Page 3 of Tied In Tentacles
Hanging up, Justin smiled. Yeah, he would enjoy himself and the hot tub was top of the list to help him do just that.
Chapter Two
Eteriion watched the black car park outside the cabin. Sipping his water, he leaned on the wall as he watched through his bedroom window. Whoever had rented the cabin appeared to take some time to get out of the car, and when he did, Eteriion blew out his breath. “Nice,” he murmured.
The man was nice. Dark jeans over long legs, a thick white sweater that covered what was hopefully a hot body. He stood and stared before walking to the front of the cabin and disappearing from Eteriion’s view. “Shame.” His eyes moved to the hot tub. “Or maybe not.” He couldn’t wait to watch the man use the hot tub.
Pushing away from the wall, Eteriion walked out of his bedroom and into the living area of his cabin and sat on the chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He shook his head, feeing his tentacles slide over the back of the chair until one came around and he checked the end. He’d stupidly injured the end of one on the stove, which, considering he’d been born with them, still had him shaking his head.
Letting his tentacle move back over his shoulder, he chuckled at the idea of what the man in the cabin would think if they met. Only a handful of humans knew what he was and those he considered his friends. They’d rescued him when he’d crashed, nursed him back to health and helped him try to fix his ship, though for now it remained unfixable.
The man had appeared shorter than him, but that wasn’t surprising. Eteriion stood at six feet five inches, so most humans were shorter than him. The man also appeared sad. Even with the distance between them, Eteriion could sense the sadness in him, and Eteriion wondered what had caused it. He wanted to find out because there was something about the human that tugged at him and Eteriion hadn’t experienced that sensation before.
It intrigued him, so he knew his large hats would be in use. The hats had been made by a human woman to cover his tentacles, and for the most part, they worked. It gave Eteriion some freedom of movement and he was able to visit the local town, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to travel far away. The hats made his head hot and his tentacles uncomfortable, but it was necessary to give him some small amount of freedom.
Contact lenses helped with his eyes. They were a purple shade not seen on Earth. They also had what appeared to look like lightning flaring from the pupil to the edge of the iris in a gold color. Color aside, the things that really stood out were his pupils, with their vertical slits. There was no way he could walk outside without them covered, so he wore blue contacts that hid them. It had taken some time to adjust to wearing the contacts. At first, they had irritated his eyes, and his vision had been impacted, but he had learned how to use them.
A knock on the door had Eteriion standing and walking over to it. Seeing Ged standing outside, he opened the door and let the older human man inside. Ged nodded to him and pulled his capoff his head and smoothed his hair down. “Are you coming to Elise’s soon? She said she hasn’t seen you in a few days. Worried about you.”
Elise was an older human woman who owned a cafe in town. “I’ve been researching.”
Ged nodded. “Still having a problem with the fuel you need for your ship?”
“I knew it would take time, but I never anticipated I’d still be here five years after crashing.”
“You miss your home.” Ged followed Eteriion to the fire and sat on the sofa as Eteriion sat on the chair. “I’ve been looking into that military base near here. See what they have there.”
Eteriion looked at Ged. “Thank you for considering it but it’s fine. I don’t want you getting into trouble trying to help me out.”
“Wasn’t it you who saved my Tracy when she was hit by that avalanche? I almost lost my daughter, and when we couldn’t reach her, you did, so if you need any help at all, we’ll be there, but if you don’t want me to look at the base then I won’t.” Eteriion nodded. “Okay. You need to come out more and spend some time with us. I know we’re not like you, but you don’t have to spend all your time alone.”
“I am alone.” He was the only one of his kind on this planet. Far away from his own planet, his own kind.
“In one way you are, but we’re here for you as well. We’re your friends and we worry about you. I know we’re different.” Ged waved his hand at Eteriion’s head. “You have tentacles, and I have a few white tufts.” Ged smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes twinkling.
Eteriion smiled. He knew Ged was trying to include him and he appreciated it, but he was different. “I appreciate you coming up here to see me.”
“Is that your way of telling me to piss off?”
Eteriion chuckled. “No, not really, you’re right that I should come down more often. I guess I’m, what do you humans call it? Depressed? Lonely? I miss my world and my people. I can’t even have a relationship here. I can’t risk it. And all the Christmas decorations are up and…” Eteriion trailed off, then shrugged.
“I know, son,” Ged sighed as he messed with his cap. “I wish I could find a way for you to go home.”
“It is what it is.” Eteriion sighed and stared at the fire. “I should remember I survived the crash and when you all found me, you kept me safe instead of handing me over to the authorities.”
“You just looked so…”
“Pathetic,” Eteriion grunted, remembering the crash and how they had found him. He’d been hovering over the town, observing them. He had plans to learn about humans and their interactions, then a flock of birds flew into his ship and there was nothing he could do to stop his ship from crashing.
Hearing the explosion, Ged and some of the townsfolk had driven up the mountain to investigate. They arrived as Eteriion had been dragging himself out of the wreckage of his ship. They’d all stood staring at each other, then Eteriion had lifted his hand and said, “I come in peace?” Ged had pulled his gun out, holding it in a hand that shook. “Please don’t take me to your leader?”
“Are you trying to be funny?” Elise had demanded. “Or have you been watching too much shit TV?”
John had grunted. “Damn alien comes all this way and ends up watching shit TV?”
“We learn the languages and customs of each world we observe. It helps us to understand the indigenous population better. TV is one such way but also your internet. I didn’t mean to crash, but those flying things hit it.” Lifting a hand to his head, he touched a wound, then looked at his fingers, seeingthem covered in blood. Bright blue blood had covered them. “I’m injured.”
“We don’t stock alien blood.”
