Aenon snorted, imagining the unfortunate eyed Merle bugging them down with his gaze. He would prefer a stick that was easier to handle, which would also make the stick more fun. He grinned at her percentage of people thinking he was a zealot. If she was that unsure, he was certain he could whittle it down even further. “I knew I would have to count on you,” he sighed, as she described her way of getting people to listen. “You would think they would listen, if that’s what you are doing behind me. I have a feeling I’ll be floating there talking big, and you’ll be hiding a snicker behind me. I must be a pretty important backwater bumpkin if I have my own specially trained bodyguard. Wonder how someone like me managed that.” He nodded his head emphatically. “There is so much peer pressure around here to be ambitious and at least not immature if not mature. It’s quite the current to fight against. All that motivation makes me motion sick.”

If Orla wanted to make him squirm, he was normally pretty good at predicting what she wanted and not doing it. It was more difficult when she hit a nerve, but he tried to cut them off so he wasn’t affected. She knew how to attract his attention, and he was soon in the thrall of party planning. “You are right…for once.” He smirked. “This way I don’t have to go through the hassle of changing my name.” His mind was racing, and he hadn’t been sure which of those names would come out of his mouth first as he leapt to take the chance to make an introduction.

He wasn’t sure how Orla would adapt to his impulsiveness, and he was intrigued to watch her reaction. He wondered who would name their child Wit, and tried to keep that thought from scrawling across his face. Due to Wit’s annoyance, Aenon wasn’t a hundred percent sure he had accomplished that. “Guess you're named that ‘cause you’re such a funny fish? Must be clever’n goofy.” Aenon decided to follow Orla's lead. Telling them that they could be alone with them together was an interesting oxymoron. Even more interesting was that no one contradicted her. Her deadpan was exhilarating, and their resignation was to float belly up for. He made eye contact with each one of them as they hesitated to respond.

"Wow." He raised a brow and looked at Orla. “They must be on the same brain wave. They’re all making the same sound at the same time.” He did jazz hands sarcastically. “Really. They are quite boring. I’m not sure if I want to hang around with them. So uncreative. So similar. Thanks for the suggestions though.” If he were to put together a party, it had to be more exciting than this group. “I think you should go. Apparently, you can’t take a hint.” Carla kept her voice even, although it was obvious she was peeved.

“Carla!” Aenon’s mouth dropped open, trying to drum up the awkwardness. The males were looking at each other. Orla was obviously more important than them or any ordinary servant. She could make a lot of trouble for them, and they wished that Carla could be more diplomatic and less blunt. “Girl! I just wanted a few ideas for fun things to do, but now I think I need to teach you people how to have fun.” He shook his head. “She obviously isn’t the life of the party. Perhaps everyone got downgraded by hanging out with her.” His nose wrinkled a little. He snatched some of the delicious food he saw on George’s plate. “Hang around with us and you might learn something.” He looked at Orla thinking that one of the things they could learn is that my name isn’t Caspian.

He made a mental note to invite them, if he thought that he was hosting a successful party. "I'll put those things on my list. I'm not sure if I'll be doing it. Those are things to pass the time, not to have fun." He jerked his head towards Merle. He was heading their way. They needed to go, so that they wouldn't learn what his name wasn't. For all he knew Merle was making sure that Orla was present to attend some required meeting. "Better check on Pearle over there. Maybe I'll talk to the angel, while I'm waiting for you." He stuck his tongue out at Orla.

"See you around. I'll find you, if I'm doing something that I think'll teach you how to have fun." He smirked at the group. Carla was getting her wish. "I may have to come back and liven up this group. I don't think you know how to deal with me." Shaking his head adressing Orla, "I considered introducing them to Angelfish girl, but they might know each other. It would be terrible to find out that she knows them and hangs out with them...for fun. Besides, if she doesn't know them, it might ruin her."

He sighed. "Here comes my boss. He probably wants me to get back to work. I'm not sure how long your break is, but it looks like I had better get going. When can we meet up again?" He began to swim away in a hurry, but he turned on his back so he could wave as he left, not wanting to be caught. He preferred to be caught in the act of doing his job. While it might seem cowardly, it was much easier to be praised than to be lectured or punished.

