S: *It's a peaceful day at the beach, a squirtle was sitting down in the sand near the ocean, just enjoying the sunshine without a care in the world*

L: Eventually, the squirtle isn't quite alone any more; a quadrupedal blue dragon walks along the beach toward the water, before stopping as they notice the squirtle. "Oh, hi! I don't usually see anyone on this beach."

S: *the squirtle was clearly surprised at the at the blue dragon, almost falling on his back*

"Whoa!! I-I didn't see you there! Hi..."

L: The dragon steps back a bit. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you! Not the best with first impressions sometimes... Anyway, my name's Blubby! Who are you?"

S: "I-its ok... nice to meet you bubbly, I'm Squirtle, although my nickname is Squirt"

L: "Alright, Squirt! I was just about to head for an underwater stroll, do you want to join me down there for a while?"

S: "Uhhh...." *squirt is clearly afraid, even tho he is a water type pokemon*

L: "...Not a big fan of water, huh? Are you too worried about needing air, or can you not swim? I can help with those, if you'd like."

S: "W-well, this is embarrassing, but even tho I'm a water type and are supposed to like water, i actually have a huge fear of it, and yes both of those things scare me very much so..."

L: "That's alright, you don't need to be able to swim to enjoy being underwater. I actually can't swim, myself, but I can hold in more air than anyone else, and I can give you some when you need it."

S: "What?? You serious?? I feel like it's scary not knowing how to swim and being underwater when you can't, that sounds impossible"

L: "...To be honest, it's rough sometimes, I always have to be careful not to go too far from some way for me to climb out. But, as long as you've got an air source - or can hold your breath a really long time - there isn't much to worry about."

S: "Hmmm... I guess your right... but I'm still pretty scared... I don't think I've really submerged underwater that much, or even at all..."

"Y-you sure you'll be able to help me?"

L: Blubby nods. "I can prove it right here, watch." He takes a deep breath, and as he exhales, a large bubble forms from his mouth, about the size of Squirt's head. "Whenever you need, I can blow out bubbles like this for you to breathe." The bubble slowly floats to the ground before popping.

S: *squirt is amazed*

"Holy cow!! That is incredible!"

"Alright alright... you've convinced me, I'll let you help me with my fears...a-and because I think you look kinda cute" *they blush softly*

L: Blubby's tail briefly wags. "Thanks! Alright, let's get going." He wades some distance into the water, stopping a bit before the point where he thinks the water would be up to Squirt's head. "Take your time, I know it's still probably not going to be easy."

S: *squirt gets very scared, and slowly follows blubby, as the water creeps up to his neck, he stops, unable to continue forward*

"Mama mia! I-i don't know if I can do this!"

L: "It's okay! Um... Here, climb onto me. We'll head under together." Blubby lays down so that Squirt will be able to easily get on, though that brings Blubby low enough that his head is underwater.

S: "Uhh... a-alright... come on squirt...be brave...be brave..." *he slowly climbs onto blubby, still pretty scared*

L: Blubby slowly stands up again and looks back at his rider. "Don't be afraid to squeeze me if you think it'll help. I can take it." He smiles and winks at them, before starting to slowly walk into deeper water.

S: *squirt softly smiles back at blubby, so thankful for his new friend, he holds onto blubby tight as he walks into much deeper water, trying not to get scared*

L: As the water starts going a little past Blubby's back, he looks back at Squirt again. "Alright, get ready to hold your breath. If you get too scared once we're under, start tapping on me and we'll head right back up, okay?" After saying that, Blubby starts inhaling a huge amount of air, far beyond what it seems like his lungs should be able to hold, making sure he'll have plenty of air to share in bubbles.

S: "O-oh boy.... I'll try my best...." *closing his eyes tightly, squirt takes a deep breath of air as well, making sure he had plenty*

L: Blubby finishes inhaling, puffing up his cheeks and keeping his walking pace. Soon enough, he and Squirt are submerged, tiny bubbles leaving their nostrils as the sound of waves gives way to the near-silence of the underwater environment.

