spicy bread ,,

[spicyskeleton]

kai kept his eyes averted from the docks ahead and focused on the ground under him. he had almost completely forgotten sebastian was a true pirate- he knew that seb was a pirate but it seemed to be a lesser problem when he was away from his crew. it didn’t change the way he thought of the other, but it did make him wonder what the other was like when kai wasn’t around. he trusted that the pirate was no different- he had seen many sides of sebastian including the bad ones, to many for the other to use as a mask to hide behind. kai lifted his eyes to look at the ship with narrowed eyes, his hatred for them slowly growing. it was known they were liars, but he thought that they would be up front with each other, yet they lie to sebastian and refuse to tell him a simple story. as they neared the ship he could make out their faces almost, but realized that they could most likely make out his face too. he examined the ship and it’s contents and something felt so.. familiar about it- like he had seen it before. kai bit his tongue as he became increasingly nervous that the pirates would turn and see the two walking along. he could easily take on humans as shown earlier, but an entire crew would prove its self to be different.

his thoughts were interrupted by sebastian speaking once more, pulling kai out of his steadily growing fear. “what’s the worst then?” he knew it was sort of a heavy question that the other might not want to answer, but he was curious; if the two were to build any sort of relationship they should know about eachother. their likes, dislikes, fears, all of it. kai nodded at the others words addressing humans, supposing he was right. “your right, it was my first time.” he wasn’t going to say that time would give him any sort of comfort around humans because that was less likely to be true. he turned his eyes that had been glued to the pirate crew towards sebastian and offered an excited smile- he was very excited to be so close to the water.

within the next minutes kai saw the enterance to the cove he knew so well. he refused to leave sebastian’s side and continued to walk at their slow pace, but soon enough he was ducking through the brush and was met with the cool breeze blowing off the ocean. a smile spread across his face, his first instinct to run and jump into the water but held himself back; he reminded himself a pirate was in his company. kai slowly strode across the sand and towards a rock next to the water in which he hopped on top of it and faced the pirate.

[breadstick]

Sebastian, despite the fact that he was so concentrated upon the ground he walked upon - careful not to misstep - and Kai, he could not help but stay alert; keeping an eye on the whereabouts of his crew members, and whether they were in a position to spot him with Kai or not. He concluded after a moment that this would not occur if they were in the alcove; but until then, they were at somewhat of a risk. It became clear that the merman, too, had noticed the pirate ship, and had recognised it as likely being Sebastian's; something he did not comment on, but that the pirate had noticed merely from the glances the other occasionally shot at the ship. "They're not all on board." He muttered softly, bending down slightly to allow the other to hear his dip in volume. "They won't see us. They're too busy manning the ship." His attempt at reassurance was potentially futile; but he supposed it was worth the attempt if it could bring him some semblance of comfort. Despite his supposedly confident words, he could not help but glance upwards every now and then to assure himself that they would be too preoccupied to notice the two shuffling across the land. He noticed, however, that did not seem to quiet the other's terse posture; if anything else, the more he looked upon the ship, the more he seemed to tense. Sebastian simply chalked that down to wariness; after all, the merman had probably been conditioned to be as wary as he was by his people for his entire life; and, for good reason, it seemed, considering he had been shot by a pirate and would have died had it not been for his own intervention. "I'll cover for you if the time arises." He added, a little softer, having moved away from direct earshot; yet, it was more a promise to himself than a reassurance meant directly for Kai. He surprised himself, momentarily, for how determined he had become to keep Kai safe from his crew; it had become a sudden occurrence, and yet, he still found himself reluctant to directly admit so.

