Scaredy Catfish

Man, why did Casper have to suck with a capital 'S'. The answer to that could supposedly be the one as to why he is a piece of capital 'S' shit, too! The only thing about Casper that wasn't capital 'S' worthy was his rank! Hah! 

Domino supposed she couldn't be too hard on him. Had she been dared to spend the night at some stupid place (or dared to do just about anything), she'd have taken the bet, too. If it was something not particularly fun, she'd also drag along her two besties! So it was unfair of the inkling to be mad at Casper. Didn't mean it wasn't fun, though.

Another capital 'S' word came to mind: Stupid. That's what this was, in complete, brutal honesty! So what, it's 'haunted' here. Why did that matter? Ghosts aren't even real, and if they were, it'd be silly of them to try to kill anyone! Or maim! First off, they can't touch anything or anyone. Second, what if we turn into a ghost also! Then it's like... awkward. It'd be so awkward. There's no point. The scariest things in this Depot are the police once they find a bunch of teenagers breaking in to spend the night.

The dark never really frightened Domino. She never exactly... got to experience true darkness. A light luminated from the tips of each of her tentacles, bright and vibrant, white as her ink color. The vibrant light spread through the underside of her tentacles, illuminating the suction cups. The entirety of her hair shone, faintly. Domino had planned the perfect entrance, the perfect greeting to her two friends. 

Or just one of them. Keeping quiet as she slipped through the area, she kept an eye out for her two great pals! Rather than let herself be seen as she slunk by potentially attackers, Domino had taken to wearing a thickly knit beanie, hardly matching the black jacket she'd adorn herself with. At least black went well with a mesh of colors! Stopping once she caught sight of her poor companion, the inkling adorn a wide grin.

She dragged her feet softly against the concrete, thankful for the height advantage she had on him in this location. Slooooowly dragging them, scuffling the ground with a scrape, a scrape that echoed through the night. Getting into a crawl, Domino stopped the scrape, letting silence return as she peaked over the edge of the ledge.

Taking off the beanie, Domino let the two main tentacles droop close to Casper, touching lightly at his shoulders as if they were a ghost's hand. "Caaaaaspeeeeeer" she whispered softly, spookily, just loud enough for him to hear.

It was quiet, set aside the frigid ocean breeze and crashing waves; the sounds seemed to fade into ambience as time passed. Cas tucked his hands into his coat pockets to keep them warm. A part of him wanted to explore - the part of him that wasn't afraid of this place, that is - but he didn't want to risk losing Dom and Iggy if they showed up while he was gone, so he decided to wait.

He didn't have to wait long.

At the sound of what he could only assume were footsteps, he lifted his head and looked around, expecting to see one of his friends - but no one was there, and as quickly as the noise had started up, it stopped. Feeling a hint of unease, he scanned the area around him one more time, but to no avail. That was... odd. It had probably just been an animal or something.

Having successfully put his worries to rest, he leaned back against the wall and tried to get comfortable, tucking the lower half of his face behind the jacket. A few more seconds passed in peaceful silence before he heard it - his name. He was given little more than an instant to react when, in addition to the already very unusual voice, something ghostly white and slightly luminous dropped down at either side of him, grazing lightly against his shoulder. That was all it took.

His heart leaped into his throat and, face twisting with horror, he whirled around, backpedaling instinctively; his shoe caught a stone with his next step, however, and sent him falling helplessly to his back, a strangled outcry rising up from the silence. Hitting the ground with a muffled thud, he remained still for a good moment or two, too dazed to properly escape, when he heard another voice - this time a familiar one. Squinting his eyes open, he lifted his torso up from the ground and rubbed the back of his head, trying to ignore the soreness resonating there. He furrowed his brow, staring up at... Iggy and Dom? 

The confusion upon his face quickly warped with realization, which then became embarrassed realization, which then became indignation. "Dom! What's your deal?! I thought you were a -- I thought you were someone else!"

Catching Domino's glance as Casper gathered his bearings, Iggy shook his head disapprovingly at the mischievous inkling. "Keep that up and we'll be home in thirty minutes," he stated, resisting to roll his eyes as she resumed her taunting. Going home wasn't at all an unpleasant prospect, but then... neither was allowing Casper to lose such a childish dare. Cowardly or not, they were still friends - and no friends of his were going to admit defeat so easily.

They might as well attempt to enjoy their unexpected little rendezvous. 

