Page 7 of His Theo

“And good job on exploring new ways to use language.” Might as well praise the dork because he’d done it pretty well.

Yep, he got all puffed up and proud of himself as Nicholas just went back to snickering.

But something about the ridiculousness shifted the way some of the Doms saw me because the group changed. I lost a few that’d been hovering near the back and gained a few new onlookers who were watching me carefully.

What’d happened?

“Interesting.” Larry’s comment said he’d noticed it too but it didn’t give me any context.

I was going to ask…probably…but a broad-chested guy with tentacles that looked larger than average somehow shifted closer and gave Larry a polite nod. “I would request an introduction to the human you have called a friend.”

Larry spoke really good human English because he had fun talking with all the students on campus when he was taking a break from his experiments, but this guy spoke like he hadn’t interacted with quite as many humans.

“It would be an honor.” Larry inclined his head and gestured toward me. “Please be introduced to our human friend and colleague Theo. He is a member of the university staff that is involved in maintenance and caretaking.”

I wasn’t sure I’d have phrased my job description that way, but it wasn’t wrong.

“He is patient with others and dislikes confrontation. He also needs guidance in making daily decisions and is highly respected for his homemaking skills.” It was the strangest introduction I’d ever been a part of and Larry didn’t let it end there. “He appreciates mild pain in human-based sexual pleasures and finds tentacles highly erotic.”

Oh God.

He sounded like I had a fetish for them.

I didn’t.

They were just…

I was just…

They…

Shit.

As the world grayed out around me, my last thought was that I was going to kill Larry.

When reality tuned back in, my first thought was about killing Larry again, but my second thought was that I wasn’t on the floor.

Oh shit.

Tentacles rippled around me and I was rocked from side to side. “Human brains are wired to find this movement soothing. You must relax.”

Because my brain said so?

I wasn’t sure if him being right was frustrating or not, but once my heart stopped going a thousand miles an hour, I relaxed into the rocking movement and sighed. “Thank you for helping me relax.”

And for catching me, more than likely.

Nothing hurt besides my pride and I was pretty sure that was because my new friend had caught me before I could hit the ground.

“You are welcome, human.” He kept up the rocking and rippling motions, clearly not having any intention of putting me down, so I focused on what I could hear and feel.

He was strong.

He was carrying me and after a moment I realized he was walking us somewhere.

He also wasn’t panicking about me being broken like I’d seen some of them react.

So he was level-headed?