Jason and Thea stepped off the bus and walked into the mall. Thea was amazed by the sheer size of the shopping center which wasn't even one of the larger ones in Inkopolis. Her eyes rapidly flicked between the different colorful shops, the mall's beautiful architecture and all the different people spending money.
"Wow, we never had anything like this in our town!" Thea exclaimed, brimming with excitement.
"Yeah? What was your town like?" Jason asked as they walked and talked.
"Uh...small." Thea said unenthusiastically. "Small town, small shops, small buildings, small community and small-minded people." She said. "Nothing exciting happened. I had no friends there. Actually, no. I did have a friend, but we couldn't keep in touch after I was recruited for the army."
"That's unfortunate." Jason said sympathetically.
"Yeah, it was. I hated the army. Always following orders, always training and always being moderated. There was almost no privacy and almost no free time." Thea continued with a bit of a pout in her voice.
"Now that's horrible!" Jason gasped. "I can't blame you for not liking the army! You didn't have a choice?"
"No, but I got out. And that's all that matters. I'm here now, in Inkopolis. I actually preferred being homeless in your city than living with a roof over my head in the army." Thea said with a weak smile.
Jason couldn't help but smile back. "Well, we'll just have to make sure living under a roof in Inkopolis is better than being homeless in Inkopolis!" He said pointing to the clothes shop they'd been walking too.
The two reached the clothes shop and headed inside. Thea squealed with excitement when she saw all the clothes on the shelves and racks. "This is so cool!" she whispered.
"Didn't have such big clothes stores in your town?" Jason asked a bit sarcastically. Thea shooked her head and rolled her eyes.
"So, what do you like to wear?" Jason asked her.
"I don't even know! I've never seen so many choices before!" Thea exclaimed. "I guess I'll just have to try everything!"
"Oh." Jason deadpanned. "Everything... I'm just going to wait over here."
After about an hour of trying different sizes, colors, and styles on, Thea came back to Jason. Jason looked over her choices. Some simple shirts and pants, a few jackets and sweaters, two new pairs of shoes, and most importantly, pajamas and underwear. It looked like a reasonable amount to Jason. Jason took her findings to the cashier to pay, while Thea left to wander around the store some more.
"Hey there!" the cute Inkling girl at the register greeted. Jason's heart immediately started beating faster.
"Hi! Just all this." Jason said trying to keep his voice from cracking. He dumped all of Thea's choices on the desk. The cashier started scanning the tags and placing the items in bags.
"New wardrobe?" The cashier asked without looking up from her work.
"Yeah, the armor she's wearing is all she's got." Jason motioned to Thea who had gone off to look at some socks.
"New immigrant is she?"
"Yeah, I wanted to help her out."
"Gotcha!" The cashier said as she finished up.
Jason got his back card out of his wallet and prepared to pay. He froze and cringed when he saw the total appear above the pin pad. He could almost hear his wallet crying out to him. He looked behind him and saw Thea trying on some other shoes. Thea looked back at him and smiled. Jason immediately returned the smile and swiped his card.
"Alright, have a nice day!" The cashier said handing Jason the bags.
"Thanks, you too!" he nodded and walked away to meet up with Thea, glad he didn't lose his cool. Now he just had to spend the rest of the day with another cute girl.
Thea was giddy with excitement and took some of the bags from Jason.
"You want to put some on now?" Jason asked.
Thea eagerly nodded and ran off back to the changing rooms. Jason watched after her and shook his head. "I heard girls liked clothes shopping but, wow!"
Thea and Jason dragged their bags through the mall. Thea was wearing a purple Grape Hoodie with a White V-neck Tee underneath, long tights and Black and Blue Squidkid V shoes. The two idly wandered through the mall, looking at all the various sights and browsing the occasional shop. Thea looked as happy as a small kid at an amusement park.
"Ever been to a library?" Jason asked Thea as they approached one.
"No. That's the place with all the books right?" Thea answered.
"Yeah, would you like to rent some?"
