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 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?

[amphibian]

A hundred percent! Endurance is key no matter what you do! Just you wait, our swim team's gonna be unstoppable!

[daughterofursa]

Y-yeah...

[Yep, only thinking of sports. Zuko smiles wryly, but it's still a nice sentiment.

Only..]

When did I join your team?

[amphibian]

Oh, well, I figured that one was a given! [She's grinning, continuing to assume it's still a given. Too late, Zuko; she's decided she likes you.]

[daughterofursa]

...

[Would it be mean to decline at this point? ...and would she really be successful?]

...I guess it's all right.

[At least it's good exercise.]

[amphibian]

I thought so! [With a laugh, she flops backwards into the pool and backstrokes leisurely down a lane.] We'll set up real practices after we get the rest of the team together!

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko stays put for the moment.]

Did you have anyone in mind?

[Hopefully they won't hate her.]

[amphibian]

Well, I want it to be all girls! I dunno if I'll be able to fill a whole team that way, but I'm gonna try! [She makes an effort to call louder as she keeps swimming away.] So I think...Rin would be good. She's tough! Aaaand...I dunno if Patchouli can swim, but I bet she'd join if I asked. [When she hits the opposite wall, she turns herself around and moseys her way on back.] I could teach her, or really anyone! I'll do lessons!

[daughterofursa]

...Rin would be good if she's up for it.

[For some reason the thought of Rin swimming is a little strange. Maybe it's the tail?]

How many for a team?

[amphibian]

As many as're interested! There were, like, almost forty people on the first swim team I joined, 'cause it was co-ed, but only fourteen on my old school's girl's team. But each meet has so many events and you gotta pick who does which ones!

[daughterofursa]

Events? Isn't it all swimming?