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And that was probably how she came across Mect, in all of his attempted-Thoroughbred glory. He knew he was a grand male, just *knew* it, but somehow it wasn't quite working, this leaping-and-jumping-and-twirling bit. Backing up a bit, he once again attempted to propel himself through the water, between two large boulders and spin out the other side in a flourish of bubbles and waterfoam.

Why he couldn't quite manage that, and instead wound up caught between the rocks. With a sigh, he remained there for a moment, once again running the sequence through his head.

With a sharp whinny, Mect jumped upwards, flipping over almost head over tail as he attempted to escape whatever had just tugged on his tail. There was a slight scattering of scales from where his sides had rubbed against the rocks, and he wound up nearly on top of the poor child before he finally managed to right himself.

The flurry of tail, fins and scales was probably almost overwhelming, but the sudden calm, with Mect bobbing in the water in front of Seren, eyes wide and ears twitching. "Ah... I meant to do that."

"Hurt?" Looking down at himself, Mect realized that yeah, it *did* sting a little. He tried to play it off, though, not wanting to worry the fry. "Naaaah, that's nothing. At least I didn't lose a fin." He grinned, showing straight white, almost horse-ishly large teeth. "I was just working a show routine. That rock there," he nodded at the outcropping, "-Is actually *just* big enough for me, if I time things right."

He gave a serious nod of his head, not noticing the floppling of his upper fin over his ears, which twitched again of their own accord, flipping the fin back again. "Ayup, big enough, all right."

Wow. He'd barely had time to finish his commentary when the girl had shot off, grabbed some local weeds, and come back to start wiping him down. So surprised was he that he didn't even think to stop her, just stood there and wickered, tail flicking. It actually did feel much better after that...

Realizing she was talking to him now, he returned to the here-and-now in time to catch her giving her name, which struck him as familiar. "Seren, huh? I think I've heard that... Anyhow, I'm Mect. Nice ta meet you, Seren." He held a fin out towards her.

"That's it!" Mect nodded, fin flopping again. "I overheard him talking to Burberry about your brother and sister. Emme and Rich, I think?" It never failed to surprise him how tiny frys were, since it seemed that he had jumped up in size almost overnight.

"Wasn't stuck." The defense was almost automatic, and he moved on to the actual question in... erm, question. "I was practicing a routine, and going through the rocks is part of the grand finale." He puffed up a little, proud at his abilities. Those that actually worked, that was. With a sweep of his fin, he indicated the set-up behind them, where various rocks and coral branches were laid out in mini ramps and small barricades. They all led up to the large pair of rocks in front of them, with the opening that at least *seemed* to be a little on the smallish side.

Instead of arguing, he nodded. Oh, yeah, I'll show you. So wasn't stuck. "Step back a bit," Mect said, outloud, then swam to the beginning of his little obstacle course.

What happened after that was certainly not something any ordinary beta could have pulled off. The sheer fluidity of him moving through the water, powerful fins propelling him forward off the ramps, stronger thrusts sending him up into the lighter water over the barricades. Whenever he caught enough distance up, he'd spin, twist, or flip, tail and fins spiraling around him, churning the water into a frothy white.

Here we go, guy. It's now or never... The large pair of rocks loomed closer, closer, and this time, as he sent himself hurtling towards the opening, it occurred to him to exhale, compressing his chest and making himself just enough smaller that he cleared the hole, passing through to the other side.

His whinny of joy was loud, cutting through the water. "YES!"