Over his time on the island, Sandor's beard tried to grow long on the unburned half of his face. He never much liked having a long beard or much of a beard at all because it only grew on half of his face. He tried to shave with his dirk a few times but only ended up nicking his skin almost to pieces. He had to settle for shearing it as close to his skin as he could. It itched terribly at first, but he grew used to it over time.

Sansa was fascinated by it. She said mer grew scales on their body, not hair. He'd never noticed before, but when she said that he noticed that she had no eyelashes. He didn't know quite how to feel about knowing that. Still, Sansa felt the hair on his face and tugged at it. She even asked if human women grew beards too.

Sansa slept mostly on the island with him now, in her little pool that they made together. He slept under his lean-to, covered in fabrics he patched together into a blanket. She suffered from nightmares most nights. Sometimes, she'd wake with a whimper and a splash, and breathe hard until she fell asleep again. Other times she'd wake and cry quietly.

It tore at his soul. He wanted to help her. He wanted to hold her and tell her that everything would be okay, and not be lying. Lies disguised as sweet whispers wouldn't take away her pain. Tender touches and kisses wouldn't either. So he lay beneath his blanket and pretended to sleep when she was crying behind him. Sometimes he had to shift and paw away his own tears.

He felt useless.

She grew increasingly afraid to enter the open ocean. She would not tell him why, but he could guess. Whoever was trying to find her was getting close. He had a sharpened stick for spearing fish, and one good sword for emergencies.

She liked to put on the brave face, though. She was good at that. She only took it off at night when she thought he was asleep. During the day, she seemed untroubled. He knew better, because he knew the same bitter feeling.

One night, he was surprised when she crawled under his blanket with him instead of going to her pool.

"Might I stay with you for a while?" She asked. "It's nice to be near someone else."

"I want to help you." He said to her, unable to hold it in anymore. "I know you have nightmares. If there's anything-"

"You're already helping me." She interrupts. "You're my friend."

"But I've done nothing."

She smiled. "You dug me trenches to keep me from drying out. You made me a pool. You pick the fruits from your trees and share them with me. You make me laugh sometimes, and smile even more."

"None of that means anything." He rasped.

"All of that means everything." She tucked her head into his shoulder and something foolish pulsed through his veins. He found her jaw with his hand and drew her back up and kissed her before she could say another word.

Her lips tasted salty, and the saliva in her mouth was thicker than his. He kissed her harder anyway because he needed to. Her hands found his shoulders and her fingernails dug in, but she was pulling him closer. Suddenly he needed to see the look on her face, he needed to know, and he couldn't do that unless he pulled away so he did.

She was pretty as always, but more flushed and wide-eyed. Her gills fluttered nervously at the sides of her neck.

"You care for me." It wasn't a question, so he didn't answer it. "Kiss me again." So he did. Her tongue rubbed against his, and he ignored the taste of salt in his mouth. He had never expected to kiss a woman like this in his life. Her fingers rubbed lightly on his shoulders, enough to barely feel it, but it made him tense with want anyhow. He pulled away from her completely.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"I'm only tired." It was a lie, but he did not know what else to say.

"You're acting like I've injured you."

"You haven't."

She shoved herself closer to him, looking at his face. Irritated, he decided to shock her a bit. He gave a light tug to the cloths on her chest. "Do you even have breasts under there?"

She looked down as if noticing for the first time. "Well, yes, of course. Is that what's bothering you?" She was laughing now. "Does it bother you that I'm a woman?" She was teasing again. "What about you? Do you keep fins and scales hidden under here?" Her hand brushed the front of his breeches and he jerked her hand away.

"Don't do that." He warned.

"Do you have an injury there? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Not an injury, just don't do it."

Her eyes got wide and her cheeks grew bright red. "Oh." She looked away. Then her hand darted down the front of his breeches and gripped his cock before he could pull her hand away again. He froze, and her fingers ran over him, feeling. "It's different, but the same." Her whole hand gripped him, and he was surprised at how thorough she was when she pulled up and then back down. "How is that?"

He groaned into her hair as a response and she laughed, but it wasn't mocking like before. Her hand was warm and slick like it always was, and he found himself unwinding a lot quicker than he wanted to. He ran his own hands up her stomach and under whatever it was that covered her. She wasn't lying, she did have breasts. They were small and he tried to be gentle as he touched her in return.

Soon he was breathing raggedly into her hair. He released with a grunt and a short jerk of his hips, and she watched his face the whole time. She removed her hand and rubbed it against his blanket, and gave him a short kiss on the cheek. "You make strange noises."

"How do I…" He didn't know what to say. "Would you like me to do something for you too?"

"Oh, you couldn't." She smiled. "I mean, it wouldn't really work if you tried to do the same for me. I'm not entirely sure how it works myself. I've never had much of a chance to learn." She was quiet for a moment. "I know what you can do."

"Tell me."

So she took him over to her pool, and they lay in it together. The water was lukewarm and comfortable in the chilled air of the night. She settled herself in his lap and showed him what to do. He cupped water in his hands and brought them over her gills on her neck, pouring the water over and letting his fingers touch lightly like she showed him. She shuddered and relaxed in his arms. He kept on, pouring water over one side of her neck and then the other. Her eyes closed and she made a low trilling noise in the back of her throat.

She fell asleep eventually. Her arms were curled over his shoulders, and his legs were asleep, but he was too comfortable to move. She had tried to sleep on land with him many times to keep him company. He decided to try to sleep in the water with her. He brought water over her gills one last time, and she sighed in her sleep, before he wrapped his arms around her and slept himself.

She had no nightmares that night.