Prompting Part XXX

[sherlockbbc_fic]

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FILL: Typical Tentacle Tactics 1b/1

[anonymous]

Then, he saw it. The towel covering what seemed to be an aquarium. He got closer, holding his breath. This had to be what his parents didn't want him to see. They weren't the kind of people to get pets, and if they had got one, they wouldn't have kept them away from their child. He lifted a corner of the towel. It was indeed an aquarium, and although there was some water in it, it was far from being full. He could see the hint of a shape inside, something that had to be alive, but the room was so dark he couldn't make out what it was. He got away from the aquarium to turn on the light, and then pulled the towel away to reveal what was inside.

Hamish's first thought when he saw "it" was that it was a jellyfish, but something was wrong. Jellyfish were transparent, and the creature in the aquarium was an opaque, very soft shade of pink bordering on peach. It had an almost circular-shaped body and its skin was glistening. It looked wet, and Hamish really wanted to touch it. However, that wasn't how his parents had raised him; he had to really observe first.

The thing was definitely alive; its body was moving on its own, almost as if it were breathing, but Hamish couldn't see any orifice from which it could have sucked in air. Still, gentle ripples shook the creature's body, and the longer Hamish looked at it, the more it moved. Its movements were slow, but not sluggish. Hamish was so busy looking at the creature's body that it took longer than it should have for him to notice that the body was resting on what looked like a nest of tentacles.

Hamish crouched until he could press his face against the glass, and then he could really see them. He couldn't count how many there were, but the creature definitely had tentacles. That was undoubtedly one of the coolest thing he had ever seen, and he felt a stab of disappointment at the thought that his parents had decided not to share this with him. He rapped the aquarium with one index finger, quick little taps that the creature didn't seem to hear if its complete lack of reaction was anything to judge by.

Hamish got up again, and he realised that his palms were sweating, so he wiped them off against his jeans. He had to admit there was a hint of nervousness among the excitement and curiosity he was feeling, and just thinking about what he was about to do made his heart beat slightly faster. Nothing he had observed about the creature pointed to it being dangerous, but maybe it did have a mouth, and perhaps it was filled with razor-sharp teeth. Perhaps it was resting in water because, like the electric eel, it could generate electric discharges and would attempt to electrocute him the moment he stuck his hand inside the aquarium. Still, that wasn't about to stop him from doing it, and he gingerly extended his hand until he could prod the creature with a careful finger.

The creature's body felt nothing like what he had imagined. While it looked wet and slightly slimy, it was actually pretty smooth. Its lack of hair made it different from touching human skin, in fact, nothing felt human about it. He racked his brain, searched his memory, but couldn't find anything to compare the texture to. He added another finger and gently stroked the creature's body. It definitely wasn't wet, but it wasn't entirely dry either. Perhaps that's why it was partially immersed in water; maybe it was absorbing moisture with its pores. Hamish's fingers slid lower, getting slowly closer to the creature's tentacles, until the creature stilled. It hadn't been moving a lot, so it didn't make a big difference, but Hamish felt it nonetheless and his hand stopped. Holding his breath, he watched.

Then, as quickly as it had stopped, the creature was moving again. However, that time, the tentacles were moving, too. One of them, long and slim, slid out from under the creature's body, and it snaked up until it could wrap its extremity around one of Hamish's fingers. Hamish let out a silent gasp and his mouth widened as he watched, amazed. The tentacle had the same texture as the body, and while the top of it was the same colour, the underside was slightly darker. When Hamish slowly withdrew his hand, the tentacle followed and he brought it closer to him so he could observe it more carefully.