Marina tilted her head at the object in Pearl's hands. "And you're saying he requested this himself?"

Pearl nodded, tilting the object around as well. "Yeah...and then he called me a queen, which was...weird. Like I know all my branding is Princess themed but he seemed serious and...I dunno. It's weird."

Marina chuckled and flicked the empty space on Pearl's head where her crown usually sat. "Maybe you were wearing the crown and he interpreted it literally?"

The Inkling frowned. "Y'know, now I don't remember. Maybe." She looked up, the pair having arrived at the Salmonid in question's door. She knocked.

"Oh!! Ah, um, who is it?" Called a voice that was definitely not Deco.

"Meep?" Pearl questioned.

"Oh, hey Pearl! You can come in!" Meep called back.

Pearl shrugged. Eh, she was probably just hanging out with him and Benny. It wasn't like it was too weird in the grand scheme of things.

But then she pushed the door open and was met with a messy scene.

A large tarp covered most of the floor, and on top of it was a canvas. The canvas too was large, large enough that someone could comfortably walk around on it. And they knew that, because that's exactly what Benny was doing.

His feet were covered in paint, layered in different colors the further up his foot you went, but currently dark blue. The canvas was covered in footprints.

Marina and Pearl stared in mild confusion, and the Octocopter stared back with an embarrassed expression.

"Uh...h-hi." He murmured.

Marina was the first to reply, and her lips curled up in a slight smile. "Well, you guys look like you're having fun in here."

Benny gave a sheepish nod. Deco nodded as well, giving a proud smile. "Ye! Friend Benny good at art!"

Pearl wouldn't call herself an artist, that was more Marina's department, but the current product of Benny's efforts was...rough. She didn't voice said observation, because she wasn't a jerk. "Where'd you guys get all this stuff, anyway?" She inquired instead.

Meep gave a faint laugh. "I bought it! I was saving up turf war money after Benny said he used to make pictures with his ink back underground. Wanted to give him another opportunity! With more color options!"

Benny gave another sheepish nod. "I-it's not very good, I'm not really an expert, b-but I am having fun."

Marina shook her head. "No, it's good!" She argued. "You're working with the tools available to you, limited though they might be, and making something out of it! It's admirable, and impressive."

Benny's face went flushed blue at the praise. "O-oh! Really..? You think so?"

"Ye! Agree! Got determination, drive! Talent! Passion! Benny good!" Deco shouted in agreement, slapping his fins together.

Meep clapped as well. "Yeah, go Benny! I'm proud of you!"

Benny let out a squeaky noise. "Aaa, guys, stop being so nice, I'm gonna explode! You gotta let finish my drawing before I die of embarrassment!" He tapped his feet in place, leaving a few new dark blue splotches on the canvas.

Pearl couldn't help but grin at the display. It was nice seeing Meep and Benny together, and honestly Deco was a much more positive presence in the little pod than she'd been expecting. The three were very good friends for each other.

Speaking of Deco... "Oh, uh, yeah, before I forget, I decided to just deliver this personally." She held up the heat pad. "Had the time for it."

Deco's eyes widened. "Oh! Deco thank Queen. Egg appreciate." He slithered across the floor, around the canvas, and reached for the heat pad. His fins were shaky, hesitant, like he was afraid of touching her or something. She just placed it in his fins and removed her hands. He clutched it tight to his chest and nodded, returning to his bed.

He crouched, and then flung himself up onto the bed, placing the heating pad down before rooting his snout under the blankets. Soon enough, he retrieved the egg.

Neither Pearl nor Marina had gotten a decent look at the egg before that moment, as the Salmonid did not take it with him when he left the room. But the surface was shiny, metallic, and stiff-looking.

Like it was made of gold, and not the translucent material a real golden egg was made of.

Marina opened her mouth to comment, but Pearl reached out for her hand and stopped her. Meep and Benny had already advised them against it, and they weren't about to start something. Marina sighed.