Thea thought for a moment. "Yes I would, I do like to read, but I can't read your language. I doubt there would be any Octarian books here." she sighed.
"There might be. And we could sign you up for an Inkling reading class. Would definitely help you find a job if you could read our text." Jason offered. (Inkling is the name of the language the Inklings speak.)
"Mmm... Ok. Can't hurt to look." Thea said and they walked in.
They spent a few minutes looking around the library and actually found some Octarian books and even some Octarian to Inkling dictionaries. They decided to sign Thea up for a twice a week Inkling class. They then rented some simple Inkling books, a few Octarian books and an Octarian to Inkling dictionary so Thea could practice at home. Jason put the books on his library card.
They then left to find a place to eat. They found a sandwich shop, ordered some lunch and sat down at a table.
"Thanks for taking me today." Thea said. "I'm sorry to be such a bother."
Jason frowned. "You are not being a bother. I didn't have any plans for the day anyway."
"No, I mean you're spending so much on me! Those clothes and the Inkling class can't have been cheap."
Jason cringed again. "Well yeah, I have spent more money than I usually would, but I can get money back. You need a job and the only way for you to get it is if you get some respectable clothes and can read our language. I'm happy to help you get a job, even if it means I'll be eating 2-minute noodles for weeks afterward." Jason grinned.
Thea laughed. "Well, thank you so much for helping me! I'm having a really good time!."
Jason and Thea's food arrived and they dug in. Jason ordered a chicken sandwich and Thea a wrap. He also bought a large bowl of fries to share. As they were eating, Jason heard snickering behind him. He turned around to see the same group of girls from the day before, sitting at another table.
The girls noticed him looking their way. One of them called out, "Hey, looks like he got his wish!" The group erupted into laughter. Jason's face went red with embarrassment and anger, but he didn't turn his head to acknowledge them. The girls laughed even harder, taking pictures at the tomato Inkling.
"What's going on?" Thea asked, very confused.
"These girls have been giving me a hard time." Jason hissed through his teeth, frowning.
"Hey, did you touch them yet?!" another girl asked. Jason thought back to the morning's incident, his face turning redder still and a scowl formed on his face. Thea still had no idea about what she had done in her sleep. "I would never stoop to such a level! I'm not like that!" Jason thought.
"C'mon, let's go." he said to Thea.
"Oh...ok." They grabbed what was left of their lunch and left.
As they were walking away a girl shouted, "How'd they feel! Were they soft?!". The laughing continued as the girls mocked Jason. Jason almost lashed out right there and then, but reframed himself. Thea didn't understand the context so she was completely oblivious to what was being implied.
When they got further away, Thea spoke up. "What was all that about?"
Jason hesitated. He didn't want to lie to the sweet Octoling. She had been so honest with him, save for the hospital thing. He decided that being honest with her would probably be the best in the long term. Especially if Thea was going to be living with him for a while.
Jason sighed. "Yesterday, my friend Sam stuck an inappropriate note on my back. He probably meant it as a joke, but those girls found it hilarious. Seeing you with me made it all the more funny for them."
"I'm so sorry!" Thea gasped. "Maybe I shouldn't have come with you.
"No! It's not your fault. These things just happen sometimes. Neither of us could have done anything about it. But I'm not going to let it ruin my day."
"Glad to hear it. Um, Jason?"
"Yeah?"
"What did the note say?"
Jason went red in the face again. "I think it's for the best that you don't know. Maybe I'll tell you later."
"Ok." Thea shrugged.
The two continued to walk in awkward silence around the mall. Suddenly, a thought struck Jason.
"Wait, Thea, you've only been here for a few days, yes? You can speak our language but can't read it or write it?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, in the army we were taught Inkling so could listen in on Inkling transmissions, understand their tactics, and in case we were captured and interrogated." Thea answered casually.
"Oh." said a stunned Jason.
"However, I never learned how to read or write in Inkling." Thea continued. "Our superiors didn't think the foot soldiers would need to."
"Did you?" Jason asked. They stopped walking and sat down at a bench.
"No. I never went out on a mission. I spent years of my life training for nothing." Thea said sadly.
