Art by Amaranth, who also owns the Twins pictured herein. See more about them here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/24369160/

~

Ama was struck one day with the idea of mermaid Indrys with an unaltered-and-supposedly-fisherman-Vygo. Over the course of sketching it, she also got the idea that such a situation would be all the more amusing if it had been caused by yours truly, or more specifically: one of my potions!

And so she showed it to me, and I was overjoyed, and I immediately wrote the following mini-scene, which clearly are a sort of answer to the question 'What if the Dragon Twins lived in the same modern, magical world as Amethystine?'

The above picture was then sketched to illustrate the moment when the twins first entered my shop, 'Amethystine's Alchemical Apothecary.'

Follow this link to see the aforementioned picture of Mermaid-Indrys and Fisherman-Vygo, and a story-snippet along with it. The story there is the extended version of the one below.

~

Two deep red-scaled dragonfolk with hair of similar hue stood outside what looked to be an aged bookshop or otherwise eccentric boutique. One in a sundress and the other in belt-&-slacks and buttoned shirt.

Deep of voice, the male rumbled with a tinge of concern, "Don't you think it's suspicious if we go inside at the same time, sister?"

The female spoke with an overriding affection for her other half, while others in her position might have expressed at least a modicum of exasperation. "Oh brother, no one knows us here, they'll never know!"

They went in. The shop was old (or old-fashioned) enough to have a bell above the door that rang as they enter and again when they closed the door behind them. The bell was still ringing thanks to the door's closure when the serpentine shopkeep had sized them up and seen to the very heart of them.

Amethystine announced himself with an offer to help, all while the curious pair gazed around the shop, slowly walking farther inward, not quite noticing the naga until he spoke. "What can I get for you two love birds? Speaking of which, I'm having a special on actual love-bird potions. Find a perch together and preen one another... or ruffle each other's feathers, just ten dollars."

At that, the twins stopped dead in their tracks, like deer in the headlights - although they had no idea how much MORE like deer they would be, in about a week from now and after many other potions were enjoyed. For now, though, they stared at the naga, unblinking. The snake also did not blink, but smiled and slithered out from behind the counter.

"What'sss the matter? Don't be shy, all the beautiful young people of the same age that come in here are couples, looking for the spice of life itself. And if your worry runs deeper, don't worry, there's nothing that could be stranger than what I've made for myself.. accidentally and on purpossse."

"Uhhh.. we thought.. you'd have some kind of skin care cream.. well, skin-and-scale combination creams..?" Vygo mumbled.

Indy rolled her eyes and elbowed her way past her brother to curtsey faintly to Ame, who bow-bobbed his head upon his long neck in return to her as she spoke. "What my bro---oooyfriend, what my boyfriend is trying to say is-- you must have massage oil.. the kind you rub onto your lover's perfect, muscular--" As she spoke, her tail idly roamed and rubbed over her brother's shirt-clad front. Vygo grabbed at her tail, half of a mind to brush it away, half wanting to hold it and guide it to make it do a better job of teasing him. "-body..?" Indy finished.

Vygo blushed, while slowly making up his mind to shove his sister's tail away. "Y-yes, something like that," the male dragonfolk muttered.

"Ahh, well.. I do have things a bit like that, but normally you'd go to a NON-alchemical apothecary for such a thing. All of my massage oils and the like have-" He paused, searching for the right words, "-well, a larger impact on the skin - or scales - they're being applied to."

The twins, in an oddly perfect unison asked, "Impact?"

Vygo quieted, realizing the synchronicity, but Indy went on without stopping: "--What kind of impact?"

"What are your names?" asked the pythonic potioneer.

"This is Indrys," said the brother.

The sister thumbed back at her counterpart to say, "And that's Vygo."

Ame paused for a moment, almost never seeing anyone swap introductions like that. He took it to be a sign of profound love, or an even deeper connection of some kind.

