"...which is ironic, when you consider what I am, now," said Gorgo.  "Did I ever tell you?  Did you tell your girlfriend about me?"

"I know about you having a lot of chrome and you making a deal with some kind of thing in the ocean," Angela said.

"Kind of," said Gorgo.  "It wasn't so much a deal, exactly.  We, uh... made friends, more or less.  She decided she liked having a visitor, and we talked, and she decided to change me.  Make me a little bit more like her."

"That makes you part eldritch octopus then?" Angela asked.

"No," said Gorgo.  "Part eldritch sea lily.  It's a very important distinction."

"I don't know what that is," Angela said.

"A pretty inaccurate description, but closer than 'Octopus,'" said Gorgo.  "Long, long body, big nest of feathery tentacles on one end, the other end is anchored to the seabed.  She has eyes all around her 'head,' right under the tentacles.  And a few extra limbs here and there."

"That is much weirder," Angela said.

Gorgo shrugged.

"She's older than us.  Older than trees.  Older than sharks.  Older than free oxygen on Earth.  I think it's just nice that she's cool with us being here at all."

"Yeah, you're probably right there," Angela said.

"She's also absolutely gigantic," said Gorgo, "I think.  Space is distorted in that place, so it's hard to be sure."

"Very freaky," Angela said.

Gorgo shrugged.  The world was a freaky place.

...He did glance at Angela's girlfriend, to see how she was taking it.

She was looking pretty surprised.

"...So, yeah," he said.  "That's my weird story.  I can't prove it, but I can prove that I'm not exactly your normal orc."

"Well, yeah, you can say that," Angela siad.

"I can prove the part about not being normal, but I don't really worry about that," said Gorgo.  "It comes up naturally fairly often."

"Do you have any other plans for the day?" Angela asked.

"Not really," said Gorgo.  "Got anything in mind?"

"Nah, we're just gonna take it easy," Angela said.

"Oh, there's this new arms dealer in the area," said Gorgo.  "I don't use guns, but if you want his contact info, I've got it."

"That's cool, thanks," Angela said.

"I'm guessing you two want some time together?" Gorgo asked.

"Yes, look, I'm sorry and grateful, but yes," Angela said.

"Not a problem," said Gorgo.  "See you around."

He departed.