Nori Drabbles

“I’m so excited” Nori chimed bouncing on her heels as they waited for the helicopter. After weeks of begging Vahn finally agreed to allowing Nori on a Salmon Run. It was a week before her first turf war and he figured in the field expirence would be good for her. This was also the first time he had ever seen her with a different ink color. Other than a few years back at one of her concerts. Bright orange that faded into white at the tips of her hair. Her eyes and wings had changed slightly as well. 

“If it gets overwhelming just come back towards me ok?” Vahn told her getting a nod back. 

“Please this will be easy! Training for turf war! But I will.” 

Vahn half smiled still in coach mode but she was being cute. Like a kid on their first turf. He supposed that this was her first turf. Sure as an idol Nori had performed at previous Splatfests but had never been in one herself. Honestly Vahn knew little about her childhood since it was so hidden from the public. It wasn’t something he would pry into. If she didn’t want to share he wouldn’t ask. The chopper landed outside with a loud hum and Nori ran ahead with the other crew. 

It was just another salmon run.

How bad could it be?

The answer was it was at least shocking. As they returned back to Inkopolis, Nori had been rather quiet. First salmon run and a king salmon appeared- Not only that but her ink had reverted back to white towards the end of the run making traveling much more difficult. Nori played with the ends of her hair, wings dripping orange ink every few seconds. Oddly quiet compared to how excited she was at first. Vahn bought her a drink from a nearby vendor before moving with her to sit on a bench. 

“Drink this it will help balance your ink levels.” Nori looked at the drink placed in her hands before popping it open and taking a sip. Vahn watched her wings change color again before forcing themselves back to white. Albino inklings were not common for a reason. Most tended to die in childhood. But the Maki bloodline was known for having Albino offspring as the heirs to the company. 

“…That was fun.” Nori finally whispered. A smile returning to her face. She sipped the drink feeling a little better with something in her system. Maybe she wasn’t going to get ink poison afterall! “Thank you for taking me! We should do it again sometime!”

“Maybe maybe- I think we need to work on how long you can hold a color for first.”

“Mm…” Nori bit her lip a surge of pain going through her side. Right. Her ink reverting back in the last wave was a pain. She coughed and shook her head at herself, “We can work on that yes.” 

“Ready to go back?” Vahn asked slowly turning to see a group of younger inklings staring at Nori. Some had cameras out probably filming her. He stepped to the side blocking their view before looking back down at Nori. She looked pale. “Keep drinking, Nori”

“…I…” Nori started tapping her fingers on the can, “I can’t get up.”

“What? Are you ok? Did you hurt your leg?” Vahn crouched down, checking over her legs before looking up at her. There were tears in her eyes. Did he hurt her on accident? Did she break something?

“we need to go back.” 

“Nori we should take you to a doctor-”

“I didn’t break anything just… get me home.” Nori whispered composing herself as she looked up to the cameras watching her and smiled. “Hi!” A few of her fans waved back in response. The crowd buzzing about her sudden public appearance. Vahn was slowly putting things together. She’s sick. She needs to get out of public view. She has an image to maintain. Vahn carefully helped her stand letting her use him to walk. As they reached the tram station back to her estate Vahn picked her up to let her legs rest.

“What's wrong?” Vahn asked as they boarded the tram. 

“I think I have ink poisoning.” Nori whispered weakly pinching herself to stay awake. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to a doctor?”

“Ha… no please. My last manager always said its best to take care of it at home… family rules as well. Can’t be seen sick in public. It hurts the image.” Nori felt her eyes closed before pinching herself again. “You’re warm.”

“You’re freezing.” Vahn wished that she took her jacket like normal as he didn't have a good way to keep her warm. “I’ll take care of you at home then. We’ll have to pull you from the turf war.”

“No! No i’ll be fine by then!” Nori reassured patting his hand, “please don’t pull me-”

“Your health is my priority. As your coach and manager. There’s only one of you. There's plenty of other turf wars you can do later.” Vahn squeezed her hand carefully brushing away her tears. 

“…I really want to…” Nori whimpered trying to keep her composure. She hated crying. She was such an ugly crier. But she hated being sick more. She grimaced at another pain, “ow… I don’t feel good.”

“You’ll be ok.” Vahn reassured even if he himself was unsure. Dripping wings, orange ink, cold as ice. He didn’t know anything about her condition. Ink poisoning wasn’t something taught on the turf. For now all he could do was hold her and try to keep her warm till they got back. 

The tram stopped and a bell rang. Vahn quickly got her inside only to have her jump from his arms and run off. A door shut down the hall but a trail of white and orange ink led him to her. Vahn cracked open the bathroom door slightly, stepping in to hold her hair back as she threw up. So much for balancing ink levels. She paused sitting back on her heels before flushing the toilet and trying to clean her face. Vahn already had a towel for her, gently cleaning it for her. 

“Better?” Vahn asked but hearing a soft laugh from Nori followed by a cheeky smile he doubted it.

“Mm not yet but you can kiss it better.”

Vahn froze towel still on her cheek. What. His heart stopped as he stared back at her. Nori… was so… He cleared his throat before wiping her mouth. “We- we should get you to bed.” Vahn stammered picking her up again to take her upstairs. 

Nori sighed as she was put in bed pointing to a trash can in her room, “imma need that. You can go now if you want. I’ll pay you more for today.” Nori closed her eyes listening as Vahn moved it closer.

“No it’s fine. You don’t need to pay me more.”

“No I will. You weren’t required to do any of this once we got home.”