The next question the merman asked came as somewhat of a surprise to the pirate; he had not been expecting such a question so early on, and yet, there they were; and Sebastian was suddenly confronted with a question of his own. What was the worst? In his decade of being a pirate, he had never really stopped to consider what the worst incident had been; he had seen a lot of things that plagued him at night, and kept him awake far more than he would have liked to admit - and he had experienced rough, raw pain like no other. Even if he couldn't remember the incident or the way it had felt other than the slightest flash of searing pain, he had certainly been through painful things while conscious. He paused for a moment - realising that it might seem slightly odd to Kia that he even had to consider such a question - and found himself running through memories he would be more likely to fight off at night. Narrowing his eyes for a moment, he avoided the merman's gaze as he turned back to the ground, humming softly in thought. Being almost blown up by an enemy crew would definitely be up there. His thoughts turned swiftly to the incident; it had been intense, enough to disturb his dreams for years; it had almost blown up their entire ship, and they had been forced to invest in repairs. He blinked, turning to another memory - merfolk attacks would have also have been enough to claim that as his worst experience, considering there had been so many in so quick succession, he had not been able to sleep for more than an or two hour at most every night for an entire month. And yet, he could not bring himself to say that before Kai; the feud that lay between the two species would be best left unsaid, in order to prevent any further disturbances between the two. After a moment, he simply shrugged. "Not bein' able to sleep properly for months on end in fear of attack would be one." He muttered. "Surprise ambushes are pretty common. Bein' a pirate means you can't ever ... switch off, y'know? It gets exhausting." He kept the situation intentionally vague; although, he was sure there were potentially more situations he could have spoken of, he decided to stay off the topic of losing those closest to him in the crew; that would come with time, he supposed - and he was not willing to talk about them at that stage.

When they at last reached the cove, he had expected Kai to leave his side and rush over to the ocean as fast as he possibly could; however, the other seemed to be able to restrain himself, much to the pirate's surprise. A flash of warmth bolted through him as he realised that the action was purposeful; he was trying to keep by his side, for whatever reason. The feeling of companionship coaxed a grin onto his expression; and, as they reached the cove, he stood by the side of the entrance on the inside, allowing himself to slump against the wall, watching Kai with a small smile. "Looks like you've missed it." He murmured, raising an eyebrow with the grin still plastered to his face. After a moment of realising that Kai was not about to jump into the ocean, he huffed softly to himself, with a "Do I really have to do everything?" Muttered to himself under his breath, before he pulled himself up once more and stood at the base of the rock, and leaned up to playfully nudge Kai to one side, so he would tip into the water; not causing any harm, but enough to allow the other to return to his natural state, since Sebastian would assume that was what he wished to do in that moment. The thought struck him, after a moment, that the action was reminiscent of the first time he had pushed Kai into the water to forcefully reveal his true identity; and, although it caused him mild discomfort at seeing one of the creatures he had despised and fought against for so long, he was surprised at how little it bothered him when compared to how he had reacted the previous time he had seen Kai like this.

[spicyskeleton]

kai thought about the others words with a smile placed upon his face. his mood had improved from the quiet, on edge state to a more happy and relieved state; being next to the water could also be a factor of that- but it was nice to know that sebastian had his back when it came to his pirate buddies. he didnt care if the pirate only did it to save himself, it certainly showed that he somewhat cared about the merman for whatever reason. he pulled his legs up on the rock so he could sit criss cross while watching the man in front of him slowly hobble through the entrance and onto the sandy cove, a smile never leaving his face. the ocean opened up kai in ways he couldnt explain, but he was near his element and his home. he felt overwhelmed by it, all of the sounds that the ocean had to offer calling his name and teasing him with the waves threatening to splash onto the rock and spray him with water. he watched as sebastian approached and rock and sensed a feeling of happiness from the other too; perhaps he felt the same way about the ocean being his element since he did live atop of it. kai opened his mouth to say something to the pirate but realized he was reaching up towards the merman and stared, "hey, what are you-" he was abruptly cut off by sebastian easily nudging him towards the edge of the rock, his balance being lost in the process and sent him tumbling off the side.

the moment kai's legs hit the water they vanished and turned into something far more appealing, returning all feelings of normal to the merman. he smiled and looked down at his long tail and gently touched it with hand in the case that he might be dreaming, but nay he was not. his smile quickly faded when memories returned to the last time this had happened- sebastian forcefully shoving him into the water in order to reveal his true self and then threatening to have him killed. kai's chest tightened at this thought and he looked up towards the top of the rock but could not see sebastian from here; all of his happiness quickly faded as he made his way to the ocean floor wondering if this was the same situation- though how could it be? the two had been happily walking together just minutes ago, maybe seeing his crew reminded him of his hatred. kai touched the sand and sighed, the push was oddly gentle compared to the one that happened a while ago. he battled with himself for a few seconds before deciding he couldnt hide who he was and he swam to the surface of the water and allowed his eyes to break the waters surface.

