Hello! This is my first fic. Feel free to give critiques in the comments.

Part One: This is my life now

Shifting from one position to another, I looked at my phone. Woah, already 12:36PM? Could this game download any slower? I shook the thought of a slower download out of my head so I wouldn't jinx myself. I fixed my eyes onto my Nintendo Switch, the brightly lit screen read: "Downloading Splatoon 2 94% done." It had been 94% done downloading for the past thirty-five minutes. Well actually it had only been six minutes but it felt like it had been thirty-five. I took my eyes off the Switch and started scrolling through Instagram. A watched pot never boils. A watched pot never boils, I thought to myself. I try not to obsess over things, but it's hard not to! I love videogames and I specifically love this video game. Realistically I know a college student should not be in love with a videogame about squids, but it's just so cute!

The Switch sitting next to me vibrated. It's done! "Fuck yeah!" I grabbed the Switch, but my action was cut off by a knock at the door. I groaned and got up. When I swung open the door, I saw the all too familiar face of my best friend. "The fuck are you doing here at this hour? Don't you have a job or somethin?" I joked. "Hello to you too, Sky." I laughed a little bit. I looked at my friend, "So, what cha need, Danny?" Danny didn't respond, but wiggled past me and into my single room dorm. "Can I help you?" I asked. No reply. I followed Danny as he walked into my living room and slumped down on my small, worn loveseat. I sat directly above his head and looked into his green eyes. "Olivia broke up with me and I'm failing my English course AND i'm all out of fruit loops so life fucking sucks at the moment. Why can't a bus just hit me and end it all?" I tried not to giggle, he is such a millennial. "Well," I started to say, "you still have time to get your grade up. Oliva was a total bitch anyway and I have fruit loops in the kitchen." Danny's expression changed from "I want to kill myself" to "i'm going to kiss you" in a matter of seconds. He rushed off the couch and into my kitchen. I could hear him shoving handfuls of the surgery cereal into his mouth.

"Look, if you're that sad you had to walk all the way to my dorm just to eat my food, you can crash here tonight. But I have a videogame to play so don't be bothering me. You can do whatever." Danny sat down next to me and looked over at the Switch in my hands. "Is that the stupid squid game you like so much?" I gave Danny my if you don't shut up right now I will hit you look, and he promptly reached for the remote and turned on the TV. I started up my new downloaded game and played away.

This game is so good, I thought to myself every thirty seconds. I played, and I played, and I played some more until sun started peering through window. I looked back at my Switch and it have me the low battery warning. I closed Splatoon and shoved the Switch into its little charging port. Danny had past out on my loveseat and was snoring ever so slightly. Man, I can't believe I stayed up the whole night. What is this, the third time this month? I suppose that's good for college student. I think. I walked to my bathroom as quietly as I could as washed my face. I looked into the mirror for a few seconds before rubbing my eyes. I have classes and work today. I really should have gotten some sleep. Whatever. I'll just have to suffer. I plugged my phone in and starting changing my clothes for the day. I decided to go with a white sweatshirt I stole from a boyfriend in highschool and jeans I had been wearing for four days. Going back into the living room, I shook Danny awake. "Danny, I have a full day today so you can stay here as long as you want. You can have the rest of the fruit loops if you want but if you touch anything else I will expect payment-" Danny waved a dismissive hand at me. "Yatta Yatta, lock the door behind me, key under the blue ashtray, yatta yatta. Sky, I know the drill. Have a good day." Danny shoved his face back into loveseat and fell back asleep. Lucky bastard, sleeping past 7:30. I walked to class full of bitterness and lots of cheap, homemade coffee.

Classes went slow, I was half asleep for most of it but I managed to get some decent notes. My mind kept jumping back to all of my gaming. I kept thinking about how cute Marie looked in her green kimono, and how I wanted to play online. Stupid school, keeping me from the things I love. I sighed and walked out of last class. On to work! At least work was close, although I heard two frat boys talking about a homeless child hanging around near my work. I pulled out my wallet and grabbed two singles just incase I saw them.

