#(shadowgast implied off screen but still here)

[rainbowcaleb]

A Scaled Splendor

A MerMay story - read on ao3

“Okay Lebby, explain this again but this time make sense.” Veth pops her hip out and stares down at Caleb, her other hand shielding her eyes from the afternoon sun. The effect of the bright unclouded sky on the ocean is blinding, almost hiding any swimmers amidst the sliver glinting light.

“Ja, so there is a tale from my childhood, ah— no, I would be remiss to say it is a story only in the Empire when every culture with a body of water has–”

“Cay. Leb. What did I just say.” Veth kicks some water his way.

“Okay, okay. The mermaid. It is a story but a romantic one. Not every version, no, but fishes and princes and kisses–”

“And kisses?!”

“Well, ja, I have hopes. But I thought it would be a good surprise.”

Veth continues to stare for one, three, ten long beats. Then lets out a whoop of a laugh, grabbing her middle as the entirely unsuppressed mirth shakes her body.

“It was not a bad idea–” Caleb starts, a pout in his voice.

“No, it's,” Veth wipes tears from her eyes, voice still shaking from giggles. “It is a good idea, but that still doesn’t explain, you know.” She waves a hand up and down in his direction. The crystal clear waters of this shore do nothing to hide his form, and the high sun only touches him with extra sparkle. Glistening golden scales that flash to orange and umber as they shift with Caleb’s movement, like he has been dipped in molten gold and reforged in intricate, layered detail.

“This is my first time doing this particular spell modification.” He sounds petulant, even to his own ears.

“Caleb.”

“This is quite a hard spell, and the materials alone–”

“Lebby.”

“Ja, okay, I fucked up.” Caleb sighs, and it is quite an interesting sound and motion coming from a golden fish’s mouth.

Veth starts to laugh again, her noise another wave building upon Caleb’s rising feelings of woe-is-me.

“Do you think Essek likes fish, really likes them?” Veth doesn’t even bother to wipe her eyes this time. “Loves them so much he’ll kiss ‘em? Or maybe we should ask Yasha, she does have that fish market experience.”

Caleb sits down in the shallow water on the shore’s edge, able to cross his legs but not his arms, for indeed he has succeeded in his mermaid ambitions but unfortunately on the wrong half.

“I have an idea, I’ll run and get Fjord right now, you know that boy practiced his kissing skills on fish growing up, I’m sure he has some tips–”

“Veth, please.” Caleb flops sideways, re-dousing his upper half in the water, and feeling just as morose as a fish out of water could be.

“Sorry Lebby, but our years of friendship means I can make fun of you for another five minutes. And oh boy do I have some jokes on the tip of my tongue.”

“And then you’ll help me fix this?”

She crouches down and pets his scaly head, then draws her hand back to shake off the water. “Of course Caleb, what do you take me for? I wouldn’t use this as an oppor-tuna-ty to make fin of you, no of course not, I’d love you for a krill-ion years as a fish or a man!”

Caleb starfishes in the water, pushing the sand around with his little arm fins and his two human legs. This was his fate now.

“Aw, you don’t like my jokes? Yeah, I cod do betta than that, even though this is kraken me up–”

Caleb stares up at the crisp blue sky and closes his eyelids against the yellow sun. Everything was much too bright and much too colorful for his new eyes. Maybe he should just float here for a while, surely it’ll wear off in an hour, surely the spell will end faster than Veth’s jokes can last…

(Thank you for reading! 💙)