The Pool; Friday Morning [ 06/05 ].

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine figured she was pretty good at hiding the fact that she'd been pretty disquieted over the last few days. She had multiple theories that easily explained it well enough that she could shove it aside and not directly approach the topic. She was good at that, avoiding something until she was sure it could be useful to her. But the fact that she couldn't quite piece together how what she was feeling could be useful to her lead her to wanting to step back from it all for a moment.

She decided to go down to the pool, figuring it would be quiet in the morning, and she could just sit a while, thinking, comforted by the water and what water meant to her now. She considered ducking into town to pick up a swimsuit that was a little...more interesting than hers, basic and functional, but then settled on the fact that basic and functional was all that was needed. Anything something more interesting would accomplish would be to draw attention to certain aspects of herself...

...and she wasn't quite knowledgeable enough about those aspects to go flashing them around for other people to see, really. That's why she was here now, in the morning after her class, sitting at the edge of the pool and watching her feet trail through the water, enjoying the isolation of the big empty room and thinking about isolation in a lake basin on a raft.

It was a good way to kill the morning hours.


[[ open pool is open! ]]

Comments

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah had been planning to hit the pool for a while anyway, but the last couple days made her think that staying cool and wearing herself out -- um, working off excess energy-- were a good idea before going anywhere. She had her hair in a knot at the base of her neck as she dropped her flip-flops and towel at one end of the pool area and dove in. Fast laps, freestyle, then butterfly, side-stroke.

After three laps, she finally noticed someone else was there first. Whoops. "Hey, Valentine," she said, stopping and resting her arms on the edge of the concrete, catching her breath.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine grinned a little, mostly to herself, as Dinah finally came around to noticing her. She wouldn't have minded too terribly if Dinah'd taken even longer to recognize the presence of someone else at the pool. She had enjoyed seeming invisible, and enjoying watching Dinah's grace, form, and ability in cutting through the water in her laps.

She lifted a hand in a wave. "Hey, Dinah."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah grinned, treading water as she blew out a breath. "Do you swim much? Or is there not a lot of chances for it in the future?" She wiped water away from her eyes, wishing she'd remembered her goggles. Valentine seemed pretty content here, and Dinah envied her the calm she personally hadn't felt for a few days. "I forgot this was here until yesterday. So should've come down here sooner."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine smiled down over at Dinah a little, waterlogged with her blond hair clinging wetly to her. She seemed calm on the exterior, probably more obviously observant than she thought was being, but a lot was going on in the head underneath the placidity. She kicked her feet slowly through the water. "I swim a little," she said. "Not much. This morning I think I just felt like enjoying the water. And it's quiet. When there isn't many people like now, you feel like you're isolated in this bubble removed from the rest of what's going on outside..."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah listened, clinging to the edge of the concrete for a second, head cocked. "No people. I can get behind that." She sighed. "The water makes everything quieter, or softer, I don't know which. And it's comforting." The feeling of jumping out of her skin had settled down a bit with the almost-weightlessness inside the pool, and the sensation of touch without being connected to a person. No barriers or shields needed, just warmth and movement.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"I hear it's the closest you can get to null-g without actually floating around in space," Valentine said, with a smile that said that she kind of liked that about the water. "It's nice to just sort of remove yourself for a moment. I'm..." Her expression turned into a thoughtful kind of frown, "not used to being around so many people my own age so much..."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"And you're going to get to do that. Someday." Dinah's envy on that came out in a sigh, and she smiled back at Valentine. She couldn't remember what Valentine had said about school before; more about her brothers, and plans for the future. "Most people like it," she offered tentatively. She closed her eyes, thunked her chin on the edge of the pool, listened to the water lap at the edges of the tiles. She was going to need another few laps again, soon. Maybe ten, or fifteen. Maybe that would make TeeVee class bearable. "But it can get wearing." She opened her eyes to study Valentine's expression. "Are the last couple days messing with you too?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine nodded a little. "I'm not sure my body really knows how to handle the influence of so many other hormones and endorphins around it, really," she admitted quietly, curling her toes a little in the water.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack was hoping that the pool would help calm him down. It was like a giant cold shower. With clorine. Great idea.

And there was no way that anyone would be here--"Oh, great. Well, I'm here now..."

