.”
“You’re such an idiot I can’t believe I fell in love with you twice.”
Gwen pulls away from the hug.“What do you mean, twice?”
Astra chuckles to herself, “I mean, let’s be honest, there was definitely some tension between us before the starfall.”
Gwen’s face flushes bright red, and she covers her face, feeling slightly ashamed of how easily flustered she gets.
“T-true most of my flashbacks are just a compilation of me telling you I love you!”
“Yeah..” Astra sighs
The two sit in silence together, enjoying each other's company.
“You know, Astra, I-i I’m really glad I met you. You’ve changed my life. I mean, if you had told me a year ago that I’d meet someone as amazing as you, I’d laugh in your face!”
“What was it like..?”
“W-what..”
“I-i mean, what was it like being alone for so long? I-i never got the full story of what happened to you after the starfall.”
“I-I remember losing you, and when the starfall was happening, and everyone was gone, I remember telling myself a bunch of things to remember, my name, my birthday, my this, my that, basic stuff and then it all went black. And from that point on, I hadn’t really remembered anything from before the starfall, as you know, I hung out with Ebb and Flow for a bit, but they eventually left me. I think I was by myself for about a year. I got into a lot of trouble that year, sneaking into people's homes for shelter, scraping for food. I was just struggling to survive. For a year, I remember those cold nights sleeping alone. I remember the guilt. I think that was the worst of it. The guilt of what I had done. I-i felt like a monster, I’d never seen any creatures that looked like me. I-I I’d never seen anything or anyone like me! So I think when I first met you and the rest of the crew, I was bitter, I mean, you got a castle and squishella, and Nautique had each other, and I had nothing! I mean, I don’t doubt it was hard for you, but-“
“Gwen.. you don’t need to justify yourself, I get it, I mean I don’t get it, but I get it, you know..?”
Gwen smiled and put her head on Astras's shoulder, slightly nuzzling into it. “What was life like for you, Astra..? After the starfall, I mean.”
“I’ve always had problems with my identity, and I think that- o don’t know! It’s just after the starfall, I felt so insecure in who I was. I mean, I had Pearl Girl and Royal Mother Pearl to comfort me, but I had no one who looked like me. And considering my situation, I had it good! But no matter what, I felt like my life was missing someone
. I always felt like there was some imaginary person who was meant to be in my life but wasn’t there… It’s like finishing a puzzle but then losing one of the middle pieces. Something was always off, and then I met you! It’s like everything after that clicked. And that’s why I was so sad when you told me you didn’t wanna be my friend. I mean, I was just so drawn to you; everything clicked when you were around. I can’t stress enough how much you changed everything.”
“Aww, Astra,” Gwen giggles before she gets stabbed with memories of how she acted pre-character Development. “Now I feel bad about being such a shit head towards you when we first met.” Gwen gave a crooked smile, her body slightly uneasy.
Astra quickly returned to her usual flirtatious Nature. “It’s fine, I like a bit of a challenge anyway!”
Gwen pulled away from Astra, “DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT YOU WERE DO!!” The two started laughing hysterically. And continued to crack jokes for the rest of the night.
Until finally, the two felt a wave of exhaustion float over them. Gwen found herself lying in Astra's lap, and Astra found herself playing with Gwen’s hair. The two new it was time to turn in for the night, but neither wanted to leave the other. Gwen was addicted to Astras' touch. The thought of leaving felt like a plague on her mind. Astras, on the other hand, was hoping this moment wouldn’t ever end. It felt good to be vulnerable and confide in someone, and the thought of leaving felt awful. And yet sadly, the night had to end. Gwen was practically forcing herself off Astra, her body begging to lie on Astra for just a bit longer. “We should probably head back to our rooms, huh..?”
Astra groaned. “I don’t wanna…” Astra grabbed Gwen by the hoof.
Gwen, enjoying feeling the heat of Astras body (get it, cause she’s always cold, I’m soooo funny), sighed. “Hey Astra, do you know what the time is?”
Astra stood up, opening the door to the mermicorno kingdom, only to see a giant grandfather clock placed on one of the walls. Astra squints, trying to read it, the time being 12:00 AM?!? Astra told Nautique she’d be back by ten!! He’s gonna kill her! Astra picked her head to the outside of the kingdom where Gwen was sitting. “I-I’m sorry, Gwen, I-I’ve got to go!! I forgot that Nautique babysitting Pearl girl, and he’s gonna be so mad I left him alone with her for so long!! I-I’ll see you tomorrow, Okay!!” Astra dashed to her room as fast as possible, and Gwen slowly got up and dragged herself to her own room just to be met by Squishella still hanging out in Gwen’s room, this time working on song lyrics again.
“Soooo how did it go..?” Squishella said, smirking.
Gwen plopped on her bed, tiered as ever. “I think I have a girlfriend now, so there’s that.”
Squishella’s face lit up, “TELL ME EVERYTHING!!” Squishella waited eagerly for a response, only to find Gwen loudly snoring sound asleep in her bed.
the end.
EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
As Astra rushed her way back to her room, she anxiously thought of how mad Nautique was gonna be. How could she lose track of time so easily? She’s usually great at keeping up with her Schedules!!! Astra finally made it to her room and opened to door panting.
“NAUTIQUE I'm SO SORRY!! I don't KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I JUST LOST TRACK OF TIME AND-“
She was met by Nautique and Pearl Girl coloring together. “Hey Astra! Pearl girl and I were just coloring! How was it?”
“It was uh… good.. Gwen and I had a great time.”
“That’s wonderful! The Time has really flown by hanging out with Pearl Girl! He picked her up… gee, am I tired! Oh, Astra, what’s the time by the way…?”
“U-uhh.. 10:00pm..”
“I could’ve sworn it felt later! I thought you had come to your room late or something, but it seems you came back right on the dot! Pearl girls honestly a lovely kid, and I had an amazing time babysitting her! Isn’t that right, Pearl Girl!!” Nautique affectionately messed up Pearl Girl's hair, and Pearl Girl began to babble and giggle. “Alright, well I’ll be out of your mane!” Nautique walked out of Astras's room. “Night Astra!!” Nautique enthusiastically slammed the door and walked to his room. He paused back to Astra, a mix of guilt and pride on her expression for getting away with a lie such as this one. She began to whisper to herself.
“I’m taking this to the grave.”