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Klein chose the same town where he first met Herman solely on the strength of intuition. The octopus disappeared from the house without a word, only leaving the shell, which Klein carefully kept in the casket.
The bathroom and living room had to be cleaned and ventilated before leaving, the smell of the sea creature was so strong.
Klein continued to read about octopuses in his spare time. Herman was definitely an artificially created hybrid... It wasn't that he had a fully human mind, but he wasn't just an animal either.
"If we had the time, I could even teach him to speak, read, and write."
Klein set up his things in the rented house and went for a walk along the beach.
In fact, he learned even more than he had planned. The sea is vast, and it goes much deeper than the human eye can see. In the sea, everyone eats each other. It's just the way things are.
Deep-sea creatures look scary. There are also those who mimic. There are those with spikes. These are defense mechanisms.
Land dwellers and sea dwellers have only one thing in common - they all want to live. Very much.
Including humans.
In fact, it's just a matter of instincts for protection and self-preservation. Klein had been thinking for a long time that humans are more similar to animals than they seem.
At night, Klein caught a faint, familiar scent. The sea, the fish, and the added smell of seaweed. Herman had switched from eating crayfish, crabs, and shellfish to eating sea vegetables, or something like that.
Klein turned around in bed and got up, fumbled for the light switch and turned it on. Herman was comfortably settled on the other side of the bed, with some of his tentacles hanging down to the floor.
The window, which hadn't even creaked, was open. Just like the last time, he had climbed through the window, but instead of going to the bathroom, he had climbed directly into Klein's bed.
Klein looked at Herman, who was hissing melodiously as he pulled the blanket towards him.
- Oh my God... - He sighed softly. - No, not like that, my love.
Herman curled up his tentacles, leaving sandy streaks and wet spots from the sea water.
Klein definitely thought he deserved a monument in his lifetime for what he had managed to accomplish. It wasn't a problem to take Herman to the bathroom. The problem was washing him clean with shampoo and soap.
Herman hissed, sneezed, snorted, and made constant attempts to crawl out of the bathroom.
- No, Herman, the smell of fish and the sea is not a good thing. - Klein rinsed the shampoo out of Herman's hair and added some hot water. - Just sit still, okay?
The long tentacles also had to be washed. They were mostly clean, only every touch to the suction cups clearly caused discomfort to Herman. He clenched the washed tentacles, pulling out little by little those that had not yet been washed.
Once again, having filled up with clean water, Klein removed shampoos, gel and soap just in case.
- Stay here for now, I'll change the bed linen and give you clothes. You can't lie naked next to me!
After getting dressed and changing the bedclothes, Herman, smelling of fragrant gels, climbed into bed and tugged at the sleeves of the red T-shirt that Klein had put him in. The clothes are loose enough to not restrict movement, and pleasant to the touch. Herman liked it.
Realizing that he couldn't sleep anymore, Klein decided to put the time to good use and brought a notebook, a beginner's language textbook, and a pen.
- Herman, look here. Yes, yes, that's it, lie down as you feel more comfortable. - Klein sat down next to him. - Look here.
Herman lay on his stomach, staring at the first page of the alphabet with his black eyes.
- Look. This is your name. Herman.
Klein tapped his pen on the paper and carefully wrote Herman's name letter by letter.
Herman nodded slowly, indicating that he understood.
- Now write my name. It's Klein.
Herman looked at the alphabet, picked up a pen, and wrote Klein's name a little crookedly under his own.
- Good. Now try to say my name.
For several minutes, Herman read Klein's name.
- Kl... Klei.... - he said, his voice a little hoarse. - Klen. Klein.
Klein smiled and stroked one of Herman's tentacles.
- Good. We'll learn to talk and write a little at a time. What do you have there?
He hadn't noticed it at first, but there was a wet, colorful bag lying in the corner of the bedroom, clearly stolen.
Herman pulled the bag towards him and threw it onto Klein's lap. Klein raised his eyebrows in surprise and opened the bag.
Inside the bag were numerous shells, seaweed, and other items. After digging a little longer, Klein found gold coins that had turned green from seawater, and a pile of jewelry that had been lost by other people - gold, silver, with and without stones.
Klein was excited, but also panicked.
- Thank you, Herman, for your gift... It seems that you have been preparing for our meeting.
"My God, what am I supposed to do with these gold coins and jewelry? What if I am accused of theft?!"
Of course, Klein understood that Herman didn't care about the laws and regulations of the landlubbers, but Klein had no choice but to follow them! He had brought the gift without any ulterior motives, and he wasn't even thinking about the problems in the human world.
The landlord, of course, will not come without warning. Herman can be hidden, for example, in a closet or in a pantry. Octopuses fit perfectly in narrow spaces, so Herman must fit there just have to!
And jewelry and coins can be hidden in their bags. It is better to get rid of the stolen bag. Klein decided to buy another bag for shells.
Klein looked at Herman and sighed, noticing that he does not attract attention while he is busy with something interesting.
- You don't have anything to worry about, do you, Herman?... - Klein smiled and stroked Herman's tentacle.
The tentacle wrapped around Klein's arm, gently pressing its warm suckers against his skin and clothes.
Herman, ignoring Klein's hard mental work, flipped through the textbook and looked at the vivid pictures with examples of dialogues between people. Herman was clearly more interested in the textbook with pictures than in following the laws and regulations.