"If the love you feel is pure and shared, then you can be assured that you are not the only one who would suffer a moment of weakness to preserve that love."

This hiding was useless. Mezrol rose from the ground in front of her, congealing himself into a mass of satin green that sat on the clearing, one tentacle resting on Linnis's shoulder.

I laughed a little and waved my hand lightly, "It's a little unusual, having a deep and profound discussion by moonlight here. The only things that ever happen in the moonlight here to me are sex, wither wanted or not." I laughed again and shook my head. It was all so absurd.

She heard a laugh in her mind. It didn't seem sinister. "I've never even seen one of your kind in the moonlight until now, my dear."

The mass moved closer to her, but made no swift movements. She could tell that it had no intention to suddenly take her off-guard.

I smiled a little and tossed my hair in a rather alluring way, "We're beautiful creatures, I suppose. That is the only reason I could imagine all these people would even be here." If it weren't for my slight apprehension about nonhumans, I would have disrobed to make my point, but I didn't want to change the situation any, I was enjoying this too much as it was.

"I'm afraid much of my beauty was lost with my curse," said the voice in its deep, soothing tone, "but it is very clear that yours has remained very strong despite your hardships." He would have smiled warmly at her, if only he could.

Here I had been ranting about my curse, my burden to carry, I hadn't paid much attention to my new friend, "Hey, what curse?" I didn't know much about xenobiology, I didn't know if this was a frog prince thing for his species. That is, of course, where my mind immediately went, however.

"On my world I was once a thief. I used my charm and skill to go far into places I should not have gone. I also had an artifact that gave me supernatural powers, but an elder used his powers to transform me into this once I was caught. I have spent many years repenting."

His voice sounded a little sad, but she could tell that he had come to terms with his past. He had suffered a great deal on his planet after his curse, but here he was far better off.

"Repentant, though. You seem like a genuine person now. I mean, many of your fellows here wouldn't have been nearly this kind to me, would they?" I actually thought his life sounded rather glamorous pre-curse, and was more than a little amused by it. It was a rather exciting sounding life, and now, to be here, like this, and still hold on to fundamental decency, he had earned my respect in the same way I had earned his.

"I believe you know the answer to your question. I'm sure you have been taken by them in the past. Did they ever care what you had to say? I too have taken girls such as yourself out here and had my way with them, but never do I do them any harm. I feed out of pleasure and necessity. If my guest is not enjoying my company, I take what I need to survive and free them. I'm sure you can understand that."

Part of that did make him sounds like a monster, but how could he help it? His body couldn't get nutrients from food anymore, and a woman's sexual release was always bountiful enough to last him for weeks. How his life had changed...

"You and I are a lot alike then," I said with a small smile. We did subject some people to harm, but out of necessity. And I could tell from the conversation that we both were remorseful for it. We tried to make the best of it, for ourselves and for them, but... it was entirely unusual to identify so completely with something, especially something not human.

"It is odd how the two of us from such distant places and with such different pasts could have commonalities of character, but here we are."

This girl was unlike any human he had met. Not only was she seemingly indifferent of his appearance, but she was willing to share so much with a creature like him. How interesting this night had become.

"I am Mezrol. May I ask your name?"

I looked at the creature before me, having a name for the thing now, and smiled, offering him the same; "Linnis. Linnis Van Ryan." I kept my hands folded in my lap, a subtle notion but I was slightly concerned the creature was hungry. After all, it had come up on me unnoticed. It likely was looking for sustenance when it came.

"You seem somewhat pensive..." he began, but seemed to have a moment of realization, "Ah, you are concerned that I might feed on you. You need not worry, my dear Linnis; when I approached you I was planning to take advantage of an unexpected situation by stocking up on energy. My last meal was quite large and fairly recent, so please relax. I will not force myself on you."

The tentacle on her shoulder removed itself and retracted into Mezrol's bulk. This girl was something special and he did not want to make her upset.

"Sorry, I just... thought of what I would do in your position." I felt awful for saying it like that, but I would totally have raped me by now in his place, taken advantage of the sadness for a lack of resistance. I looked down and away from him, "I'm sorry for making you hungry."

"Do not worry, I am not hungry. My body can take spare energy and make it into a fluid which I can consume at a later date. You see this opaque area?" A tentacle emerged and indicated what looked like a pale nucleus near his core. "As you can see I have a good deal of it in reserve. My plan was to increase this reserve, but it is not necessary."