“What’s going on here? Is everything all right?” Luc appeared by Sage’s side, Nic flanking Sage’s other side, blocking his view of Jarvis and Crane.
“There’s bleach in the tank water.” Sage’s eyesight blurred, and he realized he was close to crying. Blinking hard, he added, “This creature is so incredibly rare, and they’re killing him. I have to get him out. He needs…I need a helicopter, a whale sling…” Tugging his hand through his hair, he looked up at the roof. “This opens,” he said, pointing at the ceiling. “Can you call…I don’t know – a helicopter hire place or something?”
“Consider it done.” Luc’s phone was in his hand as if by magic. “What are you…?”
“Nic, can you come and flex for me for a minute?” Sage ran to the pipe end of the tank. It was a different system from one he was used to, but in the end pipes weren’t complex. Stuff went in, stuff came out, and it was the valves that directed which direction that stuff was going.
“That one.” Sage pointed at a large wheel that was rusted and likely hadn’t been opened for a while. “Can you shut that one off for me?”
“I can probably do it one-handed,” Nic grinned, “but I know you’re worried, so I’ll save the showing-off until you can appreciate it.”
“I do appreciate it. You have no idea.” Sage bent over, opening the small cupboards where the cleaning products were kept.Three empty bleach bottles - granulated, which was even worse - and no vinegar.
“The helicopter is on its way. Should be about fifteen minutes.” Luc was bent down, peering into the cupboard with him. “What are we looking for?”
“Some kind of neutralizer.” Sage pushed a few bottles of what looked like vodka aside. “I’m not finding anything. Can you find the switch for the ceiling – sunlight will help to neutralize the bleach, but not fast enough…I just need to do something. That creature is suffering!”
“This is not your fault.” Sage found himself straightened up and pulled against a strong chest. “You got here in time. We’ll get this guy out and back where he belongs before dinner time.”
“I got here, yes, because of you.” It was so tempting to stay curled up in Luc’s arms forever, but Sage wasn’t going to forget why they came. “Thank you.” Pulling out of Luc’s arms, Sage swirled around to glare at Crane, who was being held by Jarvis.
“Do you understand that? If I’d taken a commercial flight, like I was going to do, before meeting my MATES, then this precious, rare creature would’ve been pickled in the brine cocktail you concocted, just because you probably like the idea of tentacles too damn much. I’m not the sick one here, you are. This poor creature who never did anything to you, could’ve died!”
“Ignore them. Helicopter’s coming,” Nic said, straightening up and flexing his shoulders. “Fancy going for a swim, Luc? I figure this little guy might need some help finding a safe place to recover in the deep.”
“Little guy?” Sage shook his head. Only the krakens could call a giant squid “little” – and that was debatable.
Chapter Eighteen
Luc
“How are you feeling?” Luc went over and joined Sage on the couch. They were in a hotel room, having collectively decided that they needed a bit of a breather after the giant squid rescue. Sage said he wanted to write up a report while it was still fresh in his mind, detailing everything that had gone wrong for that poor squid.
Luc and Nic had already privately decided that there was a good chance that the giant squid wouldn’t have lived much longer anyway. Surprisingly, for such large creatures, natural giant squids had a remarkably short lifespan. But Luc was glad that Sage believed he was able to do something to help at least ease that creature’s suffering.
When it died, it would be a natural process because of his age, as opposed to somebody deliberately bleaching the water he’d been placed in. Luc could understand Sage’s anger, and he and Nic focused on making sure that Sage had the privacy and time he needed to decompress. Their caring third had been genuinely upset.
“I hope there was nothing in our little rescue mission that upset you this afternoon,” he added.
Sage looked up, and Luc noticed he was looking at photos he had clearly taken from where he was in the helicopter, while Nic and Luc were in the sea with the squid. “I probably could’ve done without seeing Nic dive off the whale sling as the helicopter was still trying to maneuver into place, but then I remembered he is known for his diving skills.”
“Nic loves jumping off things,” Luc agreed. “It might look reckless, but he’s actually really careful with the way he lands.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Luc loved Sage’s dry humor. “I’ve never come so close to a living giant squid before,” Sage said, stroking over the screen. “I’m gutted that such a rare opportunity was so distorted due to a single person’s discrimination against things they don’t understand.”
Luc remembered what he and Nic had overheard as they had gone to find Sage, after freeing themselves from people who were just really glad to see them. “Is this tentacle discrimination business going to be an issue for you? I got the impression you’re highly respected in your field.”By most people.Luc was hesitant about bringing it up, but they needed to have a very clear and frank discussion if Luc and Nic were going to be able to claim Sage the way they wanted to. Tentacles were a huge part of Luc and Nic’s life – they couldn’t stop being who they were.
“Even before I met you, there were narrow-minded people who would make innuendos about my fascination with cephalopods.” Sage shut his laptop, and leaning over, he slid it onto the coffee table before leaning back on the couch. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed the area above his eyes.
“I don’t know why that is. All creatures - krakens, squids, octopuses - they are not just a bunch of tentacles. They have brains, they have feelings. Well, I ascribe them to having feelings. I don’t know for sure. But they are more than just tentacles. They’re so incredibly clever. You think about Charlie back in the lab. If you put an octopus in a tank that has an opening anywhere that’s bigger than their beak, they will get out. It fascinates me how they map out their surroundings, and work out how to do what they want to do.”
Sage sighed. “So yes, I’ve been used to hearing people discuss my apparent porn content, although if they knew me at all, they’d know I wouldn’t have time to watch it. I can usually shrug it off. But what happened today hit particularly hard.”
“Oh, are we talking about porn preferences?” Nic asked with a laugh, coming over and sitting on the other side of Sage. He rested his arm over the back of the couch, and Luc did the same thing so that they could join hands.
Luc and Nic’s bond was settling beautifully, and Luc had never been so happy. But yes, he was greedy too. He wanted to know their serious third – a person they were quickly coming to care for - would be part of their bond too. Discrimination against tentacled beings, or people’s perception of the kink involved, could hamper that.
“We can chat about porn preferences another day,” Luc said quickly. “Sage, tentacles are as much a part of us as the color of your hair is to you. We definitely hadn’t considered the discrimination…”
