[ WP ] You 're on a dinner date with Medusa

Our first date was difficult. She was wearing a hooded jacket, the whole mess pulled tight around her body, the hood pulled over her head and sunglasses on her face. I shrugged it off as a quirk, albeit quite a big quirk. Still, eighty attempts at online dating had taught me patience. I'd give Melissa a shot. 
 
 `` Hey,'' I nodded, sitting opposite her. She smiled at me. I could n't see most of her face, but that was instantly captivating. It was a reticent smile, and fleeting, and I wanted to see it again. 
 
 So we spent the next hour talking, with me attempting to coax out another glimpse of it. I got a couple of laughs, too, which seemed to be uncommon for her. 
 
 Partway through the date, she seemed to fidget slightly. I knew the look, it was the: *'this is too good to be true, and I should n't enjoy it because he'll run once he knows the thing'* look. As I said, I had a lot of online dating experience. 
 
 `` So, you want to tell me about the...'' I gestured at her clothing. She froze, and sighed softly. 
 
 `` Would you believe me if I told you?'' she asked. 
 
 `` You could always show me,'' I suggested, calling for the cheque. I drove her to my house, both of us sitting in silence. The silence compounded what we already felt. My mind raced over a hundred different explanations for what the secret was, each more improbable than the last. She tossed nervous glances my way every so often, looking away if I turned to meet her gaze. 
 
 I sat her down on the couch and fetched some of my private stock of'date wine'. It was just some crappy red I bought at the supermarket, but hey, effort. 
 
 She fiddled with her drink for a while, thinking it over. 
 
 `` Alright, John. I'm Medusa,'' she explained. I raised an eyebrow. 
 
 `` Is that code for something? I do n't know what for,'' I asked. 
 
 `` No, I mean, I'm actually Medusa. The mythological figure?'' she pulled back her hood to reveal the mass of snakes under her hair. I flinched slightly, but as I saw her face fall, I leaned forwards. 
 
 They were like the kinds you see at the zoo, essentially. Calm, patient. The serpents slithered back and forth slowly. I reached out to touch one, and it nuzzled into my hand. Medusa smiled softly. 
 
 We went on a few more dates, as well as a few more risqué activities I wo n't share here. I got used to her, and things remained largely the same until I insisted on seeing her face. 
 
 `` I do n't like this, John,'' her voice quivered in the way it did any time she was nervous. I continued fiddling with my phone. 
 
 `` The theory is sound, is n't it? If someone uses a mirror, your... thing wo n't affect them?'' 
 
 `` Well, yeah, but I do n't remember it clearly. They only tried that it my angsty times,'' she pleaded. I would n't hear it, strapping on the Google cardboard setup. 
 
 `` Okay, get those glasses off,'' I blinked, acclimatizing to my new vision. She obliged. 
 
 What was revealed to me was simultaneously beautiful and horrifying. Before I go any further and get slapped though, I should say that I mean horrifying in sympathy. Her features were still there, the most dazzling set of blue eyes, and that same mouth I had coaxed a range of reactions from. But it was framed by the snakes that had become her hair, which I had actually given individual names. She was still stunning, but she must have been a goddess before the curse. 
 
 `` John?'' she asked with no small amount of concern. I had been still and speechless for a while. 
 
 `` Yeah?'' I answered. 
 
 `` Oh, good, you're okay,'' she breathed out a sigh of relief. She glanced up nervously. 
 
 `` You're beautiful, darling,'' I held my hand to her face. She bit her lip, smiling again. 
 
 `` Also a different part of me has turned to stone,'' I grinned. She slapped me on the arm in mock anger.
