Chapter Three

Although Aimes was no stranger to adventure, and although she’d seen many fantastical things exploring the world, she had never seen a mermaid before. She had so many questions, so many things she needed to know. Taking Pawson by the paw, as though he might not swim fast enough, Aimes began to swim toward the underwater city.

"I can’t believe it," Aimes said, her voice muffled through the weight of the water. She was taking advantage of the fact that Pawson couldn’t interrupt her flights of fancy. "A real live mermaid! I can’t wait to ask her name and her favorite food and… do you think I can touch her tail? Is that taboo? Oh Pawson, this is amazing! And that city, it could be a lost city! Like Atlantis!"

Pawson cocked an eyebrow and looked at Aimes with deep skepticism. Atlantis was a legendary city that was lost in the ocean a long time ago. It didn't make any sense for it to be under a public pool in Kingston, one of the most quiet and charming places in the world.

Then again, Pawson knew that even if he could argue such a thing, Aimes would say: "But isn't that the best place to lose it? No one would ever look there."

Aimes and Pawson swam until the two had made their way to the front of the city. It was then that Pawson was glad he couldn't speak his mind only a moment before, because Aimes would never let him live it down.

The archway in front of the city gate read: "Welcome to Atlantis!"

Before Aimes could get out a smarmy comment, the mermaid - the one with blue hair - noticed the pair and swam over to them with incredible speed.

"Hello!" the mermaid said cheerfully. She sounded crystal clear in the water, like she had been speaking in water her entire life.

"Hi," Aimes said with a wave. Her voice was muffled but the mermaid seemed to understand well enough. "My name is Aimes, and this is my best friend Pawson." She motioned to the little bear, who predictably kept his distance. Pawson was always overly cautious; someone had to be.

"It’s nice to meet you both," the mermaid said. "I’m Verdana."

"It’s very nice to meet you, Verdana!" Aimes replied. "Your city looks gorgeous, and your hair and your tail… everything, actually."

"Why, thank you!" Verdana said with a gleeful smile. "Would you like me to show you around the city?" Pawson shook his head, but Aimes nodded hers. They both knew who was going to get their way.

Verdana swam much faster than Aimes and much much faster than Pawson. After doubling back a few times, she took Aimes by the hand.

"This will be a lot faster," she said. "Hold on."

Aimes took Pawson's paw and Verdana sped through the city. The buildings went by in a blur, streaks of beautiful glimmering color. Other mermaids watched in awe, but they were going too fast for Aimes or Pawson to get a good look at them. Pawson had only one paw free, so when the snorkel and goggles flew off his face, he chose to hold onto his hat instead.

Finally, Verdana stopped in the heart of the city, where coral buildings towered all around them. In the center of the plaza was a huge fountain, spilling bubbles out of the top. Dozens of mermaids had stopped to see the newcomers.

"Look Pawson!" Aimes said. "There are boy mermaids! Or, uh... mermen!"

Pawson was still trying to get his bearings. Now that his goggles were gone, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the shimmering water. But when they did, sure enough, some of the mermaids looked a lot more masculine than Verdana.

"Mermen?" Verdana asked, tilting her head.

"Like, mermaids," Aimes explained, "but not maids, because that's usually a girl word."

"Mermaid isn't a girl word here," Verdana explained. "It's just who we are."

"That makes sense," Aimes agreed. "Sorry, humans can be very..."

"Assumptive," Pawson finished, who had a lot of experience being misgendered. Most strangers saw a magenta teddy bear and assumed he was a girl. Aimes was always quick to correct them.

"Oh hey, you can talk!" Aimes cheered. Their words were still muffled by the water, but it felt like the water in Atlantis let more sound through.

"Well, I didn't exactly need my snorkel," Pawson explained, fixing his hat. "It just makes me more comfortable thinking I have air, and you aren’t the only one who can play pretend."

Verdana perked up at the mention of air.

"If you want air, then you should go to the pool," she said.

