Alex landed shortly after super-jumping away from the coffee shop, landing just outside the more active streets at this hour, quickly ducking into an alleyway and pulling around a corner before her back falls against the wall and her body slides down it, her breaths heavy as she closes her eyes. Her hearts haven't stopped racing and she feels her nerves on edge. Her therapist recommended trying to get her breathing under control first, and that's just what she tries to do.
She can practically hear her hearts beating in her ears, the pounding in her chest making it difficult to focus as her breaths continue to run away from her. Moment after moment it feels like the world is closing in around her. But finally, she musters the strength to take one long deep breath, and she just holds it. She holds it for a moment, and then a moment longer. She starts to feel the pressure on her mind and body slowly lessen, her hearts slowly returning to their regular beat. Her eyes held closed until finally she feels in the moment enough to open them and let the air out from her lungs, taking a few heavy breaths after to fully calm down.
"Fuck… I'm definitely gonna need more time to de-stress…" Alex comments to no one, rubbing her palms across her face on either side like she's trying to wipe away the expression she held before. Her attention turns to where she is, she's near Burnh Street, the part of town known for numerous bars and nightlife, but not that kind of nightlife. It's mostly just folks looking for a few drinks and a fun night out with friends.
Alex knows it's probably a bad idea, but she figures she could use a drink or two, so she heads around the corner to the first pub she sees and walks in the front door. She makes no effort to be sly but rather just rolls up to the bar and slips on top of a bar stool. After a moment or two the bartender, looks to be a new hire Octoling Boy, the single large tentacle atop his head seemed to hint as much anyways.
"What's your poison stranger?" He asks in a friendly tone, clearly embodying a "character" he came up with to play as while at work. His smile seems to be genuine though, he likes his job or at least some aspects of it.
"Oh uh, geez been a while since I've gotten drinks by myself… I'll just have two shots of whiskey and a water, please." Alex sighs as the bartender nods and turns to make up her order. While he does she pulls out the coins she'll need to pay for the drinks as well as a tip for the bartender as well, she knows they practically live on their tips after all.
"Here you are!" The bartender places two shot glasses in front of Alex and fills them with whiskey, and then places down the filled glass of water as well. He nods with a smile and then takes the coins she'd left on the counter for him and puts them into the register before moving to the next patron in need of service.
Alex downs the first shot and grimaces, she was never fond of the way alcohol burned going down, but she quickly moves on to the next, downing it as well and grimacing once more. After a moment to get her bearings, she drinks down a few swallows of the water provided to wash the taste from her tongue. She could feel her heart rate slowing finally, allowing her to calm down fully.
"Much… much better…" she sighs as she sips her water now. Her therapist was likely going to be upset she'd gone this route, but she has no intention of making it a habit. This particular instance was just… a bit much to deal with at once. The fact she'd been almost zoning out while walking around, to the fact she'd had to fight a salmonid in the middle of a coffee shop just off Inkopolis Square. She needs a hobby to occupy her mind when she's not with Kiaria so she doesn't have to have her mind switch from zero to one hundred on a dime.
She sighs softly and then finishes off her water, leaving an additional tip on the counter for the bartender and turning to leave. She's not about to let herself get pulled in to making a big mistake by consuming more than she can handle, but what she did have has taken the edge off at the cost of just mildly dulled senses. She steps back out onto the street, looking up and down the road unsure of what she's really looking for.
A thrift store catches her eye, a place to nab second hand gear and sometimes styles that haven't been sold for a while. Alex has no real need to go there, but with still a chunk of time until Kiaria will be done at the studio, she finds herself stalking across the street and into the store. She has no end goal in mind, but is mindlessly her eyes through the aisles of donated clothing. Eventually she finds a rack of old jackets. There's some trench coats, some biker jackets, and some really out there rhinestone monstrosities. But amongst it all, a simple black hoodie catches her eye. She pulls it off the rack and examines it, it feels light and soft. Whomever donated it must've been kind enough to wash it first.
She looks through the jacket for anything that might be off, she's an agent after all she can't help it, and after finding nothing wrong, decides she should consider getting it... then she looks down at her current shirt. It's torn in multiple places, likely damaged in her fight at the coffee shop. She sighs and realizes she HAS to get the jacket now, she can't be walking around looking like she is.
She carries the jacket up to the register, the Inkling working there looks completely indifferent to her presence. He seems to be a bit... out of it almost. Alex almost considers poking him to get his attention but just as she is about to he turns his head to look at her.
"Oh hey, didn't notice you there. You ready to check out then?" His voice is deep and slightly raspy, and his breath smells very sour. It's unclear what he's ingested but clearly something has affected his cognitive functions.
"Uh, yes. Just the jacket please." She places it on the counter in front of him, the price tag and barcode facing up. She's trying to make it easy on him.
"Oh! Radical dude. Right so like just so you know, everything is like, final sale right? So if you don't like it after you pay for it there's nothing I can do for ya man."
"...That's fine, just the jacket please."
