Blistering sun. Crashing tides. Cloudless sky. Gritty sand.

Harrison had only now realized he didn't like sand; it's coarse and rough and irritating, and got all through his cargo shorts. Even worse was how it stuck to his bare back after he woke up… here.

The sky was foreign blue on the alien horizon, settling over a vast expanse of a deeper-hued ocean. It was endless and barren, only broken up by the white froth of distant waves. All he had was the orange shore that didn't stretch on for very long, the red-leafed, spiky palm tree forest behind him, and a giant maroon-skinned shark creature.

Sharky's eyes opened slowly, forced to blink away sand attempting to blind her in her prone sleeping position. All she had on was a cut-up version of her black mechanic's jeans, the frayed bottom coming to a length that bordered between daisy dukes and short shorts. They were tight enough to crease the supple muscle between her thighs and—

"Harrison?" she mumbled drowsily, startling his eyes back up to where they should be.

"Hey," he answered happily. The presence of his guardian helped to stymie the leaking nervousness and growing questions he had.

The mostly-naked paladin pressed off the ground and shook off the sand from her face and scarred, white belly. "Where… Where are we?"

Harrison sat up fully, shuffling to face her. "I have no clue… Some island? Do you recognize it?"

She rotated her head around, blinking away the last of her grogginess. "I do not. It appears to be more like that of the southern islands…" A drowsy smile revealed a sliver of her predatory teeth. "It reminds me of a war party staging grounds."

He drew in a long breath, slowly releasing it and getting to his feet. "Right."

There was nothing more to ask Shar. She was as lost as he was. His memory traced back to… absolutely nowhere. He just woke up… on a deserted island with his loyal guardian.

"Judging by my sunburn, we've been out here for a few hours… Looks to be midday. And we've got nothing to our name," Harrison stated steadily, patting down and pulling out each pocket to find nothing on his person. He looked to the palm tree forest and brushed off the sand caking his shoulders.

The center of the island looked lush with pink and purple undergrowth, receiving golden rays of light between the common vines hanging from the thick, winding trees. Yet ominous shadows lingered throughout the denser areas, bringing up questions of what inhabited the island.

But he knew any fear of alien monsters was meaningless; he had an apex predator by his side and a need for the wood, vines, and stones… or to see if anyone actually lived here. Harrison looked to Shar, offering her a hand and helping to pull her to her feet. Their hands never broke contact, her massive digits wrapping fully around his and assuring him of her protection.

The engineer didn't bother to let go, looking her up and down, taking in her condition. "I'm going to collect some basic materials and then get a feel for how wide it is. Are you good to cover me while I head out?"

Sharky gave herself a quick look-over and stretched a few kinks out of her limbs—except the one holding his, of course. A quick nod from her confirmed her readiness. He began his walk into the forest, letting her tail curl around his waist and finding comfort in her towering shadow hovering over him.

It was humid. Wind rustled through the canopy above, but didn't care to cool anything below it. The forest itself wasn't much better. There were chest-high plants and brush that loved to leave small scars all over his exposed body and poor Shar's legs. Short tangles of vines and roots were easily escaped, but annoying. To add to the frustration, his bare feet began to hurt the further they walked across the somewhat gravelly and organic detritus-filled island floor.

The paladin's demeanor took no time to change. A palm took its place over his shoulder when he wasn't busy, talons curling over it protectively, if not a little possessively. Her head was on a swivel, her arms always hovering around him, poised to strike the very leaves themselves if they hurt him.

In fact, she did just that, using her deadly claws to clear some of the more difficult vines or brush that dared to get in their way. He got used to her instantaneous strikes at the red flora quickly, happy that strength and unnatural speed were an extension of his own. The Malkrin, especially his closest companion, were unsettling at times.

The rest of the collection process was uneventful, unfortunately. He didn't want to be attacked, but a hyena boar would solve their food issues for a while—his for over a week, Shar's for two days. But that didn't matter when there was a sea full of fish just a short walk away.

Their small excursion showed that the island was no wider than two hundred meters. There weren't any familiar or available foods either. Sure, he had a poor eye for foraging, but it was saying something if his guardian couldn't even find a measly root. At least he managed to find some of that sticky moss and some other interesting-looking fronds and possibly water-rich bulbs.

