Mike and Mary were both greatly interested in Mieni, though particularly in one thing, swimming. Being River Otter Animalians, that made sense. Mundane otters spent a lot of time swimming to catch fish and other foods commonly found water. The difference between river otters and sea otters was in primarily what they ate. River otters focused more on fish and sea otters focused more on shellfish and claims in addition to fish they could catch. The two had had lots of fun with the pools available to them in Lyre and Animalia and even to a degree in the river that ran through both towns, and in some places forming the border between Lyre and Animalia. However, the pools didn't necessarily feel natural and both had found that the river wasn't deep enough for them as Animalians to swim as well as they could otherwise. Mieni's lagoon offered both of them a shot at a more natural setting
"Ready?" Mike asked to Mary as they walked out to the beach.
"Ready," Mary smiled as she walked out beside her mate.
She loved the feeling of the sand between her toes. It generated a sort of tickled the bottoms of her feet a bit, and even the sensation against her fur between her toes wasn't too bad, though both River Otter Animalians had fairly webbed feet and hands as otters were designed swimming more than doing things on land. She smiled at the sensation as she twirled for Mike and hope he liked the blue swimsuit she had on. It was a one piece, but it fit her well and her generous curves did fill it out in all the right places. As she finished her twirl, she looked over to see the male otter Animalian standing their with a smile with his ears and whiskers perked. She giggled happily at that.
"Come on, let's go!" Mary said eagerly and charged into the surf, with Mike soon following close behind.
Mike smiled as he ran after her. Inside the lagoon there wasn't much in the way of surf, at least when compared to the outside coast, which allowed for a very calm surface that both Mike and Mary enjoyed. The lagoon wasn't super deep, but it ultimately was deep enough that the two of them would eventually have to swim because the bottom was deeper down than their height. However, that wasn't too much of a problem as they had actually come to go swimming. And soon both dove forward and swam into the water.
The water was remarkably clear and as they swam out into the lagoon they could soon see many of the small fishes that were swimming there. Many of them darted among the corals at the bottom of the lagoon, which only served to excite the playful nature in the two River Otter Animalians. The two enjoyed mating with each other, and Mike's parents had been surprisingly tolerant in that regard. Their only real requirement on that front was that Mary stay on her birth control pills until after Mike was through college and that the two could fully support themselves. Mary accepted that, as she found that Mike did complete her many ways and she was excited to have him as a friend and as a mate. That lead to both of them developing a fairly strong sense of play.
"Chase fish?" Mary offered with a smirk as they came up for air in the center of the lagoon.
"Chase fish," Mike smiled and nodded, "but not to catch. Just herd them around."
The two nodded and dove back under the surface and swam toward several groups of the fish. Mike and Mary both squeezed their nostrils shut as they swam and were soon chasing after the fish. Both smiled and swam after the fish for as long as their lungs would let them. They moved around coral and other obstacles with twists and turns that almost became a form of dance in many ways. It let them burn off energy and became enjoyable for both of them. To Mike it was practically better than sex. Yes, sex was fun and pleasurable, but pure play and fun felt better in many ways. It provided for new experiences and seemed to reinforce many of the instincts he'd gained since Project Phoenix turned him into an Animalian and brought him out of his coma. It was fun to the point where Mike and Mary even paused in their pursuit of the fish to spin together and go through circles in the water.
Their fun was soon interrupted by the sound of a high pitched chatter going through the water. Mike and Mary both paused to see a female Bottlenose Dolphin Animalian in a bright pink bikini come up toward them. The both returned to the surface, as unlike the uplifted fish, they couldn't breathe water and thus couldn't talk underwater. Susan's smile was just as big as the two Otter Animalian's had been when they surfaced.
"Hi!" Susan said, "Whatcha doin'?"
"Just having some fun chasing fish," Mike answered and thought back to some of the introductions from when their plane had landed on Mieni, "you're Susan, right?"
"Right," Susan nodded happily.
"Well... hopefully some of the uplifted dolphins from Lyre's old aquatic center get some time to come meet you," Mary commented.
"There are more uplifted dolphins!?" Susan squealed with glee.
"Yes," Mary commented, "they were part of what humans call an aquarium. It's how they educate younger humans about aquatic life."
"And I'm sure they'd love to meet you," Mike nodded, "but they didn't come with our group."
"So you're out chasing fish to have fun?" Susan then asked.
"Pretty much," Mike said with a smile, "mostly just herding them around the coral. We don't intend to catch them... mostly just an excuse to swim and have fun."
Susan clapped at that, "Can I join?"
"Sure," Mike and Mary smiled and the game was soon resumed with a third party member.
A short ways away, Tzan only watched with some dissatisfaction. Susan was already a hyper bundle of energy that thought fun was the most important thing to have. The two otters had seemed to add to that, which only served to make things more difficult. While humans coming in for vacations on Mieni might ultimately be able to enjoy food that was brought in from the outside world as part of commercial food gathering, many in the Animalian population that would live on the atoll full time would ultimately depend on being able to fish for food from time to time. The only ones who wouldn't be quite as dependent were Ran and Gaz, as the Great White Shark wasn't a fish eater first and foremost, but that didn't mean that Tzan, a Hammerhead, wasn't a fish eater. Hammerheads did primarily prey on fish, and a dolphin and two otters playing only served to make the fishing difficult.