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Nezik nodded, pretending to pout. "He was. Why do you all think I'm lying?" he demanded jokingly. "This is the truth, here! I mean, what's wrong with you guys? This is true! This is really true!" He waved his arms around wildly to make his point. Tianara, who had only just recovered from her last laughing fit, nearly choked again.

"Don't..." she gasped, "believe a...a word..." Finally regaining some form of composure (but still giggling a little) she insisted, "You are so making this up."

"Well, maybe he doesn't act like that in front of you guys," joked Nezik, "but I sure wasn't dreaming it." He focused on Joshua's question and grinned. "Narcis and Sorry are still below. I dunno where Jinx is - when I woke up she was already gone. Probably looking for breakfast." He shrugged as though it wasn't very important. He was sure Jinx could take care of herself.

Nezik stuck his tongue out. "Fine, see if I tell you anything again!" he announced. There was a sudden splash, and the young merman went under before coming up again spluttering. "Hey!"

Jinx surfaced, laughing. Shaking her hair back out of her face, she waved at the two of them. "Hi. I'm saving Nezik from my brother's wrath - he and Sorry are coming up shortly." She splashed Nezik with her tail, apparently thoroughly enjoying her role as life-saver.

Odd, Tianara thought, how lively and happy they all seemed. Merfolk often seemed to be that way, after an encounter with a Dark One. Perhaps the good feelings they sent out in such powerful waves to counter it lingered? She would have to ask...

Her mother was her next thought, but of course she couldn't do that anymore. Tianara was not stupid. She knew that, however unofficially, she was barred from the cavern until she had learned to live like a human. They didn't want her to be dependent on them while she was learning. And although it was what every ocean child had to go through, Tianara couldn't help but feel a little hurt.

Shaking such thoughts away, she turned to smile at Joshua. "They're just like kids, aren't they?" she asked softly, watching Jinx and Nezik roughhousing.

Tianara shrugged, still fixated on the two young merfolk. "Yeah," she replied. "Yeah, they are. I guess they're more affected by a whole night spent generating positive thoughts." She smiled at last, but it was distant and sad - she was still thinking of her mother.

She frowned a little. Hadn't Jinx said that Narcis and Sorry were on the way up? Where were they? It shouldn't take this long. Curious, she waded farther in - and was rewarded with a splash from Jinx. "Hey!" she cried, laughing all the same. "Cease fire! I'm neutral!"

Tianara turned, and though there was still some residual sadness in her eyes, there was a smile on her face. "Oh no, you don't get out of it that easily," she teased. "If I get wet," and she sent a wave of water towards him with a sweep of her arm, "you do too."

It was a few seconds after this that Katalina surfaced. Nezik and Jinx had mostly stopped splashing by now, but still seemed entirely too amused and childlike. The mermaid surveyed the scene with the slightest lift of a brow. There was a sort of quiet, happy amusement on her face. "Now, now, children," she said mildly. "Don't go trying to drown the humans."

She flashed Joshua a smile. "I assume Tianara has already lectured you on your very poor choice last night, so I'm not going to jump on you about it." Floating lazily over, she caught sight of the look in Tianara's eyes and her own softened. She didn't say anything - it was a private pain of the girl's. But she placed a delicate hand lightly on the girl's shoulder and patted it before turning back towards Joshua.

Tianara dived under to avoid them, which seemed strange since she was going to get more wet that way. Perhaps she just didn't want to start another full-scale splash war.

Katalina gave Joshua another easy smile. "I know. Hence why I am not yelling at you." It was unclear whether she meant that she knew he knew it had been a stupid thing to do, or that she knew he'd only wanted to help Tianara.

Eyeing Nezik suddenly, she added, "And you, my sibling, are in serious trouble. Don't think I didn't hear you." She flicked a hand at him, amused when he squeaked. "Narcis didn't, which is the only reason I didn't say you aren't going to see tomorrow's sunrise."

With a wave of her hand, she told them, "I'm going to go back to get him - I think he fell asleep again. I'll be back soon." And she dived once more, leaving the four of them alone again.

Tianara's amusement was evident. "Poor baby," she teased Nezik cheerfully. "At least Narcis isn't going to kill you right away. I'm sure it'll slip eventually, though, and then you're in real trouble."

Nezik sighed morosely. "Everyone here has problems with the truth," he announced. "If they're not disbelieving it, they're threatening me for it. You'd think you people wanted me to be a liar all my life." This overdramatic pronouncement made, he too dived, leaving Jinx smirking.

Coming back out of the water, Tianara remarked, "I suppose we ought to get some kind of food together for us, shouldn't we?" It was a disinterested remark, made only because she'd realized that Nezik had probably gone to find breakfast.

"That's for sure," Tianara agreed with a grin, glancing back at the water and waving goodbye to Jinx, who gave the slightest of waves back before also vanishing underwater.

Unsure of what else to do, Tianara perched on the edge of the bed, watching while Joshua looked around at what there was. "I have no idea what I like," she replied. "Probably whatever you make will teach me. No pressure or anything," she teased, looking entertained. "Seriously, though, I'm sure anything is fine."

Tianara tilted her head, but didn't ask questions. She'd learned that if she just kept quiet, Joshua would usually remember to explain what he was doing. "Sure," she replied amiably when he asked her to help. Curiously, she took up the knife and examined the ham. Now. What did one do here?

Couldn't be that difficult, or else he wouldn't have asked her to do it. Cautiously, she touched the sharp end, and pulled her hand away with a hiss. Okay. One used that side to cut, evidently. Entirely at random, and using the knife something like a club, she hacked at the ham for a while. Frowning, she stared at it. That didn't look right. So she hacked at it a while longer.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, pulling back her hand. She glared down at her fingers briefly, sighed, and went back to ineffectually hacking at the meat.

Cooking had apparently not been high on the list of things to teach Tianara about human life.