S: *squirt's cheeks are puffed up with air as well, but as he looks around the underwater environment, he gets more scared, but no wanting to embress himself he remains silent, blowing more bubbles through his nostrils*

L: Knowing Squirt likely wouldn't enjoy going much deeper, Blubby stops where he is and lays down again, waiting for his rider to hopefully calm down some before going any farther.

S: *as squirt tries his hardest to calm down, more bubbles escape his nose and mouth, eventually it proves too much to this little guy, and he taps on blubby with shakey hands, wanting to get outta here*

L: Blubby quickly gets up and heads back for more shallow water, going faster than before but not to the point that it would be hard for Squirt to hold on. Just a few seconds after Blubby was first tapped, him and Squirt surface again, the dragon starting to let his tremendous amount of air back out. "Are you okay?"

S: *squirt gasps for air as if he held it for over 10 minutes, panting a bit*

"Oh I'm so sorry blubby...I tried to stay calm but I couldn't! I'm fine at least but it was too scary for me!"

L: "It's okay, I understand. Let's head back to shore for now while we figure something out..." Blubby continues walking back to dry-ish land, laying down once he gets there to let Squirt off.

S: *squirt gets off and sits next to blubby, very sad about chickening out, he even cries a little*

L: Blubby sits with Squirt and drapes his tail over their back. "It's gonna be alright, Squirt. And I think I know how you feel, there's things in water that scare me, too."

S: *he looks up at blubby teary eyed*

"There is?"

L: The dragon nods, and blushes. "I've been terrified of jellyfish my whole life. There were times when I was young where they scared me so bad I had to run all the way back to dry land to calm down."

S: "Oh r-really? Wow... I never knew, I mean jellyfish are pretty scary..."

L: "Yeah... Apparently I got caught up in a swarm of them once, when I was just a few years old. I don't even remember it happening, but I think that's why they scare me so much... Your fear of water, was that started by something too, or have you just always been that way?"

S: "Yeah...mine started by something... I don't remember what exactly happened, since I was very little at the time, but I got caught in a whirlpool, I know that, sucked me all the way to the bottom of the ocean, I was so scared and I didn't know what to do... i couldn't swim either, if it wasn't for another pokemon nearby I wouldn't be here"

L: "Jeez, that sounds awful... We should definitely stay out of the ocean for now, don't want to keep bringing back that memory. Just need to think about what we could do instead..." Blubby goes silent for a few seconds, then looks at Squirt again. "We need to start small. You've had baths before, right? Were you comfortable with those?"

S: "Yeah, it was fine, not too bad..."

L: "Then let's try less water. There's some tidepools nearby that might work for you." Blubby gets up and faces toward a more rocky section of the beach, waiting to lead Squirt there.

S: "Ok...I guess we can try that..." *squirt gets up as well*

L: The two soon arrive at the tidepools, and after a fairly quick search, Blubby finds one he thinks will work. "This should be good, here. Enough room for both of us, and just the right depth that you'll be fully under if you sit down and able to breathe if you stand."

S: "O-oh...ok then..."

*squirt fidgets a little still unsure if he'll be brave, but he wants to be brave for his new friend so he has to try*

L: Blubby steps into the tidepool, waiting for Squirt to do the same. "I'll be right beside you the whole time, and we're definitely going to be the only things in there."

S: "Alright.... I can do this..." *squirt carefully steps into the tidepool with blubby, trying his best not to freak out*

L: "Take your time, head under whenever you're ready." Blubby gets a huge breath like before, but doesn't go underwater yet, wanting to do so only as Squirt did.

S: *squirt nods and takes a few moments to get calm, taking a few deep calming breaths of air. Finally he sucks in one final deep breath, and very slowly goes underwater, waiting for blubby to join him*

L: Blubby lays down beside Squirt and gives them a reassuring smile, draping his tail along their back again and puffing some bubbles from his nostrils.

