Staring into Nothing

The journey to the States was fraught with monsters and tempests, as one might expect for a cruise aboard an airship.  However I found that most of my worry was about, not the journey nor my leg, but my feelings for The Professor and how they might affect our long-standing friendship.

The Professor and I met at school when I was just sixteen and he eighteen.  We eventually became good friends and through all these years managed to remain close, though our chosen careers kept us far apart.  Now, staring from the ship's deck into the grey mist I tried to dredge up emotions to match his own romantic bent, but my heart felt as empty and cold as the aether.  I feared my lack of feeling would at last separate us, as the great distance between us had been unable to do.