Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Cameron
Cameron felt seasick.
He’d never been seasick before–he was an octopus for gods’ sake–but for the rest of the weekend and the majority of the following week, he was overwhelmed with the strangest sensation. It felt like the ground wasn’t stable under his feet, or maybe his center of gravity was off.
Emory had a lot of fallout to deal with from their trip to his house.
The family had officially approved of their mating, but that had been overshadowed by confirmation that Jonathon was, in fact, returning home that week to speak with Emory about the company.
He and Christopher were preparing to meet with him, but for some reason, Jonathon refused to speak to anyone but Ronan.
Cameron tried to follow the updates in the group chat, but staring at his phone for too long made him want to throw up. Instead, he spent most of his time lying on either Christopher and Ronan’s or Emory’s couch.
“I’m sorry, hon. We’ve never experienced what you’re describing,” his ba said on their second group call of the day.
“I really think you need to go to the doctor,” Pa fretted.
“I don’t want to get on the bus or tram right now,” Cameron groaned, burrowing deeper into Emory’s couch cushions. Emory was in his office on a conference call, and even the up-and-down staccato rhythm of his voice through the closed door was making Cameron nauseous.
His mind flashed unhelpfully to the first time he’d been on the other side of that closed door, and his belly tightened, but not in a good way.
They hadn’t had sex since they’d gotten home, and Cameron couldn’t imagine moving that much right now.
At the same time, there was a low burning under his ribs like at the beginning of his heats–except it had been almost five days of this feeling, and his heat wasn’t due for another several months.
“Get your big, strong mate to carry you there,” Shay said, unhelpfully.
“You know we’re not mated yet.”
Pa made a tutting noise. “Well, perhaps that’s part of the problem. You’ve been in close proximity with your fated mate for months, are basically living with him, have declared your love for each other, and received his family’s blessing. Maybe your octopus is trying to tell you he’s ready.”
Cameron’s octopus jerked his tentacles angrily in the air, and Cameron groaned miserably. He’d been doing his best to ignore his inner omega, who was just as out of sorts as he was.
“I don’t know how we could mate, when I feel like I’m crawling out of my own skin anytime anyone or anything touches me.”
“Have you tried shifting?” Shay asked, her tone morphing from that of a teasing sister to an inquisitive researcher.
“No, I can’t seem to center myself enough to shift. My tentacles do keep popping out, though. We—uh—tried to connect…uhm, intimately…” He stumbled over his words, and his family laughed in his ear.
“We know you have sex with your fated mate, Cameron,” Ba said, affection evident in his voice.
“What happened when you tried to sleep with him, love?” Pa asked.
“It was sort of like I couldn’t settle down? Like I was wired on caffeine or something. My tentacles popped out and got all in the way, and we ended up cuddling—which actually felt amazing. Honestly, it’s the closest I’ve felt to normal in several days.”
“Oh! That must be it,” Shay said excitedly. “Your octopus is ready to shift with Emory! He’s not letting you shift alone because you’re so close to shifting with Emory, and he doesn’t want human touch. He wants your animals to finally meet!”
Cameron jerked upright and nearly fell off the couch. Was it really that simple? “You think that’s it? Do you think we both need to shift? Or should I shift while he’s still human?”
They all chimed in with advice, but he could barely hear them. He wanted his coconut shell. They’d put it safely in Emory’s closet so Cameron wouldn’t be distracted by it every time he came over, but right now, all he could think about was being in his coconut shell, in Emory’s arms.
“I think Cameron needs to go,” Shay said, interrupting their parents' mid-brainstorming session.
“Oh, okay,” Pa said, his tone a little surprised, but not hurt.
“We love you, Cameron, and we are so excited for you to shift and mate with Emory. Then we can finally meet him,” Ba said, and Shay quickly echoed that before they all hung up.
Cameron hopped off the couch and nearly tripped over his feet as his octopus began throwing his tentacles around in excitement. He did his best to ignore his eager cephalopod and rushed into their—no, Emory’s—bedroom.
He’d been doing that a lot lately. Thinking of this apartment as theirs, not Emory’s. His octopus completely ignored his correction and began bouncing up and down. As far as he was concerned, they’d already moved in. Why else would they, and more importantly, their coconuts be here?