S: *trying to stay calm, squirt hugs his new friend tightly, puffing his little cheeks and blowing some bubbles through his nostrils*

L: The dragon hugs them back as best as he can, though not to the point that he'd be restricting them if they tried to move.

S: *squirt closes his eyes to relax, and slowly he's getting more calm*

*a few bubbles leaving his mouth now*

L: Blubby smiles as Squirt starts to relax, glad that things are going so much better than they did in the ocean itself.

S: *a gentle smile appears on squirt's face, starting to get more comfortable with the water, he opens his eyes to look at blubby and he wags his tail happily*

L: Happily nuzzling Squirt, Blubby lets out some more bubbles, blowing a couple larger ones along with them.

S: *squirt nuzzles blubby back and smiles, blowing more bubbles, however his face is already turning slightly red*

L: When Blubby pulls back, he notices Squirt getting a little low on breath, and he blows another big bubble, this time gently holding it against the bottom of the tidepool so Squirt can inhale it if they want.

S: *not wanting to risk drowning, he inhales a bit of the bubble to refresh himself*

*he nods to him as to say thank you*

L: Nodding back, Blubby presses down on what's left of the bubble, splitting it into several smaller ones that float to the surface.

S: *he goes back to relaxing*

L: Blubby fully lays down again, letting a few more bubbles loose and closing his eyes, confident that Squirt will be fine, at least for a while.

S: *a while goes by, bubbles escaping squirt's nose every so often, but now he starts to get a bit uncomfortable again*

L: Not yet noticing Squirt's strain, Blubby shifts to lay on his side, still relaxed but just starting to feel a bit of strain himself from all the bubbles he'd been blowing.

S: *squirt taps on blubby to get his attention about his strain*

L: Blubby adjusts again to look at Squirt, and blows another big bubble for them, once again holding it in place. Oddly, his horns have partly changed color; both now have a deep blue tint going from their base to about a fifth of the way to their tips.

S: *squirt notices his horn changing and gets confused, but he inhales the bubble to refresh himself*

L: Knowing that Squirt has seen his horns' color changing, he thinks for a moment, then tries his best to wordlessly explain what it means. He touches one of his claws to roughly where the blue part ends, then trails that claw up along the horn. As he does, he pretends to be under more and more strain, then when his claw reaches the horn's tip, he opens his mouth as if he were gasping, letting loose some bubbles.

S: *he's still confused, but goes along with it*

L: Blubby shrugs as best as a quadruped can, and tries to relax again, but is now fairly clearly having some trouble with his breath.

S: *squirt gets pretty concerned, maybe considering that both of us should surface*

L: Fully aware that this isn't the time for him to push himself, Blubby finally stands up so he can breathe, his exhalation audible below the water's surface.

S: *squirt also stands up and gasp for air*

L: Blubby smiles at Squirt again. "That went so much better! Oh, and, that thing with my horns, just to make sure you got it; that blue part goes up as I hold my breath, and once they're completely blue, I've hit my breath holding limit and have to breathe right then. Don't know why they're like that, but they've always been that way."

S: "Oh I see...well that felt pretty nice...I was mostly able to stay calm there"

L: "We should try a bigger tidepool next, one where we can't just stand up to get air. If you're up for that, of course, we've already made some good progress."

S: "Hmmm.... I guess we could try that next"

"I'm slowly getting comfortable with the water"

L: "I can tell, and I'm really happy with that!" Blubby leads Squirt to a different, much bigger tidepool. "Alright, this is the biggest one here, but that's still not saying a whole lot. About 7 feet deep, and plenty of room for you to practice walking underwater if you want. There's also a sloped section, so we can easily get back out."

S: "Walking underwater? I don't know about that..."

"Sorta wish to know how to actually swim, I don't think imma be one of those guys that can't swim...I wanna learn..."

