What seems to be the trouble (Mumble, Andrina)

[Merlin Emrys]

When the group meeting had devolved into nonsense and confusion, Merlin hadn't managed to catch Mumble and Andy in order to actually have their conversation about the latter's unfortunate state, and he hadn't wanted to delay them too long just in case there was a limit on how long Andy could comfortably stay out of the water. After that, he'd sort of lost track of things and didn't manage to catch them in order to have the much-needed investigation of what could be done for the mermaid.

Now that his office was set up and things were getting a little less hectic, he'd managed to get a message to Mumble to meet him here and discuss things. His office was... well, roughly exactly what you'd expect the office of Merlin the magic teacher to look like, he might not play into the traditional image of the robed old man with a long white beard, but he definitely had the rest of it, the towering bookshelves, the piles of scrolls, the strange magical artefacts and bubbling things in jars. The disgruntled owl sleeping on the hat stand - well okay maybe not that last part, but there was indeed an owl on the hat stand, because Merlin had thought it best not to inflict anybody at home to Archimedes longer than necessary.

Today the office had an additional feature - a large porcelain bathtub, conjured especially in case Andrina did need to be in water, he didn't know how long this was going to take after all. It was full of water, with some rather sodden cushions lining the bottom so his guest would be more comfortable.

[Mumble]

Finding a wheelchair had not been an easy task, but Mumble was determined, and after digging around first in the infirmary and receiving some desperately-needed assistance from the school nurse, he had managed to locate a pretty old model. It didn't have any of the fancy stuff, like the motor or any decorations or anything, but it was functional, and the wheels had air in them, so it was about as nice as he could have hoped for. He wheeled his fish-tailed fiancée into Merlin's office, carefully avoiding the corners of all the hallways and doors along the way.

At this point, Mumble thought, Merlin had to think he was absolutely a trainwreck of problems. And he probably wasn't wrong, if Mumble was being completely honest. His life, and Andrina's by her unlucky association with him, was a whole series of catastrophic mishaps, from the day he was born. Born into a family of vocalists with no singing ability. Cursed with an unholy singing voice. Blackmailed by a headmistress. Involuntarily launched back home. The list went on and on. And yet, Merlin had agreed to help yet again. He had more patience than Mumble would ever be capable of mustering up, that was for certain.

"Thanks so much for meeting with us," he said, glancing around. Oh, there was a bathtub, that was nice, that would give them some extra time to figure this out if they needed to. "And this is great, babe, do you want to get in the bathtub?" He looked to Andy, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

[Andrina]

Andy felt...helpless. Each knew day spent without legs caused this feeling to grow no matter how hard she tried to beat it with positive thoughts of her's and Mumble's wedding. They couldn't get married til she had legs, anyway. It wasn't as easy to stay positive as it had been before the war. She'd turned very sullen back home in Atlantica, hardly even singing. Now she had returned and she was with Mumble again, but for some reason the darkness she had let into her heart was proving harder to shake than she had hopped. Still, they were heading toward Merlin's office. Merlin would help. Everything would be alright.

Andy took a breath and moved her hand up behind her to hold Mumble's as he pushed her along. Why did she feel nervous? She wasn't going in to take some sort of test. Either he could help them or he couldn't and they would find someone who could. Either way, they would be okay, yet Andy's heart still quivered anxiously. Still, she put on her best smile when they entered and moved her hand from Mumble's to give, who she assumed was Merlin, an awkward half wave.

Andy didn't notice the tub til Mumble pointed it out and she felt a strange pang of stress. First of all, they didn't have much use for bathtubs under water so it had been a very long time since Andy had been in a bath. Second of all, bathtubs were for bathrooms. Bathrooms were private places. The Andy of climbing into a bath in someone's office felt odd a vulnerable. Andy was strong and liked to feel like others thought so too. Still, she wasn't going to let pride ruin her chances at getting a tail. If she didn't get in the tub they might have to cut short and head somewhere else. Or, she'd just have to get into the tub eventually, so it might as well be now. It's fine, Andy, think positive.

"Well" She said, gaining courage. "I am a fish out of water." She joked with a smile. She pushed the wheels on her chair so she was next to the tub and then glanced at Mumble for help. She couldn't hide a brief look of edgy embarrassment as she silently asked for assistance.

[Merlin Emrys]

"Not at all," Merlin waved away the thanks, motioning for the two of them to make themselves comfortable. The chairs had been arranged so that he would be sitting opposite the two of them, and they were low enough that they were on level with the tub so they were all facing each other, he wanted to make them both feel as comfortable as possible - at least, that was his intent.
He caught the look that Andrina threw Mumble's way and turned towards his bookshelf, giving them a few moments of privacy to get settled.

"I'm just going to grab a couple of books, feel free to settle yourselves wherever you like, let me know if you need anything - can I get either of you a cup of tea?" he called over his shoulder, pulling out a few books that might be relevent to their predicament.

[Mumble]

A fish out of water, Mumble giggled. At least Andy hadn't lost her sense of humor, anyway. He walked along beside her, hovering protectively as she wheeled herself the approximate five feet the rest of the way to the tub. He wasn't sure what he even thought she'd need protecting from, it was just that he'd spent so long worrying about her that he wasn't about to lose her to something stupid like a gory wheelchair accident in Merlin's office. He moved over beside her as she reached the tub, and reached down to slide one arm under her tail, the other wrapped around the small of her back. "I got you," he said, pressing a quick, sweet kiss to her temple. "Hang on to me, this'll be easy."

"I'll take a cup of tea, thanks," he said, glancing back at Merlin. "two sugars, no milk, if you have that, but I'm not super picky." He was mostly just anxious to get Andy back on her feet again, not just for his own purposes, although he certainly had those, but because he could tell how frustrated she was, and he could only imagine how hard this must be for her. And it was because of him, too; if it wasn't for him, she could just go and jump back into the lake and be just fine there, but she wanted to be out of the water for him and that left him with no small burden of guilt.

"Hey," he said quietly, as he lowered her into the water, still leaning over her, "you know I love you, right? Tail and all. Your tail is beautiful, just like the rest of you."

[Andrina]

Andy appreciated Mumble laughing at her lame joke. It was a stupid thing, but it made her heart swell all the same. She felt a little lighter and smiled gently. Nothing like a little laughter to brighten the mood of a room. It wasn't suddenly amazing by any means, she was still helpless with a tail and awkwardly asking a wizard for help, but at least they were in this together. At least she could count on him to giggle at stupid things she said.

She closed her eyes and wrinkled up her nose when he kissed her, smiling despite her nerves. The gesture helped her remember to keep breathing. Everything was fine, he was here for her. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and found she didn't feel quite as odd about being lifted into a tub in some man's office as she thought she would. In fact she sort of wished she could just stay there in Mumble's arms for a while. She rested her head on his shoulder. She smiled again as he ordered his tea and added a short "No thanks!" to the end of his sentence. She tried to lock away that Mumble liked tea. Andy had never tried tea. Maybe they could have a tea date.

Then he began to lower her into the water and she realized she had to let go. She resisted the urge to pout about it. She had just been starved of his affection for so long it seemed like no amount of contact was enough. "Gross" Andy joked, feeling overwhelmed by his complements and declarations. It was like every time that he told her he loved her every cell in her body warmed. Her heart felt a good sort of ache that made her want to giggle. "I love you too" She said, leaning up to kiss him. It wasn't intended to be anything overly sexual, but the second they touched she realized how hard it was going to be to pull away. She piratically had to scream inside her head there is another person in the room! before backing off and sinking back into the tub.