It had been an indescribable feeling to suddenly go from a standing position to a laying one, with a tail wagging behind that she could feel but not really see and, looking down, some sort of flipper-like appendage instead of hands. Shamara was some kind of (hopefully not creepy) crawly, and the shower water was soothing yet confusing. She felt the urge to be submerged in fresh water not having it fall on her. So far, rolling on the shower floor was the best she could do. Something had happened. And now she heard footsteps.
Even though Anissa really was usually a morning person, she’d chosen to be lazy in bed for a few moments longer after Shamara got up. It’d been a long time since she’d felt like this about someone -- warm and comfortable and practically electric -- so she chose to soak that up as long as she could.
She sat up. On second thought, joining Shamara was an even better idea, so she hoisted herself out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. There, instead of her girlfriend (was that what they were?) was a creature with the head of a dog and the body of some sort of reptile.
Anissa screamed.
The scream made Shamara retreat against the farthest corner of the shower, tail rolling up to hit her in the face which automatically made her bite it. “Ow!”
Her voice wasn’t exactly her voice either. It felt garbled, like a caricature of an aquatic creature with speech abilities. She spoke in a language she didn’t know, and it was very strange to recognize not knowing a language you were currently speaking in. It made sense, but sounded foreign. She asked about a lake, the lake, then sat quietly as she tried to focus on reverting to English. “Anissa it’s me!” She finally said. “I’m a… what am I?”
Her heart was still racing, but Anissa could recognize that the creature was trying to talk to her, even if she didn’t understand what she was saying. It wasn’t until the creature finally spoke English that Anissa put it all together. Almost instantly, she felt a flood of relief. She should’ve known better. Nothing else had gone in or out of the bathroom, and the window was still closed, too.
“I -- oh, babe, I have no idea,” she admitted, taking a few steps forward until she was in front of the tub. She crouched down so she was more at the same level as Shamara. “I’ve never seen anything like you before.”
“I’m sorry! I have no idea what I even look like besides...blue? Ish? But, okay, definitely a lake dweller, definitely from Sweden. A specific lake in Sweden.” Shamara quieted down, trying to shrug without shoulders. “Can you set up my tablet for voice to text? I always forget to, I like typing, but this kind of thing is a good reminder of why it should be default. And then… You don’t need to stay here. I bet I’m freaking you out.”
“No, no, I’m --” Anissa started, a frown crossing her face as she shook her head. Of course she was going to stay. It freaked her out at first, but Anissa didn’t leave the people she cared about. She didn’t run from things she didn’t understand. Not anymore.
Firmly, she stated, “I’m staying. I don’t care what you are, I don’t care how long this lasts. I’m not leaving you.” She paused. “Except to get your tablet for that. One sec.” She used the time it took to grab Shamara’s tablet to also grab her own so she could let Shamara’s parents and sister know what was going on. “Okay, we’re good to go.”
“You don’t have to feel obligated to deal with this, Niss. Seriously.” Shamara protested even as she let Anissa run around setting up her tablet and undoubtedly contacting her family to let them know she was a horrid ocean dog monster. Waddling after Anissa didn’t seem like a good thing to do, plus the water felt good. Scarce, but good.
“Thank you.” She said meekly, trying to take the bathtub plug from the edge down to its hole so she could make herself a little tiny pool. Unfortunately the water was hot and she could only use her mouth, so it wasn’t going too well. Probably for the best.
Anissa had no context for how to deal with something like this, not at all, but what she did know was that Pierces weren’t supposed to run from problems. She’d done enough running; that part of her life was over. Gently, she laughed a little and reached out to place a hand on the back of Shamara’s head to still her, and to remind her that she was still there to help. The shock of the hot water burned a little, but Anissa held back her grimace. No need to make Shamara feel worse, she thought.
“I got you,” she insisted. She got the plug in the right place and then sat back, knees bent underneath her. “Do you need anything? And before you say anything, I’m not obligated. I know you’d do the same for me, so. I don’t want you to feel bad, okay?”
Nuzzling Anissa’s hand, Shamara gave a semblance of a sigh. She was right, Shamara would do anything for Anissa if their spots were switched. She still felt a little sheepish when she asked, “Can you make the water cold? I’m sorry it just… feels really too hot like this. You’re amazing you know? You really are.”
“No problem.” Anissa turned the knob back towards cold and stuck her hand under the spray to test it. The shock was starting to wear off, and she was starting to feel a bit more steady. She felt stronger and more capable of handling whatever Shamara was. She hoped it wouldn’t last too long, but… they could handle it.
She turned her attention back to Shamara and rubbed her head again like before, just because it seemed like Shamara had liked it. “You know, this is kinda growing on me a bit. You’re kinda cute like this.”
Shamara laughed (or gurgled in a way that sounded like a laugh, rather), and leaned into Anissa’s touch. “You might be biased. I think it’s because you really like me. The me that is usually not a dog sea serpent.” She looked up at Anissa, thinking this wasn’t exactly the moment for great declarations, but things were muddled up in her head enough as it was. “I really like you too.”
There was no sense in trying to deny what Shamara had said. It was true, after all. Anissa did really like her. It’d been unexpected, but Shamara had slipped into the cracks in Anissa’s walls and hadn’t left. Shamara brought joy and light to her life that hadn’t been there before. It was easy with her in a way Anissa hadn’t felt. No secrets, no holding back.
“You’re right, I’m biased.” This probably wouldn’t have gone over so well if she wasn’t; it would’ve been easy to back away and let someone else handle it if she didn’t have her feelings mixed up in everything, too. “How’s the water? Temperature better?”
“I feel better.” Shamara replied, though there was no enthusiasm in her voice because there was only so much better she could feel when she was like this. Anissa did raise the bar on that, too, however. Her being there, so willing to help, it made Shamara feel warm inside; that she cared enough to stick around. She’d had relationships, but never one like this, from what she was seeing so far. “Thank you. I can’t stop thinking about the lake. It’s so weird.”
Just then her tablet chimed with a bunch of messages that Shamara replied to out loud, all about how her family was willing to haul her up a hill to some lake if need be, or a pool at the very least. Better than a tub. “They wanna take me somewhere less tight. You don’t have to help with that too, you probably have stuff to do anyway. But I really appreciate that you stuck around for all this, Anissa.”
Anissa shook her head. “Nah, nothing I can’t make up later.” There had never been any question in her mind that she would stay and help. She tapped out a few quick replies herself. If Shamara’s family needed help, she would be there. Until she was certain that Shamara was somewhere comfortable, she wasn’t going anywhere. “So sorry, you’re stuck with me.” Somehow, she didn’t think Shamara would really mind.
“Oh no what a cruel fate!” Shamara joked, turning literal puppy eyes onto Anissa. “You know my vision is different like this? I feel like it’s between an aquatic creature and a dog. Not a lot of definition, colors are all weird. Wanna know something though? You’re still beautiful.”
And she smelled amazing, which Shamara didn’t add because it sounded a little creepy. “I don’t know how they plan to haul me somewhere else, might need your super amazing strength to carry me fireman style.”
If the blush wasn’t obvious on her cheeks, the way Anissa ducked her head and smiled would’ve given away how she felt at being called beautiful in that moment. The circumstances were strange as hell, but she knew the words came from someone she really cared about. That made a big difference.
Anissa laughed. “I can carry you no problem. And when you’re back to normal, I’ll do it all over again. That’s a promise.”