kai had expected the worse, the familiar anger that sebastian often lashed out with, but when he saw the pirate there was no sign of anger- only a smug smile. he crinkled his nose and allowed his shoulders to emerge from the water. "your.. not upset?" he asked with a tilted head, genuinely concerned; but when he got only a positive reaction the joyful smile returned to his face. kai ran a hand through his hair in order to stop it from dripping in his face and gazed up at the pirate in awe that this was okay. he had never dreamed nor imagined any moment like this and here he was, experiencing the impossible. he looked at sebastian for a few more moments, unable to pull his eyes away, before forcing himself to look towards the flat surface of a rock jutting from the water. he swam towards it and then leaned his elbows on it so he could stay above water without working as hard for it, and allowed the tip of his tail to emerge and let it naturally wave back and forth.

[breadstick]

The pirate’s impulsive action - not borne out of any malice or disdain, but rather a curiousity and a knowledge that he would more than likely feel more out of place had he not been in his natural state - had taken even himself by surprise. It would certainly take him some time to come around fully to the idea that his soulmate was to be a merman - and if he was entirely honest, the whole situation left him somewhat disgruntled in a way that rivalled no other matter - but the moment to start was now, he supposed. He knew that he couldn’t force Kai to be in his human form the entire time; such a feat would be cruel, even for the pirate’s standards - or maybe that was simply him being too soft on the other. Why had he become attached to him so easily? It was almost as though he felt a pull towards him every moment of his day, and every second he spent away from him brought a new level of discomfort with the idea that he should be away from someone so intrinsically linked to his own soul. The time he had spent, in that twenty four hours, away from Kai after their argument, had not brought nearly as much grief as the month he had spent away from him - but it was still very clear that he had some connection to him that ran deeper than the conscious mind would allow. Perhaps it was the compassion borne from such a connection between the two that had pushed him to nudge the other into his comfort zone - and, consequently, out of Sebastian’s.

As he saw that the merman had not resurfaced for a moment, a twinge of worry settled in the pit of his stomach; and he suddenly wondered if his actions had been too violent or too abrasive with his actions. Had he misunderstood the situation? He had assumed that, being a merman and having complained so thoroughly in that time he had spent in the human town, that he would have much preferred to be in the comfort of the ocean. Yet, his relief became apparent as soon as he saw Kai’s head break the surface; his hair drenched, his skin soaked with the water, and his tail beyond his clear vision, but distorted orange and blue blurs in the ocean. As Sebastian watched his expression change, he couldn’t help but notice that absolute relief that flooded through the other’s expression when he had realised that Sebastian had not pushed him out of a fit of rage; instead, he was still grinning at the merman, for some inexplicable reason. A month ago, he would have been assured that he would have turned away and never looked back; but now, he almost seemed glad to see Kai in his natural state - looking far more comfortable than he ever had in the town they had just ventured through.

Sebastian met the other’s question with a raised eyebrow and a smug smirk that could only be rivalled by the mischevious glint that dwelled in his gaze. “ ‘course I’m not.” He answered nonchalantly, waving a hand in dismissal as he placed his weight on his crutch. “D’you think I’d still be here if I was?” He raised the question to the other in a recollection of their last encounter with Kai in this state; he recognised the actions he had taken might have been cold, and yet at this point he could not have seen himself reacting in any other way. He knew now that he would never have murdered the other - something had stopped him, and it would have stopped him, even if he had decided to pull out his gun directly. And now, that compassionate force was seizing him once more as he stared down at the merman, realising that he could not have stolen that look on Kai’s face - or any equivalent to it - and nothing else he could have done would have warranted the genuine happiness the pirate felt. The ocean was his home, after all; to see someone else in such a happy way after being returned to it was bound to elate him. “You didn’t look as though you were gonna do it - so I helped you out.” He added after a moment’s pause, leaning down to sit on the edge of the rock; the adjacent side of where Kai had partially pulled himself up from, and dangled his leg down into the ocean for a moment, beyond caring that his clothes would become wet.

