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Kiss of the Kraken

Written by Leo_Todrius

Supported by my Patrons

There was a saying among marine biologists that all the colors of nature were water soluble and that the coastline contained all the hues of heaven and earth. Sometimes they were subtle, sometimes they were fleeting, sometimes they were hard to reach, but they were all there. The azure sea churned and roiled, the coastline interspersed between creamy white sands and reddish brown rock. Verdant green sparkles where seaweed reached the surface, stretching and grasping for light. The last traces of the faint green and bronze hues of sunrise had faded into a serene blue sky.

The view was impressive, though it had changed over the years. Keen green eyes surveyed the coastline from behind the protective visor of a motorcycle helmet. The rider was fit, sporting slightly broader shoulders and wider hips than average. Muscled legs hugged the orange shell of the sport's bike while a denim jacket rippled in the breeze. The sunlight shone off the blue and yellow embroidered patch that covered the back of the jacket, a globe surrounded by golden leaves and protected by a trident. It was the symbol of the United Earth Oceans organization.

Noen brought his attention back to the access road as he felt a bit of give in the steering. Sand could mess with traction and the last thing he wanted to do was crash on the way to work. The electric motorcycle growled and hummed as it shifted gears down with a drop in speed. At the far end of the access road, connected only by a narrow jetty, was a small facility that stretched over the water. The roof was covered with a combination of solar panels and atmospheric monitoring equipment. The windows were a bluish-violet polarized glass, coating the building the entire way around just above a wide deck and protective railing.

The pitch of the bike dropped even lower as Noen reached the end of the jetty and pulled up an access ramp, bringing his bike to rest next to a much dustier, care worn older black bike. Noen reached up and pulled his helmet off, revealing a shock of rust colored ginger hair. It was shaved short on the sides, though a crest down the middle was just now pushing past being conspicuously long and had officially reached the length of a short mohawk. A large foot stepped down off the bike and Noen pulled his jacket off next, draping it over the bike.

His shoulders were just as big as his silhouette had suggested, only now they showed skin that was covered by such a rich tan and so many freckles that had grown together that he was practically the color of a redwood tree. His black tank top hugged firm pectorals and a washboard abdomen and his UEO identity chip hung on a metal chain around his neck. He would have been a perfect recruit for the navy had he shown any interest for it, but Noen was first and foremost a scientist - well, an aspiring scientist. He'd just worked his way up from being an intern to being a junior researcher. Half the reason his muscles were so big was that he'd done all of the grunt work.

One of the large violet window panels slid open silently, granting Noen entrance. The sounds of the ocean outside diminished when the panel slid shut behind him, though it didn't disappear entirely. The reason was that the facility had a moon pool, offering constant access to the ocean without having to leave the building. Noen moved over to the interior guard rail and peeked over the edge, looking down at the brilliant shimmering paradise down below. The water appeared green because of the filtered light, though there were countless colors of sea moss, rockweed, anemone and starfish.

"Did you get my caffeine?" A voice asked from up above. Noen winced a bit and nodded.

"Yeah, let me grab it." he muttered, heading back to his bike. The wall panel rumbled open again, allowing the salty sea air to waft back in. It was already getting hot. Noen tapped a panel on the bike and it whirred open, revealing a small canvas bag tucked into a cargo compartment. Noen grabbed the back and moved back inside, heading up the steps to the main level. The facility felt like a cross between an old aquarium office building and a research lab. Equipment was strewn about, allowing for the study of marine species and the water they inhabited. There were also systems for studying the impact of weather and longer term trends. Noen opened the bag and fished out black and gold metal can.

"Ahhh, Pina Col-Cafe, just what I needed." The deeper, sinuous voice cooed as mocha colored hands accepted the gift. Basilio Diaz, or Bass for short, was the senior researcher on the scene. His dense black hair was kept an inch thick on the top of his head, then shaved to a uniform stubble thickness down the sides and across his cheeks before billowing out into a puffy goatee on his chin just below his full, pouty lips. Silver earrings dangled from each ear, complimenting the small silver starfish tattoo he had on the right side of his neck. Bass popped the can open and tipped it back, letting the pineapple flavored drink spill over his unusually wide tongue. Noen let his eyes linger on his boss slightly longer than was necessary before he moved over to his workstation and swiped his finger over the biometric reader.

"Did the toxicology and subduction results come back?" Noen asked. Bass licked his full lips and grinned a grin that nearly stretched ear to ear.

"The zone is stable and in tolerable levels. I think we've been waiting long enough. It's time to go out there and look with our own eyes." he said, reaching out to clap Noen on his rather beefy shoulder. Noen was too excited by the prospect of getting out in the water to remember his crush on his boss, choosing instead to let out a whoop.

"I'll get everything ready... I mean, check that it's still ready. Fuel, provisions, watertight seals, rebreathers!" Noen said. Bass couldn't help but chuckle. Noen was a big dude with a deep voice but he was still a kid at heart.

