Jason woke up feeling hot and sweaty. He moved his sheets off of him to let cooler air flow over his body. A smile grew on his face as he remembered what day it was. He dragged himself out of bed to start his day and headed to his bedroom door, then did a double take went back to get his pillow. "Just in case." he thought.
Jason opened his bedroom door and peeked outside. He was surprised to see that Thea was not sleeping on the couch, but instead was slouched in a chair, at the kitchen counter. She had her blanket wrapped around her and her head was resting on the countertop amongst the mess of homework papers. A faint snoring escaped her.
Jason tip-toed over to where Thea slept, armed with his pillow. The air was hot and humid. The thermostat must've reset in the night. It had happened a few times before.
Keeping his distance, Jason looked over Thea's shoulder to examine her homework. He saw the Inkling writing exercises she was given. She had to write the same letter along the line, over and over again. Eventually, she would get through the whole alphabet and both cases.
The characters she wrote started out crude, but slowly getting cleaner and neater. After a few pages, Thea's handwriting looked almost exactly like the examples. Jason smiled at the pages. Thea must've stayed up late to do so much work. She was really committed to learning Inkling.
Jason then looked at the page number and his eyes widened. Thea had done three days of homework in one night! Jason was impressed that she actually did that much work but was concerned about her ability to function on so little sleep. Three evening's work in one night was quite an undertaking.
Suddenly, Thea snatched the pillow from Jason. Jason once again jumped in surprise and collapsed, hitting his head against the counter on the way to the floor. He cried out in pain before forcing his beak shut. He really didn't want to see what a sleep-deprived Thea would do when she was woken up. Thea didn't wake up in a panic though. Instead, she simply continued to sleep against the counter, with the pillow now under her head and wrapped up snuggly in a blanket, despite the warm conditions of the room.
Jason rubbed his head and got up. She didn't have a panic attack so maybe she was fine? He cautiously reached out and gently shook Thea's shoulder. "Thea? It's time to get up."
Thea, at first, didn't respond. After a bit more shaking she slowly brought her head up and opened her eyes. She yawned and looked up at Jason. "M-morning." she greeted the Inkling groggily.
"Hey. We need to get ready for work. What do you want for breakfast?" Jason said warmly, trying to ignore his throbbing head and the glowflies in his stomach.
"Could we-Ah-HAAAAA-have pancakes again?" Thea yawned mid-sentence.
"Sure!" Jason smiled. "But first, uh... how long did you work on handwriting last night?" Jason picked up a sheet of paper with Thea's writing.
Thea blushed a bit. "I-uh, I lost track of time." she grinned sheepishly. "L-last time I checked it was... 1am-ish?."
"Well, you did a really good job!" Jason complimented with a raised eyebrow.
"Thanks." Thea nodded and blushed deeper, still half asleep.
"Ok, well we're going to do something special today, so you'll have to wake up now." Jason chuckled.
"Oh? And what might that be?" Thea asked with a smug face.
"It's my birthday!" Jason grinned.
It took a second for the statement to sink in for Thea. Then, "What?!" Thea jumped in her seat, sleepiness completely gone. "Why didn't you tell me?! I didn't get you anything!"
"Whoa, whoa! You don't have to get me anything, Thea!" Jason tried to calm the frantic Octoling.
"B-but... It's your birthday!" Thea stuttered. "You've done so much for me and I wanted to get you something to show my appreciation and- "
"And all I want from you is to celebrate with me." Jason interrupted the rambling Octoling with a chuckle. "I've invited a few of my friends over for a sort of birthday dinner. I need to set some things up after work today and I'd like your help. I thought you'd like to meet some more of my friends and just have some fun with us." Jason explained.
"A-are you kidding?! I'll make sure it's the best birthday dinner you've ever had!" Thea giggled with excitement, eyes sparkling. "When can we start?!"
Jason chuckled. "After work! Let's get going!"
Thea threw her blanket off her, hopped out of the chair, and went to her drawer to grab some clothes for the day. She then turned back to the bathroom but froze when she saw Jason frozen at the kitchen, wide-eyed and scarlet red. Thea went red too as she realized her mistake. She had taken her pajamas off in the night because of the heat and fell asleep before putting them on. Now she stood, in the middle of the lounge, in her underwear.
