Marin blinked at Blake, looking taken aback.“What do you mean?”
“Well, the rules of the pygmalion say that you only take on theformof the being you’re carved as, not theabilities,” Blake pointed out.“Which means, if you have the abilities, maybe those were a pre-existing condition?You said it yourself, right?Things like changing your legs back in the kiddie pool and knowing that your singing would put people to sleep came naturally to you, right?”
“That… that tracks,” Noel surmised, glancing over at Marin.
“I guess the last thing to test would be to see if I’m immune to the song.”Marin shrugged, gesturing to Noel.“Would you do the honors?”
“M-me?”Noel squeaked, blushing again.“I mean I’m not—I’m not really that good of a singer.”
“If you want to keep the audience small, I can go ahead and go outside,” Blake offered, gesturing towards the doors.
“N-no, that’s not necessary, I…” Noel bit his lip, glancing down at the surface of the pool, which he slapped at with a gentle palm.“Plug your ears so you don’t pass out, Blake.You’ll probably want to get away from the water, just in case.I’ll grab Marin if he slumps over.”
“Seems reasonable.”Blake pulled his legs out of the water, clambering to his feet and heading over towards one of the nearby beach loungers.Noel shot him a nervous look before Blake pressed his fingertips into his ears, cringing as they were flooded with a cold and damp sensation.Blake watched as Noel exhaled and then drew in a deep breath through his nose, beginning to sing.
Even muffled through the press of his fingertips, the timber in Noel’s throat struck in Blake’s chest like a gong, the reverberations casting chills down the nape of his neck.Where Marin’s voice had been light and entrancing—mist on the surface of a lake—Noel’s voice was low and commanding, a darkness lurking below the waves.It seized Blake by the breastbone and refused to let go.
A flash of golden tan skin flickered through Blake’s mind’s eye as Noel continued.Nails pressed along the curve of his shoulder blade, pleasure and pain singing sweet.A waterfall of pastel hair like liquid silk brushed over his bare chest.The lingering hint of lips dragged over his jaw.
Blake sat numb and stunned for several moments as Noel’s voice faded into the ether, the physical sensations ghosting over his person evanescing away with the fluvial rush of his pulse in his ears, so similar to the crashing of waves.
“—do youmeanyou’re no good at singing?”As Marin spoke, his voice became clearer and clearer, like Blake was surfacing from underwater.“That was gorgeous!”
“Thank you,” Noel said, scratching the side of his nose.“Like I said, I really don’t sing for anyone but Matt and my bunnies, but… but thanks.”
Blake looked at Marin, who was still floating upright in the pool, completely unfazed.
“I guess that confirms it,” Blake said.“Unless the pygmalion spell is able to mimic the attributes of the being perfectly, I think it’s safe to say you were a merman in your previous life.”
“I guess so,” Marin surmised with a little smile.“Thank you, Noel.This has all been so incredibly helpful.”
“It’s okay.”Noel held up his hands, waving them at Marin.“It wasn’t much, really.”
“I think that now would be a good time to reach out to Celeste and update them,” Blake said, taking out his phone once more.“Besides, I want to see if they’ve heard back from any of the Paul Aberleys.”
“That was the guy who made the vase, right?”Noel asked, approaching the side of the pool.
Blake pulled up Celeste’s number, putting them on speakerphone.Five rings in and the call disconnected—only for Blake’s screen to be overtaken with an incoming video call seconds later.
“Hey,” he greeted, surprised to see that the screen was a blur of color, the speakers shorting out with the sheer volume of shouting on the other line.
“Goose!”Celeste screamed.“Give it!”
“Then give me back my phone, big boss!”a second person screeched in reply.
“Not until you give me back my vape, you awful little shit—”
“You’re an addict, boss!I’m doing you a favor!”
“Bullshit!I know for a fact you’ve been taking hits whenever I’m in the back, Goosetopher—!”
“Hello?”Blake offered into the line, completely at a loss—he was glad that the camera was directed towards him, affording Marin and Noel their privacy.
“Wait, did you just accept a freaking call?!”Celeste asked, aghast.
“Ah crap,” the other person handling the phone appeared on the screen a moment later—to Blake’s surprise, it was the teenager who had been working the counter at Celestial Gems the other night.They stared wide-eyed into the camera for a moment, mouth pulled down into an exaggerated frown.“Oh hey, it’s your ex’s roommate.”
“We’re still together!”Celeste snapped, wrenching the phone from their grasp.They schooled their furious expression into one of cool indifference.“Hey.Sorry, my cousin was being stupid.”
