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Fish out of Water [ Missed & Dev ]

Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt him kiss her back while pulling her close to him. With what had happened earlier she half expected him to faint from embarrassment or just die of shock. While that would be very embarrassing explaining to the neighbors where that dead fish smell was coming from it would be even worse calling the paramedics and having to explain why there was a merman floating belly up in her pool. At least she wouldn't have to give him a twenty flush salute like she'd had to do with her goldfish.

Her arms went up and gently wrapped around his shoulders as her feet stopped kicking and merely letting the force of his tail keep them both up. Sera was at least glad that he didn't try and go under water which would have ended up with her belly up in the pool.

The girl wasn't sure just what to think at this moment with her lips pressed against his and her hand brushing up against his hair. It felt nice, different but nice. His skin was cold to her touch and she'd have to make a mental note to ask him later if he was warm blooded or cold blooded. It was all so strange though. She had meant it innocent enough but as she felt his hand tighten against her waist and her lips press harder against his it was turning less and less innocent by the second.

Enhar had said that sometimes the mermaids would meet up with sailors but he was an entirely different species altogether dammit! Would this technically be considered bestiality since he wasn't technically a human?

Dammit, shut up brain!

Sera let out a small squeak as she felt his tongue flick out against her. With how he was earlier she didn't think he'd actually have the courage to do that but it wasn't like she was complaining.

"Mhm, strange. Not in a bad way though." Sera finally said as he pulled away. Licking her own lips she thought she could actually taste him on the pink flesh. It tasted almost like salt water taffy. They were only a few millimeters away and her nose brushed against his as green eyes peered into green. There was definitely still mischief in her eyes as she looked at him with a smile. Her feet brushed up against his tail and her arms were still slung around his shoulders as she let out a small breath.

"So was this all just part of some sinister plan?" Sera asked as she chuckled slightly. "Did you get captured on purpose just to take advantage of a random human?" Ok so it had really been her who had taken advantage of him but that didn't mean she couldn't tease him about it. "You brazen siren hussy." She couldn't help but giggle at that part as she placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

It was strange being in the arms of a merman while he kept them afloat in the pool but for some reason it actually felt pretty nice. By all means she should have been cold in the water but she could feel the heat building up in her body.
 
Well, he did know how to kiss. Enhar wasn't a complete social outcast! His charms had netted at least one mermaid, and he certainly knew what to do once things got past the initial horribly awkward stage.

There were stories about those of his kind who had been with humans. Some were comedies, about all the problems that two beings of different elements would have when trying to consume their love. Most, however, were tragedies about lives that could not be lived together, and the longing for sea. Perhaps those were cautionary tales, that should warn him off kissing Sera entirely...? There was no such thing as an innocent kiss.

It was peculiarly easy to hold her up against him – Sera's skin felt almost as if she was burning against him, she was so warm. How very strange indeed. Her breasts were squishy against his chest, and the pieces of cloth were strangely irritating. Was the point of them to increase someone's curiosity?

“No!” he replied quickly. “I did not intend to be captured at all...” Enhar had only really wanted to come to the harbour and take a good look at the ship and at the shops and cafés at the shore.

“Oh. You are joking again,” he realised, but not before he blushed again and dropped slightly in the water. Apparently she really liked making fun of him now. Most likely his own fault. He was a tiny bit tempted to just drop her. There were only so many dents his ego could take.

“This is terribly, uh...” Enhar was trying to work it out. “Well, you are human,” he practically whined. How was he supposed to know what to do with her? His education had not covered it. It was generally accepted that humans were best avoided, because they seemed to love meddling in everything they found. Wasn't like the old times!

“I am very grateful for my life, though.” Just in case that what he'd just said might be construed as an insult. “And I am willing to show my gratitude.” It was only a moment after that he realised how what he'd just said might have been interpreted. Well, dammit. He was, if he knew that expression, digging his own grave here.
 
It felt so strange being pressed up against him like that. Every so often her feet would brush up against his tail and she would be reminded of the very fish like part of him even if the skin on his arms felt more like flesh then scales. It was like two different being fused into one and her sense were getting confused trying to sort it all out.

"Err, yeah, it was a joke." Sera said weakly as she watched him try to defense himself before realizing that it was all a jest. She had to admit that Enhar could be a little...thick. No doubt human humor went over his head and hadn't exactly been covered in his education. Too bad though, it would have been a nice lesson to fit in between cleaning your scales and stalking schools of shrimp 101.

She'd have to be more careful with what she said and how she said it. The poor merman was putting up with quite a bit of abuse on her part and she'd have to be careful not push him right over the edge causing him to lose whatever pride he had left.

"No, really? I'm human?" Well, so much for her trying to take it easy on him. The girl winced slightly as she realized just what she had said. Sometimes the words escaped her before her brain could tell her not to and the sarcastic comments just seemed to slip out even when she didn't want them to.

At his next comment though she really did try not to laugh. The girl bit her lip to stop from giggling and even clamped a hand over her mouth just to try and save him from the embarrassment of what he had just said. Really, she did try but there are some thing you just can't stop from happening. Before she knew what was happening Sera threw her hair back and let out a loud laugh as her mind started processing all the second meanings his words could have. No doubt he meant it in the most innocent way possible but dammit she was having too much fun going over all the possibilities.

