Discovery

The tentacle was cool and slimy to the touch as Jonas wrapped his fingers around it. “How does that feel?” he asked Wout.

Wout shrugged his shoulders. The tentacle, one of the several extending from underneath his armpits, writhed in Jonas’ grasp. “Warm,” he said. “I’ve never– No one else has touched them before.”

Jonas nodded. He had felt at loose ends when he’d discovered Wout’s secret. One of the perils of sharing a hotel room for weeks on end was learning all sorts of uncomfortable things about another person.

“How does it feel for you?” Wout asked. He chewed at his lip. His eyes were wide.

“Not so different from fish,” Jonas said. He would have thought they would be drier, more mammalian, dusted with hair, like the rest of Wout’s body. He liked that they weren’t.

Wout laughed. His expression relaxed by degrees. He must have been worried about Jonas’ reaction, as if he thought Jonas would be cruel or turn him away.

Jonas gave Wout’s tentacle a small squeeze of encouragement. Wout was still Wout, even if this discovery sent a spark of heat through Jonas’ system.

Wout curled his tentacle around Jonas’ fingers and squeezed back.