Shhh

Oh Ilisine, you really don’t know what you’ve unleashed by calling the already conceited ulitharid a demi-god. At first, he blushed and wiggled his fins and tentacles around wildly, when he calmed he projected appreciation towards Ilisine. “If I’m a demi-god in power then you’re a full on goddess of beauty and contentment.” And then, after that, he went on a full spree of compliments. “Because when I’m around you I feel content, and sometimes I just want to keep staring at you all the while too! Ah, Ilisine, Ilisine, Ilisine, you’re so wonderful and fun to be around.”

Ruix moves closer to her in the water, bringing her over for a hug while making a happy squeak like, water warbled, noise. He lets go after a good minute.

The house looks like a pretty basic living space, with two small window like rectangles at the main room, there is another door in the far right that certainly leads to a sort of bedroom. There are two algae couches in the room and a table made of some published rock material.

Thob nods at her words, then sort of just stares a bit awkwardly, though they shake off that awkwardness to speak to Ilisine after they see Ruix pull away from the hug. ’Curious about the people here? Why? You two are the interesting ones, outsiders.’

    Ilisine struggles slightly as Ruix comes over and wraps her in a hug, she’s blushing madly at such compliments. “Haha well you are an ulitharid and everyone knows what sort of power that comes with! Plus you’ve already shown off some of it too.” She pats his back, or side, whatever she can reach with a small satisfied exhalation of bubbles. Unused to so much praise it almost seemed surreal. “I like being around you too!”

   Ahh he’s one of my favs too, the idea of an illithid artificer is fun. He can be chill and uncley but he’s still a mind flayer with at times weird goals.   He currently runs a shop where he takes commissions to build traps, armor, etc for pay. Doesn’t like going out on adventure except when he feels he needs new ideas and his current environment’s gone stale.

Of course there is (:

Ruix thinks about what she tells him, while paying attention to the exchange between Ilisine and the merperson. “I like that idea, we could end up making them revere us, be like their gods. I hadn’t thought about that … I could get a cult of followers!” Ruix seems excited at the idea, of course, everyone paying attention to him is something he would enjoys.

The merperson is completely oblivious to the talk the two Illithids are having between them. Instead said merperson opens the door to their house further more and swims back a bit, allowing them to enter to the house. ’From the stars? Like, outside? Like gods?’ The merperson’s thoughts quiet down as they think about how to answer the questions. 'I am Thob, of the Luos. Is your consort not hungry neither aggressive now? I wouldn’t like to be attacked at my own home.’ Then the merperson moves inside the house to rest on top of a sort of algae made couch, it seems like these merpeople can control if they want to be lighter in water or heavier.

Ruix frowns slightly at what Thob asks, then projects apology to the merperson, who seems put off by the telepathic projection for a moment.

   “Yeah now you’re getting it!” Ilisine keeps replying to Ruix privately, it’d honestly benefit both the merpeople and the ulitharid’s huge ego. “Your own personal cult. After all you are like a demi-god in power already!”

Ruix whines slightly telepathically, then projects appreciation towards Ilisine plus contentment at the petting along his tentacles, which he keeps loosely wrapped around one of her arms.

“Well, this one seems curious enough to forgo whatever warnings about ‘the ones with tendrils’ that their oldest citizens would have told them about. I won’t scare none anymore, they’re kinda shiny, very colorful.”

The one that peeked at them through the half open door moves, opening the door wide now as they look at both odd tentacle faced creatures over, not having seen one(Ruix specifically) this close before. The merperson’s mind is receptive to the projections and sort of allows her to see what they think, mostly curious thoughts and questions, 'Who are you two?’, 'what are you two?’, 'where are you from?’, 'why aren’t you attacking us?’, 'why the bigger one of you two used to attack us without reason?’, 'are you two a pairing?’, and so on.

    “Wont stop Qir from eating them likely, but think of it like this. They could serve if you wanted to? Typically with races like this you offer them a few things to get their interest if you want servants without thralling them.” All of this is of course said to Ruix directly so that the merfolk don’t hear it.

  Swimming in the one place, short tentacles curling as Ilisine looked the merperson over. And ah, they had caught on very quickly to the method of communication. Maybe they did something similar with basic psionics or sign language or something.

  She’d answer the questions simply, ‘I am Ilisine, this is Ruix.’, ‘We are illithid,  from the stars’. Pointing upwards towards the surface and mentally suggesting a place beyond that. In the dark twinkling abyss.   ‘I am curious, I do not want to hurt you.’ Ilisine pauses unsure of how to put the previous attacks diplomatically. ‘He was hungry and aggressive.’   A little telepathic chuckle, ‘....yes we are!’

Ruix didn’t really answer to the question, of course he hasn’t stop terrorizing the locals after eating one. He projected apology and guilt now, if only he had known that Ilisine would be like this before he wouldn’t have done many things he has.

“I’m sorry, I may have spooked them too much when I came over alone. It’s not my fault I’m cruel.” The ulitharid pouts, swimming to stand behind Ilisine inside the cave entrance. His longer tentacles keep reaching to hold at one of the smaller illithid’s arms.

