'Ding Dong'
"I'll get it!" Thea called out to Jason, who was getting changed in his room. He wanted to be nice and sharp for his birthday dinner. Thea hadn't bothered to get changed and was quite content to be in a casual, light pink shirt and jeans.
Thea walked briskly to the apartment door and opened it to the awaiting guests. Opening the door revealed an Inkling couple dressed in sharp clothes. The guy had a black suit with a jacket and tie. He had an orange bowl cut and hazel eyes. The lady wore a matching, sparkly, black dress that reached her knees. She wore black high heels and had fiery red eyes to match her pink tentacles, which were tied in a bun. Both of them were carrying some foil-wrapped dishes and the man held a wrapped birthday present.
Thea smiled warmly at the two, but they had a look of confusion on his face. "Oh, sorry." the man apologized. "We must have the wrong room. We're looking for Jason?"
Thea realized that these guests were not expecting an Octoling to answer Jason's door. "Oh no! This is Jason's! You're at the right room, come on in!" Thea held the door open and motioned for them to come inside. The couple stepped inside and took a second to take in the surroundings.
The small apartment was dimly lit by the candles on the table and colorful lights on the walls. The plastic table in the living space was covered by a decorated, blue tablecloth and the plates and utensils were already set out. Streamers hung from the ceiling and helium balloons floated in the corners of the room. Wonderful smells were coming from the brighter kitchen.
Thea closed the door behind the new arrivals and greeted them properly. "Hello, my name is Thea. Jason is just getting ready."
The male Inkling smiled and nodded his head. "Nice to meet you, Thea. My name is Nelson and this is my fiancée, Mel."
"Hi!" Mel smiled. And gave a small wave.
"Nice to meet you two! How long have you known Jason?" Thea asked to make conversation.
Nelson spoke up. "I've known Jason since school. We lived in the same neighborhood and were close friends. When we moved away from each other we stayed in touch and sometimes visited each other. I don't see him very often nowadays, so this birthday dinner is a big occasion for me." Nelson gave a goofy smile. He seemed friendly enough.
"Nelson introduced me to Jason a few months ago." Mel added. "This is only my second time seeing him."
"Oh, that's awesome!" Thea said enthusiastically. She then remembered the items the guests were still holding. "Oh! You can leave the gift on the counter there and is that for dinner?" Mel nodded. "Then I'll take that to the kitchen." Mel handed over two trays for Thea, who set them on the stove, which was obviously powered off. Nelson took the gift and a smaller plastic container to the counter.
"Can this go in the freezer?" Nelson asked still holding the plastic container.
"Sure thing!" Thea nodded and took the container from Nelson and put it in the freezer at the bottom of the fridge.
"So, Thea, you're staying with Jason?" asked Mel.
"Yeah, just till I can get back on my feet." Thea placed the container in the ice cold freezer.
"I don't remember Jason saying anything about having a girlfriend." Nelson remarked as he continued to look around the apartment.
Thea blushed a bit and shook her head. She opened her mouth to correct Nelson but was interrupted by a loud thump followed by a loud, muffled "Owwwww!" from Jason's room. All heads turned to Jason's door. Jason emerged, gripping his knee and grimacing. Thea guessed he had tripped on the coffee table.
He was wearing his waiter's uniform. White shirt, black vest, and red tie. His side-swept tentacle was hanging in his face. When he recognized Nelson and Mel he pushed the tentacle back in place, stood up straight on one leg and tried to play it off cool.
"Ahem!" Jason cleared his throat and raised his finger. "She's not my girlfriend." he announced.
There was an awkward silence as Nelson, Mel, and Thea stared at Jason for a second before laughing at Jason's silliness. Jason joined in, unable to contain his laughter. Nelson and Jason came together for a hug, as old friends do when they haven't seen each other in a long time. While Thea was glad the confusion was cleared up, she somehow felt a little pained when Jason effectively 'friend-zoned' her. She wasn't sure why but she decided to let it go for now.
"Happy birthday, Jason!" Nelson congratulated as he and Jason broke the hug.