"But we just got here," Aimes whined. "I don't want to leave!"

"No no," Verdana said. "The pool is in the city. It's very nice, and you'll be more comfortable there."

Aimes and Pawson exchanged looks. Another pool? What good would more water do them? But if Verdana thought they would be more comfortable, then maybe it was worth a try.

"This is the quickest way to get to the pool," Verdana said, leading the way down an alley way. "I used to go this way when I was a little tadpole. Come on!"

Aimes made mental note that baby mermaids were called tadpoles, then her and Pawson followed Verdana. The paths between buildings weren’t very straight, but the layout was fluid and kinetic. The walls of the buildings were curved and bendy, usually made from large shells or reefs of coral, which let water flow quickly between them and made for fast turns in the currents. At the end of the alleyway, which led out onto another street, Verdana waited with a smile.

"The pool is just across the street," she said. "We’re almost there!"

Sure enough, in the center of an underwater coral park, there was a massive seashell low to the ground. It was the kind of seashell you imagine when you think of seashells, but this one was much bigger. It was lying horizontally so that you could swim up into it. Verdana did just that, with Aimes and Pawson close behind, until all three of them broke through the surface of the water.

Inside the shell was a huge pocket of air. It looked like a beach, but the sky was pink like a summer sunset. Aimes gawked at the mermaids sunbathing on rocks and curled up on the coastline. Pawson gawked at the mermaids resting on floaties, the kind that humans would normally use in a pool.

"Oh wowzers…" Aimes said in awe. When Verdana had talked about a pool in the center of town, she certainly hadn’t expected to find this. To humans, a pool meant a big area of water for recreation. To mermaids, it meant a big area of air for the same thing.

Aimes and Pawson swam to the shore and climbed out of the water. Pawson glumly shook out his very soggy fur as Aimes squeezed her thighs together, causing a torrent of water to gush from her swim diaper. She took off her diving helmet and looked around in a whole bunch of awe.

"Verdana this is so cool! I didn’t know mermaids liked stuff like this." To be fair, until a few minutes ago Aimes didn’t know anything about mermaids at all.

"We see a lot of humans relaxing by the water, so we started to do the same thing," Verdana explained. "It's very pleasant."

"It's pleasant for humans too," Aimes said. And then, almost as an afterthought: "You don't have any diapers, do you? I would love to change..."

"Of course," Verdana said brightly, still only half-out of the water. The fabric of her top - a slimming halter - was soaked through. All the mermaids seemed to wear clothes on the top half, by Pawson's observation, though the ones sunbathing had their shirts wadded up beside them on the rocks. "You should find a changing station behind that ridge."

"Thank you!" Aimes and Pawson waddled down the beach, each trying to dry themselves off in their own ways. Pawson kept trying to wring the water out of his hands and Aimes kept tugging at the leg band of her swim diaper.

Eventually, the two of them found a part of the seashell that acted like a privacy screen. There were thick cloth diapers stocking a nearby table. The whole changing room was full of water up to Aimes' knees, but she had changed a diaper standing up before.

"I'll wait outside," Pawson said, going to stand guard at the front of the changing room. After five or so minutes of waiting, Aimes stuck her head around the corner.

"You know... I might not have thought this through."

"What do you mean?" Pawson asked. Aimes stepped out from behind the privacy screen to show Pawson what she meant. Her one-piece swimsuit was unsnapped at the crotch, pulled up to her stomach, and around her hips was... well, it wasn't really a diaper. It looked like a thick towel that was stuck together in the front with two large baby pins. There was no protection between her legs because...

"Mermaids don't have legs," Aimes sulked.

Pawson burst out laughing. His companion looked more like she was wearing a cloth mini skirt than a diaper. Aimes blushed and crossed her arms.

"Hey, you didn't think about it either!" Aimes challenged, and she was right. With everything else going on, Pawson didn’t even think about how a mermaid wore a diaper. But he still couldn't stop laughing, and eventually Aimes couldn't help but laugh along with him.