CHAPTER 15
He meant ‘like’ no different than liking biscuits she was sure.
Or that was what she tried to tell herself when she lay down for her nap later that day, and when she ate dinner and when she turned the crank for the first time for the night and even when she turned it for the last time. Biscuits. Just like biscuits.
But her heart didn’t want to listen. It was bouncing, dancing, leaping, somersaulting, backflipping, soaring, flying, jigging. It could not be stilled, and she felt practically giddy. Her first friend and a mermaid no less—and a gorgeous one at that.
Well, gorgeous to her human tastes at least. She wondered what his fellow mermaids thought and how many there were and if he lived alone or with family or friends, if he had a home or always swam, if he slept while swimming or had to stop and be vulnerable. She had so many questions.
Luckily, communication wasn’t that hard.
Granted, these kinds of questions were out of scope at the moment, but she imagined it wouldn’t be long before they could communicate further.
He was picking up the language faster than she had expected and she was happy he seemed to want to know hers, rather than the other way around.
She’d try to learn his of course, but she had been hopeless when Father had tried to teach her Latin as a child, and while she did learn eventually, the speed of progress had been pitiful.
But Kallias seemed like a natural, picking things up even when his teacher didn’t have a common language to instruct him in.
Or maybe she was just giving him extra credit because of the ‘Kallias likes Daria’ remark.
She wasn’t sure, though it did make her heart sing.
She had never tried to teach a language before, so she couldn’t gauge normal speed, but it seemed fast. And better yet, with him, it didn’t even feel like teaching; it was more like simply trying to communicate and he picked it up on the way.
Brilliant and gorgeous. How lucky she was to meet such a…friend. Her heart hammered again as she lay back down for the last time of the night and willed herself to sleep. She needed to rest so she could see him again.
With that thought, sleep came as easily as her smile, and she fell fast asleep.