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As soon as the recording for the FrostyFest results announcement ended, Big Man looked over the studio TV at Shiver, his fins tapping anxiously against its sides. "Ay, ay? (Hey, Shiver, we're cool, right?)" he asked. "Ayy. (The book rec wasn't a dig at you, I swear.)"
Shiver sighed, leaning on the kendai desk in front of her. "Yeah... yeah, we're good, Big Man." Resting her chin in her hand, she muttered, "mine was kind of a dig at you... sorry about that."
"Ay. (Nah, it's fine, I get it.)" Big Man shook his head and smiled. "Ay. Ayy. (Water under the bridge. I was serious about lending you the book, though.)"
"Wait, there's a real book called The Loneliest Shark? That wasn't a joke?" Frye asked with a tilt of her head.
"Ay! Ay ayy. (Yeah, it's real, and it’s really good too! It's about a shark from the bad part of town befriending an angelfish from a prestigious family.)"
"Oh snap, that sounds right up Shiver's alley!" The inkling looked at Shiver expectantly.
"It really does sound like something I'd enjoy," the octoling admitted, tapping her closed sensu fan against the kendai absentmindedly. "I'm genuinely surprised I haven't heard of it. I'm usually on top of any shark related media."
"Ay! Ay ay... (It's an older book, kind of an underrated gem! I meant to recommend it to you when I finished reading it, but that was right before our anniversary Splatfest...)"
"And we haven't really had a moment to breathe since then," Shiver completed the thought glumly.
"Well, now we have a whole week off, so we’ll be breathing plenty!" Frye declared, planting her hands on her knees. "And I'm sorry Big Man, I know you won, but I ain't goin' solo. I have some cute little siblings to love on."
"Ayy!! (Of course, I was never going to stop you from seeing your family!!)" Big Man cried, aghast. "Ay?! (What kind of friend would I be if I did that?!)"
"The absolute worst friend. But lucky for me, that ain't you," Frye grinned toothily. "I'm still holding you to getting me those boxing manuals, though."
"Ay... ay. (Whew... got it.)"
"Oh, and Shiver, you’re coming with."
Shiver blinked in surprise. She straightened back up and looked at the inkling to her left, her visible eye as wide as a saucer. "I—I'm sorry, what?"
"You're coming to stay with me and my fam, duh," Frye said cheerfully, not missing a beat. "You don't wanna be home alone all week while me and Biggie do our thing, yeah? So you're coming with."
Shiver opened and closed her mouth, at an uncharacteristic loss for words. "But—what—but your family, would they even want me th—"
Frye elbowed Shiver gently (well, as gently as Frye could elbow anyone). "Shiv, come on, our families have been super tight since forever! And ever since we became best friends in middle school we've been hanging in each other's cribs and having sleepovers all the time! At this point, you and Big Man are just as much my family as my little brother and sisters are."
"Ayy! (Awww, Frye!)" Big Man beamed.
Shiver, still awestruck, opened her fan, hiding the lower half of her face. It wasn’t going to hide the color rising to her cheeks from her best friends, but the production jellies and the fans looking at them from the other side the studio's large window didn't need to see that. "Thank you, Frye," she said quietly. "I... I accept your invitation."
Frye rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, tell us how you really feel," she grumbled good-naturedly, throwing her arm over Shiver's shoulders. Shiver ducked her head further behind the fan, and Frye smirked at the sight of the octoling's ears growing redder. If the small burbly chuckle from behind the studio TV was any indication, Big Man noticed it too.
"You'll see, Shiver, we're gonna have so much fun! Baba is gonna make us his awesome fish curry, we'll destroy my little bro in Super Maguro Kart, maybe we'll go to the library with my sisters and find you more shark books..." Frye gushed, practically bouncing with excitement. "And hey, Big Man, you know you're invited too, right?" She pointed at the manta ray with her free hand. "When you get tired of bein' all on your lonesome, you're totally welcome to join us and my fam."
Big Man sighed. "Ay ay... ay. (I don't like to admit it, when I won with Team Solo and all, but... I'll probably get tired of it at some point, yeah.)"
"You'll definitely get tired of it," Frye corrected him.
He laughed. "Ay ayy. (Thanks, Frye, I'll let you know when I'm all solo'ed out.)"
Frye leaned towards Shiver and stage-whispered conspiratorially, "he's gonna get so sad and lonely in like four days, tops. He's gonna call us crying and beg to come over because he misses us soooo much—"
"Ay... (Frye...)"
"What? That's what happened last time! When we all moved out after high school and me and Shiver got our place together and you tried to live in your own apartment for a month and couldn't take it?"
Behind her fan, Shiver managed a giggle.
Big Man coughed loudly. "A-ay!!! Ay! (A-anyway!!! Shiver!)"
Shiver startled, snapping her fan shut reflexively. "Huh?"
"Ay, ay? (I meant to ask, when's your coupons' expiry date?)"
Shiver gulped. "Uh. What coupons? I don’t know anything about any coupons."
Frye poked Shiver's cheek playfully. "Come on, ya goober, the jig's been up for like, a week. Tell us about the coupons."
"I... I don’t..." Shiver's eyes darted between her partners; both looked very amused and entirely unimpressed with her weak protests.
She pouted. "Ugh, fine... they’re all valid through July."
"Ay! (Oh, perfect!)" Big Man exclaimed. "Ayy, ay? (I think we can schedule another week off sometime during Fresh Season, so how about the three of us take advantage of those coupons then?)"
Frye’s eyes lit up. "Hey, yeah! Great idea, Big Man!" She squeezed Shiver’s shoulder warmly. "See, Shiv, we can do your holiday after all! Bowling and karaoke and that awesome all-you-can-sweet buffet... and maybe since you have even more time to plan it, we can coupon up a secret fourth thing even? Me and Big Man can help!"
"Ay!"
For a long moment, Shiver just looked at them silently. Then, she opened her fan and brought it up to hide her face again, but this time she turned her head away from Frye and Big Man entirely, towards the other end of the studio. Then, they heard a sniffle. The two exchanged concerned looks.
"Uh, Shiver? You good?"
"Ay...? (Did we do anything wrong...?)"
To their surprise, Shiver chuckled. "No," she said, and though her voice quavered, they could practically hear her smile. "You did everything right."
Relieved, Frye and Big Man wasted no time leaving their spots and ushering Shiver off the set, with Frye yelling that they were going to take "like, ten, maybe fifteen minutes—actually make it twenty" at the general direction of the confused production jellies. The three of them had a dressing room to be in and some big group hugs that were a long time coming to engage in; and Shiver needed a place where she could cry and laugh and let all her emotions run free, to be seen only by her two favorite people in the whole world.