Archie could just barely be seen through a small hole that led into the coral, and he jumped when he saw Monty outside, scrambling to hurry up and hide somewhere else before he was caught.

Léan mirrored her action, though he avoided heavy touching for the moment. Right now, he was gentle.

Monty caught movement from the corner of his eye and slowly followed it up into the coral, still watching the shark.

Emy couldn't help the chill that went up her spine when he did that. She loved when he touched her, it sent crazy beads dancing all over her skin.

Unfortunately, Monty was blocking the only way in and out of the coral, so Archie was caught. He pouted once Monty came face-to-face with him.

Léan rested his hand against her stomach, where skin led to scales, and simply paused there, unsure of what to do next.

Monty just grinned slightly at him. "Are you pouting?" He chuckled softly, gently poking his forehead. :You're it. by the way...there was a shark just outside the coral."

Emy shivered slightly and couldn't help but sort of move against his hand. Though she glanced at him when he stopped his hand.

Archie shrieked quietly and curled up even more. "S-s-s-shark?!" he demanded, looking terrified. He was frozen in place.

Léan, apparently stuck on what to do, glanced back at her, absently.

Monty blinked slightly at his reaction, then gently touched his arm with a kind expression. "You'll be fine. It doesn't look in a violent mood."

Emy moved slightly, making his hand go slightly lower. It looked as though he didn't know what to do. This didn't really help her any, she knew what to do as a human...but the mermaid thing was new to her.

His touch seemed to reassure Archie, but the fear did not dwindle. "Can we leave? I...I don't like sharks..." His voice was shaking terribly.

Léan absently brushed his hands over her scales--it would probably be a new but nice feeling for her. He was still gentle as ever.

Monty gently wrapped an arm over his shoulders. "Look...we can go, but you need to calm down. If you don't, it will pick up on your fear and will act on it."

Emy's eyes fluttered slightly in surprise about how nice that felt, she small smile came to her face and she moved slightly closer to him.

Archie didn't look like he was going to calm down anytime soon. The shark suddenly grew more interested, dipping its head down to peer in at them before swimming off again.

Léan paused again, his fingers drifting back up to her stomach. "What now?" he asked, curiously.

Monty gently took his hand, then looked at him warily. "You need to follow every instruction...alright?" He was sort of worried about the shark now that it was becoming more curious.

Emy blinked and looked at him, then looked to the side slightly. "I...don't know. Underwater is new for me." She looked a little nervous now, not knowing what to do was strange for her.

"Okay..." Archie was shivering. The feeling of fear was evident in his posture, expression, and even--slightly--in his scent.

Léan sighed, shifting uncomfortably. He kept their tails entwined--on their own, both of their tails were tightly wrapping around each other, in snakelike coils.

Monty gently led him to a little from the opening, peeking outside to see where the shark had gone. He made sure that Archie was far enough back, still holding his hand.

Emy just looked at his chest...she really didn't know what to do, condering she knew nothing of what would happen when she was ready.

The shark had wandered off, for now. They had time to escape. Archie clung to Monty's arm tightly, moving along with him towards the opening.

Léan decided to wing it, and ran his hands across her back, stomach, and scales a bit more. Surely, if the feelings started to build up, instinct would take over.

((You want to skip the two of them, or PM?))

Monty gently pulled Archie from the opening and started swimming off back towards where they were earlier. "You ok?" He asked Archie softly, after he was sure he couldn't see the shark any more.

Emy's eyes widened slightly moving closer to him, a small sound came out of her as she gently pressed against him.

((either. ^^))

Archie was still clinging to his arm, blue eyes big and wide with slowly dwindling fear. "Uh-huh...I'll be fine." He shook his head a few times, to shake off what was left of the scare he'd just been through.

Léan held her close, hands paying special attention to her upper and lower back, and her shoulders.

((I have time, if you want to do PMs.))

((hmm....but I've got to get off soon. Lol))

Monty didn't let up until he looked like he was at least remotely ok. "Alright..."

Emy almost couldn't stand how good that had felt.

((Haha, we can skip it or save it for later, if you want. We could pause their posting here.))

Archie seemed relaxed after just a few minutes. He kept his grip on Monty's arm, though. He didn't seem to find their current position strange or inappropriate.

Monty didn't mind that he was still attacted to him, he did grin slightly, but otherwise ignored it. Then he moved slightly and led him to sit down.

((hmm....Pm? But save?))

((Sure. I'll throw a PM your way and we can save it for later.))

Archie shifted to sit down, sighing once he was on something solid again. He rested his head on Monty's shoulder. He considered him a friend, so barely anything was inappropriate, now. He just didn't like strangers.

Monty thought it was a little cute the way he acted. But, he liked being trusted...it'd been awhile.

"What should we do, now?" Archie asked, suddenly. He didn't lift his head from his shoulder. He was worn out after what had just happened, but he simply didn't want to head back there or do something dangerous.

Monty grinned and relaxed slightly. "I don't know....anything you want I guess."

"I don't have any more ideas, though," Archie admitted, sheepishly. "Other than going around and exploring, maybe..." It was a thought. But he knew they'd probably run into something dangerous again.

Monty flicked his tail slightly, thinking. Then he shrugged slightly. "I don't really mind."

"Maybe we should talk, then. Get to know each other a little bit better." It was true that they seemed friendly together, but they still did not know much about the other. Archie didn't like talking about himself, but he would if he needed to.