with their tongues, they test, taste, and judge...all that is mine
Flora finds him midafternoon, a flash of gold and teal whipping above cloudcover.
Did he come fishing for attention, she wonders? He deflects:
"I'm no siren, but I don't usually go in for the ladies. You got a husband? Boyfriend?"
"Just a friend, and he can't swim for rubbish."
"Oh? Charming."
The merman certainly is, and Addam does have his moments, so Flora calls him out to the shore, whereupon the prince self-mortifies by reaching down to shake Minoth's hand and receiving as result hair full of salt, pants full of sand, and mouth full of the strangest, stormiest taste.