"Yes, Happy birthday, Jason!" Mel joined in and hugged Jason. Thea couldn't stop a giggle as she watched Jason's face go red from being hugged by a girl he hardly knew.
"T-thanks guys! Glad you could make it!" he got out. "How was the trip up?" He went over to the tv and connected his phone to the sound system.
"A little long, but we did some fun things along the way." Mel replied.
"Yeah! The Wahoo World theme park is a great time!" Nelson chipped in. "I don't know why we've never been before!"
"Well, that's awesome!" Jason said as he looked for a good song to start the night with. "What else has been going on? Have you picked a date for the wedding?"
Nelson and Mel beamed. Mel slipped her hand into Nelson's. "We've decided on four months from now." said Nelson.
"We don't have an exact day yet." Mel added. "But we'll let you know as soon as we do."
"Great! I'm looking forward to it!" Jason said as he tapped his phone. An upbeat electro song started playing through Jason's sound system. A few minutes of casual conversation passed before the next guest arrived.
'Ding, Dong'
Thea again opened the door and was surprised to see an Octoling face. It was Arthur. He was dressed in his waiter attire like Jason, but he used a dark purple tie instead of the red one to go with his purple tentacles. He too was carrying a gift and two covered dishes.
"Oh! Arthur!" Thea exclaimed. "I didn't know you were invited!"
Arthur smiled weekly and gave a small wave. "Hi, Thea! How are you?" Arthur asked. He was still a little worried about Thea from earlier.
"I'm good. Come on in!" Thea showed him inside to where Jason, Nelson and Mel were talking at the table.
"Ah, Arthur!" Jason welcomed Arthur with a handshake.
Arthur gave a nervous smile. "Hi, Jason. Happy birthday...again."
Jason laughed "Guys, this is Arthur." Jason introduced Arthur to Nelson and Mel. "He's a work colleague."
"Hello, Arthur!" Nelson greeted.
"Hiya!" Mel shadowed.
"Arthur, this is Nelson and Mel. Nelson is a childhood friend and Mel is his soon to be bride." Jason smiled. Mel blushed a little and Nelson grinned ear-to-ear.
"It's a pleasure to meet you two." Arthur shook their hands.
"So what do you do, Arthur?" Mel asked.
"I'm a waiter at the restaurant Jason works at."
"Oh, really?" Mel raised her eyebrows. "How long have you been working there?"
"Oh, only a few months." Arthur answered. "Jason had already been working there for a while. But I had the afternoon/evening shift so I hardly saw him. I got transferred to the morning/afternoon shift a few weeks ago."
From there the conversation continued. Jason, Arthur, Nelson, and Mel talked for a little while about all kinds of stuff. Thea mostly sat and listened, only occasionally quipping in to ask a question or to answer one. Jason, at first was worried that she was feeling ignored or left out, but the genuine smile on her face said otherwise. She was enjoying talking and listening to Jason's friends. Especially the stories Nelson told about the mischief he and Jason would get up to as kids.
'Ding Dong'
Thea opened the door again to see Jason's friend Sam and an Inkling girl she didn't recognize. In their arms, they held some more gifts and dishes of food.
"Hi, Sam!" greeted warmly.
"Hi, Thea!" Sam grinned wide. "Are we late?"
"No, no, not at all. Come in!" Thea brought them inside.
"Ah, Sam!" When Jason saw Sam he got up from his seat and gave his best friend a great, big bro hug.
"Hey, big man!" Sam laughed, returning the hug. "Happy birthday!"
Jason ended the hug and took a step back. "You look good!" Indeed, Sam did look good. He was wearing an expensive looking suit jacket, tie, and shoes. "Where'd you get all that?"
Sam stuck his nose in the air all snobby and prideful. "My super-rich mother and father gifted it to me! The suit belonged to my great, great grandfather when he was young!"
Jason laughed. He knew his friend was messing with him.
Sam cracked and told the truth. "Nah, I hired it. Was a pretty expensive hire though."
Jason turned his attention to Sam's lady partner. She had dark blue tentacles that hung from the sides of her head. She had several jewelry bracelets and a golden necklace. She also wore a navy blue dress. The kind of dress without the shoulder straps. The kind of dress that showed just a little more than Jason was comfortable with.
