The Lore Wain and Her Nephew Pt. 56

After arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Nibble was jump-scared by Zarabean, who was playing Hide and Squeeblin with the kids. He jumped out from behind a beam at the lizard man.

"GAH!" Nibble flinched before realizing who it was based on the snickering. "Zarabean! Again with the ssscaring me!"

Zarabean continued snickering. "Sorry. Did you want to join us in Cy's little game? It's actually turning out quite fun..."

Nibble settled down from his jump-scare and shook his head. "Naaah... but thanksss for the invite. Imma laying down."

"Really?" Zarabean asked with concern. He wasn't used to Nibble turning down a game. "Are you still tired from last night?"

"... Yeah" Nibble replied unconvincingly with averted eyes.

Zarabean stared at Nibble for a moment before sighing. "Well, Zarabean will try and be quiet- he'll let the children know."

"Aw, Bean. Don't make me feel bad with your third perssson talk. Trussst me. I'll be fine." Nibble reassured his ridgerunner friend, knowing Bean's shift into third person was activated by his own strange behavior.

"... Alright..." Zarabean replied before forcing a smile. "Get some rest."

Nibble looked back at Bean for a moment before walking into the large cabin to get some rest.

With more scratching and clicking from his fangy toenails, Nibble made his way over to his sling, still feeling rather troubled.

"Sleeping has got to help." He thought, his internal voice not hissing as he would audibly. Nibble pulled himself into his hammock and laid on his back to stare at the ceiling. "I need this to wear off so I can get back to normal." He closed his eyes.

Despite the children's laughing, occasional shouting, and Zarabean's shushing in the other area of the lower deck, Nibble managed to drift off into a deep sleep and began to dream.

-

"Once we get this orphanage set up, we should really take a holiday." A man's voice bounced inside Nibble's head with a strange familiarity as a face came into view.

The man was lean and sitting on top of a boulder, wiping his brow with his forearm. His hair was light brown, short, and his bangs shifted to the side when he wiped his swear away. What was weird to Nibble is that the man seemed to be talking to him but was looking past him like he wasn't even there.

"Where do you want to go, ------? I was thinking The Hollows would be nice." The man asked, the last part of his question sounding too distorted to make out.

Another man answered from behind Nibble. "Ha... You know, I haven't really thought about it... I kind of feel like my work is here."

When Nibble heard the other man, he tried to turn to look to see who it was but found it very difficult to do so. It was like his feet were stuck in cement and wouldn't let him turn around.

"Weird." Nibble thought as he stopped trying and just decided to listen in on the conversation, starting to become aware he was dreaming.

"I mean, it is meanful work what you're doing here for the kids but didn't you used to be a sailor in your teen years? Don't you just want to smell that sea air again?" The man in front of Nibble asked.

------ chuckled. "Yeah- to both of those questions. I worked on the ship with my father up until he passed away..." His laughter faded. "But... I haven't been on a ship in some years... I doubt I would be of much use to sail now."

The man in front of Nibble slapped his knee and laughed. "Please!" He scoffed. "You're a jack of all trades, ------. If you can't remember how to fix the sails, just be our look out. There's no doubt you have the best sight in Skree- I haven't known any man that can spot a thwap from twenty miles away."

"Amateur." Nibble thought as he chuckled. "Try thirty miles away."

"You please!" ------ scoffed. "Anyone can see far enough if they have a good vantage point."

"Not something that small." The man in front of Nibble argued.

"You can, if it's moving." ------ argued back.

"But I've known you to see something ridiculously small from afar that I'm pretty sure was moving." The man in front of Nibble rebuttaled.

"Only because I was up high." ------ rebuttaled back.

"------, just take a compliment! You're driving me crazy." The man in front of Nibble exclaimed, a little exasperated by his friend.

------ laughed at his friend's exasperation. "Fine, fine! Okay. Thank you. Is that better?"

"... Maybe I'd feel better if you just picked a place a vacation spot." The man in front of Nibble replied with a goofy looking pout.

"I told you, my work is here." ------ replied, sounding oddly stern for how much he bantered seconds prior.

"What's with this guy reluctance to take a break?" Nibble thought curiously.

"I'm not saying to quit your job but you don't take enough time to rest." The man in front of Nibble paused. "How about you just think about it? I have my ship if you change your mind at any time."

"No promises." ------ answered.

"Hey, what are you two arguing about now?" A woman's voice entered the dream, weaving through the air like silk- Nibble felt his heart flutter but he didn't know why.

A young woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes walked up behind the man in front of Nibble with her hands tauntingly on her hips.

"I can hear your banter from inside." She said with a smile on her face.

"Maybe because I haven't installed the walls yet." ------ replied with a chuckle.

The woman giggled in response. "Speaking of which, are you two done with your break yet or do I need to ask the children to pelt you both with water balloons again?"

"Please." ------ begged and laughed again. "It was fun last time."

"...I thought the water was a bit cold myself..." The man in front of Nibble scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"... Telling her that just makes you a target, James." ------ snickered some more.

The name 'James' struck Nibble as very familiar but he couldn't place exactly why that was. "James... James... Did I ever know a James?" Nibble thought. "Isn't that a common human name...?"

"You bet. You're our new target, Sir James." The woman snickered like an adorable gremlin and rubbed her hands together.

"Heh, I like her." Nibble's thoughts shifted back to the crafty woman, snickering to himself.

James shivered at her laughter. "Sylvia- who's watching those children now anyway-"

"No escape now!" A child's voice shouted from an overhead tree.

"AH!" James shouted. "Not on my new shirt! It was only just finished today!"

The laughter of Sylvia, the children and ------ were heard as James was pelted with homemade water balloons from above.

When the voices began to echo as the beginning of the dream, Nibble knew he was waking up. He felt a sudden and strange urge to turn around and get a look at the man who had the distorted name. He didn't know why but something was telling him that he needed to know who it was because it felt so familiar to him.

With great difficulty as Nibble's dream began to fade, Nibble managed to turn around. Despite this, the man behind him was so visibly distorted that Nibble couldn't even make out details right in front of him.

However, just as Nibble was right about to wake up, he got a very small glimpse of the man's eyes- the most rich brown eyes he had ever seen.