So, for those wondering, you can read up to chapter 12 on my ao3 (sakurai_ai)
I will have it all posted up here by today, as well as its continuation.
Eight.
The purplish tentacles that acted as Castiel Novak's legs wrapped around one another under the jeans he wore. He kept them hidden, always hidden. But there were eight of them. Eight tentacles that had basically ruined his life. He was a freak, a hybrid, some mistaken lab experiment that had escaped and was going to terrorise the world.
Well, okay, maybe not. Everyone had a trait, something that was almost animal like, stronger hearing, able to run faster, leap higher.
But Castiel, he had eight tentacles for feet.
He was a freak to his own kind. He hadn't met anyone else who was like him, there only marine based people were those who had gills and were able to breathe under water. His older brother, Gabriel, had beautiful gills, and could turn his legs into a golden tail at will...
No one had fins! Or tentacles!
But Castiel still had to live a normal, everyday life. This was where his life was going to hell.
The evening sun was setting in the horizon, fusing the skies with its beautiful arrays of reds and oranges. The large university building was completely empty, the students having left long ago. Why was he still here? Why was he doing this?
He stood on the roof of the main building, the faint sound of school club members and late leavers still in school for that evening came from the distance, but he paid no heed to them. It was only him he saw.
Dean Winchester.
His heart pounded when Dean took a small step forward and approached Castiel, his blonde hair styled as if he'd run his fingers haphazardly through them moments before, two tufts of wolf ears pressed low into his head. His intense, green eyes were glimmering with nervousness and his bushy tail swished back and forth behind his legs.
Oh…god. Dean Winchester was beautiful.
Castiel had been utterly besotted in Dean when he had seen him in front of the main gates on their university induction, infatuated in his innocent smile, his alluring candy green eyes, his swishing blonde tail and his deep voice. But after spending two years sitting behind him in class, Castiel had fallen deeply in love with him, fallen in love with watching his wolf ears swivel this way and that, the smooth nape of his pale neck, his wide, sloping shoulders, his muscular arms and long fingers that Castiel wanted desperately to feel on his skin. He had only witnessed the tremendous pools of Dean's eyes when he'd pass worksheets to him and give Castiel one of his breath taking smiles.
That was usually the highlight of Castiel's day.
Oh…he could spend hours just watching the wolf.
He desperately wanted Dean to just turn slightly in his chair and see that Castiel was sitting there, quivering tentacles and all. Of course Dean had said hello to him every morning. He was such a gentleman after all. But that's where the familiarity lay. Nothing more, nothing less.
Who would want a man with freakish tentacles?
Dean was the only man he had watched, desperately wanting him to glance back, to notice. To notice him outside of his freakishness. The only man he had even considered the word 'mate' with. Octopuses mated for life, and Castiel knew he was well and truly fucked.
Dean was dressed in faded jeans today, a simple t-shirt that stretched over his chest and a plaid shirt over it, but to Castiel, he looked like a handsome prince of some long ago fairy tale. He held his arms out to Castiel, a small white envelope clutched tightly in his grasp.
No. Not again. Please, not him as well!
This had to be a dream.
Damn it. He hated having a gorgeous tenant live in the apartment below him. But rent was very expensive for him to live alone. So his teacher had offered the cat-shifter classmate, Cassie to stay in the room below him. It was the only viable solution after all. Octopuses and cats didn't mix well. Feline shifter's hated water, and marine-based shifter's didn't like being eaten by them.
So many men had come to him, and handed him similar envelopes with their undying affection towards Cassie Robinson.
A few times, Castiel had actually thought they were for him, that people actually liked him.
Who was he kidding? No one noticed him sitting in the back of the class room. He wouldn't dare speak in class, every time he did, they would turn, see his poorly hidden tentacles and laugh. They only ever noticed him because of Cassie.
"Could you give this to Cassie?"
Every time, every single time, Castiel would walk to the roof, park, meadow, wherever, hoping that one man, just one man, would want to give him a love letter.
"This is for Cassie, please give it to her,"
Cassie Robinson, the pretty one. Everyone loved the pretty and bright Cassie, with her slim figure, her cat like grace, her furry ears peeking out from her dark hair, her beauty. No one noticed the bulbous, tentacles mess that was Castiel. He would sit in the back of class, staring out of the window so he couldn't witness the many men that flocked around the pretty dark skinned brunette.
So he knew that this man, holding that envelope out to him, was going to say those heart breaking words.
Why was fate so cruel?
"Let me guess," He murmured, cutting to the chase, not wanting Dean to speak. If Dean did, Castiel knew he would melt under that deep, mesmerising voice, or get completely lost in those beautiful eyes. "You want me to give this to Cassie?"
Castiel sucked in a deep breath and darted his gaze down, not wanting to look Dean in the face. Would he be able to take it? Knowing that this man, the one man he had fallen so desperately in love with, would be pining over Cassie? Realistically, he knew this was bound to happen. The most popular man and woman in the school were destined to end up together. It was fairy tale. The rest could not compete with such a thing. It was only a matter of time.
But he still loathed the idea that he was going to give Dean's love letter to another woman.
He narrowed his gaze, angry at himself for having fallen in love with a man who was just like the others. They were all after the pretty face, the easy shifters, the models. Cat-shifters were adorable, and fierce and beautiful. Every single one of them.
Castiel was tired of it all.
"You think you're so cool," He muttered slowly, his tentacles squirming under his jeans, they always did when he was emotional. His gaze still didn't meet Dean's. He couldn't bear to see the chuckle Dean was probably trying to hide at his deformity. He was a gentleman after all. He'd hold it in and then laugh when Castiel was gone. "But I guess since you're so popular, the girls' won't like it."
He took hold of the letter and let out a low sigh. His grip desperately wanted to tighten against the soft paper, crumple it up, rip it apart and hope that Dean's feelings would do the same.
His gaze dropped at the name in Dean's script.
For Cas.
His heart stopped.
"I can't give this to Cassie," His eyes narrowed at the missive again and he strained at his words. "You missed a few letters, Winchester,"
Dean smirked. "Idiot, it's for you."
