Winter Pool Time

Anima sat at the edge of the school's indoor pool, slowly kicking her legs back and forth in the water. Despite how cold it was outside, the water in the pool was pleasant and warm due to the pool being heated. Sure, winter was a very odd time to take a trip to the pool, but fuck it. She needed more stuff to do besides drawing and going for walks, especially when the cold made walks less relaxing and more unpleasant. So why not spend some time at the pool? That'd be relaxing, right? Due to the fact she was mostly here just to relax and enjoy the calm, Anima wasn't likely to start swimming around a bunch. Still, she wore the swimsuit she'd gotten the last time she went into the general store just in case.

Anima continued to slowly kick her feet back and forth, with her notebook nearby although far enough away it couldn't easily fall into the water. She could barely reach it without getting up. She jumped up slightly as she heard the door open. After all, she didn't expect anyone else to come here.

Who went swimming in the winter?

That was the question she had to ask herself as she sat slouched in the corner, half-buried under some pool equipment with the lifeguard's tube around her waist and a pair of old sunglasses askew on her face. She didn't know where she'd gotten the glasses. They'd just appeared on her nose from some point between the Winter dorms and the complex housing the gym. Evelyn was rubbing her temples, trying to block out thoughts of blonde and green and silver and pink hair when the thought slipped into her head. It was like the little devil on her shoulder whispering in her ear.

No, that was a bad idea.

But at the same time...

She stood up, throwing a pool noodle off of her and pushing the sunglasses up the bridge of her nose, standing on unsteady feet. Her swimsuit was modest, at least compared to the girl in the skimpy bikini kicking her feet in the water, but it'd taken weeks of mustering up her courage to finally wear it out here (along with a quick shot). It was a navy blue ruffled two-piece with a skirted bottom, her towel wrapped around her waist like a sarong. She felt naked wearing it, but she was all alone in here, besides...

Well, that girl...

Just looking at her made her want to cleanse her eyes in chlorine. Who wore that kind of thing in public?! Yeah, it was true, with her power, the girl probably hadn't realized she wasn't alone... But this wasn't exactly a private pool. Anyone could walk in, and... and... agh. She might as well had just pinned on three maple leaves for all the good it did covering her up...

So it was a devious idea. Maybe a little stupid, maybe a little mean, maybe with a big chance to backfire. But...

Who cared anymore?

Evelyn unhitched the towel, letting it fall with the tube in a puddle around her feet, and sprinted forward, her feet padding against the ground.

It'd been a long time since she'd run like this. You weren't supposed to run by the pool, or buzzed, and at one point she almost slipped, but she kept on running, carried by the momentum, half-dashing, half-stumbling.

She'd never done this before. If she was being honest, she'd always wanted to, so why had she waited this long?

There was no reason to stop.

Evelyn pushed off the ledge of the pool and leaped out over the water, pulling her legs up to her chest and curling up into a ball, all her moping and worries out of her mind.

Cannonball.

SPLASH! A fountain of water rose up, sending waves rippling across the pool Hitting the water felt like sinking into a concrete floor, but then she was submerged in the water, enveloped in warmth. Her sunglasses had fallen off and drifted toward the pool bottom six feet below.

Now that she thought about it, she wasn't a great swimmer.

Evelyn rose to the surface, breaking through to fresh air, her head bobbing just above the water.

For once, she was smiling.

Anima turned her head when she heard the sound of feet slapping against tile. She saw the girl running towards the pool, and after a second Anima realized what was coming. Quickly she flipped over and crawled over to her notebook so that her body shielded it from the water that came a moment later and struck Anima. After it was over, Anima turned over again and sat back on her rear, picking up the luckily dry notebook. A slight smile of relief appeared on Anima's face; only she had gotten wet from the splash. Anima flipped through the notebook and began writing, before holding it up towards the girl. Jeez, you could have warned me first. It's alright though. My name's Anima, what's your's?

Evelyn was treading water, mostly focused on kicking her feet to keep her head above the surface, when her attention turned to the girl in the bikini. Could it even be called a bikini...? The smile died. She averted her eyes, even while the girl started to jot something down in a notebook that'd been laying by her side. Just... don't drown, first. She paddled over to the ledge, clinging to dry land as the girl held up the notebook. Couldn't she have just said it...? Evelyn took a couple strained moments of silence to respond before the choked words escaped her lips. "E-Evelyn..." she breathed, wiping the droplets of water out of her face. Anima. She averted her eyes again, gaze falling to the water. Introductions...? She hadn't been looking for a conversation, but she guess she'd asked for it by making such a dramatic splash, no pun intended.

Anima was quick to take notice of the fact that Evelyn seemed to be... struggling. Why this was happening she didn't know, but maybe it wouldn't be too smart for Evelyn to stay in the water. Do you need a hand out of the water? You look like you're having a difficult time staying afloat. Anima also noticed that she seemed be avoiding looking at her. Was it the swimsuit? Probably. Well, it was what she was stuck with for the time being. It was still better than nothing at least.

Anima held the notebook up again, lightly tapping Evelyn on the shoulder with one finger to get her attention due to her not looking towards Anima.

