[ Alberto grumbles, settling back into his seat again, crossing his arms over his chest once more and gazing out the window. Yeah, yeah, the Zodiac posts are always awful, and yeah, yeah, the seers always see weird shit that they're not in control of in any way... Better than nothing, he guesses. But after all the crazy terrifying things that have happened in the Spirit Realm — El Nido, Bruno getting kidnapped, the Zodiac race — Alberto can't help but feel apprehensive. He's not a great fighter like Katsuki. He doesn't have any magic powers — like Katsuki. And Luz. And all the Madrigals. And Luca. Literally everyone else he knows. He's the only non-magic person he knows now. And it's more and more getting under his skin every month, especially when dangerous gates open. It's always been something that bothered him a little, wishing he was more special; it started once he got close to all the Madrigals, this peculiar "one of these things is not like the other" feeling... but he felt so loved and celebrated and welcome in every other sense, and with everything he knew about Mirabel, it felt— okay? But now that all but two of those ~*Amazing*~ Madrigals are gone, it's been harder to celebrate himself for not having some fantastical gift. Because, y'know, being a sea monster isn't enough. That's not magic, that's just biology. And all year long, ever since Luca discovered he'd gained magical water powers out of the blue, Alberto's own normalcy (read: inadequacy) have been on the forefront of his mind. He felt useless rescuing Bruno. He felt useless during the race. And if this is some crazy water-world—
He glances at Katsuki with an oddly open expression on his face, raising his brow slightly, pensively, not poutily.
Right.
They're literally on their way to the beach so Alberto can teach Katsuki how to not die. He can still save people. He can't blow things up, see the future or the past, can't control the weather or conjure light or travel through shadows, can't talk to rats or heal people or turn into a weird super-cat, can't produce water or fire or butter from thin air... but he knows a lot of stuff. And he likes teaching people what he knows. He thinks he's a good teacher, too — he's never been told otherwise, and, well, just look at Luca! He's a case in point! Nevermind he's just a fantastic student regardless, and nevermind that an unsettlingly vast majority of what Alberto taught him for a long time was inaccurate if not outright incorrect... Alberto fancies he's learned enough by now to make up for all that. And besides: the current lesson at hand? That's not even second nature, that's instinct to Alberto.
But— ...he's never had to teach someone something he never had to learn himself. He doesn't really remember learning to walk, but it was indeed something he had to learn. But now look, Luca's great at walking, bicycling, dancing, running — he and Alberto even beat a bunch of their human classmates running the mile in gym class! He can totally figure out break down the mechanics of swimming to teach a human that same level of agility underwater. Maybe Katsuki won't beat a sea monster in a race, it took a few days for Luca to get to that point — but even then, two weeks after learning to walk, Luca beat Ercole in the bike race! They may not have all the time in the world til this mysterious gate opens, but they've got at least some time for Katsuki to really practice. And swimming is Alberto's absolute best capability — and that's not just him tooting his own horn, he knows for a fact he's an excellent swimmer; even by sea folk standards he's impressively fast and nimble. He can outswim his dad, Luca, sirens, motorboats... and surely whatever terrifying undersea surprises lay waiting for them once the next gate opens. And he's determined to make that useful and important to someone other than himself, man. He wants to help. He needs to help. Katsuki's helped him with so much for so long, this is the literal least he could do to pay him back. But it's not even about that. It's about so much more.
He turns the corners of his lips up in a shy little pressed smile, meaning to seem reassuring, but the look in his eyes is still steelier than the vague words of encouragement he finds. ]
Yeah. I know. Heh. I'm not worried. We've got this.
no subject
He glances at Katsuki with an oddly open expression on his face, raising his brow slightly, pensively, not poutily.
Right.
They're literally on their way to the beach so Alberto can teach Katsuki how to not die. He can still save people. He can't blow things up, see the future or the past, can't control the weather or conjure light or travel through shadows, can't talk to rats or heal people or turn into a weird super-cat, can't produce water or fire or butter from thin air... but he knows a lot of stuff. And he likes teaching people what he knows. He thinks he's a good teacher, too — he's never been told otherwise, and, well, just look at Luca! He's a case in point! Nevermind he's just a fantastic student regardless, and nevermind that an unsettlingly vast majority of what Alberto taught him for a long time was inaccurate if not outright incorrect... Alberto fancies he's learned enough by now to make up for all that. And besides: the current lesson at hand? That's not even second nature, that's instinct to Alberto.
But— ...he's never had to teach someone something he never had to learn himself. He doesn't really remember learning to walk, but it was indeed something he had to learn. But now look, Luca's great at walking, bicycling, dancing, running — he and Alberto even beat a bunch of their human classmates running the mile in gym class! He can totally figure out break down the mechanics of swimming to teach a human that same level of agility underwater. Maybe Katsuki won't beat a sea monster in a race, it took a few days for Luca to get to that point — but even then, two weeks after learning to walk, Luca beat Ercole in the bike race! They may not have all the time in the world til this mysterious gate opens, but they've got at least some time for Katsuki to really practice. And swimming is Alberto's absolute best capability — and that's not just him tooting his own horn, he knows for a fact he's an excellent swimmer; even by sea folk standards he's impressively fast and nimble. He can outswim his dad, Luca, sirens, motorboats... and surely whatever terrifying undersea surprises lay waiting for them once the next gate opens. And he's determined to make that useful and important to someone other than himself, man. He wants to help. He needs to help. Katsuki's helped him with so much for so long, this is the literal least he could do to pay him back. But it's not even about that. It's about so much more.
He turns the corners of his lips up in a shy little pressed smile, meaning to seem reassuring, but the look in his eyes is still steelier than the vague words of encouragement he finds. ]
Yeah. I know. Heh. I'm not worried. We've got this.