Her vision softened at the edges, the club's neon lights blurring into watercolor streaks of pink and gold. Everything felt lighter suddenly, her thoughts, her body, the weight she'd been carrying since stepping into this human world.
Her mermaid metabolism had no defenses against alcohol. What would take a human an hour to feel took her mere minutes, the intoxicant flooding her bloodstream with reckless efficiency.
"Watch..." She giggled, the sound bubbling up unbidden. "Watch me..."
She pushed herself to standing, swaying immediately. The floor seemed to tilt beneath her feet like the deck of a ship riding storm swells. She caught herself on the edge of the table, grinning at her own unsteadiness.
The dance floor called to her. She navigated toward it with exaggerated care, each step deliberate, arms held out slightly for balance. Someone bumped into her and she laughed again, bright and unrestrained.