Deco set the heating pad beside the egg, switched it on, and set the egg on top. Then, he arranged the blankets around it so it was once again sheltered. He nodded. "Ye. Good better."

Benny smiled up at him. "That looks much warmer!"

Deco nodded with pride. "Only best for Deco egg."

Benny grinned wider, and went back to his wet stomping on the canvas. Deco and Meep watched with rapt attention, and for a few more minutes, so did Pearl and Marina. Wasn't like they had much else to do that day.

"Mmmmmm...I'm guessing....stars?" Meep spoke up.

"Nope!" Benny replied.

Meep frowned. "Huh. Hm. That was the only thing that came to mind."

Deco tilted his head a bit, observing the Octocopter's process.

After a few more steps, Benny stopped, and stepped away from the middle, allowing the art to be fully visible. It was a gradient of blue and green, sections of brown, and specks of yellow-white.

Deco suddenly shouted. "Ah!! Deco know! Deco know!"

Benny grinned wide. "Yeah?"

"Glowfly swarm!! Big bad Glowfly night!"

"Yeah, exactly! I knew you'd recognize it!" He cheered. "Considering you were there all those times I saw this, I had a feeling you'd probably be more familiar with it than Meep. Sorry Meep."

Meep pouted, but only for a moment before she chuckled. "Aw man, rigged! No fair!"

"That's...really good, actually." Marina said quietly, but when Benny looked up at her with big eyes, she continued louder so they all could hear her better. "I mean it. This is...abstract, in a technically impressive way, and your color choices invoke both beauty and fear. Am...I'm reading that right, right?"

Benny blushed again. "I...was scared, the first time I saw them. Would've probably died without Deco there. You can really tell that, just from my colors??"

"I studied a lot of art and color theory, because I'm an artist too." Marina explains. "You've got lots of potential and it's already showing!"

"A-ah, wow, that's, that's really nice of you, Miss Marina!" He stammered in embarrassment. "I'll...! I'll keep doing art, then! I'll improve and make you proud!"

Marina chuckled. "I'm sure you'll do great! Let's go, Pearlie. Didn't you want to show me something earlier?"

Pearl snapped to attention, turning and closing the door with a wave to the three inside. Her reply was muffled, but Meep heard her mention something about a 'new band with a weird name.'

Benny sat himself down on a blank space on the canvas. Meep began cleaning the paint off one of his feet, and Deco hopped down from the bed to clean the other.

The Salmonid squinted at him. "Why friend Benny blue-face?"

Benny made a face. "N-no reason."

Meep frowned. "Benny...do you have a crush on Marina or something? Please don't, she's already in a relationship and they're both my moms."

Immediately the blush faded, and he looked at her with wide-eyed alarm. "Crush?! No, no that's weird! I would never! That's super weird, actually, that's gross, never say that!"

Meep held back a laugh at his exaggerated reaction. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I just wanted to check! Why were you blushing, then, if not that?"

He looked down. "I...well, maybe you don't remember this, but...she was the first Octoling to leave."

"I remember that, yeah."

"So...I've always kinda looked up to her. She's...hm. She used to be my hero, I think. Haven't thought about her that way for a while, but hearing her say such nice things about me just then...it's like...'wow, this is incredible! Marina Ida herself thinks my silly artwork is good! Maybe I can die happy!'"

Deco pouted. "Don't die. Not want."

"I won't, I just...it feels nice. I don't think it really hit me until just now that Marina Ida herself is in this house. Like, I live in the same house as Marina Ida. Gosh."

"You've been here for months, Benny."

He laughed. "I know, it's been a while, I just...well, I've never spoken with her one-on-one before...so it didn't quite click."

Meep nodded in understanding, and removed the damp towel from Benny's foot, finally done cleaning. Deco was done a few moments later, and the three took a few steps back to admire Benny's work.

Meep smiled, and rested her hand atop his head. "She was right. It really is a nice picture."