"Yes, do that. I'll going to get Loaner into a parking orbit." Bass said, moving to sit down at his computer. Baggy khaki pants brushed up against bare sandalwood brown feet, the toes plump and calloused. Like Noen, he wore a black tank top shirt, though his bore the letters UEO in white ink on the left breast. Draining the last of his energy drink, Bass woke his computer up from its slumber. A master systems display popped up, showing complicated engineering and sensor data on the left side and a live video feed on the right. An icon in the upper left corner showed a manufactured sphere covered with tiny camera and sensor domes and metallic ribs, making it look like some sort of metal raspberry. It was a wireless probe, relaying sophisticated data to the facility.

As Bass drew the probe back, the camera swung across a newly discovered underwater cave system. They had been drawn in by the sonar noise when a rock wall collapsed. It had been a miracle that they had gotten Loaner there in time as the water inside the cave had a remarkably different chemical composition to the seawater outside. It would have only taken hours for it to equalize and so the samples they took would paint a picture as to just how long the cave had been cut off from the rest of the ocean.

While it wasn't unheard of for caves to be cut off from the larger water table and form their own miniature ecosystems, what had caught their attention was the fact that the cave itself held so much life. There were sea stars, scuttle fish, moss and crabs that were distinct from everything else in the area. It was a marine biologist's dream. It was a bit surprising the UEO hadn't sent more scientists yet, but Bass was going to enjoy it while he could. The senior researcher stood up and stretched, letting out a yawn. The caffeine wasn't hitting hard enough yet.

****

All pretense of morning had burned off as the temperatures climbed higher and higher, making Noen remarkably grateful for the cool spray of the ocean surf coming over the windshield of their boat. It had fallen to him to pilot the craft as Bass was busy studying the most recent readings from Loaner, his eyes peering out through stylish slimline sunglasses that looked practically poured across his face rather than slid on. After nearly an hour of boating, Noen slowed the boat to a stop. Water chuffed out of the exhaust a little before they were fully at the mercy of the rise and fall of the water.

"Position confirmed?" Bass asked.

"Aye, captain." Noen replied with a playful smirk. Bass rolled his eyes, though in the glare Noen couldn't quite see that through the sunglasses. Bass set his tablet down on the side of the deck and moved over, hitting a switch to deploy the anchor. The line whirred out of the boat as the weight sank down ten feet, twenty, then thirty. After a slight drift, a light snapped on green as the anchor got a good position.

Without exchanging words, the two got ready to take the plunge. While Noen really preferred diving without a wetsuit, especially when the water was this warm, it really was a safety precaution against cuts and stings. The two shucked all but their underwear before pulling on the bodysuits. Noen had to strain to get the black and orange material up over his thick muscles. Bass had an easier time with his black and red one. Feet popped into flippers, fingers slid into gloves and oxygen harnesses were slipped on, the tubes running into their facemasks.

Two vast cyclones of bubbles swirled around the marine biologists as they stepped off the boat and plunged into the water, sinking down several feet before reaching a natural buoyancy point. Noen kicked a little, pushing himself forward before he spiraled to look back at Basilio. His boss hung there, floating, enjoying himself for a moment before he leaned forward and began to undulate his body in a bit of a dolphin kick. As Bass shot past Noen, the ginger fell into line and paddled his way after his boss. There was a click and a muffled hiss in Noen's ear as his mask speakers came to life.

"While it will be impossible to tell for sure, we should look for evidence of how much the cave system connects with the exterior. As you know, the coral in this area already showed a much higher resistance to damage than in any other area." Bass commented as they started to angle down a bit deeper.

"But the water samples showed carbon and nitrogen levels centuries out of date with the surrounding ocean." Noen replied. Bass chuckled.

"Isn't life a mystery?" he grinned. Reaching up to tap the edge of his helmet, two points of lights snapped on like glowing horns on the mask. The cave was at the edge of a ridge that ran along the continental shelf. It wasn't too terribly deep, though it was next to a big drop off. It also looked rather dark inside.

Noen reached up, turning on his own lights as he followed after. He turned his head slightly, looking out at the spherical probe dutifully watching them from its vantage point, covered in dozens of cameras. It would have been only natural for them to send the probe into the cave if the entrance had been large enough, but even a few inches too small meant that they got pushed to the front line of the investigation. Bass reached out with one hand to touch the rim of the cave entrance, steadying himself as he kicked his feet and slipped inside.

The twin beams of light lancing out from his head swept across a veritable carpet of anemone and kelp, sea grasses and calcium carbonate particulate that had been kicked up by his turbulence. Bass turned his head one way and then the other, realizing just how big the cave was. It was about as long as his high school's football field, though the ceiling was almost uniformly twenty feet high for the length of it. Noen had remained just inside the mouth of the cave, eyes wide.

"You think maybe it was an air bubble in a magma flow? I've never seen a cave this smooth." Noen said. Bass nodded his head.

"Not a bad idea. We could take a rock sample on our way out." Bass commented. He swept along slowly, looking down at all the creatures scurrying about. While he recognized all of the various fish, including some that no doubt had come to explore the cave as they had, Bass was most drawn in by the crustaceans. There were translucent krill and shrimp that had no doubt evolved in the lack of light of the cave and some blue crabs. Bass shook his head in wonder at it all, knowing he'd be annoyed at himself later when he reviewed the footage from the camera nestled between the lights on his mask.

