Camilia jumped when someone called to her, and she climbed down the ladder quickly.

"I'm here," she said. "I swear I was paying attention." She grinned a little, sheepishly. "You said you had questions? And his name is Leith. Try not to call him 'it' anymore." She was starting to get annoyed with everyone referring to Leith as an 'it,' even though she knew most people would out of sheer unfamiliarity. Still, it did annoy her, and she would try to correct the problem whenever she could. Absently, she straightened her shirt and smoothed a hand over her hair. Her curls were as unruly as ever, but at least they were pulled back and restrained for the moment.

Leith surfaced a bit so he could hear. Looking through the glass, he watched one of the reporters as the man that held the camera held up three fingers. Then two, and pointed. The reporter spoke: “Just two days ago, a breathtaking discovery rocked Miami’s aquarium. A creature of legend was discovered and collected, a merman, held in this tank behind me.” She pointed, and Leith went under again. He drew close, then drifted back. How many people were really tuning in? What was the reporter saying now...? He didn’t want to know, but he went back up, surfacing himself halfway and listening.

The reporter turned to Camilia, and drew her into camera view. “Camilia has been with him since his transportation.” The woman kept a strange smile, almost fake and plastered on. “Camilia, what’s it like to interact with a being of fantasy and legend itself?”

Leith glanced down to Camilia, finally rising all the way up and leaning over the tank’s edge to listen in.

Camilia took a calming breath just before the camera trained on her, and she managed to give a small smile of her own. Time to make the aquarium look good.

"You know, it's been a learning experience," she replied. "At first I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and sometimes I'm still a bit stunned. But the hardest part of looking after the tank is keeping all the crowds under control. I don't have to look after Leith at all, really. He tells me if something isn't right, and I make sure he's comfortable." She was hesitant to really say anything about Leith being intelligent, but she knew she had to. She wasn't about to let anyone believe that he was just some dumb fish.

Leith had to contain a smile. They must not know he can understand, or reply, to them. But the reporter went on, glancing upward to where Leith was, watching them intently: “So he puts a lot of faith into you?” She asked. “Since, of course, you’ve spent the most time with him after his arrival. He’d probably... rely on you for anything he’d need, right?”

Leith bent further down. “Anything outside the tank, yes.” He said. The reporter gasped, and looked up, raising her microphone. Leith stared at it as though there were a large, ugly spider on the end. “Anything I’d need, she’ll get it as long as she can. Maybe a larger tank after today...” He looked around. Perhaps he’d said too much, too soon? He bit his lip, returning underwater so he couldn’t hear anything else, or reply coherently.

"I've already started working on tank improvements," Camilia added, nodding and glancing at Leith. "I find I've been putting in more hours here at the aquarium, lately, since I've been trying to make sure everything is running the way it should and making sure Leith has what he needs." And since he'd mentioned a larger tank, she would talk to Josh about it. Maybe a tank that had indoor visitor glass, but also led outdoors as well... She knew the sea lions had a tank like that, and so did the whales. It would be possible, at least. She would also see about getting a piece of reef into the tank as well. It would be something other than just a blank tank for Leith to look at.

Leith swirled and corkscrewed through the water, bored once again. Being watched by unseen eyes wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought. At least he couldn’t hear their criticisms, thoughts, or stupid questions. Which reminded him; he returned to the surface, brushing his hair back. “Hey!” He leaned over farther than he’d done in the past, down enough to just avoid falling from his place above them. “How is it you’ve never found us? I mean, we’re prominent, one of the largest populations under the ocean! We’ve known about you for centuries, and watch you from a distance.” he laughed a bit. “It’s weird, you know? That we’d know more about you than you know about us. Even the fact that we exist!”

He rested his chin on the tank, seemingly looking for an answer. The reporter didn’t seem to be able to do so. She looked a bit toward Camilia, then to the camera. “Er...” She looked back to Leith. “Well, you’re obviously masters of disguise, hiding from our surveys of the ocean floor.”