(I thought perhaps instead of applause that jazz hands might make more sense underwater.)

As always, it was hard to tell what Orla was really feeling as she played the “shy girl.” She didn’t laugh at Aenon’s little jibe at Wit’s expense, and still wore an innocent expression. This sort of deadpan was the reason people often suspected her of lying, and tricks like she was pulling right now were the reason people were often right. Wit gave a vaguely confused look and said slowly, “No . . . my name is just Wit.” It might have been hard for any inexperienced deadpanner not to laugh at this, but Orla simply bit her lower lip. She seemed willing to let Aenon do most of the talking in the situation - she certainly wasn’t as vocal around other people as she was with Aenon. “Don’t worry,” said Orla to the group as Aenon declared them too boring for his tastes. “Keep trying - one day you’ll think up something fun to do.” She started to smile with saccharine sweetness, but Carla cut in with no pretense of politeness. The tip of Orla’s tail swished through the water, a subtle sign of amusement, but on her face she wore an expression of total betrayal. “Carla, I thought you said you wanted to be alone with us,” she said in a wounded voice. Aenon’s reaction was much the same, and between the two of them, the awkwardness was growing tangibly. If Orla noticed that a lot of that awkwardness had to do with her high rank, she certainly didn’t show it. She might have just been in character, or maybe she figured it would be bad for her career to hold her rank over people’s heads this early on - or maybe it was a bit of both.

“I think a party will do you good,” said Orla to Carla, scrunching up her eyes as she smiled. For once she didn’t seem totally insincere, but even if she had, for some insane reason, wanted to talk directly to Carla and say what she meant, Orla was rather lacking in those personality traits. Aenon moved forward to pluck a piece of food from the grub-loving George’s plate, and George gave him a very pouty look, stared down at his lap for a moment as though in deep contemplation, and then suddenly pulled his plate onto his lap to protect it from Aenon. The others glanced at him, but were too busy acting as though they’d never interacted with anyone before to really pay attention to poor George. As “Caspian” glanced at Orla, she raised a cryptic eyebrow at him which could have meant nearly anything. “If you guys ever need advice for fun things to do, just ask us,” said Orla, a little bolder. “We have so many ideas we don’t know what to do with them.” Orla followed Aenon’s gaze and saw Merle drifting towards them. She rolled her eyes at Aenon, smiling a bit, and wrinkled her nose up in response to Aenon sticking his tongue out at her. “Time to go Pearle-diving,” Orla agreed, sweeping her hair to the side of her face to block it from Merle’s view. Not that it helped - if anything, her hair was more distinctive than her face. The group glanced at Merle, but nobody seemed to know him, or if they did they didn’t have any strong opinions. Carla was looking immensely peeved off, but Simon had leaned over to whisper into her ear and she was keeping quiet.

“Well, thank you for the offer,” said Wit, who now looked as though he simply couldn’t wait for them to go away. “We normally just talk to each other and play limpets, but . . . if we ever get tired of that, I guess.” Simon gave them a smile, and Carla balanced him out by scowling darkly. George had decided to throw caution to the wind and was stuffing his gob with seaweed. Orla got up from the table and waved at them. As the others turned away, she couldn’t help giving Carla a little smirk. With that, she moved away from the table, smiling crookedly at Aenon. “We wouldn’t want our pretty angel to be contaminated,” she said, agreeing with him. “Better to convert her to the ways of fun while we can. Looks like we might have our work cut out for us, though, huh? I think they might’ve had their souls sucked out. Somehow they were not totally charmed by you, Caspian. Scooch, I think Merle the Pearl’s looking for me.” She darted behind a small crowd of people with a swish of her tail. “I think Carla likes us,” she said. “Look, we’re making friends already!” She let out an exhale of small bubbles. “Next time I get to pick a character out for you, though.” It was hard to tell if she was kidding around or actually wanted to. “I’m seeing a dashing hero of the seven seas, disgraced prince of a foreign land, terrible flirt and ravishingly handsome. With some exotic name like Joe. Prince Joe.”

