Weak To Fire

7

Mereoleona wasn't sure why she couldn't get Y/N out of her head anymore. Sure, she was pretty and cute and Mereoleona had taken a bit of a liking to her, but this was ridiculous. She had met the girl yesterday and she was already developing a massive crush on her. She never developed a crush so quickly and so strongly. She wasn't sure what the hell this was, but it wasn't normal. But if Mereoleona was being honest with herself, she was just a little freaked out by the whole thing.

It wasn't just how quickly she had caught feelings with this whole thing that made her worry. It was also the fact that she had never really thought about a relationship or getting married or even dating or anything. She did have some casual flings whenever she was around people and felt like it, sure. It was just a natural thing to have sex. And it was always all uncomplicated and the terms and conditions were made clear from the start with those hook-ups.

But this was different. Mereo actually liked Y/N. Like in a definitely more than friends way. And she also wanted to hook up with her. It was a little confusing, because she had always strictly separated feelings and sex. She had always thought that it was making things way less complicated, since she had no ambitions of having a family or having a long-term relationship. It had never really suited what she wanted from life, so why would she bother with it at all?

But now here she was, wanting to just get closer to Y/N. And she had no idea how to even get started with it. Mereo was sure she was going to fuck it up. She had absolutely no experience when it came to romance or any bullshit like that. She had no idea how to even properly talk about feelings. How the hell was she supposed to do this out here, all on her own? She couldn't even ask Fueggy for help! Not that she would, but it was always a calming thought to know that he was around, in case she would ever need his advice on anything. And then, on top of everything, Y/N was also a water spirit. Did water spirits even do relationships?

More to the point, did they have relationships with humans? Or was that like some sort of taboo thing? Because in the grand scheme of things, Y/N was most likely a few centuries old, even though she looked like she was in her mid-twenties. And Mereoleona was 32. It seemed like a somewhat significant age gap. Also, Y/N would definitely survive Mereoleona. Spirits didn't just die. There was a whole procedure involved if you wanted to kill an elemental spirit and even then they usually didn't stay dead but got reborn in a different form. Y/N was immortal and Mereo was very much not.

All of this was wrecking Mereo's head to the extent that she wished she had just stayed in the capital a little longer and gone to a different patch of forest instead. It was doing her head in, especially since she was supposed to be sleeping right now. But instead she was staring up at the moon wondering what the rules for spirits dating humans were. As if she was ever going to go out with Y/N. What would they even do for a date? How long could Y/N stay out of the water? She did mention that it was a lot of hassle for her to visit the capital, so maybe the water was the problem...

Plus, Mereoleona was a fire magic user. A fire magic user and a water spirit? That was about as different as things could get in this world. And she wasn't sure whether she could deal with any of this. She wasn't sure whether she could actually openly be in a relationship with someone. Fueggy would never let her hear the end of it. And she didn't even want to think about Nozel finding out. He'd be such a fucking brat about it, it wasn't even funny anymore.

"Hey, are you worried about something?" Mereoleona suddenly heard a voice next to her. She opened her eyes and saw Y/N standing next to her hammock, leaning over her and giving her a concerned look. Mereoleona may or may not have screamed a little as she jumped. She wasn't someone who got scared easily, but she really hadn't been expecting Y/N to just be there. She hadn't even heard her coming!

"You fucking scared me!" she said, trying to catch her breath, as she watched Y/N chuckling quietly to herself.

"Sorry, Mereoleona. Didn't mean to, but I also didn't want to wake you, so I figured it would be best to be quiet." she answered and gestured to her feet. They were covered in water. So that was why she had been basically inaudible. Of course. Mereoleona could have thought of that herself.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. Why did you come over in the first place?" she wanted to know. Mereo was sure that she hadn't been looking like she was worried. She was pretty sure that she had been lying in her hammock perfectly still with her eyes closed and her face relaxed.

"Your mana was going kind of crazy. I don't know, it's hard to explain, but I could just sense that something was a bit off, so... well, I figured I'd check on you. Not that there is much I can do, but... well, I don't know, it seemed like the right thing to do. I can head back, if you don't want me around." Y/N explained.

"No, no, it's fine. It's just... you know, second night out here, it always takes a little while to adjust, I guess. It's fine, though." Mereo answered. Y/N nodded and bit her lip, looking back to her lake and then at Mereo again.

"So, do you want me to... go back? Or..." she started. Oh God. Mereoleona had no idea how to even answer that. Of course she didn't want her to go back. She wanted her to stay right where she was, or even better to move into the hammock with her and stay with her until she was fast asleep. But she couldn't say that to her. Not right now, anyway. This was so awkward.

"No. No, you can stay here if you want. I think we can both fit on the hammock, if you don't want to stand around all the time." Mereo told her and scooched over a little. Y/N smiled her beautiful little smile and moved onto the hammock. She seemed a little insecure about getting into it. Mereoleona wondered whether she hadn't seen a hammock before. Did water spirits know what hammocks were?

"Sorry, this is... I'm not really used to those." Y/N said with a laugh, but she finally managed to get onto the hammock. She moved closer to Mereo and huddled up close to her. Her skin was cold and Mereoleona shuddered for a second, but it was fine. She didn't even care about being cold, this was absolutely worth it. But unfortunately, Y/N had noticed her shuddering.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I forgot that my skin is basically always cold because I'm in the water so much. I'm sorry, Mereoleona, I can go and leave if you get too cold or..."

"Mereo."

"What?"

"Call me Mereo, please. It's just... it's just shorter. My whole name is literally such a mouthful, no one should have to torture themselves with that. Unless I don't like them, that is." she told her.

"Okay. Mereo. Thank you." Y/N said with a little smile.

"And you also don't have to go anywhere. I'll be fine, I can literally warm myself up." Mereoleona replied. Y/N chuckled and nodded, nestling a little closer to Mereoleona. It made her heart jump. Y/N was so small and tiny - she just wanted to bundle her up and hold her close.

"So... does that mean you like me?" Y/N asked all of a sudden. Mereoleona glanced down at her, confusion in her eyes. How had she figured it out?

"Does... what mean I like you?" she wanted to know.

"You said that people you didn't like weren't allowed to call you by your nickname. And you just gave me permission to call you Mereo. So... I just wondered if that means that you like me." she answered. Her face looked a little flushed and Mereoleona just wanted to kiss every part of her face. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she like this over a girl she just met?

"Let's just say I don't dislike you."