Leith waved the shaky answer off. “Eh, okay.” He went back below the water and fell to the bottom, putting his arms under his head and staring at the warped ceiling.

"It's one of the things I think our researchers are working on," Camilia covered, a little more smoothly than the reporter had managed. "Nobody is entirely sure how it happened, but we're working on figuring it out." Of course, she was bullshitting through her teeth, but it made sense for now and that's all that mattered. "I don't know the details, of course, since I only work in here, but I would imagine that we have people working on answers." There. Now her supervisors couldn't get mad at her for giving unofficial answers. She looked at the reporter. "You said you have more questions, right?" There. Now the reporters could save a bit of face after being caught off-guard the way they had been.

{{You know, you can control the reporter. She's an NPC. Oh, and I hope you like the explained situation of the merfolk I came up with!}}

The reporter nodded. “Yes, yes... Just a couple... For Leith, if he wouldn’t mind...?” She caught his attention, and when he looked to her, she pointed upward. He rolled his eyes, but did as requested, coming up and making sure to hit the reporter specifically with a few drops of water. She shook them off quickly and spoke: “Leith, what are you, other than just a merman? Do you live in a large society...? And of course, people do wonder about your appearance. Is this what you truly look like?”

Leith bent over the tank again as the reporter held up her mic. “Er, let’s see...” He paused. “We live in a very large city. Or at least, some of us do. My parents are the king and queen of our kingdom, and many outlying villages are under our rule. Ours is the largest city since Atlantis, though, while holding its dignity above that mediocre excuse for a kingdom. It fell to ruin several decades after going beneath the sea.”

He rearranged himself to a more comfortable position, but it exposed the necklace around his neck that fell on his chest. “We retain very bright, floral colors to be more appealing to the eye, though at one time our appearance was more streamlined. It involved dark blue and green tones to match the sea, but as we became a culture, our scales began to change to match the various reefs we lived among. We became more specific to whichever gender we are. And we even regained hair, though it’s not specific to survival. Then again, as our cities became more elaborate, we didn’t need to hide to survive. Not anymore. Our advances aren’t as technological as yours, but we’re not stupid. Our ancestors learned human language depending on location, and the children of their ancestors learned through their parents, grandparents, and so on. We do, however, speak a language understood by dolphins by communicating through a specially designed hole in the top of our heads.”

He looked down and moved his hair out of the way. Indeed, two small slits could be seen. “This adaptations been with us for centuries, and we’ve never lost the need for them.” He sighed. “God, I hope that answers your questions.” He pushed backward, diving into the water once more and returning to the bottom, keeping his back turned now.

((I wasn't sure if you had anything planned still with them, so I didn't want to touch them and mess it up. I've had it happen before.))

Camilia thought that she was able to keep a remarkably straight face throughout Leith's pseudo-lecture. She thought so, at least. The speech fascinated her, though, and she made a mental note to ask about it in more detail later, once the reporters had all left. Clearly, Leith wasn't going to say anything else for the time being.

"Wait--!" the reporter tried. Her shoulders slumped slightly when she realized the same thing, and she turned to Camilia. "Can you make him come back?" she asked. "This is all very fascinating, and I'm sure if we could just get a few more answers..."

Camilia blinked and then raised an eyebrow.

"I can't make him do anything," she replied mildly. "It's up to him whether or not he answers your questions."

"Well, what about you, then?" the reporter pressed eagerly, moving a step closer with the microphone. "Has he talked to you? Did you know all of that beforehand?"

"I'm constantly learning new things, here," Camilia replied evasively. "Moreso lately than usual."

"So that was all new to you, too, then," the reporter said. Her eyes were bright.

"Some of it," Camilia replied. "Some I've heard before."

((Noo, never! Never ever! Anyone outside Leith you can control as much as me. And unless you tell me I can control certain people, I'll not do it, either))

Leith glanced around. Were they gone yet...? No. Of course not. So far as he’d seen from his treks and hideouts near land during their reports, they were like parasites sucking every bit of information they could from anyone nearby. He growled, and returned to the glass nearest the present cameras and humans. When the female reporter glanced back around, he pressed his face on the window and stuck his tongue out, pointing to them, then above their heads. ’Go away!’ He mouthed. ’We don’t want you here anymore! Go go go away!’