[spicyskeleton]

kai's overwhelming joy and happiness was clear as day, even if one was a mile away from him they couldnt miss it. after wandering the land for a full night and several hours of daylight it felt like years since his reunion with the water. everything about him was brighter- his smile, the way he spoke, even his eyes seemed to glow more than usual. he had not realized the impact the ocean had on him, it was like being away from it for long periods of time drained his energy and joy; but the second he was reunited with it everything about him was a finished puzzle. kai's eyes followed sebastian as he lowered himself to the rock in order to sit and for some inexplicable reason, his puzzle seemed to be completed. everything felt in place with the other sitting low close to the ocean with him even as they sat in comfortable silence. he lazily drew his eyes from staring at the horizon back up to the pirate and looked at him carefully. the sight of him here, accepting who kai is, made his heart skip a beat over and over. he turned his eyes from sebastian and onto the black mark that had placed its self on his forearm and smirked. maybe this is possible.

he looked back over to sebastian and smiled once more. "i dont know, you might be getting ready to be on your way, i wouldnt know." he teased the pirate and looked back out into the vast never ending ocean. he knew it well, even when he was in the middle of nowhere without any noticeable landmarks, he still managed to know where he was and where he had been. kai chuckled and let it turn into a happy sigh, "well, i didnt want to make you, you know, uncomfortable. but.. thank you." he paused to look at seb and let his genuine gratefulness sink in before speaking up again, "i feared i would have dried up if i didnt get back here soon. would've been like a sponge on land." he joked. he actually didnt know what would happen if he were away from the ocean for to long- merfolk never ventured onto land and if they did they did so for short periods of time; but he didnt think anything bad would happen if he did.

the breeze on kai's fins at the end of his tail felt nice and made him relax even more than he already was. this was a happy moment for him but the thought that a whole lot of pirates were just around the corner still gave him a little anxiety. if they were to see him and attack he could always swim away, but that meant he would have to abandon sebastian in order to run, and he didnt think he could do that. even just spending the day with the pirate he felt his connection to the other grow stronger. kai dipped the end of his tail back into the water along with the rest of it to soak it in water and emerged it back out, gently flicking it so a little water splashed the pirate. nothing drastic, just a few little drops. he smirked and folded his arms so he could place his chin on them and look up at sebastian. "so, i think the last time we tried getting to know each other things went a little sideways." kai ended the sentence laughing and then paused for a moment. "tell me something interesting about yourself. anything, really."

[breadstick]

Sebastian noticed immediately how much more comfortable the other seemed while underwater; his every thing about him from his facial expression to his eyes to even his hair glowing so much brighter than he had seen the, do so on land. It was worth the slight shift in his gut at seeing someone he had, for so long, perceived as his enemy, and having to calm himself from whatever reaction that aroused; the instinct to reach for his gun almost overwhelming physically, but mentally, it was no competition for him. The merman was happy - you would have had to be blind not to see it - and, in that moment, that mere fact brought happiness to Sebastian, too. He wished he had made the move to encourage this sooner; seeing how he had instantly brightened seeing the pirate smiling at him despite him being in his natural state had presented the pirate with the will to simply stay here for the rest of his days. He had survived - he always had - and he would survive again, even if it meant giving up his crew. And yet - the same dilemma presented itself to him. His crew meant more to him than anything, even now - even if the merman had taken up some place in his heart that he had not even known existed, he could not abandon those who he had dedicated his life to for so long. The thoughts soured his mood slightly; but, looking down at Kai, it was hard not to still recognise the happiness reflected back at him.

Leaning his body back onto his palms, he raised an eyebrow with the grin still very much present on his face, still watching Kai carefully as he spoke. “Hmph.” He grunted in mock annoyance at the other’s remark, something that would have come across as genuine had he not been grinning. “Gettin’ ready to leave? Like this? You’ll bet I’m stayin’.” The gruff warmth that he had been experiencing finally threw itself into his tone as he spoke, with a hint of simple acceptance to allow the other to realise that this was him accepting who he really was - at least, to a certain degree. Although, unbeknownst to him, the action had been enough and the words were barely needed. “If that happened, I’d just have t’ throw an entire bucket of water at you. That’d probably do it. Not sure what happens myself, to be honest. Would’ve been fun to find out.” He commented.

