Hi! You can call me Starr! I’m making a g/t + vore account cuz I just think it’s neat! I’ll be reblogging:
G/t stuff
G/t vore
Fearplay
Unwilling/willing pred
Unwilling/ willing prey
Fluff
Safe vore
Soft vore
Occasionally I might reblog same size stuff and (gooey) digestion with reformation. I’m not really in any fandoms rn and just wanna see people gush about their ocs! So yea :]
If you don’t have your age in your bio, ur getting blocked, sorry not sorry!
I had a random thought a minute ago. Safe vore/endosoma can work extremely well as a metaphor for love, and this effectiveness isn't reduced by the live being platonic. Under the cut, I'm going to give a general save vore concept, then abstract as much as I can for both the pred perspective and prey perspective. Hopefully it'll demonstrate the point coherently.
Literal:
A pred and a prey care very deeply for each other, each wanting to show the other how much they care. They mutually come to the decision that the pred can swallow the prey. In doing this, the pred is accepting the risk that the prey could try to hurt them from the inside in order to have them in their stomach, and the prey is accepting the risk that the pred could try to digest them in order to feel the comfort and safety of the pred's stomach.
Abstract, pred POV:
You have a person that you care for very deeply. You care for them deeply enough that you're willing to show them the most sensitive side of yourself. You want to protect them to the best of your abilities, even though that opens up the possibility that they could use this trust to hurt you. You accept the risk, letting them deep into your life and giving them all the affection you can give them.
Abstract, prey POV:
There's this person who you hope cares for you as deeply as you care for them. You assume that they could hurt you if they wanted to, but trust them to not do so. You care for them so deeply that you accept being vulnerable with them, accepting the risk that they could take advantage of you in order to show that you want to be there for/with them, and to show just how much you appreciate them.
Giant alien finding your ship crashed on their planet. You're shaking and injured, and you look so helpless. They decide you'd be better resting in their storage (stomach) than out in the open.
5.5k word fic featuring @that-prey-lounge 's lovely little Warren as a tiny octopus merfolk getting "rescued" (eaten) by "Regular Man John" (Doomguy that's a Regular Guy). Be careful with tentacles, they are sticky.
It was a typical day at the market. Outdoor stalls, many covered by awnings and tarps for shade, lined the street beside the harbor. Many of the vendors sold fish, freshly-caught just outside the harbor. The smell of fish was inescapable, sometimes insufferable, but the locals didn't seem to mind.
One of the locals did mind, in fact. He was at one of the market stalls, not as a vendor or a customer, but as a product. A tiny, expensive, living product. Warren was caught by humans earlier that morning, mixed up in a fishing net. He, like other merfolk, were sometimes captured and sold as exotic pets at local markets.
Passerby were mesmerized by him. He wasn't a typical merfolk, with his lower body being that of an octopus. Eight orange limbs stretched along the sides of a very small cup filled with seawater. He was originally displayed in a larger, glass bowl, but after enough escape attempts, the vendor had transferred him to a sealed container.
Regardless, Warren was not at all pleased with his situation. In fact, he was utterly terrified. This was something he had always dreaded to happen to him, after hearing stories about human beings capturing others of his kind. No matter how many times he tried to escape again, he was thwarted by the constant looks of passing humans.
Eyes. So many eyes on him. Yet so far, no one was willing to part with their money for him. He couldn't see the price tag, but he assumed it to be high. That did not serve to make him feel much better about himself, but… maybe he would be spared if he was left unsold by the end of the day.
The little merman had such limited space. He could hardly stretch his limbs out in the cup, let alone swim. If he dared to try and curl up and sleep, he was forced awake by the tapping of the vendor's finger on the sides of the cup.
Desperate, exhausted, and scared, Warren could only await his fate. And that was when he met eyes with one of the humans passing by.
He was big, taller than most of the other customers. Warren had never seen so many humans in one place before today, but even he could see that the man standing before him was larger than average, with a rugged, boxy jaw and short brown hair. He instinctively shrank back in the cup when their eyes met.