“I’m your coach and your manager. Your health is my top priority.”

Vahn met her eyes. She hesitated to say anything else before closing hers again.

“Ok… but alright… I’ll see you tomorrow at training then.” Nori smiled gently taking his hand for a second before hiding back under the covers. 

“…Good night Nori.” Vahn sat on her bedside till he was sure she was asleep. He needed to research. Slowly standing he tip toed from the room grabbing his clipboard from his own and his laptop before heading back to hers. Vahn pulled up an armchair to the side of Nori’s bed, looking up anything he could about her condition. Ink poisoning. A condition where the body rejects any ink other than its base. That was seen in her wings… Vahn continued to research that late into the night before eventually falling asleep at her bedside.

Vahn woke up first the next morning. Seeing Nori fast asleep was good. Ink poisoning could be treated at home by letting the body expel excess ink. That's why she threw up yesterday. That and she needed rest and to eat. He slipped out from the room going downstairs to make a simple breakfast for the two of them before heading back up.

Nori was starting to wake up as Vahn came in. “Mm were you watching me last night.”

“I was making sure you were ok. Eat.” Vahn whispered handing her the plate. Nori half propped herself up taking small bites every now and then. Vahn let her eat questions on his mind but unsure how much he should ask. As her coach he felt he needed to know in order to care for her… “Nori. Can you not use other inks?”

Nori froze a small frown on her face, “I saw your laptop. You were researching it weren’t you… I can not.” Nori sighed sitting the food to the side, “how much do you want to know.

“Everything. I want to be able to care for you. And there isn’t much on squoogle about albino inklings.”

“I’ll pay you more for this then. You really don’t have to care for me. I’ve always had to do it on my own.” Nori whispered. Vahn was going to decline it again but Nori cut him off before he could, “rest is the number one factor of recovery. I naturally will throw up the other ink anyways. So eating is always hard. But i’ll do my best. Um… i’ve been like this since I was a kid. I cant use other inks. Not for long.”

“Your pink concert?”

“P-Pretty in Pink? You were at that concert?”

“You used a bright pink then? Why if you knew this happened?” 

“Oh…uh well my last manager told me to. And uh I was sick for weeks after. I cant walk while this is happening and I fall asleep randomly. But… yeah…” Nori whispered rubbing her eyes.

“Your last manager sounds like a dick.” Vahn said bluntly 

“Ha…” Nori smiled a little to herself, “he said he loved me and cared but. Ah… sorry. I. I never got to tell anyone. About.. never mind.” Nori laid back down sitting her half finished food fo the side. Vahn’s ears twitched. She can tell him. He knew how little she went out. She had no company no confidents. Just him. 

“You can tell me.” Vahn reassured squeezing her hand. Nori looked up to him and smiled a little.

“Back when I was younger I was on an ink machine. It helped me breath and process ink. I couldn’t walk. I could barely move. I slept my life away. But I was Maki’s first albino inkling in a long time. I was worshipped as the heir to the name Maki. But I didn’t care. I was living in misery. I was so lonely.” Nori sighed squeezing his hand, “so my parents bought me a friend. Paid him by the thousands just to come hang out with me. It’s crazy what money does. You know him as my last manager.”

Nori bit her lip. “I uh. I was dating him.” She said bluntly before looking up at the ceiling.

“Wait really? But whenever you were-”

“Yep. I’m the idol of innocence. Perfection. I was told to pretend. I think so he could flirt with others right in front of me aha. I’m such an idiot.”

“It's not your fault. He manipulated you.”

“You’re so sweet Vahn. But really I just convinced myself.” Nori took a shaky breath squeezing his hand again, “anytime I was sick he would lock me up here. Sometimes I could hear him talking to others downstairs. It’s all blurry I was usually on medication…”

“You have medication for this?” Vahn asked. Nori pointed at her bedside drawer. Vahn cracked it open. “Rohypnol? Isn’t this a sleep drug?”

“Yes…I was typically out for days. I fired him after realizing just how bad it all was. I was living in a fairy tale.” Nori sighed “then I hired you. Now we are here.”

“It’s been a wild six months. You should’ve told me about your condition before hand though.” Vahn frowned patting her hand.

“I was worried if I did. You would leave.” 

Vahn shook his head brushing her hair back, “I won’t ever leave you.”

“You say that because you are getting paid.”

“You are also not paying me for this. I’m refusing any payment for this week. No training no anything. You are going to rest and I’ll take care of you.”

“But… the turf war…” 

Nori sounded genuinely sad about that. On the verge of tears again. But Vahn had to hold his ground. 

“I’m sorry Nori. But your health in my number one priority. I promise i’ll get you in another one but I now will have to ensure the team will use white ink as well. There’s more turf in the sea.”

Nori nodded slightly squeezing his hand a little, “thank you. For accepting my training request.”

Vahn smiled as she turned away looking down to his clipboard to fix their training schedule. No more ink color based activities. She needed a different approach. Minutes passed and a soft sigh came from Nori causing him to look up again. Her lips were slightly parted and eyes closed. She still had a little makeup on her face from yesterday. Something he would have to go clean off for her next time she woke up. He promised not to leave her side till she was awake. She looked so pretty. So at peace. How could someone hurt her. He clicked his pen doodling her on the side of his paper only to pause and look up at the sound of a soft whisper.

“I love you.”

What

Vahn felt himself blushing. But she was fast asleep. Did he imagine it. Or did. Huh. Vahn hid his face in his clipboard. He loved her too.