Turning his gaze up to the horizon, he looked out to the sea, feeling a sense of peace wash over him. Despite the atrocities he had experienced, witnessed and insinuated out at sea, the atmosphere had never failed to completely calm him of his nerves and set him on the path that was right for him. As the other’s voice piped up once more, he pulled his gaze down to look at the other - still smirking, laughing, enjoying himself. And, at that sight, it was hard not to feel the same. He flinched his leg away from the splash of water, but it inevitably was caught in the attack - so in response, he kicked some towards Kai, smirking a little. “Somethin’ interestin’ about myself, huh.” He mulled over the question for a moment. “There ain’t really a lot to say about me, if I’m bein’ honest.” He added after a moment. “But I’m kind of like the crew’s entertainment after a rough day, now. While I was out of action, all I could really do was ... sit, y’know? Sit and wait for my leg to heal as best it could and just pray that didn’t get infected.” He began. “So I used to tell stories. A lot of them. And for some reason, people always seemed to like them - Daniel was the first, bein’ the youngest, but after then, they all just ... seemed to flock to me. Make me feel really old, but at least I was doin’ somethin’. I was always good at makin’ up ghost stories to scare the kids on the deck, but apparent I’ve just got a knack for tellin’ old stories. Things I used to do, expeditions we’ve been on, that kind of thing.” He finished with a shrug. “I’d say that’s about the most grippin’ thing about me.” The smirk widened a little at the quip, before he blinked a few times and turned directly to the merman. “Your turn. Somethin’ about you that’s mildly interesting.”

[spicyskeleton]

kai rocked with the gentle waves of the ocean, his elbows firmly planted on the rock so he could stay in place. it wasn’t hard to stay in a single place underwater, everything seemed much calmer beneath the surface, but when above it he struggled to resist the waves that were pushing him towards the shore. he wondered what it must be like to float on top of the water all day every day like pirates did, if the constant rocking ever became sickening or when the ocean got rowdy if it scared the hell out of them. kai pondered what sebastian’s words meant- ‘getting ready to leave? like this?’. the ‘like this’ was obviously referencing to something that he didn’t catch on to what the pirate meant, maybe the fact that he was now wet and his crew would question. he let it slide from his mind and traced the cracks and divets in the rock with his finger before stopping to look up and smirk at th pirate. “now that- that would’ve been a sight for all the humans to see. in case you haven’t noticed, any form of water thrown at my human legs will reveal my tail; then again, lucky day for the humans i suppose. they would have finally gotten to see a merman in person.” kai gently pushed the other but with barely any force- he didn’t want to accidentally push seb into the water, at least right now.

he listened to the pirate talk about himself, all the while thinking that story telling must be a good talent to have. it could come in handy with an assortment of situations, including lightening dull moods or putting an end to boring days. he doubted that story telling was the most exciting thing about the other, but he also knew that if the two stuck together he would find out for himself if that was true. “tell me a story, then, if you are so good at it.” kai said with a smug smile with his face turned upwards to look at the pirate. “something interesting about humanity- like something you or another human has discovered or experienced.” he truly did want to know about humans if he were to associate himself with them, and listening to stories about humans from another human would be the perfect way to pick up more information.

kai thought about himself for a few seconds without an idea in the world what he could tell the pirate that would be useful information. “i don’t know, didn’t expect the question to be retaliated.” he chuckled and racked his brain for any sort of information he had on himself. “as you saw earlier in the day i’m a skilled warrior, apparently in any terrain,” he said this just to brag on himself, he was quite proud of his performance with the humans. “oh! i’m really good at solving puzzles and riddles for some reason. i don’t particularly like them, but i’m good at them nonetheless.” he shrugged and flicked his tail in the breeze. kai wasn’t the smartest guy ever but when it came to riddles and puzzle solving he seemed to be quite good at them; he was also very persistent and never gave up when presented with a challenge.