No… was he about to be bought by the human? No one else had looked at him with such… intensity.
The strange man stared at Warren a while longer before reaching across the vendor table and picking up the water-filled cup. His green eyes never wavered as he brought Warren right up to his face, staring him down.
Warren was frozen in place. He wanted to scream, to thrash around and escape the big man's grip. But he was stuck, trapped in that tiny cup. All he could do was plead with his eyes, his back pressed against the opposite side of the clear plastic cup.
John held the trapped merfolk up to his face. Long, sandy hair swept around the little one's head, and his honey-colored eyes were staring back at him, wide. John saw the label drawn on the white lid of the cup with permanent marker; "RARE Octopus Merfolk $800".
Well, he wasn't about to shell out that much money. Not when he could just take the little guy.
When the vendor's back was turned, John carefully unscrewed the lid. Warren's eyes widened. Wait, what was he doing? Shouldn't he be paying, first?
As soon as the lid came off, Warren's whole, tiny world was shifted- dumped from the cup into… no! The man's mouth.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Warren yelped, but he was quickly swept inside along with the saltwater.
John grimaced. Oh, it was salty. Of course it was salty! No matter. He closed his mouth and left just an inch or so of water in the cup as he screwed the lid back on and placed it on the vendor table as if nothing had happened. He walked away with a mouthful of water and one very frightened merman.
In hindsight, John wished he had had time to communicate the plan with the little guy first. He would set him free, of course, once he brought him back home and gotten him in a bigger aquarium to recuperate.
Warren was not aware of this plan, and used all of his many limbs to squirm inside John's mouth. He cursed at his rotten luck- of all the humans eyeing him up, he just had to get taken by the one that was hungry for an $800 merfolk snack!
John winced as tiny suckers gripped the inside of his mouth. He walked quicker, his boots thudding along the ground as he left the market to head back to his truck. The merman was tiny, sure, but he underestimated the grip strength of those eight little octopus legs.
Warren's oxygen was running out in the man's mouth, his thrashing only worsening it in such a cramped space, more cramped than the little cup was. But he had to try… he couldn't just let himself be swallowed.
And yet, the man swallowed.
John tilted his head back and gulped thickly, his throat pulling Warren down headfirst along with the salty water. His soft, slippery body made it easy, and he felt the little guy go down his throat. Good. John needed to get him inside his stomach for the ride home.
Except, he didn't make it down to his stomach. John coughed, wincing as he touched his throat. Oh god. The little octopus merman had a grip on his esophagus.
Warren felt himself get sucked down the man's throat. He screamed, then spread his arms out, using his eight legs to grip on anything they could. He felt himself halt in the human's gullet, no longer going down but… certainly not going up either. He was very much stuck in a giant throat, while all of the water he was suspended in was swallowed. That was not good for him, but… neither was being eaten alive. So Warren clung for life inside a giant man's esophagus.
John did not anticipate having such troubles with the little guy. He was tiny, almost entirely boneless! How did he mess this up? He took measured breaths and gulped in-between them, grunting with the effort of dislodging the sticky tentacles. Despite his large size and thick, muscular neck, Warren remained very much stuck inside of it.
Water. He needed water, a lot of it, to swallow him down. John jogged, now, his face full of worry as he hauled ass to his truck. Oh, the faster pace was not helping. He could feel the merman jostling in his throat, forcing an overwhelming need to gag. So John continued to swallow, despite getting the merman nowhere further down. At this point it was merely to stave off his gag reflex.
Warren was also panicking. He had been, but now even more so… trapped in an endless wave of swallowing that just squished him tighter in the man's gullet. What would happen if the human ended up choking on him? He couldn't bear the thought of being stuck in the big guy's throat or windpipe if he were to pass out.
"Let me out, please! I-I'm sorry!" He shouted, desperate to not go down, but with all of his efforts of sticking to his throat, he wasn't going up either.
