"Uh, the rest of us usually haven't believed them. It's hard to get everyone to believe you, especially because we thought mermaids were just myths," Helene replied hurriedly. She grimaced at her quickly put together words, hoping that they at least made sense.
"Oh," Mira replied a bit mournfully. "Do you think I'm a myth?"
“I… I did. Before today. Not anymore though,” Helene responded, face softening. She didn’t realize the effect her words would have.
Mira blinked twice, brushing back a stray strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear. Her soft dark grey hair framed her face well, and she cast her eyes downward. "I -…" She was at a loss for words, and didn't know what to say. The distance between her and Helene seemed to grow larger and larger every second, even though she wasn't moving.
Helene didn’t know what else to do but stay frozen, regretting bringing it up at all. It was uncharted territory, for anyone really. Her grip around the shell in her fingers tightened as her face grew red in embarrassment
“I’m sorry… I can leave. I didn’t mean to offend you-“ Helene began to ramble. She readied herself to go.
"No, no, please stay," Mira said softly, looking Helene straight in the eyes.
“I- Really? You sure?” Helene asked softly. She thought she messed it up for sure. In all honesty, she was used to it. But she was endlessly glad she hadn’t.
"I - I want some company," Mira continued, casting her eyes downward, and painfully aware of the light blush that had risen to her cheeks.
A small smile spread across her lips for a moment. “Okay,” she said softly, moving back towards Mira. “Is there a private place we can go that isn’t underwater? I think my oxygen’s about to run out…” She flashed an apologetic smile towards the mermaid.
"Um, I don't know anywhere private that's aboveland. We don't make a habit of letting any body part appear above the surface of the water…" Mira rolled over onto her back, sighing.
“Alright, well…” Helene looked around, searching for something at least somewhat shallower than this. “Not even just your head? We could stay just above the surface, nothing else?”
A tiny lightbulb went off in her head. "Wait, I think there's a cave around here somewhere…" She scratched her head, trying to remember where that cave was. "Oh yeah, it's over there some." Mira pointed to her right.
“That sounds great,” Helene replied, honestly. She preferred the dark and coziness of a flooded cave. It may be a bit creepy, especially at dusk, but she got over it quickly. She began to swim in the direction Mira pointed in.
"Awesome," Mira swam off with Helene, her sharp eyes darting around for the cave. She hoped there would be enough oxygen in there for Helene.
Once they reached the cave, Helene crawled up onto a small flat rock surface to rest. She was relieved to take off the gear she had on. She hadn’t realize how damn heavy it was. With that burden off her back, she felt much more free to talk.
Her eyes caught on movement on the walls. A small group of hermit crabs skittered around the edge of a small pool. “Hey, look at these little crabs!” she said, lowering herself so that she was next to them.
"Aw they're cute! Careful though, they're fierce. And they bite, too," Mira warned, a smile smile appearing on her face. She rested her arms on a slab of rock just above the water level, her tail moving freely about in the water.