[breadstick]

Sebastian's somewhat stationary position upon the rock he had settled on had broken a little in its stillness, moving a little as a chuckle at the other's words shook his body. The smile he had retained so fondly still remained; a constant feat, it seemed, when he was in the merman's presence - ironic, considering how their last meetings had turned out. The slight push the other gave him left him a teasing smirk on his face and he returned the gesture after a moment. "Sure it would." He commented smugly. "But on second thoughts ... I'll refrain from doin' that. Who knows what people'd do if you suddenly turned into a merman before their very eyes?" He murmured, his tone slipping into a more sombre pattern as he continued to speak. He genuinely did not know what their reactions would be - probably very differing in their approach, form mild to morbid curiosity, to panic and anger. If there just so happened to be a pirate there it would spell the end for him - and he would have preferred the merman stay alive. The connection he felt, at the very least, ran deep enough to want to prevent his soulmate's death, regardless of who he was. Perhaps, upon further thought, that was why he had suddenly plucked up enough compassion to be able to save his life; so sudden was his action and so uncharacteristic of himself, as a pirate, that it had taken even him by surprise after the event.

At Kai's request, he smirked and leaned back on his palms, running through the memories in his mind once more; much more pleasant memories, this time, despite some of the dark nature that was contained within them. The merman had expressed a desire to know more about something he had discovered or experienced - and, thus, he had come to the conclusion that the most appropriate thing to speak upon would be his own first outing with the pirates as a part of the crew. "Alright, you asked for it." He murmured, telling himself that he would leave out any overly exaggerated details in order to not confuse the merman. "My first outin' with the crew was relatively interestin' if you want to know more about our experiences. Picture the scene - I was fourteen, bright eyed n' bushy tailed - metaphorically, of course - with both legs intact, more than ready to learn more about the crew, how to steal things, how to fight well. I was so enthusiastic and so ready to see dry land that I jumped off the ship and swam to the coastline before anyone could stop me." The memory dragged a chuckle from the back of his throat, and he glanced up to the sky to study the clouds, giving him something to visually focus upon while he spoke. "The first kid I befriended on there - his name was Keiran - gave me a few ... strong words when they finally reached me, to say the least. I'd had no idea where we were goin', or where this place was or what dangers were there. I'd never been outside my hometown before -" He left the circumstances leading up to him joining the crew purposefully vague, hoping they would simply come up another time. "- so this was an entirely new experience for me. We docked there, and there was a pretty long walk to the city we were trying to reach, and they decided to split the journey in three sections - one of which was to get through the towns and villages without drawing too much attention. There must've been about twenty of us tryin' to move through a pretty close-knit community, tryin' to blend in as much as we could. Because I was the youngest and the smallest, they sent me out to distract the majority of people in this marketplace. It was so crowded you could barely make out a single face in that entire square. Apparently, I was still small enough to squeeze through the most of them." He rolled his eyes and snorted a little. "They told me to steal something and run in the opposite direction until they lost sight of me, and then double back to meet them. I was already pretty efficient at stealin' stuff, but not in a space where it was so crammed full of people. So I set out, and I picked up this watch from a stall, stared at the shop keeper for a moment and bolted for it. The commotion was enough to split the crowd and distract people from their business, and my crew managed to sneak around relatively unnoticed." Tapping the rock he sat upon in thought, he glanced back down to Kai to try and gauge his reaction. "And apparently, as fast as I was, they could also outrun me. I lasted for a good while - until I saw this city in the distance. I couldn't believe how tall all the buildings were ... skyscrapers, reaching as far as the eye could see! It's really too hard to describe unless you see it for yourself, but with all the flashing lights and the absolute magnitude of that view, I just stopped. I forgot everythin' - the watch, the people chasin' me, the crew - everythin'. And I would've been absolutely done for by that point, if my crew hadn't shown up." He murmured finally. "They have a knack of timin' things absolutely right, see - pulled out guns on the men, but didn't actually shoot. They'd backed off by then. At that point, although I was good at stealin', I still found no use in keepin' the damn watch. So I shouted back, told them to wait, and threw it as hard as I could towards them. They looked so confused - God, Kai, if you'd have seen their faces ..." He trailed off after a moment, huffing softly to himself at the memory. "After that, it's all really just a blur - but that was only my first close call with the authorities in numerous different countries. I'm probably wanted dead, with all the things I've stolen in my time." The joke might not have been humorous to the merman, but he leaned back a little further, onto his elbows.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, eventually, smirking softly at the other's response to his own question. "Huh. That's weird - I'd never have guessed, if I'm honest. Fits you, though." He murmured, pulling himself upright a little more. "Alright, how about we put it to the test some day? Humans have puzzle books, where on every page, there's a different kind of scenario, or game - and you have to solve it, for lack of a better word." He explained with a dismissive gesture. "I'll fix you up with one of 'em someday." He suggested, raising an eyebrow in almost a challenge to the other. He heaved a sigh, smiling a little wider as he gauged the other's reaction.

