She had to admit, this wasn't where she would have expected to find another mermaid. Much farther up the coast, beyond any beach she was familiar with, Joanna found herself approaching a recreational dock of some kind. There were at least few if any signs of activity - only a single boat was docked, some kind of small personal craft, and she couldn't even see any shapes moving about on the land. Her confusion did at least ease as she felt the pull more precisely, taking her away from the dock to a spot some ways out into the ocean.
Her mind had been buzzing all the way there with thoughts of what this other mermaid might be like, whether they would look like her, or be more like some other fish, or maybe some other sea creature altogether. But nothing she imagined was quite like what became visible as she got closer, her eyes able to make out the unmistakable form of a feminine figure tapering into a tail. It was almost bizzare, compared to her own scaly body, and that very fact filled her with excitement.
She was approaching behind the other woman, not far from the surface now, and could see all the fascinating details. Her body, tail and torso and arms and everything else that disappeared under her long waves of teal hair, was covered in the same smooth, shiny material. The smooth black surface, with its geometric yellow and grey patterns seemed more akin to a diving suit than a mermaid's scales - she momentarily wondered if she'd snuck up on a human in a costume, but no costume had the shape or movement of this strange woman's tail. Nor would they have little pointy ears poking out from among their hair, covered in the same black material as the rest of her body.
Curious, she swam beneath the other mermaid to the front, where she found that indeed, her whole body up to the neck was covered in that shimmering material. Joanna was hardly disappointed, however - the shine of what composed her skin, and the strange patterns present, were just as alluring as her own glistening scales. The body encased in that shiny material was perhaps... not so curvacous, one could say, as Joanna's own, but that was no reason to shame her. Beauty went beyond a cup size, and even from this angle, she could tell this woman was downright gorgeous.
There was nothing left to do but introduce herself, and Joanna did so in rather extravagant fashion. The woman seemed to have been distracted with feeling her neck, failing to notice Joanna approach, but she could hardly ignore the whoosh of spray and flash of gold and silver as the recently-minted mermaid lept from the water. She managed to do a full blackflip, landing with a dramatic flash that was followed by her head emerging from the waves, a grin on her metallic lips and violet hair floating all around her. The other, shinier mermaid had backed away in surprise, and now her jaw hung up as she held up both webbed hands in confusion.
Joanna had no issue breaking the ice, thankfully. "Sorry to sneak up on you, but... oh, I'm just so excited to meet another mermaid!" She placed her hands on her chest, taking a second to admire the face of the other woman. Even in shock, there was something downright beautiful about her - strong features, like those of a stoic warrior. It matched the comparatively harsher color scheme of her body nicely. "I'm Joanna!"
There was a moment of drawn-out confusion before the other mermaid stammered out a response. "I... uh... I'm... Marina." She swallowed aloud. "Nice to... meet you?"
"Ohhhhh, that's a lovely name!" She had to fight back the urge to squeal. "I'm kind of new here - I ah, I've actually only been a mermaid for a few hours! There was this shop, you see, and-"
"Whoa whoa whoa." Marina's expression shifted to an intrigued one as she held her hands closer. "You... only just became a mermaid?"
She nodded. "I was human when I got up this morning. I wasn't really expecting to become this, but... god, I'm so glad I did!"
There was a moment where Marina's face grimaced in shock. "Yeah... we have something in common then." She rubbed the back of her neck, producing a squeaking sound. "I... was human too. I uh... I was out diving, and found this medallion, and... well, next thing you know, my diving suit's my skin, and I'm... this."
"That's amazing!" She grinned, laying back slightly so that her tail could float to the surface. "You got to become a mermaid, AND you found a cool treasure! You're so lucky!"
"Wouldn't exactly call it lucky. I'm... still kinda hoping I can figure out how to reverse this... assuming this stuff doesn't cover my face first..."
Joanna suddenly flipped her tail back into the water, mouth open in shock. "Reverse it?!" She held out her hands in disbelief. "Look at you! You're breathtaking! Why in the world would you ever want to go back to what you were before?!"
"Because I have, y'know... a life?"
There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but that only seemed to steel Joanna's resolve. Maybe Marina wasn't quite so readily accepting of this gift as she had been - fine. People handled things differently. But she couldn't just let her run off and be some boring human again. Somehow, someway, she had to convince this beautiful creature not to waste the greatest gift she'd ever receive. But how?