Thea was so embarrassed and terrified she locked up and didn't dare move a muscle. Jason caught himself staring and immediately forced his eyes up. The few seconds of silence that past felt like hours to the two red cephalopods.
Finally, Jason broke the silence. "U-um...Wha...I-I'm...going to...to fix that t-thermostat." he stuttered out and turned to go to the control panel on the kitchen wall. Thea covered herself and walked briskly to the bathroom.
Jason banged his head against the wall. "Oooooooooooh NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Jason and Thea began work at the Nautical Dinner. Jason was greeted with friendly smiles, handshakes, and birthday cards from his co-workers. Some of them brought some small gifts to work. Emily and Harry gave Jason some cash and Valarie gave him a large bar of Jason's favorite chocolate. Jason was very grateful to his colleagues for their generosity but his mind was elsewhere.
Work that day was rather awkward for Jason and Thea. Neither of them wanted to talk about that morning's incident. They avoided eye contact, kept conversations brief and work-related, but they couldn't escape reality. Both Jason and Thea made mistakes that morning, but they both blamed themselves entirely.
They needed to talk, Jason knew that. After work. He would apologize and make it up to Thea. He couldn't let an accident ruin their friendship. He would make her some more pancakes, and have a chat about it. They would handle the situation like mature Inkling and Octolings. That was the plan. He couldn't live with the guilt forever and he was sure that Thea wanted to sort things out too.
"Jason?"
"BAAAAH!" Jason jumped. Arthur laughed at the startled Inkling.
"Wow, again?" Arthur got out between laughs.
"Huh?" a flustered Jason asked.
"The same thing happened yesterday!" Arthur reminded Jason. "I scared you while you were off in another world." Arthur faded his voice away as he said that last part for dramatic effect.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Jason hung his head and got back to work stacking plates into a cupboard. "I'm a bit preoccupied."
"Yeah, I could tell." Arthur chuckled. "Hey, is Thea ok?"
"What?" Jason looked up again.
"She seems… I dunno… a little down?" Arthur talked a bit softer. Jason looked behind him and saw Thea stacking napkins into a trolley. She didn't look upset but she certainly wasn't her usual, cheery self. Not smiling, not talkative, but not frowning or grumpy. Just, closed off.
"Uhhhhh, yeeeeah…" Jason cringed. "We had a bit of an 'incident' this morning."
"Is she gonna be alright?"
"I… don't know…" Jason sighed. "I'm going to try and smoothen things out tonight."
"Good." Arthur approved. "We still good for tonight?"
"I don't know. I'll give you a call if I can get everything sorted."
"Ok. Will do."
The door to Jason'sapartment opened and two exhausted cephalopods walked in. Jason set some more supplies for the birthday dinner on the kitchen counter. Thea sat down on her couch/bed and picked up an Octarian book and started to read without a word. She might've gone to her room and locked herself in if she had one.
Jason sighed and sat down on the vacant coffee table between her and the tv. Thea didn't look up from her book. Jason ran his fingers through his tentacles and composed himself.
"Thea?" he asked quietly. Thea didn't respond. Jason bit his lip and tried to think about what to say. He decided to go with his gut.
"Thea, I'm very sorry about today." Jason said quietly and lowered his head. "I really goofed up this time. I should've been more careful. I know I stared too long. I should've gotten that thermostat fixed or given you my room and..."
Jason looked up again. Thea still hadn't looked up from her reading. Her once lively sapphire eyes were glistening with tears.
"Great. Now I've made things worse." Jason got up to give her some space.
Jason it made halfway to the kitchen when he felt (and heard) a sobbing Thea grab him from behind and pull him into a gentle hug.
"J-Jason! I'm so, so, so sorry! It's all my fault and I've ruined your birthday!" Thea was full on crying now. Her voice was cracking as she sobbed into Jason's shoulder.
"I was stupid to stay up so late and to take my top off a-a-and now I made the day so miserable and I wanted to say something but I didn't know h-how and I'm just so sorry!"
Jason, not knowing what else to do, returned the hug and gently rubbed Thea's back to try and calm her.
"I've been nothing but trouble ever since I came here! I shouldn't have come to your city and-"
"Hey!" Jason cut her off. Thea stopped blabbering and pulled away a little to wipe her nose with her sleeve.
