He remained silent for too long.
"You did pick temporary?" Lydia almost screamed.
"I did. I know I did. Alright! I told the genie to make it temporary but I think I forgot to add a time limit." His face was mask of angst. He knew he had said temporary but what had he said specifically. He wanted to make love to his girlfriend as a mermaid. Did the genie take that as the cause for her return to normal? He did not know for sure but if he told her then she might take offense. They had after all made a pact to wait. For better or worse, neither had wanted to deal with responsibility of children or illness. This left a lot of time for him to dwell in fantasy.
Lydia felt only mildly reassured by this. She had to continue if she was to get through it. She tried to stand getting her feet under her and using the bed for balance. Once up right she pulled the sweat shirt down as far as it would go to hide where her crotch would have been. At the moment, it was just simply a smooth area of muscle covered in spandex. Tossing the hood back, Lydia shook out her newly coloured locks and looked at her boyfriend.
"If I am going to change back, I have to first finish changing," she said. Turning slowly in place she had to move on tip-toes to lift her feet. Lydia pointed herself toward the door and made to take a step. Her feet shuffled a little trying to hop from one foot to the next would have made her progress slow. Like a really tight skirt, her new appendage only allowed for short steps. In her frustration she faltered and fell backward onto the bed.
He had watched her make the attempt. Preferring to stand back and admire her ability to strive against the odds. Somehow it was erotic to see her restricted so. When she tumbled he moved forward to catch her but she fell the other way and bounced on the covers. Laughing she tossed a pillow at his feeble attempt at chivalry.
"You, dick! You would let a struggling mermaid-in-training try to hop to the bathroom without even offering a hand?" Lydia laughed.
"Is that where you were going? I had no idea," he joked.
"Well water makes the change happen and that is the best place for it, right?"
"Well why don't you stay here and I will get a bowl and a cloth for you?" he suggested ever the practical thinker.
She nodded and he left. Down to the front door that he had left open and the rain continued to fall outside. He closed it and locked it tight. Interruptions were the last thing he wanted right now. He kicked off his shoes and removed his outer shirt to be a little drier. Then to the kitchen where he found a large bowl. He rushed up the stairs again to bathroom to find a clean towel and a washcloth. He ran the water to get it warm then filled the bowl. As he made his way carefully back to Lydia's room he found her lounging on the bed waiting.
"I'm so glad you are here to help me," she said quietly. "I don't know what I would have done if I were alone."
"I know," he said putting the bowl carefully on her desk and setting the towels on the chair.
There was a flash of lighting followed by thunder and the few lights in the room flickered off. The only light provided in the room came from the window and it was dim but enough to see clearly by.
"That is a terrible storm out," he said trying to think of anything to say that did not sound like a line.
"Then I guess you will not be going anywhere for a while?" There was a hint of hope in her voice and a keen desire that he remain to take care of her.
"I'm not going anywhere until you ask me to leave," he said.
Dipping the cloth in the luck-warm water he squeezed out the excess so as not to get her bed wet. As he did so she slipped the sweater over her head and lay there waiting. She was blue from neck to knee and curvier than ever. Two yellow stripes ran down her front to her knees outlining her curvy form that threatened to drive him wild.
"Where should I start?" he asked holding the cloth out.