Which brought them right back to the beach, or at least the shade next to it, where he got to work on making rope, sharpening rocks, and bringing together basic components. Shar used the time to comb the island for any threats. He'd see her flash through the tree trunks, an orange eye always on him between her frequent trips back to him.

His tinkering found use of different flora, and his paladin was happy to fetch them between runs, nodding silently or responding with a quick 'consider it done, dearest' before dashing off again. Her strength also came in help to crack some stones when she was done with her rounds, not to mention the little knives she called 'digits.'

For a while, the two of them cut and tied vines together into twine. She made for a wonderful backrest, and her wide thighs doubled as little tables if she flexed them. Plus, the swishy interior was just plain comfortable. Her four arms were massively helpful for the project too… if she didn't insist on keeping the lower pair welded to his sides at all times.

That was fine. As long as Shar was comfortable and happy, even if she was a bit quiet.

"Do you have anything on your mind?" he asked casually, struggling to tie uneven strands neatly.

Her hands continued to caress his abdominal region and parts of his torso, her upper counterparts deftly weaving plant fibers together at breakneck speeds. The tip of her snout, pressed softly into his hair, shook side to side in the negative.

Harrison hummed his curiosity. "Really? Nothing on your mind?"

"Your protection," she affirmed with the slightest growl from her throat.

The engineer couldn't confirm it, given his position, but he was almost sure her focus was split between her task and watching the world around them. Her assurance and the primitiveness of the situation made him wonder about how different things would have been if he didn't have the pioneering equipment. He would've been forced to interact with Shar far sooner… God, she was a blessing.

He relaxed further into her hold, reveling in her growing purr vibrating through him.

- - - - -

Harrison swallowed the last of the bulb water from the wooden bowl, trying not to make a face at the acidic taste. The sun was still hot overhead, and he spent way too long by the rocky tide pools only to catch nothing. Beads of sweat trickled down his nose and along his sides, slowly draining him of mind and soul.

The shade was a respite from the immediate burn, but did nothing for the stagnant, sweltering humidity that clung to the island. He looked out into the ocean, missing his paladin's cooler skin that soaked up his heat. She was out catching God-knows how many fish—probably hunting down every ocean predator first. She would frequently pop her head above the waves to look at him before swimming away, the singular dorsal fin over the thickest part of her tail staying visible for a few seconds before disappearing below the waves. Ominous, but endearing…

Well damn, she didn't seem to worry about the sweltering afternoon. The clear waters were at a nice temperature, enough to refresh his feet when he dipped them in earlier.

He could stay in the shade and slowly cook alive while he tinkered a little longer… or, he could go and forage some underwater resources and make good use of his unused fishing spear. There was no doubt it'd be safe with Shar currently causing an ecological mass-genocide too.

The only thing he'd need was a pair of goggles. Messing up his eyes in alien salt water wasn't exactly at the top of his survival list. Thankfully, the moss glue combined with some mushy plant remnants made for a solid waterproof putty, and a few layers of stripped vine film made for a serviceable, though partially blurry visor. Bundle it all up together with taut fibers, and he had a flimsy form of eye protection. A few tests, remolding of the mask portion, and some questionable tightness of the straps had it ready to go.

Harrison had a spear in hand, a rope bag, and extra space in his cargo shorts when he began the trip down the beach. Cool tides lapped further up his legs as he descended, rinsing away the sweat and heat that stuck to him for hours.

His walk turned into a paddle and then into a dive, the strength of his goggles proving itself as he kicked across the clear waters. An array of multicolored, multi-shaped corals lined the ocean ground, covering the seafloor and massive rock outcrops in yellow flowers, blue shelves, and green bushes. The additional presence of red seaweeds, that were anywhere from knee-height all the way to the ocean surface, almost entirely covered up the fact that there was orange sand beneath it all.

The vibrant colors, multi-layered ecosystems, and various schools of unrecognizable fish made for an aquatic paradise he only saw in ocean preserve aquariums. It was gorgeous… and full of resources.

He spotted groupings of clay, undetermined minerals, and all manner of useful flora just sitting there! All of it, ripe for the harvesting!

His fishing spear soon became a pickaxe and shovel, the sharpened carving rock becoming his favorite knife. His expeditions led him all around the immediate reef of the island, requiring frequent trips to the surface to fill his lungs. Thank God the colony overseers had them practice swimming for months. The pressure changes nipped at his ears, but were ignorable all the same.