L: "I mean... I can't swim either, so I'm gonna have trouble teaching you... Actually, might be able to at least do something." Blubby lays down and rolls onto his back. "It took me a long time to give up on ever swimming, so I do know something that might help." He starts kicking his legs in the air as if he were doing a dog-paddle. "Do you think you'd be able to copy this?"

S: "Ummm...."

"I guess I'll give it a try"

L: Blubby rights himself and stands back up. "It's not really the best method of swimming, but it's the most basic one I know. Make sure you get a good breath before you try, in case you sink."

S: "Ok...I will..."

*taking a good breath in, he moves into the water and tries the move that blubby showed him, surprisingly he managed to do it successfully, staying afloat in the water, his eyes go wide in disbelief*

"W-whoa! I think it's working!"

L: As Squirt manages to swim, Blubby sits on the edge of the pool and wags his tail. "That's it, you're doing great!"

S: "This is awesome!! Hehe..." *he floats around the pool happily*

"Blubby you really made me feel better about the water ^^"

L: "I'm really glad I could help so much! Do you want to try diving on your own? I'll still be watching, of course, but I get the feeling you'll be fine now." Blubby wades a bit into the water so he's about halfway under.

S: "Hmm...I'm a little nervous to go on my own...but I could most certainly give it a try, you would be watching me still"

L: "Yep, I'll be right over here. Just start waving if you need help." The dragon gets a deep breath once again, holding it and waiting for Squirt to go under.

S: *nodding in understanding, squirt takes a deep breath of air and slowly dives under, his cheeks puffed with air as tiny bubbles escape his nose*

L: Blubby lays down to get his head underwater and watch Squirt's dive. If they were to look over at him, he'd smile at them.

S: *squirt dives down further, feeling extra brave and so proud of himself, he gives a smile at blubby as he sees him dive under too*

L: The dragon wags his tail some more, happy that Squirt is doing so well in the water without needing him to be by their side.

S: *eventually, squirt comes over to blubby for a bit of company, his own tail wagging*

L: Blubby shuffles forward on the ground without getting his head above water, going deep enough that he can sit while still being fully submerged.

S: *squirt sits down next to blubby, bubbles escaping his nose as relaxes with his new friend*

L: Looking down at them, Blubby lets out some bubbles of his own and attempts to speak, but the bubbles that pour from his mouth when he tries render him incomprehensible.

S: *squirt tries to understand what blubby is saying, but can't quite make it out, so he stays silent*

L: Blubby just shrugs, giving up on talking underwater for now. He adjusts to lay down, blowing out a bubble as big as his head as he does.

S: *squirt lays down with him, nuzzling him as well with a smile*

L: The two relax together for some time, little bubbles occasionally leaving them. Eventually, Blubby taps Squirt to get their attention, gesturing for the surface to tell them he thinks it's about time to head back up.

S: *squirt agrees, and together they make there way back up to the surface*

L: Blubby exhales, not even slightly out of breath. "I was trying to say down there, I'm so proud of how brave you've gotten!"

S: *squirt exhales as well, panting a bit* "Awww thank you blubby! If it wasn't for your support I wouldn't have been so brave..."

L: "...So, now that you're more comfortable in water, and can swim... Do you feel like you're ready for the ocean? I think you are."

S: *squirt smirks playfully*

"Yknow what, I think I'm ready!"

"I'm ready to experience it!"

L: Blubby's tail wags again. "Awesome! Come on, let's go give it another try!" He starts leading Squirt back toward the ocean.

S: *squirt follows blubby, his own tail wagging in excitment*

"Now that I feel so brave, I'm actually really excited to try this again!"

L: "And I'm excited to watch you beat your fear!" They both start wading into the water once again, and even though Blubby is confident Squirt will be fine, he still keeps an eye on them.

(Yep, I'll be posting this! Keep in mind, in the future, I'll be assuming you'll be okay with me doing that. If you're ever not, let me know)

S: *squirt looks back at blubby with a big smile, ready to go*

"Alright! Let's do this!"

