Mikel's POV:

"OUCH" Mikel woke up while trying to figure out where he was.

"Ah yes I've slept on the couch, but why ugh.... I need something to eat."

He slowly got up and started his way to the fridge with half closed eyes. Finally after tripping over his working attire, boots and a chair he made it.

"Ok now where did I put the milk? Ah there.... well I better go shopping soon or I will be hungry for the next days." He talked to himself while prepairing some cereals and getting some morning tea ready.

"Ah breakfast is just great after a hard-working night, the perfect start into another day."

Mikel had the habit of talking to himself often while he was alone at home so it wasn't so quiet the whole time but something felt off today. It wasn't that he was still only in his boxers because that happens often, it wasn't that his attire was dragged all around the floor and it also wasn't that he had been sleeping on the couch.

"Hmmmm I think I must've forgotten something. What was it? I'm sure I am not late for work or planned anything. I know that I need to go shopping but there is something else. Well I better get myself a nice book to read while eating." Said and done, Mikel went to his room still holding his bowl of cereals in his left hand and the Tea in his right. He skillfully opened the door with his feet, but as the door opened his jaw dropped to ground level.

Then it hit him like a scrapper. The horrible nightshift battle, the falling Octoling, the discussions with Griz and how he just barely managed to put her inside his bed before crashing onto the couch. He stood there for nearly a minute, realizing what just happened, then he put down his cereals and the tea on a nearby desk and checked on the Octoling.

"Damn she's a real beauty!" He said to himself. It wasn't his first time seeing an Octoling, because sometimes at night you could see a few patrolling far of into the octo canyon, but they've never caused trouble. This time however an Octoling was right before him and she was sleeping there, quiet like an angel. The small "mountain" under her blanked slowly went up and down while she slept.

"Can't believe those are real..... AH SHIT PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!", Mikel quickly got up with flushed cheeks and went to the desk where he left his breakfast.

While eating his gaze wandered around his room checking his stuff and if something was amiss. His room was by far nothing special, a bed, a writing desk with a chair, some old squid sister poster and a few pictures of him and his team when they were playing Turf war back in the day and a dresser with a bunch of clothes (most of them being working attires). The only things that were outstanding were his bookshelf, which was filled to the brim with book, containing stories from romance, fantasy, human history, to weapon guides for salmons and the other one was his "plush toy collection", which claimed nearly half of his bed, there were squids, octos, seagulls and even some limited ones from an old human collection called "Teddybears".

"Uff I should've removed those before I laid her down. Now I can't put them away without waking her up.... shit. Just great the first thing what will be happening is that she wakes up in the house of some stranger and now he has plush toys on his bed. Damn this is soooo embarrassing."

After finishing up his breakfast and doing the cleanup Mikel went to the bathroom taking a quick morning shower.

Octoling's POV:

"I'm sure they will be happy.... wait, who will be happy? Why are my arms and legs hurting so much? Why does my chest feel so heavy? Where am I? WHO AM I?"

The Octoling tried to realize what is happening.

First she was on something soft. Probably a bed? Why was she on a bed?

Second her arms felt really heavy and numb and her legs hurt like they were stuck in different ink. Was she attacked? What happened to her to put her in this state?

Third she heard a "SHOWER"??? There was definitely someone showering here. Is there some rapist around here? Shit she doesn't wanna be raped by some stranger, not as long as it isn't "him". Wait who? Who was it, why couldn't she remember?

"Damn why are my eyelids so heavy, I need to get out of here." The Octoling slowly opened her eyes to find herself on a bed in a kind of blank room surrounded by "plush toys??".

"Oh my they are soo cute..." Then the showering sound stopped and she heard someone walking in this room while talking to himself. "Why by the damn mothership did I forget to bring a change of clothes with me? Especially when a girl is sleeping in my room..... well here goes nothing hope she isn't awake yet."

The Octoling quickly shut her eyes as someone "tried" to move quietly into the room, except he did a horrible job. "Good she's still sleeping, don't wanna creep her out." "Don't creep her out?", maybe this guy wasn't that bad she thought as she slowly opened her eyes and stared to the other side of the room.

Her face immediately went red as a tomato when she saw a towel on the floor and her mouth went open when she gazed to the closet. There was a copper colored male inkling standing there with his back turned to her and he was "COMPLETELY NAKED". She couldn't help but stare at him.

His back and shoulders were well developed, but not that massive so they would bulge out, the arms were quite long compared to his body and the veins showed up a lot on them, his hands looked like paws as big as they were, his legs were actually brimming with muscles so he must've been carrying a lot and last but not least his butt seemed so firm and muscular she just wanted to smack it.

Then she noticed the scars..... His whole body seemed to be covered with them. There were cuts, bullet wounds, unnatural bite marks all over the place. She also noticed that there were two fingers missing on his right hand. This inkling looked like he went through a war all by himself.

While admiring and scanning the strange inkling in front of her, she didn't realize that he was nearly finished dressing up and started to turn around.

Before any of them knew what was going on they were staring in each other's eyes.

This lasted for nearly 10 seconds until the Octoling opening her mouth: "Uhmmm... hi."

The male inkling turned from his copper color into bright red and stumbled backwards while stammering "O....O... SHIT ..... S .... S ... soo sor..rr.ry....my..mi....mi...mistaaaaaaaaaaaaaouch!" He then crashed backwards into his closet.