Deceiver: Honestly, I had a better idea...but I am delirious from the cold. So sorry. This is a dud.

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Merman

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Ever since Eva let Neil crash at her place, she had noticed something odd about this merman. His eyes were always squinting once he surfaced, as if glaring despite being thankful for being out of the dirty lake he used to live in. He always asked if it was Eva coming into the spare bathroom to see him, which was odd since she was only a good two meters away from him. That and sometimes she heard him bumping into something, wincing as he tried to brush off Eva's worry on him.

She might be thinking too much, but there were no other explanations. And it would be amusing if she was actually right.

So…

"Hey," Eva came in once she was finally home from her work. Neil instantly popped his head out of the water, squinting at the figure at the door.

"Eva?" he asked as she got closer. She simply sat on the stool next to the bathtub, giving a small mumble to confirm her presence. "Done with work already?"

"Yeah. I got to leave earlier today," she set something on her lap, turning to him. "I want to try something though. Do you mind?"

"Um…" he gave her a look. "Sure?" he tried to get comfortable in his tub. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much," she picked up the thing on her lap, inspected it a bit before nodding. "Stay still for a second."

"O…kay?" Neil did as told as Eva got closer. He was a bit nervous as she just started to loom over her, making him close his eyes in a slight panic when he felt something touched the side of his head.

"Okay. Open up your eyes."

Neil did as told, and without warning, he did a double take as he backed up against the wall behind him in surprise. Eva jumped out of her seat a bit when he accidentally splashed water onto her, making her glare a bit before sitting back down. Neil stared at her, eyes wide as he took in his surrounding, as if he finally noticed where he was.

"Better?" she reached out to fix the thing now sitting on his face. Neil blinked at it, touching the thing Eva put on him. "Not sure if these glasses are right for you, but better than not able to see anything, right?"

He frowned a bit. "Glasses?"

"Yep. They help you see things better," she watched how he took it off, playing with it a bit to test how it worked. Eva couldn't help it but smile in amusement, since this looked like the first time the merman living in her bathtub was finally able to see.

Glancing back at her, Neil put on his glasses. His eyes were wide and a bright green, surprising Eva a bit. "Huh," he murmured, taking a closer look at her. His intense stare was a bit unsettling compared to his glares, so Eva backed up a bit.

"What?"

"Hmm…I always thought you were just some blurry blob," he finally said. "Didn't think you actually look…decent."

There was a huff. "Rude!" Eva pushed herself out of her seat and headed for the door. "That's the thanks I get for helping you out again!"

"Hey, I'm just surprised!" Neil called out to her, but she already left. Pouting, he blew some bubbles into the water as he sank back into it. Honestly, he was surprised. He didn't expect to see everything so clear.

…And that the human who saved him looked that pretty. Despite her attitude.