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Klein lived the life of a completely ordinary person, just living like everyone else. Nothing particularly "miraculous" happened. Klein worked, came home, rested, and in the evening watched videos or movies under the purchased goodies in the form of chips, sushi, pizza or sweets.
And he was more than satisfied with everything. The salary of a programmer is enough to not need money.
Until one day everything was as usual. Klein was on vacation at sea, and when he returned to the rented house, he smelled a strange smell. It's like the smell of fish.
The weekend was ahead. He had been to the store recently, and Klein did not remember buying fish.
After putting the grocery bag on the kitchen table, Klein took a knife just in case and went around the apartment.
The window was open, but not broken or cracked. The door wasn't touched at all.
The last place he visited was the bathroom. Gently opening the door, Klein peered inside... and felt his heart sink.
The bathroom was a mess. Shampoos and soaps were scattered on the floor, towels were crumpled, and the white tiles were stained with relatively fresh blood. In the bathtub itself, there was an incomprehensible creature. The upper half of the body was human, while the lower half was octopus-like. The tentacles were limp and pale, and the human was asleep, wrapped in a long towel to keep warm. The tentacles were curled up, filling the entire bathtub.
Klein swallowed and put the knife back on the nightstand. What... was this creature doing in the house, and how had it gotten in?
"Maybe... I should call the police? Or the emergency services? But he... is still asleep and doesn't seem to be a threat. And he... or she... is injured..."
Klein cautiously approached the creature. There were visible cuts on the underside of the tentacles, some of which had already stopped bleeding.
"This... You can't leave it that way. It can infect itself with some kind of infection or disease."
The creature woke up when Klein poured disinfectant on the cuts on the tentacle. The injured tentacles immediately broke free from his hands, and the healthy tentacles darted forward. Klein covered his face with his hands with a cry.
- Stop! Wait, I'm trying to help!
There was no impact, and Klein looked with one eye at what was happening. The creature shrank as much as possible with its tentacles, and hissed, covering the injured tentacles with healthy ones. Pale, thin face with sharp features, short black hair.
The teeth were quite sharp. Klein cautiously approached and stroked one of the healthy tentacles.
- Hey... Don't be nervous, okay? You've already destroyed my bathroom... And don't hiss at me. You're the one who took my bathtub, as if it were yours.
Klein reached for the faucet and turned on the warm water. While the creature, presumably male, was distracted by the sound of water, Klein dragged a box of medicines towards him and finally treated the cuts.
He tightened the bandages, which the creature didn't like very much, and put away the medicine box.
- I'm done... I hope you're not sick in any way. If you behave yourself, I won't kick you out until you get better.
The creature hissed and curled up in the water, clutching the towel in its hands. It clearly had no intention of leaving.
Klein stepped out of the bathroom and rubbed his face with his hands. Damn it, now he had a human-octopus hybrid living in his house! What about the bathroom? Where would he wash?
The sound of water soon stopped. After collecting enough water, it seemed to turn the faucet back on.
"At least it didn't take over the entire house... Damn, what if it's a human-eating creature? It'll eat me at night and I'll be done for! I don't want to die so early!"
Klein sat down at the computer. It has a human half of its body, so maybe it can eat regular food? Or does it eat like an octopus?
After reading a lot of results on the internet, Klein only read the main ones. Octopuses rarely eat fish, and they often eat crabs, crustaceans, and mollusks.
As for the octopuses themselves, they have very powerful jaws and a special grater in their throat that helps them grind food that they can't just swallow.
They can also be poisonous. Klein looked in the direction of the bathroom and decided to stop using the towel that the intruder had taken.
- It's not that he's showing signs of hunger... I just don't have the money to buy him all sorts of shellfish, crayfish, and crabs! Damn it, that octopus is living and eating better than I am...
For the first time, Klein felt a slight sense of envy towards the sea creature.
Trying to ignore it, Klein decided to start with something simple. He made a salad with cherry tomatoes, chicken, and an egg. Then he went to the octopus's bathroom.
The creature was carefully examining the medicine cabinet that Klein was using. He had read that octopuses were very intelligent...
Klein coughed to get the octopus's attention. The octopus turned to him and used its healthy tentacle to put the medicine cabinet back under the bathtub. Klein handed over a plate of salad with a slightly nervous smile.
- Will you... eat this? I can't offer you what you're used to... so this is all I have. I'll get some fish later...
The octopus reached out with noticeable distrust and took the plate. It touched the cherry tomatoes with its fingers. Klein handed over a fork and showed him how to use it.
"Fortunately, he can eat regular food..." - Klein's thoughts shifted as he watched the octopus eat. - "He probably can't speak. What is he even?"
After the guest finished eating, Klein began cleaning the bathroom. All this time, the octopus had been watching him closely.
A healthy tentacle brushed across the tiles, smearing the dried blood. Klein suppressed a smile and brushed the tentacle away. He heard an irritated hiss in response.
- Don't hiss at me. Let me do it.
After cleaning the bathroom, Klein straightened up and stretched with pleasure.
- Don't touch anything else. I wonder where you come from...
The next few days passed relatively quietly. The octopus did not like the salmon he bought, but he did not become indignant. Klein tried to teach him how to speak and gave him the name Herman.
The flaccid tentacles turned a darker shade, and the cuts gradually healed. Klein had some difficulty getting Herman to leave the bathroom temporarily to wash himself. Herman was displeased, but he still moved to the sofa in the living room, crawling with only healthy tentacles. He kept his wounded tentacles in the air and did not let them touch the floor.
"Apparently, he remembered my words about infection... Or he knows something, but doesn't say anything."
The color-based training was going well. Herman knew the colors and shades, and he could choose the right pieces for the right sizes. He even managed to remember which squares and colors the chess pieces moved on.
Talking was more difficult. Herman only hissed in response to everything. The hissing's intonations varied from interested to downright vicious when Klein showed Herman photos of dolphins and sea lions.
Klein had also read about this on the internet. Octopuses had natural enemies in the sea. Dolphins and sea lions were among them.
Klein scratched his head thoughtfully and delved into the study of octopuses. They found it difficult to live in confined spaces, they were solitary, and they experienced immense stress in captivity. This could lead to very bad consequences - self-destruction, biting himself on the tentacles, injuries...
Hermann's cuts looked as if they were made with something sharp...
"Maybe he was noticed before me? And decided to catch? Quite possible."
While Klein was on vacation, he went for a walk around the city and shopping. One day, when Herman was more or less strong, he began to move around the house and study everything that came under his hands and tentacles. At least his hissing has become more melodic and pleasant to the ear.
The problem was that Klein's vacation was coming to an end in a week. He needed to get Herman back into the sea before he left.
That night, Klein felt the cold touch of tentacles on his legs. The bed sunk under the weight of someone else, and Klein was pinned down, hissing incoherent words.
Klein tried his best to pretend that he was asleep. However, he embraced Herman in return, allowing him to settle next to him on the bed. Herman hung some of his tentacles down.
In the morning, Klein woke up alone in the house. The only thing left on the pillow was a bright shell from a mollusk, wet from the water.
Klein turned the shell over and sighed. This was his parting gift.
- Okay. I hope you'll be here when I come back for my next vacation, Herman.