Page 13 of Tis the Season for Tentacles (Tinsel and Tentacles 2.0)

Chapter Thirteen

Chronicles of Chaos: An Informal Record of Life Aboard the Sleigh Belle

Stardate: 78409.3

Origin: Boreas Star System

Destination: Ferus Bankolia

A week has passed since we returned to our vessel and left Glacius Major on our way to the next planet on our itinerary. While I don’t believe in destiny, I find it a rather fortuitous coincidence that we had planned to visit Ferus Bankolia long before we ever picked up Felix.

The planet is renowned for its wildlife refuges, through which visitors can take guided tours. At my urging, I have asked the others not to reveal this information to Felix just yet. I want to surprise him. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to be in his element while we’re exploring this world.

These days I find myself looking for ways to make our human guest happy. He’s a fascinating man and I’m honored to be spending time with him.

Already, I begin to feel anxious about how little time he has left with us. After our time on Ferus Bankolia is over, we’ll be refueling and setting a course for Earth. We’d planned to see more together but Felix is anxious to get back to his sister shortly after Christmas. The days slip away faster than they ever have before, and my hearts are uneasy. I suspect saying goodbye to Felix will be far harder than I ever imagined—not only for me, but for the rest of the crew of the Sleigh Belle.

— Najar Mezdel, First Lieutenant and Voice of Reason on the Sleigh Belle

NAJAR

T he past week has flown by at light speed.

We’ve all been busy, and I’ve been spending all of my free time with Felix.

Although I would have preferred to be with him even more, I still have daily duties to attend to on the Sleigh Belle and other responsibilities I am now regretting agreeing to.

Namely, Sasha’s ongoing project, The Cat-tacular Tales of Princess Jonesy.

Somehow, I ended up being roped into helping Sasha film a new Christmas holiday special episode of the show for his fans.

The low-budget show has been a long-running hit with extraterrestrial audiences ever since Luna leaked the first few episodes on the intergalactic web. Since then, we’ve been making a new episode once a month, and for whatever reason, the show’s fans particularly enjoy having me play the straight man to Jonesy, voiced by Luna, as the comedic heroine.

I only participate because I know how much it means to my dear friends. So, while I don’t exactly share their passion, I help them because I care about them.

They’re the only ones who can bring out my soft side.

Well, them, and now Felix.

Just thinking about him makes me smile.

Of course, I haven’t told him about the show yet. In fact, I’ve been studiously avoiding it. I know the others want me to share it with him, but I’m not ready for that particular brand of humiliation.

In truth, I may never be ready for that.

Just thinking about it makes me cringe.

But despite my busy schedule, Felix and I have managed to carve out plenty of time to explore one another’s bodies to our hearts’ content.

That human song, “Walking on Sunshine,” could be the soundtrack of my life most days lately. Everyone has noticed that my mood is vastly improved. And while some of it is no doubt due to regular and very enjoyable sexual release with Felix, I know that’s not the only reason.

I like spending time with him even when we aren’t having sex.

He’s funny, smart, and endlessly surprising.

And I love the fact that he is so enthusiastic about my tentacles—even when we aren’t using them for sexual activities. Indeed, he’s taken to petting and cuddling them in ways that soothe something deep inside me, something I never knew needed that kind of attention.

Of course, we’ve also had plenty of sex while getting to know one another better. My one point of concern is the fact that I’ve only fucked him with my tentacle so far. Felix told me he wanted to work his way up to more than that. In the meantime, he’s been more than eager to take my tentacle for a ride, as he likes to say, and I’m happy to let him.

I grin to myself recalling last night and what he called riding me “like a rodeo.”

At that moment, Luna passes me in the corridor and raises her eyebrows. “Careful there, Naj. You’re starting to look like a lovesick doofus.”

I frown. “No, I’m not.”

She laughs. “Sure. Go look in the mirror. You’re sporting that same dopey, smitten look on your face that Khephren always wears around Sasha.” Her expression turns serious. “Be careful, my friend. I don’t want you to end up heartbroken at the end of all of this.”

I swallow thickly at her words, wanting to deny what she’s implying, even though a very small part of me can’t help but acknowledge that what I feel for Felix is more than simple friendship.

But there’s no way what we have can lead to anything more.

Our time together is short, and I don’t want either of us to go down an emotionally murky path that could leave us bitter and full of regret.

Best to keep things simple and light, the way I always have.

I find Felix in the canteen with a notebook and pen as he studiously interviews a disgruntled Howie.

