One night cycle later, Syryn felt an annoying itch along the outer parts of his arms. It was a maddening itch that disturbed his sleep. Scratching himself with abandon, the mage got out of the room and asked his guard to take him to a healer immediately. He was hoping that all this time spent in the water hadn't caused any irreversible changes or damage to his physiology. He especially worried about his skin because humans weren't meant to stay wet for long periods of time like he was doing.

"What's wrong?"

The healer he met with was a young mermaid. She had been among the few healers that had watched over Syryn for the first few days of his short coma.

"My arms are itchy. Really, really fucking itchy that I can't go back to sleep." Syryn showed her the reddened skin that had been abused by his scratching. Knowing that he shouldn't scratch himself hadn't stopped him from doing just that.

The healer held his arm at the fingertips and examined the skin closely. Nothing particularly odd or noticeable stood out to her eyes.

"Did the skin turn red before or after you scratched it?"

"After. What's wrong with me?"

The healer frowned. "I don't know much about human biology to say anything with certainty."

Syryn's spirits sank. How could he live his best life underwater when his skin itched like there were bugs crawling under it?

"I'll give you something you can apply on your skin," she told him after taking another look at it. "Come to me again after two night cycles of application."

Syryn wished he was a healer so he would have had the knowledge to diagnose himself rather than having to go through experimental treatments.

"Here," the healer handed him a wad of algae rolled up in a ball and tied by a string. It had a thick layer of mucus oozing over its surface, and it seemed to be dripping out of a slit in the centre of the ball. "Rub it all over the itchy parts once a day or when it gets too itchy to bear."

The mage gingerly received the mucus laden ball and thanked the mermaid for her help.

______

When Syryn got back to his room, Shali was already waiting for him.

"Eeeh, a snot ball!" She made a face at what he was holding. The princess backed away hastily when Syryn held it up.

"A snot ball?!" He repeated.

"Mers who suffer from the dripping disease carry that ball around everywhere."

"What is a dripping disease?"

"Ask lai'Revi," she told him. "Why do you have that with you?"

"I got it from the healer. She's making me use it for my itchy arms."

"Itchy arms? That doesn't sound like the drip. You should put the ball away, Syryn. If people see you carrying it, they might think you have the drip."

The mage wisely took her advice because she knew better than he did. Inside his room, Syryn spent a few moments lathering the creamy mucus on his skin. The relief was immediate. His skin tingled briefly before the itching subsided completely.

"Are you done?" Shali asked. Her brown hair had been braided into a thick rope behind her.

"Yeah, coming," Syryn called out. The mage put on his satchel because it felt natural to do so. Saying goodbye to his jellyfish pet, he left the room with the impatient mermaid princess.

_____

"There, I can see him," Shali whispered. They were leaving the palace through the entryway where plenty of mers moved about. Drevin had arrived before them and was lingering by a pillar with Enkansh.

Syryn and Shali nonchalantly swam past the duo when Drevin called out a greeting to them.

"Hello, Syryn, where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Shali is taking me dolphin riding." Syryn was becoming aware of the mers that stopped and eavesdropped on them while pretending to talk amongst themselves.

"Dolphin riding?" Enkansh snorted. "Humans should stick to doing human things."

"Like what? Hunting hostile sirens?" Syryn replied, contempt thick in his tone.

Enkansh smiled showing all his teeth. "I'm not dumb enough to rise to your bait in public again. I've learnt my lesson, Syryn."

"Enkansh is right though," Drevin remarked. "It might not be safe for you."

Shali tugged on Syryn's pants. "We have to go soon. Let's go, Syryn."

"I'll coming along," the prince told her. "Shali-a, if the human gets hurt again, you might be blamed for it. As your older brother, it is my responsibility to watch out for you and your friend."

"We'll be alright. Lai'Revi, it's just dolphin riding!" She whined. "Who gets hurt during dolphin riding?"

"The same person who was buried during a shipwreck exploration," came Syryn's reply. "It'll be more fun to have Drevin come along. Not Enkansh though, the ugly siren should hide his face away so he doesn't scare the dolphins."

"It'll be fine! Syryn! I wanted to be the one showing you how it's done." The mage had to admit that Shali was a good actress.

"Thats that, Shali-a. We're coming along," Drevin replied firmly.

"We?!" Two voices protested. The siren and the human glared at each other immediately.

"He's not coming!" Syryn insisted.

"I'm not going!" Enkansh agreed.

Drevin gave them both a bland look.

"It's nice to see you two getting along like this."

The siren's gaze raked up Syryn's arms, noticing the thin layer of mucus that covered the skin.

"Who gave you the drip?" He chuckled and it was a mean sound.

A few mermen recoiled at hearing that.

"Why the heck is a drip? Drevin?"

The mer prince was too polite to recoil although he widened the distance between their bodies.

"It's a sickness that afflicts the tender skin of some mers. Incurable and highly contagious."

"Oh," the human said. "And why is it called the drip?"

Enkansh began laughing. Syryn glanced at the siren whose beautiful laughter made his heart ache for some reason.

"Because they drip," Drevin replied, looking ashen at having to answer Syryn.

Syryn understood. He wished he didn't.

"Listen!" The human had an outburst of indignation. "I woke up with itchy arms and the healer couldn't tell what was wrong with me so she gave me a ball of algae to manage my symptoms. I am NOT dripping!"

"Ah," Drevin nodded with understanding. "It's alright. I'm sure tha humans can't catch the drip."

"Then touch him, Drevin," the siren goaded with laughter in his eyes.

"That won't be necessary, Enkansh," came a tight reply.

Syryn acted immediately by pouncing on the siren and rubbing his arms across Enkansh's chest. He did so with a gleeful smile.

The screams of rage and disgust were well worth the embarrassment he had been forced to endure.