3. Chapter 3 #2
They played several hands—well, hands for Daren, tentacles for Lilo, since he used his hands to keep perched on the ledge, and instead, let his tentacles do the card holding.
He could have done the opposite, since his tentacles were clearly strong enough to hold him up, but he was more dexterous with them than his fingers, maybe in part because of the webbing between them.
It was fascinating whenever he won a card from Daren, since all he had to do when Daren held a card out to him was use one of the tiny suckers on the end to snag it. Whenever he successfully got a pair, he would bounce in excitement, tentacles flailing with a flourish.
After a while, Daren was getting hungry. He felt a bit rude eating in front of Lilo but explained to him that it was time for lunch.
“Daren show now? How eat fish?” Lilo asked, as Daren stood to get a few things out of the cooler he’d been using as his seat.
“Not this time, sorry. It’s just a sandwich.
Um… bird meat?” Daren tried to explain, pointing up at a passing seagull.
“Not from one of those birds. A different kind. They’re called chickens.
” It was a simple deli meat, cheese, and lettuce sandwich, with a bit of mustard on it, sealed in a Ziplock bag.
He also had bags of apple slices and almonds for snacks, water bottles, and a couple cans of soda in the cooler.
He took out the apple slices and a Dr. Pepper as well, then sat back down.
When he removed the sandwich from its bag, Lilo stared at it like he had never seen any food so strange. He probably hadn’t. With teeth like that, his eating habits were likely just tearing into fish.
“Do you, um, only eat fish and other animals, Lilo, or do you sometimes eat plants too?” Daren asked.
Lilo scrunched his brow in uncertainty.
Daren swallowed his first bite of the sandwich before clarifying, “Do you eat things like this?” He peeled back the bread to show Lilo the lettuce.
“Oh! Yes, yes!” Lilo said excitedly. “Below, um… underwater plant!”
Seaweed. He’d probably like sushi. He was also an omnivore then, which meant he could maybe handle human food. “You could try a bite, if you’d like. I’d just worry it might upset your stomach.”
Lilo tilted his head, brow scrunching again.
“Stomach.” Daren patted his. “Uh… ouch.”
Lilo laughed but nodded. His face remained serious. Contemplative. Especially when Daren started eating more of the sandwich. “Lilo try… small bite?”
Daren snorted. He couldn’t say no to that.
“Okay. Here.” He held the sandwich out to Lilo, who proceeded to take what was definitely more of a medium bite, and the serrated edge left behind on the sandwich was mildly intimidating.
Lilo’s face lighting up made it worth it though. And how cute he looked chewing.
“Chicken good!” he said once he had swallowed.
Daren might never stop giggling around this adorable creature. He couldn’t remember when he had last laughed so much. Or smiled so much. Or even just enjoyed being in another’s company so much.
He let Lilo have one of the apple slices too, which Lilo also liked.
He was less sure about the soda. The bubbles tickled him and, if Daren understood correctly, it was a bit too sweet.
Daren made Lilo promise he would tell him if his stomach hurt at any point later.
He was also glad Lilo didn’t fully join him in eating lunch by having one of the fish.
He didn’t think he could handle witnessing that after kissing Lilo twice, natural as it would be for a sea creature.
Who Daren was maybe, sort of on a date with right now?
He didn’t want to overthink it and simply enjoyed that it was happening.
“There are so many things I want to ask you, Lilo,” Daren said after he had finished his lunch and was enjoying the last of his soda, while Lilo lounged near him with his head on his arms, still propped on the side of the boat.
His top half was looking a little dry, and with the gills, Daren wondered how frequently Lilo needed to be underwater.
He didn’t seem to be struggling or in any discomfort though.
“It’s hard to know where to start. I guess…
have you ever shown yourself to another human before? ”
Lilo lifted his head from his arms to swiftly shake it. “Never. Dangerous.”
“I get that. But then, why did you show yourself to me?”
“Lilo like Daren!”
“I know, but even before you knew me you liked me? Before we talked?”
Lilo ducked his head a little like he was embarrassed. “Lilo watch Daren. Long time. Daren seem… lonely.”
“That obvious, huh?” Daren didn’t like to think of himself that way. Alone didn’t have to mean lonely. But if Lilo could see that, having watched him from afar, he must have painted a pretty pathetic picture.
One of Lilo’s tentacles came up over the side of the boat and gently wrapped around Daren’s forearm. It wasn’t trying to tug him closer or do anything really. It was just there, like placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Daren rested his hand over its tender curl, feeling its wet, smooth texture.
“Do you have anything you’d like to ask me?” Daren offered. “I’d be happy to answer anything you want to know.”
“Daren have mate?”
The last swallow of Dr. Pepper Daren tried to down nearly came out of his nose. “Uh, you ask that after stealing two kisses?”
“Lilo no steal! Daren give kisses!”
Daren had to laugh again, much as his nose burned from the flow of carbonation. “It’s just an expression! Something humans say. I absolutely gave those kisses freely. I wouldn’t have if I had a mate.”
“Lilo same.” Lilo nodded emphatically. “No mate.”
Daren had taken his gloves off a while ago, since playing cards and eating weren’t easy while wearing them. He rubbed his empty ring finger. “We call them partners or husbands, but yeah, no ring for me.”
Lilo lifted one of his webbed hands to look at his fingers and frowned.
“Oh, sorry, um…” Daren pulled up the necklace from beneath his jacket and shirt.
He sometimes forgot it was there since he wore it every day.
The chain held two gold rings, one smaller than the other with a pale blue gemstone.
He slipped the larger ring halfway onto his finger.
“See? We give rings to each other when we, um… take someone as a mate.”
“Daren mate die?” Lilo’s eyes widened.
“No!” He hurried to correct the misunderstanding, removing the ring from his finger to let the pair fall back against his chest. “These belonged to my parents. My mother and father? Do you know those words?”
Understanding filled Lilo’s features, and he nodded as he relaxed.
“Yeah, my parents. They both, um… did die a long time ago.”
“Lilo’s sorrow with Daren.”
“Thanks. Wait, do you mean ’cause… you too?”
“No father. No mother. No others.” Lilo held out his right arm, and on the inside of his forearm where Daren hadn’t noticed before was a black tattoo like an intricate mandala.
He felt like he had seen similar tattoos before but couldn't remember when or where.
Some ancient heritage of the island maybe, a hint of the creatures that had once dwelled here?
“What is that?” Daren asked.
“Family,” Lilo said simply.
Daren took hold of Lilo’s arm to inspect the design more carefully. It looked like a perfectly symmetrical flower blooming in monochrome across Lilo’s periwinkle skin, with each layer of the petals drawn differently. “This paints the picture of which family you’re from?”
“New… shape,” Lilo explained, “when new other born or added as mate. This one Lilo.” He traced the lines of one particularly intricate series of curves like interlocking hearts with tentacle spirals.
“It’s beautiful.”
Lilo grinned. Strangely enough, his fangs were pretty beautiful too.
Daren released his arm. “You’re all alone now though, huh? Like me. No family. No mate. May I ask what happened to everyone?”
Lilo sagged a little and laid his head on his arms again, folded on the ledge of the boat. “Most leave. Find place… less dangerous.”
“With fewer humans?”
He nodded. “Some die, uh… normally?”
“Of natural causes?”
He nodded again. “Some get hurt, some get sick, some, long ago… hunted.”