Joelle walked into Morgana's Services for the Strange, planning to buy some extra werefox inhibitor potion for Kristi. The two of them would be in Japan for a while and there was no knowing how long it might take to turn Kristi into a kitsune, so it was only sensible to stock up. As she walked through the shop, Joelle spotted a blonde girl with sea-green eyes helping to organize the shelves.
"Hi!" the blonde girl chirped perkily as she noticed Joelle. "Welcome to Morgana's Services for the Strange!"
"Hi," Joelle said. "Do you work here? I've been here a couple of times, but I've never seen you around here before."
"Oh, I'm just volunteering," the blonde smiled. "Morgana's giving me free room and board, you see. I'm so grateful for her generosity that I offered to help out around the shop as a sort of thank-you. I'm Pearl, by the way. My full name used to be Pearl Silverscales, but I'm changing it to Pearl Clearstream."
"I'm Joelle Bowman," Joelle responded, shaking Pearl's hand. "You know, 'Silverscales' and Clearstream' aren't particularly common surnames. Are you one of the magicals? Sorry if that's a nosy question."
"It's fine," Pearl chuckled. "I actually am... sorta. I used to be a mermaid, but my ex-girlfriend Princess Thalassa turned me into a human when she broke up with me. I made my way here, and Morgana offered to help me. She said I could choose to turn back into a mermaid, stay a human, or become a different breed of magical entirely. After some thinking, I chose to become a wereotter. I'm just waiting for Morgana to find the right spell or item to change me."
"A wereotter?" Joelle smiled, idly tugging on one of her numerous facial piercings. "That's cool, because I'm going to be a kawauso soon! You know, the shapeshifting otter yokai."
"Neat!" Pearl grinned. "The world honestly needs more kawauso in it, you know. They've grown rare. What drew you to them?"
"You've probably noticed Morgana and her apprentices hard at work in the back room summoning a portal," said Joelle. "Well, she's doing it for my girlfriend Kristi. Kristi's a BBW camgirl from Seattle, and..."
"What's a BBW?" asked Pearl. "Or a camgirl, for that matter. We don't= use those words under the sea."
"BBW stands for big beautiful woman," Pearl explained. "In other words, a girl whose ample fat deposits only make her more gorgeous, not less. A camgirl is a sort of erotic model who does livestreams over the internet."
"I've heard of the internet," Pearl noted. "I've even started using it since I came here. Isn't land technology exciting?"
"It kind of is," Joelle agreed, "especially if you're new to it. Anyway, Kristi inherited a fox-skin belt from an elderly relative and tried it on. Much to our surprise, it turned her into a werefox and slimmed her down so much that she almost looks like Keira Knightley. We tracked down the store the belt came from, and it's here."
"Was Morgana able to help?" Pearl asked.
"She referred us to a sumo heya in Japan for yokai," said Joelle. "She got us enrolled and began working to summon a portal for us. Thing is, the kappa who runs the heya only lets magicals stay with him, so I have to become a yokai once I arrive. I chose the kawauso. I mean, who could resist something so insanely adorable?!"
"Not me!" Pearl giggled. "Nice to know I'm not the only otter fan around here. Let's try to stay in touch, okay? I'd love it if you'd write to me while you're in Japan. Tell me all about the heya, the yokai, and your girlfriend's sumo training. I'll be sure to write to you about my efforts to start my own romp. That's the word for a pack of wereotters, you know."
"Yeah, let's be pen pals," Joelle smiled, running a hand through her neon blue pixie cut. "Otter gals gotta stick together!"
"Thanks," said Pearl. "Well, I shouldn't distract you from your shopping any longer. Have a storming day!"
Joelle raised a pierced eyebrow. "Storming?"
"Oh sorry, it's mermaid slang," Pearl explained. "It means 'awesome'."
"Okay, got it," Joelle smiled as she walked toward the counter to acquire Kristi's potion. "I hope you have a storming day too, Pearl!"