"If that's what you want!" He scans the jacket and the price comes up on the screen, Alex already putting the required coins on the counter in front of him and swiping the jacket up.
"Thanks, I don't need a receipt. Bye!" She doesn't let him get another word in and just starts walking out, ripping the price tag off and dropping it in the bin by the door as she slips the jacket over her shoulders and zips it up, then flips the hood over her head and tucks her front tentacles in as well. "Man this side of town really is something else, he was high as a goddamn kite."
She huffs as she leaves the building and checks the time again. She still has time until Kiaria will be done, but at this point in time she honestly wants to go home. So she takes a moment to get a feel for where in the city she is and starts thinking up the fastest way back home. She looks up the street and finds an alleyway that looks like it'll cut her journey in half compared to walking around on the sidewalk alone, and turns to head through it.
Unfortunately, her journey is cut short when suddenly there's a figure blocking her path, clad in all-black attire to blend into the night. Alex sighs heavily, she knows there's likely more than one and they're probably surrounding her right now.
"Well well well, looks like we caught ourselves a lost little Inkling didn't we boys?" The figure's voice and accent marked him as an Octoling, maybe an escapee from the underground, or perhaps a remnant of the radical loyalists Alex had encountered a few times on return trips into the underground. Laughter emanates from around her, she already knows that there's five of them.
"Look can we just not bother with this tonight? You leave me alone and I won't tie your legs up with the tentacles on your head." Alex states with exasperation. She is tired and wants to go home for sure, but now something is getting in the way of that and it's making the hidden dualie on her person feel very appealing to use, but she resists for the moment.
"Hah! Stupid bitch, maybe you hadn't noticed, but we outnumber you five to one." He is about to continue but is very suddenly cut off by Alex speaking up.
"Well then come back with a couple more guys and maybe it'll be a fair fight." She is growing increasingly annoyed with every second they are blocking her patch and it's going to reach a boiling point.
"Wh- Oh you are a dead squid, GET HER!" He shouts at his… friends? Goons? Accomplices? I suppose it doesn't matter much either way. They all charge in at Alex.
Alex's mind switches to combat mode on a dime, time seeming to slow around her as she sticks her left foot straight backwards and trips one of the guys heading for her mid-stride. She then quickly swaps to squid form and shifts back until all of them are in front of her, the one she tripped getting up and turning around as the rest figure out where she went.
"Last chance, stand down." She growls with determination. She really would let them be if they let her be, but of course they're too stubborn and charge in again. Alex quickly sweeps the leg and knocks over two of them, using the momentum generated to deliver a back kick to the next one and knocking him into the remaining two.
They just keep getting back up though, she is holding her own still though. Her movements are far too refined for them to keep up with, using her body weight and momentum to continue knocking them over. She's not going for any cheap shots though, despite the situation she has her pride after all.
A few manage to land a hit or two, but they only do so because she let them get close enough so she could hit them back even harder. A hard shoulder to the chest of one of them sends him into the wall where his back impacts it with a thud, he falls to the ground too pained to continue fighting.
One by one, Alex picks them off and takes them out of the fight, leaving only the leader. Alex doesn't even wait for him to attack this time, sliding in and hitting him with an elbow, to the sternum, a knee to the chest, and a quick roundhouse kick to the head to knock him over.
One of them is about to try and stand to rush her but suddenly finds her dualie pointed right at his face.
"Stay down unless you want to all end up at the nearest public respawn point." Alex growls, her finger is on the trigger. The amount of ink she can bring into the weapon wouldn't be enough for a splat normally, but given she'd roughed them up pretty good, it was likely it'd be enough. Wisely, they all stay down and she turns and walks away, knocking over some spare palettes and lumber that were stored in the alley and blocking the path so she can't be easily followed.
Finally she calms down and shakes her head.
"Next time, maybe don't try jumping an agent, dickheads." She comments to herself and then continues walking home like nothing happened.
"…I told you that was a bad idea."
"Shut up Orta."
The group of Octoling lay there for a while, never really realizing that they'd just tried to jump Agent 3. Likely if they had known who she was they wouldn't have tried… or at least would've preserved their element of surprise.
A short while later, Alex arrives at home and flops onto the couch, she still feels a bit overwhelmed by everything but is slowly calming her nerves. The dulled senses from the couple of drinks she had seeming to help with that. Once she's taken a few breaths she then pulls out her phone to send a quick message to Kiaria.
—
Alex - Hey Kia! I'm at home right now, I'd have been there when you were done but things got a bit crazy. I'll tell you about it in the morning… might be asleep on the couch when you get in so don't be surprised to see me there.
—
Alex puts her phone on the coffee table then suddenly winces, feeling a sharp pain in her stomach. She thinks it's likely all the excitement paired with the alcohol she ingested causing a stomach ache, but still she checks herself over quickly to see if there's anything the matter that's visible externally.
She doesn't think she'll find anything, but her train of thought is cut short when, looking down at her stomach… she notices the handle of a knife sticking out of it.