I was almost to my work before I crossed in front of an trash can. As I got closer, I could see two legs dangling out of the top. Hmmm, must be that kid, poor guy, having to dumpster dive. I'll just drop the money on the ground so I don't disturb him. As I approached closer, something wasn't right. The kids proportions, they're off somehow? The kids feet didn't match up to his legs, but his knees matched up just fine. I came up behind the child and the trash can fell over, and the child vanished. What? Where did he go? I bent down and lifted the trash can back up, and something moved in the very bottom. I reluctantly reached my hand into the bin and pulled off some flyers, only to be met with a squid. No, not just any squid, but the very familiar splatoon squid. It was a dark navy blue and looked very slimy. We looked at each other for a few second before the squid started making a gurgly scream. I placed the flyers back down and ran up the block. Rubbing my eyes I tried to regain my senses. What the actual fuck just happened?! I knew I was tired but not full on visual and auditory hallucination tired. I took a deep breath in, and out. I rubbed my eyes once more and kept walking.

Okay, it's settled. I need to get some sleep tonight. I should lay off the coffee as well. I pushed open the glass doors the very large building I worked at. I was a part time cleaning lady, and I was friends with everyone there. Well, almost everyone. Some of the older ladies didn't me for some reason. I changed into my uniform in the bathroom and got to work. Floor after floor I swept and mopped, wiped down the windows and sprayed disinfectant on the chairs. Work was going fine until I had take out the trash. I held the trash bag in my hands and thought about the hallucination I had on my way here. It looked so real. It sounds so real, too. No, i'm just overtired! I just need some sleep is all. I handed the trash bag to one of the other coworkers and asked them to do me this one solid. They agreed. I kept cleaning until the end of shift. By the time I was done the sky was a deep orange with a small hint of darkness in the sky.

I started to walk home, but a thought hit me. I could take the short way home, which would not go by the alleyway, or I could take the long way like I did on the way here. I started to walk the long way. I steadily approached the scene of my hallucination. I faced the trash can and glanced inside. Nothing. I shook it a little. No movement. Okay, see, nothing's here. My thought was interrupted by a small commotion. A small figure fell from what I think was wall? I'm not entirely sure. I looked at the thing that fell, and what I saw was insane. It was an inkling. I swear. The figure was no more than four feet, it had large hands and feet but small arms and legs. The thing that indicated it was an inkling was the navy blue tentacles hanging from his head. Am I crazy?! This, this can't be happening. I was filled with shock and panic as I gazed upon whatever the fuck was playing out right in front of me.The small inkling stood up and slowly backed away, never breaking eye contact with me. He eventually hit the back wall of the valley. The inkling gurgled something, I couldn't tell what it was trying to communicate, but he sounded afraid.

The inkling looked frantically to the left and right over and over again. What is happening?! An inkling?! What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck! My thought jumbled into one big mess. The only thing I could think to do was say something. "Umm, hi?" The inkling gave no reply. I slowly raised my hand up and shook it a little. There was still no reply. What can I do? I don't want to hurt it, how can I get that across? A half baked thought popped into my mind. I raised my hand above my head and the other hand lower at my wait level and shook them they way the squid sisters did. The inkling cocked it's head to one side and squinted it's oversized eyes at me before mimicking the squid sister motion as well. Okay, so that worked. Wasn't expecting that. The inkling put his hands down and slumped against the wall. His breathing sounded heavy and he didn't look so great either. Is. . .is he okay? The inkling fought to keep his eyes open, but his attempts were fruitless. His large head fell to one side and then his whole body went crashing down into the pavement. He whined, I don't think he was trying to say anything though, I think he was trying to indicate that he was in pain.

I walked up to the little guy and squatted down close to his head. He half opened his eyes and gave me a very tired and pained expression. He held his right hand over the front pocket of his jacket. Does he have an injury? I attempted to move his hand out of the way to look but he flashed his teeth and me and swatted me away. What can I do? It's getting late, but I can't just leave him here? I looked at him for a few seconds, the sound of his labored breathing filled my ears. Oh man, he looks bad. He sounds even worse. He shifted off of his side and tried to stand, but he ended up fainting. Pity filled my chest. Next thing I knew I had scooped the little guy off the ground and was carrying him bridal style back to my dorm. I walked quickly so no one would look at me for to long. Thankfully, the street wasn't too busy right now. He's so light! I carried the inkling with little difficulty, he was short and skinny making this whole rescue situation easy.

I dashed into my campus and back to my dorm. The only people that saw me were two hammered sorority girls who would not remember what they had just seen tomorrow. The key to my door was under the blue ashtray indicating that Danny had left. Hopefully. I struggled to carry the inkling, my bag and open the door all at once but I managed. I walked into my dorm and all the lights were off, and there was five dollars on my counter and a note from Danny saying he ate the rest of ramen. Dickhead.

