Golds or Tails
3. Part of your World (ii)
A growlithe barks as it bounds up to the male, who's sitting up from the sand and massaging his jaw with pruny fingers. His expression shifts from confused irritation to calm composure, and his eyes have cleared up enough to search for the girl he'd seen. Blue ducks behind a wall of rocks protruding from the shallow depths of the shore.
When Squirtle pops his head out of the water, ready to gripe about the awful time he'd experience being flung in the storm, Blue holds a finger to his mouth to shush him.
"Green! You're alright!" an aged man wearing a white coat hurries up to his side, helping the boy onto his feet. "We were worried sick, we can't let anything happen to our prince, can we?" the old male laughs, filled with relief and content.
Blue's eyes light up at the mention of the 'p' word, and a devious smile unfurls on her face. Squirtle is shaking his head profusely and making wild actions with his paws that seem to convey the message 'don't even think about it!'
"Did you happen to see a girl? I think she may have rescued me. She had a loud, annoying voice, and…" Green pauses and stops, he can't seem to remember much else about her.
Blue huffs, furrowing her brow and wondering – surely she left a better impression than that. This human, he was interesting.
"My boy, you seem disoriented. Let's just get you back home for some rest."
"Alright, grandfather." The prince called Green allows himself to be led back to town, his growlithe at his heels.
"I don't know when," Blue mumbles to herself.
[When?] Squirtle repeats, shuddering.
"And I don't know how," the mermaid continues.
[How? What're you planning, Blue?] the turtle is almost afraid to ask.
"Something's starting right now." She taps his nose. "Watch and you'll see."
"Someday I'll be," she inhales with determination, "part of your world." She stares intently at the image of the young man's back, trying to commit every single detail to mind. The breadth of his shoulders, his gait, the way the pendant around his neck catches the sunlight.
" – And then… I'll be able to horde even more gold!" she laughs with ambition.
Midway through her declaration, an ocean wave surges up from behind the rocks she's settled herself against, and the tide drenches her completely. She sniffs, ignoring the intense humiliation, wiping the hair sticking onto her forehead and cheeks with one indignant hand, before disappearing back underwater.