Orla might have gone on, but Aenon’s boss was approaching and it was time for the good times to come crashing down. Orla frowned in an exaggerated way as Aenon told her he had to leave. “Now I have nobody to talk to but ol’ Merle the Pearl. And the angel, I suppose - she probably needs someone to guard her from the seeping haze of boringness.” Orla didn’t hesitate a moment before saying, “I can meet you tonight. I have guard duty for a couple of hours, and then I’m supposed to go back, but I can just, you know, not. I used to sneak out all the time. They can’t get mad at me. I’m their precious little girl.” Orla gave Aenon the same fake-innocent smile she’d been wearing earlier. He looked in a hurry, though, so she didn’t elaborate. She gave him a wave as he left, then moved out from behind the crowd so that Merle could find her.

Orla had been very fortunate in being paired up with Merle the first time, because he has the backbone of a jellyfish and forcing him to play limpets was easy. Unfortunately, her second round of guard duty was performed with long-necked, stiff-lipped, boring-as-barnacles Bo, who insisted that they actually do their jobs. Orla had been floating aimlessly after Bo for too long to count, ceaselessly trying to get the large bonito mer to either crack or crack a smile. Unfortunately, Bo was either partially deaf or not at all interested in what Orla had to say. With no limpets and no teasing to be done, Orla could already feel her brain cells dying one by one. She could only hope she had part of a brain left so she could gasp out her dying wishes to her loved ones - well, Aenon, since he was the only one here. “Drag me by my tail?” Orla asked Bo, smiling sweetly, as they finally turned back to the barracks. Bo was not amused.

As soon as they got back, Orla swam over to Merle. “Oh, thank goodness, someone who’s not boring!” she said loudly, giving Bo a pointed look. “Merle, my old limpets buddy, my brain is dying.” With no Aenon around to talk at, Orla had to make due with what she had. Besides, she wanted to invite Merle to the party. She thought it would be hilarious to have him there.

“Murchadh!” General Kelsey barked, which Orla took to mean she was in trouble for something.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” asked Orla innocently, giving Merle a secret thumbs-up like the two had just hatched a plan that was going swimmingly.

General Kelsey looked down at the list. “You’re free to go.” So apparently Orla wasn’t in trouble. That was just General Kelsey’s general tone.

“Come on, Merle,” said Orla, tugging Merle after her. “Before Bo tries to talk to us.” She dragged Merle out of the barracks, looking around. Would Aenon still be working? Well, only one way to find out.

“What are you doing?” asked Merle, looking incredibly confused.

“Oh, Merle, that’s why everyone loves you,” said Orla offhandedly. “You know what, you’re so hysterical that I’m going to let you in on a secret. Lean in. Closer. Cloooser. Now farther away. We’re having a party tonight, and since you’re such a stand-up guy, I’m going to let you come. Don’t be late, alright?”

“Wait! When - where -” Merle started, but Orla was already moving away. As soon as she’d talked to Aenon about organizing it, she could just find Merle again and make him come. It’s not like he was ever doing anything else. Orla wanted to start talking about the party right away. It was sort of like being a little kid again - sneaking out with other kids, getting ten feet before being caught, getting scolded. Except this time they would probably get more than ten feet.

“Seen Aenon?” she asked everyone she passed. Most people answered something like, “Who the heck is that?” But she finally happened across a young lady who said she’d heard from a friend who’d heard from a friend who’s heard from an enemy that Aenon was setting up a party. Orla was inclined to cross her arms and make a pouty face for a moment, but if she was going to pout she had to find Aenon first, so she kept swimming.