L: Blubby smiles at Squirt again, and nods. "Can't wait to show you around the seabed!" Once more, he takes the biggest breath he can, knowing he'll likely be giving Squirt quite a bit of air over their dive.

S: "I can't wait either!" *squirt takes a deep breath of air as well, taking in as much as he can*

L: Completely full on air, Blubby keeps walking to get himself underwater again, pausing there to wait for Squirt to dive down.

S: *squirt fills up on air too, and he dives underwater with blubby*

L: Blubby smiles at Squirt between his puffed cheeks, and resumes walking to get into deeper water.

S: *squirt smiles happily between his own puffed cheeks as he slowly swims alongside blubby, tiny bubbles escaping his nose*

L: Soon, the two are the deepest they'd been together yet, though Blubby takes it slow so Squirt can easily keep up. Up ahead, a reef becomes visible, still quite some distance away.

S: *squirt starts to get a little nervous that's he's pretty deep down, but his explorer spirit becomes stronger, and seeing the reef ahead male squirt smile more and wag his tail*

L: After about a minute, Blubby and Squirt reach the reef, a wide variety of fish swimming nearby, seemingly uncaring of the air-breathing visitors.

S: *squirt's eyes go wide at the reef, seemingly loving the view*

L: Blubby puffs some bubbles away and slowly strolls around the reef, taking in the sights.

S: *squirt swims alongside blubby, deciding to try walking on the bottom as well he sinks down and strolls along side blubby, looking around curiously*

L: Blubby smiles as he watches Squirt try out walking underwater. After a little while, a few fish that seem more brave than the others swim up to the two, seemingly to investigate.

S: *squirt gives them a friendly wave and smiles between his puffed cheeks at the fish*

L: Pausing his exploration for now, Blubby sits down to watch the fish swim around him and Squirt. One comes right up to his face, and he blows some bubbles, accidentally scaring it off as said bubbles brush against it.

S: *squirt sits next to blubby to watch as well, seeing the fish get scared he frowns*

L: Blubby frowns a bit as well, and focuses on not letting out more bubbles for now. Eventually, the remaining fish are either satisfied or bored, and swim off.

S: *squirt let's out a few bubbles as well, his face is starting to turn red*

L: As he gets up, Blubby notices Squirt starting to get low on breath, and blows out a big bubble for them to breathe. By this point, the dark blue tint is visible on his horns again, though it's only at their base for now.

S: *squirt sees the bubble and inhales a bit of it, their face back to normal, trying to say thank you but bubbles pour from their mouth and you can't really understand it*

L: Blubby assumes that Squirt is thanking him, and nods. After that, he decides to continue exploring the reef for a bit longer, but by now there isn't a whole lot of it left to see.

S: *squirt starts to get a bit bored, then points up with his finger asking to surface*

L: Blubby nods again and starts making his way back to shore, since he can't swim and needs to climb out.

S: *squirt immediately swims his way up to the surface, getting there quickly and gasping for air*

L: It was still going to be a while before Blubby would get back to the shore, and Squirt can see him walking along the bottom. Blubby does worry a bit that he's going rather far from Squirt while they're swimming, but he hopes it'll be fine.

S: *squirt is being patient, waiting for his friend to surface, for now he gently floats on the surface*

L: Eventually, Blubby gets onto the shore, releasing his breath as he surfaces.

S: *squirt sees blubby and waves at him*

"There you are!"

L: "Hi! Maybe you should've followed me! How come you wanted to surface?"

S: "Sorry about that...I was kinda eager for fresh air😅"

"A little too eager..." *he giggles nervously*

L: Blubby chuckles a bit. "Oh, you just wanted air that was more fresh than my bubbles! That's fair, and you should get used to not having an air source underwater anyway."

S: "Heh, yeah... that was pretty fun tho, I just wish is was a little bit more exciting..."

