Sandy was hovering above the ocean when Jack finally found him. Sandy, who'd apparently been napping, opened a sleepy eye as Jack came near and patted the sand of his cloud, inviting Jack to join him.
"Surprised you'd want me on there, after the last few months," Jack said softly as he settled on the dream sand. Sandy opened both eyes at that, looking at Jack quizzically.
"Yeah, um...I have a couple of things to tell you," Jack admitted, taking another deep breath before launching into his story a third time.
Sandy listened attentively, sitting next to Jack on the cloud and letting him get the whole thing out. By the time Jack had finished, they were coming close to a city.
Sandy patted Jack's hand, pointing towards the city, and Jack wiped at his eyes. "Yeah, do your thing," he said, still scrubbing at his face.
A rope of dreamsand snuck around around Jack's waist, tugging him back down to the cloud when he started to stand. Jack looked up at Sandy in shock, to see him form shapes in dreamsand that were pretty easy to interpret.
Stay put. We're not done.
The rope dissolved when Jack nodded, curling around his staff. Sandy smiled at him reassuringly before turning to send out dreams.
An extra stream wound towards Jack, and with a fond smile he reached out to run his hands through the stream the way he had on so many lonely nights.
Maybe it was an accident, maybe it was Jack's already fragile emotional state from going through his story three times in a row and knowing there was another ahead of him, but whatever the reason, when Jack's fingers brushed through the sand they left a trail of frost in their wake.
The dolphin that formed from the sand wore the frost in a delicate tracery over its body, jumping and dancing in the air as Jack panicked.
Sandy turned, attention drawn by Jack's startled flailing. An exclamation point appeared over his head and he reached for the dolphin, still twirling happily just out of Jack's reach.
Sandy paused in his chase of the dolphin to pat Jack on the head, waiting until Jack looked at him to send up sand symbols to try and explain that he wasn't upset, just curious.
Jack didn't look fully convinced but he did take a few deep breaths, willing himself to calm down as Sandy gently netted the dolphin.
Once Sandy had the dolphin in his hands, curiosity won over worry and Jack scrambled over the cloud for a closer look.
"That's never happened before," he muttered as he and Sandy examined the sand and frost creation. "I've got better control over my frost than that."
Sandy gave it a little poke, peering closely at it, and a lightbulb appeared over his head. The flurry of symbols over his head were fast, too fast for Jack to follow despite a year's practice as Sandy 'spoke' faster and faster in his excitement.
Reassured by the cheerful images and beaming smile on Sandy's face, Jack laughed. "Hey, slow down, would you? I can't understand you when you go that fast."
Sandy was still dancing lightly in place, letting the dolphin slide into Jack's hands as he repeated himself, slower this time. Snowflakes and dream sand swirled past, Jack's eyes widening as he took in just what Sandy was saying, looking between the dream weaver and the dolphin in his arms in wonder.