"Oh? And just how are you going to show your gratitude?" Sera asked with a wicked grin on her face. Her hand moved over his chest brushing against his nipple under the water.

Leaning in her chest was pressed against his as she murmured in his ear. "What exactly did you have in mind?" Her lips brushed against his ear before a pink tongue darted out and gave him a quick lick.

So much for her plan of taking it easy on him.
 
“I had never met a human before,” Enhar tried to defend himself further. Of course he was nervous! He didn't want to look either crazy or stupid, though it did look like he was failing at at least one of them. It was easier to meet the cat – it didn't talk and ask silly questions and make him go this colour.

Okay, okay, she was laughing at him again... He could deal.

Wait, was she touching his nipple on purpose?

Was she now flirting?

His face was, for a moment, a shocked 'o'. Yes, he supposed it did sound as if he had just made a sexual proposition. One day, he might learn to think a bit more about what he was saying. He shivered delicately when she licked his ear – apparently ticklish there. The fact that he definitely did not drop her now did say quite a lot.

“Ah, well...” For once, he thought about his words. “I would say that, perhaps, because you are a lady, you should have the privilege of choosing.”

There, now he was giving it all back to her. Maybe she would have some ideas, or maybe even drop it... Anyway, if he thought about it, would he even know how to do it with a human? How different was it? It really was good that he was feeling too awkward and embarrassed to get a hard-on, because that was the only way that things could possibly get worse.
 
Sera giggled as she felt his shiver under her touch after she licked him. It made the girl wonder just how sensitive his skin really was when it came to touch. If she spent enough time in the water her skin practically went numb but it looked as if his nerve endings were wired differently if he could survive in even cold temperatures. It was just another thing that was very different about them and only caused her mind to tell the rest of her body to cut this out before things got out of hand. Enhar was practically like a little kid when it came to human interactions and while she might be having fun teasing him he might not see it as that much of a joke. Poor guy was probably getting tired of blushing so much.

"Hm, what can you do to show your gratitude..." The girl said as if in deep thought over the subject. This was just too good of a chance to pass it up even if the moral part of her mind was telling her to cut this out right now. They were two different species for Christ sake and the lower half of him was still very very fishy. This wasn't some Disney movie where everyone lived happily ever after and her actions could have serious consequences.

"Yoo hoo!"

Of course before she could say anything she heard that voice coming from the other side of the fence as an arm was waving while someone was trying to peek over the little barrier she had set up. With only seconds to spare, Sera put both hands on Enhar's shoulders and pushed him down into the water with all her might. Merpeople couldn't drown could they? Or had he been on the surface so long that his lungs wouldn't be used to filtering the oxygen out of the water?

"Err... hi Mrs. Feeny." Sera said weakly as she kept her hands on his shoulders as a sign that he should stay in the water and out of sight. It would be awkward enough explaining to the elderly woman just why she was swimming around with a boy but when you brought in the fact that said boy happened to be attached to a tail it only served to make things a thousand times worse.

The woman chatted for a couple of minutes asking Sera why she had put up the canvas with the girl trying to make up some half decent excuse the older woman finally seemed satisfied and walked into her own house. Sera let out a deep breath of relief before realizing that she still had Enhar firmly under the water in what she guess wasn't a very comfortable position. Pulling her hands off of him she gently tugged at him to tell him it was safe to go back up.

"I'm so sorry. I kind of freaked out and that was the first thing I could think of." Sera said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. He probably thought she was completely crazy by now.
 
Enhar's skin was a strange thing – he could sense the faintest currents and differences of water temperature through it. It was vital for his underwater navigation. Above water it was... Different, but still sensitive. Always had felt so strange when it was dry, but not really uncomfortable. Took a bit to get used to.

What was he meant to do with someone like Sera? He didn't even know if it worked the same way – this was so damn embarrassing. Would have been so much easier with someone of his own kind. He could have swam in circles around her, and well, if she didn't run off they would be on the same page, and it would all be clear. Their teasing was not so much in words, but almost in a dance, a delicate choreography of flashing fins and scales, almost touching but not quite until invited... He could do that for Sera, but would she understand?

Enhar was thinking, trying to make a decision – because he was certainly not blunt and crass, dammit, he was not that sort of man at all... If he was going to court someone, then this had been a horrible start for it.

Whether it was lucky or not that she just shoved him under, he would never be able to tell.

No, he certainly couldn't drown. Enhar merely inhaled the water when he needed to – couldn't hold his breath for terribly long, it not being necessary at all for him to ever have practised. Luckily for Sera, he got the hint that he should hide and stay under, because he could have easily slid under and out of her hold. He could feel some of the vibrations from the conversation above him, but the other woman's voice was far too faint for him to make out any of the contents. Enhar did not really know about nosy neighbours. He simply accepted that one's clan would probably end up knowing all of the affairs of its members.

He came up when she pulled him up, needing to cough out the water before he could speak this language again. It was never a very pretty thing: getting out enough water to be able to breathe air was a mixture of coughing and letting the water out of his gills before they'd seal again. Seeing him spread the the goo his lungs produced on his gills to seal them was the probably the most inhuman thing she'd seen him do. The adjustment was not really terribly fast.