"Why did your training take so long?"
Thea sighed. "I didn't enjoy the army one bit. I couldn't build muscle to complete many of the courses. I didn't listen very well to my superiors so I was always in trouble. I failed many tests, over and over again. I could shoot just fine, my aim is good, but my hand-to-hand combat is lacking. Although, I did eventually become very fast and agile. That's how I was able to defend myself and evade the mugger, but I couldn't fight back." Thea said gloomily. Jason hated seeing her sad.
"It uh... It seems you've had a pretty tough life." Jason said. "What kept you from ending it all?" Thea looked confused. "Ya know, suicide?" Jason clarified.
"To an outsider, it would seem there was no hope for me. Stuck underground, far from home. But, I had hope. Hope that one day, the war between our species would end, and I'd be free. Free to be me. Not what someone else wanted me to be: a slave with a gun." Thea said. Jason's heart melted.
"And one day, I got my wish." Thea smiled up at Jason.
The two looked into each other's eyes for a minute, happy to just be in the moment.
"Thea, I'm so sorry that all that stuff happened to you. I want to help you get over the past, to help you start a new life here. That's why I'm willing to give so much. I will do everything I can to help you start over." Jason smiled.
"Thank you, Jason." Thea smiled with a tear in her eye.
Jason and Thea took the bus back to Jason's apartment. Jason emptied one of his drawers and moved it into the living area for Thea to store all her new clothes.
"Thank's again for taking me to the mall! I had a really good time." said Thea.
"Your welcome! I had a good time too." Jason replied. "Though, now we need to figure out what to do with the rest of our day. Jason said checking the time. "You ever heard of Turf Wars?"
"No, what's that?" Thea tilted her head.
Jason realized that Thea wouldn't know what turf wars were and explained
"It's our most popular sport. It's an objective based 4v4 team game. The players use ink weapons to cover the stage with their team's color. You can also splat your opponents to send them back to their base. The team with the most ground coverage by the end of three minutes wins!" Jason explained enthusiastically. "Spawn pads are used so you can't actually die. It's great fun and with your military training, you'd be great!"
Thea shifted uncomfortably on the couch, a look of worry on her face. "I don't know. It sounds a lot like one of the training exercises we had in the military. I really didn't like splatting people even if I knew they'd respawn. And having my superiors breathing down my neck was not very fun.
"Y-You don't have to play if you don't want to." Jason realized his error. He really didn't want to cause Thea discomfort. "We could just go down and watch a few games. We could do more sightseeing while we're there too. The square is a very popular hangout."
Thea thought for a moment. "Ok, I guess it couldn't hurt to look around."
"That's the spirit!" Jason said cheerfully.
The two grabbed their things and headed out once more.
Warning: Long A/N. Proceed with caution.
Another chapter, another day of cheese and my favorite button: Backspace. This one took me a while because I kept on experiencing connection issues, so I kept loosing progress. It's really annoying to write the same few paragraphs FOUR times.
I'm overwhelmed by how much support I've been getting! I was checking my email every few hours and almost always I had a message that someone had made a review or someone was following! Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement! It really motivates me to keep going! I do read each and every one and it makes me so happy to see that others are enjoying my cheesy fanfic!
I'm going to take a few days break from writing. Four chapters in four days is a big accomplishment for me and I'm a bit burnt out. I'm still going to go back and make some changes in the first few chapters.
I really enjoy writing about Jason and Thea, and their story is still far from over. I said earlier that I wanted this series to be about 12 chapters long. I have decided that I will shorten it to about 9 or so. But I would love to do a sequel if this series gets enough support. No promises yet though. ;)
Serious reviews on what you liked and didn't like so far are welcome! I'd like to improve my writing so I can keep on delivering great stories for the months to come. Even if you hated this let me know why so I can do better. Just be nice about it, k?
Remember, I'm not done with this story yet. There is still lot's more to come! I'm really sorry about the long A/N. I will remove it later on. Ok, rant over.
Until next time,
Dashanerocket