The reporter glanced back around to the camera. “Er, well... It seems things right now aren’t quite known well enough to get more than a bit of information... And we’ll have to return once we have more information. This is Valerie Manning.”

After a moment she raised her hand in a slicing motion over her neck, and the cameraman lowered his item. The reporter turned to Camilia again. “Thank you very much for helping.” She said. I hope you’ll be around next time we report.” She raised a hand.

Leith glared, pressing his face as hard as possible to the glass to get a good look. What was this motion? He’d seen it too much to not have a name for it. An offering? A formal thank-you? A departure movement?

"I'm sure I will be," Camilia replied as the cameraman put his camera away again. "Hopefully by then, I'll have verbally wrestled into submission everyone I need to in order to get some upgrades around here." She glanced at the tank and then back at the reporter. "Although I'm willing to bet you won't get as easy an interview next time." Not that she was upset about that, really. She was more focused on Leith's comfort.

She didn't stick around to listen for any response from the reporter or her minions. Instead, Camilia climbed back up the ladder to her control tower and settled there for a moment. The pseudo-solitude was welcome after being in front of the camera that likely had the entire rest of the world on the other side of the lens.

"Thank god that's over," she commented to herself as she reached back and pulled the hair tie from her hair. Her brown curls fell over her shoulders, stopping at her clavicle and fluffing up a bit. "We'll see how long it takes for them to try to get another interview again..."

Leith watched the group clean up. They talked amongst themselves as they hesitated to leave, casting glances back toward him and feeling for the doors through the air once they got closer. As soon as the door closed, however, Leith burst upward and gasped, draping himself over the side of the tank. “That was the worst thing ever!” He cried. “I just told them everything! Everything! Even about the kingdom! I can’t believe this sh---stuff...” He corrected himself. It was a subconscious thing he’d learned around his parents, who hated vulgar words. “This is horrible. What if they go searching for my home?” He glanced up to where Camilia was.

It was a definite possibility. The entire kingdom was at risk! His parents had influence over the entire undersea world, they were as well known underwater as Poseidon was. If something happened to them before their natural deaths...

“Oh, I’m doomed...” Leith put his hands over his face. “What if the kingdom’s at risk now? They’re no match for human vessels. What if others are captured and put on display too? I’ll probably be exiled!” Leith groaned, throwing himself back and letting his body float on the top of the water. “No, no, no. They’re stupid. They won’t find the kingdom. It’s too well hidden. The field will... protect it... Right?” He whistled through his teeth.

Camilia blinked at Leith's sudden outburst. He hadn't meant to say all of that during the interview? She'd told him he didn't have to answer, didn't she?

"Why did you say all of it, then?" she ventured cautiously, sitting down near the edge of the tank and leaning forward a bit. "You didn't have to say anything... I doubt anyone would have held it against you if you'd stayed quiet." She listened to his ranting with a bit of detatched fascination. She doubted anyone would find his kingdom, really... The planet was more than two-thirds water. She doubted Leith's people would be found if they didn't want to be. It wasn't as if humans could hold them under siege or anything, right?

Absurdly, she had the urge to tell him that everything would be alright, that she would warn his people somehow, but she squashed the thought quickly. She had no idea where to even begin looking for them, and besides, it would be a miracle if they came anywhere near shore after this whole fiasco.

Leith submerged and returned to the surface right in front of Camilia. “I’ve been trained. My whole life, I’ve been a member of nationwide collaborations and meetings with leaders of villages and other, smaller cities. When I’m spoken to, I reply. When I’m asked a question, I give pointed answers.” He ran a hand through his hair. “So, I answer. And they were bugging me! I really didn’t want to have them and their ugly camera contraptions around anymore, so I thought it’d get them out faster, out of your hair.”

