"What do you mean your school doesn't do homecomings?" Marcus asked, outraged. They were sitting at the café, the day after the girls had gotten sick. Thanks to Rita's excellent caretaking they had made a quick recovery and everyone was now in very good spirits. Everyone except Marcus that is.
"Sorry mate." Zach told him. "Australian schools really don't do that sort of thing."
Marcus began to gnaw at his lip and glared at the table in front of him, mulling over the problem. "Are there any rules against it?" He asked finally as a plan began to form in his mind.
"Not that I know of." Evie said warily.
"Good to know." Marcus muttered, grabbing the empty glasses from in front of Zach and Evie and setting them in the sink. "By the way, where are Mimi and Chris?"
"Chris was having trouble with one of the dolphin tanks." Evie told him. "Apparently the water filtration system is having issues. Mimi went along to see how the dolphins are feeling."
"How they're feeling?" Marcus asked, snapping on a pair of latex gloves and setting to wash the glasses. "What, like their feelings?"
"Dolphins are a lot more intelligent than you think." Ondina told him. "Try talking to one. You'll be surprised."
"Uh huh." Marcus was not certain that a fish would be capable of surprising him. "So why doesn't the park just fix the filtration system? They should have insurance on it, right?"
"I'll ask." Zach promised, lounging back in his chair. "I don't really know for sure. Why?"
"If it's a big issue, I can give them the money." Marcus shrugged. "I haven't touched any of the money my parents gave me, except for a new phone. I still have a good amount."
The others were quiet, uncertain of what to say in the wake of Marcus's offer. Marcus checked his watch and smiled. "And now we closed." He said happily, walking over to the door and switching the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed'. He frowned at the patrons left in the bar, all of whom, except for David and Cam, were merpeople. "Alright. All of you get out. We're closed."
"Very funny." Cam chuckled, enjoying the last of his drink. "What are you guys up to tonight?"
"Zach and I are going for a swim." Evie said, smiling at her boyfriend.
"I think Serena wanted to go for a walk." David said, looking at her in question.
"Sounds good to me." Serena smiled at him in return.
"What about you Cam?" Marcus asked, intentionally not answering since he had no plans.
"Carly and I are going out to eat." He said, grinning. "It's our five month anniversary."
"That's not an anniversary." Marcus scoffed. "I don't understand how people consider every month an anniversary."
"Well, what about you then?" Cam asked indignantly. "What are you and Ondina doing?"
"We're not doing anything." Marcus said easily. He paused and glanced at Ondina. "At least, I have not been informed if we are."
"I have nothing planned." She said as she casually shrugged her shoulders. "Why, did you want to do something?"
"With you?" Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Not really."
Evie sighed angrily and smacked the table. Marcus and Ondina, who had just been about to argue, both paused and looked at her simultaneously. "You two need to stop getting on each other's nerves and just go on a date."
"But annoying her is one of my favorite things to do." Marcus said.
"And why would I go on a date with him?" Ondina asked, the idea apparently giving her great distress.
Marcus glared at her. "Hey, trust me the feeling is mutual."
As Ondina and Marcus began their typical back and forth Evie put her head in her hands and struggled not to scream. "You know," Zach said quietly as he leaned forward. "If you are right and these two actually like each other and this is how they show it, they must be soul mates."
"They are perfect for each other." Evie agreed. "But they argue and make fun of each other so much that they can never get past it. I thought that when Ondina kissed Marcus they would make some kind of progress, but they have been arguing more than ever."
"It doesn't help that Ondina did kind of trick him with the whole tail thing." Cam offered, leaning forward as well.
Ondina and Marcus didn't appear to notice the conversation that was taking place right beside them as they continued to throw insults at one another. "You are an awful human." Ondina told him.
"Okay, first off, I take that as a compliment." Marcus grinned. "And secondly, I am not a horrible person. I happen to be a very nice individual."
"That's a lie." Ondina responded. "What kind of nice person turns down a date before they are even asked?"
"You didn't ask me!" Marcus shot back. "You said you didn't want to go on a date, not me!"
"Actually I asked why I would want to go on a date with you." Ondina corrected. "I was asking you a question, it's not my fault you saw it as an insult."
"Fine!" Marcus snapped. "Want to go on a date? Right now."
"Sure." Ondina said easily. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Marcus growled, following her out of the café.
"I want to show you one of my favorite kelp beds." Ondina said brightly.
"That is not a date!" Marcus countered.
When the door slid shut behind them the people left in the café exchanged very confused looks. "I'm…. not sure what just happened." Cam admitted hesitantly. "They're going on a date, right?"
"Well, apparently they don't have the same standards of what a date entails." David surmised. "Which kind of defeats the idea of a date…."
Evie shook her head. "It's a date." She said forcefully, almost like she was convincing herself. "It has to be. I can't take those two acting like that anymore. It's exhausting."
They were silent for a while before Zach smiled slyly at Evie. A moment later Evie returned the grin and they got up from the table together.
"You two are going to spy on them." Cam observed confidently, pointing at each of them in turn. "Aren't you?"
"I want to see how those two act when it's just the two of them." Evie said, her tone making it clear that such a reason completely legitimized her reasoning for the intrusion on their privacy.
"I just want to see if they stop arguing." Zach added.
They said a quick farewell and then chased after the arguing duo. Once they were outside of the café they turned invisible and followed quietly after the couple.