Percy was having a normal day at the beach, until he decided to try to waterbend like Katara from his favorite show.
Problem is, he succeeds. Now he has to figure out how to waterbend, and keep the normal people from finding out they have a waterben...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
OO OO OO OO
Percy found the event very fun.
He stuck close to Triton, though not too close so he didn't look like he was clinging to him or afraid but close enough that Triton could keep an eye on him and help out if he needed it.
Everyone was very polite, clearly prepared for the meeting. The number of times someone got insulted politely was very impressive.
He didn't know there were that many ways to use the exclusionary "us but not you" grammar in Halmaheran.
He managed to keep himself together through it all though, and did his best to fit in. He wasn't as good as them at insulting people politely, but he was good at being extra nice (or so Triton said) so he stuck with that.
He was pretty sure one of them was trying to figure out what the insult in his words was, but Percy just gave him a bright smile.
None of the insults were mean though, well most of them weren't. A few people were a bit stuck up, but for the most part they were just teasing. Several seemed to already know each other too!
He'd get better at interacting with them all, Halmaheran was still not quite natural to him. But Triton had given him many a lecture on hiding weakness, not letting your emotions give you away, and keeping calm under stress, so he did okay.
He liked to think so at least.
Until one was strong enough in the ocean to not care about the consequences of what they said and did, they needed to be able to wear a mask.
One day Percy would be strong enough to be himself without fear.
OO OO OO OO
The food at the event was definitely a highlight, very tasty. Especially the tuna.
Raw fish was expensive to buy in a safe way at home, so he hadn't had it before. He decided that was a crime, it was amazing.
There were all kinds of fish too, not just tuna. He thought it might be like sushi, being wrapped in other things. And there were stuff mixed in with it. Some of it was sliced into chunks and mixed with seaweed and seeds and other stuff, and some was wrapped up tight. He'd have to ask Triton what they were called later.
Triton showed him how to eat everything, including some fun seaweed dish. It was coated in some kind of oil, mixed with something spicy. Percy liked it.
There were also drinks in taipanu. He'd never seen one before, but they were sponge cups that rejected salt water but could hold onto other liquids. Triton said it was something to do with their biology.
Percy didn't really know how that worked though.
Soon after Percy got a show with his meal, when some mer insulted his ability to use the utensils (kinda like chopsticks, but with sharp bottoms), and Triton took insult to that.