Harrison often went back to their makeshift base near the beach to drink and put down his hauls on a hollowed-out trunk, freeing up his fraying net bag and soggy pockets for yet more material. It was everything he could have hoped for.

Well, almost everything. He hadn't seen Shar for at least an hour. It was entirely possible he had a hard time seeing her now that he was under the waves, plus she was doing her own thing. He worried she might've thought he went missing on the island, but a few call-outs and a walk around the shore implied she was still fishing.

It was a good bit emptier without her around… He missed her assuring presence.

Once more, he delved into the refreshing water, traveling just under the surface until he hovered above the area he was prospecting before. There was an edge to the relatively shallow reef a little bit away. It was a lot deeper than he thought, now that he was close enough to inspect.

He was tempted to swim further out, and did just that, curiosity egging him to see if it really was a sheer cliff face. His stomach felt less intact the closer he got and the more he looked. The afternoon sun lit up the surface plenty, but the light blue of the ocean turned dark quickly, delving into an inky black at the bottom. The gradient stretched on forever out into the open ocean

Or, almost forever. There was a chunk farther out into the abyss that defied the darkness, holding onto a lighter teal color in a blurry, glowing icicle-like shape. It stretched from the seafloor all the way up to the surface. What… What the hell was that? It didn't move, but sure as hell took up some space.

Harrison swam parallel to the underwater cliff face, getting as close as he could without putting himself into open waters. Nothing became clearer, just a more defined shape. It wasn't exactly sharp as it was just a giant… thing coming from the deeper area and jutting into the light. He tried to scrutinize it further, squinting his eyes until his lungs hurt from holding his breath in.

The engineer resurfaced, refilled his brain with oxygen, and dipped back below the waves. He hadn't scouted the immediate area beneath him, so the reef looked different as he went down. There were the expected corals, seaweed, fish, and boulders, but there was also a less steep slope that went in the direction of the abyss. It didn't cut off like it had elsewhere.

A plateau of sand went down a middling incline for long enough that the fog of light deflection slowly swallowed it whole in an unsettling gradient. But that wasn't what caught his eye, no. There were black objects along the slope, undevoured by the abyss. Chunks, spires, and flat planes of an unknown material littered the bare sand like trash. The colorful reef hardly spread down with them.

Harrison swam down to the crest of the descent, getting a better look at the… the debris. The type of metal wasn't clear, but the rib-like inner-hull scaffolding, the sheets of alloy, and the crumpled components confirmed it. A wreck? Of what?

Curiosity lured him to the field of fragments, survival pressuring him to scavenge what he could before he needed to resurface, darker waters and pressure be damned. There were perforated tanks scattered between fractured, curved hulls and spires of bent I-bars. Random objects like shelves, torn-out chairs, and rusted tubes, all made of different metals in unclear levels of decay and rust, were dug into the seafloor like the rest.

The engineer encircled a few specific areas, noting half-buried containers and the occasional unopened door for later inspection—brute force 'lock picking' via Shar's fist, most likely. Any closer examinations were put on pause by his burning lungs.

His ears felt weird as he ascended faster than was strictly healthy, given the surface was a good bit farther than before. He looked off toward the ever-present teal shard all the while. Nothing about it changed, cementing its presence as a permanent background rather than an unusual passing ray of light or… something else…

The surrounding abyss sent a cold shiver down his spine.

Anything could be out there. He wasn't stupid enough to lower his guard after the beautiful oasis of the reef behind him. His head was on a swivel, and his eyes were trained on any irregularities, albeit with a little difficulty from his improvised goggles.

Take the large, dark mass in front of the shard, for example. If he wasn't keeping an eye out, he never would have seen… it…

He slowed to a hover, his gaze boring into the object. His heart sank as he took in its long, swaying tail.

Another shiver ran along his body, his eyes shooting wide. He was increasingly made aware that he was not as close to the reef as he thought. The water suddenly became very open and uncomfortably deep.

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Most of it, save for the sloping sand just beneath him, was a deep enough blue to obscure what was beneath.

The monster ahead of him stole his attention, slowly treading across the visible glow and passing into the black. He tried to keep it in sight, but his throat contracted, an internal struggle for air forcing him up to the surface.

It was only a second. He took one second to catch his breath, and it was gone.

His stomach dropped.

