They got to the aquarium by that point, and Jasper let them in through a side door.

"Jasper, there you are!" One of the other workers jogged up to them. "They need you at the orca tank, Clara is calving."

"Alright," Jasper nodded. He gestured to Dalea. "Put her into a polo and a nametag and put her near one of the petting tanks. She'll be a new trainee. But only the petting tanks, okay? None of the big tanks." The other worker nodded and gestured for the girl to follow him. Jasper went off in another direction, towards the orca tank.

Dalea looked after Jasper for a moment, wondering what was going on. Then she smiled at the worker and followed without another thought.

"I'm Paul," the worker said as he took Dalea to one of the employee rooms. He rummaged through a cabinet and pulled out a light blue polo shirt with the aquarium logo on it. He handed it to her. "Here, this is yours."

Dalea took it gently and nodded. She looked at the shirt, memorizing the logo. Then she thought for a moment. "I don't think my outfit would be appropriate, would it?"

Paul looked at her critically for a moment.

"Not really," he replied. He went to another closet and rummaged around before digging out a pair of plain khaki pants. "Here, you'll want these too. Try them on, see if they fit." He pointed to another door. "You can change in there."

Dalea looked a little uncomfortable with the man looking at her like that. She gratefully took the clothes and hurried into through the door. She started to change, wondering if the man was still there.

Paul waited for her outside the door. He still needed to give her a name tag and a basic rundown on what she would be doing. Pretty much just making sure kids didn't hurt the animals, but still.

((My computer crashed. Don't have money to fix it. Will only be on when I can get to the library.))

Dalea soon came out, feeling odd in the getup. She looked at then man, then smiled. "What do I do?"

Paul took her over to the petting tank. It was set in the middle of the room, away from the big tanks. The petting tank was only a few feet tall, and was set up on a platform, so it was about waist-height. Inside, there were various little creatures like crabs, clams, and starfish.

"You get to stay here," he said. "Just keep an eye on things, make sure people are gentle when they touch the animals."

Dalea nodded slightly. So, in other words, she was watching children. Great.

Jasper, on the other hand, was keeping an eye on one of the whale tanks. None of the other trainers were in on his secret, but they knew he was good with the whales, so he was allowed to be around while the primary female in the tank was calving.

Dalea sighed and set to work. She just stayed there, wading around in the water. She looked at the little animals after awhile. They were adorable! She bent down into the water and gently touched the one Jasper described, remembering it was called a starfish. It was a little rough on the outside, she smiled and gently picked it up in her hand. She glanced around to make sure children weren't there to see and they didn't kick or throw the creatures around.

A few hours later, Jasper came back from the whale tanks. His hair was tied back, and looked damp, which meant that he'd been in the tank at some point.

Dalea was laughing softly when a girl wanted to pet one of the small crabs that were walking around. She gently picked up the little creature and held him out to the girl. "Be careful. He likes to snap." She had a bandaid around one of her fingers where she'd experienced just that.

Jasper leaned against the wall, watching them. Dalea seemed comfortable enough in the petting tank. After a moment, he went over.

"How are things going in here?" he asked.

Dalea looked up and smiled at Jasper. "Things are good. I thought this would be dull, but its actually quite fun."

"I'm glad you like it," Jasper replied. He grinned and held out a hand to her. "Come on, get your shoes on, I want to show you something."

Dalea blinked, then looked around at the kids. "But, who'll watch them?" She looked at him doubtfully.

"I don't know if you noticed," Jasper teased, "but you haven't been here alone." He gestured to the other girl who was on the other end of the tank. "She can keep things under control for a few minutes. I want you to see this."

Dalea knew the other girl was there, but there had been alot of kids around that day. She doubted that the other girl could handle them all by herself. She nodded though and climbed out of the tank, then slipped on her shoes.

Jasper gestured to the door he'd just come through.

"Janie will be alright for a few minutes on her own," he said. "She's good with kids, which is why she's at the petting tank." He led her through a couple more doors, until they were outside, next to the glass window of the largest tank. "I didn't mean to leave you on your own for so long, but this needed my attention more." He glanced around to make sure they were alone, and then let out a low keening sound from the back of his throat. A moment later, a large orca whale came past the glass, with a little baby next to her. "This is Clara, and her new son Sebastian."

Dalea followed him almost mindlessly. There was something about his excitement that just made her want to go with him. She stared in wonder when the large whales came by. She took a step towards the glass and gently placed her hand on it. She knew this was the only thing keeping her from drowning in that massive amount of water. Then baby whale, as he called it, Sebastian looked so adorable, but horrifying at the same time.

"Sebastian was just born this morning," Jasper explained as the whales went into a different part of the tank, away from the window. "That's kind of what needed my attention."

Dalea nodded slightly, slowly stepping back from the glass. She was in a state of shock. She'd never seen something like this. "Wow..."

Jasper looked at her, concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He went over and knocked on the glass gently. "Everything here is secure, nothing's going to break or anything. You're safe."