[spicyskeleton]

kai tilted his head so that his cheek rest against his arms that kept him afloat on the rock, and lowered the rest of his body farther in the water, allowing it to engulf as much as him as he could. at sebastians words he smirked and crinkled his nose, "i bet they would lose their minds. im assuming most humans dont know that merfolk exist and if they saw one pop out of thin air- well, i would either be pursued with weapons or they would run in fear. maybe a mix of both." his eyes narrowed the more he spoke, realizing just how much he was hated, even if the humans didnt know it at the time. he recalled the time his parents had told him of humans- as a child he had never heard of such creatures that lived on land and he remembered being confused and fearful of something he did not understand; kai assumed it would be the same for humans even if they were adults and not a child. the unknown is scary and can be dealt with violence or fear, depending on the person, but from what he has seen and heard humans tend to be violent with what they do not understand. kai's voice of reason gave him a view to each side of the equation but even seeing the humans reasons on disliking his kind did nothing for his hatred of them and most likely never would. it was a stubborn battle between two species who live on earth but still manage to somehow live in two completely different worlds. "hmph. hopefully we never find out."

kai slowly lifted his head from the rock and pushed off of the rock in order to put some space between him and it. he kept one hand gripping the rock and allowed himself to float ontop of the water but stay close to the pirate so he could hear the others story. the waves gently crashed over his face repeatedly and he smiled at the gentle sensation and also at the pirates story that had just begun. he was interested as to the pirates background seeing that he had joined a pirate crew so early in life; where had he gone wrong? something awful must have happened in order for him to turn to a life of thievery and lying, but that was yet again something to discuss another day. kai chuckled at the thought of a small sebastian leaping from the ship and swimming to the shore in such excitement, that would be a sight for anyone to see. it also intrigued him that the pirates sent sebastian, the youngest and newest member out to steal things for them; that seemed like exploiting more than anything. he furrowed his eyebrows but continued to sit in silence and listen to the story, allowing himself to relax and let the humans voice take over. something was so nice, being able to sit and listen to the other without any need to speak or even move for him to acknowledge he was listening. kai wanted to know what it was like to be in a city apparently so pretty and large it brought a young boy to stop when being chased by other humans, but quickly retracted that wish; he could barely handle being around a handful of humans. after sebastian had finished his story kai floated in silence for a few more moments before sitting up and turning to look at the pirate. "remind me never to keep my valuables around me." he chuckled and moved closer to the rock as he spoke. "i do find it somewhat exploitative for them to send their youngest and scrawniest of the bunch to do their dirty work, but thats none of my business." he arched an eyebrow and propped himself up on his elbows. "you were right though, you are pretty good at telling stories. at first i thought 'how can someone be good at telling stories' but hey turns out you can be pretty damn good at it." he smiled at the pirate that had lowered himself to his elbows, bringing him closer to kai's eye level.

at the mention of human puzzle books kai's attention was grabbed. he had never tried a human puzzle and wondered if they were the same or different than merfolk puzzles- would he even be good at human puzzles? it was a good idea, to have a book with different assortments of puzzles but he also wondered why anyone would actually sit down and finish a book of riddles. "sounds like a blast." sarcasm laced his voice as he spoke, but kai was never one to deny a challenge or something he was good at. "but i would like to give human puzzles a try someday. a book filled with them seems convenient, really. dont know why we dont have those.."

