Page 22 of Tis the Season for Tentacles
Seemingly unfazed by his friends’ bickering, Khephren bounces in his seat. “Let’s call your sister, Felix!”
Najar clears his throat loudly and stands at attention. “I just want it stated for the record that I think this is a less than intelligent course of action. We should really err on the side of caution and return Felix to Earth immediately and… erase his memory of the short time he spent with us. It’s the safest option for us all.”
My heart stutters at his words and it’s like that time I was a kid and I fell backwards off a swing, knocking the breath right out of me. I couldn’t make my lungs work for what felt like a scary eternity.
Najar’s words are even more crushing.
What I’m feeling must show on my face because he looks away from me guiltily.
Luna pats me on the shoulder. “Don’t mind him. He’s a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to keeping us, and this ship, safe.”
The rational side of my brain gets that. It does.
But a small part of me thought I’d had a spark of connection with Najar, one that was mutual. Once again, I misread things. Animals have always been much easier for me to understand than people. I guess that includes hot alien men who aren’t into me.
I understand why he doesn’t immediately trust me, and if our roles were reversed, I’d probably feel much the same way. But the rejection stings all the same.
Unaware of my inner thoughts, Luna continues. “Naj is the only one among us who takes things super seriously. He’s our main security force for the ship, so I suppose he has to. It’s nothing personal against you, Felix. Honest.”
I force an awkward smile and carefully move to put some distance between me and Najar. It’s embarrassing, but I’ve basically been openly lusting after him since I arrived on the ship. I’ve probably given him the ick, as one of my young vet techs would say.
“Sorry, I don’t want to cause problems. Maybe Najar’s right and you should just take me back.” A nervous laugh precedes my next words. “Not gonna lie, I’m utterly terrified about the idea of having my mind messed with, but if you can’t trust me, then I don’t know what else we can do.” My throat is strangely dry andmy heart’s racing. “And I don’t want to put my sister in danger, so please leave her out of this.”
I steadfastly ignore Najar’s gaze even though I can feel it boring holes into me.
“Dude, you’re kind of being a jerk to poor Felix,” Sasha says with a frown.
Khephren turns his chair around to face Najar and then crosses his arms, giving him a stern glare. “I love you, Naj, but you’re too quick to distrust. There are plenty of good, honest beings in the universe, and we need to give them a chance. If you are immediately suspicious of anyone new that you meet, you’re going to live a very lonely and sad existence.” His bottom lip starts to tremble and his eyes pool with tears, ruining the severe approach I think he was going for. “I don’t want that for you, Naj. You’re my BFF, as the humans say, and a stand-up guy.”
“Even if you have a stick up your ass,” Luna adds brightly.
Rambo twirls and beeps loudly. “How many assholes do we have on this ship, anyway?”
Sasha snorts. “I love Rambo so much.”
Khephren holds his hands in a pleading gesture aimed at his best friend. “Please stop scaring our new friend. Just give Felix and his sister a chance.”
Najar rubs a golden tentacle over his face and lets out a loud sigh of defeat. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. But if things go south,you’rethe one who has to take responsibility and clean upyourmess.”
Ouch. Way to welcome a human you freaking abducted, by the way!
Khephren bounds to his feet and embraces Najar in a hug involving both arms and four tentacles. Najar awkwardly hugs him back with one arm that isn’t fully pinned in his friend’s embrace.
I experience a twinge of jealousy that I drop-kick in the ass. Najar’s outburst made his position clear. He doesn’t want me here and is only humoring his friends because he was outvoted. So, no matter how hot he is, I need to steer clear of him as much as possible while I’m on this ship and instead focus on solidifying my friendship with Luna, Sasha, and Khephren. They’re going to be key in keeping my mind from being messed with.
Who needs a hunky golden god of a man with eight glorious tentacles anyway? Not me. I’ve got my fan fictional Lord Vardox fantasies to keep me warm at night.
I shift from foot to foot. “I appreciate your kindness, Khephren, Luna, and Sasha. But I don’t want to create discord among friends. Najar doesn’t want me here, so I think I’d like to go home now.” I swallow thickly. “I’ll keep quiet. You have my word. Just please don’t hurt me or my sister.”
I’m utterly bewildered when Khephren starts to cry.
Sasha moves to his side and wraps his arms around him, petting one of his tentacles as they keep coiling and uncoiling in a manner that reads to me like a sign of distress. My vet instincts kick into high gear and I also want to help him relax, but I force myself to stay where I am.
“It’s okay, Tentacle Boy. Don’t cry,” Sasha soothes.
“But now we’ve s-scared F-Felix. This w-was all our f-fault, not his. W-we abducted him b-because of our own f-foolish mistake,” Khephren chokes out between sobs.
Sasha casts the scariest glare I have ever seen in Najar’s direction, and I shiver. He might be small but I suspect he’s no one to be fucked with.
