A Pillow for a God

Arista sat back from her bedding calculations, a soft, unexpected smile spreading across her face.

"...We should make one for Squishy."

Bram glanced up. "...A pillow?"

"Why not? He's the reason we ever got that close to three hundred meters in the first place, protecting the submarine from that sea serpent long enough for us to discover what the pressure did to the material. He doesn't have the same depth limitations we do. He could just hold a block of cloud material himself, keep it at proper depth, and watch it expand firsthand."

Claire considered the logistics. "...How large were you thinking? The cage sample was modest, sized for careful measurement. Squishy's far larger than any of us."

Arista grinned, already sketching the scale. "Seven meters to a side, maybe more. Something that actually matches his own size once fully expanded. Twenty times the original volume means a cube that size balloons into something massive, close to twenty meters across once it's done. Proportionate for a kraken his scale."

Bram whistled low. "...A twenty-times-expanded seven-meter cube is going to be enormous."

"That's rather the point," Arista said, delighted. "He deserves something sized properly for him, not some modest human-scaled cushion that would look almost comedically small in his grip."

They didn't need to harvest anything fresh. Between the widened tunnel entrance and the separate opening cut for the roller coaster track's own drop, the Celestial anchor's construction had already produced far more excavated cloud material than they'd ever found a use for, sitting compacted in storage since that whole project wrapped up. Arista had it hauled out and compressed together into a single, solid block, seven meters to a side, ready within a single afternoon.

Selen, present for the delivery, explained the concept to him.

"...This is a gift," she told him, gesturing toward the solid, unremarkable cube of cloud material now resting on Nettle's deck. "They wish for you to take it down to your usual depths and hold it there. Something will happen to it, given time. Something they believe you will enjoy discovering."

Squishy's rings pulsed with immediate, curious interest, one tentacle already reaching to gather the block carefully, examining its plain, unassuming surface.

"...They say it will change," Selen continued, relaying whatever additional detail passed between them. "Grow. Become soft instead of springy, if you simply hold it long enough at sufficient depth."

Squishy's eye tracked toward Arista on Nettle's deck, and something in his posture shifted, the eager, barely contained anticipation he'd shown facing the Rubik's cube for the very first time.

"...He's ready," Arista said, grinning, watching him gather the block and begin his descent toward his usual, deep resting waters.

They didn't have long to wait.

Barely an hour later, the water above Squishy's territory erupted.

Nettle, keeping the boat anchored nearby out of pure curiosity, was the first to spot it, a massive shape breaching the surface with tremendous force, water cascading off it in every direction, catching the light for one suspended, impossible moment before gravity reclaimed it and it crashed back down in an enormous plume of spray.

"...WHAT WAS THAT," Bram shouted, already scrambling toward the railing.

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Arista was right behind him, staring at the settling waves, heart pounding. "...Was that Squishy?"

"That was not Squishy," Claire said, gripping the rail. "That was far too pale to be Squishy."

The water settled, and there it was, unmistakable now, an enormous, softly rounded mass of pale cloud-colored material floating serenely on the surface, easily the size of a multi-story building, bobbing gently in the swells like the world's largest, most improbable buoy.

A moment later, Squishy himself surfaced beside it, one tentacle immediately reaching out to steady the massive pillow, rings pulsing in what could only be described as sheepish embarrassment.

"...He says it got away from the seabed," Selen relayed, unable to keep the laughter out of her own voice. "He was trying to hold it down while it expanded. It expanded faster than expected, and with far more force."

"It launched him," Bram said, delighted. "The pillow launched a kraken."

"Correction," Selen said, still listening. "He launched with it. He did not want to let go."

Squishy pressed one massive tentacle experimentally against the floating mass, testing its give, then, apparently unable to resist, took hold of a section and tugged.

A substantial piece tore free under the force of his enormous strength, the material offering none of its old, springy resistance, just a soft, clean separation.

He examined the torn piece with obvious delight, rings flaring bright as he turned it over in his grip.

"...He says it is even better than he imagined," Selen relayed, laughing outright now. "He is already thinking about improving his own home with it."

Arista stared at the massive, floating cushion, then at Squishy turning the torn piece over in his tentacle, and laughed.

"...Tell him that's a great idea," she managed. "Whatever he needs for that."

Squishy settled the enormous, soft mass against himself, tentacles curling comfortably around it, his rings pulsing bright and slow.

"...I think we just gave a god his very first pillow," Bram said quietly.

"Every god deserves a good pillow," Arista said. "Especially one who's spent centuries alone before finally getting his people back."

Squishy moved the enormous cushion across the surface rather than trying to take it down again, one tentacle curled around the pale mass as he guided it through the water like an absurdly oversized buoy.

Arista watched from Nettle's deck as they followed at an easy distance. The thing barely seemed to notice the waves, floating high and stubbornly despite Squishy's considerable weight against it.

"...I don't think he's making that mistake twice," Bram said.

"Probably wise."

Eventually Squishy stopped above the waters near his usual territory. He shifted around the floating mass for a moment, apparently considering the problem, then hooked several tentacles into one edge and pulled.

A large piece tore free.

Squishy examined it, adjusted his grip, and disappeared beneath the surface with it.

Arista leaned over the railing, watching the last glow of his rings vanish into the dark water below.

"...Okay," she said. "So the whole thing stays up here."

Selen listened for a moment before nodding. "He says it is too buoyant to bring down intact. He intends to take it apart and carry the pieces to his home individually."

Bram looked at the enormous cushion still bobbing beside the boat, then at the patch of water where Squishy had disappeared.

"...He's dismantling his pillow."

"Efficiently."

Several minutes later Squishy surfaced again, immediately returning to the floating mass. He tore away another section, tested its size in his grip, and vanished with that one as well.

Then he did it again.

And again.

By the fourth trip, his rings were glowing brighter every time he resurfaced, his movements increasingly eager as he selected another section and carried it below.

"...He's renovating," Arista said, grinning as another chunk disappeared beneath the water.

Selen smiled. "That appears to be exactly what he is doing."

They couldn't see any of it from the surface. Whatever Squishy was building or padding down there remained entirely his, hidden beneath hundreds of meters of water. All they could see was the enormous cushion slowly shrinking as piece after piece vanished into the depths.

By late afternoon, barely a third of it remained.

Squishy surfaced once more and rested against what was left, rings pulsing slowly while Selen listened.

"...He says his sleeping place has many sharp places," she translated. "It has always been that way. He is covering them."

Arista's smile softened. "Good."

"He says it is much better now."

Bram looked at the shrinking cloud mass beside them. "Of all the things you've built, this might be one of the nicer things you've ever made."

"It's not even really a build," Arista said. "We gave him a pillow."

"A pillow he's currently tearing apart to renovate his house."

"...Multipurpose pillow."

Squishy's rings flashed brightly.

Selen laughed. "He agrees."

Arista settled back against the railing as Squishy tore another generous piece free and disappeared beneath the surface with it.