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"Oh," said Nezik, surprised. "Really? Already? Can you do them good? I mean, well?" He nodded comprehendingly at Joshua's explanation of writing. "So it's like how humans pass things down," he muttered. When he was asked about what had been said, he went a little red. "Oh. Uh...She's sort of upset. Something about Father and orders - I didn't catch it all."

He looked very embarrassed and sort of like he was desperately hoping Joshua would change the subject - it was awkward to translate what his big sister was saying, most likely.

"She probably meant human native speakers," said Nezik absently. He was half-listening to Joshua and half-listening to Katalina and Narcis. "We do have a few. Babies that fall out of boats and abandoned children and whatnot. Can I hear you? Did she teach you all the forms?" He'd be surprised if she had - there were so many ways to say even simple things that she'd have been at it forever.

"A few. It's not common," said Nezik, apparently unaware that it was a big deal. "We used to have one at our caverns. They let her go to live on land when she got older, though - she'd probably be a little older than you now," he observed. Upon hearing the friendship hello, he blinked and nodded. "That's good. Really good. She told you how much of a conversation that is already, right? The way they use just a bit of a conversation to decide if you're worth talking to again?"

"And a goodbye," finished Nezik mildly. "If you forget that, most of the time they'll think you forget your manners. It's a short conversation, but it's pretty strict protocol." He shrugged. "It's not much fun, but it has to happen. Then you only end up talking to people who are interested in talking to you, so you never have to worry about boring them."

Grinning when Joshua made the fluting sound, Nezik made a rapid-fire set of trills in reply. Then he ended it with the same fluting sound and a slow, velvety purr that ended in a click. "That was a nice-to-meet-you and an introduction of my own," said the boy, smiling.

"Uh, well," Nezik floundered slightly. "I can try." He made the set of trills again. More slowly, the way they shifted up and down was clear, although it must have involved some pretty complicated tricks of the tongue to do it as fast as he had earlier. "Like that," he said finally. "But yeah, that last sound was my name in our language - our English names are really just rough versions of our real ones." He blinked. "Didn't Sorry tell you that?"

Nezik nodded. "Well, it's a pretty basic thing to start with," he said firmly. "You should ask her about it - she's better at explaining things than I am." He listened to Joshua's first two attempts at the trills, then shook his head a little. "You're going too high on the last couple of them," he said. "But it's not too bad."

"Sorry will help you with it if you demonstrate for her," Nezik assured him. Then he frowned. " 'Wait'? Well, there's no direct translation, but the closest thing goes pretty much like this." He made a high sharp sound, followed by a quietly reassuring, almost crackly noise. "That's for calling 'Wait' after someone who's leaving, which I assume you want it for," he said, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners as he smiled. "If you were the one leaving and meant to tell someone else to wait, you'd do this." He made the same sounds, but in reverse order.

"With lots of patience," said Nezik drily, although he was still smiling. "It takes most merfolk a long time to learn it, too, and it's our first language. Don't feel bad." After Joshua's first try, the boy couldn't quite hide the wince. He hastened to reassure him. "It'll get better. Don't worry." By the time that Joshua had gotten it, reasonably, Katalina had drifted back to them, followed by Narcis.

"Taking over my role, Nezik?" she inquired, looking remarkably relaxed.