Pacing languidly nearer to the two of them, Iggy permitted a weary sigh at the sound of Domino's laughter. "Don't look so flustered," he told Cas, tilting his head with a pitying smirk. "You'll just encourage her." Having closed the distance between them, he leaned against a rusted pillar and crossed his arms. "Tonight's gonna suck bad enough without letting Dom get your tentacles in a knot." The remark was spoken with a pointed look the inkling's way, eyebrows furrowed in playful accusation. 

"Enjoying yourself yet, you little brat?"

Ah, yes, these are her friends.

They sucked.

"Oh, I'm enjoying myself, alright!" Lifting herself up into a sitting position, Domino threw her legs over the ledge, kicking them gently. Sticking out her tongue, Domino winked at Casper, grinning still. "This 'startled' lil inksac is plenty of fun, ya know?"

Leaning back, pulling her hands behind her head, the inkling stretched with a grunt. She snugly tugged her knit cap back over her hair, pushing the two longer tentacles behind her ears. 

"Oh Casper, Cas, Cassie Casteroonie Casp, aren't you a little silly. You really think you can prank me here? What're you gonna do, hide behind a crate and shout 'boo'? I thought you were a friendly ghost!" Cackling to herself, Domino hopped down from the ledge, patting her coat as if to remove any dust. "And I'd be careful with who ya' callin' a brat, Iggers, if we end up having to hide somewhere, your tall ass will have the disadvantage."

Naturally, his smile didn't last long - in fact, it waned visibly with each horrendous excuse for a nickname that left her lips until eventually it had vanished entirely, replaced by a disgusted grimace. "Don't call me... any of those things ever again," he finally replied, thoroughly repulsed. "Seriously, 'Casteroonie'? That sounds like a disease." Some mild amusement entered his features in the moments following, accompanied by a look of blatant smugness. "And, no, because unlike you, I'm actually good at pranking people. Jump scares aren't really my thing. They take no skill." He grinned.

It was then that he turned his attention to Iggy, whose commentary he dismissed with a casual wave of his hand. "Yeah, well, we're the only ones we have to worry about - no one else is brave enough to step foot here at night. Speaking of which..." He retrieved his phone from his pocket, taking a moment to open an application, and then lifted it into the air before his face, throwing a peace sign with his free hand and grinning crookedly at the camera. When a flash illuminated from the phone, he returned it to his lap to observe the screen, looking pleasantly surprised with the results. "Aaand... Evidence acquired!" His smile broadened. "Devilishly handsome evidence. In your faces!" 

Though visibly rather caught up in doing something on his phone, he hesitated for a moment, as if realizing what Iggy had said, and pointed in his direction without lifting his face, "He's got a point, b-t-dubs. Stealth isn't really your thing."

Giving an absent shrug of agreement at the sound of Casper's remark, Iggy glanced his way only when a bright flash caught his eye. Finding the inkling poised smugly beneath his phone, he stifled a sigh and pointed out, "Aren't you supposed to take victory selfies after you've survived the night? We just got here." Rather than pester Cas any further, he allowed him to continue about his business, seeming satisfied with his friend's agreement. "There you have it."

Domino's counter willed a brief laugh to escape him, but it was dismissed with a passive shake of his head. "That'd work better if you didn't go waving them around." Looking up from the ground moments too late as the sound of approaching footsteps reached him, Iggy hesitated, expression twisting into one of aggravation. This again.

Stiffening as Dom threw her arm carelessly around him, he curled his lip, exceedingly uncaring of the words she spoke next. Iggy's shoulders drew rigidly inward, narrowed eyes burning intently into Domino's. It wasn't until her hand moved to take hold of his neck that he so much as inhaled, eyes closing in a feeble attempt at composure. "Domino," he began, voice low and deliberate, "I... will actually kill you."

"Oooo, I like 'em feisty!" Giggling, Domino released her hand from his throat, patting the inkling's cheek before giving him a wink. Giving the yellow squid some space, Domino sauntered back to Casper, placing her elbow against his shoulder. "You can't be a serial killer with only one target, so good luck runnin', Cassie-boo." 

Glancing around the surroundings, Domino slowly realized... this was going to be so boring. Like, so boring. Leaning against Casper, she shifted one of her tentacles over her shoulder, playing absently with her hair as she took in the surroundings. Yeah, it was spooky, but so what. She didn't have to worry about the dark, nor did she have to worry about 'ghosts'. Or, well, anything. Why would a murderer hang out here. No one really knew they were here, anyways, minus the people who bet on Cas. They'd be fine, and that seemed...

kinda lame.