The reunited group of friends took Cura’s advice and went inside their rooms. Colton, Lupe, Harmony, and Adrian each got their own individual rooms while Damon and Monica, Tim and Ana, and Chloe and Stacy got rooms specifically made for couples.
The single-person hotel rooms were rather similar in design, with the occasional differences in coral colors, sponge designs, and shell furniture here and there. Nevertheless, every room had a desk and chairs made out of rock, a bed, a bookshelf made up of waterproof books,, and a small pearl with a food-filled menu - Room service!
Colton smiled as he looked around his new undersea room. It was an average hotel bedroom in merfolk standards but an absolute marvel in human standards, so Colton spent most of the night admiring how everything looked and wondered how merpeople managed to translate the aesthetic of a hotel room so well under the sea.
If he was a kid, he would’ve been disappointed in the lack of a TV but, as an adult, he now thought it was probably for the best to not watch some reruns of decades-old sitcoms and game shows before bed. For now, all Colton wanted to do was take it all in.
Lupe had similar thoughts on her room. Everything about the whole "Mermaidenhood" experience seemed fascinating to her. What made her smile was how the hotel reminded her of her family spending the night at Acapulco and resting in a hotel where every floor was signified by a color, like how a floor would have blue walls and doors and another floor would have red colors all around.
Lupe sighed as she rested on a chair stretched out her body. “I could get used to this.”
Harmony loved her room as well, mostly because it was bigger and more lively compared to her tiny apartment. When almost all of her income went into paying off rent and student loans, she never truly got the chance to decorate or even really get attached to her apartment that had only grey walls and a square looking sofa and bed.
Harmony’s only real medium for entertainment were the books given by Ana from her teaching job; Her school sometimes got extra books from the library and teachers were allowed to get a couple of books from the yearly Scholastic Book Fair. Compared to books on land, Harmony found the books in the hotel rooms to be far more fascinating.
One book was a historical archive that told tales of ancient wars fought by ancient merkings that lived thousands of years ago. Another book was a romantic story of a mermaid princess that fell in love with a human prince - It seemed very similar to The Little Mermaid except that the tale ended with the prince drinking a potion to be a merman, where the two lived happily ever after. A third book was a joke book, apparently humans for the butt of many a merfolk joke for millennia.
After a couple of hours, Harmony made a mental note in her head to remind Lupe to check out the book “Quetzalcoatl vs. Leviathan”, she was sure Lupe would get a kick out of that one.
Unlike the others, Adrian swam straight to bed. The whole day took a lot out of him and the whole rush of being merman was quickly dwindling out as he began getting drowsy.
He smiled a bit as he realized that, for the first time in years, he was finally sleeping in an actual bed instead of his car. All the countless days of dealing with road rage, ungrateful passengers, and parking tickets were finally over and done with.
From that day on, Adrian didn’t care if he was going to be hauling coral or weaving nets for the rest of his days. Anything that didn’t involve driving another damned car was a vast improvement to him. Although, the prospect of being a hunter seemed very appealing to him.
He could already imagine it, hunting beasts of the sea with spears and tridents to get a fat paycheck and respect from everyone around him.
As Adrian’s fantasies relaxed, his mind somehow went back to his sister. The smile on his face dropped into a frown. It was coming back to him. All of those needles, just constantly stabbing her sister’s arm - She insisted that everything was alright. When Adrian tried to hide the needles, his sister only got mad and, after hearing about the passing of their mother, she screamed at Adrian to get away and that he was better off disappearing from her life for good.
“I hope you got what you wanted.” He grumbled as his body rolled into a more comfortable sleeping position.
The memories thankfully faded away and, soon enough, Adrian was dreaming with the fishes.
-------------
Chloe and Stacy spent the night kissing and cuddling against each other in their bed. While the two never got to have their planned date on land, the two were more than happy spending the night in a magical hotel for mermaids.
Stacy was playfully nibbling on Chloe’s arm when she noticed a certain look on Chloe’s eyes.
“Hey, what’s up?” Stacy asked.
Chloe’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh! Oh nothing. I’m just feeling sleepy.” She lied.
In truth, she did have a lot on her mind. For months, she planned to ask Stacy’s hand in marriage, to the point where she even saved up enough money to buy her a beautiful diamond ring. Now, all of those months of planning were out the window. She had no legs, no money, or even any housing outside of the hotel.
Chloe desperately wanted to think of the proper way to propose to her girlfriend but everything regarding their circumstances seemed uncertain.
Stacy could sense Chloe had a lot more of her mind rather than just being tired but she didn’t want to press anything further. After everything that happened, the last thing she wanted to do was add more stress to her girlfriend’s mind. Instead, Stacy merely nodded and laid next to Chloe as Cura’s phrase of “there will be a lot to do and a lot for you to learn tomorrow.” ran in her head over and over again.
Chloe eventually turned to Stacy. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The two hugged and kissed each other goodnight.
Damon and Monica spent the night silently looking at their sleeping daughter. Unlike the other rooms of all of their friends, their room had a crib for their child, complete with a pillow, blanket, and a sea teddy bear.
Neither of them said anything as they turned to face each other but no words were needed as they knew how much of their work is cut out for them. Not only did a baby pop into their lives but now they had to deal with adjusting to a whole new way of life - A life that took their legs in exchange for tails.
After what felt like forever, Monica smiled. If she had to be a mermaid, she was glad to be accompanied by her dear husband and her best friends. Sure, merhood was going to be tough but she wasn’t alone.
They were a team.
Damon smiled back as he wrapped his hands around Monica and gave her the longest kiss he ever gave, even longer than the kiss they shared on their wedding day.
Monica accepted the kiss without any pushback, letting her eyes drift closed and letting out a soft moan. With a flick of their tails, they span in each other’s arms before softly landing in their bed.
Next door, Tim was reading a book in bed, with Ana laying by his side, when he heard Damon and Monica indulging in their passions.
The two were weirded out at first but soon chuckled it off.
“You know, Damon was quite attentive when Cura started talking about how merpeople made love.” Ana quipped.
“True. Though, I saw you being all ears during that section, too.” Tim replied.
Ana gave Tim a light punch in the arm before kissing it as a quick apology.
Tim smirked and put his book down at the desk. The chapter he was on would never get completed for the rest of the night.