Shicala
"Awww, come on, Marije!" Europa spun up to her friend, circling her briefly then spiraling ahead once more, "This should be fun! Cool! Interesting! Something new! Something different! All of the above!" she did a little swirl in place, her bulky leather satchel flinging around a bit like a make-shift wrecking ball. The excited Pae darted back and forth across the path, caressing a sponge here, poking at an urchin there, the new waters were absolutely teaming with life and color, and she was bursting with excitement! Every new location was an adventure to her, be it a dull sand bar, a pretty reef, or... well, this place!
She paused mid-glide, taking in the scene on a somewhat larger scale, "Hey... do you see this? Look at all the other Naiads here...." Europa inhaled deeply, holding her breath for a moment, then continuing, "There's... there's so many."
"Come on, come on..." a bright orange Pae dragged her friend along towards the opening of the lagoon.
Cornelius sighed heavily, he wasn't accustomed to being around so many other Naiads, and seeing the sheer numbers up ahead didn't thrill him at all. Trying to come up with something, anything, to express his discomfort to his somewhat clueless companion, the colorful Darya paused mid drift and pulled his arm back gently, "You know, it's all good if you wanna go on your own. I got other stuff I can be doing... don't let me pull you down..."
"Don't be ridiculous, Corny!" Aura bellowed back, "Everyone who's ANYONE is going to be here! You can't sit this one out. Whatever 'stuff' you could be doing can wait!" she grabbed his arm again and started tugging him along, "Come on, it'll be FUN! This is your chance to make more friends. You can't just hide in your rocks listening to music all the time. Can't you feel it? Everyone's coming!"
"I don't...."
"I know, I know, you read and draw, too... still, my point stands, you need more friends! Heck, you need friends, period." the Teros flittered in a slow circle around her friend, then pulled him along some more, "This is a great opportunity!"
Fins unfurling and splaying somewhat threateningly, he snipped back, "It's not like you have a ton of friends either...."
She just giggled in return, dismissing the anger outright, "Well, it's a good opportunity for me, too, I guess... And I'm not about to leave you out! Come on, Corny, it'll be fun!"
"It's Neil.. I hate that nick-"
But Aura was already not listening, dragging him up through the entry and into the lagoon proper. Making her way towards the party, she pulled him over to a nicely set drink table and then proceeded to ditch him, "Here you go. Make some friends! Have a drink, it'll settle your nerves. Just enjoy! You wont get many chances like this, and you can't hide forever!"
He just sighed again, curling up on a nearby rock to pout.
"And Corny... just act natural." she winked and zipped away.
He just shook his head and grumbled under his breath, "Act natural huh?" he added in a sarcastic tone, "That's gonna go over SO well here..."
