Pina Coladas on the Deck

Sam's eyes glinted emerald green as he tilted his head and leaned towards her. The corner of his mouth hesitated for a moment before turning up into another playful smile. "Ah yes, here and there. I'm a traveler so I've been from many places but I think the place I would call home is Bad Reichenhal in Germany."

Mairin's eyes widened in amazement, she would've pegged the accent as Russian but she wasn't familiar with actual German speakers, only those she saw in the movies. She also had no idea where Bad Reichenhal was. "Oh wow. So that's a German accent then?"

Sam shrugged. "If you say so, to me, you are the one with an accent, very American." He grinned, running a hand over his blond hair.

Mairin blinked in surprise and shook her head, "I don't have an accent." She hadn't said she was an American, but that'd be a safe assumption without her having a stronger accent.

Sam glanced knowingly up and playfully shrugged again, tapping the edge of his jaw by his right ear. "It's all in the ear of the beholder. You just think you don't. We're all marked by the places and languages we've learned."

"Here you are two virgin pina coladas," a waiter announced depositing, to Mairin's puzzlement, two pineapples with straws sticking out of a hole on the side on the little table between the two. He smiled politely before wandering off once more.

Sam noticed her confused expression, handing a pineapple to Mairin. "It's quint to scoop out the fruit blend it and pour it back into the shell as a natural cup. Just take off the top and enjoy," he explained.

Mairin took the fruit in in her hand, not wanting to admit that she'd never had this drink before. Sam's fingers brushed hers in the exchange, sending a tingling sensation through her arm. She wasn't sure what to make of it as she pulled her drink up to sample it. "Thank you, I've never had it like this before."

Sam watched her with deepening curiosity, withdrawing his hand. He removed the spiky green pineapple top and set it on the table before bringing it up to drink. Mairin caught herself watching Sam's lips as they drew the straw between them. She blushed and looked down at her own drink. "It is a novelty for places like this. It makes the drink that much more exotic."

"Location does impart a sort of mystique to the people and things you encounter," Mairin agreed. "What's Bad Reichenhal like? I don't think I've heard it before. I only know of a few cities in Germany." She hoped to settle more of the conversations weight on Sam to make herself feel less self-conscious. She couldn't imagine how she looked, probably partially sunburnt, without make-up and in a bikini. She wanted to look cool, sexy and she knew the reality was more lame.

Sam was enjoying the view and Mairin's company, eagerly jumping into conversation with her. His eyes did travel down her body to check out her physique but otherwise, his eye contact was intense. His eye color shifted to a softer blue as he sipped his drink and answered her question. "It's a tiny town, mostly spas up in the mountains. It's quite a sight this time of year but winter is the best time to visit. Have you ever jumped into the snow after being in a hot sauna? It's very invigorating!"

Mairin shook her head again. Most of what she knew about saunas was from the movies. Her mom told her stories about all the various saunas at Spa World in Busan but they had never managed to go as a family. Bath houses and saunas were usually a family affair in Korea but they had never managed to go. "I haven't been in a sauna before."

"That's a shame! I think the ship has a sauna room." Sam's eyes twinkled with mischief. "You should come with me. There isn't snow but the pool is cold."

Mairin pursed her lips together, glancing down at her book. She blushed noticing it was facing but idly wondering what it'd feel like to be the woman on the cover. What else did she have planned today? She still had no idea if this man was secretly Enkidu or not. It didn't hurt to be social and he was being rather friendly and polite. Something felt off, different but she wasn't sure what it was. Shamhat had left her no clues, only the imperative to find Enkidu. There was no way her luck was so good that she'd find him right away, was it?

It was something out of the romance novels Mairin was reading, a chance encounter, and a destined love. Maybe more heat would prompt Shamhat to share more information with her. She shyly smiled, pursing her lips before she answered. "Sure. That sounds like it might be fun. Can we talk our drinks or should we finish them first?"

---

Mairin entered the empty brown and beige tiled room first. Soft classical music and soft lighting mingled with the scent of red cedar, setting her at ease. There was a pedestal of hot stone in the center with a large wood slated bench curving around it. Even without the steam, the room was hot enough to make her sweat. She felt self conscious in her thin spa robe but the sauna rules stated no outside clothing but they could not be nude. 'Maybe this is a bad idea,' she thought as she sat down in the center of the bench, smoothing her robe down behind her thighs so her skin didn't touch the bare wood.

Mairin closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. It reminded her of living in the forest all those years ago. In a moment, she was transported to the edge of a crystal clear lake of her memory against a back drop of dense green trees, watching a storm roll over the mountains towards the forest. A mountain breeze brought with it cedar, pine, moss, hints of the rising storm that brushed against her skin. The reflection she saw in the water was a beautiful blonde woman with golden eyes, golden scales glittered in the sunlight, and small golden leather wings stretched to either side of her shapely nude figure. She knew it was Shamhat in a state of partial transformation. Shamhat hadn't committed to being fully human to witness the storm. It was a much needed rain to revitalize the forest after a long dry summer. It was a waiting game to see if the forest would be reborn in flames or if the gods would bless them with rain.

"Shamhat," a male voice called. Shamhat couldn't see the face of the man in the lake and turned to face him. She recognized the voice, Huwawa, her friend and the other guardian of the Cedar Forest. He was fearsome in his native form but he was mostly human today. His red eyes were cattish and his tail long and serpentine. The rest of his form was a muscular human at his prime, long flowing mane of thick black hair with dense muscles glistening in the sunlight due to clear scales covering his skin. His horns were large, smooth like a bull's curving around his head like a crown. "I like you like this."

Shamhat laughed. "It doesn't strike terror so vivid that it make your legs quiver at the sight of me?" She approached him, her wings settling around her bare shoulders like a cloak, only partially concealing her nudity.

"My legs aren't what responds to the vision of you," Huwawa replied with a toothy grin. Shamhat's eyes drifted downward to the soft cloth tied around his loins and saw what he meant.

Shamhat laughed with a shake of her head. "Don't your wife and your concubine satisfy you enough? Surely, you are like this for their benefit?"

Huwawa's expression fell. He frowned. "No, it's to warn you."

"Warn me of what?" Shamhat lightly touched his arm, his skin slick and hard beneath the scales.

"Your heart will betray you," Huwawa replied. "Not in the way you'd expect. You'll burn so brightly that it'll hurt the one you love the strongest."

Shamahat pursed her lips together. "A prophecy? What oracle spoke this?"

"Someone will covet you and your heart, they will destroy what they cannot have," his voice lowered, his eyes shifting around to make sure that they were alone on the shore. Her gaze shifted to check, it was just them and the wind.

"Who?" Shamhat remembered the old witch that told her the curse but there was nothing about a person being behind it. "Who has cursed me?"

"G..."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mairin!" Sam's voice pulled Mairin from her dream. She blinked as she looked at the German wearing a spa robe. He was cheerful as he sat beside her. "Ready for some steam?"