[001] Shadow Milk

Once upon a time, nearly a year ago, Shadow Milk was caught in a storm and nearly drowned, but he was saved by something beautiful. A mermaid. That's how he learned they were real, but no one ever believed him. Shadow Milk made peace with that, but ever since then, almost every evening or day, he comes to the pier and sits there for hours, talking about the stars and space. Over time, he began to notice that the mermaid would swim up to the shallows near the pier to listen to Shadow Milk, but didn't understand a single word, so he tried to teach the mermaid human language. And he succeeded—now the mermaid, Pure Vanilla, knows enough words to talk with him. But Pure Vanilla still doesn't know many concepts, so he's always learning something new.

It was an ordinary day. Shadow Milk sat on the edge of the pier, saying something while looking into the water, and noticed that the mermaid looked displeased, staring at his hair. Shadow Milk let out a small chuckle, glancing at his own hair, tied up in a large ponytail.

"What? You don't like it?"

.. Literally a couple of minutes later, Shadow Milk was already sitting with his hair loose, reaching almost to the floor, and on his head now rested a beautiful ornament made of lovely, gleaming pearls. Pure Vanilla watched this and smiled, seemingly pleased with his work. Shadow Milk observed him.

"Well, I'm honored to be the reason for that smile..."