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

[heptagram]

I see... [With her stockpile, she could probably buy a lot, couldn't she?]

Well to be fair, I have seen you out there a fair number of times. I've been steadily gathering a small collection of my own as well, surely I can put them to some sort of use.

[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.]

[coolerthansora]

[This bird has totally raced people before, nothing weird about it. Maybe it hasn't raced them in water, but same thing, right? It is completely confident in its ability to win, although that's probably overconfidence. It's much faster running than actually swimming.

Once Aoi is in position, it leans its neck forward and gives a loud WARK as it takes off.]

[dragonform]

I'm glad you've got something that makes you happy, Aoi. [His next explanation is followed with a sheepish smile.]

I have to admit, I'm not very good at swimming. I can float, but that's really about it.

[Kind of a silly thing to go try and cross the ocean when you can barely swim.]

[blackblooded]

[Here is Crona, peeking through the doors and cautiously walking inside.]

Um... That's a lot of water.

[Crona has never actually seen a pool before.]

[amphibian]

Well, it's just a short course. [She keeps up her leisurely backstroke as she speaks until she bumps into the end nearest the doorway, at which point Aoi flips herself around to fold her arms against the pool's edge and face Crona, grinning.] In the big leagues, pools get twice this long! Haven't you seen a competitive pool before?

[bulletofhope]

[ Pool? Did someone say pool?

... Naegi's curiosity gets the better of him and he eventually wanders into the building before he sees the pool itself; he can't help but laugh as he removes his shoes and sits at the pool's edge, kicking idly into the water itself. ]

It's okay, Asahina-san, I'm just fine over here...!

[ AKA please push Naegi into the pool or something because really, who wouldn't want to... ]

[blackblooded]

No. [Crona's trying to think about pools. It's not really working well.]

Um... how do you compete in a pool?

[Crona's experience with competition is sparring and basketball.]

[amphibian]

You race, of course! There are few different styles, and you pick one and see who does the number of laps you decide on fastest! Can you swim?

[amphibian]

You're already, like, halfway in already! [Kinda like, touching the water with your toes briefly counts as half, right?] Come oooonnnn! [With a giggle, she slaps the water to splash it at him.]

[amphibian]

Ah, I try to go every day! It's real good exercise! [She props her elbows up against he pool's edge and rises to rest her head in her hands, looking contemplative.] You should spend them on something nice! Like a cute swimsuit so you can come swimming with me! Or a place with something fun to do! Or—oh, Patchouli, I bet you could get a whole bunch of different books! [She still remembers her mentioning a destroyed library, months and months ago...]

[amphibian]

That's really sweet! [Enough to even get a teeny, almost demure giggle out of her—and any trace of that is gone, replaced by a sudden fiery determination as she jumps up, smacking her hands against the water to make a sharp splash, at that next sentence.]

In that case, I've got to teach you! I'm a certified lifeguard so you can definitely trust me! C'mon, c'mon in!

[heptagram]

Yes, that is true. Plus, I certainly don't mind the water. I lived near a lake, which I... don't remember if I ever told you.

[She sighs, almost inaudibly. Lately, thinking about her past has just been annoying her, probably because the Bastion seems to like randomly bring up that the closest person whose name she knew is dead.]

Well, I'm sure that I will find a use for them quite easily. Plus, I don't think a swimsuit would be too hard. I could stand new clothing in general.

[gianthobo]

[Well, those are some nice big doors Eevee couldn't get into if she tried on her own! So she barrels in through them, sliding on the newly wet tile, and manages to stop just before plopping into the water. She lowers her head so she can lap at the water, and rolls over in disgust. This isn't what water is supposed to taste like! But now it's in her fur, and she lets out a tiny little 'bree!' as she sneezes.]

[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?

[amphibian]

[ALL RIGHT SO THIS WEIRD WARK NOISE CATCHES HER OFF-GUARD but it barely takes a second for her to kick off after it. It's been longer than she can remember since her last competition, but she knows the front crawl better than her own heartbeat; she jets down her lane without thinking about anything but her own movements until she bumps into the opposite wall and hops up to lean against it, breathing hard.]

[dragonform]

Uh... Don't I change into some specific clothes for swimming or something like that? I don't really own anything like that.

[Though Ryu does start to comply, shedding his coat, bandages, and armor. Aoi is probably one of the few people to see him in any state of disrobing, and now it's clear he's basically wearing a skintight black tank top-looking thing beneath his armor, though it does show off just how muscular the boy actually is.

Aside from that the skin revealed does look a little gnarled with marks here and there, likely from old injuries. He stops when he realizes he might need to find a pair of swimming trunks or something like that.]

[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.]

[coolerthansora]

[And a few seconds later, the chocobo taps its beak into the wall. It lost? What?]

Kweh...

[It's about then that Roxas pokes his head into the building, having heard warking from this direction. Yep, there is one wayward bird down there. In the pool.]

Um... Is it okay for him to be in there?

[blackblooded]

No. Um, Ragnarok's metal, so I don't float enough to swim. That's what Lady Medusa said.

[amphibian]

Hmmm... So you know what we need, right?! [The look on her face asks for an answer, but she doesn't wait quite long enough to get one.] Flotation devices! Like, an inner tube! I dunno if there's anything like that around here... But we could definitely get one with shards!

[amphibian]

[It isn't until Eevee sneezes that she catches Aoi's attention—she pauses mid-backstroke to find the source of the sound.

All right, well, if there are gonna be birds in her pool, she may as well invite the whole zoo in.] Helloooo, li'l guy! [She swims to the edge of the pool that the little...fox...cat...thing? stands at, and holds a hand out for her to sniff.] Are you here to take a dip, huh?

[amphibian]

Hehehe, hey, good match! [She's swimming over to provide congratulatory head-scratches in lieu of a handshake when she notices Roxas. Grinning, she turns to him.]

Oh, is he yours? Yeah, it's totally fine! The pool's self-cleaning, so as long as the chlorine doesn't bother him.

[gianthobo]

[She sniffs at Aoi's hand cautiously, and then nuzzles it. She smells funny but she seems nice. At the question, she tilts her head. But she's not a water-type Pokemon, and that looks pretty deep...]

[Ah! She's got an idea! She nudges Aoi's hand, trying to get it over her back. If the humanfriend holds her she can splash around just fine!]