Tal would never have had the courage or the basic skills to complete the task without Soh and he knew it. He paddled after her towards the surface, reflecting on how much he owed to his friend, and if his limbs thrashed through the water, well, at least they were moving more or less in the right order and directions to keep him headed up this time. Having air to breathe while he did so kept him relatively calm; or at least, calm enough to stop himself from hyperventilating every time he thought he saw a glotter out of the corner of his eye.
He envied the ease with which Soh moved and floated through the water, but he didn't try to copy his friend. He kept to his doggy paddling, working his stubborn way over to shore after his own bubble popped. He had a bad moment when he reached the shore and realized his feet still weren't touching the bottom, but Soh's hand was a welcome lifeline and he grabbed it and used it to steady himself while he heaved himself onto shore like a beaching dolphin.
He rolled over onto his back and lay in the grass, panting, while his friend cheered on their adventure and he found a tired smile just for her enthusiasm. "Yeah," he agreed, rubbing his ear as the last of the tinnitus faded. "It was pretty, uh, somethin'. But the Goggles worked an' I saw these big a--uh, old fish, sleepin' away on the bottom of that cave. Their scales were all sortsa colors and they were huge!" He spread his arms wide above his chest, measuring out roughly three feet. "Wish I coulda shared the Goggles with you," he added sheepishly, only new realizing that he could have tried that, except... "But I dunno if we could've managed it without poppin' the bubbles."
He reached up to pull the Goggles back down to hang around his neck then paused. Tal bit his lip, brow furrowed in indecision before he tugged the Goggles off and shyly offered them to Sohalia. "Look, uh... if y'want t'go back an' see for yourself... y'can borrow 'em?"
He envied the ease with which Soh moved and floated through the water, but he didn't try to copy his friend. He kept to his doggy paddling, working his stubborn way over to shore after his own bubble popped. He had a bad moment when he reached the shore and realized his feet still weren't touching the bottom, but Soh's hand was a welcome lifeline and he grabbed it and used it to steady himself while he heaved himself onto shore like a beaching dolphin.
He rolled over onto his back and lay in the grass, panting, while his friend cheered on their adventure and he found a tired smile just for her enthusiasm. "Yeah," he agreed, rubbing his ear as the last of the tinnitus faded. "It was pretty, uh, somethin'. But the Goggles worked an' I saw these big a--uh, old fish, sleepin' away on the bottom of that cave. Their scales were all sortsa colors and they were huge!" He spread his arms wide above his chest, measuring out roughly three feet. "Wish I coulda shared the Goggles with you," he added sheepishly, only new realizing that he could have tried that, except... "But I dunno if we could've managed it without poppin' the bubbles."
He reached up to pull the Goggles back down to hang around his neck then paused. Tal bit his lip, brow furrowed in indecision before he tugged the Goggles off and shyly offered them to Sohalia. "Look, uh... if y'want t'go back an' see for yourself... y'can borrow 'em?"
