Literally into his own hands. He walked over and gently caressed the tentacle, then reached down and took the tip of it to gently caress his face with the side that had suckers.
It was strangely sexual in a way that Cass couldn’t even comprehend. He didn’t know if it was the gentle way the captain held the tentacle, which grew to be bigger than his legs as it went down into the sea, or the fact that the tentacle seemed to be caressing the captain’s face in return.
“Levi! I’m warning ya now—if you destroy this ship, you’re bringing us back to land!” the captain called out.
With that, the tentacle swiftly retreated, and it was like the water spat a man out onto the deck. He looked like a guy in his early 20s, and his hair was so black it looked blue. Cass noticed the tips of it actually were a lighter blue. His eyes were a striking violet color, and his body was chiseled and firm. He had horns and a tail, but instead of wings, he had tentacles.
Cass looked at Kushiel, but Kushiel only looked vaguely confused. He supposed the two had never met before. He looked back at Leviathan, who had a bored look on his face.
“You got old, Bob,” the demon complained.
The sea captain, who was apparently named Bob, only laughed like that was the funniest thing he had heard in ages.
“And you did not, young Levi. It’s lovely to see you again, and Patrick will be right sorry he missed you. He’s home with the grandkids, and I didn’t know I’d be out looking for you, or he’d have surely come along for old time’s sake,” Bob said.
Levi’s face seemed to soften a bit. “Ah, yes, you two were lovely morsels. You kept in contact with him?” Levi asked.
“I married him,” Bob responded. “No one else would ever quite understand what we’d been through. And, well, after wespent a bit of time with you, we never did look at each other in the same way. Hard to be just friends after you had an orgy with a sea monster.”
“I think it needs to be more than three people for an orgy, but that isn’t really my department,” Levi shrugged. “I am glad you two found what you truly envied in others. I would say it’s nice to see you, but it seems you’re back to envying what others have, and you know how I feel about pirates.”
Cass was trying to make sense of all this, but he was having a hard time following. “Um, excuse me, can you guys fill us in?” he asked.
Levi noticed them for the first time then, tilting his head and staring. He seemed halfway feral, more beast than anything else, despite his human-like form.
“You don’t have envy,” he said, looking at Cass. He turned to Kushiel and smiled, and Cass noticed his teeth looked sharp. “You, however… you have some envy going on. Interesting trait for an angel.”
“Leave him alone,” Cass demanded, grabbing Kushiel’s hand and squeezing it.
Leviathan looked at Cass again, then shrugged. He sort of reminded Cass of the emo college kids who came into the shop, and his attitude matched.
“Yeah, no real meal there anyway—what he envies is easily within his reach, after all,” Levi muttered. He looked at Bob again, frowning. “You don’t actually have any real envy either. You’re happy with your life and your husband. What in nine hells are you doing trying to catch my attention?”
“Ah, you’re just as beautiful, sexy, and weird as I remember. Patrick is gonna be so sad he missed it,” Bob sighed. He then looked at Kushiel and Cass and explained, “When my buddy and I were younger we were regular spitfires. Mad at the world and not sure why. We ended up stealing a boat and a bunch of moneyfrom Patrick’s job. We were pretty far out to sea when we ran into Levi, here. Turns out he doesn’t like pirates much, and that’s apparently what we were.”
“Pirates crave what belongs to others, and they take it by force and violence. I’ve never cared for them. The ocean is the one place I shouldn’t have to deal with envy—there’s enough of that in the souls in hell,” Levi sneered.
“Wait a minute,” Cass interrupted. “You’re a demon of envy. Aren’t you supposed to encourage people to be envious?”
Levi laughed. “People don’t need any encouragement to be envious. It is the natural state of humanity to want that which others have. I come to the ocean for a vacation and some peace, but humans always muck things up,” he grumbled.
Bob laughed, adding, “Yes, Patrick and I definitely mucked things up, including our lives. Levi here taught us a lesson. He sunk the ship and the treasure, but apparently we weren’t bad enough to warrant him letting us drown along with our spoils. Levi saved us, and he gave us quite the weekend to remember him.” He winked at that last part.
Cass cleared his throat and tried very hard not to picture two young men and a tentacled demon.
“So you, what, had sex with modern day pirates?” Cass asked Levi, and he had to try not to giggle after he said it.
“They didn’treallyenvy what they stole. They thought they envied each other, but that wasn’t right either. They envied the freedom to do what they wanted, yet they were both too afraid to do it. I simply gave them a nudge in that direction,” Levi grumbled.
“Anudge,” Bob chortled. “He fucked our brains out, is what he did, and Patrick and I were finally able to admit what we wanted. Each other. Anyway, it is lovely to see you, and I’ll give Patrick your regards, but lest I be tempted, I’m heading to the galley while you ‘chat’ with these two.”
With that he winked and walked off.
“Does he think…” Kushiel started, speaking for the first time.
“I’m not having sex with you two,” Levi said, sounding bored. “That’ll just create envy, and I’m on vacation, for fuck’s sake.”
“We don’t want to have sex with you! We have questions for you,” Kushiel responded, a spark of anger flowing through their bond.