“Orla!” Aha! There was that underhanded party-planner! Orla was all set to give him a very judgy look and demand an explanation, but he went on to say he had a surprise for her. Orla paused, then decided to play it innocent. After all, he seemed so proud of himself. She didn’t want him finding out that she already knew. She half-smiled and rolled her eyes and then said, “Alright, I guess nothing could go wrong with being dragged around blindfolded. If you let me bump into anything I’m giving you a tail-slap.” Orla followed him on a whirling, back and forth path that lasted so long she started to wonder exactly how far away this party was. At this rate, it would take them the entirety of tomorrow just to get back to the kingdom. Orla lingered as Aenon made a stop, resisting the urge to peek and see exactly how far away they were. She swished the tip of her trail back and forth impatiently as they floated unmoving for entirely too long. Maybe Aenon had taken her here to abandon her and leave her for dead. It was the only possible answer to why it was taking so long. “Still there?” she asked, just to see if maybe he had left. But she felt the swish of bubbles near her, and then more. There was either an army of fish or a merperson or two - which meant a few people had turned out to the party. That was honestly more than she had thought. Her initial guess had been somewhere around zero.

Finally, Aenon dramatically whipped off the blindfold. Orla was prepared to fake surprise, but she didn’t have to. Her eyebrows raised as she saw the huge amount of merpeople who had turned up. She didn’t even know half of these people. She looked at Aenon and gave him an actual smile which lasted less than a second. “Looks like we’re not as unpopular as we thought,” she said, scanning the crowd. Even Merle the Pearl had shown up - apparently somebody had told him how to get there. And there was a practically blinding reddish light rippling above the water. Orla had seen the surface before, but never the sky in this shade of red. She looked up at it as Aenon suggested they play a game to break the surface. Everyone was milling around, but as he said that, they started to form a circle. Hanging back slightly, Orla waited until Aenon wasn’t looking and veered up slightly to trail her finger through the air above. It felt strange and thin, and Orla darted back down, not out of fear but rather because she didn’t want Aenon to catch her breaking his sacred party rules.

Turning to the first person she saw, Orla locked in on the girl who had told her about the party. What was her name again? Angelica? Something like that. “Angelica here is going to sing for us, aren't you, Angie?” asked Orla, as though she’d known this girl for years. “She’s an amazing singer.” Orla could only hope “Angie” even knew how to sing at all. Angelica moved back, protesting that she couldn’t sing, but several people pushed her forward, laughing. Well, how about that? Looked like there were some people who liked to have fun around here after all. Orla swam towards Aenon as Angelica started singing in a small, wavering voice. She scooped up some food and batted him lightly with her tail. “I think I underestimated your party-planning stealth,” she said to him. “I bet you’ve been secretly planning this party since we first met, haven’t you?” Seeing that the angel fish girl was with him, Orla nodded. “Orla,” she introduced himself. “I’m his mother.” She nodded at Aenon. “I’m here to make sure he behaves.”

Aenon announced their game and Orla snorted, letting out a small stream of bubbles. She drifted into the circle, waiting for Aenon to finish eating and come sit next to her. She introduced herself to the young man sitting next to her too quietly to hear, but the way his face paled made it evident that she was spreading her usual lies. As soon as Aenon came, he volunteered Orla to be the first shark. She wriggled out of her place in the circle and went around five times, taking her own sweet time, before finally choosing Merle, who was caught almost immediately due to his panic over being chosen. As they went around and around, Orla leaned over to whisper to the merpeople near her, casting very obvious looks at Aenon. As they went around, a remarkably large number of people chose Aenon, which was almost definitely Orla’s work. It wasn’t really a surprise, then, that Aenon was the first to be in the belly of the shark three times. (I did this because I thought you might like to do your drowning :)

Orla looked very full of herself as the crowd gathered around Aenon, some looking apprehensive and some excited. “Well, looks like you’re the first one,” said Orla, giving him a sweet smile. “Try not to die, Aenon. My son.” Merle was biting his lip, and George was covering his eyes. Angelica was hiding behind another merperson. Orla gave Aenon a wave and saluted him. “Your bravery means a lot to us,” she said very seriously. “Your sacrifice will be remembered.” The waves were still rippling red, but the light was a bit dimmer now. Everyone was hovering about five feet below the surface, though some of the more confident ones were higher up. Orla was only two feet below, ready to pop her head up to laugh at Aenon should the opportunity present itself.