"Tzan, I told you he came up to me!" Susan protested as Tzan readied herself for a night out with Brazen.
The male hammerhead, while he made it clear that he was interested in Tzan, he had also behaved himself. And with the fact that Mieni had become something of a tourist attraction, there was the option to board the cruise ships that were at anchor at the various piers that had been constructed around Mieni to accommodate them. The ships often had various restaurants on them to many Animalians was very attractive, as it brought in different tastes than the fish that they all generally ate normally. Ran and Gaz almost preferred them, though mostly due to the fact that Great Whites typically in nature preyed on small dolphins, seals, and sea lions. They could eat fish, but it wasn't the main part of their diet.
Tzan had figured that it might be a good place to take Brazen, particularly as with the IAC going on there were enough people on Mieni that going out to fish or many of the other nightly adventures that often went on. It wasn't a bad thing in Tzan's mind, though for the moment, Tzan found herself being pestered on something that had happened earlier in the day. Namely a male Bottlenose Dolphin Animalian approaching Susan during the race and actually flirting with her.
"And I can understand that he came up to you," Tzan said with a sigh, "but the point of the matter is that you let him flirt with you and even flirted back. You were on duty. Your job was to make sure no one drowned or broke the rules in the race."
"There was no rule that said he couldn't decide to stop," Susan answered, "and I didn't give him any sort of favorable treatment with regards to the race."
"Which is a good thing," Tzan sighed, "but you could have at least told him that he had a race to run and that you'd talk AFTER the event. Not sit there and giggle."
Susan only sighed and looked down. Tzan had seemed mad about the whole thing from the race, and she'd spent the better part of the day after the race trying to apologize or at least get Tzan to not be mad at her. So far it didn't seem to be going well. Tzan, meanwhile, went about her business of getting ready for her date with Brazen. She wasn't mad at Susan, more disappointed that Susan didn't behave seriously, which was what the situation needed. They went about some preparation when there was a knock from outside. The two of them soon heard that Brazen had responded and a male voice asking from the front entry to their hut.
"Oh... hello, I was told Susan lived here," a male voice asked. The tone was fairly light and chipper, in a way that was fairly similar to Susan's, just deeper to indicate his gender.
"She does live here," Brazen answered, "she's talking with Tzan right now. Who are you?"
"Well... uh... my name is Chipper, the humans at the Lyre Aquarium named me for my cheerful personality that I'd had, even before I was uplifted," the first voice answered, "I was in the race today..."
"You were the one who decided to flirt with her... dropping out of the race," Brazen said slowly.
That made Susan's eyes widen and she darted out of Tzan's room at a shot. Tzan only shook her head and resumed her own preparations. Susan made her way out to find Brazen guarding the door and almost denying the male Bottlenose Dolphin entry. To her great surprise, Chipper was well dressed in a pair of specialized slacks and a polo shirt. He was also twiddling his thumbs and looked a bit nervous, though that only lasted until he saw Susan coming.
"Susan!" Chipper exclaimed making Brazen turn. When Brazen saw Susan approaching, he walked back into the living room and sat down where he was waiting for Tzan when Chipper first knocked.
"Hello again," Susan said to him.
"I'm sorry if I got you in trouble with your boss at the race today," Chipper spoke.
"Oh the one who screamed?" Susan answered him, "Tzan isn't my boss. She's by best friend. Not many would see it at first, but... we are friends and I don't either of us would be truly happy without the other. She was just a bit frustrated that I didn't shoo you back into the race right away."
"I'm sorry about that," Chipper answered.
"So why did you stop during the race?" Brazen asked from his chair, "there's supposed to be a lot of uplifted Dolphins there from that aquarium..."
"There are, but most of them are either already mated or directly related to me or a different dolphin species," Chipper answered, and then turned to Susan and then spoke, "and seeing your beauty... I just couldn't help myself."
"It did cost you the race," Susan commented.
"I know... but I was hoping that maybe... you... me... uh..." Chipper started slowly and his cheeks darkened a little.
