The New Sirens [A Mermaid TG Story] - Part 2

Commissioned by cooloo

Forty years after Charlie’s Sirens, a new vaccine allows merfolk to switch between genders more easily. Sam is secretly in love with his two roommates and when they start dating without him, he finds his gender in flux as his hidden desires are brought to the surface. 

Part 2

The day seemed to pass in a blur, both too fast to follow and achingly slow. No matter how hard he tried to focus on classes, his mind kept slipping back to that dream and his change this morning. What could it all mean? He wasn't stupid; he knew his feelings for Alice and Devon were coming to a head now that they were dating, but that couldn’t be it. That wouldn’t be enough to turn him into a mermaid, surely? Back when Devon first became male when they were teenagers a part of Sam had been worried about this happening. His feelings for his friend hadn't disappeared when Decvon stopped being a mermaid, and he’d always worried that with his meek nature, he might end up changing, but he never had. Not until now, anyway. What was different all of a sudden? 

Maybe it was because they kept leaning in close and whispering to each other with that lovesick smile only new couples and pods ever had. It made his stomach lurch with jealousy. Alice kept glancing at him with concern, and Sam flashed her a wide smile; the last thing he needed was for her to figure something out; he might just die of embarrassment. 

“Hey, Sam, you don’t have afternoon classes today, right?” Devon said as they left for lunch. “Want to come with us to the cinema? The latest film from the surface just arrived. It’s supposed to be insane!”

“Insan,e how?”

“Something about car thieves on the run from the CIA or something. Apparently, they drive along an exploding glacier at one point.” Alice giggled. “It sounds stupidly fun.”

“What’s a car again?”

“A big metal thing humans use to travel long distances without whale buses.”

“Don’t you two want to go alone?” Sam asked, doing his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Like a date.”

“Just because we are dating now doesn't mean we’re going to stop being a trio of best friends!” Devon replied, throwing a friendly arm around Sam’s shoulder. “I’m not gonna be one of those assholes who immediately drops all his mates just because he gets his first female.”

Sam felt himself smile genuinely for the first time in days. It would be so much easier to deal with this if Devon was one of those assholes; at least then he could be angry with him. 

“Besides, humans blowing up cars isn't exactly romance material.” Alice pointed out. “Let’s go!”

Devon took the lead and Alice and Sam followed. He watched as, subconsciously, Alice moved to be a few inches behind Devon like most pod members would around their male. The light filtering down through the water bounced off her pearls and Sam bit his lip. Then he realised something else: he wasn’t swimming beside Devon, but a few inches behind. Horrified with himself, he quickly urged himself forward. If the others had noticed, they didn't say anything but Sam felt himself start to sweat. He’d started putting himself in the position of a pod member without even thinking about it!

Sam kept his quiet panic to himself as they got tickets and sat down, Devon in the middle with Alice on his other side. Just as the lights dimmed, Devon leaned in:

“Hey man, I know this is weird for a bit, but I promise, things aren’t going to change that much. Relax.”

Sam just nodded, not trusting himself to speak; he could feel the warm water brushing against his shoulder from Devon’s gills as he leaned in close. Their shoulders bumped, and the proximity had his blood pumping. Sam was glad for the lowered lights; there was no way Devon would have missed his cheeks burning. 

The movie started, and Sam felt instantly lost; he didn’t know much about life on the surface, all these human characters looked so similar without their tails to tell them apart. The plot didn't seem to make much sense either. He turned to ask the others if they had any idea why the film was suddenly in a totally different city, and the words caught in his throat. Devon and Alice were making out, right there next to him!

All of a sudden, his skin started tingling, and there was a strange pressure in his chest. He pressed a palm to the soft skin there and felt it getting softer still. Oh no. 

“Sorry guys, I have to go.” He whispered. “I’m…not feeling well.”

Before either of them could question, he swam out of the aisle and toward the door. He could feel his hips widening; soon, even darkness wouldn't be able to hide his feminine features. He made a mad dash for the bathrooms, not bothering to check which one he entered. It wouldn't matter in a moment anyway. Sam groaned, feeling his hips widen and his chest continue to expand well past the B cups he’d developed last time. 

His worst fears were confirmed when he reached a sink and mirror. A delicate, feminine face was staring back at him. She would have been cute with her shoulder length hair and pouty lips, but her expression was one of terror. Her eyes were wide and looked even wider thanks to her long lashes. Even as he watched his reflection blink and felt their weight, he struggled to comprehend that the woman he was seeing was actually himself! 

Slowly, he reached up and ran a finger along the curve of his face, feeling the gentle curve of his chin, then over his soft, pillowy lips. It was strange; he didn't look that different. It was a thousand small changes that made him into a mermaid: the wider lashes, the softer features, the silky hair. It wasn't that bad, really and that realisation terrified him more than anything. He couldn’t like this. There was no shame in changing genders of course, it was a normal part of Merfolk society, but…that was something to say about other people, not himself! 

Curiously, his hand began to move down, tracing the curve of his neck and taking in the lack of an Adam’s apple. Just as it was about to reach his chest, it moved, expanding a few millimetres more, and Sam shrieked.

“It’s not done!?”

Immediately, his mind was filled with images of Devon or Alive coming to check on him and seeing him like this. No, he couldn’t stand that! He fled, swimming as fast as he could back home. He heard a voice call out after him, a stranger, thankfully:

“Miss, are you alright?”

Miss. He was already being called miss. How humiliating! The rush back home had at least helped burn some of the nervous energy; by the time he reached his room he was too exhausted to keep panicking. Instead, he floated back onto his bed and let his eyes flutter closed. Instead, focusing on how his new body felt. It was curvier than his last change, that was for sure. He could feel the plump roundness above his tail near his wide hips and the extra weight of his breasts. 

On closer inspection, a moment later he found they still weren’t huge, maybe just a little shy of a D cup, but still. When you have lived your whole life flat-chested chested, anything felt enormous. He also felt more delicate: thinner arms with dainty fingers and sloped shoulders. The exact opposite of the sort of merman he wanted to be. 

“Okay, Sam, relax.” 

This was clearly some sort of hormonal glitch; there were stories of teenage merfolk gender flipping constantly while trying to find themselves and full of hormones. Maybe he was just going through some late-stage puberty growing pains. Yeah, that must be it. He was only twenty, after all, they say males mature slower than females after all. That, combined with a weird little hormone glitch, had to be the answer. He was all hot and bothered by his crushes lately, and his body was panicking. 

Sam let out a long, shaky breath. It all made sense, and now that he was calm, he could more easily will himself to change back. It took a little longer this time, but that was just because he had changed more, right? He sat in front of the mirror and breathed a sigh of relief as his regular reflection returned. 

“See, you’re getting worried about nothing.” He said to himself. “These changes are just a coincidence, and even if it happens again, you can always change back, so no harm is done.”

“Sam?”
 Two familiar voices echoed up the hall. “Are you here? Are you okay?”

“Fine!” He called out. “Must have been something I ate!”

Devon nervously pushed open the door to his room and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Sam looking fine.

“Oh good, we were worried.”

“You left the film early?”

“Eh, it wasn't that good anyway.” Devon waved him off. “Even if it was, we wouldn't enjoy it knowing you were all alone and feeling sick.”

Butterflies fluttered in Sam’s stomach, sending tingles all over his skin that he willed away. It was difficult, though, to stop the change right before it began. Sam chose not to read into that.