lap five // day 198 (open)

[amphibian]

Who: Aoi and anybody!
Open: Open!
When: Day 198; late afternoon/early evening.
Where: At Aoi's new pool.
What: THERE'S A POOL HERE! A POOL!!! A POOL!!!!!
Format: Action tags, please!
Warnings: N/A, probably

THE POOL'S HEEEEEERE!

[—is what everyone is going to hear as Aoi sprints across the Bastion. She flings her sweatshirt off, leaves it on the ground as she goes, and launches herself through the doors of the new building not far from the forge.

Anyone nearby will hear a resounding SPLASH through the doors, left wide open, as Aoi cannonballs into the deep end of the pool, shorts and tank top and all.

If anyone checks in on her, she's swimming rapid laps from one end of the pool to the other down the middle of the center lane, pausing at the ends every now and again to laugh, absolutely delighted, and wave at anyone who's shown up.] C'mon in, the water's fine!

Comments

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko does not understand what the excitement is about. In fact, she doesn't understand the point of this new building at all. She doesn't step in from the doorway, just glancing around from there.]

What was wrong with the lake?

[amphibian]

The lake's nowhere near competitive regulations! It's irregularly shaped, the depth is inconsistent, it doesn't meet regulated length, there are fish living in it, and there're no marked lanes! [For each item on her list, she holds out a finger, then pushes herself off the pool wall a short distance closer to the doorway and Zuko from the pool's opposite end. Despite all that swimming, she's full of energy and blabbering at a mile a minute.]

I like the lake, but I'm an athlete! I need structure and chlorine! Plus, plus, what if the weather's bad? A little rain never hurt anybody, but what if it snowed?! It's dangerous to swim if it gets too cold! If the lake froze over and I didn't have anywhere to swim, I would just die!

[daughterofursa]

We don't have weather here.

[And who's going to ask for snow?]

I'm pretty sure there aren't any 'regulations' either. Who are you expecting to compete with?

[amphibian]

[For a brief second, there's a frown on her face—she forgets sometimes that they don't have real weather, just a girl who sometimes makes weather happen, only because the thought sits at the very back of her mind—but she's right back to her energy-filled self.]

Well, anyone! I bet someone's gotta be interested in competition swimming! Maybe we could start a real team!

[daughterofursa]

What, isn't that just racing?

[She can't imagine how else you could make swimming a competition, and she doesn't know how that warrants a team.]

[amphibian]

Yeah! What, don't tell me you've never seen a swim meet before!

[daughterofursa]

What's a swim meet?

[amphibian]

When a bunch of swim teams get together and compete! You've really never had swimming competitions where you come from?!

[daughterofursa]

We were at war. We had bigger things to worry about.

[amphibian]

Oh. I'm sorry. [She frowns, all that energy sapped out by sympathy—and while it doesn't come back in its full overwhelming swing, she does smile again, and push and paddle herself to the edge of the pool so she can fold her arms against the edge.] But it's safe here! So...we can be comfortable enough to do fun things like have swim meets!

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko continues frowning, but... maybe less so as she realizes that this is probably Aoi's way of remembering her home, as odd as it seems.]

...yeah. I guess you could.

[amphibian]

[Cue one excited beam as Aoi becomes all energy and cheer again. She places her hands flat on the floor and pushes herself up so she can lean forward, grinning at Zuko.]

Hey, hey, can you swim?! If you can't, then I can teach you! We can't miss out on this kinda opportunity!

[daughterofursa]

[Where does Aoi get all that energy? And that sure is a wet tank top, uh.]

O-of course I can swim.

[amphibian]

[Aoi shoves herself backwards and kicks off against the pool wall in one movement, sinking under the water for a quick moment before popping right back up, allowing enough space for Zuko to dive right in.] So what're you waiting for?!

[daughterofursa]

[Wait. Did she just agree to something?]

Well...

[She eyes the pool uncertainly, but it's not like she was doing anything just now. It couldn't hurt, could it? But she's not jumping in with all her clothes on. Zuko sits down by the edge of the pool to pull off her boots and arm bands before sliding into the water.]

Just don't take this as signing up for your swim meets, all right?

[amphibian]

Of course not! We need a full team before we can have meets! [She laughs and ducks right under the surface again, and reemerges a few feet away. Grinning, she treads backwards towards the pool's other end.] Hey, how 'bout a race?

[daughterofursa]

I'm guessing you've had more practice than me.

[Not that Zuko is a bad swimmer by any means, but for the past few years it's just been an important survival skill, not anything to do for fun.

Still, she pushes off from the wall to follow Aoi to the other end of the pool.]

[amphibian]

Ah, well, that's what you should expect from a Super High School Level Swimmer! I'll go easy on you so it's fairer.

[Grinning, she positions herself against the pool wall, ready to kick off.] You give the go, okay?

[daughterofursa]

[Super High School Level?]

I don't need anyone going easy on me.

On three?

[She sets herself up, and on the count of three she pushes off. If Aoi is faster than her, then she's faster, and Zuko is fine with that. But that in no way means she's not going to give this her best shot.]

[amphibian]

On three!

[And on Zuko's count, Aoi races forward, full speed ahead—Zuko told her not to go easy on her so she zips right along.

The second she hits the opposite wall, she flips herself around and looks for Zuko; she's gotta see how fast her future teammate (YOU'RE STUCK WITH HER ZUKO GOOD JOB) is!]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko is indeed behind her, and takes several more strokes to reach the end of the pool, but she's not out of breath for it. What she lacks in speed, she'd probably make up for in endurance.]

You are pretty fast.

[amphibian]

[Aoi takes note, of course, and there's an exuberant grin on her face as Zuko speaks.]

You don't look tired at all! You could probably keep up that pace for a while longer, right? That's really awesome! It takes endurance to make a great swimmer!

[daughterofursa]

[She is never going to get used to this girl's attitude.]

Well- endurance is important for a lot of things...

[It makes a good fighter, too, hence why she's trained for it.]

[amphibian]

Right, right! You can only be so good at anything if you don't have it in you to keep doing it! That goes, like, double for sports. So I think you'd make a great teammate on any team!

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko's expression softens quite a bit at that, because even if Aoi only means it for sports, she's not used to that kind of endorsement from anyone.]

You really think so?