Harrison frantically scoured the endless plane of water, finding nothing but the empty ocean. He wanted to move, to swim away, to escape the impairing liquid that kept him vulnerable.

His legs fluttered to life, kicking him down toward the shore. He kept his eyes locked onto the abyss. His pitiful spear kept pointed toward it. Surface waves reflected the light from above into mirages beneath him, ebbing and warping the already uncertain black into swimming figures and black bodies that inched closer.

They were uneven, playing tricks on his mind, sending him into a frantic flurry. But it was impossible to just turn around. He couldn't bring himself to turn his back on it.

There, off to the left, a shadow was caught in the faintest light before disappearing.

The engineer needed to breathe again. He went to break the surface when another body appeared through the void.

It was gone when he looked again.

Then it reappeared, closer. It dipped in and out of the sunlight, staying hidden amongst the deep blue, never letting him predict its location.

He struggled to kick faster, but he was too slow. There was nowhere to go. No protection. Just open water.

The reefy feet of the island came into view, safely cutting off chunks of his vision to familiar corals and stones. He was right there, right at the cusp of the security of land.

He dropped his spear and flipped around, pulling the water with his hands and desperately gaining speed. All his senses were blurred, pieces of his mask coming apart at the seams. Salty water dripped into his eyes, his feet burning as much as his lungs.

The final sandy slope was just up ahead, his breath could be held until—

A force ripped at his ankle, yanking him down. He sucked in water, reflexively glancing back.

Maroon blood, orange eyes, and white teeth.

The maw collapsed over his face, a powerful tongue wrapping tightly over his and yanking his entire skull closer, sealing its lips around his temples.

"Breathe, dearest!"

He struggled against the limbs wrapping around and crushing him, thrashing with the last of his strength.

"Please!"

His vision faded, lungs screaming for air. The maw around his head kept him still. His hands latched onto the smooth muzzle, pulling, tearing it off of his face.

He jerked his head, hoping to find something loose, digging his fingernails in the monster's skin. His peripherals succumbed to the blackness as his hands struggled.

But he didn't have the strength.

His mouth reflexively sucked in, forcing him to swallow moist, salty air. He stifled a cough with watery eyes as oxygen returned to his brain and his body went limp from exhaustion.

…'dearest'?

Harrison looked toward the big orange eye staring back at him with a brow tented in sheer distress… There was no maroon blood, that was skin… Malkrin skin… Shar's skin.

"Shahh!?" he questioned, his speech garbled and deafened beyond recognition. His tongue quite literally tied… with hers—well, more like wrestled into submission. Not to mention there was water and an entire mouth in the way. He had no energy to shout. "Whuh duh fuahhhh?"

"I am giving you recitation! Are you okay?" the shark, who was half-eating him, cooed.

"Nuh! I an noh ukehh!! Leh guh!"

The one eye he could see widened. She tried to shake her head 'no' but quickly stopped herself. "But you will perish if you are not breathing!"

Harrison squinted at her, loosely gesturing to the shore. "Juh lemmeh swi ta da sor…"

The massive paladin stared at him hesitantly. Her decision was to swim him back herself, only taking her lips off of him when he patted her cheeks, herself laying him down on the hot sands.

He spent a few moments coughing out his lungs, feeling like he'd just been half-mauled and half-drowned. Of course, the sand also had to make itself the center of attention, suddenly finding its way into his pants.

…Stupid coarse motherfuckers.

He forced himself to ignore the surface of uncomfortable, asshole, wannabe rocks. All he could do was stare at Shar, who kneeled right in front of him, blissfully watching his every move. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. It took several seconds to incredulously piece together, "Hey, so uh, what the actual fuck?"

Her expression fell, disappointment taking its place. "You do not appear to appreciate my rescue…"

"I… There's no fucking way—Rescue?? WHAT?"

Her tail shot up into the air, her distressed look emphasized tenfold. "You could not breathe! I was giving you recitation!"

He shot an arm out wide. "I thought you were going to eat me? What was that?"

"I gave you my air…" she answered quietly. "I… I could not bear to lose you, dearest."

"So you—" Harrison cut himself off with a huff, taking off his broken goggles. His jaw still hurt and his tongue had been stretched beyond what was strictly necessary for… 'breathing.' He looked at the paladin, giving her a tired look. She was just being protective. "I… can breathe if I go to the surface. That was… unnecessary. I'm not going to drown if I'm underwater for a few seconds."

