Welcome to Gaia! ::

He didn't stay watching the pair that long, not with Echo barreling off to who-knew-where. Mect had to swim a little faster than normal, but he did, and eventually caught up with his daughter. "What's wrong, girlie?"

At that little sigh, Cyabo lost a bit of his anger, ears wilting back against his head. He didn't even want to contemplate what Seren was thinking about him now. Best cut and run, probably, before he made things worse. "Yeah, you're right. She'll get over it." He didn't mean the words to come out as brusque as they did, but there they were, and he couldn't take them back. With an inward wince, which was becoming ever more common around Seren, Cy began to turn back towards the structure he had been working on when they'd all shown up.

Cy, yelled? Now *that* got Mect's curiosity up, since nothing ever seemed to get that boy's goat. Smoothing Echo's fins comfortingly, he asked, "What did you say that was making Cy mad?"

The touch of her fin made Cyabo pause, ears perking. It was amazing that something that simple sent what felt like pulses of electricity racing across his skin, but there it was, and he almost missed the words that accompanied the touch. A part of him wanted to tumble out his feelings, demand she tell him who it was she liked, so he could go confront the guy and throttle him for passing up the chance at a girl like her, but the more modest portion of his brain kept that in check. He managed a small smile, reaching a fin up to pat hers. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess she just... touched a nerve, is all."

"I know you didn't, girlie, but how do you think you'd feel if Cy started teasing you in front of a male you thought was good looking?" Because it was obvious that Cyabo found Seren good-looking; the boy *was* male, and had eyes, after all.

Thanking the powers that were for the change of subject, Cy perked up quite a bit at the mention of the structure. "That? Well, you know how Pops always seems to be having eggs? Well... He thought it might be nice to have a place for all his children to be." Puffing happily, he added, "And I'm going to help look after them."

Smoothing her fin again, Mect raised an eyebrow at her. "Maybe you should just offer to help him with the house, then? I know he's going to have his hands full with it soonish."

"Really?" Flashing her a wide smile, one that exposed the full expanse of his white, horsey teeth, Cy looked genuinely happy at her offer. "It's more of a place for anyone's eggs, since Pops noticed that there were a lot of beta around here that didn't seem up for caring for their own, or sometimes we come across us having an egg where neither of the parents live around here. Just a place for them all to grow up with others their age."

That made Mect chuckle. The one thing she'd actually been sent over to ask, and she'd apparently wanted to pester him about his relationships, or lack thereof, more than she was curious about this new project. "Well, girlie, we're just putting together a house for all of the eggs and fry to grow up in, is all. Nothin' special."

The thought of being able to spend more time around Seren almost made Cy's heart leap out of his chest. As it was, it made it a little hard to breathe, and he had to clear his throat before continuing, with a gesture towards the branches of coral he had be setting against each other, "This is going to be the entranceway into the yard, which we're going to fence off. There's some nice caves and giant shells further back, that are going to make great rooms and stuff." Excitement crept into his voice; this was certainly a project he cared about.

"Perfect!" A slight wicker escaped him, but so caught up the thought and planning of the egg home was he that he wasn't even embarrassed by the noise. "We love her too, and this is a great reason to get her over here more often." Cy didn't want to mention the possibility of Echo coming to live with them, since so many things could happen to cause that not to occur. Echo might like living with Seren more. Wouldn't blame her...

"Iffen you really want to, girlie, I suppose you could..." And with that, Mect braced himself for the inevitable squealing.

The sound of Echo's squealing caught Cy's attention, even from this distance, and he turned in time to see his father swinging her around in a large hug. With another wickery chuckle, he turned back to Seren. "With as many distractions as we've been getting lately, I've got *no* idea when it'll be finished. Soon, though, I'm hoping, 'cause I know Pops has some eggs on the way."

Ba-DUM. Ba-DUM. Cy's heart beat so hard, he was certain that Seren could hear it, thudding in a way that made if feel as if it were about to leap up out of his throat. His cheek tingled where she had kissed it, and for one brief, glorious moment, the world had stopped, where nothing existed but her lips on his flesh, the smell of her near... And just as suddenly, the world went back to spinning, and she had moved away again. Swallowing hard, trying to will his heart into a quieter submission, he tried hard to conceal the effect she had just had on him, and hoped he wasn't failing miserably. "I just do what's right, I guess. Pops always said that no matter what, you've got your family..."