The Marine Biologist and Curious Octoman; Ink and Book

Chapter 7: Come See My Collection✨

[Day 150 - Elias POV]

I checked the rock 3 times.

Nothing.

No notebook. No Kael.

I’m not scared of you, Kael. Not even a little. - E

was the last thing I wrote.

Was that too much??

Did I scare him??

I left another thermos anyway. And a new pencil.

Came back 6 hours later. Still nothing.

I went home and stared at my ceiling.

Marine biologists are not supposed to get this anxious over cephalopods.

[Day 150 - Kael POV - Azure Spire]

I’m not scared of you, Kael. Not even a little. - E

I read it 47 times.

My brother walked in while I was hugging the notebook.

“Sentimental over trash again?” he sneered.

I almost threw my crown at him.

I wanted to reply. My tentacles hovered over the page.

What if he thinks I’m desperate?

What if the council finds out?

I did nothing.

And hated myself for it.

[Day 151 - Elias POV]

No notebook.

I brought him coffee again. Black. The way he seemed to like the smell.

Left it with a sticky note: Just in case you come back - E

Sat on the sand for an hour. Talking to fish.

“I’m being dumb,” I told a parrotfish. “He’s a king. He’s busy.”

The parrotfish didn’t answer.

[Day 151 - Kael POV - Midnight]

I went to the rock.

Coffee. Cold now. Note.

Just in case you come back

Gods.

I picked up the blue pencil with shaking hands.

Started writing. Stopped.

Started again.

If you’re not scared. Meet me at Reef 7. Tomorrow. Sunrise. - K

I left it and fled before sunrise.

If he says no, I can pretend I never asked.

[Elias POV]

Day 152.

The notebook was waiting for me.

Messy handwriting. Tentacles in the margins.

If you’re not scared. Meet me at Reef 7. Tomorrow. Sunrise. - K

Reef 7.

That’s off the map. That’s deep. That’s where the old shipwrecks are and where my boss said "don’t go, currents are weird."

My heart did something stupid.

I wrote back immediately:

I’ll be there. - E

I didn’t sleep.

[Sunrise. Reef 7]

The water was darker here. Colder. Prettier.

Sunlight came down in thin lines and made everything look like glass.

And then I saw him.

Kael.

No crown. No guards. Just him.

Sitting on a piece of coral like he owned the whole ocean. Which... he kinda does.

His tentacles were out. All 8 of them. Pink-purple and curling lazily around the rocks.

He looked nervous. Like, actually nervous. His jaw was tight.

He saw me and immediately tried to hide half his tentacles behind him. Failed.

Too late - K he signed with one hand.

I swam closer. Slow.

I pointed at the notebook tied to his wrist with waterproof string. Then at myself.

He let out a breath I didn’t know he was holding and untied it. Handed it to me.

First page:

You came - K

I did - E

Are you scared? - K

Look at me. Am I? - E

He stared at me. Really stared. Then something in his shoulders relaxed.

He smiled. Small. Real.

He gestured: Follow me

.

[Kael POV]

Stupid. Stupid king.

Why did I invite him??

Because he said he wasn’t scared.

Because he brings me coffee I can’t drink.

Because 238 years alone and one human made me want to show him things.

I led him through a cave I haven’t shown anyone since I was 20.

Inside: junk. Beautiful junk.

Lost anchor chains turned into wind chimes. A cracked camera that still works.

And on a shelf made of shells...

My collection.

14 hair ties. 3 sunglasses. 1 waterproof watch that stopped at 3:14.

And in the center, in a place of honor: his pencil. The first one.

I felt my face heat up. Cecaelia don’t blush. I do now.

I opened the notebook.

This is it? - E

This is everything - K

It’s perfect - E

He touched the pencil. Looked at me.

Thank you for showing me - E

I didn’t know what to do with my hands. So I picked up a blue pencil.

Doodled. A tiny Elias in a wetsuit, holding a big notebook.

Pushed it to him.

He laughed into his regulator. Bubbles everywhere.

Then he took the pencil from me and drew back:

Kael, with all 8 tentacles making a heart shape. Badly.

King of hearts? - E

I wanted to sink into the sand.

[Elias POV]

We stayed for an hour.

He showed me how cecaelia write with tentacles. It’s messy. It’s cute.

I taught him how to shade with the 24 color pencils.

He was terrible at it. I was worse.

Before I left, he grabbed my wrist. Gentle.

One tentacle brushed my ankle. Just for a second.

Then he let go like he got burned.

In the notebook, last page:

Don’t tell anyone about this place. Please. - K

I won’t. It’s our place now. - E

I swam up feeling like I was floating.

He watched me go until I was just a shadow.