“Freaked out why?” he asked finally, when he could. “Did I embarrass you?”
 
Sera turned her head slightly to give him some sort of privacy as he emerged from the water and started coughing and his gills started closing up. It seemed like something very private to her and she shifted her eyes so he could at least do it in peace. It also helped to remind her that no matter how much she enjoyed talking to Enhar he was still very different from a human.

"No. Not embarrassed." She answered quickly in case he thought so and it was hurting his feelings. How does one go about explaining to someone that they aren't even supposed to exist outside of stories and movies? That if people found out they really did exist there would be a lot of hassle and possibly danger in the corner. Humans were always very inquisitive but they took things too far and would have no problem locking him up and studying him or even dissecting him just to see how he worked.

"Not everyone would react to you the same way I did. Some humans can be very mean and if news about you got out they could try and come here and harm you." Her explanation was half hearted at best but it was as good as she could do given the current situation. It wold be damned near impossible to explain human mentality to a merman who was only now having his first real experience with a human.

"For the most part we're not very bad as a species but there are always those out there who would do anything and hurt anyone for money. You aren't supposed to exist Enhar, and if people found out you did then who knew what would happen." She gave a heavy sigh as she rubbed her temples feeling a headache approaching and fast.

What the hell was she doing? He wasn't a cat like Mika that she could keep around as a pet and play with. Enhar was a sentinel being and the longer he stayed away from his home the more danger he was put into. She'd been far too careless so far and would have to take more precautions around him.
 
Sera looked away while he was doing that... Interesting. Enhar wasn't really sure what he could make of that. “Do you find it disgusting?” he had to ask. It was a common reflex feeling for something that was very different: maybe she felt the same disgust as they did towards the creatures of the deepest ocean, those colourless and vile things. He had to wonder how humans might look at him – they did not, after all, have those fragile slits on their chests, or the mucus... He had observed from afar, and he had now felt the smooth, unbroken skin that she had. It was curious, their differences.

“Like the kraken,” he suggested thoughtfully. “We tell stories about it, but should we ever meet it, we do not know what we would do...” Probably flee in terror. Maybe it was not such a good analogy. “Not supposed to exist...” he repeated vaguely. Sera had mentioned this before, but he did not understand that at all. Was she afraid for him? Enhar did not really know how to reassure her, since he did not know what it is he should fear.

“I am sorry,” he said finally, “I do not think I understand.” He could see the frustration on her face, and that she was explaining almost as if to a child... If he could understand humans, he would have found the way she said it almost patronising. Within any tribe, a few individuals would not be kind. It was not as if his race was wonderful: occasionally diplomacy failed, and then bloody wars exploded. The only difference was their biggest weapons were still their claws and sharpened tools, so the damage tended to be limited to the field of battle.

He let himself fall down into the water until only his eyes and nose were above the water level, his hair spreading out around him. This was so awkward, and he was starting to feel like an idiot in front of her. It was not what he wanted at all. Wonderful, he met a human, and all he could show was his stupidity and ignorance.

“Perhaps you should take a rest,” he suggested, watching the way she rubbed her head. It wasn't as if she needed to entertain him... And it must have been hard work lugging him around for her.
 
"No, not disgusting. I just wasn't sure if it was something private or something you wouldn't want me to see." Great, even when she tried to be a bit more polite she managed to insult him even more. It's not like she had ever seen anyone with gills before so her knowledge of how to react around someone who had them was fairly limited. It was strangely fascinating through to see the slits on his chest that he needed to survive under water. Just one of the many differences between them that she happened to have forgotten about while talking to him.

"No, it's my fault. I'm not very good at explaining this sorts of things." Sera exhaled in frustration as her thoughts got more and more muddled with each passing minute. It seemed like every time she tried explaining things to him she just somehow made it even more difficult for him to understand. He wasn't a monster like a kraken but there were some people out there who would probably put him on that level anyway.

Leaning back she looked up at the sky as the sun began to set and the moon peeked out from behind a few clouds. "You and I, we're really different aren't we?" It seemed like she was asking herself that more then she was him. They spoke the same tongue and from certain angles he could possibly pass for a human with strange colored hair but that didn't change the fact that they were from two very different worlds.

"I think you're right. It's been a long day and you're probably tired as well." With that Sera swam over to the edge of the pool and pulled herself up and onto dry land. Walking over to one of the bins she kept out there she grabbed a towel and started rubbing herself dry. It really had been a long day and right now she just wanted to take a warm bath before heading off to sleep. Who knows, maybe this was all a dream?

"Do you need anything to sleep? Do you want me to turn up the temperature or get you a blanket or something?" Just one more thing that she had no clue about regarding Enhar.
 
Hiding his gills would make about as much sense as a human hiding their nose. Hard to conceal breathing, after all! “You can look, if you like,” Enhar said. “You can touch, if you like, too... If you are gentle.” They were very sensitive, after all, with many tiny blood vessels close to the surface. It would be easy to damage, and would no doubt lead to a lot of bleeding if that happened.

“Yes, we are,” he agreed. Different species, different cultures, entirely different lives. They were alien to each other. “But at least you are very beautiful, it makes things easier,” he added, flattering. He wasn't lying, so it was not a wrong thing to say... Enhar was trying to make her frown go away. It wasn't reassuring.