She nodded, tilted her head at an inquisitive angle. "I see… Why were you in the water? I thought you were meant to be by the tide pools. The island is safe, but I cannot observe all of the whole ocean. The Goddess of the Cycle is not as forgiving, taking those whom one loves without remorse nor warning."

He ran a hand through his saltwater-chunked hair, a little ashamed. "That's… fair. I went out to collect clay and tough corals while you were fishing. I just assumed it was safe if you were out there."

A soft smile crossed her still-dripping maw. "I would not say it is fully safe, but it brings me joy to see you feel such ways in my presence. Next time, please, come with me instead."

"I'd love to."

- - - - -

A trillion gorgeous stars were scattered along the purple and black night. Nebulous dust swirled and streaked across the glorious expanse. Two moons, blue and white, trailed across the sky in a race of cosmic proportions. It was as serene as it was humbling to think about how large the celestial bodies were.

Yet, despite all the beauty of the nights on Ershah, Harrison found himself staring into the loving orange eyes of Sharky. He stretched his legs out and rested his back on her soft stomach while she laid on her side, keeping herself stable with one arm, holding his shoulder with another, and using the last two to put on a floral tiara.

The coral bands fit snugly into the divot between her ears and head, the three tropical blue flowers fitting perfectly in front of her two growing horns. Her bright smile reflected beautifully in the fire that the two survivors surrounded.

"How does it look?"

The engineer flipped around toward her, smiling.

"It's pretty on you," he answered, pleased with his handiwork. He reached over and partially readjusted a loose flower.

She held a cool hand over his, pressing it warmly into the side of her face. "Thank you. I shall cherish it forever, dearest."

He chuffed. The little decoration for his giant shark woman didn't take very long, but he made sure to pick the nicest flowers. It had been nighttime for a while. They'd already made a shelter out of homemade rope, clay, and metal fragments from the wreck, and there wasn't much else to do anyway after eating dinner. Not to mention that making the tiara was a nice distraction from an otherwise busy day of surviving. Definitely better than being hunted in the water, too.

The paladin paused for a moment, averting her gaze.

He raised a brow. "Something wrong?"

"N-No, I just…"

Shar readjusted her grip on his hand, reaching out to pull on his other arm and wrapping him in an embrace. She rolled onto her back and pulled him atop her massive frame, holding back no sliver of love and appreciation. All he could do was let his arms lie over her toned neck muscles.

Her massive hands held his sides, her other pair cupping his head as she gazed warmly into him with glowing eyes. "I am simply too happy that I am blessed with you here. I could not fathom my solitude without your presence. How lucky is this soul of mine to be gifted your precious smile? Your endless warmth that heats my soul? How vast and welcoming the gods are to allow me to simply bear witness to it… It is apparent that my survival only matters if I have you in my arms by the end of the day."

A deeper flush flared over her cheeks to her snout. She craned her head down toward him, nuzzling her nose into his. He returned her affection and softly rubbed the sides of her neck, tenderly rubbing around her gills and eliciting a rumbling purr from his shark mattress.

His hands roamed her jawline and around the back of her head. Her not-so-subtle nuzzling grew tighter with her own grip on his head, pulling him closer and pushing her lips into his.

Her broad tongue pushed through and softly licked him. He pulled his head back, but not far enough to break out of her gentle hold.

Harrison raised an incredulous brow and smirked. "Is that how you kiss?"

She shrunk her muzzle away, looking worried. "Kiss? I was not aware of what I was—"

He pulled her snout back in place and really kissed her, using his lips to pad the pressure he vigorously applied. The massive alien froze, giving him an opportunity to readjust his legs and wrap them around her wide chest to claim some footing.

Sharky gave in easily, accepting his position by gripping onto his back and squeezing the two of them together fully. Her tail completed their entanglement. It slithered around his legs and his back until the end cutely wrapped around an arm like a 'lil snake.

They were complete, formed as one as they went back and forth, pressing into each other in every way. Her lips parted, inviting him further into their cycle of growing passion. He pressed his tongue through and inspected the other side of her sharpened teeth with it. Her eyes widened. It was dangerous, like walking on spikes, but he reveled in crossing every barrier between them with each bit of pressure his lips applied.

