This was the third day that Subier had seen Mariah slip off toward the same submerged cove and while it was nothing new to see her diving, he had no idea what she'd found. Of course, he'd been more concerned with hunting a few tasty meals, both for himself and for everyone else who'd come to the sea.

Subier swam a few lazy circles, stretching and letting the current pull him along. He didn't want to startle Mariah, after all. They'd had enough misunderstandings in the past and there was no need for any others. (Besides, he had better things to do with his tentacles anyway.)

He'd just have to wait for her to surface and see what she'd found. But if she stayed down too long...

She was still human, despite her skill and her magic. He was a demon and couldn't remember the last time he needed to go up for air.

Oh, there she was, net trailing and full, swimming quickly upward.

Subier followed, making sure she saw him. He was not expecting her smile.

"I'll share if you help," Mariah said after her first breath of fresh air. She reached down and pulled up her net while treading water, showing off a fine haul of oysters. They'd be a nice snack, Subier supposed...

"Since you've been good."

"Mostly," Subier replied. He grinned and followed her to shore, shaking himself off tentacle by tentacle once he reached dry sand. It wouldn't help, it never did.

Mariah had buckets and tools waiting, but Subier didn't need those. He had his nails and hands; no mere oyster would defeat him.

"For you." Mariah handed him the first oyster from her net and he took it, making quick work of opening it and-

Subier supposed he should have expected it, given Mariah's repeated dives. But when the quick cut made with one of his nails revealed a fat blue pearl, Subier said a couple of words he hoped were too archaic for Mariah to completely understand.

Her look suggested she understood entirely. But she nodded.

"All of them, so far."

Three trips, three nets, and Subier knew Mariah wouldn't take more than what the sea could lose. Mariah looked at him for a long moment, and Subier nodded. She was trusting him with her ungathered treasure as well.

After that, they worked quietly, and Subier only claimed four of the pearls for himself in the end- two to trade, one for himself, and one to give a certain Grave Knight as a reward for showing up for his daily swimming lesson later. The oysters were the tastier prize, though he wished for a bottle of anything to go with them.

"Tomorrow?" Mariah asked as she gathered up her buckets, once they'd finished. Subier reached with a couple of his tentacles- he could carry them for her with ease.

"Eh..."

He didn't need the gorgeous blue pearls or the fresh oysters and Mariah didn't need the help, but...

"Sure, why not."