La Mer est Rouge [GxG]

She speaks!

Because Dad was coming back tomorrow, and I had to study for finals during the weekend, this was the only time I had to get close to Mer for a while.

Edina didn't visit me, Milo was busy with his large mammals, and my mom was probably still sulking at home. I was alone with my mermaid.

I walked into her habitat with a bucket of crab. At first, she didn't notice me. She continued swimming like a dolphin at the bottom of her pool, but her eyes shot at me when I plopped the bucket down on the coping of the pool.

She propelled herself forward with her tail and splashed me as she approached.

I giggled and looked at the water on my shirt. It didn't bother me, considering I always got water on my shirt.

"Excited to be fed?" I asked, but quickly realized that wasn't it. She was lonely.

I could see it in her eyes. Her pupils dilated like crazy, and she practically begged for attention.

"Hey, it's okay, kiddo. I'm here for you," I said, smiling at my words because she looked older than I did.

I knelt on the rough pool ground, ready to scrape my knee, and grabbed a chunk of slimy food for her. I reached out and waited for her to take it. However, to my surprise, she just stared at me from underwater.

I kept talking to myself, "Get out here!"

I thought I was going insane for trying to talk to her, for thinking she could understand me.

Then, she emerged. Her hair was thick with dripping water, but I could see the intricate braids on the top of her head. Her eyes pleaded, and her shoulders rolled forward to make her appear smaller than she was.

"Hello, gorgeous," I whispered. "Mer, I mean."

I laughed at myself, and she smiled. I caught a glimpse of her teeth, which turned out to create sharp shapes in her mouth. Her canines were thin, long, and sharp. The rest of her teeth were relatively the same size and shape as mine, but they were all light beige instead of white. It fit her though, especially her skin color. It was slightly darker than mine, which led me to believe she was from South America or even Africa.

No one knew where she originally came from. Our fisherman caught her right at the coast, and it was unlikely that she came from South Carolina. Who knows, though.

"Do you like the name Mer? I know it would make more sense to name you after the ocean or something, but that's not the prettiest word in French. Neither is Mer, in all honestly, but it's still cute. You remind me of the sea. Wait, you're like the Red Sea! Get it?" I blabbed on to myself.

She stared blankly at me, watching my lips as I talked. It was strange and oddly cute how she did that. Edina never stared at my lips while I talked because she rarely even looked at me anymore.

Don't get me wrong; she loves me, and she's a good girlfriend.

Finally, after I stopped talking, she reached her arm out and took the food. Her hand brushed against mine, and I could feel her tough skin scratching against mine. It wasn't quite like scales, but her skin was different. I liked it.

She ate the fish in front of me, and I watched her chew it for a few seconds before swallowing. Then, I grabbed another piece from the bucket and held it out to her. Her arms reached out to take the piece, but she stopped. The hesitation and anticipation killed me. Her eyes scanned me, watching my every twitch as my arm continued holding out her food. In the end, she didn't take it.

"Not hungry?" I asked and put the food back into the bucket.

She swam closer. Her hands grabbed up onto the edge of the pool, and she lifted herself up. Her head shot up, surprising me and causing me to fall backwards. I fell right onto my ass, which hurt like hell. My body felt like it was about to shatter, but Mer didn't seem to notice.