John heard his pleas, hardly registering them as he reached his truck and dug out a bottle of water. He was aware that the merman was frightened and confused, but he couldn't just talk back to him. Not when he was lodged in his throat and couldn't see his signing. So, he tipped back the bottle and gulped.
Warren was washed over with cool, fresh water. It would have been refreshing in literally any other circumstance, but at that moment, he felt his suckers start to release. Oh no.
John groaned in relief as he continued drinking. The cool water soothed his throat and started to unstick the tentacles. He gulped several more times until… there he went.
Warren was swallowed down whole. His suckers relented under the pressure of water around him, and he was taken down, down, down the man's throat.
John sighed hard. That was rough, he thought. He felt the merman go down all the way into his stomach, where the rest of the water ended up. It was only slightly more roomy than the cup. John finished the rest of the water and hopped in his truck, one hand on his belly as he drove. Tiny little squirms fluttered against his stomach lining, letting him know that the merfolk still had plenty of strength left for the trip home.
"Hmmh." John muttered softly, patting his thick gut in reassurance.
Warren was definitely not feeling reassured. He was dumped in John's stomach, fresh water mixed with saltwater and mucous around him, forming a horrid concoction that had to pass over Warren's gills. He swam in circles, bumping into the velvety rugae that lined the man's gut.
This was it, then. He was swallowed whole, despite putting his best efforts in. Warren whimpered softly as the human's stomach sloshed around him, baptizing him in warm liquid that made him feel numb all over. All he could do now was wait to be digested, his limbs reaching out to cling to any surface he could.
Luckily for the little merman, John had no intention of letting that happen. His home was not too far of a drive, and his stomach had enough water inside that he wouldn't asphyxiate. Surprisingly, Warren had less room in the little cup he was displayed in for sale.
John pulled into his home, a cozy beach-type house just offshore. He swung his big legs out of the truck and walked through the door with his hand on his belly.
Tiny little flutters reminded him every now and then that the little guy in his stomach was alright. He got to work filling up a 5 gallon bucket with distilled water and salt, mixing it in until it dissolved. He then dropped a bubbler inside to aerate the water as well as a heater to bring it to tropical temperature. This would suffice as a temporary container for the merman to recover in.
John was well-versed in caring for aquatic life, and his home was filled with glass aquariums of all kinds. Though none of them contained merfolk or octopuses, he was quite confident that he could care for one.
Warren, meanwhile, was confined to a cramped, dark space inside John's gut. He could hear, faintly, the sounds of running water, but it was drowned out mainly by the human's heartbeat and breaths. No speaking, curiously. Warren assumed the human was by himself.
He was still alive in the man's stomach, so the little merfolk decided to try and speak up.
"Hello? Can you hear me…?" He called out while reaching around in the darkness for the stomach lining.
John paused, then submerged the hose in the bucket to make it quieter. He simply gave his stomach a few pats.
Warren jolted when a few firm thumps jostled his watery cage. So he could be heard! Maybe he had a chance of survival, after all.
"Okay, um, would you let me out, please?" Warren whined. He ached to stretch his limbs out and breathe cleanly again.
John hummed in response. He dipped his finger in the bucket to test the temperature. It wasn't nearly warm enough. The merfolk could go into shock if he was suddenly dumped from his warm stomach into cool water.
He couldn't quite communicate it to him, but John had to keep Warren in his stomach a little longer while the fresh saltwater warmed up. The big man grimaced, then, when he realized he should gulp down some of the salty water to replenish some oxygen in his gut.
Warren waited impatiently for the human's response. Why wasn't he just talking back to him if he could be heard? He was speaking a human language… maybe it was the wrong one?
Then he heard the man swallow a few times. Warren half-expected another unfortunate merfolk to enter the human's stomach along with him! But it was just plain water. Saltwater. The man actually drank saltwater… what in the hell?
"Hey, that's nice and all, but I really, really don't want to be digested…" Warren croaked as the colder water swirled around him.
