THE WATERS :: ZAYN

gills

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Solána examined the large glass tank before gulping and turning back to Zayn. She held Rhino in her arms -- like a baby -- and frowned.

"If you don't want to--"

"I do, I'm just...I'm just nervous."

"Take your time."

"Okay, don't look."

Zayn turned around and and shoved his hands in his pockets. Today, Solána was going to show him how she transformed into a mermaid. He didn't physically record it in video -- because he wanted to like, remember it and see it without making her feel uncomfortable -- but he was ready to write down any observations.

He heard her cough and turned around to see her taking his boxers off.

"Are you okay?" Zayn asked when it seemed like Solána was breathing unevenly. She put a hand to her chest and leaned against the tank.

"It's just, just getting ready to get in the water," she swallowed and started to climb the metal stairs that led into the tank, "water gets in my lungs and, Gosh."

"If you--"

"I'm fine," she replied shakily, sitting at the edge of the tank, "just pay close attention, okay?"

"Okay," Zayn frowned as he watched her hang upside down under the water. Her hair surrounded her head in the water and her eyes stay closed. Her gills were flapping even faster, trying to get some water and start breathing.

Zayn watched in fascination at her brown skin looking like it was crystallizing, especially her lower half. Her legs were starting to fuse and Zayn could tell it hurt just by the faces she was making. As they were fusing, dark colored scales started to appear and her feet grew into a long pair of tail fins.

Rhino circled around the tank, his whimpers getting louder with every second.

"Hey, shut up," Zayn beckoned him over and made him sit down, "chill."

He barked and Solána abruptly opened her eyes, her usually brown irises now a dark purple and bright. She was fully submerged under the water and swimming about.

"Crazy," Zayn whispered, stepping up to the glass and meeting her. She put her hands against the glass to show her nails, which grew a few millimeters in length and were now the same color as her eyes.

She grinned and swam to the top, finally breathing above air and hanging over the brim of the tank. "It really hurt to do that."

"That's amazing," Zayn's interest only heightened, his eyes twinkled as he watched her tail wave around under the water, "how do you feel?"

"I haven't been in human form for that long since before I died," she replied, "going back into a mermaid feels so strange. But I'm okay."

"Good."

"How are you?"

"I'm good, Solána." He chuckled.

"Good," she kept smiling and Zayn did too. He looked down and noticed his boxers were on the ground and the tank top was still around her body.

She followed his eyes and facepalmed. "Wow, I forgot about that." She pulled the tank top off to expose her upper body, which only jewel encrusted around the chest area. "I feel so naked without my jewelry."

"I saved it," he totally forgot about that.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he walked over to one of the cabinets, pulling out a jar that held every last piece of her jewelry.

"Thank you so much!" she moved to sit at the edge of the tank again. "If you wanna see something cool, look at this. Come closer."

Zayn walked up the stairs and sat beside her, watching her set shells on her arm. There were three small ones on her skin.

"What are you -- ew," he grimaced when her skin fused with the shell, making it a permanent part of her skin -- well, until she turned back human. "What the fuck, Solána?"

"There's supposed to be one at my rib, see?" she pointed to a mark on her side that Zayn honestly thought was a mole, but it was shaped like a small shell and he mentally awwed. "I can't find it, though."

"Is it..." he pulled out a smaller shell and held it up, "this one?"

"Yeah," she said slowly, frowning at it, "it glows when it's on my skin."

"Show me," he ordered with a grin, totally hype that he got to witness this.

"Okay," she pressed the shell to her side and sure enough, if stuck to her skin and started flowing a deep, deep bluish color, "see?"

"That's so wicked," he marveled at her skin, staring at the wheel and smiling, "you're a beautiful person, Solána."

"Shut up."

"Seriously--"

"Did you know," she began, hopping in the tank but keeping her neck above water, "I used to think you were a mermaid."

"What?" he repeated incredulously, "you thought I was a mermaid?"

"Yes," she giggled and it was so cute, "because your skin looked so smooth to the touch and your face is flawless, man."

He blushed, looking at the jar which still contained a few pieces of her jewelry. "Stop."

"Zayn..."

"What?"

"You are really handsome," she smiled brightly, lying back on the surface of the water, "that's why I wonder why you're so alone."

"What made you realize I wasn't a mermaid?"

"Uh, a little after I hit you that first time," she admitted with closed eyes, "and you didn't heal on your own. I was so confused."

He chuckled, staring at the jewels around her chest. "Nah, I'm not mermaid. I was just a lonely man."

"You don't feel lonely now?" she opened one eye and stared at him.

Zayn just shook his head, his smile getting bigger as he kept looking at her. "Nah, nah. I have you now."

"You do have me now," she smiled also, her eyes now closed in complete bliss, "because this human thing isn't so bad."

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❤️✨