Just as Mary was deep in pondering exactly how best to proceed with her body, and whether or not to alter it further, she found herself jolting to look towards a very sharp, very confused yell from the house.
"What the hell?!"
The newly-transformed mermaid's tail flopped in shock as she craned her neck to see a familiar someone staring at her, mouth agape. Chloe, her best friend for as long as she could remember, and nowadays, her roommate. Well, more like a housemate - they rented this place together, splitting the not-inconsiderable rent in order to make it affordable. Chloe got the master bedroom, as a bit of compensation for all the crap she had going on; between working her ass off at the mall and struggling through med school, the future doctor had plenty happening in her life. Still, it had never stopped her from being the most loyal friend Mary could hope for.
Her friend's short-cropped blonde hair bobbed up and down as she scurried over, a hand over her mouth. Mary winced slightly, silently screaming at herself - she'd known damn well that Chloe would be getting back soon. Damnit. "Uhhhh... h-hey, Chloe," the brunette greeted her quietly, trying to pose casually as if the lower half of her body wasn't a grey-skinned dolphin's tail. It didn't seem to work all that well.
"M-m-m-mary... y-you... y-our...." As she stammered, Chloe jabbed a finger at the tail. "I-i-i-is... is t-that..."
"Chloe, it's rude to point."
"TAIL!" She put both hands to her head, gripping it in shock. "YOU HAVE A TAIL!"
Mary's face was starting to grow red with embarrassment. "Ahhhhh.... yeah... that's, uh.... yup." Awkwardly her tailfin fluttered. "I definitely have a tail, huh?"
"I-I-I-I.... HOW?!" Her vision briefly darted to the crate of vials next to Mary's chair. Chloe had been aware of Mary ordering them online, but she'd assumed it was just some dumb pseudoscience new age garbage. Confronted with the results, the normally scientifically-minded young woman had to admit that there might be something to it. "Oh my god.... t-that.... that crap actually works?!"
Rubbing the back of her neck, Mary nodded a bit. "Yeah... well... the dolphin vial does for sure." She motioned to the small flask. "I took half of it, and now... bam. Mer-Mary."