Noen had withdrawn a waterproof camera from the pouch of his suit and was taking pictures, documenting the plants and animals. Frills of brownish-orange hair fluttered around the straps of his mask as he swam. The fact that the two were so quiet hinted at the fact that they were in their own world. Bass was doubtless committing everything to memory, although before long they'd probably start dictating notes. Noen was about to ask something when a shock of a bright crimson color caught his attention.

"What is that?" he asked instead, paddling over. He brought his head up a little to try and get his lights on it as he swam forward, seeing that the red he had seen was not from one object but a vast number of them. Settled in what seemed to be a natural basin in the rock face were thousands of vibrant, poly, shiny, almost rubbery red spheres. They were all perfect, so perfect that they seemed to defy the human brain. They didn't look real, in fact they looked better than real. The only time Noen had seen anything like it was on a field trip to a fish hatchery when they split a fish open and a cascading torrent of eggs came spilling out, ready to be bait for some or a delicacy for others.

"Oh wow..." Bass murmured as he approached the basin from another direction, paddling a little slower. His rich brown eyes were contemplative, his cheeks rising a bit as he looked at the eggs. "I don't get it. These little guys would have been a delicacy for any predators. They're just sitting here..."

"Maybe there weren't any predators in here before?" Noen asked. Bass glanced back at his blue crab friends that seemed to be trying to follow him and see what he was up to.

"Or maybe there's some other defense mechanism at play." Bass replied. Noen reached out toward the basin of eggs, mesmerized by their impossible texture. They were distracting enough that he hadn't seen the two rich amber eyes open on the rock face, black rectangular pupils glaring at him. Two protruding cones of rock suddenly began to compress, sending out jets of water. A shimmering ripple of color rushed along the rock face of the cave as ridges and veins revealed themselves to be made of flesh rather than stone. Bass turned back in time to see the large, bulbous head coming off the rock wall.

"NOEN!" He exclaimed, reaching out for his partner. Before he could grab Noen, a thick and meaty tentacle coiled around his wrist. Basilio's heart jumped into his chest. He tried to swim back, to kick away, to break free.

"Fuck!" Noen exclaimed when the movement finally caught his attention. He flipped over and pulled his legs in tight, trying to reorient towards the cave. As he brought his legs out to kick, however, he felt something writhe and slither around his right ankle and his left wrist.

"The good news is that I don't think it's big enough to eat us..." Bass grunted.

"What's the bad news?" Noen asked, grunting as the tentacles tightened, compressing around his joints.

"It's probably big enough to crush us." Bass replied. Noen's mind ran through every possible item he'd brought with them. He had scrapers, he had some sample test tubes... Those were more of a nuisance than a weapon... And he had his camera, a camera with a flash... in a cave that hadn't seen light in an incredibly long time. Using his remaining hand, Noen pulled out his camera, aimed it at the octopus' head and took a picture.

The flash engulfed the octopus, causing its large amber eyes to pulsate as its pupils constricted as much as possible. Noen and Bass both grunted in relief as the picture had its intended effect and the tentacles relaxed around them, though their victory was short lived as suddenly a thick cloud of gooey black ink erupted all around them, obscuring their vision. It slicked across Noen's hair.

"This isn't good!" Noen protested.

"Not for either of us, if that thing can't get clear of its own ink it might suffocate itself." Bass grunted.

"I don't want any of us to suffocate, but I think right now we have to figure out which way is out?" Noen asked. Bass thought for a moment before he reached up, pressing a key on the side of his mask.

"Loaner, proceed to marker point alpha." Bass commanded. For a moment there was nothing but a dark void. Both young men felt the turbulence from each other paddling to keep as high up as they were. They both felt something shift and move to one side, probably the octopus, but then there was a very familiar thrumming and a mild current. The vibration, the sound that was felt more than heard - it was Loaner hovering at the edge of the cave. Both of the researchers swam towards it, hoping the octopus would not take on another unknown threat. The two crossed the cave easily, though they bottlenecked as they reached the mouth of the cave.

"Go!" Bass ordered. Noen wanted to argue, but at the same time doing so would be dangerous for them both. He scrunched up, reached out and grabbed the rib of the probe.

"Got it!" he said.

"Loaner, return to holding position!" Bass commanded. The probe whirred as it began to pull back, dragging Noen with it. As the junior researcher was whisked away, Noen grabbed onto Noen's leg and was pulled through the opening in the cave. He had nearly cleared it entirely when he felt an unwelcome pressure brush his leg. Bass jerked his body away as if he'd touched a live wire, narrowly missing the purplish-red tentacle that had stretched out after the lost quarry. Noen and Bass both looked back as they were dragged away, watching a tentacle easily as long as either of them were tall as it slunk back inside the cave and one amber eye peered out into the bright ocean beyond.

****

The funny thing about a near death experience was how fast it turned into a story eagerly told once the danger had passed, and for two tired marine biologists, it had been exceptionally fast. Noen's normally rust colored hair was still tinged darker than usual with black streaks of octopus ink and there were smears of it on Bass's neck and shoulders. They'd shed their wetsuits, docked Loaner and uploaded all of their findings. Every screen was full of pictures and video, mostly of the octopus but also the countless other findings.

"It isn't a match to any known species..." Bass murmured, using a fork to spiral up some noodles and ravenously eat them, dribbling a little sauce into his bushy goatee.

