Damarian (A Merman's Kiss Novel) (13 page)

“Sorry,” she says. “I guess you need some practice with human clothes.” She very gently hits me with the shirt. “It’s no big deal. You can stay like this for now.”

The circular object on the white table produces a strange sound, like a hiss.

“Oh, that’s a surprise for you,” Cassie says. “My specialty—baked ziti. If this doesn’t turn you human, nothing will. You hungry?”

My hand touches my stomach. Since my arrival on land, food did not enter my mind. My thoughts had been preoccupied with Cassie. But now that she has mentioned food…“Yes, I believe so. May I be of assistance?”

She sticks the wooden object in the silver one and moves her hand in a circular motion. “Sure. Grab some shredded cheese from the fridge.”

I do not understand.

Cassie stares at me expectantly. Then she hits her hand on her forehead. “Oh! That is the refrigerator, where we keep food cold so it won’t spoil. You’ll find a package in there with white strips. That’s shredded cheese.”

I make my way to this refrigerator and pull on the handle, which opens the door. There are many items in here. Cassie told me the other time I was on land that human food comes in many forms. I scan over them in search for what Cassie described. White strips. Once I locate it, I hold it up. “I believe this is the ‘shredded cheese?’”

She tells me to hand it to her. Then she takes hold of the silver circular object on the white table and pours the items into another circular item. Heat touches my face, and I touch it, feeling the moisture on my cheek. Cassie pours red liquid and the shredded cheese into the circular object as well, uses the wooden object to combine them into one, then pours the entire thing into a rectangular silver object. The smell is quite intoxicating, causing my stomach to beg for food. Cassie opens a door in the white table and places the food inside.

I am not certain what I have witnessed, but it appears it takes quite some effort for humans to eat. Unlike in the sea where all one needs to do is merely catch a fish and bite into it. But the food here does smell extraordinary.

“Now we wait,” Cassie says. She acquires gummy worms and brings me to the living room, where she awakens the TV.

“Will you not shower?” I ask.

Her eyes search mine. “You’ll be okay alone here?”

I assure her I will be fine.

She gives me the gummy worms. “Just don’t eat too much. You don’t want your teeth to rot, or spoil your dinner.”

Just as she is ready to leave, I reach for her hand. It is so soft, so warm, so inviting. “Cassie.”

“Yes?” she whispers.

“I very much appreciate your hospitality. Thank you.”

Her features transform her face into the sweetest smile I have ever laid eyes upon. “It’s my pleasure to have you here.”

I do not wish for her to remove her hand, but I will certainly not hold it hostage. She smiles again and climbs up the stairs. My hand now feels cold, though not a pleasant cold. I focus my attention on the TV. The images before me depict humans interacting with humans. Cassie explained that this is a story. I watch them closely to try to understand humans. To try to understand Cassie.

After some time has passed, I hear movement in the kitchen. Has Cassie returned? I walk into the kitchen and discover her by the white table, inspecting the food she placed in there. When she straightens herself and catches sight of me, she produces a small squeak and clutches her chest. “You scared me.”

I move forward and raise my hand. “Forgive me. I did not intend to startle you.”

She tells me she is all right, though I feel guilty for the wild rising and falling of her chest. I take notice of the pajamas she wears. The shirt is blue and the bottom is blue as well, though there are black circles on them. It causes her to appear quite beautiful.

My gaze moves to her hair. Her hair that rests on her shoulders and flows down her back. I step closer to her and stretch my hand toward her hair, sliding my hands through it. “It is no longer bound.” The texture is so soft. I have never touched a female human’s hair before.

Cassie opens her mouth, her lips trembling slightly. “I don’t bother with it. Just let it air dry and braid it in the morning.”

My fingers continue their journey through her hair. I add my other hand and touch her scalp. Cassie’s mouth opens a bit and her eyes close. A soft sound leaves her mouth. She quickly opens her eyes, her face turning pink.

My eyes bore into her exquisite ones. “Hair is the most attractive element on a female. It is a shame to bind it.”

Her mouth moves for a few seconds before words come out. “Not for me.”

My eyebrows rise in confusion.

“My hair. It’s not pretty.”

“Certainly it is.”

She shakes her head with a resolute expression. “Not really. I don’t think any part of me is attractive. Not like other girls.”

Her eyes move from mine but return a second later, full of doubt. My hand lowers to her neck, where I stroke it very gently, producing a barely-audible moan from her. “You are mistaken, Cassie,” I say, my voice a murmur. “You are one of the most beautiful females I have ever laid eyes upon.”

Her eyes once again search mine, still full of doubt. It appears she wishes to say something, but instead she turns around abruptly, causing my hands to fall from her hair and neck. “The food’s probably done.”

She removes the food from the table, which she informs me is called a stove and an oven, and is used to cook food, since humans usually do not eat anything raw. She and I sit at the table with the food placed before us. I study it, trying to associate this food with something I am familiar with, but this is a food I have never laid eyes upon. The smell is divine and I cannot wait to taste it.

“Careful, it’s hot,” Cassie says. “You’re not used to hot dishes, so be extra cautious.”

She digs her fork in her plate and brings it to her lips. I do the same. The heat from the food touches my face. Cassie does not put the food in her mouth. Rather, she blows on it, which I understand is to cool the temperature. I do the same, but I cannot wait any longer and stick it in my mouth. At first, these strange textures and tastes fill my mouth, and I am not certain I like any of it. My chewing, which has started off slow and hesitant, grows more intense as the tastes and textures touch every part of my mouth.

“Like?” Cassie asks.             

“This is quite delicious.” I stick my fork back in my plate and gather as much of this baked ziti as possible. It does not take long before there is nothing left in my plate.