John hummed. The poor little guy really thought he was just his snack, huh? He supposed it was fair. He was being sold at the fish market, after all. He smacked his tongue a few times, grimacing from the overwhelmingly salty taste before pulling up a chair and sitting down beside the bucket. He slid his palm up and down his gut as he waited, a small consolation for the aquatic captive in his belly.
When Warren didn't get a response back from the human, he started getting restless again. It felt like the big guy had settled down, rubbing his stomach to gloat. Oh, if only he did choke on him! It would have served his dumb ass right. Warren felt around for the entrance to the man's esophagus, panting in the little pocket of air that sat right up along the top of his water-filled stomach. The merman clawed at the sphincter, using his lower eight limbs to propel himself upwards.
John squirmed in his seat when tiny hands pried inside his stomach. He grunted in discomfort. That was not a sensation he had ever experienced before. It wasn't painful but it sure as hell didn't feel good. The little merman clearly wanted out! John forced himself to relax, concerned that he might hurt the little guy if his muscles spasmed.
Warren's efforts were met with surprisingly little resistance. He managed to get his head and shoulders past the strong ring of muscles that closed off the human's esophagus from his stomach. God, it was tight. How did he even fit down here in the first place when he could barely squeeze through?
While Warren continued to try and escape, John couldn't bear the sensation any longer. He stood up and paced around, trying to get his mind off of it. He wanted so badly to ask the merfolk to stop. So he inhaled and growled a simple "Quit it."
Warren froze as the human's deep, gravelly voice vibrated through his body. That was his first time hearing him speak, and it was the same language.
"S-so you can understand me! Why won't you let me out?" The merman cried, lowering himself back into the human's watery gut to breathe.
John felt the water's temperature again. It was warming up, but still not quite to temp. He wondered if he should just say screw it and cough up the little guy before he hurt himself trying to squeeze up his gullet on his own.
The man scooped some of the saltwater into a smaller container first. Then he stuck his finger down his throat and gagged a bit before bringing his stomach contents up in one go.
Warren was swept up along with all the water in the human's stomach. It all happened so fast that he felt like he teleported! After being surrounded by nothing but darkness for the past hour or so, he writhed uncomfortably against John's hand, now.
John groaned and swallowed, his throat stinging. But the merfolk was safe, just a sopping wet little bundle of tentacles in his hand, now. The rest of the water splashed on the floor beside the bucket… he could clean it up later. For now, he lowered Warren into the smaller container of saltwater first.
Warren twitched, his nerves all alight as he was dipped under water that was much cooler than the water that was as warm as a human's insides. God, he was cold. He curled up in a little ball on the bottom of the container that was in fact an old coleslaw tub.
John flicked the water and mucous off his hands, studying the merman in the container. He looked even smaller, all curled up like that. Impossibly smaller. And shivering, to boot. Sure, John had swallowed him whole and kept him trapped in his belly for over an hour. But he hoped that his warm hand dipped into the water and cupping around the little bundle would help.
Warren was furious with the human. He put him through so much stress, he felt like his hair was already falling out. Yet he couldn't resist pressing himself closer to that warm, submerged skin, wrapping his tentacles around the man's thick fingers. He shuddered.
John felt the shudder, the embrace around nearly all of his digits. He sat there, his hand in a recycled coleslaw bucket, cuddling a tiny merfolk that was taken from cup, to stomach, and finally to this. He was glad he released him when he did, looking back on it.
After another 15 minutes passed, John nudged the little guy curled around his fingers. It was time to transfer him to the warm, aerated bucket.
Warren just grumbled. He was comfortable, damn it. The human's big hand was hardly even warming him anymore, it was just nice to hug. It had been a long time since he had hugged like that. Yet, slowly, he released his grip on John's fingers and peered up at him from the shallow water.
"Thanks…" he said softly. Why was he even thanking the human? He swallowed him!
