“You need to stay well hydrated,” Sari scolded. She unscrewed the cap from a fresh bottle of water and promptly emptied it over her best friend. “Honestly!”
Muriel cracked a smile, wincing when it pulled her crackly skin a bit too taut at the corners. “Sorry—kinda preoccupied.”
“You’re always preoccupied,” Sari muttered. “You’re the mermaid!”
“And you’re the fire guardian,” Muriel grinned. “We make a ridiculous pair, don’t we?”
Sari wrinkled her nose. She’d given up on thinking about terms like fire and water. It didn’t matter. She’d lived her entire life by the seashore and her fire gift had never abandoned her.
In fact, she’d never thought there was anything wrong with having a mermaid for a friend, until more kids from the city had moved in towards the water.
The whole dispute had come to a head just last week.
A troublesome week in which Sari had been dragged along to help her older brother in combatting the terrible suicide aftermath of an elderly fire elemental, who had discovered his brother had killed his wife. In a rage, he’d self-destructed and his flames were too lethal for ordinary measures.
In desperation, she’d called Muriel, who had come at once, leaving the safety and security of her watery depths to lend a hand.
With her complimentary gift, they’d brought an end to the terrible fires, saving lives and working hard to keep the locals out of harms way.
Still—Sari sighed. She could see the dangerous crinkle lines slowly retreating as Muriel sucked up the necessary hydration—even from water being spilled over her head.
“You should have called an ambulance to come and get you,” she lectured. “Can you walk now?”
“Yeah, the dock’s close enough, I think,” Muriel yawned. She half-slumped into the arm that slipped under her shoulder. “Sorry for making you worry.”
“Tch. I’m the one that called you out, I should be apologizing.” Sari said. “We’re almost there, hang on.”
It took a several minutes, but the end result was the one they’d both wanted. Muriel half-toppled, half-dove off of the end of the docks and into the welcoming water below.
She vanished at once, before resurfacing, significantly out into the lapping waves, with a single handed wave.
Sari grinned and waved back. She’d come and check on her in a few hours.
Or a few days.
A/N: This was really fun to work on. I thought of a fire and water elemental working together and being BFF’s, hence, this was born. I’m rather inclined to continue it…