Mikel's POV:

It has been quite a while since Mikel has last slept in his bed, thus he was a little disoriented when he woke up and was staring towards the living room, where he slept normally. "Holy Goldie! How did I end up here?", he was asking himself, until he slowly remembered what had happen yesterday.

"Skarlet recovered from her injuries,............. We went together to a shift,............ I was completely exhausted and ................ !!!!!", he then noticed a slight weight pressing against his back, while two arms were around his belly.

Mikel's head immediately started steaming and his face looked like he had burning fever, as red as it was. "Why did I have to agree to her offer? Now I'm sure that I won't be having a single silent day without her asking me to sleep with her....".

While trying his best to be as sneaky as possible, Mikel turned into a squid and carefully wiggled himself out of Skarlet's grip. *Flop* "Uff", he let out a small sigh as he landed on the floor.

"So, now that's done, let's see what time we have................WHAT?! It's already afternoon!", Mikel was quite shocked when he saw the clock, as he hadn't slept this long for the last few days.

Then he noticed something so suddenly, that brought a huge smile upon his face. "I had no nightmares tonight! Hahahahaha, I can't believe it I just had no freaking nightmares for once! This feels sooooo good."

While silently laughing to himself, Mikel looked over the sleeping Octoling on his bed. "Thanks Skarlet, I'm feeling like I could take on anything today." He looked at the nearly healed bruises on his hands. "And please don't scare me like that again.", then headed toward his wardrobe to pick some clothes and went into the kitchen.

"So, now that's done let's whip up something to eat. Grizzlo will be on a meeting with some investors, so I'll have a lot to do for tonight." Mikel then started to some pasta and cheese.

Skarlet's POV:

Skarlet's eyes slowly opened as she was laying on her side holding nothing but thin air. "Damn, and here I thought I finally got him. Well it would've been to good for a dream.", she sat up with a displeased look on her face, but then noticed that the part where her arms rested was still slightly warm. "Wait, so it wasn't just a dream? YES, I did it!" She rose her fist into the air while thinking about how she finally brought Mikel to sleep with her.

Skarlet then already thought of how she would seduce him before he would go to bed. "Next goal set, getting his splattershot ready for the next night!"

Then her nose got tingled by a strong, yet yummy smell. "Hmmmmmm, something smells really good around here.", she said and headed towards the kitchen where she saw Mikel at a steaming pan.

"Hihihi, let's have some fun, shall we?", she snickered to herself and sneaked behind Mikel. Mikel who was just humming a melody and completely focused on his cooking didn't notice the sneaky Octoling.

Then without any warning she jumped at him from behind, while shouting "Good morning" right into Mikel's ear, while hugging him from behind.

"GAH!? What the he?", he nearly threw the pan into the air as he jumped from her surprise. "Skarlet! Can't you see that I'm cooking?"

"Ooooh, can't you greet me a little nicer in the morning? You do know we've already slept together Hotstuff.", she said while licking her lips. Her hands moved downwards from his chest.

"That's the first thing you're talking about in the morning? And stop calling me Hotstuff!"

"Why not? It seems you've gotten some really well-deserved sleep after helping me to get at least a small part of my memories back." Skarlet then leaned closer towards Mikel "If you have nothing against it, I would really like to show you more of my gratitude.", she said with a seductive voice, while her hands were slowly rubbing the part where his splattershot was.

"NOPE, I decline, I'm already having enough trouble with you like this.", he quickly denied. "AND STOP TOUCHING THERE!",

"Meanie!", she put hands away but still remained leaning against his back "Well it was worth a try" Skarlet then sniffed around: "Is it just me, or does it smell slightly burned?"

"AAAH my cheese-macaroni!"

---Timeskip with a chibi Mikel explaining a chibi Skarlet how to cook, while flames shoot out of the pot behind him---

Mikel's POV:

Mikel was just cleaning the dishes, as Skarlet asked him: "So, what are we going to do tonight?"

"Well, I'm going to have a tough shift tonight, since Grizzlo will be going at a meeting with a few of his investors, while the company is also going to be closed for the whole day tomorrow.". Mikel answered.

