"As air can't boil, the same thing doesn't happen up here," Glory pointed out. "Granted, you still need to have the common sense not to get too close, but the color of the lava is amazing. Besides, aren't there like ten-foot tube worms and things around the vents down there?"

Léan shuddered. "Ugh...don't remind me..." He hated those things. "I can't stand them, really...they're all right, as long as they're not touching me."

Glory raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't they immobile?" she asked. "Or close enough to it?"

Léan shuddered again. "I tend to not pay attention when I swim...as a result, once, I touched one...it was horrible."

Glory couldn't help but laugh at that. "Poor thing," she said, trying to be sympathetic.

Léan's frown deepened, and he raised an eyebrow. "Pssh...you do not pity me at all," he teased, tail flicking back and forth. He ducked under the water, swimming around in small circles.

"You're right, I don't," Glory teased back, getting up. It would be easier to defend from a splash war if she was on one of the rocks, like back home. Carefully, she settled herself on one of the flatter rocks, dangling her feet in the water.

Léan seemed to want to crawl up with her, but he didn't. He stayed underwater for a moment and then resurfaced, looking suddenly blissful. "There are so many pretty shells here...so much potential for jewelry...I do not want to work on any while we're here, but I would love to take some of these home..."

Compared to his nonchalant attitude about 'pretty colors' earlier, this was a complete backflip from it...

"So pick the ones you want to take home and I'll stash them away in my bag," Glory offered. She saw his brief wistful look, and wondered what it was for. After a moment, she slid off the rock and down into the water.

"Do you want to help me pick some out?" Léan sounded hopeful. He was hoping to find things they could do together while they were here, since the temperature change in the water at home was making everything so difficult.

"Really?" Glory asked, a bit surprised. "Sure. What am I looking for?"

"For now, just aesthetically appealing shells, with vibrant or unusual colors," Léan informed her, nodding.

"Alright," Glory said. Easy enough. Probably best to stick to the area she can stand in... Grinning at him, she took a quick breath anddove under to get a look at what she was dealing with. The water was much clearer than back home, so it didn't bother her eyes as much with grit or anything like that. And the sand at the bottom was very white, unlike the muddier sand back home. She looked around until she had to take another breath, and then surfaced again.

Léan was farther out, under the water. He wasn't paying much attention to what he was doing, and there was an odd noise starting to build up in his throat, though it could only be heard underwater at this point because he knew it was terrible to do this above water where humans could hear. It was almost like he was singing...it had a very strange, calming, jelly-legs effect on humans--they referred to it as the Song Of The Siren in old legends...but he'd forgotten that Glory was dipping her ears underwater, as well...

Glory surfaced again for a breath and shook her head, trying to clear it. Somehow, she'd completely forgotten what she was looking for. She felt oddly calm and mellow, so she couldn't even bring herself to think it was strange. She'd heard something while she was underwater, but she wasn't sure what it was. Sound travelled differently underwater, so she couldn't hear whatever it had been very clearly. It had been beautiful, though...

Léan poked his head up above water after a moment, tilting it. "What is it? You have a peculiar look on his face." He didn't seem to realize what he'd been doing.

"Huh?" Glory blinked. "Oh... Sorry, I got distracted, but I don't remember what distracted me."

"Ah..." Léan frowned. "Well, that is never good...you were going to help me find pretty shells, right? And possibly rocks...I saw a few lovely rocks down there, as well...nice and smooth."

((sorry, double-post))

"Right," Glory said, using one of her feet to shift some of the sand around to look for shells. "I think I heard something, and that's what distracted me. I couldn't hear it all that clearly, since sound carries differently underwater and human ears aren't built for it, but it was something, and it was beautiful..."

Léan seemed confused for a moment, but then realization dawned on him and he put a hand over his mouth, slightly. "...That was probably me...my apologies..." He was blushing a bit.

"What do you mean?" Glory asked, confused. Her mind was still a little fuzzy, but it was clearing quickly.

"...Have you ever heard stories about the Song Of The Siren?" Léan asked, slowly dropping his hand away. He was still a little pink, but that would fade, soon.

((I'm tired...I'm going to head to bed, but I might be back later on. ^^))

"No...?" Glory replied. "You don't hear many stories in the city. And I think that this one would be interesting enough to remember."

Léan shifted. "That story is usually attributed to mermaids. But that is often because most humans tend to forget there has to be a male for a species to survive on, unless there are special adaptations," he muttered. This was clearly something that irritated him about humans. "Siren is another term for mermaid or merman. The singing of a siren is supposed to entrance humans, catch them off guard. And have...other...effects. There are legends that tell of pirate crews being lured in by the sound of a singing siren...it is how we are able to escape from most hostile humans--it stuns them for a moment..."