Jason grabbed Thea's shoulders. "You are not being a burden! I brought you here so you could start over! I got you clothes, a job, Inkling classes, because I want you to succeed! I want you to be happy."
"B-but I caused you so much embarrassment!" Thea trembled. "Those mean girls... your friend Sam, and you said that you're uncomfortable around girls!"
Jason paused to think about what to say next. He wanted to be honest. It was true that having Thea around brought him much discomfort. But he didn't want to hurt her feelings.
"W-well yes, there have been a few...uh..." Jason thought back to the morning after he had brought Thea home. "Mishaps?" Thea's face fell. "But I would gladly go through it again to know you and to be your friend."
Thea looked up again. She had that adorable smile that Jason just loved. Jason smiled too. His own eyes watered up a bit. They didn't say anything more for a little while. Finally, Thea spoke.
"I'm sorry for what you've gone through to help me. I'm sorry for not being open and honest. And I'm so thankful for your help too. I might have died out there, if not for you." Thea wiped the tears from her eyes.
"And I'm sorry being so weird and awkward. And I'm sorry for not talking about this. I know you when through a lot and causing you stress is the last thing I want." Jason ignored his screaming brian and pulled Thea into another hug. "I'm going to try and be more honest and respectful to you."
Thea sniffed again. "Me too."
"Are we cool now?"
Thea giggled. "Yes, we're cool!"
"Good. Do you still want help with my birthday dinner?" Jason asked as they broke the embrace.
"Yes! Of course! I want to help you have the best birthday ever!" Thea exclaimed, cheerful once again.
"Ok." Jason nodded. "We've still got a few hours. Here's the plan..."
Jason and Thea spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and setting up for Jason's birthday dinner.
They moved Thea's couch/bed and the coffee table into Jason's room. Jason hired a large, folding, plastic table from the apartment facilities and set it up where the coffee table was. With the couch out of the way, there was a lot more room for guests. He also hired some foldable chairs to accommodate more people as he only had three chairs at the counter.
Thea dusted furniture and shelves while Jason vacuumed the floor. They wiped down the kitchen and bathroom. While Jason's apartment wasn't the cleanest in Inkopolis, it didn't look like a man cave either, so the cleaning work was light.
Thea helped Jason prepare a large salad and a batch of spring rolls. She enjoyed learning how to cook. It was something she had never learned in her home or in the army.
Jason then showed Thea how to fill and tie balloons and introduced her to the joy of helium. After having some fun with voice changing gasses they hung up multi-colored steamers, set up colorful lights and candles, and prepared the table for dinner.
Once all was ready, the two tired cephalopods took a much-needed break. They watched some tv and worked through some more of Thea's homework. Thea didn't have as much trouble with her reading/writing as the previous night. With Jason's help, they plowed their way through the exercises.
By then, both Thea and Jason's moods had turned around completely. They were once again cheerful and happy to be in each other's company. The events of that morning almost completely forgotten.
Almost.
Finally, as the warm sun dipped under the horizon, their first party guest arrived.
Welp! I'm a terrible person!
Maaaaaaaan! I put this off for waaaaaay too long!
Ah well. It's not like any of you really care when this gets updated. :') There are so many other stories uploaded on this site, you couldn't possibly read them all. How'd you even find this one!? It's more a self-esteem thing for me.
I feel like dirt for disappearing. I miss the days when I would upload every day. Then again, those chapters were terrible and I had to go back and update them. I think it's better if I take my time to keep the quality up to standard.
Well, once again, I'm increasing the number of chapters. This one was supposed to have the events of the party/dinner/whatever it is. But as I write, new ideas just flow and all of a sudden, more plot points and deeper lore form in my head. I had no idea this one story would be so long! We're only about halfway!
I have so many other cool stuff I want to put in here that just won't fit with the main story arc. I think after this one is done, I'll start a series of shorts. Maybe some of them with reader cameos if this gets enough attention. Can't get in over my head though, so, for now, I'll stick with TLD. (That's my unofficial abbreviation for this story's name).
We'll get into Jason's birthday dinner next time. Then what?
Oh, my friend...
Then some stuff goes down!
Until next time,
Dashanerocket