"L-Lillian..." She said hesitantly.
"That's a lovely name, Lillian." They smiled, tossing flour onto a cutting board. Damn, they even did homemade pasta. It looked delicious too. Lillian nodded, "Thank you." She said softly. An embarrassed blush appeared dainty on her cheeks. Charis nodded too, turning back to his noodles. Seven out of fourteen done. "What are your doing?" Lillian asked, her broken English on full display now. She stumbled back over to them. Looking over his shoulder.
"Making the Pelmeni. They are pasta dumplings from my home country Russia." Charis explained briefly. Lillian nodded, having no clue what a Russia was.
A few silent minutes passed. Lillian was glancing around the room. "Sorry, they usually take awhile. Is there anything you have questions about? You can ask while we wait." Charis offered waited he cooked. Lillian shook her head, "No, I Fine."
Charis said a Russian thank you. "Go have a seat at the table then. Can I get you a book?" They offered. Lillian slowly agreed, moving to the table. Charis cleaned his hands. Drying them off throughly before taking a storybook from their bookshelf and setting it in front of Lillian. She thanked him and inspected the book. After a few seconds she figured out it could open! She opened the cover, and then flipping through the pages. Giving herself a paper cut from flipping through so quick. "Ow!" "Hm?" Charis walked over. "Oh, are you alright?" They asked worriedly.
"You didn't tell me these 'book' hurt!" Lillian looked up at him. There was tiny cut on one of her delicate fingers. It was so small it would never draw blood in a million years. Lillian was being ever so slightly dramatic.
"Oh, you have a paper cut. I can take care of that." Charis shrugged, leading her over to the sink. Cold water was a great remedy for pain.
"Wait! Uhm..." Lillian stopped him. Charis rose an eyebrow, confused. "It....It might hurt more!" She argued. Charis reassured Lillian it would not. Saying they knew from personal experiences. "It is Okay...it hurt no longer." Lillian lied. Giving Charis a nervous smile. "Are you sure? The skin surrounding it is red..." Charis reasoned. Lillian nodded. "It is okay."
"Well, at least let me clean it. Do not want that getting infected." Charis walked away for a second before returning with a bottle of some liquid. "Clean it with what?" Lillian asked cautiously. "Rubbing alcohol, hurts like a bitch, but it helps." He nodded. Their hands were warm and calloused against Lillian's. Somewhat shaky as well. An early case of partisans? Exhaustion? One may never know.
"Mmm...okay." Lillian agreed, squeezing his hand anxiously. Charis grabbed a small cotton ball and dabbed it in the sharp smelling liquid. They took her cut hand and lightly pressed the ball to the open cut on her finger. Lillian winced and made the same high pitched squeak from earlier. "Sorry," they apologized softly, "Sorry, Sorry, Sorry..." Once the cut was clean they wrapped it in a bit of gauze. "Thank you..." Lillian said, her face a shade of pink. "Mhm." Charis nodded, removing their hands from her. They turned and bumped clumsily into a table. Which had a pitcher of water on it.
Kabonk!
The pitcher fell to the ground. Splashing the water everywhere. Getting on Lillian's feet. Her eyes widened as the water hit her. A loud bang sounded as she fell to the floor. When Charis looked at her he saw her for what she really was, A mermaid. Her bulky tail was a sparkly lavender color at the base then transitioned to a more sparkly sage green down to her lace like fins. Not only had her legs transformed, but her general appearance as well. Lillian now had a string of pearls around her hips. One around her head to, with smaller individual pearls scattered in her purple curls.
