Pleased that she’d managed to make herself understood, Iri felt the wait of the princess settle on her tail and grinned over at her mother. It might have taken a little prompting, and she might have hesitated a little, but she was sitting. So, humans could be friendly and aware of you that way, too! It was something she had been worried about from the moment her mother and the elder both had warned her against being overly familiar with those she met, keeping her hands to herself and everything else at what they said was an appropriate distance for humans. It had seemed monstrously vast, to her. 

Well, maybe they just needed to be taught differently. 

Hafsa, who knew exactly what her daughter was thinking just then, merely huffed quietly, but nodded encouragement back because anything else would have been discouraging for the pair. 

“And nice it is to meet you… Yana?” She wasn’t sure she’d heard her father correctly when he’d introduced them, but was not perturbed at all by the curiousity the other seemed to have for her scales. Touch was a good thing between mers, it proved each other acknowledged. So, Iri only bared her teeth happily, their sharper angles making it a slightly intimidating gesture, though she meant well. Then, as the king began to speak again, she turned her attention back to him, not sure if he was addressing them as well, of just her mother and the elder. 

For her own part, Hafsa had nodded through the offer, then gurgled her approval when he had finished. [i]“That is well thought. We had decided that you would have your words and moment during our waiting, but it is better that happens before. Yes, it will do well. The speaking things can be done there?”[/i] She moved Tsuin from the crook of her arm to her back as she spoke, so she could bow again with both arms supporting her, and then wave her arm towards an outcrop of rock where sand had crept into its cracks and poor grass was trying to grow. [i]“There is one here, Plehn. He knows more of what is needed for making the princess comfortable.”[/i] She paused to point out a male almost as large as the elder, and even older, who had had plenty of experience with humans and building. He was, in fact, their best maker. 

[i]“Now though, we ready what is needed, and give them space, yes?”[/i] Smiling gently, she turned to eye the two girls who had been utter strangers not two minutes ago and gestured the rest of the mers away as she started hauling herself and her son towards the shade of a tree. [i]“Here, we will talk more, King.”[/i]

Iri, watching them leave, was vaguely alarmed at the idea of being alone with someone she didn’t know and whose opinion of her was going to matter for the rest of her life. But after her initial squeak, she pulled back, unconsciously looking for comfort from the only body nearby, and, taking as deep a breath as she could, turned again to look at Ayana. “Now we have a tide for talking and I do not know what is to say.”