L: "Hmm... Maybe we could push our breath holding limits together, and see how long we can go before surfacing? In more shallow water, of course, and I'll have my lungs mostly empty."

S: "Hmmm.... that does sound pretty daring, and I've never really done that before"

"But I don't wanna risk drowning..."

L: "We could go back to that first tidepool and do it there, then all you'd have to do would be stand up. Nothing's stopping us from holding our breath on land, too, if that's not enough."

S: "I guess the first tidepool is ok"

"I'll try it..."

L: "If it comes to it, I do have some experience helping in the recovery of people who inhale water. I'm sure we won't have to worry about that, though!" Blubby leads Squirt to the tidepool.

S: "Yeah, i-i don't wanna push myself too far..."

"But if it's with you, I'll do it!"

L: Blubby steps into the tidepool. "Here's a little trick for you that might help you last longer: Take a few deep breaths before going under, not just one. It'll clear out more of the carbon dioxide in your lungs, which is what causes that feeling of needing to breathe."

S: *squirt does too*

"Oh okay! I'll try that!"

*squirt takes in multiple deep breathes, trying to relax his body*

L: Blubby watches Squirt's breathing, then when he thinks they're ready, inhales an amount that he believes will let him hold his breath a comparable amount of time to his friend, and lays down to submerge.

S: *squirt sits down as his little body is now submerged, puffing his cheeks up, and this time pinching his nose shut to hold more air in*

L: The dragon relaxes as much as he can, and after seeing Squirt holding their nose, lays a paw over his nostrils to keep from losing bubbles.

S: *squirt looks at the dragon trying to hold his nose shut and couldn't help but giggle slightly, tiny bubbles escaping his mouth*

L: Blubby smiles at Squirt, just imagining how silly he must look, as if he were ineffectually trying to hide from something above the water.

S: *squirt smiles back warmly at the dragon, then adjusts himself to stay comfortable, closing his eyes*

L: Blubby closes his eyes as well, waiting for either him or Squirt to have any sign of needing to breathe.

S: *this goes on for a while, nothing really happens, the occasional bubble escaping both of them*

L: Slowly, Blubby begins feeling an urge to breathe. He tries to ignore it, staying still to save his limited oxygen, and is still fairly relaxed for now, but his horns now have a blue tint near their base again.

S: *squirt is also beginning to have an urge to breathe, he tries to ignore it as well, he's still a bit relaxed*

L: It's inevitable that the two won't be able to relax any more, and that time eventually comes. Blubby shifts a bit in discomfort, occasional grunting now audible due to his slowly growing strain.

S: *squirt is shifting around as well, a faint grunt can be heard as more bubbles escape his mouth, he still keeps his nose pinched shut*

L: Blubby opens an eye to check on Squirt, a few tiny bubbles leaving his lips. He starts to blush from strain, and the blue tint on his horns is about a third of the way up them.

S: *squirt also opens an eye to check on blubby, he blushes from the strain of his lungs as well, he gets extremely uncomfortable and is not sure if he should keep pushing*

L: Blubby squirms his way to Squirt's side without getting up, giving them a reassuring - if somewhat nervous - smile, and patting their back with his free front paw.

S: *squirt whimpers, his face growing more red as bubbles keep escaping, he tries to smile back but is too focused on his breath, even slightly getting scared*

L: With a bit more squirming, Blubby cuddles up to Squirt to hopefully help keep them calm. He whines a bit as well, though, and the blue on his horns passes the halfway point.

S: *squirt cuddles blubby back tightly, still very scared, he whines as well, his face now blue, he taps on blubby wanting to go back up and not risk drowning*

L: Accepting that Squirt wants to stop, and that he'd miscalculated on how much air he himself should've held, Blubby lets go of Squirt and nudges them upward with his muzzle.

S: *seeing blubby struggling himself, he wonders if he's gonna come up too, but for now he stands up and gasps heavily for air*

"Hah....hah....hah..omg!!! I've never held my breath that long!"

"I hope blubby is ok..."