Evelyn jumped at the tap on her shoulder. Instinctively, she shimmied away. When she saw the message on the paper, she shimmied farther away along the ledge, clinging for her life. "Um... n-no th-thanks... I-I'm..." The word got stuck in her throat. "...f-f-f-fi-fine..." It felt more than a bit odd to be communicating through a piece of paper. Was she like Jayden? Maybe having a medium was better than talking out loud directly, but it made every word that much more harder to spit out in this empty space. She couldn't help but feel the extra self-consciousness creep in when she was the only one speaking.

Anima frowned when Evelyn only moved away from her. Although at this point it was hardly visible, panic was slowly sneaking onto Anima's face. Was the swimsuit that bad? Or maybe, was it something else? But what? Trying to not focus on what might be a problem in this situation, she wrote again. What are you doing here, Evelyn? You seem really uncomfortable. Then again, so did Anima. After all, the calm hadn't exactly survived through Evelyn's cannonball. Plus the constant looking away didn't really help Anima feel too good about herself, either.

Uncomfortable? Well, that was the thing... She hadn't exactly expected to get roped into this silent small talk. It wasn't anything new, and she might've told her that it wasn't anything, personal... but, oh god, it barely even covered her chest, and... aggggh. "Um, n-no, I just..." She just what? What were her reasons for even coming here? "I-I'm ju-just... um, we-well, swimming, I g-guess..." Evelyn could feel the awkward tension begin to thicken, and there was a fire burning in her belly. "Um, h-hey, s-s-su-sorry if... I, um, s-sp-splashed yo-you..."

It's okay. I don't really mind, and you looked like you enjoyed it. I came here because it's relaxing I guess. I don't know if I want to swim or not. Anima looked at the water after she finished writing. The pool was pretty deep, but Anima was able to swim just fine. So maybe she would end up swimming a bit.

Anima also still wasn't entirely convinced that everything was alright with Eve. She still seemed uncomfortable for one reason or another. Is it what I'm wearing? You can tell me.

Could she even swim in that thing? It looked like it'd unravel or slip off at the slightest movement. Evelyn forced herself to meet her eyes, but she could feel the red flush creeping across her cheeks. A part of her couldn't help but admire her confidence. Another part of her wished she'd just had the modesty to save that kind of thing for her dorm room...

And of course, did she have to come out and just call her out on it? It was like she'd seen right through her. Evelyn almost winced as she cut straight to the point. Cut me a little slack here... Yeah, of course it was. At least, it was a part of it. They were both women here, but who wouldn't be put off by something so revealing? She could feel her stomach tying itself up in knots as she squirmed around uncomfortably in the water, fumbling for an answer.

"N-No..." she finally replied, not meeting her gaze. "I-I'm ju-just... n-n-not g-good at... t-t-talking."

But she was the girl with the notebook.

Was that a faux pas?

Evelyn could feel herself wilting, sinking ever so slightly deeper into the water. If only she could submerge and disappear.

Oh, was that it? Well, the stuttering sure pointed towards her not being the best when it came to speech, if nothing else. It's okay. I don't really mind. I can't talk at all, so if you can put up with me writing everything I want to say I can put up with you not being the best at talking. Anima forced an awkward smile onto her face. Shit, now what? Panic seemed to be trying to sneak onto her face once again, and after a brief pause she wrote again hurriedly. I can join you for a swim if you want or something. At the very least, that might make what she's wearing less of an issue if that actually was the issue. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

So she couldn't talk. How was that supposed to make her feel? Well, a bit guilty, for one, even if she couldn't pinpoint why... Jayden couldn't speak either, but she'd always had Jace there as an interpreter. Here, there was only a sheet of paper and a thick, suffocating silence. "Y-yeah... t-that's fine..." The next part is what made her clam up. Swim with her...? That wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind, but... well, it was a public pool. She couldn't exactly tell her 'no thanks,' even if she couldn't see why Anima would ask in the first place. "Um, I-I mean, i-i-if you w-w-want to..." That was up to her, but something about how it was phrased put her off. She supposed it was better than being locked in this poolside conversation, and maybe then, this whole conversation could fade away...

Anima nodded, setting her notebook down before pushing off the side of the pool lightly and letting herself slip into the water with a soft splash. After she was in the water Anima turned towards Eve, giving her another somewhat awkward smile. Trying to prevent the awkward silence that she knew was coming, Anima swam up to the Eve, giving her what Anima at least thought was a mischevious smile before bringing her arms out of the water quickly, splashing Evelyn. It really wasn't much compared to the fountain that the was made by Eve's cannonball, but it was something.

She didn't trust her when she slipped into the water, and she didn't trust that sly smile on her face. Evelyn flinched back when the water came spraying up into her face. You whore. More out of retaliation than playing along, she splashed her back. "H-hey..."

Water splashed Anima's face and hair, and she stuck her tongue out at Evelyn playfully. She started to swim around Evelyn, waiting to see if she would do anything else. Although, Anima did make sure to kick up more water than neccesary with her swimming. She simply continued to do this until Eve decided to do something about it, whether it be splaahing Anima even more or getting out, or whatever she may decide to do.