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

[amphibian]

[This actually makes Aoi stop and gently tread water in the center of her lane. She's seen these huge birds around before, of course, but never up close.

Does it...want to go in the pool? Is that safe or sanitary? Does it know how to swim?

...Well, her lifeguard training could probably apply to hauling a giant bird out of the water, right? Grinning, she makes a clicking noise with her tongue and backs up, making adequate room for the bird to jump in.]

[coolerthansora]

[Wow, rude. This bird was built for swimming. Well, more like running across water at high speeds, but it can also swim really well!]

Wark!

[So it can't read minds, but it sounds almost indignant that she thinks it needs her invitation. It jumps from the edge of the pool, flapping its wings a little so that it lands in the water without making too much of a splash. Then it folds them and attempts to look dignified. Because it is now in its element and dignified is what it is okay.]

[amphibian]

[She turns away and puts her arms over her face in preparation for a splash, and very tentatively turns back towards the bird when the anticipated face full of water doesn't come. It...looks like it's doing okay? What even is this thing.]

Well, aren't you a pretty birdie? [With a giggle, she flicks a tiny splash of water at it—not more than it stirred on its landing, of course; she's not going to go bullying an animal!]

[coolerthansora]

[It gives its head a shake at the splash and warks again, but this time it doesn't sound upset about it. It's pretty sure whatever she just said was a compliment.

It swims around a little bit to test out the water, paying no heed to the lanes, but after a few minutes it makes its way nearer to one end of the pool and looks back at Aoi expectantly.]

Warrk?

[amphibian]

[Aoi knows a challenge when she's given one! She paddles to that same end, putting one lane between them, and gets herself in a race-ready position against the pool wall. She can hardly remember her last race, between Hope's Peak and the more recent apocalypse; the urge to just go is stronger than thoughts of how totally weird it is that she's about to have a swim race with a bird.

She nods at the bird, only briefly acknowledging to herself how unreasonably ridiculous it is that she's waiting on a bird to give her the "go" signal.]

[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.]

[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.]

[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?

[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.

[coolerthansora]

[Yesss, head-scritches. The chocobo coos appreciatively. Ignore Roxas, this is more important.]

Yeah, I've been looking after him.

[Roxas comes to crouch down by the edge of the pool.]

I think he's like a water-type chocobo, or something.

[amphibian]

He seems like a natural in here to me! Like a duck! Has he got a name?

[coolerthansora]

Isa.

And- he's been good at swimming ever since we introduced him to the bathtub. He's got kind of an ego about it, too.

[Isa gives a short wark. He's not sure what Roxas is saying about him but he knows it's about him.]

[amphibian]

Isa! It's nice to meet you, Isa! [Laughing, she continues the head-scritches.] He made some good competition! Haha, he definitely deserves a little bit of an ego!

[coolerthansora]

[Isa coos again and leans into those scritches; judging by her reaction he had an excellent introduction.

Roxas just watches with a smile. That bird really doesn't need his ego fed, but... oh well.]

Competition?

[amphibian]

Oh, you missed it! We had a race! It's been a long time since I had someone to race with, hehe, and it was a real close match!

[coolerthansora]

Heh. Yeah, they seem to like racing.

[amphibian]

They seem to be real good at it, too! Hey, hey, what about you? Can you swim?

[coolerthansora]

Me? Sure, I can swim. I'm- basically an islander at heart.

[Roxas no.]

I HAVEN'T EVEN PLAYED KH AND I'M CHOKING

[amphibian]

Well, then what're you doing way over there?! C'mon in! The water's great!

[coolerthansora]

Ah- well, okay.

[She has a point. Roxas tugs his sneakers off and drops into the pool in the rest of his clothes. Isa promptly swims over to give him a light headbutt.]

[amphibian]

[Oh, hey, that was easy. Aoi cheers and meets Roxas's resurfacing with laughter and a light splash.] See! It's great!

[coolerthansora]

[Aoi might notice that the water does basically NOTHING to that hair of his.]

It- smells different from the ocean, though.

[amphibian]

[Her ponytail is as perky as ever, too; they can be the weird hair club.]

'cause it's not saltwater! And it's chlorinated to keep it clean, of course.

[coolerthansora]

[Roxas doesn't know this is a weird hair thing. Can't everyone's hair defy water and gravity? He leans back, swimming leisurely away from the wall.]

What's chlorinated?

[amphibian]

It's...y'know, like, a chemical or something that gets put in the water, and it kills germs. So the pool stays squeaky clean!