When Exusiai knocked on the door belonging to operator Deepcolor, she well and truly didn't know what to expect, because she'd spoken to Deepcolor a grand total of zero times before this very moment.
In fact, Exusiai did no research whatsoever into the kind of person who Deepcolor was. Sure, she knew that the woman was an Aegir - one of those elusive undersea types - and she knew that Deepcolor was an artist, who just so happened to harbor a very special ability…
It's the prospect of this ability that spurs Exusiai to knock in the first place, and when Deepcolor opens the door to see the grinning redhead, she smiles lightly.
"Oh, hello." Operator Deepcolor had a voice that was light, and friendly. "Can I help you?'' Aegir adjusted her glasses, wondering what Exusiai could have possibly wanted to visit for.
"Hey there! Nice to meetcha. I'm Exusiai." The angel gestured to herself. "Sorry to interrupt anything going on, I just… you're the Aegir artist, right? With the Arts brush?"
"That's right." Deepcolor looked Exusiai up and down, as if scrutinizing the Sankta standing before her. "Were you hoping to get a commission? I have a few social media pages, you know. You can put in a request through—"
"Oh, um, well…!" Exusiai chuckled nervously, pushing her pointer fingers together. "Well I was hoping I could get to commission you in person. I heard you have… helpers. I was really curious about them, you know? Like, could you tell me more about them?"
Exusiai could see Deepcolor roll her eyes behind the frames of her glasses. "Oh… that's what this is about,'' Aegir lamented, "you're one of those people, huh? Heh heh heh… you're pretty bold for approaching me like this. Usually you types just send me lewd DMs or…" She waved the thought away dismissively. "Anyway… you just want some tentacle action, don't you?"
"Well… y-yeah!" Exusiai perked up, visibly excited. "Do you offer those kinds of services? You know… for curious girls like myself?"
"Not really," Deepcolor admitted, "I mean… I find that stuff kind of gross."
Exusiai blinked. "H-huh?"
"What?"
"What do you mean?"
"...What do you mean?" Deepcolor did a double take. "What - you think just because I can control a small army of interplanar tentacles, that automatically makes me some kind of tentacle-loving FREAK?"
Exusiai opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"Sorry. I shouldn't say 'freak'. No sense in kinkshaming…" Deepcolor cleared her throat. "I don't jive well with it, that's all."
"Ah, gotcha…" Exusiai suddenly felt meek. "Um… well, this is awkward."
"I mean, it is what it is." Deepcolor shrugged. "People like to assume things about me. It's like, oh , there's the Aegir who can summon tentacles whenever she wants… She's clearly a kinky bitch! You know? I'm not kinky," Deepcolor lamented, "I just want to draw, for God's sake."
"I getcha." Exusiai put her hands into her pockets.
"Like, people who presume things are the worst, aren't they? Like you've got your Sankta wings and halo… wouldn't it be WRONG to assume you like to roleplay as a nun?"
Oh, that sounds hot. "Yeah it would suck."
"Exactly! Exactly. " Deepcolor nodded, adjusting her glasses. "Such a pain…"
"Well, I'm sorry if I dredged up any bad feelings or anything!" Exusiai smiled sheepishly.
"No no, you're good, you're good. I don't mind talking or anything, I'm just…" Deepcolor shrugged. "I like intimacy, and tentacles aren't… intimate. They're greedy and grabby and they don't talk, or take me out to dinner."
"Gotcha…" Exusiai hummed thoughtfully. She suddenly imagined a big, thick tentacle, wearing a suit and bow tie. "Well, if you don't mind my asking… what do you use your tentacles for?"
"For stuff like… getting the remote," Deepcolor said, "or fetching paint brushes from across the room. Or… changing light bulbs, or opening bottles of wine, and important things like that."
"That makes sense."
"But sex? No no no no no…" Deepcolor clicked her tongue, and shook her head, as if the mere notion of using tentacles for sex was simply unhinged. "Sorry, that's just not my cup of tea."
"Well, now I feel bad!" Exusiai put her hands on her hips.
"Don't feel bad. People just like what they like." Deepcolor shrugged again. "It doesn't make you any less of a person, or anything."
"Why do I get the feeling you're still silently judging me?"
Deepcolor smiled. "Well, you came all this way just to have this conversation…"
Exusiai pouted. "Well, what do you like, anyway?"
"I like cheese sandwiches, I like lofi hip-hop—"
"I mean during sex!"
"Oh." Deepcolor was in deepthought. "I don't know, I guess... as long as my partner is someone nice, someone I can be intimate with, someone passionate who treats me right… who takes me out on dates and feeds me cute snacks… and who lets me lay on their thighs to relax, then I'd be willing to have sex with them, I think."
"So you're the lovey-dovey type, then, huh…"
"Yeah, I guess so." Deepcolor smiled. "I'm kinda sappy like that."
"Does this mean… we're not going to have sex?" Exusiai chanced.
"What? No. No, we're not going to have sex," Deepcolor told her, laughing lightly. "I mean, we just met, right? Maybe if you took me on a few dates, but… you can't just jump into these sorts of things! This isn't a doujin , you know?"
Somehow, Exusiai didn't imagine that she'd be rejected like this. She felt foolish for even trying. "I'll be honest, I'm feeling kind of silly right now… I assumed so much about you before we even met! I'm sorry," she repeated.
"It's all good," Deepcolor assured. "You seem really nice. Maybe we could be friends! And then… well, who knows?" She gave a friendly grin, and Exusiai smiled back, feeling her sheepishness melt away.
Deepcolor caught herself blushing, and she cleared her throat. "Anyway… I'll be getting back to work now; I have a few things I need to paint, and…"
"Oh, no pro—"
"We can—do you wanna talk later?"
"I can talk later!" Exusiai assured.
"Do you want a—no, a business card is too casual, but um… social?"
"I can find you and shoot you a DM, if that's OK?"
"Shoot away!" Deepcolor made a finger gun and fake shot at Exusiai. "Ptchoo."
Exusiai was shot through the heart. "Guh!"
Deepcolor giggled. "Right, well… bye! Talk to you soon, cute Sankta girl."
"Later…!" Exusiai watched as Deepcolor closed the door, and went about her day. She stood there for a few moments, before turning with a sigh to walk all the way back.
"And that's when I think the crush happened," Exusiai explained, her hands behind her head as she lay on the couch. "Something about her smile, you know? I don't know what's going on with me… maybe I'm into girls with glasses? Or maybe I'm into artist types… what do you think, Texas?"
Texas blinked, nonplussed, and she waved her phone. "Exusiai, I really didn't ask about any of that. I just want to know what toppings you want on your pizza. And if you say pineapple, I'm tearing your head off."
"Pineapple," said Exusiai.
Texas turned and left the room.
"Aw."