I gently placed the inkling on to my black leather loveseat and headed directly into the shower. The inkling is cute, but holy shit he smells like fish. I rinsed off and thought about the situation I had got myself into. Okay, so, I find a video game character on the street, I rescue him, and now what? How did he even get here, am I still hallucinating? Did I just kidnap a homeless child!? When I got out of the shower and changed my clothes, I went into the living room to check up on my "guest". He was still passed out and unmoving. While he's passed out, I can look for injuries. I crept over to the sleeping inkling and slowly removed his jacket. As I set it on the table, there was a loud thump. On the ground, there was a small white disk. It had hinges on the outer rim and a glass screen with a cracked glass screen on one side. The fuck is this thing? I examined it for a few moments before setting it down and putting my attention back on the inkling. I looked him over and there was no injuries, but his stomach was growling to no end; It was even louder than his snoring. I placed his clothes next to him, covered the little guy in a blanket and headed to bed.

I crawled into my small bed and tried to fall asleep. My mind had other ideas. I kept thinking about today, school, my job, the inkling in house, homework and my parents. I miss my parents. Before I knew it I was asleep.

Sun shone through my blinds and into my eyes, I put my arm over my head to cover them. I attempted to go back to sleep, but I could hear the sounds of havoc coming from the other side of the room. I slowly lifted myself up only to a small, fully clothed inkling running around my dorm. I got out of bed and stood, watching him run. Is he trying to escape? The inkling stopped dead in its tracks as soon as he saw me. His navy blue eyes met mine and he stood frozen. He glanced left to right, and then back at me. His whole body was shaking, and I knew why. I walked right past him and grabbed cereal off my counter. I opened the bag and held it out to the inkling. He looked at me, and then the bag, and then back at me. He inched closer and sniffed the box. He glanced back at me. "Go on. It's safe." The inkling reached his hand into the bag and began shoving handfuls of cereal into his mouth. He then grabbed the entire box out of my hands and started scarfing it down like some kind of savage that was raised in the wild. To be fair, for all I know he might have been raised in the wild. Once he was done eating an entire fucking box or cereal, he dashed back onto the loveseat and hid under the blankets.

I left him alone and got dressed. I might just skip class today, I have a god damn squid kid in my dorm, I think I can make one acception. After getting dressed, I went up to the love seat. The inkling was still hiding under the blanket. I could hear him gurgling to himself and moving just a little bit. I lifted up the blanket and peered in, he was tinkering with that white disk from yesterday. What is that thing? When the inkling noticed me looking at him, he immediately pulled the disk to his chest and gave a territorial glance. I dropped the blanket, and he said something I couldn't understand.

I sat down on the floor, as my guest had taken up refuge on the loveseat. I starting typing away on my computer, doing homework and occasionally getting distracted by the internet. As I was deep into writing a paper, there was a loud knock at the door. Oh no. Fuck. What if it's the FBI or some shit?! What if the police saw me last night or- I took a deep breath and walked up to the door. I slowly opened it to revel Danny, standing there with a stupid look on his face. Oh thank god. "Hey Danny, what cha need?" Danny gave me a weird look, as I had the door barely open and my head prying out of the small crack I had made. "Oh, can I come in?" Damn it Danny. No, you can't. "Ummm, well, now's not the best time…" My voice trailed off. Danny looked disappointed. "Okay. Well, come over to my dorm later, I stole vodka from the grocery store down the street." I nodded my head and smiled, then abruptly shut the door. I whipped around, only to be greeted by a four foot tall squid kid.

"Ummm, hi there little guy." I got a short, incoherent response from the the inkling. "You need something?" The inkling stared blankly at me. He the pointed his hand to my counter. "What is it?" He shook his hand violently at my counter, then I realized he wanted something to eat. "Well damn little buddy, me too." I went to the counter and shuffled around the cheap, unhealthy food items I keep around. I picked out a fruit cup and a small spoon and sat down on the floor. I held the cup up the inkling and peeled off the top.

"It's called 'food'"

"Foo-" the inkling started.

"Yep, that's it. 'Food'"

"Food."

"There you go! That was it!" I gave the inkling a thumbs up to let him know he was correct. The inkling gave a little smirk. I scooped some fruits out of the plastic cup and held the spoon out to him. He took a bite, then he took the whole cup. He's going to eat me out of house and home, isn't he?