“Tell me more about your species. How do Chumarg trees propagate? Is it similar to the nonsentient trees we have on Earth, or is there a mating process specific to your kind?”

I clear my throat. “What’s going on here?”

Howie rolls his eyes. “Thank the galactic gods. Please take this human with you and let me get my midday shut-eye. I can’t handle much more of his endless nagging questions.”

Howie closes his eyes and Felix pouts.

Dear Thekmis, he’s adorable.

“Come on. We’re going to be landing soon, so we need to head to the bridge.”

Felix studies me with open interest as we walk. “You’ve all been so mysterious about where we’re going next. Can’t you give me a clue?”

I shake my head. “Nope. I want you to be completely surprised. Trust me, you’re going to love it.”

He grins back. “You sound mighty confident.”

“That’s because I am.”

Felix chuckles. “I like that confident side of you, Najar. Your candor is refreshing. I’ve met too many men who lie and pretend to be someone or something that they’re not, but you’re always very distinctly you, and I admire that.”

A warm, sticky-sweet sensation fills my chest, one that I’m becoming all too familiar with whenever I’m around Felix.

“Your words humble me,” I say, giving him a short bow.

His eyes shine with amusement. “You’re an odd mixture of gallant and noble, but also surly and stern.”

“Hey, I resemble that remark,” I reply blandly.

Felix throws his head back and laughs. “And you are surprisingly funny.”

“Thank you. That’s what I’m always trying to tell Luna and Kheph.”

We hold hands as we make our way to the bridge and take our seats with the rest of the crew.

“Beginning our descent,” Kheph announces, and we hold on tight as the Sleigh Belle enters the planet’s atmosphere. Our descent is a lot rockier here than on Glacius Major, but it isn’t long until we complete a smooth landing in a special field set aside for off-world visitors.

Once we’re all ready, I lead Felix down the gangway, keeping his eyes covered with one of my tentacles.

“Is this absolutely necessary?”

“It is. Surprises require a grand reveal.”

I ignore the knowing looks Khephren and Sasha give me and focus instead on Felix. When we set foot on the ground, my hearts are racing with excitement as I remove my tentacle and let Felix take it all in.

We’re surrounded by vast planes of verdant green mixed with vibrant splashes of pink, purple, and orange. Two suns shine brightly in the sky above us, and in the distance are snow-capped mountains.

A hover vessel pulls up near us and the Igzok driver hops out to greet us. Like most members of his species, he’s small in stature, with a barrel-shaped torso, short but powerful arms and legs, and a muscular tail. He’s covered all over in green and brown scales, and he’s wearing a hat on top of his reptilian head.

“Welcome to Ferus Bankolia. I’m Jeernit and I will be your guide for our tour of the Upper Bankolia Wildlife Sanctuary today.”

Felix gasps, his eyes alight with excitement. “A wildlife sanctuary?”

I smile at him. “This planet is famed for its many wildlife preservation initiatives. I was right, wasn’t I? You love it.”

Felix’s face shines so brightly I can’t look away. “This is the most amazing early Christmas gift I could ever get.” He turns to Jeernit. “Will we get to see many animals on this tour?”

“Of course. Although our routes are designed to maintain an appropriate distance from the wildlife, a lot of them are so used to us they will come closer than you might expect. We also provide long-range binoculars for viewing them in closer detail.”

Overcome with excitement, Felix jumps up into my arms and wraps his legs around my hips as he kisses me soundly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re very welcome,” I say, feeling unexpectedly breathless at the intensity of his affection.

The guide smiles at all of us. “Are you all ready to start the tour?”

We hurriedly agree and board the open-top hover vessel.

I lean toward Felix. “This planet, like many others, maintains what you on Earth would call a zero-carbon footprint. They have developed technology and energy sources that are environmentally safe.”

“That’s amazing. I wish humans would do that.”

The hover vessel moves at a fast, smooth clip while we follow a dirt road into the wildlife refuge.

“This is like going on a safari,” Felix muses while he looks around. “I’ve always wanted to do that but never had enough time or money to make it happen.”

“What is a safari?”

He briefly explains how the experience works on his world, and I nod in understanding. “Ah, yes. This will be similar, but I believe the people here treat the safety of the animals and their environment as the foremost priority.”

“I love it.” He reaches out and pets one of my tentacles. “Thank you.”

For the next few hours, we travel through the sanctuary.Along the way, our guide Jeernit points out different animals that call this place home and tells us about their habits and characteristics.

Sasha has his camera with him and documents as much as he can. I know I can’t give these pictures to Felix to take with him when he returns to Earth, but he can at least look at them as much as he likes before he returns home.

