Chapter 84: Think Tank

"Brennan, are you okay? Like, actually okay," Harmony asked as she narrowed her eyes at him one day a few weeks into Talori's upsurge in busyness where he got to talk to her less. 

"I'm fine."

"No, I don't think you are. You've been sitting here listening to me ramble without hardly saying a word for weeks. That isn't like you. You've always had more to say than that. You miss Talori, don't you?"

How was she able to see through him so easily? He did miss Talori. He knew she was happier where she was though. She had been wanting to go home almost the entire time she had been here and she had gotten her wish. He was the one who had empty hours to fill now that she was gone. 

"Yes, I miss Talori. Your point?"

"Go visit her! You have vacation time, don't you? Stay for a while the next time there's a tear pickup," Harmony suggested. 

"I can't impose like that!" 

"Oh please, you would not be imposing. She'd be thrilled."

That tear pickup wasn't for another month. He did potentially have the time to ask for time off but he would have to see if it was okay first. They were having an official think tank meeting on Saturday since it was the only time everyone would be available. He could ask then. 

Harmony could tell he was thinking about it and continued smugly. "Go have some fun, Brennan! You deserve it. There's more to life than work, you know."

"That's rich coming from you."

"Hey, I may be busy but at least I'm having fun in the process. You're just wasting time in between video calls."

Brennan couldn't deny that. Things were worse than he thought if even his witch friend who was too dense to see her boyfriend was in love with her had noticed. Though Castian had seemed a lot happier lately so maybe something good had happened on that front. 

It wasn't his business so he wasn't about to ask but he had his suspicions. Something had been different between those two for a while. They were a lot more affectionate with each other. 

Good for Castian. Not so good for someone who had been single for decades and probably would be for the rest of forever. 

All of Brennan's friends were either in relationships or had family around. It was getting to him more than usual. Maybe he really did need a vacation. He hadn't never taken one before unless you counted when he got blown overboard and decided to stay missing a few extra days to learn more about merfolk. 

"What does it matter?" he asked somewhat defensively.

Harmony looked at him and frowned. "I'm worried about you. That's why." 

"You don't need to worry about me."

"Pretty sure I do. You're my friend, Brennan. I want you to be happy and right now you're not. You may think it isn't obvious but I've known you long enough that it is to me."

Brennan couldn't refute that. She knew him best out of all of the fae in Florida because he spent the most time with her. Of course she would be able to notice a difference that no one else had. 

"So what if I'm not happy? It's nothing new," he muttered. 

Harmony sighed and shook her head. "Way to be depressing. Does this happen every time things change for you?"

"Somewhat."

It had never been this bad before. He figured it was because it had been so long since he lived with someone else before Talori came along. He had left a lot of friends behind but was used to living alone all that time. 

Harmony raised an eyebrow at him. "Somewhat?"

"I think it's because I got used to having a roommate," Brennan explained. "I'm sure I'll get used to it sooner or later."

"You really think it's that and not Talori specifically?"

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"Of course it isn't Talori specifically."

He never got hung up on a single fae for long. Not after losing his family. He was used to leaving friends behind. It had been months though and he still wasn't doing well. That had never happened before. 

Harmony made a skeptical noise but let the matter drop because Hester knocked on the door asking if she had any spider silk to spare. She did so she got up to find it and the subject blessedly changed after the other witch left. 

Then Castian showed up and the focus was off of him completely. He managed to make it through the rest of the night without any further questions. 

Brennan looked forward to the meeting tomorrow. He would finally be doing what he had wanted to all along. Officially. The first multiracial fae meeting of its kind regarding ocean pollution. 

Talking to Zale the last time they visited was a bit different because this time Castian would be involved and could provide input from his sustainable business classes and talking to his fellow elves who were studying the same thing. 

They would be graduating soon and starting their own business together involving biodegradable plastic. They hoped they could use their race's influence across the country to make it replace plastic completely in a matter of decades. 

They had invested in several different formulas created by human biologists for different purposes and planned to use their considerable business acumen to make them blow up. They were going to make it cheaper to use than plastic to every company in the country would want it. They would be helping the environment and making money at the same time, which was an elf's dream. 

The elves wanted to replace plastic. The witches were trying to come up with ways to clean up existing plastic. And Brennan was involved with human ocean cleanup efforts and could be the liaison between fae and humans trying to accomplish the same goal. He had only dreamed of such an opportunity before meeting Talori. 

Their plans wouldn't work overnight but they had time. Fae had nothing but time. 

Most of them didn't think long term though. They stuck to their own little ways of life and adjusted with the times as necessary but didn't care to go outside of the box. 

Not this think tank. They were thinking bigger than any fae ever had before. A joint effort to save a part of nature that the humans couldn't take away. They could cut down forests and fill lakes or streams but they couldn't fill the ocean. 

It had existed long before them and would continue to exist long after. That was why it was so important to save it. Just because it would exist didn't mean it would exist in a good condition the way things were going. Everyone living on this planet had to do better. 

When the screen activated there were four merfolk on the other side. Talori, Zale, Beck, and Aila. Brennan was surprised to see the merqueen but supposed she had a vested interest in the health of the ocean as well. 

He knew Talori had been teaching her English. She would probably understand what was being said even if she couldn't participate much. 

"Hi, guys!" Talori greeted cheerfully. "Some of you have met but others of you haven't. Castian, this is my brother Zale, his personal guard Beck, and my sister-in-law Aila. Everyone, this is my friend Castian. He's an elf and is working to make businesses more sustainable so they don't affect the environment as much." 

"It's an honor to meet you all," Castian said formally. "Nice to see you again too, Talori. I trust you're doing well."

She smiled. "Very. You?"

"Couldn't be better."

He looked at Harmony as he said that and Brennan somehow still managed to feel like a third wheel even though there were four other fae present aside from him. The elf had it bad. 

"Wonderful!" Talori exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, we should get down to business. Harmony, have you caught Castian up on everything we discussed the last time we saw each other?"

"Duh," Harmony said with a laugh. "You know me. I told him all about it shortly after getting home."

"Just making sure everyone is up to speed so we can pick up where we left off." 

Talori directed the meeting extremely well. Brennan was impressed. She managed to keep everyone on topic and made sure that all had the chance to say what they wanted to. 

Beck said nothing the entire time, which was as expected since he had only said a handful of sentences in front of Brennan ever but he got the feeling the merman was soaking everything up like a sponge and would give his two cents to Zale later when they were alone. Talori mentioned he was the merking's chief advisor so he had to have some sort of input worth listening to with how clever Zale was. He wouldn't keep someone useless around. 

Aila occasionally asked questions in a slow, hesitant voice but had nothing to contribute beyond that. She was still new at this. 

Brennan was impressed that her English had improved so much since the last time he saw her.. She had barely been able to say hello then and needed Talori to translate everything for her.

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