"Huh? I thought Grizzco is a company that never closes?"

"It's actually quite rare, but a lot of couples, both Inklings and Octolings have taken off for tomorrow as it is Valentine's Day."

Mikel let out a deep sigh. "I don't really care much about this day anyway."

Skarlet looked at him with a curious expression: "Can you explain me what this Valentine's Day is? It sounds lovely."

"Nonono, I won't or else I'm going to have you jumping on me for the whole day."

Skarlet then made a puppy-eye expression towards him: "Please, it sounds so lovely.", then a smirk appeared on her face: "Otherwise I have to ask Isa about it."

"Everything but that! Who knows what she would plant in her head?" It took him a little until he answered her: "Fine! Valentine's day is a day where couples and pairs go out together. They often go eat somewhere out on a date or may take a walk together and so on. With all the love live you can imagine.", his mood clearly sunk as he told the last part.

Skarlet crossed her arms under her chest and laid back a little: "Do I need to ask?"

"The answer is NO, NO and NO! We're not doing that.", Mikel quickly denied.

"But why can't we have just fun for once?", she stood up and stroke a sexy pose: "You can't deny that anyone would love to take this sexy girl out on a date, right?"

"Not me. Also, we went on a picknick and had a shopping trip."

"That was so many days ago!"

"And?", Mikel was completely unimpressed. "What do you mean with that? It had more work with you in the days you're here now than in the whole past year."

Skarlet's POV:

"Don't you do anything else in your free-time?", Skarlet looked at Mikel like he was the strangest creature in the world.

"Like what then? I need to cook, clean, do household chores, sleep and on Sundays I go to the bar with Marco and Grizzlo. Ah and I sometimes brawl with Andrew, that's it.", he just calmly told her.

Skarlet just shook her head as he heard him: "You're unbelievable, no wonder you are here all alone. You really need a girlfriend big boy."

Suddenly Mikel's facial expression turned into a mix of pain and anger: "BY THE FREAKING SALMONS! THE LAST THING I EVER NEED IS ANOTHER GIRLFRIEND!!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!" Mikel shouted across the whole room.

Holding her ears due to the noise, Skarlet slowly directed her eyes towards Mikel again. "What the squid just happened now?"

Mikel held his head while sitting at the table and took deep breaths: "I.....hah..... I'm sorry. I really didn't want to shout at you, especially since I had a peaceful sleep for once, thanks to you. I'm sorry.", he apologized while having a tormented look on his face, like he was in pain.

"Holy Veemo! Now I struck a nerve........... so it was a girlfriend.", Skarlet cheered at herself from inside, as she finally had a clue on what was going on with Mikel. "So, that's what shattered his heart...... but this is thin ice. Thanks for the advice Isa, I must be very careful now."

Skarlet choose her next words very carefully and spoke in a calm voice for once: "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I don't. This is of no concern for you."

Feeling quite offended by his constant denying Skarlet's temper took over: "Of no concern? Hey Hotstuff, if you haven't realized it yet, I'm practically living under the same roof with you for over a week now since you picked me up. Of course, it concerns me and don't shout at me like that!", she snapped back at him with an angry look on her face.

Mikel's POV:

Being surprised at her scolding, Mikel looked at her with wide eyes and finally his expression softened a little: "You're not wrong, since you live here till you got your memories back, I shouldn't be so rude. But this is something very personal and I don't like to talk about it."

"But can you at least------!!"

He quickly interrupted her while leaning across the table with putting a finger on her lips: "Let me at least think about it during my work tonight ok? I'll give you my answer afterwards." But just as he wanted to move his hand away, Skarlet licked his finger. "Hey what are you doing?!", he quickly pulled his hand back.

"Mmmmm tastes like cheese", Skarlet said while licking her lips. "That was for interrupting me. You don't do that to a lady."

"Hmpf, suit yourself.", he rubbed off his hand with his shirt. "Gosh this girl is unbelievable." "Now with that being over, I'm off to work."

Skarlet also jumped up: "I'm coming along too!", then quickly leaned towards Mikel: "And I don't accept a no!"

