Chapter 11 #2
“No. I’ve never met you before today,” Jake said, gesturing toward Bard, before turning back to Doren.
“You told me you’re my person. I believed you.
But we’ve only been talking for a couple of weeks.
Easy enough to be kind and caring for a short period of time.
Easy enough to take advantage of someone desperate to believe they’re not permanently broken.
I hadn’t even considered you might be crazy. Or worse, a con artist.”
Doren glanced at Bard, who wore a pained, empathetic expression, before looking back at their boyfriend. How could Jake think they’d want to take advantage of him? Doren knew this was a lot for a human, but Jake wasn’t even going to give them a chance?
“Please, Jake. Let me explain. I can demonstrate. It will take but a minute or two, and then you will grasp the situation.”
“No!” Jake slammed the palm of his hand against the countertop. “I’m tired of having the rug pulled out from under me.”
“I’ll shift for you, and then you will see that—”
“I can’t do this again. I was starting to see a way forward. To actually breathe. I can’t invest in another illusion of a relationship. My heart can’t take it.” Jake was shaking now, his eyelids squeezed together as though he were shutting out the sight of them. “I need you to leave.”
Doren couldn’t breathe. They cared about this man more than they’d thought was possible. How could that be taken away so easily?
It’s not that they didn’t understand Jake’s point of view. He’d been deeply hurt. They were asking him to accept an unbelievable thing. It didn’t matter that the unbelievable thing was the truth.
“Come on, Doren. Let’s go.” Bard was by their side. Their words were soft, and they gently tugged on Doren’s arm.
Bard was right. If Jake wanted them gone, they should go. Jake knew his own mind, and Doren respected that. They wouldn’t be like Phil, undermining Jake’s feelings and instincts at every turn.
Doren and Bard slipped out the door and made their way to the beach in silence. Bard tried to speak at one point, but Doren just shook their head. They didn’t blame their sibling for this, not really, but they could have left well enough alone. They also could have refrained from getting drunk.
Standing on the beach and staring out at the waves, Doren didn’t dare look back at the house. It would hurt too much. They waded out until they were chest-deep in the water and began to change.
The transformation wasn’t painful, but it was always a strange sensation to have their insides rearranged as their body expanded. Soon enough, their limbs had split into tentacles, and their skin had returned to its iridescent rainbow state.
In fact, staying in their human form for so long had worn on Doren, so when the cold salt water touched their smooth alien skin, a wave of relief passed through them. Doren loved being human with Jake, but this was what their body was born to be.
Doing their best to put Jake out of their mind, Doren readied to head further into the depths, when they heard a tiny splash behind them. Spinning around, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Miranda Priestly had jumped into the water and was swimming toward them. How was that even possible? Cats hated water. Or at least most cats did.
MP had no problem with it. Except she wasn’t a very strong swimmer. Doren stared in horror as she dipped below the surface, desperately paddling to get her head above water.
Huffing with worry, Doren headed back to the shore. It wasn’t an intelligent move, risking exposing their true form where someone might see. But they would not allow any harm to Miranda Priestly. That sweet cat loved them, and they loved MP right back.
Shooting a tentacle out under the water, Doren wrapped around the ragdoll cat and swept it into the air. Covering the rest of the distance to the beach, Doren set her down in the sand, giving her as much of a disapproving glance as possible in their tentacle form.
A loud gasp sounded, and Doren turned to see Jake staring at them, eyes wide and breathing hard. Jake must have noticed MP’s escape and ran after her.
Doren and Jake stood there for a long moment, not saying anything, the salty ocean breeze blowing cold mist against them both. Jake shivered, but didn’t take his eyes off Doren and Miranda Priestly, who yawned and let out a dismissive meow before sauntering over to Jake.
She scratched at his leg, which finally broke his trance, and he scooped the now-wet furball up in his arms.
Doren did their best to ignore the tiny spark of hope igniting in their heart as Jake stared. It grew into a small flame as he approached warily, an expression of both wonder and horror on his face.
“Doren? Is that you?”
Of course, Doren couldn’t speak in this form. Not with a human. Instead, they did the only thing they could think to do. They reached a tentacle out and, ever so carefully, brought it to Jake’s cheek, keeping it in full view of Jake to give the man time to prevent their touch.
Their appendage caressed Jake’s face, the smooth skin of their tentacles meeting Jake’s soft beard. Jake’s mouth fell open, and Doren almost pulled away, worried Jake might melt down.
Before they could, though, Jake’s hand went to his face, pressing Doren’s tentacle into it and closing his eyes. Butterflies burst into frantic activity within Doren’s alien stomach.
Was it possible that Jake wasn’t disgusted by this form?
That he might even like it? It had seemed like an impossibility Jake would ever accept Doren for who they were, but the look on Jake’s face was fanning the hopeful spark inside Doren into a flame.
This sweet man they were falling for perhaps felt the same way, regardless of all the tentacles.
Or maybe even because of Doren’s true form? No. They were so strange and different—and larger; they towered over Jake even more than before. There’s no way Jake would be attracted to them like this.
“I’m sorry,” Jake said, his voice barely a whisper. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
Doren stretched out several more tentacles, taking the chance that Jake’s excitement was a good sign, and wrapped the man up in them, squeezing him in a tentacle hug.
“You’re amazing,” Jake said, wonder in his voice, closing his eyes with a goofy grin on his face as Doren’s tentacles tightened around him.
Jake’s words imparted a dizzying high to Doren. They’d never expected acceptance. If anything, begrudging tolerance was the best they’d hoped for. But this kind, perfect human was offering far more than that.
They needed to use their voice.
Sending the pulse of energy that prompted the transformation, Doren’s tentacles loosened their grip on Jake as they retracted back into Doren’s body. In less than a minute, they’d returned to their human form.
They were also naked. In their desire to leave, they’d destroyed their shorts and shirt in the shift, not bothering to stash the clothing in the cache farther down the beach.
Jake’s eyes burned into them as they stood there bare in the chilly December air.