“You’re stunning, Emory,” Cameron whispered, his voice slowly rising to the surface. “Truly, you’re so beautiful. I love you so much, I can’t even describe it.”
Emory stared at him with gorgeous eyes, wiser than those of a beast. His tail swished across the rug, making a soft whooshing noise.
“I’m so thankful I finally get to meet your lion and get to know this side of you. I honestly never believed I would find my fated mate, and if I did, I had no idea it would be like this.”
Emory made a rumbling sound in his chest and closed his eyes. Cameron continued stroking his fur, the significance of the moment pressing in on him until he could barely stand it.
“Oh, Emory… I’m so happy.”
He shocked himself by bursting into tears. He hadn’t cried this much since he was a child, but it felt cathartic. A final release after spending decades recovering from his abusive bio parents and then from Thomas.
Emory startled out of his relaxed position and rolled over into a crouch, all four paws tucked under his body and ready to pounce. He tilted his head at Cameron and slowly leaned his head forward to sniff at Cameron’s face. Hesitantly, he licked his cheek, and then, more forcefully, began to lick the tears away.
Cameron tried to push his big head away, but he crawled forward on his belly, pressing Cameron backward until he fell on his butt.
Emory immediately climbed on top of him again, pinning him to the floor and licking his face clean until Cameron wasn’t sure if he was laughing or crying anymore.
“Can…can I shift?” he asked, realizing only after he said it that Emory probably couldn’t understand him.
To his surprise, though, Emory rolled over and shaped his body into a crescent shape, giving him a place to curl up in.
Cameron rotated onto his stomach, staring intently into Emory’s eyes.
“I’m going to shift. Be. Octopus. Yes?”
Emory huffed, and Cameron took that as permission enough.
Cameron pulled off his underwear and chucked them onto the couch. He crawled forward and curled up against Emory’s flank. It felt so good against his human skin, he almost wantedto stay human, but his octopus was bouncing up and down with excitement, and he didn’t want to disturb the calm energy of Emory’s lion.
He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, finding a moment’s stillness to shift. As the world shrank and warped around him, he fanned out his tentacles and slid them into Emory’s fur.
The lion let out a happy roar and nuzzled his nose right up under one of Cameron’s tentacles, somehow immediately finding his ink gland. Cameron batted at his nose, not wanting to ruin the nice rug like they’d defiled much of the other furniture in the apartment.
Not deterred in the slightest, Emory tried to lick his ink gland again. Cameron grabbed a magazine off the couch and haphazardly booped him on the nose. Emory let out a pitiful mewing noise, raising a paw to cover his face, one big eye peering down at Cameron like he wanted to make sure Cameron was looking.
While Cameron’s human side laughed at the very kitty-like dramatics, his octopus panicked, quickly dropping the magazine and wrapping four tentacles around his paw. He pulled until Emory dropped his paw and scooched his body into a tighter crescent, enveloping Cameron in his warmth.
Cameron wiggled his tentacles happily, settling into the soft rug and his even softer alpha. Although neither Cameron nor his octopus would have been able to put words to this feeling, they knew that they had finally come home. This had been all they’d ever wanted: someone to see them, love them, and want to keep them for exactly who they were.
Time seemed to ooze and shift around them. Their animals had no need to keep a close eye on the clock. One of their urges would surely rouse them if they needed to get up. For now, Cameron was safe, warm, and unbelievably happy.
Some time later, it could have been minutes or even hours, Emory’s stomach growled, and he lifted his head. He nudged Cameron with a paw and rumbled at him. Cameron refused to move, turning his head into Emory’s flank.
The texture of Emory’s fur changed, softening into smooth skin. Cameron opened his eyes to see his tall, gorgeous man holding him against his chest.
“Oh, my beautiful love,” he murmured, kissing Cameron’s head.
Cameron wanted to fall back into his semi-dream state, but he was waking up now.
“You can…long as you want. I’m pretty…some soup?”
Cameron’s stomach growled, and he tried to nod but wasn’t sure if that would communicate well across species. He groaned internally and gave up all hopes of a nap. It was much easier to find stillness when his octopus was groggy, and he didn’t even need to close his eyes to shift back.
He ended up awkwardly half on and half off Emory’s chest, and he blamed his octopus for their lack of coordination.
Similar to the last time, Emory crushed their lips together, pressing his tongue into Cameron’s mouth and lapping at him like an ice cream cone.
“Gods, you taste so good. Like salt and brine, but also sweet. Like you.”
