"Um." Leto blinked, a little startled by the question. "I'm... ah, I'm a sea dragon." He waited for the exclamation he was sure was coming.

Lotus blinked. And again.

"A sea dragon?" she repeated. She turned that over in her head. It was important, she knew it was, but she wasn't entirely sure why.

"Yeah," Leto said hesitantly, watching her. He was waiting for her to figure it out, and then he'd probably have to leave. Dammit, he shouldn't have answered truthfully.

Lotus turned it over in her head one more time, and then it fell into place with an almost-audible 'click.'

"Wait a second," she said. "Sea dragon. That's royalty." She looked at him, as if seeing him completely differently. "What in the world are you doing all the way out here?"

Leto grimaced. "Nevermind," he muttered, backing off a bit. "I think I should get going." Because clearly she knew what he was and that was just going to be way more trouble than it was worth.

Lotus blinked.

"You're leaving?" she asked cautiously. Crap, had she offended him somehow? Gods, she hoped not.

"I figured it's best. You know what I am, it's probably best if I don't get you in trouble." He shrugged, shifting almost nervously in the water.

"Get me in trouble how?" Lotus asked warily. She knew her stretch of water was safe; Elea was usually the only other one in it.

"You've seen me, you know who I am. It could get you in trouble." Leto shrugged. "I tend to sneak out sometimes. I don't want any repercussions for you."

"You sneak out." Bizarrely, all Lotus could think of was how wonderfully cliche that sounded. Then she shook her head. "I live above the surface, remember? I can hide for a little while. I pass for human." She wouldn't like it at all, but if there was trouble, she could do it.

Leto sighed. "I just don't want to get you into trouble, especially when you've done nothing to deserve it." But he didn't try moving away again.

"Just relax," Lotus said. She was quiet for a moment. "If you want to go, then go. I can't stop you. But I've been having fun talking to you."

Leto was quiet for a few moments before he sighed. "Well, I guess I could risk it," he murmured. "What the heck? I might as well stay."

Lotus smiled briefly.

"Cool," she said. She brushed aside some of her hair. "I'm probably not going to be out here much longer, myself, so a little while couldn't hurt, right?"

"I suppose not." He paused before he grinned. "Or at least we'll risk it." He winked at her, trying to settle his nerves.

Lotus turned faintly pink when he winked at her.

"So why are you out here, anyways?" she asked.

"Like I said, I slipped out. It's nice to just kind of be out on my own for a while, not be surrounded by people fawning over me." Leto shrugged.

"I can imagine," Lotus replied. "You said you had a brother? What about him?"

"He's probably out and about here somewhere. We don't always sneak out together, only sometimes." Leto smiled a little.

"It must be nice to have a brother," Lotus said. "I'm an only child."

"It's..." Leto paused for a moment. "There are days it's awesome to have a brother to get into trouble with, and then there are days I want to hit him. Repeatedly. I'm sure he feels the same."

"I wished I had a sibling when I was little," Lotus said. "Sometimes. But other times I was glad not to have to keep track of anyone."

Leto nodded. "Yeah, that's just about how it goes." He shrugged. "If you have a roommate, though, you likely know part of the feeling."

"I'm pretty close with Elea, yeah," Lotus mused. "It's not like we get into trouble or anything, though."

"You also don't have overbearing parents," Leto pointed out. "If you did, I'm sure you two would get into trouble."