"And you must be, Jasmine, was it?" Jason greeted her, being careful to keep his eyes up.
"Yes, that's me." Jasmine smiled and shook Jason's hand. "It's great to finally to meet you, Jason. Sam has told me all about you."
Jason blushed. "Nothing too personal I hope." he said glancing to Sam, who was grinning widely.
"Well...uh...how long have you two been dating?" Jason asked.
"About three weeks." Jasmine said nonchalantly.
Jason couldn't believe it. "Only three weeks?! You look like a pretty established couple for just three weeks!"
"We where good friends for a while before we started dating."Jasmine explained, humored by Jason's surprise. "I've had feelings for Sam for a little while, but the feelings only became mutual recently."
Sam nodded his head. "She'll be starting a course on meteorology next year. She's been with me for a while and one day I got the 'hots' for her. Dunno why, but we've been getting on pretty well as a couple so far."
Jason was bewildered. "Wow, I'm way out of the loop! I had no idea you had been in a relationship for that long!"
Sam smirked. "Hey, that's what happens when your not active enough on social media!" He whipped out his phone and brought up a picture of him and Jasmine walking on the beach, holding hands. The picture was dated from a week and a half ago.
"Heh, heh...yeah..." Jason laughed sheepishly. It was true, Jason wasn't one to be on social media 24/7. He only used it when necessary for work, catch up on the news and to watch videos.
"Hey, Jason!" Nelson called. "Going to introduce your friends?"
Jason realized he had not introduced Sam and Jasmine to the others. "Right, sorry! Sam, Jasmine. This Nelson, my childhood friend, and Mel, his fiancée." Jason pointed to each person respectively.
"Hello!" Mel waved.
"And this is Ar-"
"Heeeeeeeey...I know you!" Sam interrupted.
Arthur was surprised. "Y-you do?"
"Yeah, you're a waiter at the Nautical Dinner! You're in your waiter's clothes and everything!" Sam laughed.
"O-oh!" Arthur began to laugh. "Yeah, I work with Jason. I'm wearing these because they're my best clothes."
"Same here." Jason quipped in.
Sam nodded. "Hmmm, makes sense. Well, you didn't serve us when we were there last week. Another waitress did."
"Must've been Natalie." Arthur shrugged.
Jasmine caught Thea's gaze. "Hello there! You're Thea...right?"
Thea smiled and nodded. "Yup, that's me. It's nice to meet you, Jasmine."
"Likewise!"
From there, there was some time for more conversation. Jason, Sam and Nelson had a chat together at one end of the table, mostly about work, turf wars, games, and stuff. Jasmine and Mel talked about whatever girly things that girls talk about at the other end. Thea and Arthur went over to the kitchen and talked about something in Octarian. Jason didn't know what about, but he was busy with Sam and Nelson and he reckoned that Thea would be fine with Arthur. She wasn't being included in many conversations or asked many questions, but she seemed to be having a great time.
Eventually, they moved on to the ever tempting birthday gifts. Jason wanted to get them out of the way before dinner. He also was just excited to open them, but he wouldn't admit that. They all gathered at the table and the small collection of boxes that sat in the center.
Mel went first. Her gift to Jason was a set of wireless earphones. Something Jason definitely wouldn't spend on himself. Eager to try them out he opened them up and put them in his ears. He connected his phone and was about to start playing music when an automated voice informed him that the earphones were out of battery power and were about to shut down. Everyone had a good laugh and Jason thanked Mel for the kind gift.
Nelson gave his gift next and opening it revealed a fancy shirt and jacket, not much unlike the one Sam was wearing. Jason put the jacket on and while it was a little too big, he assured Nelson that he would go back to the store to trade it for a smaller one. Sam made a joke about Jason "Finally joining the rich kids". Another good laugh for the group and Jason thanked his longtime friend for the present.
Arthur then presented his gift. Jason tore away at the wrapping to discover a box of Jason's favorite hot chocolate brand and a poster for a band that he liked. Arthur said that got the gifts based on the brief conversations that they had at work. He said that he really appreciated Jason being so friendly at work because he didn't have many friends and that being invited to his birthday dinner was a real honor.
