There are many things we hear in our lives that shock us to our very core, most of the time it's the news a loved one or dear friend has passed, other times it could be word of a tragedy so horrific that it brings us to tears. But then there are those select few where the thing that shocks them the most isn't someone's death nor of a catastrophe of any kind, to some individuals the most shocking thing they can ever hear is when someone confesses their love for them, as they find themselves incapable of ever knowing what it feels like to experience such a thing. This is the case for two people who are locked together in a moment of time, a man bowing with eyes closed before the woman of his dreams with a bouquet of flowers held out in his hand, the other a Lamia type monster known as a Gorgon. Mere moments prior they were but two strangers approaching each other on the sidewalk, but once they drew near he spoke to her bringing them to a stop. and just as it seemed he would freeze up due to fear and anxiety he confessed his undying affection for her.
Which as one would expect, she was reacting to in a very reasonable and rational way.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" She screamed in her mind as she stared wide eyed at the man before her "H-HE LOVES ME?! WHAT, WHO, WHERE, HUH?!" She mentally stuttered, as her brain was racing a million miles an hour trying to figure out what was going on.
Cresttide City, one of the first places in the world to open it's doors to monsters once the inter-species exchange bill had been passed, and while there were still those not keen on these non-human species suddenly living and working among them, others were quite thrilled at the idea of having these new varied cultures and people be included in their lives. But because there were those unsavory individuals who sought to berate or mistreat extra-species individuals for the way they were, this meant that any monster who came to the city would be assigned a coordinator from a newly founded branch of the government, and would have to either live with a host family or get a work visa and report to their job's supervisor daily. This was how a Medusa or more commonly known as Gorgon demihuman by the name of Nyx came to the city, as she had applied to work at the city's library. And while at first glance this seemed to be normal the truth is it was quite perplexing, as most of the demihumans who came to the city wanted to have jobs where they could interact with people or do something for the city such as police or hospital work.
Her job would have her spend all day down in the archives sorting records, book checkout information, and so forth, meaning she would be all alone with no interaction with anyone, human or demihuman. Furthermore Gorgon's typically have bad eyesight, and while wearing glasses does help with this it would still be a bit straining on her eyes to be working all day in a space that even with proper lighting was still fairly dim. But upon her arrival at the government office located in the city, it was made clear that she wasn't your typical Gorgon.
First there were her scales, and unlike most Lamia species whose scales mostly consisted of red, green, and yellow colors, with some parts of their bodies being lighter in tone, her's was a breathtaking aqua with accents of sea foam green spread across her body in various places. Next there was her eyes, and beyond having impeccable eyesight which was not typical for her species, they were also a striking crimson red color like two blood moons. Finally the last detail that was striking to say the least were the snakes on her head, as unlike normal snakes these had frill like hoods similar to a cobra's that would flare up any time she felt threatened or angry, otherwise they'd be folded down on the snakes' bodies. From her appearance alone she would definitely catch attention wherever she went, combine this with the total length of her body coming in at twenty six feet and six inches, the bulk of it being from her serpent like lower half of course, she was not only a breathtaking creature but also quite the intimidating one.
Which perfectly enough matched her personality, though not a complete stereotype of snakes and Lamias as a whole she was definitely a serious and rather cold person, not being one to chit chat or socialize with anyone unless she was required to do so. She enjoyed being left alone and kept at a distance from the rest of the world, which to most would make them wonder why with such a personality did she even want to come to human civilization, given the likelihood of encountering people was all the more common? And the simple answer to that question which only her coordinator knew was that she desired knowledge, given her size and even her well maintained physique she had raw physical strength aplenty, so she wanted to better her mind and learn all that she could about as many things as she was able. This is why she wanted to work at the library and why she was quite content with working down in the archives, for while she worked she was also able to read and learn all kinds of new information that wasn't available to her back home.
Coupled with the near nonexistent interaction with anyone and this was a literal paradise to her, a near endless sea of knowledge just waiting to be explored by her curious gaze. But even with such a carefully planned routine to settle into there is always the chance an unpredictable factor could be thrown into the mix, and while she had expected this to a degree like getting a coworker or perhaps being moved to a more active neighborhood, she could have never guessed what actually transpired. A human man, one she barely recognized as she had seen him but a few times in passing at the library was confessing his love for her, never in her entire life had anything like this happened. Yet it wasn't just because every species of Lamia lacked male counterparts meaning this sort of thing wasn't possible back home, it's because she had never had anyone at any point in her life be so direct with her.
Sure there was her coordinator but even then she did her best to keep their exchanges short and to the point, as for the other Gorgons back home she was seen as the odd one out due to her scale colors as well as the fact she had no mother. And while her village raised her as though she was their collective child, it was never the same as every night she would watch them all return to their homes while she simply went with whoever's turn it was to house her for the evening. Throughout her entire life she was always kept at a distance even if it wasn't intentional, always being seen and treated as a "special" case or with some of the more vocal humans a freak, leaving her to believe that the effort to make friends or just be open with others wasn't worth the hassle. But now in this moment of time which seemed to be stuck in an endless purgatory, a human man with flowers in hand just told her he loves her, and even as the seconds became minutes she still had no idea how to respond, leaving them both exactly where they were.
"Ah...I...y-you..." She stuttered doing her best to say something, ANYTHING at all to break the silence.
Thankfully whether it was her coordinator's doing or perhaps the universe simply doing her a favor, her home was not only close to the library but it was in a section of the city that had been zoned for demihuman workers, meaning the amount of people in the area at any given time was always quite scarce. Still, even with them being alone for the moment on the sidewalk as the sun continued to fall over the horizon, she knew she had to say or do something as otherwise they'd be there all night frozen like statues.
"I-I know this is sudden!" He suddenly spoke, being the first to try and start a conversation "A-And I know you don't know who I am, b-but I've seen you at the library o-over these past few weeks, a-and you are without a doubt the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!" He exclaimed as he gripped the flowers even tighter "Y-You have every right to reject me, a-and even tell me to get lost and never speak to you again, b-but I just couldn't take not telling you how I feel anymore!" He went on before he suddenly straightened himself up and stared right at her "I LOVE YOU MISS NYX!" He shouted with all his might, doing his best not to shake from how nervous he was.
Even though he had already said it hearing him say it again only made her freeze up even more and her eyes somehow get bigger, but thankfully for her sake this second admittance of love from him was enough to spur her into action, though it wasn't exactly what she thought she would do.
"TH-THAT'S NICE OF YOU!" She shouted back as she quickly grabbed the flowers from him "TH-THANKS FOR THESE, GOODBYE!" She shouted once more, before she bolted past him.
Moving at speeds that could challenge a modified racing bike she quickly made it to the end of the sidewalk and turned the corner, disappearing from sight. And while for most people such a response from the very person who made their heart skip a beat like she did to his would be near soul crushing, he instead had the biggest grin he ever had in his whole life plastered across his face.
"I DID IT!" He shouted in victory as he jumped into the air, thrusting a fist upward as he did "I ACTUALLY TALKED TO HER! WOOHOO!" He continued to cheer, as he too then bolted up the sidewalk and out of sight.
And so brought an end to the encounter between a love struck man and a curious Gorgon, and while it was by no means a standard love story of two souls destined to be together, it was the start of something neither of them could have ever been prepared for.