But… he did let him out. Eventually. Even if it was terrifying to get sucked up his gullet like that.
John just smiled down at him. He didn't expect any thanks from the scared little merfolk. His heart thumped as he held the small container a while longer, gazing down at Warren. He really was a pretty little merman, with long flowing hair and colorful, orange tentacles that curled and uncurled in a varied pattern, as if they were flexing fingers. John so wanted to touch him again, if he weren't so worried about getting him into a more oxygenated environment.
Warren couldn't help but stare back up at the massive man's face. He was smiling down at him in a way that would have been unnerving, if he wasn't already being treated so gently. Maybe, just maybe, Warren could believe that getting swallowed by him was the human's way of sneaking him out of the pet trade. Otherwise, he would have just left him to be digested… right?
John finally pulled his gaze away from Warren and dipped the little container in the bucket. He let some of the warmer water trickle in at the corner, slowly acclimating it. Then he dipped the whole thing in, and Warren was free to swim out.
And so he did. While the bucket wasn't the roomiest container, it sure beat being stuck in a display cup or… dare he say it. The human's belly. Even if that belly was much, much warmer.
While Warren swam around in the heated pail, John watched him a little while longer before pulling himself away to the kitchen. He pulled a plate of fresh fish from the fridge and got to work cleaning it in the sink.
Once Warren was more comfortable and feeling his energy start to come back, he peeked up at the top of the bucket, looking around for the big human. He spotted him across the house, messing with something out of view.
Once John started cooking the fillets in a pan, Warren finally remembered that he was hungry. Starving. The smell of cooking fish was so tantalizing, he almost wanted to climb out of the bucket and beg for some.
That turned out to be completely unnecessary, of course, as John plated up the fish and brought it back over to the pail to sit own beside it at a table. He eyed the merman in the bucket, who sheepishly eyed him back from the very edge, as he used a fork to cut up a small piece of fish.
John stabbed the fork through and reached it down towards the bucket, not putting it in the water, but just above. When Warren didn't take it, he shook it a few times, beckoning him.
Warren whined to himself, eyeing the food just above him. He had watched the human prepare it, so he was almost certain that it was safe to eat. He just… struggled to trust him, still. Why on earth was he being so nice to him?
His shyness didn't last, however, and Warren swam up to the piece of fish and grasped it. It slid off the fork easily and he took it under the water with him, taking bites out of it as if he had never eaten before in his life.
"Ohh, it's so good. It's so good." He hummed, using his tentacles to anchor himself to the side of the bucket while he ate a piece of fish that was nearly a quarter of his body length.
John hadn't even taken a bite of his own portion. He leaned on his hand, grinning as he watched Warren devour the little piece of cooked fish.
Once Warren had eaten it all, he looked up at the human watching him. He looked so… content. Just sitting there smiling at him. What did he want?
The human signed something at him just then. Warren recognized it as nonverbal speech, but… he had no idea what was being said. He just shook his head at the human.
John tapped his fingers on the table. He leaned away from the merfolk's sight and took a bite of his fish, then swallowed it before clearing his throat. "Name?" He asked, roughly, leaning back over to the bucket.
Warren pulled his head above water, clinging to the side of the container. He could breathe above water for a short period of time. "I'm Warren." He replied.
"John." The human said, nodding. He leaned away again to take more bites of his food.
Warren watched as John just sat down, eating quietly. He looked around the house for the first time, at least, what he could see from inside the tall pail. It was small, homely. The walls were an off-white color and lined with old fishing nets and dried sea stars. He trembled. The human, John, must have been a fisherman. Warren had mixed feelings about being in his house.
"Why did you save me?" Warren asked suddenly. "I mean, I guess you saved me. You did swallow me whole, but… hell, you didn't even pay the guy. You stole me."
John grumbled through a mouthful of food. He leaned back over and stared down at Warren with a sudden, intense look that made the little merfolk dip under the water briefly.
"It's cruel." John muttered. He gestured out the window. "Selling merfolk."
