THE WATERS :: ZAYN

condoms

???

"Wait, so how do mermaids have sex?"

Solána stared him up and down before moving back to what she was doing, drawing his face.

"Did you hear--"

"Loud and clear," she said it in a weird way that made Zayn chuckle, chewing on his toothpick and staring at the TV.

"So..."

"So what?"

"How--"

"Zayn, we'll have this talk when you're older."

"That's no fair, you're like a hundred and some change and I'm only twenty four."

"Okay?" she lowered her neck and rolled her eyes, "and?"

"Sassy Solána," he slouched in the cushion and looked at her side profile, "you done yet?"

"No, not yet. Almost."

"So tell me how mermaids have sex."

"What are you trying to get into?" she laughed at him and erased something on the paper.

"Nothing, just wondering, ya know? You don't exactly have lower parts when in the water."

"We do," she clarified with a smile, "dummy. Anyway, I think we can either have sex on land and in the ocean. The ocean is like, less, less romantic, I guess. We breed like how regular fish breed. But on land all our parts are there so it's all good."

"What? So in the water y'all do that whole swim by the eggs type of thing? Gross."

"Sometimes. I'm not so keen on that one. That way is mostly if you're trying to just solely have a baby. There are no...what's those things? Condoms? There's no condoms in the ocean."

"Yikes."

"Yeah -- oh! Funny story."

"Shoot."

"Wait, first here," she handing him the sketchbook and his eyes widened in surprise.

"So much detail," his thumb grazed over the pencil drawing of his face and Solána smiled, "this is amazing, baby."

"Really?" she leaned over to view the drawing also and pointed to one of his eyes, "look, I got that little freckle thing that I like."

"You did. Seriously, this is amazing, Solána."

"Thank you, Zayn," she grinned from ear to ear and he smiled in awe. He puckered his lips and she kissed him briefly before leaning on his shoulder. "Okay, my funny story."

"Go 'head."

"Alright, so, I had made a friend!" she said animatedly while he just smiled, "it was back in...nineteen twenty....four, I think. And me and this other girl were swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, I think it was. I don't know, but we were wondering the same thing, like, how do they have sex? And we swam close to the reefs and noticed all these merpeople gathered in a group...Zayn. They were having sex."

"Wait what?"

"With each orher," she clarified with a face, "I was so scary and they asked if we wanted to join--"

"Solána, this is not real--"

"I actually cried and swam so fast away I accidentally left the girl behind. Why was she so happy to be there, I don't know. Long story short, she has about forty different children with goodness knows how many men. It was gross and too Caucasian for my liking. I think...I might have been the only black mermaid at that time. I saw a few a couple years ago but I might be the darkest."

"And the most beautiful," Zayn chimed with a breathtaking smile, "to me, most definitely."

"Shut up."

"Damn, take a compliment, Solána."

"I can't," she whined, "my instant defense mechanism is to be rude as heck. Thanks, though."

"You're welcome," Zayn wrapped his arms around her waist and put his hands in her back pockets, "Wait, but how do you give birth?"

"Zayn," she giggled, "please--"

"I'm so serious--"

"I've never experienced any of that, Zayn," she shook her head, "I mean, not birthing and stuff."

"So you've had sex--"

"Of course, oh my goodness," she facepalmed and he just grinned, knowing she was getting worked up by his goofiness, "mermaids have sex recreationally."

"Really? What about that mating bond thing I read in the book?"

"That's true, but...it's not the first person you have sex with that's crazy. Mermaids do get attached easily and we do escalate rather quickly in our relationships but it's also not love at first sight, if that makes sense. Like, I think I've only had sex with two people this whole time."

"You've only had sex twice out of all these years? he asked in surprise.

"I didn't say that," she hummed, taking the sketchbook again and flipping to a new page, "but I had boyfriends and a very active life--"

"Nah, nevermind," he slouched in his seat and crossed his arms.

"Jealous?" she asked knowingly.

"Fuck yes," he huffed and she giggled, "I don't need to know about that shit."

"Adorable," she hummed and slouched also, mimicking him, "mermaid sex is so weird. Like there's so many different ways to do it. So confusing."

"You've tried them all?"

"No--"

"What a freak," Zayn wiggled his eyebrows and Solána groaned at him, "nasty."

"Shut up," she huffed at him, "you're so annoying, goodness."

"Goodness gracious," Zayn mocked and changed the channel on the TV, "you're so adorable."

"Shut up!" she hit him with a pillow repeatedly, until she gave up and walked away from him. Zayn followed her and caught her hips at the stairs. "Zayn."

"Yes?"

"Have you had sex before?" she asked genuinely but Zayn had no idea why that turned him on so much.

"Yeah, like...before I moved out here I had a girl. But yeah...I used to have one night stands, as heartless as that sounds."

"What are those?"

"Like, you first meet someone and have sex then drop them the next day."

"What?" she scrunched her nose.

"It's like a hit and run. We have sex then we leave each other alone forever."

"Oh," she still made the face. Zayn plucked her nose and she mellowed out, clinging to him and smiling hard. "That's interesting how times have changed. Everything is sort of coming back in full circle."

"That's what my mama says," Zayn stared, sitting back down with the mermaid on top, "she says everything is a cycle. People are now wearing shit that they used to wear like, in the seventies and shit."

"Stop cussing," she put a finger to his lips and grimaced, "Zayn..."

"What I do?"

"What don't you do?"

???

😬😬😬 these are my parents just wait to see what happens omg I love them