He watched her walk at the side of the pool with utter fascination, swimming over to the edge and leaning against it. Never did he really get the opportunity to see human legs up so close. So interesting! So strangely different. He would love to poke her toes and feet. As of yet, he was far too shy to ask, though.

“No, I do not need anything,” he replied, unable to resist laughing. Enhar could sleep either in mid-water, flicking his tail to keep in roughly in the same position, or letting himself sink to the sea floor. He would no doubt be taking the latter approach here... He'd probably end up hitting the side of the pool if he tried the latter. “I will sleep in the water, I think. It is better for my wounds.”

“I do not even know what a blanket is!” he said, smiling up at her, folding his arms on the side of the pool and leaning his chin on them.
 
Sera let out a laugh as she rubbed the towel over her body before bending down to pick up the clothes she had left on the pavement. "Beautiful huh? Well since you have so much experience with female humans I'll take that as a compliment." It did make her wonder just what his perception of beauty actually was. Not like she had a tail or gills like a mermaid that he could base it on. "I do have to say that of all the mermen I've come in contact with you are by far the cutest." She gave him a small wink at that.

"Mhm, the sooner you heal the sooner you get to escape the clutches of the evil human who is keeping you captive." She joked as she bent down so he wouldn't have to strain his neck looking up at her. Water was dripping off her hair and being out of the warm pool a small shiver went up her back from the cold air coming in contact with her wet skin.

"No, I guess you wouldn't know what a blanket is." Sera smacked herself lightly on the head in a sort of 'duh' gesture before grinning down at him sheepishly. There were a lot of things she used that he would never have come in contact with. Now she really was curious as to what he'd think when he saw an airplane overhead or heard cars driving by on the street. He'd probably seen them before but never really gotten a good explanation as to what they were and how they functioned.

"Well then I bid you a good night." With that she bent down an placed a small kiss on his forehead before gathering her things and making her way back towards the house. Hopefully Enhar would be ok in the pool until morning even if it was smaller then what he was used to. One really can't compare a little backyard pool to the whole ocean.

Giving him a slight wave she closed the door behind her and headed back upstairs. There was still a mess on the carpet from before but she'd clean it up when she wasn't so tired. After running a hot shower and getting cleaned up, Sera changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed where Mika was already waiting for her. As she closed her eyes there was a part of her that believed this entire day had been nothing more then a dream and that she'd wake up tomorrow with things being back to normal.

For some reason that thought made her a sadder then she would have assumed.
 
It always was fascinating how land animals and humans always preferred to be dry. The water was never really that cold to him, only really in the Arctic or when he dove very deep could he feel it begin to bite. He never felt particularly hot, either. After hours of sunning he would only feel pleasantly warm.

“I am glad to hear that,” he said with a little laugh. Escape? Did he even really want to? This was by far the most interesting day he'd had in a long time. He had learned much and had fun talking to Sera. But no doubt this pool would get small, and... Probably smelly.

“Good night,” he responded, a little surprised but still smiling at the little kiss. He waved back at her.

At least, the pool was safe. He could relax fully and sleep deeply, rather than slumber, still smelling the water for bigger predators. Sadly, the merfolk were not quite the top of the foodchain. Large sharks and things like killer whales sometimes fancied a larger meal. And if you liked hanging around in the far north, there were also bears that didn't discriminate. He breathed out air and breathed in water, not really knowing how to sleep above water. He had never done it, never even tried it. He let himself sink close to the bottom, and just floated there with little automatic movements of tail and hands, even though his eyes were closed and he had fallen asleep. (One advantage of mermen – they didn't snore!) He twitched and moved a little further, according to his dreams.

Enhar did, however, need less sleep than humans did. He woke when the sun hit the pool, and he couldn't resist surfacing again. Swimming a few lengths was... Not that interesting. The grass, however was. He pulled himself out of the pool and dragged himself over to a sunny patch. Surprisingly soft, this green stuff was, and he'd always liked lying on it, when he could. He folded out his fin, folded his arms and laid his hands on it, dozing a little. Warmth was nice on his scales.
 
All things considered Sera actually had a very peaceful slumber in her bed. She must have been too worn out from everything that had happened earlier in the day to toss and turn while she processed it in her mind. Her chest rose and fell gently under the light blanket as she had dreams of a world under the deep blue liquid that surrounded them. In her mind's eye she saw fish and dolphins swimming around as all the colors flooded her eyes and surrounded her senses. It almost seemed as if she could feel the water around her lifting her up and making her float. In her bed she was actually smiling peacefully content with her dreams.

Hours later the early morning light filtered in through her curtains causing the girl to stir as the sunlight hit her eyes. Pushing herself in an upright positions she rubbed her eyes as she tried to get rid of the last lingering drowsiness the persisted. With a yawn and a stretch she got up off her bed and walked over to the window opening the curtains and looking down. Her eyes registered surprise at the empty pool and she really did wonder if yesterday had been all a dream but looking to the left she could see a trail of water leading to a sleeping figure on the grass.

It hadn't been a dream. There really was a merman in her backyard.