Warren watched John's big, muscular arms gesturing above him. "'Course it's cruel. But humans are bigger and stronger, and I got caught."
"I set em' free from my nets." John rumbled. "Supposed to. Some people just don't."
Warren squinted. He didn't believe that for one minute, humans adhering to some sort of code when it came to his folk. But, John did seem sincere. Perhaps he wasn't the type of human to capture a merfolk, but Warren had the misfortune of landing in the clutches of one who would.
"So you're saying that you'll set me free?" Warren asked. He noticed that John didn't maintain eye contact with him while he was speaking. "John?"
John just nodded. Then he shrugged as he stared out the window. "Or stay."
"Stay?" Warren scoffed. He looked around the man's place again. "Where?"
John shrugged again. "75 gallons, 90 gallons."
"You're talking about water?" Warren frowned. "You want to keep me in an aquarium like a pet."
John shook his head. "Not a pet." He looked down at Warren, finally. "Small roommate."
Warren's cheeks flushed. The way John was looking at him was… fond. Very fond. He had never considered being "roommates" with a human, before.
He let go of the side of the bucket and swam anxiously in circles for a bit. He wished he could see out of it, contained in a solid white plastic bucket with nothing but an aerator and a heater.
Warren sighed and came back up to the surface to talk to John. "Can I see the aquarium?"
John smiled and nodded. He pulled the wired heater and aerator out and picked up the 5 gallons of water like it was nothing.
Warren clung to the sides of the bucket as he was carried through the man's house. In a separate room not far away from the kitchen was John's aquarium room, lit up with lights under the lids of 5 filled tanks. His eyes widened, taking in the sights of beautifully maintained saltwater aquariums, all landscaped with rocks and corals and macroalgae. Colorful fish swam around, little reef fish that Warren recognized instantly.
"Oh, wow." He uttered, eyes glittering as they darted around. He didn't see any other merfolk in the tanks, just regular fish.
John looked proud of his setups. Each tank was meticulously put together by him, after all, to mimic natural marine environments. He was sure Warren would thrive in any one of them.
But Warren was unsure. Very unsure. John seemed like a nice human and all, but he couldn't forget that he swallowed him whole only a couple of hours ago. He squirmed against the side of the bucket, then turned to face John.
"They look very nice. But can you just put me back in the ocean? Please." He pleaded.
John's face fell a little bit. He set the bucket down and reached his hand in to scoop Warren up, only for the little merfolk to dart away from his hand.
Warren couldn't help but shy away from John's massive hand reaching for him. Even though he knew his skin to be warm and nice to snuggle up to… no! He wasn't going to let the huge man grab him and keep him in a glass box for the rest of his life.
John sighed and withdrew his hand, then picked up the bucket again. He walked it through the house and out the door, staring directly ahead as he hefted it over to the nearby pier.
The two didn't say anything along the way. Warren had to bite his tongue. He did feel bad for John, despite everything he had put him through. He seemed… lonely. But John did as he asked and carried him all the way to the shoreline.
John stepped across rocks until he reached the water's edge on the side of the pier. He tipped the bucket down and slowly lowered it into the water where Warren crept out slowly, a tiny splash of orange in the shallows of algae-covered rocks.
Warren swam out to freedom. A vast, cold ocean full of the unknown. He rose to the surface and slowly turned to look up at John, who was watching him with a pained expression.
"Be careful." John grumbled as his goodbye. He couldn't bear to think of all the predators lurking just beyond the pier that wouldn't hesitate to turn Warren into a meal.
"Thanks, I will." Warren said, then ducked under the waves and disappeared in the thick seaweed.
John stood on the rocks a little while longer, staring out into the harbor. His big hands gripped the edge of the empty bucket a little too hard. Then he exhaled and dropped his shoulders. Well, he did what he had set out to do, after all. The merfolk was free.
As John hopped along the rocks to leave, Warren peeked at him from behind the seaweed. The man's silhouette was distorted under the ocean's waves, but he could see well enough to know that he had gone back home.
