Modern Monsters

Lusca the Cetus

Female Reader (has skin condition) x Male Monster

You tug your sleeve down further on your arm, noticing a few people on the bus looking at you. They avert their eyes quickly and you huff, tucking up your hood as you turn your music on. You're on your way to the pharmacy to pick up your medication. Not that it's helping at all, well, it keeps it from spreading but it's doing nothing for the scales that already exist.

You've been dealing with this since you were born. The scaly skin you were born with was itchy and dry, irritated, often raw. You kept yourself covered both because you hated how people stared and because of how sensitive it was.

Usually, when you have to go to the pharmacy you make a day of it. Right next door is one of your favorite places in the world, the aquarium. You enjoy visiting the rehabilitation tank, where they have the injured and healing animals kept before they're released into the wild. You also enjoy taking your time wandering through all the tanks and displays. There's even a new sensory tank where people can touch and feel different fish and feed them too.

You make your way through the aquarium, taking your time to admire the schools of fish in the ceiling high tanks. As you're feeling relaxed you hear a loud shout and some screaming from the back.

"Get him!" Someone shouts.

"He's scared!" A woman snaps. "Don't let him hurt himself!"

You turn, seeing some movement behind the doors leading to the staff area. Suddenly the doors burst open and something comes flying out. You're too stunned to move and it collides with you, wrapping sticky, slimy tentacles around you and screeching loudly.

"Oh shit!" A woman scoffs.

"It's ok young lady, don't move!"

The creature wrapped around you burbles and grunts. It squishes close to you and rubs against your cheek.

The woman approaches you. "It's ok, he's just scared," she coaxes. "Are you alright?"

"Uhh...I guess?" You reply. You can't quite see what's got ahold of you, you just know it's slick and slippery, cool and soft. It isn't an unpleasant experience just sort of odd.

The two scientists lead you to the back room where they try to dislodge the creature from you. Turns out, the creature is a rare Cetus who washed up on shore a few days ago. He was injured and had several tentacles missing, possibly eaten or removed to escape from being eaten. His breed is usually deep sea and never seen on land. He was going to be placed in the rehabilitation tank until he was healed.

Once the Cetus was removed from you, you could actually see him. He was pure white with iridescent stripes running down the center of his face and chest and limbs. His face was flat, his eyes thin slits, but the scientist said this was because he wasn't used to bright lights. His mouth had two hinges, one for normal talking and the like. The second unhinged his entire jaw, revealing rows of cascading sharp teeth, this was his eating mouth the scientists called it.. He had two sets of regular arms, the hands were extremely long, almost look like flippers. His lower half was a mass of tentacles. His whole body was covered in this silky, slippery sort of film. It felt nice to the touch and in fact, soothed your scales.

The Cetus stayed close to you, sniffing you and touching you. He obviously had no idea for personal boundaries. He pressed his face to your cheek, making burbling noise in his throat and cheeks.

"He hasn't acted this calm since he was revived," the female scientist says. She has a soft smile on her face as she watches the Cetus interact with you. "Do you think we could hire you to help us care for him?"

You gasp and glance at the Cetus. His eyes squint a little more and he lifts his hands, smooshing your cheeks. You blush and chuckle, placing your hand on his thin wrist. "I mean if you think I'll be of any help."