The golden rays of the morning filtered through Jason's curtains. Said Inkling shielded his eyes from the intrusive sunlight. He got out of bed with a groan and put on his slippers. He had the day off work so he could take it easy and relax.
Wait, no! He had an Thea in his apartment! Hold up! Did he really save an Octoling from certain doom? Did he really take her home with him? Did they really have that awkward scene in the bathroom? No! That's crazy! Jason would never do something like that. Although...
Jason opened his bedroom door just a crack and peeked through. There she was. Sound asleep on his couch. She had somehow found that embarrassing yellow squid plushie from his Nanna and was snuggling with it. Jason smiled at the sight. She had the most adorable smile on her sleeping face. Jason couln't help but smile too. He then noticed Thea's armor on the floor next to her. Jason's eyes grew huge.
He slammed the door shut and pressed up against it. His heart was pounding again. "Oh Cod! I'm such an idiot!" He had forgotten to give her something to wear to bed. Not only was there a girl on his couch, there was a Naked girl on his couch! "Oh Cod what do I do?!" he screamed internally. He may have been a guy but he had no intentions of invading Thea's privacy.
He again opened the door to consider his options. Thea's blanket was covering her so as long as she didn't wake up and move around he'd be fine. Jason didn't have any spare clothes that would fit her. He would have to go wake her up.
Jason tip-toed his way into the living room. Suddenly, Thea stirred and one of her hands flopped out in front of him. Thinking nothing of it, Jason simply 'squid-formed' to duck underneath her. All of a sudden she grabbed one of his tentacles and pulled Jason to her chest.
It all happened so fast Jason had no time to react. He was being squeezed between her arms and chest. He didn't dare to open his eyes. He heard her give a content sigh in her sleep. She was squeezing him tighter and tighter. Jason was struggling to breathe and was turning darker and darker shades of red. "What the heck, Thea?!"
Jason had to open his eyes. He peeked one eye open and was relieved to see she was still wearing the red hoodie he gave her.
Feeling like an idiot, Jason opened his other eye to find a way out of his predicament. He needed to get out of her grasp before waking her up. The plushie Thea had been previously snuggling had been dropped to the floor. Jason reached a tentacle down to try and grab it, but it was too far. With no other option, Jason resolved himself to his doom. He had to wake her up.
"Thea!" he whispered harshly. Thea stirred but tightened her grip on the poor squid. The close proximity to her was bad enough, but to be snuggled? "Gauk! Thea!" Jason said louder.
Thea bolted upright, flinging Jason into the wall. "W-what is it?!" yelled in a blind panic, frantically looking for danger. She then turned to see Jason leaning against the wall, gasping for breath and rubbing his head. "Oh, Jason! Are you ok?" She asked with concern.
"I jus-I just was star-was startled." he said between gasps of air.
"D-did I frighten you?" Thea asked embarrassed.
"Uh...Um, y-yeah in a way." Jason said. He felt a small lump forming on his head.
"I'm really sorry!" Thea said with worry. "I don't wake up very well."
"Oh, no it's alright (it wasn't alright)." Jason asked as his voice squeaked. Um, What do you want for breakfast?" Jason asked to change the subject.
"Well, what do you have?" she asked with a smile.
"Uh... pancakes sound alright?"
"Yeah, sounds delicious." Thea said.
"Ok, you can take a shower and I'll make pancakes." Jason said, still wheezing.
"K."
Thea got up and grabbed her armor to go to the bathroom. She seemed cheerier than the previous evening, so that was good progress. How someone can go from completely terrified about attempted murder to al cheery-go-lucky in one night puzzled Jason. "Must be another girl thing I don't understand." he thought.
Jason watched Thea walk to the bathroom, then shut his eyes at the speed of sound upon realizing that she wasn't wearing any pants.
After Thea had a shower and got dressed in her armor, she and Jason sat down at the kitchen bench to indulge in the fresh pancakes Jason had cooked up.
"This is really good!" Thea said in-between gulps. "You are a really good cook."
"Thanks."Jason blushed as he ate his own pancakes. "I work as a chef so I know my way around pancakes." Jason chuckled.
The two continued to enjoy their breakfast in silence. Thea probably used about half of the syrup bottle. Finally, Jason spoke up.
"Thea, I have to be honest with you. I am kind of uncomfortable having you here." Thea looked up from her pancakes and made a puzzled face. "No! I don't mean it's your fault!" Jason said quickly.
