..."Oh Hey, isn't that your friend Courtney?" I looked to where my brother pointed and it was Courtney walking by herself.
"You don't mind me ditching you?" I asked
"No, no. Feel free to have fun with a friend. It'll give me time to get you a present." My brother said wondering what a magical mermaid would want...
I walked by and called out "Hey Courtney, been awhile." Courtney's head twitched and smiled as she turned her head. She was halfway through a hi before she met my eyes and saw the greyness.
"...Hi... Been awhile. Those eyes a side effect of some human drug? Or did you give up your voice to be human?"
A smiled and said "No, just learned magic at the bottom of the Mariana Trench for a... bit longer than a week... I think..."
Courtney looked puzzled and asked "You think?"
"Well... A bit longer had passed, but it felt longer... and with magic involved... Who can say how long it really was down there?" I considered that question a bit more until Courtney coughed to get my attention.
"So, are you magically radiant? Like am I going to grow fins if I touch you?"
"Nah, maybe if I'm doing some serious magic but... Kriash taught me well and there's very little magic waste."
"Kriash?"
"Mer... person wizard that came to make some electronics work underwater... I was bored so I asked if I could learn some magic. Still what's up with you?"
"Well I just finished up some tests, and am on winter break... A few new games came out, and some V-tubers are the talk of the school right now." The regular team said trying to imagine what to talk to some magic. There was a bit of a silence before Courtney thought and said "How about we..."