The sun had set over Inkopolis. The citizens of the city were commuting home, having dinner, watching the evening news and getting ready for bed. Jason however, was exiting the grocery store with three heavy bags in each hand and one in his mouth. He was now wearing a red hoodie over his previous clothes because it was getting cold. "Ok, there has to be a taxi here somewhere." he thought. Jason wasn't old enough to drive and he lived by himself, so he usually walked everywhere or used public transport to get to places. He walked down the sidewalk on his way to his apartment, keeping an eye open for a taxi or a bus stop.

He passed by his work: The Nautical Dinner, and looked through the window out of curiosity. He saw happy families, groups of friends and couples. Smiling, laughing, eating and talking. A great sadness fell over him as he suddenly felt quite alone. Jason was going home to an empty apartment.

"One day, I'll have somebody to call my own." he thought. He then realized how cheesy that sounded and how stupid he looked with a bag hanging from his mouth, staring through the window. He continued to make his way home, still looking for a ride.

A few minutes later, having not found a taxi, he was still walking. His arms were aching and his eyes were getting heavy. He so desperately wanted to get home and go to sleep. As he passed an alleyway, he heard muffled banging and shuffling. Thinking it was just a rat the ignored it and kept walking. Then he heard a muffled scream follows by a louder bang. His pointy ears perked up and he spun his head around. The commotion got louder. "Something is up." he thought.

Putting his groceries down, he briskly walked back to the alley and peeked around the corner. The alley was dark but he could barely make out two, dark figures. One was taller and looked stronger. The smaller one was struggling against the taller one, trying to keep them away. Then Jason saw the glint of a knife in the taller one's hand.

Jason pulled back around the corner. "OH COD! OH COD! CARP, CARP, CARP CAAAAAAARP!" he screamed internally. His heart was racing, his hands were trembling and he covered his mouth to quiet his rapid breathing. He was witnessing a mugging. And he would soon be witnessing a murder if he didn't do something about it. He couldn't call the police because it would take to much time and the mugger would hear him. He couldn't fight because he had no hand-to-hand combat experience and his blaster was back at the Square. He doubted that asking nicely for them to stop would help. "Think, Jason, THINK!"

Suddenly a thought occurred. Adrenaline took over and his mind clouded. A wave of burning anger filled him and he ran back to his groceries, grabbed a bag, and ran back into the alley. The taller figure had pinned the smaller one against the wall. Jason lobbed a can of beats at the assailant. It hit them in the shoulder and sent them back.

The attacking figure gripped their shoulder and yelled through clenched teeth. "You little squit!" they yelled. Jason couldn't recognize the voice, but it sounded male. The figure now fully turned toward Jason, knife in hand. Jason realized he may have made a terrible mistake. He looked big and was wearing a black hooded jacket so Jason couldn't make out his face. "You will pay fo-!" the mugger was cut off by a can of peas landing square in his chest.

Jason continued to chuck heavy objects from his bag at the assailant sending him further and further back. One can hit his arm making him drop his knife, an apple hit him in the knee and a cabbage hit him in the forehead.

"Argh! Cut that out!" the hooded figure yelled.

Jason stopped throwing produce for a moment. "Mmmm... nah!" He then continued hurling things from his bag.

"Stuff this!" The mugger yelled before turning and running down the other end of the alley griping his arm and limping a bit.

Jason's stared after him until he was gone, Broccoli in hand. Then his knees gave way and he collapsed on the ground. "Oh my Cod! I just did that! Oh my Cod!" His breathing finally calmed and his heart stopped thumping out of his ears. He then turned his attention to the victim of the mugging. He moved around to the other side of the dumpster to see if he could help.

An Octoling girl huddled with her knees in her chest, still shaking with fear. She was wearing the Neo Octoling armor, the uniform of the Octarian military. Jason couldn't see her face very well, but he could tell she was crying. Jason felt a knot in his stomach. This girl could have died if not for his idiocy.

"Are you ok?" he asked the Octoling quietly. The girl shook her head and let out a whimper, crunching up into a tighter ball of despair. Jason got out his phone, turned on the flashlight and set it to low. He used it to get a better look at her. She had light blue tentacles in a pony-tail and fair skin. She had multiple bruises and cuts on her arms, legs, and face. She had her eyes closed as she cried into her arm.

"Do you have a place to go?" Jason asked her. She shook her head. "No friends or family nearby?" Again, she shook her head, sobbing. Jason's heart melted. A homeless girl just got assaulted. "That bastard!".

"Would you like to come with me?" Jason asked hesitantly. The girl didn't respond. He couldn't just leave her out here, she needed medical attention. He could take her to the hospital, declare himself a hero and be done with it.

"Do you want to come with me to the hospital?" he asked again. The Octoling girl shook her head again and turned away from him. Jason couldn't believe what he was about to ask next.

"Do you want to come to my place?". The girl finally looked up at him with shimmering sapphire eyes. She wiped away her tears and nodded. Jason smiled and extended his hand to help her up. She gave a weak smile back and took his hand. He pulled her up carefully and gave her his hoodie, which she gladly put on. He then wrapped a reassuring arm around her and lead her out of the dark alleyway. Having completely forgotten his groceries he started for home with the Octoling.

"My name is Jason. What's your name?" Jason asked her.

"Thea." she said quietly.

