I don’t know where his body ends and mine begins. Our lips, our fingers, our skin flows together, two oceans crashing and making waves and melting into each other until we are one current. I’ve always wondered what scaling would be like, but it can’t be anything like this. I can’t imagine the feelings, the textures, the pleasure could be this intense. I know now that no matter how badly I want to go back to the Blue, no matter how badly I want to someday experience everything with my tail, no amount of love for my home or my mer body will make me forget this moment. Everything will be compared to this from here on out.

As I watch Sean put on a condom and he kisses me and asks again if everything is okay, I don’t understand how the rift between merfolk and humans has become so deep. Why would so many of us choose to go back home when we can connect like this? When humans can make your heart race like this, make your whole body react like this?

And when our bodies are as connected as they possibly can be, when mine rolls with an entire tsunami’s worth of sensations, I realize that the Blue might not be able to give me everything I need.

Because I need this.

Because I need Sean.

     Sean     

It was like swimming. Like how when I’m in the water I just know what to do and my body takes over and everything feels so right. Ross and I, we just flowed together.

After, while they lightly snore on my chest, I can’t stop watching the recording I took of Ross at the observatory. It’s the perfect final shot for The Tourist. They look so awed, like there are so many wonders of the world they never realized were out there and were thankful to finally get a moment to see one of them. I’ll add it to my short in the morning, and send it off to Ms. Molina for Friday night’s showcase. I’ve got shots of them at the Walk of Fame, Kavya’s footage of them getting caught up in the energy at my swim meet, multiple moments of them laughing and crying and scowling along to different rom-coms, or walking down the street and getting lost in whatever new thing they’re seeing on land for the first time. The more I watch, the more I imagine what life would be like if Ross stayed. There’d be so many firsts that I’d have enough scenes to make a whole series with multiple seasons of Ross’s new experiences.