"Are you trying to ask me on a date?" Susan asked happily.
"Yeah..." Chipper said weakly, "If that's okay."
By this point, Tzan had finished getting ready and came out to see Susan talking with the male dolphin and the same one from the race. She figured him determined, and therefore perhaps a bit like Brazen in a way, though obviously different as from what she noticed, Chipper was a bit nervous about somethings.
"It's okay now when she's not on duty," Tzan spoke up.
"It's okay with you?" Susan asked.
"I'm not your mother," Tzan told her, "I'm your friend. I'll let you know when you've made a mistake, but if you want to go out on a date, that's YOUR call."
"Can we go with you and Brazen?" Susan asked, "as a double date? I'm sure Chipper can explain what happened earlier..."
"If you can get ready quickly," Tzan sighed.
Susan gave a very happy chirp, said "yes" to Chipper and moved back to her bedroom to get changed. She left a blushing Chipper standing just inside the front door and Tzan approached him.
"You hurt her in ANY way, and I WILL hurt you, understand?" Tzan said firmly to him. She may feel that Susan was too cheery about things and could stand to be more professional, but that didn't mean that Tzan wanted to see Susan hurt. Susan was, after all, Tzan's best friend.
"I won't," Chipper said quickly.
It didn't take Susan too long to get ready and she did return to the living room ready with more "formal" clothing and with a big smile on her face. As she returned, Brazen stood up and offered Tzan his arm. Tzan managed a small smile. In many ways Brazen was still quite forward, but she had managed to get him a few lessons in manners. The four soon departed.
"So... where are we headed?" Chipper asked.
"Since Animalia has opened up Mieni as something of a tropical spot with essentially our presence as the main selling point, a lot of cruise ships have begun to come in with Mieni as a tourist destination," Tzan answered, "Likely to see Animalians in swimwear. They'd stay for about a week and would then go on to the next atoll and so on... normally. But right now with the IAC on, the companies have commented that they will keep their stop over in Mieni longer to give their passengers the opportunity to see the competitions held here on Mieni. That means we get access to what they have in their restaurants, and they've even agreed to share with Mieni residents if to keep their attractions up..."
"Sounds interesting," Chipper commented.
"So, what do you do normally in Animalia or Lyre?" Susan asked to him.
"Many of us got jobs as life guards and swim teachers," Chipper answered, "though there are a few that came up with the idea that they could "invent" a whole new style of performance... sort of like combing synchronized swimming, pure dancing including ballroom dancing underwater, and the sort of tricks and performances that Sea World did before they were forced to stop a lot of their performances. It's meant learning a lot of "steps" but from what those in it have told me, they've had fun. Mostly, I think because they want to see people smile."
"But you settled on being a life guard?" Tzan asked.
"I could never get all the dance steps right," Chipper answered, "So, I'm more content to work with the Lyre Recreational Center and give swim lessons and keep people safe."
"It's like what Tzan and I do here," Susan said.
"Aren't you two TV stars?" Chipper asked.
"Our "Odd Couple" series is only on the web," Tzan answered, "and that's really more of a "day in the life" sort of thing that isn't too different from Animalia's "Animalia Ambassadoria" in that way..."
"Well... it is a good series," Chipper commented, "Different from how humans would probably film such a show... but the back and fourth is amusing. Good to see that it doesn't affect your friendship."
Susan and Tzan both nodded at that. And things went much the same way for the rest of the night. Susan asked questions about things Chipper did in Lyre and Animalia and how they compared with Mieni. Chipper answered the best he could, even if some times the questions seemed to "repeat" in a way. Chipper asked questions on how things on Mieni operated and if there were any potential openings should he decide to move there to be with Susan. Susan eagerly said yes and even Tzan, despite thinking that Chipper was very much a male version of Susan, stated that it would be okay. The biggest surprise for Tzan was that both Susan and Chipper remained on their best behavior as they ate at dinner and so on. For, Chipper the night proved very enjoyable as while seeing Susan might have cost him the race, he hoped that winning Susan's heart would more than make up for it.