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack dove into the pool to try to cool off, or at least so he wasn't so... visible.

"Hi," he said, after surfacing, shaking the water out of his hair.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

That was a nicely clinical way to look at it; Dinah tilted her head, trying to put yesterday's reactions into that context. "It's fun. Feels wonderful. But it's too much. At least, too much for me, too." She ducked under the water again, trying to douse the blush and heat rising at the memories.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine arched an eyebrow. Oh, great. Well, I'm here now...? Did she even know this person, and already her presence was an annoyance to him?

"Hello to you, too," she muttered back.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Noooooooes! Peace and quiet gone for the moment, Dinah smiled tensely at Jack, took a breath, then said, "Hi. Must swim laps now. Lots of them. Talk to you later?" Then, before he could say anything else, she sang out, "Bye!" and dove under the water away from him. Not the breast-stroke, noooo. Freestyle. Fast. Fast. Faster.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

"Sorry. I've been trying to find a place to be alone, you know? And...there's people."

He looked at her. "Nothing personal. I'm sure you're a nice person."

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Wow. Girl could move.

Stop thinking that, Jack. Just...enjoy the water. And the view. Wait. No. Just the water. Stop enjoying the view. "Good talking to you?" he said, holding a hand out of the water to wave.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine grinned a little as Dinah ducked under the water, sitting amused as she waited for the other girl to bob back up again.

"Have you been taking proactive steps in trying to quell the fire, then?" she couldn't help asking once she did.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah snorted, blew bubbles into the water, and said, "I went to the Clinic. I thought maybe they could do something. The doctor on duty is a friend of mine. He's older. Nice." She sighed. "Very, very cute. I don't know why I thought him being a doctor would mean I wouldn't react. Or he wouldn't. I didn't expect that, though." Quickly, in case Valentine got the wrong impression, she added, "He didn't do anything! I picked up on his thoughts with the telepathy I mentioned. My shields are all over the place right now."

[glacial_queen]

Water. Water was good, water was cool, swimming would perhaps get rid of the excess energy that hadn't escaped during her practice bout with Leto. And the cool was clean and artificial, not like the beach. The pull of the land was less here. Maybe that would help.

...And there were people there. Of course. Hell's fire. Still, she had come all this way for a swim, and swim she would. She'd just make the best of things.

With a wave at whoever happened to be there, Karla dove into the water. Perhaps after a few laps, she'd be in a better fram of mind to be sociable.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Maybe you should try your bedroom," Valentine offered. "Or a broom closet. I'd be impressed with the persistence of people if you weren't able to find some alone space there."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Telepathy at a time like this would certainly be interesting. Valentine was a little envious; she could not even begin to imagine the treasure trove of amusement that might be found there.

"Sexy doctors," she noted. "That sounds right out of a bad sitcom."

Hm. And she felt like maybe she was coming down with a cold all of a sudden, imagine that...

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

"I have a roommate," he stated. "I'm not just going to throw him out of the room.

The other one got him thinking. "Broom closet...might be alone there. That's a good one."

He still wasn't leaving. He intended to use the pool.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack facepalmed. He would headwater, but that would just lead to drowning.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Or a good porno," Dinah blurted out without thinking, then had to duck her head again.

When she surfaced, cheeks red and giggling through the dripping water, she said, "Otherwise, what can I do? Exercise. Cold cold showers. Hot baths. Trying not to reach out and be all touchy with guys I like. I kissed Turtle! Impulse control has left the dorms!" She sighed. "Do you have any better ideas?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah did another five or six laps, before seh noticed Karla was there. She waited for the other girl to finish her own lap at the edge of the pool before saying, "Hey, Karla. How are you doing?" Which would hopefully be fine and totally unbothered by this week. But somehow Dinah thought that if Tahiri was reacting, Karla might be too.

[glacial_queen]

"Hi Dinah," Karla greeted, shaking the water out of her eyes. Then she got an eyeful of Dinah. "MOTHER NIGHT WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?" Even if Karla hadn't been bothered before, Dinah's lack of clothing would have done it.

It should be noted that Karla was wearing a Kaeleeran bathing costume. It consisted of cotton leggings that went to mid-cald, and a top that strongly resembled a sports bra.