"Vygo, Indrys, I sell transformative products. And I don't mean things that will change your life - although that could be true too... I just mean to explain that I'm not being metaphorical about that word. I mean literal metamorphosis, the physical alteration of the body from one thing to another. From human to feline, from dog to duck, from dragonfolk to... whatever you two want, and just to really let you see what I mean... from naga to--" Ame had been sliding along a shelf and looking for something, and found it as he spoke, and opened it to take it, himself.

After swigging down the small bottle's contents, the snake swiftly - but not so fast that his transmogrification from snake to avian could not be seen - changed. His scales elongated into feathers, his coils split into lightly taloned legs, his snout was drawn in as a beak slithered forth from within his mouth.

Both twins gaped and gasped, and looked at each other for confirmation that this was not something they were hallucinating.

Ame the Lovebird, mostly green of feather, but with a blue tail, red face and tan beak, tweeted a series of notes and fluttered his wings. "Like I said, this is on sale," he almost sang, as if he couldn't not use his new voice in a musical way.

Finally getting over the shock and sensing the end of the show, the twins shouted what they had both just realized could be possible: "CAN YOU MAKE US DRAGONS!?!?"

Ame had been expecting them to come over and feel his plumage (most awestruck young couples did just that), but the incredible force of their needful query felt like it blew his feathers back.

"I'd drink the dragon potion and turn into one right now, but this place is a bit small for that. So--" Ame was going to say something like 'so I'll just turn back and show you where they are' but the twins had stopped listening as soon as Ame had said 'the dragon potion' and had begun embracing and dancing around and hollering excitedly, so Ame stopped talking when he did.

"And here I thought you were nicely dragony already.." he muttered, but they didn't hear him.

~

And so, their course was immediately set. Dragon potions for the both of them, what else could ever do?

But they discovered the sheer cost of anything that had draconic ingredients, and of course a potion to make one into a full dragon had the most of those. They could not even afford one, and they refused to consider achieving that particular dream unless they could do it together.

Instead, they calmed enough to consider sampling the naga's wares before committing to such a large future purchase.

Amethystine suggested a scenario that was itself based upon one person being altered and the other not. He proposed a relatively inexpensive potion: Merfolk Maker, and the situation would be one of two classic stories: a being from the sea drawing land-dwelling prey into their watery domain, or a lucky fisher catching more than they bargained for in their net.

The twins agreed, and purchased a single merfolk potion, not able to even afford a second of that cheaper choice. It would work on either of them, and retain their gender, mermaid or merman, they were assured.

As the semi-scaled siblings discussed who would make use of the potion, Amethystine had time to slip a little something extra into their bag along with the serum they actually purchased. As they left the shop, it had been decided; Vygo had convinced his sister to be the one to take the fishy formula, his generosity winning out, as well as both of them knowing full well that mermaids, not mermen, were the more infamous and sought after mythical being.

It was after they had been walking some time, while they were trying to figure out how to get to the coast to make proper seaworthy use of their single potion, that they realized just how much clinking of glass was coming from Vygo's bag. Stopping, they opened it and saw a note atop a quartet of bottles!

'To the sweetest, cutest twins I've ever seen. -- Yes, I know you're twins, it's okay.'

After recovering from the slight heart attack they simultaneously experienced upon seeing their secret so casually written by a stranger, the twins flipped it over to read that the naga had given them a second merfolk potion. He suggested they use it a few hours after the first. That way, they would have some time as dragonfolk and merfolk, then a long period as two merpeople, then the opposite arrangement of a sea-and-land couple as the first bottle ran out and the second kept going.

The largest surprise (in more ways than one) was the note explaining the two vials of 'Dragon Draught'! Vygo nearly dropped the bag, both due to his own surprise and thanks to Indy gripping and shaking his arm in sheer insane excitement. Ame's note told them to enjoy being dragons for a day, and to use at least a tiny portion of that time to fly to the coast.

The naga had not said anything about returning to his shop or to send him notes about their experiences, but without a doubt, they both intended to do just that.

Follow this link to see the result of the 'Merfolk Maker' potion as used on Indrys, as well as the steamy conclusion/epilogue to the above story. The story there is the extended version of the one above.