After taking a quick shower she changed into a loose dress before heading down to the kitchen to make something for breakfast. Enhar always seemed to be fascinated by human food so she dug through her fridge and find something that he might like. After some more digging she turned on the skillet and started making some eggs and bacon. He'd probably had eggs of some sort before but she doubted he'd ever had chicken eggs or eaten bacon before. It really did make her wonder what his diet usually consisted of.

Once all the food was ready she put it on a tray with some milk and toast as well as cookies before heading outside with Mika following behind her. He seemed to be content under the warm sun while lying on the soft grass and it looked like he was dozing off as well. Putting the tray down on the the pavement she sat down on the grass next to him before poking him gently on the side.

"Wake up sleeping beauty." Sera said with a small giggle before leaning down and kissing him on the lips. Probably not the wake up call that Enhar was used to but it was funny to her.
 
Enhar hadn't realised that he'd actually fall asleep. The sun was warm, the grass was soft, and he found that he was dreaming of shallow tropical waters and coral reefs and of the tiny bright coloured fish. He was tired, and his injuries did feel so much better under the sun's warmth.

He jerked awake when she poked him, and he did look terribly surprised at the kiss, but also a little pleased, even if he was going greener yet again. “Sorry!” he said, apologising for his initial reaction, “I fell asleep. It's nice and warm.” Probably still a little chilly for her, actually, but to someone used to deep waters, it was a little like lying down in a warm bath. Afternoon sun was more like finding one of those seeps of hot water near faultlines and floating in that, except without the vile chemicals. He'd probably want to be back in the water by then.

He pulled himself up, a little strangely. Enhar's body was not made for sitting in the same way as she could. He had to coil his tail under himself to be able to support his body, and then straighten up his spine. Technically it was all spine, from the tip of his tail to the end of his neck... No doubt his hips were differently shaped than human ones.

It took a little while for his eyes to adjust after being asleep. While looking in her direction, he had to blink several times before he could actually see her. His pupils were apparently less reactive, and also, with the sun at this angle, everything was very bright for him.

He glanced towards the food, as soon as he thought it might be polite to look away from her. The smells were very intriguing... “What are these things?” The red and white stuff did not seem so terribly appetising to him, but he still wanted to know.
 
Sera quirked her eyebrow at the warm comment considering it was still pretty early in the morning and she had a light sweater on over the dress. Sure it wasn't freezing but it wasn't what she would call warm either. "Are you warm blooded or cold blooded?" She blurted out, unable to stop herself from asking the question that had been on her mind since yesterday. It was just another thing that separated them but today, unlike yesterday, she was eager to learn more about him. Yesterday she'd just been concerned about keeping him alive but it seemed like his wounds were healing well and it dawned on her that this was a rare opportunity to actually learn something.

She chuckled slightly as she watched him coil his tail under him and it reminded her of those old movies where prim and proper ladies would tuck their legs under them before laying out the skirts of their dresses to appear as dainty as possible. No doubt Enhar did it for a more practical reason but that didn't stop the mental image from forming.

It seemed to take him a bit to actually be able to see her and looking up she wondered if the sun was too much for him. From what little attention she'd actually paid in class she knew that some fish were ultra sensitive to light in order to survive better in the dark depths of the ocean and some others were almost completely blind. He didn't have any problems seeing her yesterday so maybe it just took time for his eyes to adjust.

"Well, those are eggs with bacon. The eggs come from a chicken and the bacon from a pig." Again she found herself explaining something she'd never thought she'd have to do before. "There's also toast, heated bread, as well as some strawberry jam which makes the toast taste sweeter. Then there is milk for you to drink." Carefully she pointed out all the food one by one to make sure he knew what she was talking about. Picking up a plate for herself she spread some jam on her toast and started eating while watching to see what he would do next.

"So how are you feeling anyway? It looks like your wounds are healing." Peering at his body she made a mental note that some of the bruises had vanished and the cuts weren't bleeding anymore. It was amazing that he didn't need stitches or anything but he did seem better off then yesterday.
 
“I am not sure,” he said, in answer to the cold or warm blooded question. “Something in between, I think. Our blood is not hot like that of a seal or a dolphin, but it isn't cold.” Enhar merely had a far wider tolerance of temperatures than most other creatures. He couldn't freeze, at least. Not even in the coldest of waters. He certainly did enjoy basking when he visited warmer climes, just like sea turtles did on the sands. It made him all slow and dozy.

“Why are they that colour?” he asked of the eggs, having never seen one cooked before. His people did sometimes steal eggs from low nests, and ate them raw. He was used to seeing the whites as clear, not... Well, white.

He picked up a piece of bacon in between the tips of his nails and raised it to his nose, sniffing at it curiously that was... Interesting. The colour reminded him of tuna. Smelled a little bit of smoke, and of meat. The white was obviously fat. He was examining it as closely as a scientist might, dubious that something that looked like that could smell so good. He nibbled on it reluctantly, his face certainly a little baffled. “Huh.” He'd also apparently forgotten yesterday's lesson in cutlery.

“Milk?” Enhar looked faintly horrified, like she'd just suggested a highly deviant sexual practice. Only babies drank milk. And where did it come from? He wasn't sure that he wanted to think about that...

