He doesn't pull away when Rook shifts so close, his own larger body even settles a little more. He adds more burnt sienna to the glass and gives it a small tap to help the dusts settle near the bottom.

"I had thought it would be too different." And he was right. "I believed I would never be able to resonate with anyone here nor enjoy how vast the differences between our worlds is." Yet he's found himself so deeply entranced by the world now. Mountains, forests, mushrooms, people, sights and sounds... colors and flavors. "I used to believe that merfolk who wished to come to land were foolish. Especially those who wished to stay here."

Relationships between merfolk and humans isn't as rare these days, but turning his back on his family and his home for just a few years already felt so daunting. He used to never be able to imagine it being 'forever'.