"Why? I won't take you with me to another island, I hope you understand why.", Mikel just shook his head.

"But you said you're going to have a lot of work tonight, so there must be a lot to do at your company tonight, right?"

"Yes, that's true.", Mikel was actually relieved about this, since there is a lot of work waiting for him. "Well it's mostly cleaning and sorting a huge amount of eggs, that saves me a lot of time."

"I also want to make sure you don't overwork yourself, so we can go out on our date tomorrow. *wink*", she said with a devilish smile.

".......... Gimme a break!"

---Timeskip brought to you by Mr. Grizz teaching a chibi Skarlet how Salmon runs work---

Narrator's POV:

When Mikel and Skarlet arrived at Grizzco, Mikel quickly got himself ready and went towards one of the salmon-islands with his ship.

Before he left, Mikel quickly told Grizzlo about how Skarlet offered to help with his work tonight, leaving Mr. Gizz behind with the horny Octoling.

Skarlet's POV:

"Hey, I thought he would at least work with me!", she complained seeing Mikel driving away on his boat.

"Well, I still need quite the amount of eggs for another shipping, so Mikel can go out and get them while you clean the rest from yesterday's haul.", he pointed towards a huge mountain of golden eggs piled near the port. "Then you sort them by size into the wooden boxes over there.", his finger shifted towards a bunch of wooden boxes standing next to the eggs.

"Like hell I'm going to do all of this alone! Mikel can help me with those when he comes back. I'm a Lady, not some little Chore-woman.", Skarlet's mood sunk to the bottom seeing the work Mr. Grizz had prepared for her. "Well, first things first. Since Mr. Grizz is here, let's get more info about Mikel."

"Hey, Mr. Grizz-", Skarlet said with a cheerful voice: "Who was Mikel's girlfriend?"

Skarlet noticed Mr. Grizz freezing for a sec: "Who told you that?"

"He let it slip today after sleeping with me.", she said. "Why not add some more spice to the story?"

The eyes of Mr. Grizz widened at her answer and he shook his head: "Seriously, this guy just can't handle women. And about his EX-", Skarlet readied her ears: "-that's none of your concern, you have work to do."

This was absolutely not what Skarlet was hoping for: "Why is everyone making such a big secret about it? Then tell me how I should clean AND sort all of those eggs into the boxes before Mikel comes back? He should help me with them.", she complained towards Mr. Grizz.

Grizzlo just stood there, completely unaffected by her complaining. "Now listen well Miss Rose-", he crossed his meaty arms in front of him: "-normally I would've already thrown you out with this attitude. So now you will listen closely to what I have to say."

"Ups, this guy is real business."

While pointing towards the small mountain Grizzlo said: "Don't think I can't guess why you're helping him tonight. It's Valentine's day tomorrow and you probably want to have the whole day with him. Since I need also his catch from tonight ready by tomorrow, he has quite the work to do. So, if you want him to go home with you earlier you better sort all those eggs ASAP!"

"Argh damnit! Why did I agree to this?", Skarlet's frustration just grew.

Grizzlo then headed towards a small cabin and unlocked it. "Well, I'm not a bad boss, so I get you can get yourself a little reward if you're fast."

Skarlet's eyes immediately shot towards the cabin where he was. "A reward? Ooooooh, maybe I can access Mikel's locker!"

"Inside here is the Terminal where I normally speak to Mikel during his shifts, there is also a button for Tenta-Missiles if a siren goes off you can press the large red button inside it.", a broad grin appeared on Grizzlo's face: "So if you finish those, you can talk to him as much as you like before he comes back.", he then packed his stuff and left the company.

Skarlet just looked at the door and the mountain of golden eggs. "So, let's show those guys how fast Skarlet Rose really is!", she said while pulling up her sleeves.

Grizzlo's POV:

While Grizzlo was walking through Inkopolis he realized that he forgot to tell Skarlet something. "Ah I forgot to tell her to always wait before talking to him, except when he's finishing a wave.", he then just shrugged with his arms: "Ah, what gives. She won't be able to finish those eggs before Mikel comes back anyway."

Little did he know that Skarlet was nearly finished with the mountain.