in over my head

Her encouragement was nice but it didn't have much effect on Tal, who was nervous enough for all of his muscles to lock up in the face of all common sense. Her reminder that he could still touch the bottom here was more effective at calming him down, enough that he was willing to try and copy her floating, though not enough to completely set him at ease. The memory of the glotter was still too fresh for him to let his guard down, and his body had not forgotten what it had felt like to be pulled under the surface and away from the air...

Luckily enough, given the situation, Tal had no qualms about being touched - especially if it prevented him from sinking further into the water! He was oblivious to Sohalia's discomfort with the contact in his current state of anxiety, and simply felt grateful for the support that stopped his descent.

"Easier said'n done," he grumbled weakly. Still, he tried to breathe, gulping air quickly at first as if to make sure that he'd have a lungful if her hands went away.

But they remained, two spots of relative warmth against his back and shoulders, and his face remained above water. It took several long minutes before his breathing began to slow and while the tension didn't entirely leave his body, enough of it eased so that he was no longer fighting the natural buoyancy of his body. "Right," he said tightly, though his muscles lay a little looser in the water. "Am I floatin' yet?"