He went back. “But... They’re far from shore. They’re in a deep crater, the entire kingdom! A huge crater in the Gulf of Mexico, as you call the location. They’ll be able to hide. I suppose I’m just worried.” He giggled nervously. “Nothing to worry about... A little high-strung, is all...” He leaned on the tank and sighed. “What a damnable few days.” He glanced up toward Camilia again. “Talk to me. At least for a few minutes. It’s pretty... quiet here... when everyone’s gone.”

"Well... What would you like me to talk about?" Camilia asked. She wasn't surprised that it was quiet at night after everyone had left, but there wasn't anything she could do about that at the moment. Aquariums weren't ideal for intelligent creatures to live in, but it wasn't as if she could take him home with her or anything like that... She mentally shook away that idea. The logistics seemed impossible, even if she somehow did get permission through some fluke miracle. "I mean, I got an idea for some renovations here that might be a good idea, maybe see if we can't get some sort of tank system so you have room to actually go places and maybe even outside, if you want to hear about that." Otherwise, though, she had no idea what to talk about, especially after that interview.

Leith glanced up. “A bigger space wouldn’t be too bad.” he muttered. “And I miss outside... There isn’t any sunlight here, so it’s... cold, almost. Know? Cold... As long as I don’t have to do tricks like those poor dolphins and orcas. You know they don’t like it, caged up. Maybe some sand. I get body aches having to sleep on the hard floor every night. But...” He looked around. It seemed the lack of sun and fresh air really did get to him, and only after the stressful interview did he realize how unhappy he was.

He went back. “Well... Er, I won’t keep you here... I mean, you can do what you can, but don’t feel bad if you can’t... help. It’s not your fault, you know? You weren’t the one who caught me. I can’t blame you for being in your position.”

He went down, submerging himself. The water was so immobile, lacking life. Too fresh, a filter near the back constantly cleaning and changing the water, far too often. Leith curled his tail around him, sighing. If he could just go outside once...

"I have an idea that may work," Camilia said. Already, she was trying to work out the logistics in her head. "I know the whales have a huge tank that's partially outdoors, as do the sea lions and the penguins. So it wouldn't be much of a stretch to have a new one made the same way for you." She looked at him as she spoke to see what his reactions would be. "It would be partially indoors, although it would have to have the observation window for people to look through, but it would also be partially outdoors, with something approximating a shoreline and everything." She would have to talk to the people in charge, of course, but she got the feeling that they would take to the idea if she mentioned that the larger area would mean they could charge more for people to see it, as an entirely separate exhibit. "It could work, and I'm sure it would be more comfortable."

Leith blew bubbles in the water through his nose. “It’d be... nice.” He admitted. “I can’t stay in here anymore.” He spoke with almost a plea in his voice, unable to chase it away. He was a bit weary, but not from sleepiness. “Maybe I can be with the dolphins while it’s set up? I mean.... I’d have someone to talk to, anyway...” He muttered, twisting his tail about. “It’d be nice. While things were being set up.” He laughed. “Er... Isn’t it late?” he mentioned. “I don’t want to keep you here any longer than you need...”

He went around, drifting a bit, He almost wanted to be human again. but what would Camilia think if he suddenly did so? Randomly sprouting legs suddenly and walking out of the tank. But he’d have very weak legs. It’d been decades since he last walked on land. Maybe even a century, at the most. The thought left as soon as it arrived.

"I need to talk to Josh about it," Camilia replied. "Even if we get the green light for it, though, it probably won't be started right away, and a project that big will take a while..." She trailed off, a bit uncertain. She thoroughly disliked the fact that Leith was unhappy. Even though it had only been a couple of days, she was starting to regard him as something of a friend, rather than as a charge, and she hated seeing her friends unhappy and wanted to do something about it. She ignored the question about it being late. She had no social life to get back to, after all, so she could afford to say a while longer. "I don't like that you're in the tank, either," she admitted. "It's not right. They wouldn't do it to a human, after all, and you're not that much different where it counts..." She sighed. "I don't know what else to do, though."