She didn't taste like much, despite the copious amounts of saliva, but he made damn sure to feel every unexplored inch of her alien mouth. Her cold interior grew warmer with each press of his tongue, acting as markers of where he'd been

Fortunately for him, his curiosity of her unknown unleashed Pandora's box. Her now half-lidded eyes exuded a devious energy.

She wanted to do her own tour of his mouth, pushing through his teeth and taking up any available space. Somehow, it reminded him of holding in a gulp of cool water between his cheeks. It only fueled him further, even if his own tongue was squished back into his jaw. Harrison eagerly gripped the back of her neck, just below her frills, and went deeper into every kiss, willingly losing the battle of his mouth and letting her tongue slowly warm up.

He brought his hands up her large head, kneading her sensitive ears between his thumb and pointer finger, and then quickly making circles around the base of her frills. Her responsive purr exploded in decibels, rattling through her chest and into him, going so far as to vibrate through her tongue and into his teeth.

That didn't stop his curious attempt to push every foreign button of Shar's, his fingers scratching around the back of her ears. She reached some sort of crescendo in her explorations, an endlessly greedy force pushing against his throa—

Oh no.

He pulled his head back, but her possessive hands kept him still. Her thick tongue pushed down his esophagus. A gag constricted his neck as he pushed away, ripping the tendril out of his gullet and revealing the almost comically excessive length of it.

The engineer coughed a few times, purposefully not in Shar's direction. He hovered above her, feeling her rapid breaths and rumbling purr while he resettled himself. His vision was blurry, his eyes watery enough to force his hand to wipe the moisture away.

When he was able to see again, the paladin's lidded eyes were still there, if only a tiny bit concerned. Her hands slid up his arms and over his shoulders in one, long soothing motion, softly gripping them and eagerly pulling him toward her in an unvoiced question.

He succumbed to her desires and impulse, holding both sides of her jaw and falling into her again.

She wasn't the only one yearning for another taste.

- - - - -

Harrison still laid atop Sharky's chest, nestling his head by her collarbone. Her purr had calmed down into a relaxing hum. It acted like a little massage, adding to her talon's sweet scratches along his back and arms. Naturally, her tail had eventually tied his legs up, keeping him wholly on top of her.

…And he spent so long preparing a frond mattress for both of them to sleep on.

Whatever. Big shark bed was the best bed: comfy, cool, and often gives licks—eleven out of ten, would recommend.

At least the shelter he made was big enough to fit their soon-to-be sleeping arrangement and a healthy fire. The soft sea breeze was a pleasant addition along his bare torso, wafting the flame's scent into him just the same as Shar's floral aroma.

"Dearest?" his Malkrin asked.

Harrison hummed.

She continued casually. "What are we to do now? As in, to return to the settlement."

"Wasn't really thinking about that," he regretfully admitted, thinking out loud and holding her a little tighter. "I think we'll need to be… stable here first before we start to think about anything else. With you, that's relatively easy, but the next step is to figure out where we are and where to go…"

The engineer looked out toward the sea, softly nuzzling his hair into the underside of her snoot and taking in the reflections of the stars amongst the flowing waves. "The sky looks similar, and the sun rises from the west on Ershah, so there's that. Anything else is a guess, but maybe you'd recognize the sky here. Then, after that, well… there's a wreck with unopened crates and some usable materials for some sea-faring construction. We might get lucky with something useful, or we might have to prepare to raft out way across the sea…"

He sighed, letting his head collapse back into his paladin. "It'll be a while, either way. I hope the others are going alright. Cera's probably worried sick."

"Certainly…" the warrior-made-bed responded in a melancholy undertone. "Do you find yourself to be tired, dearest?"

He usually didn't go to bed for another few hours… "Comfortable? You bet. Tired? Not yet. I'm happy to cuddle here until I am, if that's what you're asking."

"Please, do not feel pressured to do so, as I am more than pleased to hold you this way until the end of my days, but…" Shar gently dug her snout under and into his cheek to put them eye-to-eye, visibly fighting herself not to engage in another kiss.

He swiftly pecked her on the lips, setting her brain's processing back a few seconds. God, she was adorable… especially with the blue flowers of her tiara.

She had to blink a few times and think back to what she was saying to get back on track, now with a cute, blushing smile. "I-I wanted to ask if I could show you my ocean."