L: Blubby gets up, but no gasp happens; he simply continues to hold his breath. Giving Squirt a nervous smile, he speaks just a little, quite some strain audible in his voice as he uses only a minimal amount of air. "G-good work...I-I'm gonna...Keep going...I-if that's okay." He steps out of the tidepool and lays down on the ground.

S: "Whoa...um, ok then?" *squirt was clearly concerned, but decides to go along with it*

"Don't push yourself too hard"

*a while passes by*

L: Eventually, as Blubby's horns go nearly entirely blue, he finally gasps for a whole 5 seconds straight, the blue on his horns starting to visibly move back down. Slowly, he catches his breath, and eventually manages to say "S-sorry if I scared you... J-just wanted to go a while longer..."

S: "It's fine...I guess"

L: Blubby's breathing slowly calms, and his horns return to normal as he stands up. "I couldn't really say it before, but that was a pretty impressive time for having the surface so close!"

S: "Y-you really think so? Wow thanks! I don't even know how long I stayed down there!"

L: "It's especially hard to keep yourself from surfacing when air is so close, and you were even getting to the point you were turning blue! You've got quite some willpower, I have to say."

S: "I was turning blue?? Yikes! I really pushed myself then!"

"You did good too!"

L: "Thanks! It's rare that I end up struggling like that, so I'm not very good at handling it. Now, it's getting a bit late, so... What do you say we head back in the ocean for a while, and watch the sunset underwater?"

S: "Oooh! Good idea!"

"I've never got to experience it"

L: "It's an incredible sight, just wait." Blubby goes back to the shore with Squirt, preparing for what would likely be today's last dive.

S: *squirt prepares himself for the dive, he wags his tail excitingly*

"I look forward to this then!"

L: With his lungs completely full, Blubby wades into the water and submerges, continuing to walk along the bottom.

S: *squirt's lungs get full as well and he dives underwater with blubby, swimming next to him*

L: They continue along the seabed until Blubby decides he's found a good spot, and he sits down, patting the sand next to him to indicate for Squirt to sit as well.

S: *with a big smile on his face, squirt happily sits down next to blubby, he puffs his cheeks up a bit as small bubbles escapes his nose*

L: Blubby drapes his tail across Squirt's back and smiles at him, then looks up to watch the sunset. It's just as amazing as Blubby said, the reddish-orange light sparkling off the underside of the waves above and even their bubbles as they float away.

S: *as squirt softly nuzzles blubby he looks up at the sunset with him, he couldn't believe how beautiful it was down here, this made him wag his tail and smile even more, more bubbles escaping his nose*

L: Some time passes as the two watch, Blubby uncaring of his eventual need to breathe as he knew he could easily last the whole sunset. It actually slips his mind that Squirt can't hold his breath anywhere near as long as he can.

S: *and of course in that same moment, squirt starts to get uncomfortable, shifting around as he blushes on strain, without even thinking, he pushes himself up to the surface, gasping for air and panting a bit*

*squirt hoped that blubby saw him go up*

L: Blubby watches Squirt swim up to the surface, understanding that they preferred fresh air over his bubbles. Just after, though, he hears a rumbling nearby... and a crack opens in the seabed, a large whirlpool forming and sucking Squirt down!

S: *squirt gets very scared as he sees the whirlpool, screaming in fear as the whirlpool drags him back under with ease, not even having any time to take a deep breath*

L: While he'd initially paid the whirlpool no mind, Blubby hears Squirt's scream and nearly gasps, watching them be pulled down. "SQUIRT!". He yells loud enough to overpower the bubbles flying from his mouth as he scrambles to his feet and runs to where he thinks they'll end up on the seabed, gripping the sand with his claws to keep from slipping.

