With a flick of her tail, she lifted off the sea floor and ascended towards the surface. For now, she needed to get away from these windows, away from these waters. Following the path she had taken the night before, she soon emerged next to the platform that extended a good way over the tank. Much of the platform was surrounded by a metal railing, but a wide gap gave humans easy access. It had been here that Brad and she had their first face-to-face meeting.
A mighty push from her tail sent her torso high enough above the water to hoist herself onto land. She had to duck her head to keep from colliding with a heavy chain hanging across the way, probably to prevent any humans from accidentally slipping off. With much scrabbling and sliding, she managed to get her upper body out of the water. After that, a simple sideways roll hauled the rest of her long tail out onto the smooth concrete. Finally stretched out on dry ground, she paused to regain her strength. Water streamed from her neck and sides as her gills drained out. Simultaneously, her lungs took in deep gulps of air to sustain her oxygen intake.
Closing her eyes, she relaxed. If anything, the exercise had distracted her from her worries long enough for her nerves to calm down. Maybe she would rest here for a while before going back in.
"Amazing!"
The voice made Princess jerk upright. There stood the female scientist, Brad's mom. She had apparently come into the room a short while ago and had witnessed the mermaid's landing.
"You've never done that before, Princess. What's going on?" She spoke in that casual manner of one who does not expect a reply. Princess understood her perfectly, but showed no reaction.
Slowly, the woman approached, crouching down until she nearly crawled the rest of the way. Her hand reached out to touch the mermaid's shoulder. Princess almost tried to get away, but she fought down the impulse. Despite the strangeness of these humans, she felt no threat from this one.
"That's a good girl," cooed the scientist as she caressed Princess's arm and neck in an attempt at a soothing gesture. "That's a good mermaid. You are absolutely beautiful, you know. A true miracle of nature."
Settling herself down on the floor, and ignoring the puddle that now soaked her dark slacks, she raised her hand up further to run a bit of Princess's pale hair over her fingers. It felt smooth and slippery, even more so than human hair. Underwater, it almost looked light brown or blonde in color, but in the room's light, one could make out a tinge of orange that deepened toward the tips.
For the first few seconds, Princess stiffly tolerated this inspection. Then, giving into her own curiosity, she reached out her hand to feel the human woman's wavy brown locks. The scientist smiled with pure delight. Never before had she been this close to the creature or interacted with it on this level, and she knew she would never forget this moment.
Seeing her expression, Princess smiled back, soft lips parting to reveal a perfect row of razor sharp teeth. The woman tensed at the sight, her euphoria vanishing. A short pause later, she continued her exploration, but with more caution than before.
Inwardly, she chided herself for letting the excitement go to her head. This was no child's fairy tale, and this mermaid was certainly no Disney character. It was a living animal, breathing, hunting, and fighting for survival with tooth and nail like everything else on the planet. Keeping this in mind, she refocused on the more calculable details and set her emotions aside.
Sensing this change of mood, the mermaid's grin faltered. Did she do something wrong again? She dropped her hand and turned away in embarrassment.
This, in return, did not go unnoticed by the scientist. "Hm, you're awfully expressive today, Princess."
Princess met her eyes with her own silvery blue irises as if to say, "What's it to you?"
Then, almost immediately, her eyes shifted to the name badge on the woman's chest. It was a small rectangle of silver colored plastic. Its glossy shine mesmerized her even as the word etched into its surface finally identified her keeper. Donna.
