Page 96 of Citrine

"The thing is, Wroahk, people of my kind are rarely solitary. We seek out and protect each other. We move as a pack.. a, uh, school of fish that relies on its numbers and its close-knit relationships to survive. We are the apex predators on my world because of it. I need other people. Am I the only one of my kind you have seen?"

I look at him, begging him not to lie to me.

He turns away and swims down instead of answering. For the first time, I follow him willingly, wanting answers. He swims directly inside the cave and folds on himself, seemingly about to sleep. I remember him being wide awake when I woke up, and I realize that he probably hasn't slept yet.

"You can't sleep! We have to go out and check if there are others."

"…no."

It's the first time he's responded to me underwater. I smile, loitering around him, trying to get him to answer me again.

"You can be dull on any other day of your life, but not today. We have to find out if there are others. I need to know if I was part of a crew who crash landed here and lost her memories. That's a fairly good guess, isn't it? I mean, that means I had a whole second life out among the stars, but… forget it. Let's just go."

It still doesn't move him. He looks like he's going to sleep, no matter what I say. It just so happens that I know the exact right words to say to stop him.

"If you don't help me, I'll stop touching youkindly, Wroahk."

He finally turns to me and I see exhaustion in his eyes.

"There is nothing out there."

"How do you know that? We've only been living in one part of this lake for as long as I've known. You swim over there, but I'm sure you don't go too far. Come on! We have to satisfy our curiosity."

"I am not curious."

I frown and cross my arms. He rolls his eyes and then closes them. Yet another human expression.

"I can't live like this, Wroahk. I'm going to go out there by myself."

"You are living just fine, and you will go nowhere without me."

I move closer to the mouth of the cave, stretching out my tentacles.

"Is that a promise? Because I can tell you now that if I continue to stay with you, I'll become sad and lose the energy to be kind to you. It's called depression, the mental death of any social species. We still have a good deal, Wroahk. Let's just go out there and see what we can find. It's a whole world. We would be crazy not to explore it."

Saying it like that is a gross oversimplification, but he won't do anything to harm me, mentally or physically. I have to take advantage of it or we will stay in this stupid bubble like octo-cavemen.

He's become softer, I know it. Why else would he follow me out to the deep, even though he could've just left me wrapped meup like he always does? He cares for my well-being. He's serious about keeping me alive.

It feels… good, actually.

It's a reckless idea to explore, I know that much. But if there is another out there like me, I really need to know. Is there a way off this planet?

He moves to wrap around me, but I shake my head. Sure, it's a nice and protective gesture, but I would prefer not to be treated like a child.

Or a safety hazard… even though I am one. I prefer to have my dignity still intact. I hold out my hand to him instead. He studies it, most likely wondering what he's going to do with it. All that and he doesn't take it. It makes me embarrassed. It's like trying to hold hands with a boy in middle school all over again.

"Just take my hand and hold it instead of dragging me along. You can't swim properly if you're dragging me along, right?"

"I can swim just fine," he huffs.

"Still, I don't want to be dragged around. Let's just swim."

"You cannot swim properly," he points out.

"I have to learn somehow. Now, just hold my hand and let's go."

He grumbles but he does what I ask.

---