S: *as the whirlpool helplessly drags squirt down, he covers his mouth with hands to try and preserve his air, his face already red, eventually they touch the bottom of the seabed, but the place blubby thought he was at was incorrect, he's actually much further away then he thought*

L: Blubby quickly turns, slipping on the sand for a moment before correcting himself, and continuing to run for Squirt. "Hang on, I'm coming!" While he wasn't sure Squirt would understand him, Blubby had to at least try to help keep them calm until he'd get there.

S: *he's farther from squirt then expected, meanwhile squirt starts to cry in fear, keeping his mouth as tightly shut as possible, bubbles still escaping from his anxiety, he's too scared to move and just sits down, waiting for his friend to come save him*

L: After a frustratingly long time, Blubby gets close enough to feel the pull of the whirlpool. Crouching down to minimize the intense current's effect, he carefully continues toward Squirt, tightly gripping the sand as the bubbles coming from his nostrils are pulled almost sideways away from him. He hates how slow he's going, but he'd risk getting caught himself if he went any faster.

S: *squirt tightly shuts his eyes as his face turns more red, his heart pounding from the anxiety he's feeling, he hopes blubby is almost here*

L: Finally, Blubby reaches Squirt, and doesn't hesitate to grab them and pull them to his chest, before awkwardly walking with just three legs to get out of the whirlpool's influence. While he wants to give them air, he knows the current will just pull away any bubbles he blows before Squirt can breathe them.

S: *squirt opens his eyes and sees his friend, he sighs in relief, but now his face is turning blue! He keeps his mouth covered as blubby pulls him along*

L: Blubby glances at Squirt's face, and his determined expression briefly falters as he sees them starting to turn blue. He tries to quicken his pace a bit, and while he's still going fairly slowly, it won't be much longer until he and Squirt are far enough from the whirlpool for movement to be easy again.

S: *squirt tries his best to hold on till then, but as his face turns more blue he starts getting worried, bubbles escaping him even tho hes shutting his mouth tight*

L: Finally, the two get far enough that they're out of the whirlpool's influence. Blubby sets Squirt down and immediately blows an even bigger bubble than he usually gave to them, and pushes it toward their face.

S: *seeing the life giving bubble, he grabs it with his tiny hands and inhales all of it, his face returning to normal thankfully*

*but now he wants to get outta here as soon as possible, he's looking up at the surface*

L: Blubby pulls Squirt onto his back and starts making for the shore, knowing that just being on the surface almost certainly wouldn't be enough for Squirt to calm down after that.

S: *squirt holds onto blubby's back, trying his best to calm down after all that, he's still very scared, but is a bit calm since he is underwater*

L: Soon, they both reach the surface, though Blubby keeps going until he leaves the water entirely, his heart still pounding from the adrenaline slowly wearing off. "A-are you okay?"

S: *squirt gasps for air, fear still on his face*

"I'm ok now, but mama mia that was scary!!!"

"I can't believe this ocean thought it would be a good idea to bring a whirlpool here!!😰"

L: Blubby lets Squirt off him. "Those are SO rare, that's the second one I've ever seen! I really hope that you're still okay with water, and that didn't just undo all our progress..."

S: "Well, i definitely won't be around water for a while, but I think I'll be ok after I spend a few days away from it"

L: The dragon sighs in relief, and sits down. "I'd want a break after something like that, too. At least we're not back where we started."

S: "Yeah me too... it's getting late tho, I should probably get going back home anyways, today was a great day despite that whirlpool I had a great time! Your the bestest friend this little guy could ask for!"

L: "I had a lot of fun, too! Next time we meet up, I bet you'll be way better at swimming, and maybe even at holding your breath, too!" Blubby happily nuzzles Squirt one last time.

S: *squirt happily nuzzles blubby back, even giving him a tiny kiss*

"Maybe! I don't know! Hehe!"

L: Blubby blushes as Squirt kisses him. "W-well, um... See you again sometime!" With that, Blubby walks off, roughly in the direction he'd come from when he'd arrived at the beach earlier.

S: *squirt also walks off back to his home in another direction, happy that he faced his fears successfully*

(The end!)