A Land Of Sea

An Ocean of Stone Turned Water

Dream stared down at the trinket sitting in his hand, turning it over between his fingers. The metal rings of a familiar yet uncommon puzzle stared back at him, taunting him to try and solve it.

It was one of those complex entanglements of metal rings, which you were supposed to pull apart into a few pieces. Dream had never cared for them himself, but he found it amusing to see the frustration of others as they struggled to solve the puzzle.

He'd picked up the knickknack at that shop back in town, and while he had no reason to hide his purchase, Dream had opted to discreetly slip a generous dose of money Charlie's way as he tucked the toy into his pocket. He wasn't particularly interested in a barrage of questions being thrown his way by his friends, and the purpose he had with it would certainly be contentious.

It was later in the evening, and most of the crew had gone to fetch sleep by now. Only those who took the night shift were out and about, and that currently consisted of Sam, Ranboo, and Ant.

Making sure none of them spotted him, Dream made his way below deck to the tanks.

The corners of his lips tugged up (not that it could be seen by anyone), seeing that the one mer he had an interest in was the only one up.

That didn't stop the blue scales from backing away warily, most likely wondering what prompted the pirate to be down here at such an unusual time. The light was gone, and only the faint glow of the moon illuminated the ship through its portholes.

It casted an eery yet calm atmosphere onto them. Almost ethereal, but not quite beautiful enough for such a description.

"Hey." Dream said simply, breaking the silence like a knife through butter.

The merman only narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing?" He chuckled lightly.

"What you doing here?" The mer finally asked.

Dream shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets and leaning back on one of the supporting beams of the ship. "Needed to clear my head."

"You can not do that another place?"

Dream paused for a moment, before coolly responding. "I can, but I felt like talking. And.. as you might be able to tell, there's not quite anyone awake to talk to."

The other man went silent, whether out of distrust or speechlessness Dream didn't know.

After waiting for a bit, Dream attempted to strike up conversation again. "How's the food?"

"...you would not know?"

"Nah, I don't deal with you guys much. I let my crew take care of you."

The other man scoffed. Dream peered at him carefully, trying and failing to pick up on why he'd made such a noise. He resorted to asking. "Do they not treat you well?"

He could just barely make out an eye-roll through the moonlight.

"It is fine. But if you not do care for us, why you do feed us better then the other people?"

This caught Dream, and he had to think. Genuinely not knowing the answer, he finally opened his mouth to speak. "I just- well, I don't know... As much as I act like I hunt mer for the fun of it, I really don't. I don't like doing this, you know. I used to- er.. study. Mer, I mean. And I uh.. well, I guess I just want you guys to be comfortable. But I can't exactly spend all my time here, so I do what I can."

As believable as it sounded, the half-lie was caught.

"Then why did Qua- I mean..my friend, say you not did that before I came?"