Felix barely blinks the whole time we’re touring the sanctuary, eagerly absorbing every detail and bombarding Jeernit with a barrage of questions. However, our guide seems only too happy to answer and is clearly pleased by Felix’s enthusiasm.

As if in silent, mutual agreement, the rest of us stay quiet and let Felix ask as many questions as he wants. It’s clear that he’s truly passionate about animals and loves learning everything he can about them.

Seeing him like this makes me hope that he can find a way to continue pursuing his passion for animals in a way that is more fulfilling for him.

If he stayed with you, he could explore animals from so many different worlds. He’d never be bored.

The thought brings me up sharp.

I know our time together is finite, so why am I suddenly entertaining ridiculous notions?

By the time we arrive at our accommodations for the evening—it will take us several more days to tour all of the sanctuary, which encompasses hundreds of miles—the suns are setting.

In contrast to Glacius Major, this planet is currently experiencing early summer in the region we’re in. While it did get quite warm in the afternoon, now that evening is upon us, a hint of cooler night air is already setting in.

We thank Jeernit for his excellent work as our guide and check in at the reception cabin located at the entrance. Our sleeping quarters, farther into the forest, prove to be as unique as the sanctuary.

“Our guest units are actually built around the trees in the forest and made from all-natural materials,” the clerk on duty explains.

Felix’s eyes light up. “That sounds amazing!”

“If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your units,” the clerk offers.

We’re taken through the forest down a path lit by some type of solar-powered light source. Felix stumbles along at my side, staring up and around him the whole way.

“It’s like the Ewok village in Return of the Jedi ,” he marvels.

Sasha gasps behind us. “Oh, my fucking god, you’re right. How fucking cool is that?”

Khephren beams at his husband. “You like it?”

“I fucking love it!”

Sasha jumps into his arms and they start making out.

“Kill me now. It’d be a mercy,” Luna says as she scurries past them. “Otherwise, I might slowly suffocate to death from all this lovey-dovey sweetness all around me.”

We finally arrive at a large tree that easily looks at least a good thirty feet wide and is too tall for me to estimate its height from where we stand below it.

Felix gapes up at it in wonder. “It’s like a cross between a giant sequoia and a Montezuma cypress tree on Earth. Granted, I’m no expert when it comes to trees, but I do find them fascinating.” He reaches out a hand to gently stroke the trunk. “And beautiful.”

You’re beautiful .

Neptune’s nads. Where the hell did that thought come from unbidden?

But I find I can’t look away from Felix’s face, filled with so much awe.

He really is beautiful. I can’t deny it.

Luna sidles up to me as Felix starts asking the clerk questions about the tree.

“Careful, Naj. You appear downright affectionate when you look at Felix. It’s written all over your face.”

“He’s different from anyone else I’ve ever been with. When I’m with him, I feel…”

She gives me a side hug. “That says it all, my friend. You feel for him. I won’t say what those emotions are, that’s for you to figure out, but they’re already more than anything you’ve ever had with a lover before. Don’t just ignore them or you might live to regret it.”

She squeezes me tight one more time and wanders over to investigate the tree.

My gut tells me that she’s right, but my brain instinctively shies away from what it probably means.

Once the clerk finishes his lively discussion with Felix, we board a mechanized lift and begin our ascent to the different levels of our accommodations.

At least a good fifteen feet from the ground, we stop at the first level.

“This is our floor, so to speak,” Sasha says.

Kheph blows us all a kiss. “Have a good evening, friends, because my husband and I certainly will.”

“You bet your fucking ass we will,” Sasha growls.

But he soon starts laughing when Kheph picks him up and slings him over his shoulder, then hightails it to their sleeping quarters.

Felix and I get off at the next level, leaving Luna to ride up to the top level where she’ll be staying.

“This is seriously out of this world—no pun intended,” Felix murmurs as we head down a short rope bridge walkway that leads right to the entrance of our abode for the night.

“The clerk told me there are no locks on the doors, so we should be able to go straight in,” I say. “Don’t worry, though. They haven’t had any crime here in years.”

We open the door and stare in amazement. Even I’m impressed. The entire space is built in a circular fashion around the trunk of the tree, which forms the central anchor of the dwelling. The floor is made from repurposed wood, and the walls are a mixture of an indigenous form of binding clay mud, stone, and a bamboo-like material. Open windows without any glass or screens are evenly spaced around the diameter of the room.

