[GrayGriffin]

Now that things with Rewhister had finally been sorted out, the Holmes Detective Agency would often come by to meet him for tea. Today, it was just Nutina who'd come, which meant that they could have it completely underwater. At least, that had been their initial thought, until they actually tried it.

As it turned out, cups full of tea didn't hold up very well underwater. The salt got into everything, and the flavor was severely diluted.

[GrayGriffin]

"It works fine in cartoons sometimes," noted Nutina as she placed the cups back in order on the table. After putting the air bubble back in place, it had also taken some time to clean all the crusted salt out of the cups and dry them properly. "Then again, sometimes it doesn't."

"I don't know what you're talking about," commented Rewhister. "All I know of tea parties is what I've gleamed from research, and all that research spoke of tea parties on land."

[GrayGriffin]

"Well, now you know!" said Nutina with an air of authority around her. She giggled a bit. "Oh, and I guess I should also say now I know!" Rewhister had given her her own personal water bubble that she could direct around, making it much easier for her to maneuver herself. Plus it made her tail look much shinier and nicer! She'd asked him for the mix before, but apparently he didn't know how to describe it.

[GrayGriffin]

"It's a good fact to know, for future parties such as this," agreed Rewhister.

"Yeah! And you can give Arion and Akegane these fancy water bubbles too! I dunno if it'll be as good for Arion since he doesn't have scales, but maybe it'll make his skin shinier?"

"I do not know either," admitted Rewhister. "I have not encountered many Bandol in this area. Though your companion seems quite different from the figures I have heard of in stories."

[GrayGriffin]

"Yeah, he's like that," agreed Nutina. "He's such a good guy, you know? Even if everyone in that village thought he was evil, he still stayed in hopes of finding his love again." She sighed, somewhat dreamily. "I'm so glad he and Lorisa finally get to be together, after all that happened to them. They deserve to be happy together!" They were the cutest couple in the agency-even if technically they were the only couple.

[GrayGriffin]

"They do seem a most affectionate couple," noted Rewhister, picking up the teapot. He'd had to remake the tea after the ocean got into everything, but at least there'd still been boiling water to handle it. "Now, what will you have with yours?"

"Oh, plenty of cream and sugar!" exclaimed Nutina. She reached out to the plate of fruit slices. "And an orange slice, I guess?"

"Very well." Rewhister himself took a small spoonful of cream, along with a slice of lemon, before he began to pour out the cups of tea for both himself and his guest.

[GrayGriffin]

As they both lifted their cups to their lips, there was a sudden loud rumble in the background, making the table shake and sending all their carefully arranged place settings every which way.

"Darn!" exclaimed Nutina, grabbing a teaspoon before it could vibrate right off the table. "Just when we'd gotten it perfect!"

Rewhister, meanwhile, had set down his cup, ignoring the tremors that threatened to spill it.

"I apologize, Nutina," he said, "but I must now attend to my duty."

[GrayGriffin]

"Your duty?" exclaimed Nutina. She'd taken one sip of her own tea-okay, perhaps she'd made it too sweet-but now looked concerned. "Is there some villain threatening the ocean?"

"...I do not know," admitted Rewhister. "I simply felt a great surge of energy that I have never sensed here before. But it is my duty to investigate such a surge." He was already getting up from his seat, his coils unwinding ponderously as he began to poke his head out of the air bubble of tea.

"Well then, I'm coming with you!" exclaimed Nutina.

[GrayGriffin]

"What?" exclaimed Rewhister. He actually paused in shock, his movement frozen as he looked down at her. "This is my duty! I cannot simply put you at risk like that!"

Nutina shook her head defiantly. "You already said, you don't know if it's a danger! And I can help, you know! I'm part of the Holmes Detective Agency for a reason!"

"...if I say no, you will simply follow me in secret nonetheless, will you not?" asked Rewhister.

[GrayGriffin]

Nutina had to smirk at that. "I'm glad you understand!" she said, folding her arms with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Alright," said Rewhister. "But you will take your smaller form for this. Is that acceptable?"

Nutina nodded. "Yeah, it is, no problem." She focused, and shifted, feeling herself shrink and the fur grow all over her. She so rarely took this form nowadays that it actually made her itch a bit, but after a bit of scratching that mostly calmed.

[GrayGriffin]

"Okay, I'm ready!" she declared, once the worst of the itching was dealt with. Rewhister nodded, before coiling his head around so it was closer to her.

"You may take hold of my fins," he added. "I must make haste, after all, and I will use my abilities to conceal you."

Nutina blinked, then grinned. Well, now that sounded like a cool experience! She immediately reached out to take hold of Rewhister's fins, gripping them carefully.

[GrayGriffin]

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" she asked with some concern. Rewhister chuckled.

"No, you are not. Believe me, I would make it most clear if you were."

"Alright, as long as you're sure!" she said, before pointing dramatically with one paw. "So...let's go then!"

"Very well. Hang tight, Nutina." And before those words were even finished, Rewhister was already shooting through the air bubble and into the ocean, slicing through it like an arrow shot from a bow.

[GrayGriffin]

Bubbles grew around Rewhister as he swam, gathering most thickly around his head. Nutina assumed that this was how he intended to hide her. She wasn't sure how good this camouflage would be when he wasn't moving, but she barely had time to ponder that before Rewhister came to a stop.

"It is here," he whispered softly to her. "That feeling of energy...it came from here, and is still here even now." He began casting his eyes about from side to side, searching for something she didn't know.

[GrayGriffin]

"...there you are," said Rewhister. Or should she say, growled? It was nothing like the friendly, cheerful tone she'd come to know from him, or even the solemn, serious one he sometimes used when he slipped into his whole "Ocean Guardian" persona. It actually sent just the tiniest bit of a chill down her spine. With a burst of speed, he shot forward, and finally they were face-to-face with the cause of all this fuss.

[GrayGriffin]

She'd never seen a Kuhna take to water like this. Sure, there were the Hydrokuhnnas and the hybrids thereof, but even those mostly stuck to the shallower depths. Not so far under the ocean, and not simply hovering in the water effortlessly. It was almost like the water didn't even exist for it.

"Greetings," it said, bowing effortlessly. Again, it moved as if in air, as if completely unaffected by the resistance of the water. "I am Rewhister, the new guardian of this ocean."

What?