To the surprise of both illithids, the door opens slightly and a colorful merperson peeks out, they look like the usual merfolk who have the long fish tail and upper part of body humanoid like, with the difference that all of this one’s skin seem to be covered in scales and they don’t have no hair, instead four small fins on their head. The creature’s mind is still rather simple, compared to that of the illithids, but they’re clearly afraid and curious about both of them.

   Ilisine seems to shake off the guilt, patting back at Ruix telepathically. Who was she to judge what he had been up to anyway?

  “Ruix we are all cruel in our own ways. Do not worry about what I think” Ilisine allows his tentacles to wrap with her arm and gently reaches out to touch them with her other hand. Petting along the slimy tendrils in a fond manner.

Again dear Anonymous writer you have me confused for a biologist.

And admittedly I have little idea at the use of such a horrifying prospect. It’d require both the life of an illithid and that of a viable tadpole. Will they die or become some sort of abomination?

....Please do not give others more inclined towards cruel experiments such ideas. Yours truly shaken,

Yeah. He kinda is, isn’t he. He’s got some thoughts rolling around in there though!

Ruix was easily distracted by her words, as he makes a smoke motion and projects so to her. Both approaching to the structures on the walks of the underwater rock wall. “Ah yes, those are their houses, maybe a scout saw my nautiloid, they’re easy to scare but I can lure them out.”

The ulitharid sort of drifts behind her, swimming rather calmly as they were close to the merfolk’s home entrances.

If Ilisine peeks in she’d be able to catch sight of a merperson of colorful scales that was peeking out too by a sort of door made by an odd wood that the water didn’t damage, said merperson closes the door in a hurry once they see the tentacly face. Ruix and the brainstealer must have the locals quite terrorized.

“They used to leave sacrifices, for some reasons they don’t anymore. Maybe they forgot about that custom.” Ruix commented, with sacrifices, he meant that the merfolk would leave one of their kind tied outside as an offering, a snack for Ruix or the brainstealer, really.

    “Shh. Don’t spook them too much yet. I want to see.” For all that talk of scaring locals Ilisine wasn’t mean enough to do so right away. Especially seeing that they had the start of a little civilization going. That made her feel a bit guilty for agreeing to mess with them so quickly with Ruix! 

    She was also curious about them and her eyes widened seeing the colorful scaled individual. And the door itself too caught her attention. As whatever resisted water damage was typically nice to have for illithids.

The ulitharid tilts his head to the other side slightly, then looks down at her again. “Just overthinking? Well then, stop with that, were having fun now and everything is going alright … Are you having fun? Is today being a nice day?” Seems like Ruix is now overthinking himself.

Ruix is glad to have her close even now, as he swims slower, only using his legs, while still holding her. It was rather nice to have her this close, so the ulitharid didn’t mind the slower descending trip into slightly deeper ocean waters.

Down there were a series of caverns that looked like slightly excavated house entrances. Judging by the rudimentary architecture and the presences from inside those, the locals were still in some sort of prehistoric era, probably discovering the use of metals.

Ruix projected contentment, hands coming down too to rest on her shoulders as he hunched over some to reach for her. “You seem slightly worried, what’s it about? There’s nothing to be worried about here. Not with me.” He may be oblivious to many things, such as some of her flirts, but not to negative emotions. Being too familiar with those, Ruix knows when someone else who is telepathic too is worried.

Projecting comfort and reassurance, he slowly unwraps his longer tentacle from her middle to kneel down and pick her up, all very slowly and gently. He made a small almost squeak like noise at her words and wink, slightly shy about that now. “And later we have to go to get the suits, right?”

The ulitharid would really like to not forget about that again.

Ruix, holding her up and in an hug, teleports both outside to the sea directly this time. Still holding her, he rubs his forehead against hers, three tentacles moving to entwine with hers while the rest wiggled around them, he seemed rather cheerful.

   And he’s caught her worry immediately, dang ulitharids and sensing minds so easily. “I’m just overthinking, Ruix. Not actually worried.” She assures patting at one of his hands.    Being picked up so slowly is more pleasant then just being tossed up and Ilisine relaxes finding herself enjoying this attention. “Yeah, exactly.”

Ruix chuckles at her comment, watching her from his bed. “Then you must be the rarest item of my collection, one of a kind, so gorgeous and invaluable that no other can be compared to you.”

The ulitharid wasn’t flirting, he meant that honestly, he truly thought she was unique. “No, don’t mend it. I prefer it like that.”

He gets up to walk to stand next to her, a longer tentacle coming down to wrap around her middle loosely. “So, would you like to terrorize the locals now … Or other thing?”

  “Ahhh Ruix you are so..as the humans say ‘cheesy’. Such compliments, unbased in reality and too grand. Do go on though!” Ilisine could feel that Ruix was honest with his words even if he was overdoing it. She did not feel herself that rare or gorgeous- but damn did it fan her ego some to hear it. Ilisine just hoped love was not blinding him and that once they settled into a routine together that he would not find her actually boring.