"The sea is emotion incarnate...no matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can't."
~Christopher Paolini
When the professor asks him, "Why did you choose to study oceanography?" Tsumugu turns to look out the window.
He does not tell the professor about the dark wave that nearly drowned him, the black mass rising like an angry fist. He does not tell him about the thundering crash of concrete pillars swallowed by sea-spray, does not tell the professor about shuddering awake, heaving from waterlogged lungs.
Instead, he tells the professor about fishing. About salt-scents and steady hands and the way the water laps gently against the pier. About sleek scales and the shine of Ena and some dear friends he lost to snow and sleep.
He does not tell the professor about the girl waiting for him at home. He does not tell the professor that she has eyes deep enough to drown in. He does not tell the professor that they are ocean-blue and that he thinks he could spend the rest of his life exploring them, learning to navigate their whirlpools. Memorizing how they look in the sunlight, in fire-light, in starlight, in shadow.
He tells the professor, because I think it's beautiful, the way the ocean touches the land, and the relationship between the two is one he is still trying to understand.
A/N: SOMEONE HOLD ME AFTER EPISODE 23 I CAN'T WAIT ANOTHER WEEK /*drowns*/ anyways, short little piece this time; I have a lot of little drabble ideas for these two (anyone up for some elderly Tsusaki? :P) alsoooo should I write a little drabble from the point of view of the Sea God?
And as always, thanks for reading! :)