The rest of the walk to Jason's apartment was silent and uneventful. Jason stayed calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was panicking. "What am I doing?! Bringing a girl to my place?!". He reminded himself that he had to help this Octoling and that he couldn't break down now.

Jason could feel fatigue setting in as he unlocked and opened to door to his small apartment. "I'm sorry it's not much, but you can sleep on the couch. I'll go find some blankets and a pillow." He left Thea in the middle of the living room to find bedding.

Thea looked around Jason's home. The living room had a large couch, coffee table, and tv and was directly connected to the kitchen, which had a bench and stools for eating. There were three other doors, one of which Jason had gone into to get her bedding. Probably the storage. She could see the bathroom through one doorway so she assumed that the last room was Jason's bedroom. Jason came back with Thea's bedding.

"Ok you go use the bathroom to clean up and I'll make you something to eat." Jason suggested, putting the blankets and pillow on the couch. Thea nodded and left to use the bathroom. Two minutes later, she came back out. Jason offered her the sandwich he made and she took it to the bench to sit down and eat.

Jason watched her eat slowly. She looked so scared, but she was obviously trying to be brave. She was also adorable, but Jason wasn't going to admit that.

Thea finished eating. "Thank you. I-I haven't had a good meal in days." She said quietly.

"It's not a problem." Jason responded. He then noticed the scratches and bruises on her face and on her arms. There was a large gash on her right arm and another on her cheek. "Hey, let's clean you up." he said pointing back to the bathroom.

"Ok."

Jason took Thea to the bathroom. She sat down on the side of the bathtub and Jason got some medical supplies from a cupboard. "You know how to use these?"

Thea shook her head.

Jason bit his lip and knelt down in front of her. He saw that she had only cleaned her wounds with water. He took some medical alcohol and a cloth and started cleaning the cuts and scratches on her arms.

Jason could feel his face warming up. He could tell Thea was uncomfortable too. She had just gone through a terrifying ordeal and now was in a stranger's house. He decided to try and lighten the mood.

"You put up a good fight against someone with a knife." Jason commented, trying to ease her nerves.

"I guess."

"I don't think I could've done it." Jason commented while still tending to Thea's wounds.

"Well...that thing with the cans, that was pretty smart." She said with a small smile. She flinched when Jason rubbed some stinging alcohol on the large gash on her arm.

"Thanks. I wasn't really in control though. I'm not normally that violent." Jason said, being more careful with the cloth. He began to clean Thea's face, trying to avoid eye contact. His hand began to shake slightly and his heart pounded faster.

A long time passed in awkward silence. "You... uh... you new to Inkopolis?" Jason tried once again to strike up conversation.

"Yeah."

"Did you come with anyone?"

"No."

"Oh."

Thea flinched again as Jason wrapped a bandage around her arm to cover the large gash. Jason then applied a band-aid on her cheek one on her forehead. After a few more minutes, Thea was all patched up.

"Ok, that should stop any bleeding and make it more comfortable to sleep." Jason, still on his knees, leaned away.

He looked up at her. In the bright bathroom light, she looked absolutely stunning. Her bright blue hair practically radiated with a cool glow. Her ears were rounded like a teddy bear's, a stark contrast to the Inklings' pointy ears. Octoling females were generally curvier and matured earlier than Inkling females. Thea was no exception. Add that to the slightly revealing Neo Octoling Armor she was wearing, yeah, Thea was attractive.

What really caught Jason's attention were those bright, shimmering, sapphire eyes. They were memorizing. Full of gentleness and wonder, but also of guilt and worry.

Thea noticed Jason's staring and awkwardly smiled back. She didn't know who this Inkling was but he had just saved her from an angry man with a knife. Thea quite fancied the handsome Inkling's features too. He had broad shoulders and one of his tentacles was neatly swept to the side of his face. His emerald green eyes were full of compassion and understanding. His voice was soothing and he spoke with politeness. She found herself calming down as she looked gazed into Jason's eyes.

The two stayed staring for about a minute before Jason realized what he was doing. "A-ah! I'm s-sorry! I didn't mean to stare. " Jason's face flushed and he jumped back to his feet.

"No, it's fine. I-I was staring too." Thea's face also flushed. "T-thank you for helping me." she looked down. "My arm already feels better." They didn't say anything more for a little while.

"It's getting late. We should head to bed." Jason finally said.

After Jason sorted Thea's couch he turned to Thea, who stood nearby.

"We'll figure out what to do in the morning. For now, just try to relax. If you wake up before me, you're welcome to anything in the fridge."

Thea nodded and Jason turned to go to his room.

"Thank you, Jason."

Jason turned back around. "Hmm?"

For saving my life. And for the food and for the bed." Thea said with a smile.

Jason smiled back. "You're welcome, Thea."

Jason went to his room and closed the door. He then proceeded to freak out about the hot girl in his apartment. On the other side, Thea heard a pillow muffled scream.

Well, there you have it. I'm sorry if it seems the story is moving too fast, but I wanted to get the drama underway so it doesn't get boring. Thea is my OC. I play as her in Splatoon. I made up Jason for the purpose of this story. Again, feel free to review to let me know how I'm doing and follow me for updates.

There was a guest review asking for longer chapters and I understand that the first one was a bit short. I just couldn't put anything else in there that would take from chapter two and not overload with exposition. So I hope this was a good length.

I won't be able to put a chapter up every day, but hopefully at least once a week while school is still out. Ok, rambling over

Until next time,

Dashanerocket.