"It is pretty close to a Giant Pacific Octopus, but it has a lot of mimicry traits that are unique. Did you see the way it used papillae to simulate rock texture?" Noen asked, using chopsticks to pop some tempura tofu into his mouth.

"If it is a new species, we get to name it..." Bass said. Noen's ginger eyebrows shot up.

"Really?" he asked in surprise. Bass grinned and nodded. Noen leaned back, popping a few more nuggets into his mouth as he thought about it. "Maybe we really did release the Kraken, huh?" he asked. Bass smirked.

"If that's what you want to go with, it isn't bad. We're going to need samples, maybe even one of those eggs. I'll requisition an HR probe tomorrow, that should fit through the opening. It might even be able to sneak past the Kraken. Tonight though, rest. It was a big day. You want to crash here tonight?" he asked. Noen considered before shaking his head.

"I thought about it, but I don't have a chance of clothes or anything and my bed's a lot better at my apartment." Noen said. Bass laughed.

"If you want to sleep in tomorrow, I won't blame you. Tomorrow's going to be mostly data work anyway." he said, standing up. Noen rose to his feet as well.

"Have a good night, Bass, and thanks for everything." Noen said, dropping the take out box into the recycler. Bass watched his young apprentice go, marveling silently to himself at how good the ink smears looked in his hair and across his shoulders. In another life he might have been a grease monkey mechanic, an image that sent pangs of pleasure through the researcher's nether regions. The sound of the ocean rose and fell as the wall panel slid open to allow Noen exit, although as it started to slide back, something came over Bass.

"Hold door." He commanded. The door halted. Bass moved over to his computer and entered a series of commands. A series of pop-hisses came as every wall panel around the periphery of the building began sliding open like the shoji of a traditional Japanese home.

The unfiltered roar of the ocean came crashing into the facility. The waves were but tiny silver crescents catching moonlight beneath a deep navy blue sky. The stars were mesmerizingly bright. Bass walked out onto the deck, his open long tailed vest billowing in the breeze, his bare mocha toned chest exposed to the salty air. The facility lights dimmed automatically without an occupant. He crossed his arms and leaned on the guard rail, looking up at the stars. They twinkled through the atmosphere, though one particularly bright one was moving across at a remarkable, if steady pace.

"Opportunité..." Bass murmured to himself. It was the name of the North Sea Confederation's space station. It wasn't quite a shooting star, but it was enough to make a wish on. Well, maybe more a fantasy than a wish. He could never act on it, of course, but Noen was handsome and strong, curious, interested, and Bass was pretty sure he was gay too, at least as far as he could tell... But he couldn't do anything with Noen being his subordinate. He'd have to be careful on how he helped him advance so it wouldn't be unfair or manipulative, but maybe once they were equals he could see if he could climb that sexy ginger like he was a tree.

Bass murmured, closing his eyes, feeling his heart thumping, his nipples tingle, his cock swell. He exhaled slowly, letting his breath pass over his plump, pouty lips. His hand traced to his bare chest, tracing across a nipple before he began to pinch and squeeze and tug on it. He groaned, eyes squeezing shut as the pleasure felt particularly intense. He brought his other hand up, pinching and tugging on his other nipple, working them sequentially and then in tandem.

In the dim starlight, backlit only by the monitors and workstations of the facility, a faint fluttering of color began to ripple across the skin of Basilio's neck and shoulders. The skin shifted from brown to burgundy and then purple before fading back. Bass pulled harder and harder on his nipples, wishing he was pinning Noen's mouth there, getting them sucked and squeezed and chewed on before pushing that redhead down, grabbing him by his mohawk, using him as a fuck sleeve on his achingly hard cock.

"Fuck!" Bass grunted, tearing at his shorts, bringing out his dick. He curled his fingers around his shaft, jerking off with sudden desperation. He moaned and murmured, feeling amazing but also longing for more. He wanted to be held, squeezed, even crushed... His blood felt like it was boiling. Reluctantly, Bass stumbled back inside. When the lights started to snap back on, he hissed, swatting his hand in the air. "Cancel illumination!" he demanded, moving down the steps to the recessed moon pool.

The scientist reclined himself down by the water, panting, sprawling out. He arched one leg over the edge and dropped it into the water, exhaling with relief at the drop in temperature it brought him. The sea breeze swept into the facility, rippling down across his body. One of Bass's hands returned to his left nipple, the other his cock. He began to pleasure himself again, imagining all the ways he and Noen could fuck... Imagining what he'd be like when he was even older, stronger, bigger...

Soft clicks and pops sounded from Basilio's throat as he grunted and murmured while jacking off, enough sound to mask the faint slick ripple as a dark red tentacle began to slip up out of the moon pool, followed by another. The feelings that Bass had for Noen had been there all along, but suppressed and restrained. Now he felt like it was boiling over, like he had to fuck, to mate, to reproduce... but how could he do that with Noen? They were both guys, and- the slimy, cool, sensual embrace of a tentacle slipping around his ankle was amazing. He groaned, his back arching. It all had to be in his mind. He was in the base after all... but inch after inch, it coiled around. Suckers began to slurp and suck onto his flesh befoe releasing.