The bouncing got more incessant as Cameron clambered into the back of Emory’s closet, nearly busting his knee on the still only semi-unpacked suitcase.
His octopus was very smug at the flashes of lace and pastel peeking out of the dirty laundry pile. It was like his clothes were staking a claim.
Cameron finally managed to retrieve the coconut shells, and his octopus stopped bouncing, so he could fixate on them.
Using this momentary reprieve as an opportunity, Cameron rushed back into the living room.
He had no idea how long their meeting was going to last, and he really didn’t want to interrupt, but–
He blinked and found himself, or more accurately, one of his tentacles, knocking on the office door.
He stepped back, his tentacle retracting back under his sweater, and he forced himself not to cower or shrink away.
Emory wasn’t Thomas. They’d come such a long way together, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt Emory would want to know about Cameron’s discovery.
He’d been worried about Cameron, and it had clearly been weighing on him.
Christopher was the one who answered the door. Thankfully, he also wasn’t like Thomas. He cracked the door open and poked his head out, doing his best to put on a tired smile for Cameron. “Hey. Everything okay?”
“I…” Cameron stammered, unable to find the words he would need to get to Emory.
His octopus had clearly lost patience with him, and he thrust Cameron’s hands forward to show Christopher the two halves of the coconut shell. Christopher’s eyebrows pinched together as he looked at the husks, before shooting up to his hairline.
“Oh, uhm…let me get Emory. We’re almost done with our call, but I can close out the meeting, no problem. Hold on.”
He pulled his head back inside and shut the door.
Some part of Cameron’s human brain was happy to see that Christopher understood the significance of the coconut.
He hadn’t seen any discussion of his octopus in the group chat, so Emory must have told him himself.
While his Octopus twitched his tentacles impatiently, Cameron celebrated his mate reconnecting with his best friend.
No more than thirty seconds later, a confused-looking Emory was pushed out of the office, and the door closed abruptly behind him.
Emory blinked down at him and, since it had worked so well the first time, Cameron thrust the coconut shells out in front of him. Emory’s eyes still held confusion, but his lips smiled gently. He reached for the shells, but when he tried to take them, Cameron held on tightly.
“What is it, my love?” Emory asked, cupping his hands under Cameron’s, so they were holding the shells together.
Cameron tried desperately to find words, but his octopus beat him to it. He sprouted two tentacles and wrapped them around Emory’s wrists, tugging him forward. He resisted for a moment but gave in when Cameron started walking them backward towards the bedroom.
“You want me and the coconut shells to come with you to the bedroom?” Emory asked as they continued slow-marching through the apartment.
Cameron nodded eagerly, and his tentacles tightened around Emory’s wrists.
“Okay, honey, I am very willing to go with you. Would you like to turn around so you don’t—”
Cameron knocked his hip painfully into the wall and stopped walking. He stared into Emory’s eyes, which were their swirling brown human color. He got lost in them for a moment—or his octopus did. It was becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference.
Thankfully, Emory took initiative and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leading them into the bedroom. When Cameron’s tentacle lifted and pointed towards the bathroom, he obediently pivoted.
Cameron stepped up to the side of the tub, gently placed the coconut shells on the edge, and turned both knobs to full blast, hoping to fill the tub up quickly.
He never would have imagined his first shift taking place in a whirlpool bath, but now he couldn’t picture it happening any other way.
He turned to face Emory, yanked off his shirt, and dropped his pants and underwear.
Emory’s eyes were wide, but his chest was making a rumbling sound. One day, Cameron would learn all his mate’s noises, but today he wasn’t sure what this particular one meant. He dug down deep, underneath his wiggling octopus, and managed to find the words he needed.
“Emory…I love you…I trust you…and I need to shift.”
Emory looked dumb struck. “Right now? With…”
“With you, Emory. My partner, my love, and my fated mate.”
“I… Yes! Of course!” Emory tried to suppress a grimace as he glanced at the rapidly filling tub. “Is it okay if I stay human?”
Cameron nodded eagerly, his octopus mimicking the movement as their minds settled back into alignment, stealing Cameron’s words but solidifying his conviction. He stepped aside and gestured towards the bath.