"No, no, you're slanting your a's wrong again," La'gaan said. "They're flatter than that."
Mal buried his face in his hands. "I can't do this, I don't think my mouth makes those shapes."
"King Orin can do it, so so can you. I learned your ridiculous language."
"I still don't see why I have to do this. This team has never not had an Atlantean on it! And Miss Martian can translate mentally!"
"It's called diplomacy, Chum. You're the communications guy. You gotta communicate. It wouldn't have mattered when we were more secret but with recent, very public events and what with other Atlanteans on the team meeting... interesting fates..." La'gaan paused for a second and closed his eyes. Stay calm, don't blow up in here. "Just read it again."
Mal closed the book in front of him. "I've been tryin' to pronounce it for hours. I think we just gotta accept that I'm gonna have an accent."
"If you have an accent like that then nobody's going to understand you." He reached forward to open the book again, but Mal was already leaving. "Merlin's beard! Why is it my job to teach this guppy? I'm a soldier!" He followed Mal into the lounge. "The sooner we get this done the sooner we can all go do our own thing, you know."
"I don't get why the League wants me to do this. They already have the King of Atlantis as part of their team! Am I expected to learn all the surface languages as well?"
"Don't look at me, it wasn't my plan. But we have our orders."
"'Cause you're so into following orders."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, it doesn't matter."
La'gaan closed his eyes and took another deep, calming breath. Getting angry wouldn't help, as much as he really, really wanted to. He could inflate, overpower Mal and tie him to a chair, and force him to read. But somehow he didn't think that would go down well with the Team. He wasn't trained for this. "Okay, how about this. Bumblebee should be here in a few hours. By then, I want your pronunciation to be good enough to say "I love you" to her in perfect Atlantean. Is that an acceptable goal?"
Mal watched him a moment and then, slowly, nodded.
"Alright. After me." La'gaan looked Mal in the eye, making sure he had a clear view of his lips, and switched to Atlantean. He spoke slowly enough for Mal to follow every syllable. "I love you."