"What the fuck?" Bass asked, sitting up, looking at the long wine colored flesh on his leg. He tried to scramble off the step, to climb upwards but more tentacles erupted from the water. They latched around his other leg, one arm, then the other. Bass landed hard, the wind knocked out of him. He coughed and spluttered, heart racing in fear. Was this how he was going to go out? It was ridiculous, killed in his own lab by a species of octopus that he'd discovered. He wriggled and moved, trying to break free... at least, until he felt one of those suckers adhere to his pectoral, his chest, then his nipple.

The sound that escaped was very different as one of his many fantasies came to life. He grunted, feeling the sensitive nub tugged and squeezed and molested. There were already dark circles appearing on his legs where the tentacles had grabbed on, squeezing so hard at first that it hurt, but more relaxed now that he wasn't fighting it. The water of the pool sloshed as the octopus' large head emerged, its honey colored goat-like eyes looking up at the human. Yet another tentacle curled around the back of his shoulder, slipping around his neck, then up across the line of stubble on his cheek. The tentacle hesitated at that texture, finding it incredibly alien, but eventually it continued.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Bass knew that octopuses were incredibly intelligent, creative and curious. When he felt the tentacle start to probe at his mouth, he knew that a much smaller creature would want to try and hide in any hole it could find. He debated the option of biting the tentacle as a way to provoke a response that might lead to his release. The rubbery, pliable, cool tentacle slipped between his puffy lips, sliding across his tongue. He'd never eaten calamari before, and now he felt the suckers working on his tongue. It was the strangest, weirdest massage he'd ever had.

Fear, anxiety, terror, and an odd amount of lust nearly boiled over. Bass steeled himself for what he was about to do and bit down. His teeth gnashed the tentacle, but he didn't break the skin. The pressure was applied, the tentacle stretched out, and then suddenly Bass's mouth was full of something slick and gooey and incredibly coppery. The sharp metal flavor inflamed his nostrils and it coarse down his throat. It wasn't just a little, it was a lot... And then, Bass saw it. There was a gentle pulse running along the tentacle, delivering something up along the length of itself like some sort of conduit pipe. The flavorful liquid was so plentiful that Bass's cheeks bulged like a chipmunk until there was nowhere else for it to go. As his lips parted, blue slime coursed out down his chin, coating his goatee in a soppy, syrupy slime.

Even with his mouth open and the slime drizzling itself across his chest, the majority of it flowed down his throat. Bass wanted to be afraid, but all he felt was... good. Very, very good... His eyes glazed over slowly as the brown of his eyes began to warm up, taking on orange hues, then gold. His pupils began to ache, his irises constricting and contracting until the round window the soul became a rectangular porthole to the sea. Bass began to gulp and drink more greedily, eagerly, unable to pull away. His cock spasmed and pulsed, throbbing back to life as it began to slink and stretch, lengthening across his leg. One of the curious tentacles slipped out to nudge it, testing, exploring. When it elicited a positive response in Bass, the tentacle coiled around it.

Bass writhed and let out a muffled moan. His cock was embraced in a cocoon of undulating tentacles. He was squeezed and stroked, pet and fondled. It worked base to tip, tip to base and everywhere at once. The pressure was so intense it was almost painful, but Bass wouldn't have pulled back. His body writhed and moved despite the fact that all four limbs were encased. His nipples darkened from brown to purple and then almost black. The pigment along his neck and shoulders fizzled from mocha to silver to violet. Even the skin along his waist seemed to shift and darken as well, taking on more menacing hues.

It was, all of it, a lot. Bass obediently drank the Kraken's slime even as his cock reached its peak, starting to dribble out his own salty brine. Another tentacle emerged from the water, moving up to the one that manhandled Basilio. The squirming appendages parted enough that the Kraken was able to collect Basilio's semen. The sample was drawn back into the moon pool and to some unseen point under the water. After a moment, the kraken shivered in delight, its own eyes dilating wider. The flow of noxious syrup into Basilio's stomach intensified. His throat engorged, his flat stomach began to stretch and distend, breaching outwards.

Ensnared in every sense of the word, Bass didn't resist or fight any of it. His cock felt as if it was being stretched like taffy, elongated and squeezed, rock hard and yet pliable at the same time. He winced every so often from shooting pain in his legs, but his bones had started to feel like jelly - a fact that made the incredible pressure all the more pleasurable. Suckers kissed and sucked and blossomed across his skin, leaving the sensation of starbursts of light and tingles. Those tentacles, too, had started to secrete the coppery blue slime. His legs were soaked in it, the skin velvety soft. The slime oozed out across his waistline and gushed out from beneath the tentacles. Bass was covered with the stuff, but he was being pumped full of it too.

The catalyst raced through his veins, corrupting every cell it met. The telltale mocha hue his skin had always held began to grow paler, cooler, shifting to a very distinct, very fine shade of lavender purple. It brought out the richness of his black hair and beard, the silver starfish tattoo on his neck almost invisible on his lavender skin. Darker purple freckles began to appear across his back and cheeks. The skin from his elbows to his fingertips shifted into a darker and darker purple like some kind of sunset. Diamonds were made harder and harder by pressure, but it didn't feel like it was having the same effect on Bass's legs. He murmured around the tentacle in his cock, they let out a muffled yelp as he was suddenly dragged three feet down the length of the bench.