“Yes, I am a little better,” he replied quickly, to steer away from that topic. He could already see that there would be scars, and that the scales wouldn't grow back quite right, and that the new skin would no doubt be paler. There was still pain deep in the muscle from his struggles, and that might take a little long, well after the surface had healed. Under water, surface wounded needed to heal fast, lest they attract predators. With other things, the body could take its time.
 
Well, she really couldn't expect an answer in normal human terms anyway. There was still so much that science didn't know about and her knowledge of biology was limited so it did seem to make more sense for him being somewhere in the middle. At least that meant she wouldn't have to worry about him freezing in the pool in some freak snow storm or boiling in the pool when it got insanely hot.

"They're that color because they're cooked. It's dangerous for us to eat them if they're not cooked because the bacteria can make us sick." She couldn't believe that someone had just asked her why eggs were the color they were. Of course Enhar wouldn't be used to cooked food considering it would be incredibly difficult to light a fire under the water. Still, it made her wonder just how much his digestive system could take and if she should be more careful with what she fed him in case it didn't agree with him.

Sera really did have to giggle as she watched him pick up the bacon and sniff it before actually bothering to give it a try. No doubt pigs were hard to come by so bacon was something new to him. It was pretty cute to see his face after he tried it even if he didn't bother touching any of the forks or knives she'd brought out.

"Yeah...milk." Sera wondered if she had said something strange because the look he gave her when she mentioned it seemed to horrify him. "What we're drinking came from cows. It's a staple in most human diets because it helps make our bones stronger. At least that's what my mom told me to get me to drink it." With that Sera picked up her own glass of milk and took a large sip. "Why? Don't you guys drink milk?"

Well, he was better now but she still didn't know the extent of which he was damaged. Not like she could get a doctor to come by and take a look or put him under an x-ray to see if anything was broken. Still, as long as he wasn't bleeding and had been able to drag himself out of the pool and onto the grass she considered it an improvement.
 
“Interesting...” he mused, now considering the eggs. “I heard that your people cook things because you cannot digest them raw.” His own stomach was used to raw food, probably more to meat than to plant materials. “We cannot eat too many plants...” Enhar said, considering. Too many vegetables was the only thing that would probably make him sick, or rotting food, in the same way that humans would get ill. He could take care of himself though, unlike an animal. (Though, perhaps, it was possible for his curiosity to get better of him.)

Enhar did not know how to try the egg with his hands, and that was the point that he realised that there was cutlery! If only he could remember how to use it... The prongy thing was for poking things, right? He tried to do that, but on his first two attempts the piece of egg just slid off. In the end he just balanced it awkwardly on the fork, and finally managed to get it into his mouth. “That is... Strange.” He did not seem particularly impressed by it, nor did he seem interested in taking any more of the egg, instead picking up another piece of bacon as if to get rid of the taste. He was liking the meat. It tasted very different from fish, richer, maybe? He didn't quite know how to describe it.

“No! Only unweaned children drink milk,” he said, still a tiny bit horrified at the concept, and looking at her very strangely as she drank it. Not only did adult humans drink milk, but also milk from other animals? He shuddered very delicately. “That is very odd to me,” he finally said, obviously trying to be polite. It seemed perverse to Enhar.

“What do you do with this stuff?” he asked, pointing at the jam. It seemed entirely the wrong texture to pick up, and it was a rather weird colour. He could smell the sugar in it, and was curious. Sweet things were rare.
 
"Yeah, pretty much. If we eat them raw then its havoc on our digestive system." Sera said with a nod wondering just how he was able to deal with raw food. Obviously they were better at it considering everything he ate was raw but would that translate to him not being able to handle cooked meat? "I can't eat too many plants either but that's mostly because they taste pretty bad to me. My intake of green things tends to be pretty limited." Another pet peeve that her mother had been trying to break her out of over the years. Sera could pretty much survive on fast food and take out even if she would consume the occasional vegetable once in a blue moon.

She chuckled behind her hand as she watched him pick the fork up and try to skewer the egg before finally just having it balance on the fork. It really was like watching a little baby dealing with a fork and try as she might she couldn't stop laughing at it. "Sure, interesting." Sera said as she picked up some egg herself and plopped it on her mouth. There were a few people that didn't like egg mostly because of the cholesterol but for someone who lives in the water they probably had no business eating chicken eggs.

"Well, unweaned children drink it here too but we pretty much drink it all our lives. It's not as creepy as it sounds. A lot of human history deals in a time where they didn't have access to fresh water to drink. So instead of dehydrating they'd drink cow milk in order to survive. It's just been passed down through hundreds of years." There was always a reason behind everything and considering Enhar and his people always had access to water they wouldn't be needing milk to survive. Strange how their people could grow side by side and have such different lives and standards.

Picking up a knife and some toast she spread the jam on the toast before holding it out to him. "You just put it on the bread and then you take a bite. It's pretty sweet but it's yummy."
 
“I was always told that if it tasted bad, spit it out.” It was a good method of telling what was edible, and one of the wisdoms merfolk tended to pass along to their children. Plants tasted bad to him because they were not digestible. He was sensitive to tastes of various bacteria, and was able to carefully identify poisons by taste. Plenty of creatures had deadly poisons to discourage predators.

(Cutlery was so frustrating. Why did humans invent such things at all?! What was wrong with eating with ones hands?! As far as he was seeing, human society had so many unnecessary and pointless things...)

