"Probably," Lilac agreed with a sigh, starting to towel her hair dry. "Well, I think we've done what we can here for today, so we may as well go check on our other charges before we have to go home."

Primrose nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me," she said. She sighed. "We're going to have to be here early tomorrow. We're not going to have time to get everything done before opening, otherwise."

"I know. I'd be surprised if the director opens this exhibit to the public tomorrow, though," Lilac said. "Maybe in a few days, but I'm sure for a few days at least all sorts of experts and specialists will be here watching."

"Yeah," Primrose agreed, nodding. "I don't think it'll open to the public until maybe next week. Monday or so. But we're still going to be busy with things even before then."

"Oh yes," Lilac agreed quietly. "Yes we are." She heaved a sigh and went to go check on the seals and sea lions.

A few days later she was grumbling about being reassigned to the mermaid tank. She'd liked her seal buddies, they were awesome. And she did not want to spend more time than necessary with the mermen. Thus the grumbling.

At least she still had the weekend to finish prepping the tank and putting in the new fish and decorations before the public got to see, though.

Now that the new decorations had come in, it was Prim's turn to go for a swim. She had on a rather basic bathing suit (in almost the same orangey-pink as her natural coloring, ironically) and had her hair braided back so it would be out of her way.

"Everything ready to go in?" she asked Lilac.

"Yup. Fish first, get them in so they don't have to spend long in these containers." Lilac started handing down the containers of fish to let loose. Since the new shipment had come in, there were a lot more, so it would be much closer to an actual coral reef, and there would be constant movement and a rainbow of fish in the tank.

Primrose nodded and took the containers. Since they were fish, rather than corals or plants, all she had to do was dip them under the surface and open them so the fish could swim out. She opened the containers one at a time as they were passed to her, until all the fish were released.

Lilac looked down into the water and grinned. "There's fish everywhere. Looks like we finally have enough in there." Which meant they had to start on the coral, which was heavier.

Primrose grinned and nodded.

"Let's start on the corals, then," she said. "They need to go in next."

Lilac nodded and started handing those down, taking her time and giving Primrose lots of time to get everything set up how she wanted. She also kept an eye on the two mermen.

Primrose took the corals down one at a time, glancing at the mermen every so often. She didn't try to interact with them, however, and just kept setting the coral. She didn't notice that she'd fallen into the same swimming habit as Lilac. It just felt the most natural to her.

Lilac helped make sure everything got down there and got set up correctly before she helped Primrose out of the tank and handed her a towel.

"Well, that wasn't so bad."

"For now," Primrose replied. "At least the tank is decked out now."

Bryn watched the two go.

"You noticed it too," he said to Allyn. It wasn't a question. He knew his cousin would know what he was talking about.

"Yes. It looks much better." Lilac ran a hand through her hair before she shook herself. "Alright, I think we have some paperwork to fill out and then we're officially in charge here."

"Of course," Allyn said quietly, watching the two girls. "They swim the same way."

Primrose nodded.

"I'm going to go change into something dry," she said, "and I'll be in in a second."

"I don't think I've ever heard of humans who prefer to swim that way," Bryn said. "I suppose it's possible, but still."

"Take your time." Lilac headed back down to the office to get a head start on the paperwork.

"Possible," Allyn agreed, "but not probable. Besides, they're very comfortable in the water, and they knew how to place things. How many humans know how coral stacks and grows like that?"

Bryn nodded in agreement. He was thinking the same thing his cousin was.

"I don't recognize them at all," he said. "They are likely very low ranked, if they are our kind to begin with."

Allyn nodded his agreement of that assessment. "But they likely know who we are," he said quietly. "Or at least you. Again, presuming they are our kind."

Bryn nodded his agreement. Allyn was likely right.

"The humans have no idea," he added. "Had they, we would not be the ones in here." He was sure of that.

Allyn nodded, flicking his tail to scare away a few nibbly fish.

"Perhaps we should speak to one of the humans?" he asked, glancing over at Bryn.

Bryn had to consider that for a moment.

"Not now," he decided. "Limit interaction just to the females. A proper decision can be made once we know a bit more."

Allyn inclined his head, acknowledging the orders. "What limits on the interaction?" he asked. Because interaction could mean anything from watching to conversations to negotiations.

"I'll leave that to your discretion," Bryn replied. "Refrain from trying to harm either of them, though. We want them on our side."

Allyn nodded. That he could work with. Hopefully the two would cooperate and not make things harder.

Little did he know life was about to get much more crowded than he was used to.