“Do you think room service delivers at this hour?”
“No,” I say with a smirk. “But they will for me.”
An hour later, we’re sitting on the over-sized couch, the coffee table in front of us covered in plates of food. The TV is on; some show that Leif chose and keeps laughing at. All I can do is watch him, so I don’t even know what the show is about.
“What?” he says when he looks at me, smiling around a mouth full of buttered bread.
“I just like looking at you.”
His eyes brighten and his smile grows. He turns his attention back to the TV before grabbing another roll and buttering it blindly.
“I ordered all this delicious food, and you’re eating bread like a bird.”
He scoffs. “Bread is by far the best food ever. It makes everything better.”
“Then why are you eating it alone?”
“Because it’s also an appetizer.” He takes a big bite of it and I laugh.
We watch TV and eat most of the food. I could eat more, but I don’t want to be too full. I plan to fuck him again and don’t want to be uncomfortable while I do it.
I lean back against the couch, and Leif crawls over to me, settling his back to my chest. I wrap him in all my limbs, holding him close, but I wish he could get closer.
“This feels good,” he says softly.
It’s easy to believe him now when he’s here, in my arms. But I know the moment he leaves, that voice in my head will be back, questioning everything and making things out to be what they’re not.
“Tell me about your family,” I say. “What are they like?”
He chuckles, his fingers brushing along the back of my hand.
“They live outside of Vegas. They’re good people, though none of them understand my love for music and being on the road. My parents are still together, happily married. I have three brothers and one sister.”
“That feels like a lot.”
“Five kids isn’t too bad for humans,” he says. “They’re all married with kids already. They work hard in their traditional jobs.”
“Did they shun you for not doing that?”
“No, nothing like that. They don’t understand it, and they want more for me, but that’s only because they don’t get that I’m doing what I love. They don’t understand how I could love this over sitting at a desk.”
“That sounds boring.”
“Exactly. But they all do it. My dad is an accountant and so is my oldest brother. My youngest brother is a tech guy, who might be the closest to understanding me at all. The other brother and my sister are teachers.”
“It’s so interesting to see how different humans are from kraken. It makes my life feel very simple.”
“In comparison it is, but that’s obviously not what you want.”
“It’s not. I feel like I was meant to be here, doing this, but…”
“But what?” he asks softly, his fingers still brushing along my hand in a soothing motion.
“It’s strange because even though I am happy and feel like I should be here, I don’t fully feel like I fit in.”
“How come?”
“Because I can’t be in my true form. It’s when I’m most comfortable in my body, but not my mind. So, it’s a little confusing.”
