Males.
You lean back on a bed of coral(ah-ha! a pun!) clutching a clustre of sea grapes in your hand; daintily, you pluck the sea grapes one by one and chew them, crushing the sweet little bodies in between your teeth.
It was very odd at first, after Sophia took you running(swimming? Splashing) all around the little undersea park, introducing you to each and every one of the mermaids here; they all seem to put up with her constant talking with a little irritation, but they greeted you friendly enough. After meeting everyone (and forgetting most of their names) Sophia took you here; she sits beside you on the bed of coral, happily devouring a large piece of sea candy.
She looks up suddenly, and nudges you in the side. "Oooh!" she says delightedly. "Look!"
You follow her gaze up to see a small band of mermen swimming by overhead; your mouth falls open, your heartbeat hammering in your ears as you stare at them, your cheeks turning an embarrassed pink as you remember your earlier thought about finding merman, and staring at their perfectly-molded muscular bodies; a few of the mermaids call out to the mermen, who respond with shouts and laughs of their own; a few of the mermaids even swim up to join the mermen on their journey towherever they are going.
"Ooh, come on!" Sophia cries, pulling at your arm. "Let's join them!"
"But-" you cry as she pulls you up. "But where are we going?!"
"To the Smoking Hole!" she cries out with a laugh. "Come on!" she says again, pulling harder on your arm.
Curious, you allow her to pull you up away from the reef up into open water.
As you rise, you can feel a tide catching hold of you: you're moving into another layer of water, this one moving very quickly toward whatever the ‘Smoking Hole' is; you kick your tail idly as you are born along by it, along with the other mermen and mermaids.
Two mermen swim toward you and Sophia. "Hello, Sophia!" one calls; he is shorter and broader than the other, and has bright red hair and glittering green scales. He holds a two pointed triden in his hands which ripple with muscle. You find yourself staring at the play of muscle across his wide tan chest and thick shoulders, and blush a furious scarlet when you see he notices you doing it. he only grins at you, and youi turn to his friend.
The other merman looks you over, and apparently likes what he sees, because he gives you a friendly smile. His hair is green and bound in long braids that tumble down his back and around his shoulders. He is long and lean, whipcord-thin with pale skin and dull light blue scales on his long sinuous tail. "Hello," he says. "I'm Nickolas, and this is Alexander."
You nod and smile. "Hello!" you say. "I'm-"
"Oh, isn't this great?!" Sophia squeels. "I can't wait to see who gets picked today!"
What does that mean? What is the 'Smoking Hole'? And what can you do about Nickolas and Alexander, and the way your mermaid heart beats faster at the mere sight of them?
Written by J-B-Hickock on 06 December 2014