Leith sighed, but his mouth was closed. The pressure of the air instead flew into the separate canal through his head, in front of his brain, and through the slits in his skull, making a sound resembling a dolphin’s cry. He startled, shaking it away quickly and ducking halfway underwater. “You don’t have to worry too much about it.” He assured her. “It’s not your fault I’m here, like I said. Maybe I can convince your superiors to let me go! I mean... It’s not ethical to keep me here. I’m not as easily entertained or as accepting as most of the other life here.”

He went back, skimming the water’s surface. “Oh! Aren’t there any water toys around? A ball?” He asked curiously. “A snake?” He looked around. Surely they had something for the dolphins to play with. Beach balls like he’d seen during humans’ Spring Break, littering the water. He’d even stolen one once. It was hard to get underwater, but when he did, the pressure popped it.

Camilia jumped at the sound, just barely managing not to flail herself into the water. She hadn't been expecting that at all, even though he'd mentioned that he could do it earlier. It was bizarre, and Camilia had to remind herself not to comment on it, because she didn't trust herself not to say something inappropriate or insulting.

"I don't know if I can convince Josh or the higher-ups of anything," she admitted after a moment. "They're the ones in charge of the aquarium, and the aquarium has made huge profits in the last couple of days, more profits than ever." She was quiet for a moment. "I can mention the ethical problem, certainly, and I can see what they say, but ethics are a delicate topic anywhere." Getting up, she habitually brushed off her pants. "Let me go see what I can find. I can't guarantee we have anything to spare, but we might."

Leith ducked down beneath the waves. He didn’t really like being above the water for more than a few minutes. But he could still hear Camilia from his location. Of course the aquarium would have jumped in profits. Leith didn’t know that much about the dry land, but he knew if something amazing was being held at a certain place, people would be flocking.

He busted back up and leaned over the tank as Camilia went down from her perch. “If they don’t listen to you, tell them to come to me! I’d love to have a nice conversation with those bastards.” He growled. “They’re mine... And they owe me that much!” He dove back down, splashing a bit and pacing around the edge of the pool. If he stayed here another week... He’d go mad.

Camilia could see the difference in him already, although she wasn't sure whether to attribute it to him finally settling in or him getting more and more uneasy. It was hard to tell, since she'd only known him for a couple of days, but there was a change nonetheless.

"I'll figure something out," she promised. She wasn't sure if he heard her, but she said it anyways. She would figure out a way to make things work. Besides, she was becoming more and more certain that the whole situation was wrong, and her instincts had never steered her wrong that way before. If she felt a situation wasn't right, then it wasn't right, and she'd never regretted following her gut feelings about them. And her gut feeling was telling her that she and Leith needed to get out somehow. So she would figure something out.

Leith had never been in prison. Even the convicts of the kingdom were at least given a place to roam, and something to look at. Though they were held in a large outdoor facility, barred, but they had sand. Coral of every color. Fish could come and go. They at least had someone else like them! They weren't held in an inhumane glass tank above water. That was death! Leith went from swimming in circles to moving from one side to another.

He froze. Where was everyone? He wanted a good talking to, and he wanted to talk to them. He wanted to tell them off. He wanted to throw things at them. Ice shards. That'd at least give them a nice little headache. Still under water, Leith stopped moving and put his hands on the glass, and yelled as loudly as he could. It didn't do anything. No one could hear him under the water. But it let a bit of steam off. He yelled again, louder, to him at least. When it strained his throat, Leith stopped and laid down, flat on his stomach on the hard floor.

Looking back, Camilia wasn't entirely sure how she managed to accomplish what she did. It was all kind of a vague, panic-hazed blur in her mind. She distantly recalled making a snap-decision (she seemed to make a lot of those lately, when did she become so impulsive?) and making a call to one of her cousins. Since the interview had aired, she knew her cousin was aware of her job, so she didn't have to explain too much, and her cousin readily agreed to help with her insane plan for a chance to see the merman in person.

So, somehow (and she still wasn't quite sure how they hadn't gotten caught), Camilia managed to get Leith out of the aquarium and down to the cove.

((Good enough?))