And now, Warren had to do the same. He was released in a human's harbor, full of gigantic boats and hungry seabirds. Where was home, exactly? His lovely reef, where the water was crystal clear and the fish were small and colorful? Maybe he could ask John to take him somewhere more familiar…
No! John was a human! He needed to stay far, far away from humans, or else he'd end up in a little cup again… or worse. So Warren gathered himself up and swam through the seaweed and algae into the unknown.
Several days had passed, and each morning afterwards, John was seen sitting on the pier. Not too far out, just a little past the rocky shoreline. He often went out there to sit and watch the boats and birds, even feed the stripers that prowled the harbor for fish scraps. But he simply watched, looking out quietly before heading back to his home.
Then, one morning, a familiar voice called to him.
"John? Is that you…?" Warren peeped from below the pier.
John grinned and looked to his right. There, in the same spot he was set free, was Warren, looking particularly frazzled.
"Hey, I was thinking about your offer… and well, after much consideration… I've changed my mind." Warren said, averting his gaze from the human that looked down at him from the dock.
John tilted his head. He wondered what had happened to the little guy that made him come back. Nevertheless, he was very happy to see him. He got up and stepped down along the rocks until he could reach into the water to pick up the merfolk.
Warren squirmed as John's massive form approached him. He reminded himself to be brave, John was a friend! He even waited for Warren to come back… almost like he knew he would.
The merman didn't hesitate once John's fingers cupped around him. That same warmth as before, flooding through Warren's limbs. He clung to the man's huge hand, wrapping himself around those thick digits that lifted him out of the scary, big ocean.
John cupped Warren in both hands as he stepped back up the slope and started carrying him back to his home. He hummed happily, brushing his thumb along Warren's velvety tentacles.
Warren huddled closer to John's hand. Warm, so damn warm. His brown eyes glanced up at John's, who was fixated on him with a big grin.
"So… you expected me, huh? Even after all this time." Warren mumbled.
John shrugged. "Ocean's scary."
"I… yeah, it is. I lived in it my whole life." Warren slid himself along the man's palm slightly. "But, turns out I don't know how to get back home." He shuddered. "Too many close calls along the way, too."
John growled lowly and cupped his hands more tightly around Warren. He couldn't help feeling protective over the little guy.
Warren froze, then relaxed when he realized John wasn't going to crush him. He shrugged it off, forcing himself to focus. "S'alright. I still got all 10 of my limbs." He said wryly.
John glanced at Warren, mentally counting them himself. Most of Warren's tentacles were wrapped around his fingers, but he believed him.
The two entered John's house, and Warren was carried right back to the aquarium room. There, he saw the 5 saltwater tanks, and a 6th one that definitely wasn't there when he last looked.
"John…" Warren said in surprise as he looked up at the big man.
John's cheeks flushed as he looked away. Yes, he did go ahead and set up another tank specifically for an octopus merfolk. At least to the best of his knowledge. He had never kept an octopus before as they are solitary, hide all day, and escape everything. So, the tank was set up with live rock, fine sand substrate, and plenty of aeration.
"You tell me what to add." John grumbled as he held Warren at the surface of the water, just dipping his tentacles under.
Warren slid right off his hand and swam down, looking at all the rocks full of little hidey-holes. No other animals were in the tank, which made him feel so relieved. He couldn't bear the thought of escaping one more eel.
"It's already so nice! And there's so much space to swim." Warren said, turning to look at John through the glass.
John smirked and shook his head, pointing to his ears. He couldn't understand the merfolk's speech through glass and water.
Warren stared for a moment before realizing that. So he swam up to the surface and poked his head out of the completely open tank. "It's lovely, John! Thank you." He beamed.
That was all John needed to hear. He reached out and patted Warren's little head with the tip of his finger.
Warren didn't swim away. He clung to the side of the glass and let himself be petted by the huge man who hadn't stopped smiling.
