Awareness came to Emma gradually, bits and pieces falling into place as her brain remained sleepy. The first thing she felt was a coolness in her surroundings, one that she quickly attributed to a tub filled with water that had grown cold as she slept. Low as the temperature was, however, she didn't find herself the least bit comfortable. The water was soothing regardless, like a soft blanket against her skin that seemed more natural than anything she'd ever worn or slept under.
Indeed, she was sleeping under Millie, her girlfriend gently snoozing with head leaned against her shoulder. Without opening her eyes, Emma smiled and curiously rubbed her lower body against the other woman's, discovering in the process two important facts: Millie was still a mermaid, and so was Emma. A welcome relief, really, to know that this wonderful state of being persisted. One arm lazily reached down to rub the bare skin of her tail, squeezing every now and then with surges of giddy awe at her impossible form.
The next thing to come into awareness was singing. Instantly she knew the song meeting her ears, that beautiful melody that had brought her life so much wonder in so short a time. She sighed quietly, turning her head over and kissing Millie on the top of the head. It took her several more minutes to contemplate that the singing was a bit off - no less gorgeous, but it wasn't quite in the voice of her girlfriend. In fact, that would've been a difficult prospect, considering Millie was fast asleep.
Oddity that it was, this personal revelation finally forced her eyes to flutter open, groggily looking over the bathroom. It seemed they had been in here for some time, given that the soft glow of dawn was peeking in through the window, warmly illuminating their surroundings. Millie was indeed asleep in her arms, not a sound coming from her except gentle breathing. No, that singing, it was coming from somewhere else... upstairs, maybe? But... it also sounded like it came from below. And outside the bathroom. And outside the building entirely.
It suddenly occurred to her that this apartment complex had notoriously thin walls - and neither of them had been quiet when singing. "Millie, babe?"
Slowly the other woman's eyes opened, her rainbow tail flicking in delight at the sight of her partner. She leaned up, placing a kiss on Emma's ruby red lips and playing with a few strands of crimson hair. "Mmm. You have a wonderful singing voice."
"That's.... that's not me."
It seemed to take her a moment to process that, but when she did, her eyes began to widen. "But.... that's the song..." Her mouth started to hang open a little. "If you're not... and I'm not..."
Things clicked for both women as they hurried to clamber out of the tub, their tails quickly turning back to legs as they left. Truth be told, Emma felt unnatural to be up and walking again, but that wasn't something she could focus on now. In a flurry they dried themselves and grabbed some clothes, still looking rather thrown-together as they rushed out into the hallway. The growing volume of singing, and multitude of voices carrying out that song, seemed to affirm what Emma already suspected.
"Our singing... it changed the whole building." Her jaw hung open in shock. It must have spread from their unit to the neighors, and then to neighbor's neighbors... and then just beyond control from there. "That's... uh... it all sounds pretty, but..."
As she trailed off, Millie suddenly put a hand to her mouth, drawing it down slowly. "Esmeralda. Up on the fifth floor."
"What about her?"
Millie swallowed audibly. "She's a streamer, averages a couple thousand viewers a night. And uh... if she got affected, and started singing on stream..."
Emma blinked rapidly. "...then we might have just started a mermaid transformation pandemic."
"I mean, only if it works over the internet... which it might not, I mean, it's magic, but..."
A huff left Emma's mouth as she marched back inside their apartment. There was one way to find out quickly; if they really had set something like this off, it'd be all over the news. Just had to grab her phone and check... though as she reached down to the table where she'd left her phone, part of her was scared to find out if she'd just accidentially set off a massive shift in human civilization.