"Your… ocean?" he hesitantly questioned. There was no way she was asking him to…

Her eyes glowed with a budding excitement. "You mentioned you had never been to an ocean back in 'Sol.' I… I thought that you would like to see an Ershan ocean at night, but it would be dangerous for you as you would drown, so I never proposed such an idea. But I now understand that is incorrect. Perhaps, with my assistance, you would enjoy seeing what the glowing reef has to offer?"

"It glows?"

"Indeed," Shar answered immediately with a grin. She squeezed his shoulders. "Would you like to see it?"

"Isn't it dangerous to go at night, though?" he warned.

The paladin shook her head, still animated in eagerness. "Perhaps ocean predators are more daring in the absence of the sun. But, they are not likely to roam the reef, and I will assure you, such dangers are easily heard before they approach."

"Even if they do—" she slowly trailed a talon up his spine, sending an unconscious shiver down it. "—they would quickly understand they are not the predator of this island."

Harrison genuinely chuckled through his incredulously pinched brows. Good Lord, this woman… "Alright, you've got me sold."

Sharky shot up like he'd just told her she won the lottery, bringing him up with her in a sudden shift of verticality. She never let him down, softly putting her tiara down and grabbing his goggles as she marched off into the ocean. He did his best to mush together some of the cracks of the eyewear while he was swiftly princess-carried into the chilly water.

Stars reflected on top of the lapping waves, but those shining whites and purples of the night snapped into another world as soon as his eyes dipped beneath the water.

There was a vibrant pastel array of lime greens, deep blues, and soft pinks.

He almost reflexively took an astonished breath at the sight, forced to hold it in as Shar wrapped him up in her arms. She carried him under the waves, paddling with her webbed feet and gliding over the sudden carpet of lights over the reef.

Some of the corals had simply turned their luminescence on, while other clear, jellyfish-like orbs floated above the rocks and seaweed, swaying amongst the current.

It was beautiful and alien, being oddly accurate to what he thought a planet away from Sol would look like when he was younger. He looked up to see his Sharky craning her neck down to stare one eye back at him with an expectant smile.

"What do you think?"

"It's gorgeous," he whispered back in a garble of bubbles. He might not have heard himself, but she must have—thank God for intent.

"Excellent!" she cheered, bringing her snout to him and nuzzling her lips into his, nose to chin.

Harrison responded with a deep kiss, pushing against her romantic assault. Her immediate fervor almost had him lost for a few seconds of bliss under the water, but his strained lungs had other ideas. He tapped her arms to get her attention.

The giant aquatic alien he called his love hesitantly removed her muzzle—he couldn't really move in her grip anyway. She tilted her head. "You must breathe?"

He nodded quickly as his life's timer quickly ticked down. His wishes were not met. She didn't even bother to move her body, opening her mouth and latching it over his. Her broad tongue punctured through his salty lips and deftly wrangled his.

"Please, breathe!" she urgently requested.

\\\ Author's note: This is not how gills work. Nor is it how Malkrin work. Continue to turn off your brain, please. \\\

His brows dropped in annoyance as he took in a reluctant breath. It was surprisingly fresh, lacking the sultry heat one would expect from a… well, a mouth. He squinted at the one orange eye lovingly gazing into him.

His jaw could barely move in their tongue-and-lip-sandwiched position. "Could you not have brought me to the surface?"

She lidded her eyes. "We could have also stayed on the beach. Yet… that would not be so enticing, now would it, dearest?"

Harrison rolled his eyes, softly biting her muscly tongue after taking in another deep breath. "…You're so lucky I love you."

"I am indeed the luckiest female in all of existence to reside in the pure heat of your admiration."

She let go of him, allowing their scenic swim to continue. It was quiet under the water, ethereal amongst the glowing reef, as if he was staring up at every star in existence, all at once.

He was happy in Shar's arms, at ease with the cool water passing by him and the sturdy arms around him. There was nowhere safer and no pressing obligations… What could be better?

…Though, the reef didn't extend forever. He avoided looking at the pitch black abyss further out. Just as he described the comforting lights like stars, the absence of their safe illumination was crushed by the tenebrous uncertainty further out.

Of course, he was still safe here. He was allowed to stare out into the depths of the sea and pick out a familiar teal shard in the distance.

The night obscured its glow, but it was still there.

Stationary.

Waiting.

Patient.

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