She could have told him that milk would have given him eternal life, and he wouldn't want to touch it. His face said as much, his expression still a little horrified at the concept. It was creepy. There was no way it could not be creepy! Maybe the idea of 'drinking' confused him a little too - “I never thought about that. We do not need to drink at all. We take in all the water we need through our gills. But without it we would die too.” More from drying out than from thirst, however. Their skin would become unable to produce its protective oils and begin to crack and bleed out. Enhar had always been wary of moving more than a few metres from the water's edge when he was on dry land, just in case. He feared land in the same way many humans feared deep water.

Enhar just leaned forward and bit at the piece of bread rather than just take it from her. Jam was different to anything else he had tasted so far. His expression was briefly transformed by wonder. It was sweeter than fruit naturally was, and to him it was immensely sweet. Very yummy. He cocked his head to the side, chewing slowly and momentarily lost for words.
 
"If I spit out everything that taste bad I would have been grounded my entire childhood." Sera remarked with interest. She'd heard that a lot of other animals could tell if something was dangerous to eat just by smell or taste alone which was something that didn't seem to be passed on to the general human population. If she had followed that rule of thumb she would have never touched a vegetable growing up and would have avoided them like the plague. Didn't matter how healthy it was for you, no way in hell was a ten year old going to eat cauliflower by choice.

Sera made a definite mental not to tell him just how many of the foods they ate happened to have milk components to them. She doubted he'd be so keen to try the pizza again if he knew just what the cheese was made of. Though maybe she just might get him to try ice cream one of these days and when he was on the last bite she'd tell him it was frozen, flavored milk. Actually, scratch that, he'd probably never trust her with food again after that.

It was so interesting watching his expressions change drastically depending on the food that he ate. Enhar didn't make a move to try and hide his opinions of what he was eating so when he bit into the bread she could see that he enjoyed it a lot more then he did the eggs. "Is it good? I take it that you enjoy sweets." That might not be a bad thing considering she had plenty of sweets stacked up in the house though if Enhar spent too much time munching on them she might just have a very fat merman on her hands. Lets see him try and swim around so gracefully when he was weighed down by cupcakes and brownies.

Sera stretched her legs out in front of her and curled her toes a bit considering the muscles were still a little sore from sleeping. The warm sun felt good on her skin and she could already see the traces of a tan forming from the past couple of days she'd spent out in the sun. About damn time; at least this way she might escape a sunburn.

"So for how long can you survive out of the water anyway? You've had to have been out here for at least an hour and it doesn't look like its hurt you." When she first caught him her primary concern had been him drying out and dying like a fish would when they were pulled out of the sea. Yet it seemed like he could survive just fine on the grass and didn't seem to be exhibiting any signs of pain.

A soft mew caught her attention as Mika pranced outside from the kitchen no doubt annoyed that no one had been paying attention to her. The kitten shook herself as if to get rid of the last remnants of sleep before walking over to them. She still gave Enhar another sniff as if making sure he wasn't the enemy before helping herself to the milk he had rejected. The merman might not like it but the kitten didn't have any problem drinking it.
 
Grounded. Another phrase whose meaning was beyond him. But for now, he was just going to enjoy the jam. Sweet was an unfamiliar taste to him, mostly – there were some sugary things, of course, but nothing like this. She was totally going to ruin him... He tried to do the same thing she had to prepare the bread, though, of course, with far less coordination and needing a lot of concentration.

“Sweet things are rare,” he said, taking another bite. A few types of seaweed, certain types of shrimp and other crustaceans... And they were usually hard to find. “I've never eaten anything like this!” He was still enjoying it a little too much to feel embarrassed at his own entirely childish enthusiasm for the jam.

He was lost in a little jam-induced reverie until she asked him the question.

“A long time,” Enhar said, vaguely, then realised that she would probably have no idea what that meant. “Well, I've never done it for more than a couple of days...” he admitted. Like all not entirely warm blooded creatures, he did like basking. Deserted sandy beaches were his favourite. Make a little hollow in the sand and just sleep, warm and soft. He wondered if he would ever get to do that again, all of a sudden.

“Start feeling a bit dry, though,” he continued, recovering his tone. “But I have heard stories of my kind surviving for weeks. Sometimes, tsunamis and hurricanes have thrown my people far inland, and a few of them had made their way back to the sea. A few years ago, my clan were in the waters of the place your people call Indonesia. There was a great storm, and one of my clan was lost, and we thought her dead, but she found her way back a month later, after we held the remembrance ceremony.” He grinned, recalling the shocked faces of the clan elders, and the fury of the one who'd basically turned up after her funeral. “She had many scars, though. Her skin had dried and broken, and it will never heal right.”

Well, at least the kitten was only an animal – they did not have moral laws, and hence could act in ways that would be considered perverted by standards of society. Like... Having sex in public, and drinking milk. Still, Enhar patted the kitten. He liked the texture of the fur, and the kitten seemed to not be too averse to him. It was a diversion to the not so cheery story he'd just told.
 
"Really? Wow, a diet without sweets...." Sera looked off and tried to fathom what it would be like without cookies, ice cream and all the other little temptations she had lurking in her pantry and freezer. It only took her a couple of moments to decide that something like that would be complete and utter hell. Being able to breath under water would be fun but not if it came at the cost of her sweets.

