Arthur sat in front of the mirror at work, half his face painted in its normal white hue, the other half clear apart from the single dab of paint that lay under the brush at had been sat on the same spot on his cheek for at least 10 minutes.
Her face and voice had filled his mind and his dreams since he had left the river the night before, he had ignored the looks of the strangers that passed him as he made his way home, dripping river water on the sidewalk with every step he took; he had ignored the fact that he was frozen to the bone as he peeled his sodden clothes from his body, letting them drop unceremoniously onto the bathroom floor, he had ignored the fact that he was still wet as he climbed under his thin sheets, for none of that mattered, all that mattered was the hope that he would get to see his mermaid again.
"Arthur. Are you ok pal?" Gary asked, as he came up to Arthur's side shocking him from his thoughts.
Arthur acting strange was nothing unusual, he always did odd things, and Gary had become accustomed to his friends eccentricities; but the fact that Arthur had been sat dead still for some time was making even Gary a little nervous, and despite not wanting to appear as though he was intruding, he had to make sure that Arthur was alright.
"Er....... yeah, I....... I'm fine." Arthur said quietly, as he put the brush back into the pot of paint and continued on with his makeup.
"Not that I don't believe you or anything, but you've been sat as stiff as a board looking at your reflection for some time, and by now I know when something is on your mind." Gary told Arthur, as he dragged a chair over so that he could sit by his side.
"Really it's nothing." Arthur replied, feeling a little uncomfortable as Gary gave him one of those 'you are so full of shit' looks.
"Arthur, you know I don't pry, your business is your business, but you know what they say, a problem shared is a problem halved." Gary tried to reassure, as he patted Arthur on the arm.
"What........what do you think of the old stories about mermaids, do you think they could be real?" Arthur asked hesitantly, as he placed down his brush and looked at his highly confused little friend through the mirror. Gary was expecting anything to come out of Arthur's mouth, but mermaids were not even in his top 100 of Arthur's possible strange ramblings.
"I, er....... well, I suppose I only know what I remember from the fairy tales you get told as a kid, although I must admit that the idea of a beautiful, half naked woman that lives in the sea isn't an unpleasant image. I think that the old stories from the sailors are a mixture of too much rum and wishful thinking, I mean, if you had been couped up on a ship with nothing but men to look at for months on end, its no wonder they were seeing beautiful woman in the water." Gary chuckled, only stopping as Arthur turned to look at him.
"But..... but if they did exist, do you think that they would save people from drowning, do you think that they would be beautiful?" Arthur asked, furrowing his brows as he seemed to think about on his own question.
"Well, I think that was what mermaids did, they saved sailors that had fallen overboard, or got washed away by storms, taking them to safety where the two would fall in love." Gary mussed, trying to remember the stories his mother had told him as a child.
"And I think that a mermaid would be otherworldly beautiful, with a glistening tail of shimmering scales, and long flowing hair that always seemed to fall perfectly over her rounded breasts, unfortunately." Gary laughed, humming slightly at the idea of being rescued by such a glorious creature.
"Why do you ask?" Gary finally asked, as he came back from his own thoughts.
"Nothing....... I was just wondering. It's something I have had on my mind, just an idea." Arthur said almost apologetically, as he picked up his brush and continued to finish his makeup.
"I suppose there are worst things that you could be wondering about, in fact I think that you might have just given me something to think about it for the rest of the day. Thanks Arthur." Gary smiled, as he dropped down from his chair, and made his way back over the finish his own preparations for the day.
Arthur looked in the mirror, staring at his face that seemed to be thinner than normal; was his mermaid just wishful thinking? Was she just a figment of his wild imagination? No! Arthur shook his head, she was real, she had rescued him, he could not have done that by himself; she had brought him back to shore and had told him that she would return to him, and all he could hope was that she would.
>>--------------------------------<<
The day had been long and tedious, but Arthur for once didn't care, he had found a brand new spring in his step. The thought of her lips on his as they had floated together below the water, the thought of her arms around him, protecting him as she returned to the surface, the image of her beautiful eyes as they stared deep into his, had all given him a renewed sense that maybe, just maybe, anything was possible.
Arthur looked at his watch as he sat on a small bench near the place where she had put in back on dry land, it was nearly midnight and he had been waiting for what seemed like hours, but he would wait as long as it took for a chance to meet his beautiful saviour again.
He had jumped with every slight splash or unusual lap of the water he had heard, always rushing to the wall to peer over to the river below, each time his heart dropping as nothing had appeared. Standing up he straightened his clothes, he knew it was silly, but he had dressed in his best shirt and pants, wanting to make as good an impression as possible despite their first meeting. Slowly he made his way down to the riverbank, ignoring the sticky mud as he sat down, the single rose that he had brought with him, held delicately between his fingers.
"Please be real, please be real, please be real." Arthur said softly, his eyes closing as the mantra went around and around in his mind, his quiet prayer drifting out over the water.
A sudden soft splash caused Arthur's eyes to shoot open, his breath catching in his throat as he saw a perfect pair of blue orbs peer at him from the top of the water.
"T-t -this.......this is for you." Arthur stammered out, springing to his feet as he held out the rose to what was now a beautiful face, smiling at him from the darkness.
"I........I'm.......my name is Arthur. I want to thank you for rescuing me yesterday. I remembered what you told me, and I came back to see you." Arthur told her, swallowing the large lump in his throat that had formed now that she was sat on the bank in front of him, the glint of the green scales of her tail seeming to sparkle in the moonlight, her long hair falling over her body ensuring her modesty.
"Hello Arthur, it is nice to meet you properly, I am so glad you remembered my words and you came back to see me." The mermaid said, her beautiful voice filling Arthur's senses as he hesitantly moved forward, handing the lady the rose, his heart jumping for joy as she smiled and took in the heady scent of the bloom.
"Y-y-your beautiful." Arthur blurted out, blushing at his own forwardness, as the mermaid giggled at his sudden declaration.
"Thank you, Arthur, and...... and you are very beautiful too." The mermaid said, giggling again, as Arthur quickly turned his gaze from the floor back to the exquisite woman.
"Now, come sit here so that we can talk, I would so like to get to know you better." She said, patting the only bit of dry earth near to where she sat.
"And my name is (Y/n), if we are to be friends, then maybe you can call me it." (Y/n) said, a smile spreading across her lips as Arthur took a seat by her side.