That voice was so soothing in its familiarity despite the urgency in it. There was something going around him, voices and footstep. And coughing. Water splashed on his face and life seemed to return to his body. Dal lurched onto his side, coughing and taking desperate gasps of air. His lungs burned and it felt like he hadn’t breathed in years.

Everything was instinct at that point. Struggling for air, Dal initially batted at Gabriel, wild and wide-eyed until his mind could parse those familiar features. It took all seconds for him to go from struggling to clinging. He was shaking so hard it hurt. Surrounded by so many strangers left him feeling more vulnerable than he could remember being. So he clung to the only familiar thing: Gabriel.