[breadstick]

For the tiniest moment, Sebastian could sympathy for the merman edging into his emotions, with the consideration that if he was ever to be found out by the humans then he would most certainly have no future ahead of him. If he was lucky, he would be killed; but he could not deny that he was more likely to be forced into some more obscure future - something that the pirate, despite his hatred for merfolk, did not want to think about. If people were not aware of merfolk, and the mere idea scared them so much into denial - they would do anything and everything to learn as much as they could through any means possible. He shook his head softly, refusing to let his thoughts fester; that would never happen, on Sebastain’s watch, anyway. The merman was taking the situation relatively lightly - and maybe that was for the best - but the pirate could not help but let his original happiness deflate at the thoughts that had ensued. “I hope not,” He murmured softly, refraining from elaborating any further. “But if it does ...” The pirate involuntarily paused, considering the weight that lay behind the words that he was about to speak, the promise and commitment he was making to someone in a relatively vulnerable position, and the implications it might have for the merman - before realising that he did, truly, mean the words he was about to speak, and spoke them with as much conviction as he could muster. “... I’ll have your back.” He turned to Kai to stare at him with some intensity in his gaze; alike to determination, a promise, one that he fully intended to uphold beyond all that logically separated the two.

After the pirate had finished telling the story, having somewhat slipped into a state where he was aware of very little in his surroundings, including Kai’s reactions, the other’s voice had managed to drag him back into reality soon enough as he spoke alluding to the story Sebastian had told. Perhaps it was not the most joyous of stories, but it was something that he had been enthusiastic to tell him, considering it was so personal for him to detail. There was something so pleasant about telling such stories; it lulled him into a sense of security that very little else did, and allowed him some respite for even a few minutes as he spoke, unable to focus on anything but what he was saying and how to convey such things in his speech. It was a relatively welcome break from how alert he had become; with the same effect, there, as was usually present upon the pirate ship. Always alert, always watching, never relaxing - until those moments. He blinked as the other spoke, staying relatively quiet after his story, waiting to see what the other had thought. Of course the story would perhaps be a cause for some concern, after all, considering that he had spoken about thievery and his missions and duties as a pirate - a potentially touchy subject for Kai - but he did not seem relatively bothered. In fact, he had seemed somewhat gripped by the entire thing. Of course he had his qualms with the way pirate crews worked - Sebastian had thought much the same himself at the time, but it had simply become custom for them to expose the newest member of the crew to dangerous duties before they let them officially join the crew. It was a dangerous life - and if they couldn’t survive or handle the pressures that came as a result, they would not be suited to it. In response, the pirate merely shrugged; but smirked smugly at the praise he was given. “That’s just the way pirates work, I s’pose,” He answered, his tone thoughtful. “Think of it as like an initiation.” The pirate added after a moment of thought. “But I’m glad I meet your expectations at the very least. If you ever need somethin’ to wind down, I’m your man.” He murmured, gesturing to himself in a mockingly appraising attitude. “And by the way,” He added after a moment, tapping his fingers on the rock below him. “Your valuables are safe. For now.” The tease came with relative ease from the pirate as he raised an eyebrow in an almost mock challenge for the other to consider.

Sebastian could not help but laugh after the other spoke with so much sarcasm all but dripping from his voice, realising how out of the ordinary it might have seemed to the merman to have no purpose, or be simply just a human concept. He shrugged after a moment of laughing whole-heartedly, meeting Kai’s gaze as he shifted his position, with a challenging smirk. “I don’t know, either. Apparently they’re good to pass the time when you’re bored, or somethin’. Give it a shot, and see.” He murmured with another shrug, the smirk still tilting on his features as he hummed a little. “They might be completely different to merfolk puzzles, but I guess you’ll see some day.” He added, tilting his head to the side slightly in a curious manner; he was genuinely interested to see what the other did in the merfolk culture, and how he would find what humans did for entertainment - whether it would simply bore him or whether he would find any genuine sense of entertainment from it. He could only wait until the merman got his hands upon one of them - but until then, all he could do was wonder.