It was as if the kraken was testing his weight before giving one last tug. The sound of air bubbles rushing up through the water around Bass filled his ears as he sank down. The kraken still had not loosened its grip, manhandling and strangling his legs. The pressure worked from his waist to... to where exactly? He couldn't feel his toes or his feet, but he could feel the tentacles. He groaned, letting out another flurry of bubbles until he suddenly realized how long he'd gone without air. The kraken had been filling his belly for what seemed like an eternity, and now he was underwater! Panic cut through the serenity as he struggled and wriggled and clenched and... ejected ink? A sudden cloud of black had erupted from down below, making it feel as if he had depressed some sort of bladder he didn't know he had.

In the panic and fear, a stinging sensation fluttered along the sides of Bass's ribs until the irritated flesh seemed to serrate, split and then open. Gills fluttered and took in the water, converting it to oxygen, allowing his copper laced blood to carry it around his cells. A great sense of relief passed over Bass, far beyond anything he'd ever felt before. His goat-like eyes blinked, his limbs relaxed, and then he felt a flutter as the tissue of his legs seemed to fray, to tear, to split, and to separate. There was a relief of pressure at once as the Kraken pulled its tentacles back, revealing eight new dark purple appendages dangling from Basilio's waist. Each tentacle was pale white on the underside and a richer lavender-purple on the outer. The skin was mostly smooth, though there were dimples and depressions where suckers were starting to form.

Bass blinked slowly, the rush of pheromones and hormones dropping below a critical point. His mind cleared, somewhat at least. He looked out at the Kraken, realizing only then how easily he could see everything. He inclined his head and looked up through the surface of the moon pool. Even with the main lights off, the glow of the computers were bright like the sun. He looked back at the octopus that stared at him in a strange sort of curiosity. Bass tested his tentacles and looked down, realizing there was one last extension... a turquoise tentacle-like structure where his penis had once been. He looked down at all eleven inches of it, and it seemed to bend and flex in greeting to him. Bass flushed a little. He didn't regret what had happened, but at the same time, he'd never been more uncertain about his future in his life...

Would Noen finish his research, or would the UEO send some desk jockey to mop up? If anyone found out what happened to him, what would happen to the Kraken? Had this species always been able to metamorphose humans? Is that where stories of mermaids and sirens and everything came from? Or was it a newer problem rooted in the dark age of genetics? Basilio's tentacles snapped together by instinct, propelling him up at first, then forward. He snapped them a few more times, darting off along the ocean floor. He had to think, to clear his head, to get some fresh air... or water... but the further he swam from the facility, the more his heart ached. It ached for Noen, for the fantasies and dreams he harbored, for the only one that would truly understand...

****

"Shit, shit, shit..." Noen muttered under his breath, his hands urging the motorcycle on as he sped down the jetty towards the research facility. In hindsight it was insane that Bass had granted him the chance to sleep in. Oceanography was always a battle against the setting sun if you were working in shallow waters and he'd already burned the morning. Despite the bruise to his work ethic, though, Noen was still grateful. The ginger had found it incredibly difficult to fall asleep. He'd jacked off at least five times until he finally took a shower and passed out. Now, though, he was anxious about making up for lost time.

As he neared the facility, however, Noen grew concerned. He could see all the way through the building to the ocean on the other side. All of the wall panels were retracted. Some of the research papers were fluttering around on the deck. The motorcycle hummed its way down as Noen came to a stop, jumping off of his motorcycle and tearing off his helmet. He ran into the building and looked around. Their take out containers were still out from the previous night. The computers were all still on, using their screensavers.

"Bass? Bass!" Noen called out. There was no response. His chest rose and fell with heavy breath. Had something happened to Bass? Had he been kidnapped by some rival confederation? He turned to start looking through everything when he paused, realizing that Loaner's display showed it was back out in the field again. Noen moved over, pulling the ident chip from the chain on his neck. He swiped it across a reader and the screen snapped to life. A window popped up, playing an audio file that had been waiting.

"I hope you got rested up. I got an early start digesting our findings from the cave. This changes everything. I'm sorry I couldn't wait. Join me as soon as you can, I'll be waiting for you." Basilio's voice said. The file ended and the window disappeared, relieving just the work console for Loaner.

"Close panels, air scrubbers to maximum." Noen said as he crossed the lab. The wall panels whooshed shut and the HVAC started pulling the excess salt and humidity out of the air so the lab would be a bit more sterile. Noen grabbed the keys to the boat, heading for the dock. He was surprised Bass hadn't waited for him, especially on what was supposed to be a paper work day, but he wasn't going to let his mentor down.

****

Early afternoon light shone across the silver gossamer sea, the research boat just one more sparkle among many. The sun had warmed Noen's exposed shoulders, feeling good on his muscles and bones despite the mild concern that caused his proud brow to knit together. One was never supposed to dive alone, that's how people got killed. It was especially concerning after their close call the previous day... But their discoveries were huge. The fact that Bass had let him sleep in at all was a miracle. Perhaps the discovery had merely gotten the better of him. Noen glanced down, spotting Loaner on the sensors, parked obediently in its waiting position. To his surprise, there was also an indicator of Basilio's location just a few yards away.

