Chapter 54: He Really Didn't Want Her To Go

Talori acted like she was doing it solely because Brennan asked but he could tell she was having fun with it based on how she was talking to herself about how to maximize on space. Her whole countenance seemed lighter.

He was glad that humiliating himself was working to cheer her up. He had no doubt that she would end up sending the picture to Harmony at the very least if not everyone she knew up here.

When she finished she took pictures from several angles to get the full affect and grinned at him. "You look beautiful."

She held up the phone for him to see and he grimaced. Beautiful? He looked ridiculous! But that had kind of been the whole point of this. To look ridiculous and get her mind off of her brother. It seemed to have worked.

"I look like an idiot."

"You do not!" Brennan raised an eyebrow and Talori amended her statement with a laugh. "Okay, maybe a little."

"At least you're honest."

She ended up saving the picture as her lock screen, which was even worse than sending it to Harmony, but he couldn't regret it since her mood had improved. Seeing someone so energetic and cheerful be upset was more distressing than seeing anyone else be upset.

"I wonder when my hair will grow back," Talori mused. "After being here this long it has only grown a few inches."

"It was pretty long. It will probably take several years," Brennan said with a shrug.

Her hair grew faster than his. He only needed to get a haircut once or twice a year. Maybe it was because she was female, maybe it was because of her race. He didn't know how fast merfolk hair grew in general without a point of comparison.

Zale had long hair too but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He could have been growing it out for decades or even centuries.

"That isn't too bad, I suppose," Talori said. "Having it shorter is more convenient up here anyway. Currents don't get it in my face nearly as much as wind does."

Brennan had noticed that when he was underwater. Merfolk hair tended to float around them like a cloud but rarely got in their faces because it went up not down. At least as far as he had seen.

"Your hair is pretty whether it's short or long. Purple isn't a color you see on fae up here unless they dye it. I've seen a few witches dye their hair unusual colors. Harmony had green streaks in it about a decade ago before she got tired of that."

Talori smiled so warmly at him that his heart momentarily stopped. "Thank you! Purple isn't terribly common where I'm from either. At least as far as I've seen. The only merfolk I know of with purple hair are myself and Zale."

Brennan recalled that merfolk genetics seemed to be fairly random. Colors could be shared but family members usually weren't half of the same type of fish. At least based on everything she had said to Harmony not long after she got here.

"Well, there aren't many purple fish in the sea. From what I can tell, you're a fairy basslet and he's a Spanish hogfish."

Talori laughed, an intrigued sparkle in her eyes. "Surface-dwellers named a fish after fairies? I had no idea. That is somewhat ironic considering I'm probably the first of my race to ever meet a fairy."

It certainly was. Brennan hadn't realized that before but she was right.

"That isn't their only name. They're also referred to as royal grammas…which is still ironic since you're a princess."

Talori burst out laughing so hard this time she couldn't stop for several minutes. "This is too much! Is there another name for Spanish hogfish up here? I'm curious."

"Only the scientific name. Bodianus rufus. The scientific name for fairy basslets is gramma loreto. Someone decided a few centuries ago that everything should be named in Latin for some reason. It makes things rather confusing since everyone but biologists calls them by their casual names," Brennan said as he rolled his eyes.

He had a very strong opinion about zoological nomenclature. Before he realized it, he had gone off on a rant. She egged him on by asking questions and as a result he ended up going on for way too long.

He wasn't embarrassed about it though. Goodness knows Talori went on about things for a long time too.

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Perhaps that was what made their friendship work so well. They were both overly enthusiastic about certain topics and therefore understanding of when others went on about things no one really cared about for too long.

It was why his friendship with Harmony worked too. He only got excitable about a few things but when he did he was nearly on par with those two. Nearly but not quite.

He used to think Harmony was the most excitable fae in existence but after meeting Talori he had to reevaluate his opinion. He was fairly sure the mermaid had her beat in that regard.

Not that there was anything wrong with that. Brennan was so used to enthusiasm at this point that it didn't even faze him.

Harmony's was of the mad scientist variety where Talori's was more endearing. It was hard to explain the difference. Maybe because the latter grew up so sheltered and her curiosity was so innocent where it seemed like the former could dissect someone if the situation called for it.

Castian certainly didn't seem to mind that though. If Brennan didn't know any better, he would say the elf was smitten. They certainly seemed to be spending a lot more time together these days.

That wasn't normal for witch/elf relationships. They were acting like a real couple at least in terms of spending time together.

Brennan had been watching those two and he had noticed Castian's fond gaze lingering on Harmony many times. If he truly was invested, Brennan would feel sorry for him. Witches were notoriously anti-attachment. Even more so than elves.

A relationship like theirs would never work out long term. Even most inter-elemental fairy relationships didn't last more than a century. He had never heard of one of those resulting in marriage, which was already somewhat rare for any races other than werewolves. They almost always got married once they found their mates because wolves tend to mate for life.

He couldn't even imagine that. None of his past girlfriends had lasted more than fifty years.

Brennan supposed that was a large part of why he was still alone. It took being together much longer than that to produce children if that even happened at all.

He had long resigned himself to never having family again. It was better that way. To drift through the world without any real attachments to avoid getting hurt again. If he cared about anyone on a meaningful level and lost them…

Being alone was the safer thing to do. He could have his friends to keep him from going insane with boredom but not get too close to any of them. That was how he had operated since losing his family. It had worked for centuries and wouldn't fail him now.

Brennan might be alone but he wasn't lonely. Especially since Talori was here with him on a temporary basis.

He couldn't deny he dreaded her going back for reasons he couldn't fathom but it wasn't like he would never see her again. They would still be working together on an indefinite basis because of his deal with Zale.

He would be fine. It was stupid that he even panicked over that text message.

Zale probably wanted an update because his plan was taking longer than expected. This would take a while. Brennan had nothing to worry about any time soon.

Talori's head suddenly slumped against his shoulder. He hadn't realized that while he was lost in thought that she began nodding off. A glance at his phone told him it was getting late. He wasn't tired yet though so he didn't mind staying here a while longer and not disturbing her before moving her to the tub.

He wished he had a more comfortable place for her to sleep where she wouldn't dry out but his apartment really wasn't all that big. They made do the best they could but she really wasn't meant to live up here.

Brennan had similar yet different problems when he was staying with her under the sea but that was on a much more temporary basis. Talori had been here for more than half a year already.

How much longer would it be? Years? Decades?

He wished he had a way to communicate with Zale solely so he would have some sort of timeframe and wouldn't be so blindsided when the time eventually came for his friend to return home.

If he was being perfectly honest with himself…he really didn't want her to go. Talori made his life more interesting. She was special.

Despite bumps along the way as he got used to harboring a mermaid, he liked having her here. He would miss her when she was gone. He always missed people he left behind but it passed eventually.

What he really missed was the sense of routine. Once he had a new one he always adjusted fine. That was how he would get through her leaving too. But looking down at her peaceful sleeping face, he hoped he was able to put that off as long as possible.. Even if it was selfish.

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