"It's harder to get in trouble on the surface," Lotus said. "Humans tend to notice." She paused for a moment. "And how do overbearing parents equate to more trouble? I would think it would mean less trouble, instead."

"Nope, more trouble. Then they drive you insane so you want to get out, and getting out leads to trouble." Leto shrugged.

"Interesting concept," Lotus mused. She shook her head. "My parents looked after me until I was old enough, then let me go. Moreso my mother than my father, but that's generally how merpeople do things."

Leto nodded. "So you decided not to stay with a group?" That was very interesting.

"Haven't settled down yet," Lotus replied with a shrug. "Topside doesn't count. I haven't found a colony I like well enough to settle in."

"Ah." Leto nodded. That made sense in a way. He'd heard that mermaids could be rather picky when it came to their colonies.

Soon, it was late enough at night that Lotus had to call it.

"I should be heading back," she said, getting up and brushing some sand from her scales. She looked at Leto. "It was nice talking to you."

"You, too." He smiled. "If I get some time off again I may come visit you. If that's okay."

Lotus blinked in surprise, then smiled and nodded.

"Sure," she said. "That would be nice."

Leto smiled. "Good. I'll see you again soon, then." He smiled at her once more before he left. Time to get home before he got skinned alive.

Lotus grinned a bit and turned to make her way back towards shore.

Kato was already home when Leto got back.

"I guess we had the same idea," he commented to his brother.

Leto nodded. "It would seem so." He grinned briefly. "I even got to talk to that lovely mermaid we saw."

Elea was already back inside, her skin carefully hidden away, back in normal clothes again.

"Oh really?" Kato asked, leaning forward a bit. "Did you stare at her chest the whole time?"

"I'm back," Lotus called to Elea when she got inside. She pulled herself out of the water so she could change back, and wrapped a towel around herself.

"No!" Leto said, sounding outraged. "Of course not!" He paused for a moment. "Only part of the time."

"I'm up here," Elea called. "How did your swim go?" Because they'd spent almost no time together, so she was curious.

Kato grinned, snickering a bit.

"I know how you are, Leto. You looked," he teased. "Was she honestly pretty?"

"It was fun," Lotus said when she was dressed. She grinned a bit. "Chatted for a while with a local."

"She was." Leto grinned. "Honestly pretty. And not attached. She said she lives with her roommate, but she's not part of a colony."

"Did you?" Elea blinked. "So did I. Kind of odd."

"Roommate?" Kato asked. He raised an eyebrow a bit. "The roommate wouldn't happen to be a selkie, would it?"

"Really?" Lotus asked. "Who did you chat with?"

"She is, actually. How'd you know?" Then Leto grinned. "Have a nice chat with a selkie recently?"

"Some guy. Said he was a sea dragon, but I've never heard of one before." Elea shrugged, resettling herself.

"In fact, I have," Kato replied. "Small world."

"A sea dragon?" Lotus asked. She blinked. "I was talking to a sea dragon. Although I never thought I'd get the chance to talk to bloody royalty..."

Leto laughed quietly. "Well, when we go to a small, mostly unpopulated area, I guess that's what we can expect."

Elea blinked, looking startled. "Royalty? What do you mean, royalty?"

"Sea dragons are royalty," Lotus replied. "They always have been." She looked at Elea. "I thought everyone knew that."

"I guess so," Kato replied. He shrugged. "So we met the same pair of roommates. The selkie girl was interesting to talk to."

"I didn't." Elea frowned. "I never knew that. My mother never said anything to me."

Leto snickered. "She must have been, since there weren't the same body parts for you to check out." He grinned.

"Well, they are," Lotus said. "There's usually only one ruling family, but sea dragons are rare and powerful even when they're not ruling."

Kato gave his brother a shove.

"Which means mine was more interesting than yours, since you DID spend time oogling her."

"Oh. So we just talked to royalty." Elea blinked, looking kind of stunned.

Leto rolled his eyes and shoved his brother right back. "Only in your opinion."

"Yeah," Lotus replied. She was quiet for a moment. "He was surprisingly... normal."

"You admitted it yourself, brother mine," Kato pointed out. "Regardless. Did she actually say anything interesting, or is she just a pretty face with nothing but sand between her ears?"