Hollow Waves | OFAF #1

17

"How come Eryn jumped back so quickly but I haven't seen Morgan since then?" Marina asked as she studied the mascara wand. She'd seen Morgan use it before and showed her all the basics of makeup. She still did not understand how to use half of them, but it seemed fun to transform what the face looked like. There were so many fun things on land that Marina would never have seen if she hadn't taken the chance to explore.

Lance poked his head out of the divider he was getting dressed behind. An expression of worry crossed his features. "Since she's a fledgling, she has a harder time jumping back. Eryn is decades old. Don't worry, Morgan will be okay, she just needs time. Ami and Anika are staying home to keep an eye on her. Other guest vampires are on the estate, they will hold down the fort while we're gone."

Marina wondered about the guest vampires. She'd only seen a few of them in passing when they were a blur in the night. Lance told her they did not want to interact with the human world and kept to themselves. She thought it was sweet of Lance and Chris to do that. Aqueria never let in mermaids from other kingdoms or mermaids that chose to become drifters. They were big on community, but only when it benefited them.

"What do you think?" He stepped out from the divider with a prideful grin on his face. He tipped up his head in confidence and did a little curtsy. He wore a button-up dress made of silk with folds cascading down to his ankles. The fold accentuated his natural feminine curves, but also showed his wide shoulders and slender arms. He was perfectly fluid, reminding her how the merfolk adorned themselves in Aqueria. Some merfolk did not go by a man or a woman, but by shifter and Lance reminded her of them. Aspects of her home Marina yearned for, but she also saw things on land that were similar to it. She missed her elders and how much more lenient they were with her compared to her father.

The door opened to Lance's bedroom-turned-giant closet and Chris rushed in, holding a stack of manila folders. His eyes lifted and looked over at Lance. He became slack-jawed slightly and a manila folder slid off from his stack, pulling three others with it. Chris stumbled, looking for where they fell, letting a bunch of others fall until he had nothing in his hands. He stumbled as he bent down to clean up all the papers.

Marina held back a laugh bubbling up and bent down, helping him gather the papers. She inspected them briefly, catching names of vampires she did not know. It seemed Chris was doing his research in preparation for tonight.

Chris chuckled and shook his head, "You look amazing sweets. Billy Porter is quaking in his suit dress."

Lance bashfully turned his head and muttered a shy, "Thanks."

Chris and Lance were so tender with each other as if they were recently in love despite being together for a while. It was true love—real love. Marina saw her mother and father that way, but with her mother being the queen, she had to be firm more times than show her love for Marina's father. Marina wished she was in love with someone like Chris and Lance were. She never thought about love or if she would ever fall in love. She always thought she would be with Jasper to better her kingdom. To be vulnerable with another person, the closest she ever opened up to anyone was Eryn.

Marina's cheeks suddenly reddened. She would never be with Eryn, not with Marina being a mermaid and her being a vampire. Plus... she was sure Eryn would never see her in that way.

A knock sounded at the door and Eryn poked her head in, "Sage and I are going to head out before—" She trailed over, catching Marina in her dress. Her eyes raked up and down Marina, before she cleared her throat, "We're heading out." She left without a second thought.

Lance smirked and gave a knowing look to Chris. He had never seen Eryn react like that before. He clapped his hands together and let out a happy exhale, "Alright, Marina are you ready?"