IX. Special Guest

Tatiana couldn't believe her luck!

An Atlantean, a real Atlantean! And the king no less, overthrown by his wicked brother and seeking to take back his kingdom! It sounded like something out of a fairy tale!

And he was standing here in her house with her!

"Welcome home!" she said, excitement clear in her voice when she led him inside her quaint seaside home.

Orm did not share in her excitement. He tried not to grimace at his new surroundings - it was definitely no palace, not even close, that was for certain. And it was rather cluttered and messy.

"What do you think?" She valued his opinion.

"Um..." He did one more quick scan, desperately searching for a word that was both true and not rude. "Charming."

"Yes, it is, isn't it. I'm glad you think so! I'm liking it so far. And sorry for the mess," she said, as though having read his mind. "I'm in the middle of work and I like to spread all my notes out while I'm working."

No kidding, he thought.

"It won't be like this all the time, I promise!"

Good. As long as she kept to her word, then he could deal with it.

Tatiana tried not to grimace as she did her own scan of her house and its current state. It wasn't just cluttered, it was messy. She would have to be more aware of that now that she had a guest staying with her. She had been living and working on her own for so long she had become used to her work-state clutter.

Orm hated being associated with this place, let alone associating himself with it. But this was the story he had made up, and so now he had to stick with it. He would have to map it all out carefully in his head to make sure he had all the same details so he wouldn't confuse anything and risk compromising his situation.

He was so lost in assessing his surroundings and wondering how the hell he was going to live here, that he almost didn't notice the woman - Tatiana, Tatiana, remember that - had started talking again. Had she ever stopped?

"So did the police find you then?"

"Excuse me?"

"The police, they came looking for you. It seemed like they were asking around town. They said your family was looking for you."

Arthur and Mera. It had to be. Well, now he knew how they had found him and recaptured him. And he knew who to thank for that. "Uh, yes, they did, find me. Everything is all right now," he said, hoping she would drop the subject.

"Good, I'm glad. You gave us all quite the scare when we found you in the netting! I thought surely you had drowned."

"That is impossible for my kind." Then he quickly added, "But thank you for your concern."

"So, you probably get asked this a lot, but what's it like being a world-famous superhero! I mean, you're from here in America, but we've heard about you all the way over in Greece! You're famous! Is it exciting?"

All her questions, all her talking in general, made his head hurt, but he supposed he was also at fault here - he did tell her that he was the Aquaman. He almost laughed at the ridiculous title. How could Arthur hold such a silly title so proudly?

"I try to keep out of the spotlight."

"So how long have you been here in Amnesty Bay?"

"Um, not very long. I just kind of ended up here."

Tatiana nodded. Then she said boldly, "I'm new here too. We can learn together."

Her words were nothing but warm and kind. She was being nothing but warm and kind to him, a total stranger. So why did they, her words, make him so angry? Because they reminded him of his much less-than-ideal situation. However, after so long, so many years of being told he needed to do everything himself and that he couldn't rely on others, it suddenly felt as though he had an ally of sorts. With this realization, a giant weight suddenly lifted from his shoulders. He had to remain alert though, otherwise it could threaten his plan.

"Well, go ahead and get settled, make yourself at home," she said, gesturing to the cluttered space around them.

Home. He missed his home already.

She was still talking. "There's food in the fridge and cupboards in case you're hungry, washroom is just around the corner, and I'm afraid you'll have to sleep on the couch, there's only one bedroom. I'll find you a pillow and some blankets."

He put on a smile, pushing aside the heavy feeling of his homesickness for now. "You're being more than kind - thank you." He hoped his thanks didn't sound like as much of an afterthought as it was. That was due to his upbringing - he was used to being served, as the prince and then as the king, and didn't always show his thanks. And he was only realizing it now in the face of his more than generous hostess.

"I was going to make myself a snack and then do some more work. What do you like to eat? What kind of foods do Atlanteans eat? Oh, I have so many questions, I'll have to write them all down and then we can have a question and answer session!"

She's so annoying. Orm tried to focus on how kind and accommodating she was being towards him to distract him from her irritating personality.

He had already thought his stay up on the surface would be long - now it would feel even longer.

Well done, Orm. What have you gotten yourself into?

The next morning Tatiana awoke and upon entering the living room almost jumped out of her skin when she saw the man lying on her couch.

Then it clicked, and she remembered-

So it hadn't been a dream after all! She really had met the King of Atlantis and famous superhero Aquaman and had invited him to stay with her - as crazy as it all sounded!

Careful not to wake the sleeping royal, she tip-toed into the kitchen where she received another surprise.

Her fridge was practically empty!

She cast a glance towards the sleeping figure on the couch who she guessed was the culprit for the lack of food.

Well, she now had a warrior-king-superhero staying with her, so perhaps that made sense. Looked like she would have to make some adjustments.

Be grateful Orm! ;) Haha, we know it's going to take him some time to warm up to this place!

So sorry for the delay - I'm getting out of a long period of writer's block for all my stories. But finally here's another chapter! Thank you so much for reading and sticking with me and I hope you enjoyed! :)