"Well, I guess we are on good terms. You tended to my wounds an helped me feel better." Aislinn smiled. "Oh yeah, I wanted to talk to you about what you are doing out in the middle of the ocean and the world of humans. All my life, I've wanted to see what it feels like to be human." Ice had this dreamy look in her eyes.

"It's not really all that special," Aster replied, nodding. "I'm fishing. For...fish. So I can sell them. I usually don't go out on the water...the ocean took my favorite pet away. My companion. The human world is not that glamorous. What would you like to know about it?"

Aislinn shuddered. The thought of eating her fellow friends just disgusts her. "How dare you!" Her sudden outburst made her shudder more. "Why would you eat fish? Why would you eat my friends?" Ice crossed her arms and frowned.

"I don't eat fish." Aster shrugged. "Other people do. I rarely eat meats." He didn't particularly care for fish food-wise. He believed fish were more intelligent than most land mammals, other than canines, felines, and elephants.

"Oh, I'm sorry I just erupted in your face. I just have a rare tendency to give big outbursts like this." Aislinn apologized, wringing her hands and looking at the shiny scales of her tail. "Do you have anything to ask about my world?" Ice asked.

"It's fine, it's fine...hm." Aster mulled that question over in his head. "Well...what do you do for fun?" He supposed it was a safe enough question. He didn't want anything to get too personal, in case that offended her.

"We play catch with the ball-shaped sponges and swim races. But most of the time, we lounge above water near the rocks nesting near the beach." Aislinn replied. She remembered the rocks that she and her family used to go to, until her mother disappeared.

"Humans are a little different, in that sense...we have organized sports. Basically, people throwing around balls and showcasing physical prowess for giant crowds. We also have televisions, as I've pointed out...and things like television. We have these things because of electricity...um."

He went into a semi-brief explanation about electricity, and how it was first discovered with the kite experiment.

Aislinn was greatly interested in how these humans were able to discover electricity from such a simple experiment. "Our energy resources come from these little crystals." Ice brought out a pendant and smiled as it glowed. "It powers our doors, light, basically everything we use for everyday life."

"Ah..." Aster studied it. "I'm surprised we haven't discovered it, yet...we've uncovered a lot, I suppose, but never those. We make our electricity using fossil fuels and whatnot..." Again, he had to pause and explain fossil fuels. He was sure she'd heard of oil spills before, given where she lived...they were terrible for the environment.

"My aunt experienced an oil spill back at her place." Aislinn commented when she heard what fossil fuels were. "All citizens had to help clean up. I don't think it's still fully clean." 'And that was why the king forbade anyone to live near oil drills.' Ice silently added.

"Humanity is slowly moving towards cleaner energy, but still. As an example, you've seen windmills before, correct?" Aster had heard news that a long string of them had been built far out into the ocean.

"You mean like those large fans that you humans use when it gets hot?" Aislinn said. "I learn a lot by going above water, you know." She said, helping herself to another clam.

"Yes, those. They can generate electricity, if they're used often enough..." Aster finished his helping of shells, smiling. He seemed content, and rather happy. He was normally an uptight, boring man...

"I see." Aislinn was fairly interested in this human. "Many mermen are finding ways to use electricity from the sun instead of the crystals. Have humans already found that out?" She asked. Once she learned enough, she could explain to them about it if only she didn't get in trouble first.

"Yes. We can capture energy from the sun...but the materials used to capture the energy, in our world, are very expensive and hard to find. So, we being the cheap people we are...we use more fossil fuels." Aster himself was disgusted by his own race.

"Oh." Aislinn frowned. "I was hoping for you humans to help us merpeople save up on these crystals. Last time I heard, they are running out." She finished off her clams and sighed.

"Well...we could try. We're just..." He paused, thinking of how he could explain it. "We have this superiority complex. We think, in general, we're the most superior beasts out there. We can't imagine having another intelligent species in the world...most people will not accept that. We're terrible with admitting that we're not all that."

"Oh." Aislinn frowned. "That goes for my people, too." She sighed and laid back down on the soft bed. The sponges back home were equally comfortable as this and soon, she began to doze off.

Aster cleaned up the mess they'd made while eating, taking the trays and the plates out to the kitchen and placing them in the sink. He kept the door to the guest room open and stepped outside. He tossed anchor overboard, intending to spend the night on the boat tonight. Once he had that done, Aster headed inside to his room, which was across the hall.

If she needed anything, he was just across the hall. He kept his door open just in case, as well.

Aislinn slept until morning. And when she woke up, she realized that she needed water. She was still half-fish. Ice sighed and moved her arms up and down. Little drops of water made their way to her room to revive her.

Aster was still asleep. He was normally a morning person, but yesterday's shock had...well...shocked him. So he had been quite tired...

Aislinn had enough power to transform her tail into human legs. Her little bubbles of water disappeared. And she bravely dared to stand up. Confusion pretty much followed after it as she desperately tried to what humans call 'walking'.

Aster woke up when he heard a slight crash, coming from Aislinn's room. He yawned and got out of bed unwillingly, heading over to her room, across the hall, and peeking his head in. "You o...oh." He noticed her new legs. "Need some help?"

"Yes." Aislinn frowned as she was on the floor, her new legs tangled up. She sighed and said, "I was able to transform because I had a little bit of magic left." She explained.