"It's just, I feel really awkward around girls. I moved out of my family's house before my younger sisters were born and I avoided girls in school." Jason explained. "I don't watch girl movies or read romantic books, I just haven't felt the need to. I just wanted to let you know that if I act weird, it's because I really don't know what to do." Jason looked down having spoken his mind.
Thea smiled at the sweet Inkling. "It's ok. I was acting pretty closed off last night." She said reassuringly. " And I don't think you've been acting weird so far. You've been nothing but nice to me."
"Thanks, it's good to hear you don't hate me!" Jason joked. Thea laughed.
"Hey, uh, what's with the sudden change of attitude?" Jason asked Thea. "You seemed pretty upset last night." Thea's face grew somber.
"I had a lot of time to think last night. I decided what's done is done. I need to move on and make the most of my day. Staying in a sour mood won't help me or the generous squid that helped me."
"That sounds like a good attitude to have." Jason commented. "And I'm glad you're feeling better."
"You've been so kind to me. How could I not be better?" Thea chuckled. "So, hey. I have to ask, why did you decide to help me?" Thea asked.
Jason looked dumbfounded. "Well, I couldn't just let him kill you!"
"No! I mean why did you take me back to your place?" Thea asked again.
"Oh, well, you needed help. You had nowhere else to go and you didn't want to go to the hospital. I reasoned that I could spare some food and blankets." Jason stated 'matter-of-factly' and shrugged.
"A-and how long do you plan on letting an Octoling live in your apartment?" Thea asked sheepishly.
"Thea," Jason started with compassion on his face. "You are not just 'An Octoling' to me! You are a person. And a person in need of help." Thea's face brightened.
"But to answer your question," Jason paused and thought for a second. He thought about the consequences. He thought about what others might say about him. He thought about how much of a commitment it would be. He thought about his wallet. He thought about her well-being. He looked into her beautiful sapphire eyes.
"However long it takes to get you back on your feet." Jason finally said with a smile. Thea's face broke into the biggest grin.
The two finished up their breakfast and cleaned up. They sat back down at the bench.
"Ok." Jason started. "We need to figure out what to do next. Do you want to report the mugging?"
Thea thought for a moment before replying, "No, we don't have any evidence to back up our story. And we didn't get a good enough look at their face for the police to start a shearch party."
"Ok, then do you want to go to the hospital for professional medical attention?
Thea put a hand up to her face and felt one of the plasters on her cheek. "N-no." Jason was confused.
"Why not? They can definitely help you more than I can when it comes to your injuries."
Thea shook her head. "I just- I just don't want to go. It's a personal thing. I'm sorry, but I don't really want to talk about it." She looked gloomy again. Jason hated seeing her like that.
"Ok, I won't pressure you." Jason said. "Well, I can't keep paying for your needs forever. We'll need to find a job for you. What experience do you have?
"Well, I was in the Octarian army, for several years, but I didn't like it."
"Yeah, I'm reluctant to sign you up for the Inkling army." Jason leaned on an arm and rapped his fingers on the table.
"Mmm, I don't have any other skills. I mean, I guess I could do house cleaning?" Thea suggested with a tone that made it clear that she did not want to do that.
"No no, we'll find you a more sanitary job." Jason reassured her. "How long have you been in Inkopolis for?"
Thea thought for a moment. "A few days?"
"OK. Tell you what, I'll take you around town to see if we can find any ideas or opportunities for you. And while we're at it, we'll do some sightseeing and we'll find you some, uh, more modest clothing." Jason suggested.
Thea looked down at her slightly revealing outfit. "Yeah, I'd like that." she said with a slightly red face.
Ok, there we have it! Another one down! I wish I could make these chapters longer, but it already takes me almost all my free time to write these. I'm still a beginner so it takes a while. I also can't type properly so, yeah. Practice makes perfect, right? RIGHT?
A friend asked me about Jason suddenly being ok with being around girls. Jason isn't scared of girls, he encounters them every day like a normal person. He just feels awkward around them and never had anyone to teach him about them. Even around Thea, Jason is awkward. I may have not made it clear enough in previous chapters or even this one. It is something I'd like to correct, but not right now. For now, just know that Jason is finding to hard to remain calm. I'll let you know when he's doing better.
Edit: I have now updated the last few chapters to flesh them out a bit, fix a few errors and describe Jason's feelings a bit better.
Welp, I think that's about it. Review if you feel like it and follow for updates.
Until next time,
Dashanerocket