"I only have your word that you were falsely accused," Glory pointed out. "Forgive me if I'm not in much of a trusting mood." She paused for a moment. "You can stay out here until my mate is ready to deal with you. He gets the final say."

"Very well. Hopefully he'll use his words instead of his teeth..." Near the bottom of the merman's tail was a deep bite-mark attained during their struggle. Neither of the mermen had expected to see someone else out here, let alone a stranger...that had provoked their fight.

"He's been in a bad mood lately," Glory said simply. It wasn't an excuse, it was just fact.

"I'd imagine, judging on how quick he was to turn to violence..." The merman suddenly blinked, and then bowed his head a bit. "I don't believe I introduced myself...my name is Aster."

"...Gloriana," Glory said after a moment. She didn't say to call her by a nickname, however.

Aster seemed to be uncomfortable with the current situation, understandably so. He cleared his throat. "You don't mind if I hunt here, correct? I will not go far...you will be able to find me here when you need to confront me, with your mate."

"Alright," Glory said. "Like I said, we just don't want any trouble around here."

"I am not a troublemaker," Aster assured her, idly. "I promise." He glanced around, slowly, nodded once, and then set off towards a small school of fish nearby.

Once he was gone, Glory turned and made her way back closer to shore. She desperately wanted a bit of comfort, but she figured she would have to make do with curling up in her bed for a while.

Lleu was already back in the shallows, near the beach. He was not alone.

Léan was with him. Lleu had convinced him to return to the beach. Aster hadn't just taken his aggression without a fight--he had a bite-mark on his neck and a few scratches on his arms and torso.

Glory slowed down a little when she saw them. She wasn't sure if Léan wanted to see her.

Léan looked calm. Eerily calm. That was usually a sign that he was upset...but if Lleu had convinced him to return to the beach, that probably meant he was ready to talk to her.

Glory still hesitated a little, and made her way over to him slowly.

Once he saw that Glory was approaching, Lleu turned and left, heading out towards the reef to hunt for a bit.

Léan didn't run from her, but he didn't turn to look at her either. His arms were wrapped around himself.

Glory settled down on the sand next to Léan.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hello." Léan's voice sounded strained. That might have been because he was in pain--his wounds need to be treated. Aster was not that badly injured...he did have an age advantage over Léan, and Léan had attacked first...so the wounds were justified.

"Are you going to make me patch you up again?" Glory teased gently. She held out a hand to him. "Come on, I keep a supply of bandages inside, just in case." She carefully stayed away from the subject they were fighting about earlier.

Without hesitation, Léan reached out and took her hand. He seemed gloomy, but he also stayed away from the reason they were both on-edge and unhappy.

"Let's go inside," Glory said softly. Maybe once she took care of his wounds, he might be willing to cuddle with her again.

Léan nodded slowly, and then looked up at her absently, waiting to be led inside. He had an odd aura to him...but at least he wasn't still bitter.

Glory led the way back inside, glad he wasn't bitter anymore. She knew they would have to talk about it again, soon, but for now... She just wanted to be with him.

Léan followed her inside without protest, his hand loosely resting in hers. He kept his eyes on the ground, for the most part...and he looked tired.

Once they were inside, Glory had him sit down on the couch and she went to get the bandages. She came back in with the bandages quickly, and started to patch him up quietly.

"I'm sorry," she murmured after a moment. "I didn't mean to upset you earlier."

Léan gave a half-hearted shrug...he wasn't angry anymore. "It is fine..." He still sounded a bit down, but he would remain that way for a while, until he was sure he wouldn't end up hurting the children.

Glory finished patching him up, but she was still a bit hesitant to ask if he wanted to cuddle with her on the bed.