Celephai laughed. She was lucky? Pulled across time and space against her will, severed from the only things she'd ever known and loved, never to be welcomed back there again... then again, at least she still had tentacles... but why did Margrett think she was lucky?
"Well, nakedness is a concept fairly native to this place, but we don't give it much thought where I come from. You are what you are, no covering that up... although you can adorn it with jewels and pierce it in odd places... Ah, but how am I lucky?"
Be wild. Just forget everything and live alone. Sure, you're not at home, but you don't have to worry about morality, or emotions, or any human foibles. She was silent a moment.
Sometimes I would just give anything to be like you and Joran.
"That's true, I don't have the same preoccupations that you do... but would others who've been raised far from your civilizations be any different? Is morality and law bred into your young? Is it so impossible to forget your upbringing and live how you please?"
Then she shook her head, clicking her tongue.
"But you have responsibilities to others, don't you? Others who depend upon you, rely upon your strength. To them, you are their only hope to a safe and sure future... but not at this moment, so it seems. Are you too bashful to bathe for the moment, or would you care to take a dip? The water is quite refreshing..."
She flicked the surface of the water once with her hand. Cel was tempting Marg, that much was obvious.
Celephai closed her eyes, enjoying the mixture of the sun's warming light and the cool, refreshing spring water. She had no perverse intentions toward Margrett (more than the usual: there is a ground state of evil with Cel that is always present), and thought nothing of her warning.
"Well, it's not hard to listen to people. Wistvale is a tiny settlement, and news travels fast. Grayell's council is having it's ups and downs... and so is he. The Guard is still in it's infancy, and you're Captain of it... correct?"
Celephai sighed, feeling the tiny waves in the water as Marg slipped in, each tiny motion echoed throughout the basin.
"I know he is having relationship issues due to a moral dilemma, that is about the extent of my understanding on the subject. There's no direct parallel between our concept of romance and relationship and yours. He has biological needs, that is something I can comprehend easily enough. Humans feel the urge to reproduce, and sometimes that causes awkward situations, particularly if the mate ends up seeming... unsuitable."
Her expression twisted into one of contemplation and stern thought, but she never opened her eyes.
Celephai stopped for a brief moment, processing the insult to it's fullest extent, determining ramifications and coming to a conclusion. She then resumed her idle motions in the water, more slowly than before.
"...Yes. He wanted something closer to his species, I'm certain. I don't hold it against him, mostly because I'm different. There might have been complications later, if he had chosen me as a potential mate."
Cel seemed quite detached from the subject, as if it were all just a biology experiment.
Cel waved a hand dismissively. It was one thing to knowingly be insulted, and to truly mean it, but cultural differences were permissible... at least until she offered the planet up to the gods, then she'd really bring the tentacle down.
"Well, offspring for one. That's not a pleasant experience for anyone without the necessary cavities. I could incubate my own, but I'm sure the idea of having children was... out of the question for him. Then there's sustained contact causing physiological changes, which cannot be readily predicted. Rearing the children would, of course, be problematic as well."
There was a slight stirring as she thought about the consequences of giving birth. She'd never admit it, but the prospect did frighten her a little.
"Living conditions would have to change, greatly, likely causing no small amount of ecological damage to your world, and then how to feed the young ones... it doesn't end. There's no end to the effects of my bringing new life into this world. It's never truly been done: Sometimes an Elder God will reach down and bless an infant with it's essence, and the young takes on some of the essence of the Elder God. It's rare, but it happens."
Cel paused for a few moments, taking a few deep breaths.
"...I'm not ready to have kids. Too much to do. Maybe when I get back home... or maybe if I decide to bring home here."