There is no Greater Love

Eric wanted to try a date at night. Problem was, Nerina was stuck in her mermaid form until the next light. It eliminated any chance of going into the city at that hour, but it did not dissuade Eric from suggesting something to do at all. Nerina insisted on a date, and Eric was ready to give her one.

Since she was a mermaid, Eric knew he would have to do something by the sea if not in it. He would avoid dressing in anything fancy, then. In fact, it was probably better if he wore virtually nothing at all. It was still a little chilly out at night, so Eric wore a light waterproof jacket and matching pants. As he walked along the rocky shore, he delicately carried a case of food, some cutlery, and a blanket. He was going on a picnic out at sea.

They agreed to meet in a Tidal Pool, away from busy ocean water and somewhere a little more tame. Nerina would still be able to jump into that pool, and Eric would not have to worry about the tide dragging him unceremoniously to a watery grave.

There was a relatively dry space near the pool, where the waves didn't reach the rock. Eric set the blanket as flat as he could, and placed the food still in their boxes. It was his cheat day today, so Eric decided on some fish and chips to share with Nerina. He had enough for three people in case either of them wanted more. Eric was pretty sure he would eat more than his share.

Once he had it down, Eric waited on the rock just above the pool. He still had his clothes on, avoiding the ocean wind.

Nerina's emergence was both a surprise and a sign of relief for Eric. At first he was unsure if the massive wave was a creature or some prelude to a tidal wave. As the water spilled down, he could see Nerina along the rocks. She was holding a large bag of shellfish, and a little... shark?

Eric's jaw just about dropped. How did she manage to catch so much stuff like that? And more importantly, what did she do to her hair? She looked gorgeous. Even though she wore no clothes, it was Eric who felt severely under-dressed.

As he walked over to help her, Nerina launched herself onto Eric. He nearly fell backwards, but prior experience told him to kick one foot back and expect a much heavier mermaid than a human girl. He wrapped his arms around Nerina tightly, and accepted her kiss. It was very salty... but it didn't taste bad at all. In fact, he rather liked it. He didn't give up her lips too quickly.

“You look gorgeous,” Eric grinned brightly. The pearls all through her hair, and the seashell jewelry had Eric perceive Nerina as some mermaid royalty. Eric, on the other hand, definitely looked more like gritty sailor. Gritty sailor with nice teeth and hair.

He helped Nerina into the pool and returned to the picnic rock. “I didn't get my waterproof suit in time,” he wasn't serious, but he was starting to think maybe it was a decent investment if he was to be with Nerina.

“Besides, you're naked,” Eric smiled at Nerina. Her hair was as brilliant as any dress, but she was still showing off quite a lot of skin. Eric felt it was appropriate to do the same. He unzipped his jacket and pants, pulling them off to show Nerina his whole body. He slipped into the pool next to her, shivering as he tried to adjust to the temperature.

“I think this is better,” Eric grinned, swimming to Nerina.

“My mistake,” Eric smirked. She was right in a sense, though Eric normally wouldn't declare jewelry to be clothing. The way she wore her hair was not unlike a pretty dress.

"Did you just call this a rock pool? Isn't it a tide pool?" Eric teased. He liked her accent in all truth, but it never stopped him from teasing about it on occasion.

One thing Eric didn't consider was the shark in the water. He saw a shadow pass between them for a brief moment, and he froze. He didn't think about it, but sharks sometimes bit people right? What about gummy sharks? Eric didn't know.

“Hey uh, gummy sharks don't attack people do they?” Eric moved closer to Nerina. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing them together. He liked this. Not only did it make him feel safer, he also felt quite a bit of his girlfriend.

“It's making me nervous, a little,” Eric spoke like he was joking, but really, he was actually a little frightened. Even though people said most animals and insects wouldn't harm you if you left them alone, there was always the worry you'd be stung or bitten.

Well, it didn't make him feel any better. Every time the shark passed by him, every muscle in Eric's body clenched. It didn't help that Nerina remarked on his elephant trunk, which confused him over whether he should take it as a compliment or fear her warning.

Nerina brought the conversation back to dinner. Finally, an excuse to distract him from the shark. Eric smiled, “I did. I brought fish and chips.” He broke away from Nerina and swam over to the rock, first ensuring that the shark was well out of his way. He didn't want to climb out of the water out of fear of the cold breeze, so instead he reached for the little box of fish and chips up on the rock.

“Would you like a fork too?” Eric thought Nerina would rather eat it with her fingers. It was pretty easy to do so, but Eric generally preferred keeping his hands from attracting grease. Granted, he was surrounded by a cleaning solvent...

It was fairly easy to relax with Nerina so close to him. The tail around his legs and her hand stroking his chest made him forget about the shark. Granted, he couldn't think much of anything other than Nerina when she played with him like that.

But food came first. If they didn't eat it soon, it would get cold and gross. “I hope so,” he offered a piece to Nerina and then took one for himself. It still tasted good, but it probably would have been better when hot.

She started asking about the little side dishes and dips in the fish and chips. “That's tartar sauce. You can eat that with the fish,” Eric demonstrated with his own piece, “It's made of uh... mayonnaise and... green relish? Mustard?” He honestly didn't have a clue, but he was eating it anyway. A very typical behaviour.

“That's coleslaw. It's like a salad. It's made of cabbage and uh, mayonnaise again. And little bits of carrot.” There was a lot of may in this stuff, now that he thought of it. Probably lots of gross additives in it too, to make it worse.

“If you don't want it I'll have it,” Eric added about the coleslaw. Gross or not, Eric loved his salads.

After some eating, Eric started to lean some of his weight onto Nerina, pushing her up against the rock. The water made it impossible to really pin her down, but he leaned against her the best he could. One hand tentatively felt the curve along her side, the other rubbing her shoulder.

“Hungry for anything else?” Eric smiled, dangerously close to Nerina's lips.