"Before you leave here I think I'm going to completely ruin your diet with sweets." She couldn't help it, it was just so funny to see his reaction when it came to something like jam that she really wanted to test out what would happen when she gave him cake or brownies. He really was like a kid in a candy store though right now she was feeling more like a drug dealer watching him in his little sugar euphoria.

"Wow, being completely separated from the people you consider your family and being flung God knows where. That sounds rough." Sera looked down wondering just how she would be able to deal with something like that. Basically being stranded and having no idea where you are or where your family is and being forced to fend for yourself. It made her wonder if Enhar's clan was going to hold a remembrance ceremony for him or if he'd ever even find his clan again. It didn't sound like something that would be easy to do by any stretch of the imagination.

Sera smiled down as Mika happily enjoyed her milk and didn't hiss at the merman this time. It seemed like the kitten had become more accustomed to the stranger who had come into her home and was even rubbing up against him as he patted her fur. She might be a picky kitten but she did like being pampered.

Sera pushed back her plate now that she was done with her food and took a moment to stretch her muscles before looking back at Enhar. "Ya know, I actually woke up this morning expecting this all to be a dream. Still couldn't get over the idea of having a merman in my pool." She let out a small chuckle before reaching over and gently stroking his tail as if to make absolutely sure that he was real and not some illusion. The scales had dried out a little bit but he was solid so there was no denying he was real.
 
Sweets. Hmm. He wouldn't know what it would be like to live with them! It did not occur to Enhar that hew might get fat at all – obesity really wasn't a problem in hunter gatherer societies... The only 'fat' things he had seen were animals such as seals and whales, animals that needed the fat to stay warm. So long as she didn't keep him for too long, his diet should not be too badly ruined.

As it was, Enhar was not used to eating more than to fill his stomach. He was pretty much trained not to be greedy – to hunt more than they needed was wrong, and to eat too much was to deprive others of food. He supposed that fro humans it must be different, to be able to keep so much food in a single place. How much easier life must be for humans, if Sera could have so much food in just this one house... No need to forage for breakfast, always knowing where the next meal could come from! It was a great luxury, one Enhar had never really known. As much as he loved travel, there were plenty of times that he had starved, or been forced to survive by chewing on seaweed.

“Your food is very strange. But I like the taste,” he concluded, accepting defeat in his battle with cutlery now that his stomach was full. He probably did not need to eat as often as she did anyway.

“What god?” he asked, momentarily baffled by her statement. Human religion was another thing he knew nothing of. Different clans had different gods, amongst his kind, but Enhar had never been the type to pray. It always seemed to him to be something of a cop-out to ask a powerful being to solve all of your problems. Gods did what they liked, they were one of those forces beyond their understanding.

Enhar uncoiled again, stretching out on his back to put as much of himself as possible into the sun, still stroking the kitten, scratching the side of her neck carefully with his claws. While his skin and scales were getting dry, the area around his gills was still damp. The kitten probably liked the roughness of scales while they were half-dry. It made for nice scratchies for her, no doubt.

As Sera stroked him, he flicked the tip of his tail and opened up his fins, relaxing. Apparently he liked her touch. Early morning was the best time of day. “What was I meant to do? Disappear into the sea foam?” he said, laughing a little. “They say all life came from the sea foam...”
 
"Well, it has to taste better then seaweed and algae." She might not know a whole lot about his dietary restrictions but there couldn't be much in the ocean that rivaled the taste of ice cream or chocolate.

"What god? God god I guess." The girl winced internally as she thought about the topic that she had stumbled upon. It was hard enough explaining the concept of a god to a human but she had no intention of going through two thousand years of Christianity with Enhar and having to field all the questions he had. "It's just a figure of speech." Sera said and she hoped he wouldn't press any further on it. No doubt he would think humans even stranger then ever before he if heard the stories about their different religion.

She pulled back slightly as he flicked his tail wondering if she had hurt him someway but it didn't seem as if he minded her touching him. The texture of his tail was different from that of a normal fish and she couldn't get over the feel of it under her hand. It was wet and dry at the same time, scaly and smooth without her really being able to pinpoint what part felt like what. She had to wonder if they all had tails like this or if a different merperson had different types of scales.

"Actually, yes. You disappearing into sea foam is just as likely as you even existing in the first place." Sera pointed out with a grin.

"Oh? The only story about sea foam I know is one my grandma told me about Aphrodite being born from sea foam. Do you guys have another story?" They were a culture after all and no doubt they would have their own ideas about how the world was formed and how life came to be on this planet. Figures that theirs would be centered around water considering it was the largest part of their world.

Looking up, she took a moment to really examine his features and see what made him so different from herself. The skin color was a dead giveaway as well as the scales going halfway up his body. Yet besides the tail and the hair and the scales were they really so different after all? Taking his free hand in her own she pressed her palm against his and peered closely at the differences. His was cool to the touch and was starting to get a bit dryer while her's was still warm and soft. His hand was webbed and his fingers longer while her hand seemed almost childlike and pink in comparison. Strange how they could grow up side by side and end up so different but maybe not as different as she first thought.
 
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