Although Ina arrived at the beach first, she waited for Daniel to doubt her arrival before popping up out of the water. “Hello again, Daniel.” “It’s good to see you Ina. I thought maybe you wouldn’t show.” “Yesterday you knew I’d be here and for months you could sense that I when I was at the beach. Why would I stop when it’s just about to get interesting?” “Well, yeah I know you had intensions of coming, but I don’t know, what if something happened? Like a shark ate you! Do sharks eat mermaids? Merpeople? Or you decided I was boring. Or that –” “You talk a lot. Is that normal for terrafolk? I’m never within earshot.” Daniel opened his mouth to answer but Ina stopped him. “Only Yes or No.” “No… I overthink things and speculate, a lot. Usually this only goes on in my head but with you I guess I can’t…” He caught Ina’s stare and realized that he did the exact opposite of what she had asked. They were silent for a short while before Daniel spoke again. “Yeah, I can’t take this silence. Please say something Do you normally not talk this much? Or would it be this little?” Ina laughed which made him slightly nervous but also smile. “I have only ever communicated like this to practice for surface interaction. My native language, as you might call it, uses different frequencies because of sound traveling between air and water. I believe your kind have captured whale and dolphin speech.” “Damn, that sounded like a physics lecture.” “I have to assume you know nothing.” “And I don’t.” “Well, you have identified the topic of physics, you know at least one thing.” “Thanks?” “I’m just stating my observations.” Daniel was smiling which made Ina confused. “What have I said to amuse you?” “My generation’s humor is kinda based off self-deprecation. So, when I admit to knowing nothing, people usually laugh. No one ever points out contradictions, even ones as strange as yours. You have seen the worst parts of me but it feels like you have a higher opinion of me than my friends, and I barely even know you!” Ina took her time to collect her thoughts before she responded. “Is that something to be happy about? It sounds like you have bad friends.” “I mean… It’s not just my friends, its everyone my age. I guess it our culture. And I think my friends like me, I hope they do. It’s hard to tell when they don’t notice things, well things I try to not let them see.” “Daniel, the more you talk the bigger a mystery you become.” Without hesitation, Daniel replied in a sarcastically sultry voice “The ladies love a mysterious man.” The smolder at the end made Ina smile. “You prove my point.” “Hey Ina? Can we talk about something else?” “Okay… Why do you always leave at a particular time?” “I have class. My college isn’t too far from here but I have to set an alarm so I’m not late.” “Still learning? That’s always good… What about?” “Archeology. I’m all about digging up ancient civilizations.” “Anything good?” “Nah, I’ve only interned at a dig site last summer, I’m mostly still learning about identifying and stuff. Did you do any schooling?” “We’re taught the basics: language, science, math and history, ours and terrafolk. It’s mostly just enough to keep us alive.” “Do you have super advanced technology that makes hu-terrafolk look like apes?” Ina laughed at his excitement, “Our species interact with the world differently, the progress of our technology by your standards may not reflect the advancement in culture or society.” “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” “Do you want me to take you to my colony? It’s much easier to show you than explain.” “Is that an option? You said it was 30 minutes away. I can swim but I’m not that good. Besides, it’s underwater, I can only hold my breath for like 60 seconds tops. Oh it would be amazing to see it but I don’t think that’s possible. Does light even reach where you live? Would I be able to see?” Daniel had been sitting at the edge of the rock leaning closer to Ina as they spoke. She rose out of the water and grabbed his arms, pulling him into the water, pressing her face against his. Daniel was stunned but quickly started thrashing, trying to get above the water to breathe. Ina was keeping him down but let go after a minute. Daniel crawled back onto the rock gasping for his breath. He laid on his back a couple feet from the edge and just shouted. “What the hell was that? When I said you didn’t need to save me anymore I didn’t think that you’d turn to killing me!” “There are stories about terrafolk being able to breathe and see underwater with a mermaid’s kiss. I thought I’d try it with you, to show you my home.” Daniel could hear the embarrassment in her voice and propped himself up on his hands. “I think you need to work on your kissing. Or let the other person in on it.” His anger had quickly dissolved as he found ways to joke about the situation. “I guess I should have consulted you first but it should have worked. Maybe you need you need to stay under longer.” She seemed sincere causing Daniel to scoot back further. “That’s insane. I don’t think I’m ever going into the water ever again. Our little misunderstanding here is going to stick with me. Now, it’s your turn to almost die. I’m assuming there’s a reason barely put your more than your head out of the water.” Ina pulled her hair away from her neck to reveal gills before shrinking back into the ocean. “Long hair is useful for hiding the signs that we are not terrafolk. I can get up on the rock but you’re going to have to help me get my tail out of the water. Grinding my scales into this surface would not be very pleasant.” Daniel looked shocked. “Wait, you are seriously going to try the whole mermaid leg thing? Is that a legend you got from human history or yours?” Ina did not find this to be as significant as he did. “Both? Does it matter? Why not try?” She hoisted her body onto the rock so she was awkwardly sitting on the edge. “This is where you come in.” She reached towards Daniel. He lifted her so that they stood in a strange hug. The fin of her tail lay flat against the rock’s surface. Daniel saw her tail for the first time and was disappointed that they were trying to get rid of it. He took in all the details he could. The color was the same as her hair, the end resembled the fins of a male beta fish, flowy and boisterous. She also had fins down her back and sides. They didn’t protrude much but they were still beautiful. She was more fish than most of the images Daniel had seen of mermaids, her fish scales gradually turned into the leathery skin of her torso, arms, and head. As he observed, Daniel could see her tail starting to wither. “Are you sure this is okay?” “I think everything is going alright, I don’t feel like I’m suffocating anymore.” “What? You never said anything about not being able to breath!” “It seemed like something I had to push past and as it turns out, I can breathe through my nose. Who would have thought?” Perplexed by calmness Daniel had no retort so he looked back down to at her tail only to see bare legs. With a shriek he looked up. “You’re naked.” “I’ve been naked, Daniel.” “Well its different now.” He was uncomfortable but wouldn’t let go of her incase she’d fall. “Do you think you can stand?” “Well my feet are currently off the ground. I can’t even reach if I point my toes. I’m so short without my tail.” Ina was not pleased with her new height but this was partially Daniel’s fault. At 6’4” he was almost a foot taller than her. “I think I’ll need you to stabilize myself but I think I can stand.” “Okay, I can give you my sweatshirt to wear until we find you some proper clothes. If you’re staying on land that is.” With Ina’s confirmation, he lowered Ina to the ground, moving her arms from around his neck to his waist under his hoodie. They were only far enough apart for Daniel to remove his sweatshirt. “Now for the tricky part, we got to get this on you.” “Not really, just keep me from falling over and I’ll slip it on. My legs are as strong as my tail was its just the new orientation and environment that is hindering me.” Because he was hesitating, Ina took his hands and placed on her waist mimicking what Daniel had done. Although he had been looking at the ocean, she could see the discomfort in his face as she maneuvered the sweatshirt onto her body. “Why are you acting like this?” “I don’t know, it seems disrespectful to look at your naked body. Like you didn’t really expect to be up here fully naked. You have a right to your privacy. Maybe it’s just society.” Ina took his hands off her waist allowing the sweatshirt to fall to her midthigh. “I believe I am fully clothed by your standards.” Daniel looked at her directly for the first time since she had changed. “Covered yeah but let’s find you something better and dry.” “My apologies again for dragging you into the ocean” “Are you ready to walk?”