"You did ask me what the stories were like elsewhere. I was just explaining why they developed the way they did." Waver offered the information plainly rather than trying to mount it as a defense. "And I do know there are plenty of divers back home who'd agree with your poetry. Perhaps they'd add to it, and you could have an entire epic of praises to the sea."

That wasn't sarcasm either, that was a suggestion. Waver turned so that his rear was leaning on the rail, his elbows as well, face directed to the other side of the horizon.

"That's a lot of petted sharks for a lifetime," he said with a grin.