14

The waters of the lake suddenly parted and a strange, smooth naked creature, shiny with moisture, came ashore, something between a squid and a man. He walked on slender legs and instead of arms on the sides of his body, he had several pairs of tentacles with suction cups.

Sharp multi-colored carved ears with curved back tips, dark green streams of intertwined hair and large yellow dull eyes, instead of a nose there is an elongated tubercle with holes...

It was difficult to call him cute, but he didn't seem ugly either. A very special look. Kiri stood rooted to the spot at such a sight.

Erloky approached the young man, holding out a wide shell with a living, quivering fish among a scattering of shellfish and pearls on a pair of tentacles.

Kiri had no idea what to do next and accepted the offering with a bow of his head.

"Thank you, Erloky!"

It seemed that the triton grinned with his small mouth something like a smile and stretched out next to Ingris on the grass, as if he was going to sunbathe in the morning sun. His greenish smooth skin sparkled with iridescent mother-of-pearl.

"So cute!" Triton made a melancholic remark with a purring, looking at Kiri. "And how did you manage to tame a human?"

"Hey! I'm not some kind of pet at all!" Kiri was indignant.

"That's not what he meant," Ingris hastened to justify his friend.

"No human would get to know me, much less live together," Erloky purred, twinkling with the narrow pupils of his yellow eyes.

"And have you tried?" Kiri asked, looking at the strange creature with concern.

"I am a monster for a you, why risk my life. People are treacherous and can kill."

"Aren't you immortals?"

"Sort of, but we're still vulnerable. Therefore, caution will not be superfluous."

He quietly asked Ingris something, who shook his head in response with a suspicious grin.

"It's impolite to whisper in the presence of another," Kiri noted offendedly, having guessed what the triton was asking about.

"Sorry," he murmured flirtatiously. "I'm curious about how sweet it is to make love with you."

"We didn't do this!" The young man hastened to answer, sitting down next to him on the grass.

"You called yourself his husband. You need to be responsible for your words and not lie," Erloky said disappointedly, nervously twitching the tips of his ears.

"We're going through a period of getting used to each other... for now," came an absent-minded excuse.

"So, very soon?"

"Why is this so important to you? Who cares?" Kiri shrugged his shoulders irritably.

"Tch... of course it's important," the triton grinned. "I would stroke someone like you for my pleasure, but who will give it?"

"And how would you stroke me with such things?" Kiri was taken aback, looking helplessly at the laughing Ingris. "You don't have any fingers!"

"If you ask, it means you're interested," Erloky continued to amuse himself. "It's curious how to make love to a monster like me. I have a lot of experience... I'll make you something awesome..."

"Well, no way! And my husband will be against it if your tentacles reach out to my body."

"Will you be against it?" The triton turned to the forest fae.

Ingris shook his head with a sly grin.

"Do you see? He agrees if I caress you..."

Indignant, Kiri jumped up and ran away without looking back, with little hope of finding a way out of the new area.

"Oh, I scared him," Erloky sighed in disappointment, slapping his friend on the shoulder with his tentacle. "You never tamed this guy. I already thought - let's have some fun... You are too delicate with him, you should have made him yours long ago."

"It won't be long before he will give himself up to me completely," Ingris whispered melancholy. "I admit, I fell head over heels in love with him, so I'm in no hurry to have deep intimacy. You know, I make love rudely... and his soul is very vulnerable, and this adds pleasant troubles. I really enjoy living with such a boy. You can say that I am happy for the first time in many years."

"I'm glad for you, but he is a mortal. Maximum thirty years for pleasant carnal relationships..."

"If I can bind his soul to me, Kiri will turn into a spirit and stay with me forever."

"Well, dream, dream, it's great if it works out... Who do you want to turn him into?"

"Into the rainbow butterfly!" Ingris burst out laughing.

"Ahaha!" Erloky cheered. "So this is for fun? It will fly away from you, and you will chase after him! Now he has run away on his own two feet, hoping to get away from you!"

"Where will he run away from me? I'll find him everywhere!"