not a stranger here

The flickers of amusement that ghosted so faintly through the Attuned bond were as good as a white flag from a lesser man, and the dragon hummed happily, magnanimous in victory. Enough... for today, he consented. Though when they would have another interlude like this, peaceful and restful, without the weight of worlds dragging them under was anyone's guess.

And their conversation took an unintended darker turn soon enough, one Jigano tried to shake loose by taking the literal plunge - at least of his head. Everything seemed to be going well at first, until a series of waves from an unexpected direction rocked against him and he jerked his head up, snorting as his paddling picked up pace to keep himself upright. He looked around for the source of the disturbance but soon enough realized that the one rocking the dragonboat was an unrepentant General who moved with enviable ease through the ocean's domain.

The mood had shifted, but Jigano had no intention of letting either of them sink too far into the worries that were their usual hallmarks. Ducking his head down once more to keep Deimos in sight he called upon a brightly colored fish a little smaller than his hand to swim after the submerged soldier and try to wriggle up against the bottom of his bared foot to nibble at unprotected toes.