#*shoves notes about mating habits of both species under a rock*

[yoyoplisetsky]

okay i have a thought. what if. viktor and yuuri both had tentacles. but one of them is a octopus and one of them is a squid and there's cephalopod Discourse.

*pushes up glasses after falling into a google pit about octopi and squids* um;;; only squids have tentacles, octopi have arms. #CephalopodDiscourse

also octopi are cute but squids sort of look like sea demons #CephalopodDiscourse

now for some fic bc i can’t deny writing this:

Viktor had been alone before he met Yuuri. His mother haddisappeared shortly after he left, which was normal for his species. What wasn’t normal was the loneliness thatViktor felt, drifting across the sea floor completely alone, hunting and thendisappearing back into his den for the night, and for another day of the samething.

Maybe it wasn’t normal for his species, but when he’d seenthe injured squid drift down to the ocean floor, near Viktor, he hadimmediately jumped to action, introducing himself and bringing Yuuri in withhim. It was a learning curve, of course, getting to live with a squid. His bodywas much firmer than Viktor’s which meant that his den was much too small forboth of them, and he had to find somewhere else to stay when he was with Yuuri.But there were so many perks.

It was, after all, easy to fall in love with Yuuri Katsuki.Viktor was pretty sure that he’d fallen in love before Yuuri was even awake,watching the squid sleep soundly, the pained look on his face decreasing by thesecond as Viktor worked to make sure he was as comfortable as he could be. Hisface was tinged with a pained blue blush, which adorably matched his eight deepblue arms which laid motionless around him as he slept. His tentacles weredifferent, a darker purple color, almost red near the bottom of them. His hairwas long and tangled around his head, fluttering slightly with his blue fins inthe water.

He was the most beautiful thing that Viktor had ever seen.

Maybe it was because he was mating age, but he had neverseen someone so beautiful. Octopi and squid knew of eachother’s existence, of course, but Viktor had never actually seen one up close. He’d heard rumors from a fewof the other octopi that he’d met that they knew of their own kind mating withsquids, and they’d talked down about it, since that meant joining up with theirfamilies, and not having the safe solidarity of their own den any more.

It didn’t sound so bad, and it sounded even better now thathe had this gorgeous squid in his den.

Yuuri slept for a few days, with Viktor keeping carefulwatch, disappearing only to fed himself and try to catch food good enough forhim – not entirely sure what to get him. He doubted he’d appreciate the crabshe’d caught, and he didn’t know how to feed him when he was asleep anyway. Viktormade sure to continue to change the kelp bandage, watching more and moreworriedly as days went on and the squid hadn’t woken up.

It didn’t last, though, and the squid started to move moreoften after a few days of an eerie lack of movement. When he finally woke up,his injured arm wrapped carefully in kelp against his chest, he had panicked,thrashing against Viktor’s bed. Viktor came up to him, using all of his suckeredarms to hold him down, bringing his hands up to cup his face. “You’re safe. You’resafe, calm down,” he whispered.

The squid’s fins fluttered, pushing him off of the bed inhis panic, and Viktor grabbed onto his shoulders, tangling their suckered armstogether. The squid’s tentacles continued to shove against him, but Viktor didwhat he could to hold him down. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“My name is Viktor,” he answered, letting him go when itseemed like the squid had stopped struggling. He pulled off of him, untanglingall of their suckered arms and scurrying to the other side of the room. “Ifound you, hurt, and I brought you to my den.”

“You’re an octopus?” The squid sat on the edge of Viktor’sbed, using his tentacles and good arm to pull himself off of the bed, hissuckered arms flowing below him. “I’m… Yuuri,” he added after a moment, hisbreathing incredibly uneven.

“I am. You’ve been here for a few days, and I didn’t knowwhat you might want to eat, so you haven’t, and I’m – “

Yuuri cut him off. “You were going to feed me?” he asked,and Viktor realized where the fear came from. Some subspecies of his own kindate squid, Yuuri must have thought he was going to become a meal. “I… if youhave fish, that’s good.” Yuuri sat back onto the bed, his eyes scanning overViktor’s den uncomfortably.

“You don’t have to stay,” Viktor promised, digging throughhis food chest until he found some fish. It was a day old, but it was betterthan nothing. They were still alive, so Viktor guided them toward Yuuri, whoreached out effortlessly with his tentacles, tearing them apart and eating themquickly.

“Was my family with me when you found me?” Yuuri askednervously as he tore apart the fish. “I was hunting, so they wouldn’t have beenfar. Did you see them?”

“I don’t think so.” Viktor hadn’t been looking for other squids at least, more focused on getting Yuuriout of the open ocean as quickly as he could. A squid that injured, he wouldhave been easy prey for anyone swimming fast.

“I need to find them, I’m sorry, thank you for your help.”Yuuri got back up, scurrying to the front of Viktor’s den and Viktor reachedout with his suckered arms, wrapping them around Yuuri, his eyes wide.

“Let me come with you? I want to meet them,” he whispered.He didn’t want to see Yuuri go yet, not when he’d barely gotten to meet him.

Meeting Yuuri’s family turned into staying with them for afew weeks, which turned into mating with Yuuri and staying with them for life.

He woke up every morning with the most beautiful squid he’dever met by his side. They woke up with all of their suckered arms tangledtogether, Viktor’s arms wrapped around Yuuri’s body, and Yuuri’s tentacleswrapped around Viktor.

He never got over the fact that Yuuri could do that andstill have free hands to thread through Viktor’s long hair as he pulled himinto a deep good morning kiss.

There were perks, after all, to mating a squid.