Mara's eyebrows had furrowed slightly when she heard Mayumi tell her that she didn't think she was beautiful, and she tilted her head slightly as she studied the girl. Did she really believe that? She had wanted to say something, to assure the human of her beauty, but Mayumi had started speaking again and her words had taken Mara's mind off of the subject for the moment. Her smile had flickered across her lips and she had nodded. "Well, you saved me, and you didn't try to kill me. So far you've exceeded my expectations. Thank you for that." Mara had bit her lip shyly when she was told that she lived up to the human girl's expectations and had looked down at her hands again. "Thank you. Or...I guess I mean...you're welcome." 

Now she was propped on her side and Mayumi had gotten very close. Mara didn't feel the apprehension that she had felt earlier, before she had been freed from the net, and she smiled encouragingly at Mayumi. The human girl reached out her hand until fingertips lightly contacted the side of her tail. Mara watched the girl's expression, suddenly slightly nervous that she would be disgusted by the way her tail felt. Why hadn't she thought of that before? But Mayumi's expression conveyed no such disgust, and she didn't pull her hand away either. Instead she ran the hand along that long limb of her tail, and Mara could feel the scales the girl touched seeming to tingle. The feeling of the fingers and hand tracing along her scales had felt a bit comforting. It had been a long time since anyone had touched her tail, and she realized now it was the first time that someone who wasn't a member of her family was touching it. It made her blush a little, the knowledge that she had so quickly allowed this girl to touch the limb. But she could tell that Mayumi had been fascinated by it and that she had wanted to find out what it felt like. Besides the girl had saved her life. Mara felt like she owed her something.

Mayumi's removed her hand from her tail and Mara lowered herself back down onto her stomach, holding herself up with her elbows and resting her chin on the palm on her right hand. She could feel herself blushing again as the girl complimented her tail and and nodded. "Thank you, Mayumi." For the first time Mara's brown eyes flickered down to Mayumi's legs and she looked at them curiously for a moment. It must have been strange to have two limbs instead of one, but they looked long and strong. And Mayumi had looked so tall when she had stood and she had done it so naturally that Mara was a little envious. She couldn't stand without feet and only one limb, and felt a little vulnerable knowing all she could do was lie down or sit. 

The girl asked a very important question and Mara looked back up into her eyes. "I'm...not sure really. I think this is the longest I've ever been out of the water. I mean...I can breath on the surface just as naturally as I can underwater, and I feel perfectly normal. But I don't think I should let my tail to get dried out." She glanced back at the scaly limb, which looked like it always did. Maybe she could stay out of the water for hours without consequence, but she had never heard any stories about that. The merfolk didn't want to encourage their young to try and go on land. "I really don't know, though. This is new for me."

Mayumi started commenting on their surroundings and and Mara took the opportunity to look around for the first time. They were isolated. This little cove was almost completely surrounded by a barrier of rocks, and the only opening was small and let out directly to the rest of the sea. The gap was too small for allow sort of vessel access, but a person could slip through. A human or a merperson. "It's lovely, Mayumi," Mara commented, nodding her head. 'I'm just glad the storm brought me here rather than someone more...public." 

She was quiet for a moment, studying the girl in silence before she spoke in a reluctant tone. "It was lovely to meet you, Mayumi. Really. And I'm so grateful for you kindness, but I really have to go home. I got caught in the net and the storm on my way home last night, and my family... They must be terrified. They probably have the whole pod out searching the entire ocean for me, and if they happen to find me here with you..." She trailed off, not wanting to think about it. Her great-grandfather had become determined to keep the merflok's world protected and secret from humans after the loss of his wife had nearly killed him, and her grandfather had to uphold those laws now that he was Elder.