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| - Then again terrifying images floated through the mind of young Blue Tentacles. He could almost feel how he and the other boy would have been swimming and swimming with tentacles gradually wasting away as they starved. Centaurians can swim very well and for a very long time. It would have been a terrible lingering death. But there was also the other boy’s mother stroking him gently, caressing and it was completely normal. It was the way his own mother had been before he did that terrible thing and went to prison and he felt there was something good about himself. His tentacles kept shifting in colour, they were pale, nearly white when he thought of the danger, then he became a comfortable blue when he felt protected, then he became pale again when he remembered the danger. Old Brown Tentacles looked on jealously. The other boy’s mother stiffened when she saw him leering sexually, first at young Blue Tentacles, then at her own son, “What have you two been doing?” she demanded to know, “We’re engaged to be married, he’s promised to be father and mother to my children.” Blue Tentacles said fairly convincingly. Blue was beginning to find the other boy, Yellow Tentacles more attractive and wasn’t sure he wanted to stay engaged to the old fellow. Mother tensed her tentacles like a spring, her son tensed with his mother, for just a moment it looked as if both were going to strangle the old paedophile. Then mother turned her eye stalks towards Blue, “You poor boy” she said. “You’re my hero, “Young Yellow Tentacles added, “I’ll never forget how brave you were.” He started stroking Blue Tentacles in a way that was less motherly and more sexual so bit by bit the fear and tension in both boys relaxed as they got involoved in the experience. The mother of Yellow Tentacles started looking very maternal and told her son, “He’s brave, he’s strong for his age, he could be the right partner for you.” Yellow Tentacles did his stroking even more ardently after that, of course Patrician youngsters were carefully guarded and didn’t know how to make sex pleasant as the low class boy knew. Patrician Blue Tentacles responded enthusiastically to the new experience, he stopped caring what other Patricians would have thought. The Brown Tentacles on the tramp shook with jealousy. He wished he could have something to let him forget his troubles and his eye stalks kept darting towards father’s unfinished pile of intoxicants. Mother wanted to strangle him again. Then she had a better idea. She reached out with a long tentacle so she could drag the pile of intoxicants away from her husband and towards Brown Tentacles. “I’m in luck,” the tramp thought, “Here’s some intoxicants for me. I won’t take too many, just a bit. If I feel better perhaps I’ll win both boys.” “In the name of Our Lord the Sun, why are you running away with that old fellow?” Mother asked. “My father wanted to marry me to somebody horrible with dirty green slithery tentacles.” Blue Tentacles replied and started crying. “Is that the truth?” “As the Sun is my witness it is.” Blue mumbled between sobs. The Tramp flashed agreement and by now he was so drunk mother knew he wasn’t capable of lying. Her tentacles became grey with revulsion, then silver with compassion. “What’s your name?” mother asked “Blue Tentacles.” Well Blue Tentacles you have a home with us. We haven’t got much but what we’ve got we’ll share with you. It looks like you saved our son’s life. We owe you everything.” Blue didn’t even remember to say thank you, Silver Grey Tentacles, the other boy’s mother continued, “You’re absolutely alone? You’ve just got this silly old tramp as a friend?” “I’ve got a friend called Purple, he helped me tremendously to escape but he’s just a slave really.” Blue noticed that the motherly Centaurian didn’t like it when he talked about a slave like that so he changed tack, “Purple’s helping look after the engines on this ship. The captain says if Purple does well he’ll pay for our passage as well as Purple’s. He’s a brilliant engineer and I’m sure he’ll do it.” How did all that end? Before too long Yellow Tentacles and his mother were helping their semi-conscious father move to another part of the deck, well away from the tramp who by then was totally drunk and didn’t notice. Blue Tentacles had already decided he liked his new friends much better and went with them, even at his young age Blue started to see the chance of a better life where he would be respected and valued. Others pointed compassionate eye stalks towards the four Centaurians as it was obvious to them that the family had often helped their drunken father that way. Blue Tentacles who’d spent most of his young life with Patricians didn’t notice anything. Life could certainly become better for young Blue Tentacles but he would also need strength to cope with any number of troubles.
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