Work Text:
The water tastes different here.
When Rin came to Australia; he knew that linguistically and culturally it would be a very different place to Japan. He thought though, that water was universal and that was how he was planning to do all the communication that really counted.
It was the first thing he drank inside his host's house and he couldn't help but notice a difference in taste, slight though it might be.
The pools too felt different, his host's pool was slightly saltier than a normal pool but less so than the ocean. The ocean itself was normally a familiar and welcoming sight; now part of an alien landscape. The beaches that the take him to in the north, are too bright and artificial - no rock pools, no shells, just plain white sand and dozens of people milling between the flags.
The beaches down south, are far too crowded, full of people more intent on sun baking than swimming, he's warned to stay away from jelly fish and at the end of the day the beach is evacuated due to a shark sighting (of which he's disappointed to find that he can't see anything).
The water's never been his home, like it is for Haru; but it's always been a familiar friend to work with.
But the water tastes different here and now the only thing he has left is to work towards his goal.