Classroom Changes - Octavia - 4 - 3

His descent down the stairs back to his apartment was perhaps a touch faster than the calm, confident stride Octavia was used to. She stared after him a moment in a bit of a daze, vaguely aware that the tips of her tentacles were all writhing eagerly in the direction of Keito’s retreating form.

Poku’s words from earlier echoed in her memory: “If he offers you sake or something to drink, he’s got it bad.”

Octavia peered down at herself, where her lower self continued to squirm about as if possessed. Which, in a way, it was: just by Octavia’s subconscious desires rather than by a demon. The same system that allowed her tentacles to coordinate themselves without tangling or needing constant direction from Octavia’s conscious mind apparently was also reacting to Octavia’s emotional needs. She could literally feel her own lust attempting to reach out through her tentacles, giving them a stretchy pulling sensation she found she had to actively concentrate to reign in.

Trying to focus herself, Octavia unlocked the door to her apartment, and then hesitated. She wanted to change into something more comfortable, maybe something a little cuter, but surely it wouldn’t take Keito too long to fetch his sake. So she simply took off her suit jacket, hung it in the hallway, and waited for Keito to return. As expected Keito didn’t take long.

“Come on in,” Octavia welcomed him with a tight, eager smile, and he happily led the way.

He was probably already familiar with the apartment’s layout, as it was identical to his own, but Octavia really noticed the difference in how it felt to her now that she was a scylla. A narrow hallway past the washroom to her little living area felt much smaller as her tentacles filled the space. Much the same as the community center washroom, the confinement felt cozy rather than cramped.

Keito popped his sandals off quickly and moved on inside ahead of Octavia’s crawling wave of tentacles. She eyed the footwear, her shoe rack, and then her many lower unshod limbs.

“I’m just going to rinse off quickly, if you want to sit down?” Octavia sighed in resignation.

“Is it uncomfortable? Being dry?” Keito asked, sounding a bit reluctant but curious.

Octavia shrugged, “It’s not uncomfortable, exactly, but it’s more comfortable if I wet myself down every so often. But, I probably have a lot I’m going to need to figure out to get used to this.”

Keito had to raise his voice a little more to be heard as Octavia turned on the shower, “I suppose. You seem to be, uhm, using your legs quite naturally…”

The statement hung awkwardly in the air, an unspoken question. Octavia thought of the things she had learned, of what Poku said, what Serass said, how everyone was reacting.

“I… don’t think we were supposed to be human in the first place. This feels like… someone corrected us,” Octavia found it hard to explain, but it felt right, “like, we were all supposed to be born like this, but when we were born, it wasn’t an option?”

“I don’t think I understand.” Keito said slowly.

Octavia finished rinsing herself off, and stared at a towel indecisively. Did she dry off to avoid getting the floor all wet? But being damp was more comfortable. She decided to drag a towel along with her back tentacles to dry the floor as she went.

“To be fair, neither do I. Maybe just feeling comfortable as what we are is a side effect.” Octavia paused, thinking, “I’m not sure we’ll ever know for sure.”

Keito was already sitting at Octavia’s dinner table, a couple of glasses and the open bottle in front of him. He swirled the alcohol about in the bottle a bit, looking thoughtful, as Octavia moved to sit down across from him.

“Maybe this has all just been a dream,” he shook his head a little, “I’ll wake up and it’ll be this morning. This sake bottle will be empty, and that’s all this will have been.”

Octavia felt her tentacles nervously tangling themselves about the legs of her chair and table, but carefully denied their insistant advace towards Keito, “Would… you prefer for all this to be a dream?”

Keito looked ashamed, peering down at the empty glass in front of him as he did, “I… might be being very selfish, but… no. I know this event will cause a lot of chaos, turmoil and heartbreak, but…”

His gaze lifted up to Octavia’s own, “... from where I am sitting, things are looking quite wonderful.”

“I’m glad you can appreciate the changes,” Octavia smiled faintly, unable to meet his eyes.

There was a heartbeat of silence, before she felt his hand come to rest on her own. She looked up to see Keito leaning forward slightly, his face intense, “I appreciated what I had before for how beautiful it was. I am simply blown away by how much more amazing it can be.”

Keito’s sincerity hit Octavia like a flash grenade, leaving her blinking and stunned, top to bottom. Years of practice of downplaying or being in denial about any potential interest crumbled before Keito’s passionate gaze. Which was a wonderful feeling, but left her at a loss of what to do about it.

“I… uhm… I… uhm… appreciate you too Keito,” Octavia managed to reply, her face feeling hotter than a furnace, “... I’m sorry, I’m not good at showing it.”

A quick peek at Keito’s face showed Octavia that he was wearing a slight, rueful frown, “I had been worried that I might not be your type.”

Nervously, Octavia tucked a stray lock of hair back behind her ear, “Oh Keito, you are a very attractive man, I’m just… not used to the idea of being, well, looked at by attractive men. In, in that way.”

“I’d be happy to help you get used to it.”

Octavia tried to look him in the eye, but could barely manage to peek at him from behind the cover of her long blonde bangs. She broke into a fit of nervous giggling, “I… I’d like that quite a bit.”

“Excellent. Maybe a drink, and we can discuss how best to help you get used to a man’s…” he trailed off, frowning at the bottle of sake.

“Is something wrong?” Octavia asked as the silence began to weigh heavier.

“Do you know if you can drink Sake anymore?” Keito asked, looking perplexed.

Octavia joined Keito in frowning at the bottle,”... I don’t. I could try just a little bit first? To see what happens?”

“... ok.” Keito said, then looked at Octavia earnestly, “but… if, anything happens. I’ll make sure your safe. I wouldn't want anything to happen between us that you wouldn’t want to happen sober.”

“Oh, I don’t think anything you’d want to do would bother me one bit at this point,” Octavia did her very best to sound witty and urbane, “I’d be more worried about what I’d do to you.”

“What’s the phrase,” Keito paused, and then stated in somewhat passable English, “You cannot threaten me with a good time?”

“Maybe… a test? Maybe… start with a little kiss, and we see how far that goes without the sake? So… so we know how far would be too far with it?” Octavia proposed, but she rapidly found the strength hope had given her escaping, as if courage was a gas leaking from her body with each word.

Octavia was about to retract her proposal in fearful embarassment as Keito stood up, looking serious. She held her breath as he moved towards her. His hand reached forward, brushing against her jaw and cheek as his fingers slid back around her neck, thumb caressing her cheek. And then, he held still just a moment, eyes locked on Octavia’s, before he closed them and leaned forward to kiss her.