We wander around the open circular space and discover a stunning partly open-air shower with a glass-bottom floor that looks down at the ground below. A simple but comfortable-looking bed with a net canopy over it is positioned by a window that allows the morning suns to shine in on us and wake us naturally. There’s also a small table and two chairs on a veranda that juts out into the air and provides a vista of the plains with a glimpse of mountains in the distance. On the table, we discover a picnic basket with our dinner meal and a note of welcome.

“Let’s eat and watch the rest of the sunset together,” Felix suggests with a smile, his whole face still glowing.

We sit down at the table and unpack our food. They’ve provided an impressive spread of fresh vegetables, a pureed bean dip, dried meat, a selection of local cheeses, a homemade type of flatbread, and some regional fruit for dessert. It’s light and refreshing fare, perfect for the warm climate.

Together, we snack on the food and enjoy the spectacular sunset as the two orbs slowly disappear over the horizon, leaving stunning trails of purple, orange, and red in their wake.

“Stunning,” Felix murmurs, his eyes on the sky.

It is, but I can’t seem to draw my eyes away from him. When Felix is happy, he shines brighter than any star in the universe.

I want him to be happy like this forever.

He turns his attention back on me. “I know I’ve said this already but thank you. Today was one of the most memorable days of my life. I’ll never forget it.”

“It was a pure stroke of luck that we’d already planned to come here. The wildlife sanctuaries here are famous across several galaxies, so we were all interested in visiting.” I grin. “But the main factor in the decision was that Khephren knew that Sasha would love the unusual accommodations.”

Felix laughs. “He really loves his husband something fierce. It’s a wonderful thing to see.”

“They’re almost nauseatingly happy together. When Sasha first arrived on our ship, he was even more of a grump than I can be. But it didn’t take long for Kheph to work his magic on the man. Now Sasha’s a very different person.” I pause. “Well, he’s still snarky and sassy, but he’s happy now. He smiles and laughs all the time. You never would have thought it possible if you’d met him a few years ago.”

Felix sighs, his eyes full of something suspiciously like longing. “That’s the power of love, I suppose.”

His words make my hearts stutter in a strange fashion.

I’m relieved when he shifts gears and begins excitedly talking about the different animals he saw during the day and how some of them bear similarities to species on Earth.

His enthusiasm is contagious, and I listen attentively, smiling the whole time and just happy to be here with him in this fleeting moment in time.

When we’ve eaten our fill, I manage to persuade him to try out the shower with me. After riding around in the open-top hover vehicle all day, we’re a bit sweaty and grimy.

I’m relieved to find a clothing sanitizer machine tucked into a nook beside the toilet and adjacent to the shower. We toss our clothes in there and I set them to clean so we have fresh garments in the morning.

I coax a nervous Felix into the shower, which is just big enough for the two of us as long as I keep my tentacles tucked into my back. The entire thing is made of some kind of thick clear glass-like material, although the walls only come up to waist height.

I turn on the rainfall showerhead and grab the biodegradable soap to begin washing Felix and myself.

He sways a little in my arms when he looks down. “Oh, boy. That’s freaking me out a lot.”

“Fear not. It’s perfectly safe.”

He looks down again and gulps. “You promise this glass floor isn’t going to break underneath us and send us plummeting to our deaths far below?”

I pull his naked body closer to mine. “I promise.”

As I wash him, Felix starts to relax more and embrace the experience.

“You can see everything from here,” he murmurs.

“When researching this place before coming, we learned that these shower units were designed specifically to create a more immersive experience in nature during one’s stay. Even the soap in this shower is safe and actually beneficial for the soil around the base of the tree.”

“The peoples of this world are quite brilliant. They’ve figured out how to make the best use of the natural resources they have while preserving the environment.”

“Indeed. The natural beauty of the landscape and flourishing wildlife are the main tourist attractions that bring off-world visitors to the planet,” I say.

Two of my tentacles massage soap into his hair as my hands use the washcloth to clean the rest of him.

“Mmmm,” Felix moans. “Your tentacles give the best head massages. Man, could I ever use a massage like this after a hard day of work back home.”

He seems to realize what he’s implying and hurriedly says, “My bad. I didn’t mean that like it sounded.”

I find I don’t want him to apologize to me for such a thought, so I silence his flustered lips with a kiss.

By the time we’re clean and the water starts to turn cold, Felix is pleasingly dazed from our kissing and I draw him with me to the bed.

We tumble onto the mattress and I roll him onto his back and lean over him.

I finally voice the words I’ve been holding back for days.

“I want to feel my cock inside you. Are you ready for that?”