Sylvia was enjoying her time in the sun. Lyre was starting to warm up with spring coming, but Mieni Atoll was far better for her warmth-loving scales. And despite being a rattlesnake, she wasn't terribly keen about going out into deserts yet. Sylvia wasn't entirely sure that her new instincts would include water-conservation, especially since she needed a lot more water than a normal rattlesnake. Besides, who could resist hanging out at the beach on a tropical island.
Sylvia sighed as she slithered close to the waves, allowing the water to soak her scutes. "I wonder if I should have been a water moccasin," she said to herself. She wasn't really sure if a rattlesnake could swim. Well, all snakes should be capable of swimming, but some species were obviously more adapted to it. Still, it was nice to be able to go along the beach in her new swimsuit. To some people, it was little more than a spandex tank top, but it did allow her to show off the curve of her large breasts. She didn't have a rack nearly this impressive before she joined Animalia.
"Hello there!" called a voice. Syliva looked to see two other serpents slithering towards her. One of them was a white and black sea snake and the other was...Sylvia wasn't really sure. She hadn't seen a snake like her before. "Welcome to Mieni Atoll," said the sea snake as they slithered up to her, "I'm Kirana, this is Teela."
"Ooh, she's even prettier up close," said Teela with delight.
Sylvia chuckled and said, "It's the hair, isn't it?" She ran a hand through her golden hair, the one feature she retained from being human. She was so relieved that when she had to molt her skin, her hair didn't fall out with it. All that happened was that she got a really severe case of dandruff which was actually the start of her molting. "You're not the only ones," she said, "No reptile can resist it."
"I guess that applies to fish too," said Teela.
Sylvia gave her a confused look and said, "You're not a fish."
"Well, not the usual kind of fish," said Kirana, "She's a moray eel."
Sylvia gave Teela a double look at that. How could she have not noticed the shape of her head and the long fin going down her back? "Oh, I'm sorry," said Sylvia, "I didn't know they uplifted an eel."
"Well, I'm not 100 percent eel," said Teela, holding up a hand. Instead of being webbed, her fingers had claws. And there were some black stripes down her back that stood out against her brown skin.
"They used some of my DNA to make sure Teela would be able to slither on land," explained Kirana, "I ended up giving her more than I expected."
"Huh, I didn't think the virus could blend more than one kind of animal," said Sylvia.
"Well, didn't you hear about it on the ambassador show?" asked Teela.
"I don't spend a lot of time watching videos on my computer," said Sylvia, "I spend most of my time trying to earn my lawyer's degree."
"You need to get out more," said Kirana.
"It's been winter for the last few months and it's a lot colder on the mainland than it is here," said Sylvia.
"Well, the water's perfectly warm enough here," said Teela, "Wanna go for a swim."
"Well, I'd like to, but I'm not sure how to swim like this," said Sylvia, indicating her tail.
"What are these things for?" asked Teela, touching her rattle.
"That's what wild versions of me use to tell people to back off," said Sylvia, shaking her rattle and make a sound that made Kirana and Teela jump a bit.
"Well, I think we can show you how to swim like a snake," said Kirana, "We'll even make sure you won't drown."
"Oh, that'd be nice," said Sylvia.
"On one condition though," said Kirana.
"Let me guess, you want to comb my hair?" asked Sylvia.
"How did you know?" asked Teela.
"Every reptile woman I've met, the ones who were originally ordinary reptiles, has wanted to touch my hair," said Sylvia, "They really envy it."
"I can see why," said Teela.
"Fine, you can comb it, but gently. It might not fall out, but I'd rather not get split ends," said Sylvia, handing Kirana and Teela a comb.
The two of them giddily combed Sylvia's hair, gushing over the sheen and texture of it. "I hope my daughters have hair as lovely as this," said Kirana with awe.
"Depends if your mate has hair," said Sylvia.
"Oh, Harold does still have his hair," said Kirana, "It makes him quite handsome. And I hope his children will be just as handsome with hair as black as night."
"You are going to make me godmother, right?" asked Teela, rubbing Kirana's belly.
"Only if Topanga doesn't claim it first," said Kirana.
That talk was starting to make Sylvia a little wistful. She wished she could find a decent man of her own. Her pursuit for becoming an attorney took up a lot of her time. If this was like the legal drama show she used to watch, she'd probably find her love in a particularly handsome client or an equally handsome coworker in her firm. But that wouldn't still be for a while yet. "So, can we go swimming now?" asked Sylvia.
"Of course, right this way," said Kirana. She gently took Sylvia by the hand and led to the water. Teela held Sylvia's other hand and was slithering beside her. The two of them ease Sylvia into the surf. Sylvia started to panic a bit when she didn't have legs to kick. "Just wave your body from side to side," said Kirana, "It's like slithering on land. Just do it wider than normal." Syliva nodded and adjusted her slithering. She soon started moving through the water with improving ease. Before long, Kirana and Teela let go and allowed Sylvia to swim on her own. The rattlesnake was obviously not as fast in the water as the sea krait or the eel, but she was able to move with grace and efficiency.
Once Sylvia got her sea legs, so to speak, she soon was enjoying the water alongside her new friends. This was definitely a better spring break than going to the desert.