“More?” Cassie asks.

“Yes, please.”

She places more in my plate and I do not hesitate to eat it. I very much appreciate Cassie for creating this delightful meal and sharing it with me. I wish there was a way for me to repay her for her kindness, but I do not know what I can do to bring her joy.

When we have finished our meal, Cassie takes my plate along with hers and the forks and places them in the sink. “To wash,” she explains, “so that we can use them the next time we eat.”

“I understand. May I wash them?”

She appears very appreciative of my offer and informs me we shall clean the dishes together. She washes and I use a small towel to dry them. As we work, Cassie smiles. I do not know what is the cause of it, but it is a sight I very much love seeing on her face. I sweep aside some hair that rests on her cheek. “I enjoy seeing you smile.”

“Thanks. You sound like my mother.”

“Does she not see you smile often?”

She holds a cup under the falling water, her eyes growing unfocused as though she does not know how to answer my question, or if she wishes to share her thoughts with me. “It’s a little…hard to be happy and smiley around her.”

“Why?”

Her eyes bore deeply into mine.
Yes
, I wish to tell her.
Please open your heart to me. Share with me everything that lies inside it. Share with me all your thoughts and feelings, for I wish to know all about you and grow close to you
.

She laughs lightly. “It’s kind of a long story.”

“I am willing to listen.”

Her cheeks grow large as she breaths in air. Her eyes search mine again, fear nestled inside them. But it seems to lessen in the next few seconds. She exhales. “Okay. After we’re done with the dishes.”

Once we are finished, she tells me to sit in the living room and joins me a little while later with some strange food she refers to as popcorn. She crosses her legs underneath her body and places her hands between her thighs, squeezing them together. She slowly brings her eyes to mine and searches them again, biting hard on her bottom lip. “So…my father left me and my mom when I was ten.”

“Left?” I ask.

She busies herself with the popcorn. “Yeah. He met a woman online and fell in love with her. I guess my parents’ marriage was already failing if he went snooping around online. He and the woman met secretly for a while until my dad finally had the balls to tell my mom. He was cheating on her for about eight months. He walked out the next day. He didn’t even, like, kiss me goodbye or anything. It was just a pat on the head and a promise to keep in touch. I wasn’t that young, but I was pretty naïve and innocent, so I thought Daddy would always come back. I didn’t want to be one of
those
kids, the one with the divorced parents. He and I hardly spoke, and when we did, it was because I reached out to him. We lost all contact after he and his new wife had their kids. Now he wants to reconnect.” She shakes her head. “I can’t bring myself to do it.”

I do not understand what online or divorced is, or why she said balls. But one word she has uttered leaves a disgusted sensation in my ears, mind, and heart. Cheating. I do not know what it means in regard to a father and a mother, but I am certain it is something that should not be associated with them. “Cheating,” I say.

Her eyes and mouth gape open. “You’re telling me merpeople don’t cheat? Husbands and wives don’t leave each other for other mermaids or mermen?”

Does she mean to state that humans…? “One never leaves his mate.”

“Never?”

“It is not done.”

Her eyes are still wide. “You stay together forever.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how amazing that is?”

I close my hand over the popcorn, feeling them press into my palm. Images of Princess Flora, the crown, my duty crowd my head. “It is most certainly not amazing.”

She stares at me, utterly bewildered.

I cannot meet her gaze. “If one were to mate with one he does not wish to mate with, he is…”

“Trapped.”

She understands to what I am referring to, but she cannot possibly understand how I feel. I do not wish to think of Princess Flora. I do not wish to think of the crown, of my duty, of how furious Father, King Palaemon, and Queen Lamara must be at this very moment. I only wish to feel happy with human Cassie Price.

“I very much enjoy having conversations with you,” I say. Conversations that do not involve the subjects in which I do not wish to ponder. But I wish for her to tell me all her thoughts. I want to know every minute detail about her.

“Thanks,” she says. “Me, too.”

I no longer feel uneasy. I place some of the popcorn in my mouth. How peculiar. It tastes good, but it has a very odd texture and dissolves in my mouth.

Cassie says we are to play a game. I am to take one of these popcorns and aim it at her mouth. She will attempt to catch it. I take one and position it in a direct line of her mouth. Then I throw it. She manages to catch it in her mouth! How intriguing. “I must attempt this.”

I am not as talented as her and do not catch it in my mouth. We both laugh. It is an intense laugh I have not experienced often and causes my stomach to hurt. Cassie urges me to attempt the game a few more times, but I am not successful. She seems quite amused by this. I grab as many of these popcorns as I can and hurl them at her. She continues to laugh, causing me to laugh as well.

She and I have closed the distance between us. Her laughter ends and she gently pushes my shoulder. “Who exactly is going to clean all this up?”

Something tickles my cheeks. I bring my hand to my left one and study my hand. “Water.”

“You don’t see tears in the ocean,” she says, wonder in her voice.

“I know tears. But I did not know they were as so.”

All the times I held Zarya as she cried in my arms, all the times I lay in my oyster shell and cried over my future—this was the result. But naturally I could not see them. Now that I see they have a real form, I realize how important tears are. They are evidence of the emotion one feels inside.

“Taste them,” Cassie says.

I do and feel my eyes grow large. “Salt.”

“Yep.” She lowers herself on the floor and begins cleaning the popcorn. She peers up at me. “Damarian?”

“Yes?”

“I…” She stares at the floor. “I haven’t really had this much fun in a while.”

“Neither have I.” I join her on the floor and assist her with the cleaning. “I am exhausted.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long day. We’ll head to bed after this.” Her body grows still. “I mean, we’ll each head to our own beds, because…you know, we both have our separate beds…”