Shi waved goodbye to Tawny as his mother grabbed his wrist and more or less dragged him away from the water, and towards a car that was was parked near the road. The fact that it was there at all made him suspicious. It seemed too planned out. But instead of bringing it up to Muchi, he hopped into the passenger side and waited to leave without a word.<br/><br/>Half an hour later, he was taking a shower, in the hotel room that his mother had already booked before they even arrived. This fact also set off warning bells in his head. But there was so much on his mind that he didn't even take to time to give it much more thought.<br/><br/>He didn't know when it would be, exactly, but sometime soon, he was likely to be married. To a mermaid, no less! The entire idea that he had gone from the quiet, peaceful life he had been working towards, to almost dying, to being rescued by, and then engaged to a mermaid all in the space of one afternoon was completely laughable. And that's exactly what he did - laughed. If anyone else had seen him standing in the shower, laughing like he'd just heard the funniest joke in his life, they'd probably think he was nuts.<br/><br/>A few minutes later, he was busy getting himself dressed when his mother, who had apparently left to make plans for the next couple of days, walked back into the room.<br/><br/>"Wow." She said, closing the door behind her and sitting on the bed. "Aside from that shaggy mop on your head, you look almost exactly like your father in that."<br/><br/>"Uh... thanks." Shi replied, halfheartedly, buttoning his black shirt. "I guess. You know, you used to tell me that all the time, but honestly, I have a hard time even remembering what dad looked like. I do remember that he wore a lot of black,though. I'm guessing that's probably what makes you think so."<br/><br/>"Well, that's true. And he looked damn good in it too. You know, if you paid a little more attention to your appearance instead of always doing the nerd thing, you'd probably have a lot more luck with the ladies." She said, teasing him. "Though I guess that doesn't matter a whole lot now that you're gonna be getting hitched. Although.. you should humor me and leave those top few buttons undone. Even though you're a big nerd, you're pretty fit, kid. And women like to see a little skin as much as men do."<br/><br/>Shi sighed. "Can we please,<span style="font-style: italic">please</span>not have this conversation? You acting like a mom is just.. just weird."<br/><br/>Muchi laughed. "Fine, fine. But don't blame me when your future wife gets bored with you. Anyway, let's get going. We don't wanna keep them waiting. And smile! This is a big day, kid."<br/><br/>And fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at the festival. Shi didn't even know it was possible for him to be so nervous.