"What, did you swim all the way out here, or ride Loaner?" Noen murmured to himself as he decelerated and dropped the anchor. So much of this was already off protocol that he didn't feel like bothering with a wetsuit. Noen dropped his shorts to reveal thin swim trunks beneath. He opened a cabinet on the boat and pulled out flippers that he slipped his large feet into. He slipped the air tank over his shoulders, secured his mask while being mindful of his mohawk, and sat down on the edge of the boat. Bracing himself, Noen tipped forward and dropped into the water.

It was a remarkably beautiful day... Turquoise waters, colorful flora and fauna, even the sand was particularly jewel toned thanks to the filtered light. A few clownfish swam past, but Noen was drawing his green eyes on the opening of the cave. Surely Bass hadn't gone in there by himself... He was about to swim forward when something brushed his shoulder. Noen turned his head, expecting to see a hand. What he saw instead was the top of a purple and white tentacle. Noen cursed into his mic and spun around, though even the most fearsome sea monster couldn't have compared to what he saw. Noen had a hard time breathing, gasping as much as his lungs could take. His heart seized, his muscles clenched and his brain felt like it was squeezing itself into oblivion.

Floating there, mere inches away, was Basilio... except not... His mocha brown skin was now lavender purple. His tight black hair and bushy goatee remained, but his ears had pointed, frilled tips. The light violet hue tapered to a much darker purple as it approached his waist where a nest of eight long, thick, powerful tentacles writhed and shifted. In addition, a long, pointed, tapered turquoise tentacle extended from the median where his human half became octopus, clearly a reproductive organ.

"Bass..." Noen murmured in shock, looking his friend up and down in shock. Basilio reached out, tracing his hand fondly across Noen's cheek, inching closer and closer. His left hand slipped around Noen's back, pulling him closed until they were touching. Noen's heart fluttered. He had so many questions, but how could he ask them? Bass had no microphone, no ear buds. Noen was feeling dizzy with shock, though he jumped as he felt something squirming its way into his shorts. He looked down to see the turquoise dick slinking in, sliding down and then... and then it started coiling around his own. Noen's back arched, his thick muscles going rigid as his cock was engulfed, massaged, and squeezed by his mentor's.

Bass grinned brightly. Noen hadn't pulled away, and he could taste the younger man's pheromones in the water... Manly, virile, in his peak and prime. It tasted amazing. Bass's longer tentacles slipped down, plucking one of Noen's flippers from his feet, then the other. The undulating appendages began to massage his ankles, his soles, his feet, even his toes. Another drifted up to caress Noen's hip, sliding up into his tanktop. Suckers began to latch onto his freckled skin, sucking and slurping, tugging and stretching, inching their way along until one plopped right over one of his pert, fat nipples.

Noen groaned suddenly, his head lolling back as both his cock and his nipple were pseudo-sucked. The pressure was intense, well more than a mouth could create. In fact, it reminded Noen of the times he'd played around with vacuum pumps... and his nipple, seemingly, remembered as well. It bloated and swelled, enlarging and pushing outward. The more it grew, the easier Bass could play with it. Delighted by the progress, another two tentacles slipped up into Noen's shirt. There was no sound, exactly, but the tank top tore under the pressure, splitting from hip to pit, and then the tiny strap around his shoulder. The black cloth was tugged away, tossed and discarded into the depths.

The rectangular pupils in Basilio's eyes dilated, drinking in how handsome Noen was.... But he still had on those pesky swim trunks. It was amazing how useful tentacles were when he could just will them to tug the shorts down, pulling them off Noen's huge, muscular bubble butt and his swollen, abnormally large balls. Noen wore only his air mask and tank now, the harness hanging on his bare shoulders. Basilio considered for a long moment, looking at his crush, his prey, his partner.

Without letting go of Noen's nipples, and only briefly unfurling his prehensile cock just long enough to replace it with another tentacle tip, Bass started to swing around behind Noen. Holding him steady by his shoulders and his ankles, it was shockingly easy to bring Noen into position. Bass felt as if they were weightless. It took just the slightest shift of his tentacles to keep them in place, floating half way between the cave and the surface. Three of his tentacles were still occupied with Noen's nipples and cock, making the human squirm and wriggle in all the right ways.... But Bass wanted so much more.

The turquoise colored cock yearned and stretched for that delicious bubble butt as Bass slipped closer. It curved up between the cleft of Noen's ass before the tip found the sensitive pucker and began to push in. Even with the comparatively cool seawater, Noen's skin was radiating warmth. Bas began to push inside, feeling the ability to control the diameter of his cock. He eased it down just a little to make his intrusion easier before expanding it inside of Noen again. Once he'd made it inside, he began to push and pull Noen's body, letting the cock slink in and out... but it was so much more than that. Who needed just the X axis when he had Y and Z? His cock throbbed, spiraled, pulsed, grazing along Noen's interior. It stretched deeper, bloated wider, filling him.

Even with the regulator at full, Noen's face mask was fogging up from the humidity of his panting and moaning. His arms dangled uselessly at his side as his mentor fucked him. He was a plaything, like bait on a fishhook. He embraced it, letting Bass fill him. Nothing about this made sense, but in a way... maybe it all did? Had this been their destiny? Had they been drawn to the sea for a reason? It was only then that he started to think about all those times bass stared at him, gazing longer than anyone else would. He'd always assumed he was just big on eye contact, but was it a prelude? Had Bass always liked him? Whatever the answers were, it was clear Bass liked him now.

