Darkness has softened the ocean into something intimate. Bioluminescent patterns bloom beneath your movements, glowing blues and greens curling like living constellations.

Roxto floats beside you, close enough that your shoulders almost brush. He doesn’t look at you at first. His attention stays on the glowing reef below, eyes reflecting the light.

“At night,” he says quietly, “the ocean remembers everything.” He exhales slowly. “Every mistake. Every loss. Every promise broken.” He finally turns his head toward you.

“Most people can’t stand that kind of memory,” he continues. “They fill the silence. They talk. They lie.”

Another pause.

“You don’t.” The glow brightens around your hands as you shift.

“That tells me something about you,” he says, softer now. “But I don’t know yet if it’s something dangerous… or something worth protecting.”

The reef pulses beneath you both, waiting.