Jason was touched by Arthur's heart-warming message. He thanked him profusely and thanked him for the gifts and for attending his birthday dinner.
Sam eagerly pushed his gift towards Jason now. Jason was pleasantly surprised to see a copy of a new video game that he had been wanting and a merch sweater based on the game. Jason took the game cartridge out of its case and popped it into his game console at the tv. "For later!" he said. He then put the themed sweater on over the jacket from Nelson, making him look bigger and rounder. More giggles and jokes ensued. Jason thanked Sam for the gifts and challenged him to a game later on.
Jasmine handed her gift over to Jason. Opening it revealed a new set of stainless steel cutlery and a mug with the words "I woke up like this and I'm proud of it!" printed on the side. Jason jokingly asked everyone to help set the table using the new cutlery and Arthur said he'd get the menus and asked what kind of sarcasm Jason wanted for his meal. Jason thanked Jasmine for the wonderful gift she had given despite not even knowing him.
Jason was about to get up and announce dinner when a small pink and white birthday card was put before him. Jason raised his eyebrows and looked up to see Thea had placed it there. She looked a little nervous, looking around the others to see if she was intruding. Jason was surprised that Thea even had a card for him. He picked up the card, opened it and started reading.
"Thank you again, Jason. For everything. You're the nicest Inkling I've ever met. You've done so much for me and I can never repay you. My life has been misery until now. You've given me the opportunity to start over. A chance to change my life for the better. I'm going to do my best to help you in any way I can and start anew in Inkopolis. I'm glad to have you as a friend. My first real friend. Happy birthday, Jason!"
Dictated by Thea.
Transcribed by Arthur.
Jason could already feel the tears forming in his eyes. "So that's what they were doing over there!" Short, simple, sweet and written in decent Inkling handwriting. Jason felt his heart melt for what felt like the millionth time in the last few days.
Jason looked up from the card and saw that adorable smile and those beautiful eyes. Thea had an expectant look on her face, waiting to see if Jason liked her meager birthday gift.
Jason bit his lips. "Do I do it? Should I do it? Can I do it?" The internal conflict eating away at him. He had to act fast. The world wasn't waiting for him.
Finally, "Screw it!" Jason pulled Thea into a hug. His face went a little red knowing that everyone else in the room was probably really confused.
Thea was surprised that Jason would hug her. "D-did you like it?" Thea asked quietly.
"I loved it!" Jason answered softly. "Thank you so much, Thea."
"You're welcome!" Thea nearly whispered.
The two hugging cephalopods stayed like that for a little bit. Over Thea's shoulder, Jason saw Sam making kissy faces. "NO WAY!" Jason mouthed to him, turning red, much to Sam's amusement. Nelson was trying desperately to stifle his laughter and Mel and Jasmine were "dawwing". Arthur just had a big grin on his face. Jason mouthed a thank you to him. Arthur nodded and gave a thumbs up.
"Uh...Jason?" Thea whispered.
"Hmm?"
"I-it's getting a bit late. D-do you think we should start dinner now?"
"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Jason exclaimed as he pulled away from Thea suddenly. He stood up straight, shook away the red in his face and cleared his throat. "Who's hungry?"
"Me!" everyone in the room raised their hands.
Sorry about the wait on this one. Life has been a bit busy and I had to rewrite this chapter multiple times. I wanted to fit all the events of Jason's birthday dinner into one chapter, but there was just to much stuff to cram in there so I'm splitting it in two (Once again raising the number on chapters). So about a third of the next chapter is already written so the wait for the next one shouldn't be too long (That's what she said).
I've decided that I'm going to give this story a proper rewrite when it's done. There are lots of small things that I can change to bring the quality up. I'm still going to finish this story first, don't worry.
Also a big thanks to Shy Guys Toast, who left such a nice review last time. I would've messaged sooner but I can't unless you sign in when you review. (Also nice reference! Brings back memories)
Enough rambling. Time to hit upload. Review for my sanity and follow for updates yadda yadda yadda...
Until next time,
Dashanerocket