Both males were clearly enjoying themselves with their cocks being worked and Noen's nipples sucked until they were tender and swollen... Bass moved like a beast, fucking Noen deep and hard. The rest of his tentacles began to coil around Noen's legs, wrapping and ensnaring them. The suckers kissed and tugged on the flesh, kneading and massaging it like a fine bread dough. It was brilliant, it was heaven, but Bass felt a yearning for more. He felt an instinct, a biological imperative. He thought back to how big his stomach had bloated when the kraken had given him its royal jelly. Now it was time for him to do the same...

Bass leaned in, kissing and then sucking on Noen's neck with his mouth. He drew the skin up, sucking until capillaries began to burst beneath the surface. A dark red bruise began to welt from the hickey. The tentacles that had covered Noen's plump pecs began to coil around his chest and shoulders, squeezing him closer. The tightness made Noen wriggle and resist, but he could hardly fight back. He was drawn in closer and closer until Basilio's purple skin was against his and that tentacle cock was as deep as it could go inside of him. Bass stopped pulling back, remaining lodged as deep as he was. The cock swelled and shrank a few times, wriggling a little until it began to spasm. Bass's eyes went wide, his gills flaring on his back, his tentacles tightening even further as he began to cum. A hot jet of milky semen erupted inside of Noen's belly, flowing with the pressure and ease of an ink jet. He produced more and more and more, all with no signs of abating.

Noen's breathing went from rapid panting to shallow gasps. He felt his intestines in a way he never had before, but he felt something else. It was a cool tingling, like menthol, spreading out from his abdomen. It was almost as if he'd eaten too much ice cream and froze his stomach. The constellations of freckles across Noen's shoulders began to shift away from the brownish red of a good sun tan, taking on a richer rusty--orange color. As the pigment took root, the cells down his back began to ripple and fluctuate, turning almost translucent before resolving to orange. The citrine tones radiated outward like a sun on the horizon, wrapping around his ribs before spilling across his ass cheeks.

Basilio buzzed with triumph. There was something so right about this, and yet, something was missing - no, not missing, something was in the way! Bass reached up, grabbing a hold of Noen's breathing mask. Realizing what he was doing, Noen frantically took a gulp of air before the mask was plucked off his head and the tank was tossed away. Noen's green eyes were wide, his cheeks puffing out. Bass leaned around him, able to flex his spine far more than he had as a human. He slunk up, brought his lips to Noen's, and pushed his tongue inside.

Bubbles escaped Noen's lips, combining panic with passion. Despite the fact that he truly believed he might drown, he returned the kiss gently. Bass used his own passion to try and ignite it in his partner, kissing him and fucking him and massaging his cock all at the same time. Crackling zigzags of orange spread out from Noen's lips, crossing his cheeks and chin. As the colors spread, the spaces in between filled in. Soon the ginger's face was as orange as his hair was, the mohawk swaying like kelp in the current.

Somewhere in the knot of tentacles, Bass felt Noen's orgasm. His human load was small and the cum began to float upward, far less water soluble than his own. The ejection into Noen's body was getting thicker, though, as Bass's semen was replaced with his own kraken jelly. The transformation was accelerating as Noen's ears stretched to points and new cartilage formed frilled along the back edge. The green eyes that opened to look at him were turning gold as his pupils constricted into black rectangles.

Bass wondered if their Kraken benefactor had felt this good when it had turned him... He hadn't known how his legs were being transformed when they changed, but he could feel what his tentacles were doing to Noen. They had formed a cocoon of sorts, allowing the new copper blood to carry the catalyst through his cells. The calcium of his bones were being reabsorbed into his bloodstream as cells rapidly multiplied and divided. Tissue shifted, becoming denser and more powerful. While the outer edge of his legs was bright orange, the interior lacked pigment, remaining as white as snow. What had been his legs became longer and longer tubes of calamari meat until, at last, the bonds between the new tentacles dissolved away and Noen's lower body blossomed into a sea of appendages.

Noen tried to gasp, but with his mouth full of tongue and water, the breath came from an unexpected source. Several fine slits snapped open on his flanks, the orange skin revealing pinkish-white fill meat beneath. The fine variegated flesh filtered the sea water, passing oxygen through Noen's bluish blood. Bass nearly shuddered with excitement, reluctantly withdrawing his long cock from the orange flesh just above where Noen's body divided into his tentacles. As he floated back, his suckers let go of Noen's assaulted chest and the final tentacle uncoiled itself from a dark royal blue tentacle cock extending out from Noen's groin.

"Wow..." Noen mouthed, realizing only then that his lungs had closed off and the sound had been more of a vibration from his throat. Bass grinned, admiring Noen. His skin was a fine apricot orange, his mohawk still its darker rusty brownish-red. Still, the way he blushed made his cheeks turn from red to pink to gold and back again. There was little doubt he'd be the master of mimicry in no time. Bass swam over again, kissing Noen's cheek and then looking into his eyes as if to ask if Noen regretted his transformation. Noen intuited the meaning, shaking his head before he leaned in and kissed his Kraken boyfriend back. They had made an amazing discovery, but more than that, they had become the marine biology that they had spent their lives researching. This was only the beginning.