Outnumbered

"Take care of yourself," I tell her. She zips up to give me a another quick peck on the cheek, but I turn my head in time for her whole face to land between my lips. As she splutters, I tell her, "I love you."

Her whole body glows for a few seconds, before she flutters away. Before she's out of earshot, I hear her yell, "You'd better survive down there, dolt! There are some perverted things I want to do to you when we're done!"

Despite myself, I blush as the two mermaids regard me. It doesn't help when Brooke adds in, "Damn straight you'd better survive. There are more than just a few perverted things I want to do."

"He does seem rather good at them, doesn't he?" Ondine muses a moment later.

I dive into the water before I see Brooke's imagined scandalized face. Thankfully Ondine wasn't touching any earth, so I know Thomas hadn't heard that through Gaia.