@gemmawalker
Without Mellora opening with him, the museum seemed terribly empty. Lifeless, even. He understood why she'd returned to the sea, of course. Better than ever, now that he had his brothers in town with him. If anything were to happen to one of them, he was quite certain he'd move mountains trying to help them. Still, he worried about whether he could still carry out their quest and help Assyria without her at his side.
But she was already gone. There was no room for doubt...nor any for error, if the situation in the North Atlantic truly was as serious as it sounded. He would simply have to succeed.
In the meantime, though, there were explanations to be given. Alliances to be maintained, even though the thought of trying to represent the North Atlantic made Thomas's stomach turn. He'd missed on a century of geopolitical action, after all. Hopefully she would at least send a mermaid representative soon.
Speaking of - one such ally (or, at least, he hoped she was?) was walking through the door. Thomas abandoned the front counter to greet her. In one hand, he gripped an envelope addressed to her. "Good morning, Gemma! I was wondering if we could talk, preferably before 10," when humans would come trickling in. "It's...well, it's sort urgent."