mallow_logs | [Open] Like a fish

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[Open] Like a fish

Who: Reid Garwin and OPEN!
What: Swimming
Where: Orlea
When: Today!
Warnings: Possible/probable language, because this is Reid

[It had been too long since he'd last done this, it really had. Why hadn't he done this sooner? In between the parties and getting drunk and almost killing himself, of course. Because whatever time he hadn't been spending with Balfour-and he'd been spending a lot of time with him-he'd been with either Pogue or Tyler. Mostly Tyler. Boredom had eventually crept up on him, in the times when he was alone and didn't have anything to do, and well, here he was.

This felt like home, being in the water, swimming-he was one of the best on the swim team back home, after all. It was quiet, too, because the public pool had been empty when he arrived, but he was sure that wouldn't last forever. Either way, it was still nice. This was his element, the smell of chlorine, the feel of the water. The tattoos on his arms were dark against pale skin, blond hair slicked down, as Reid surfaced for a moment to catch his breath before pushing away from the side of the pool again to start another lap.]

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[ Tyler's waiting for him at the end of the lap, standing above him at the pool with a grin on his face ]

Couldn't stay away from the water, huh?

[If he was surprised at Tyler being there, it didn't show. Instead, after he surfaced from the end of his lap, he grinned.]

Hell no. And you should join me.

Naked?

[ he gives a crooked smile at that ]

If that's the way you've gotta do it. You think I'd mind? Cause I wouldn't.

[He grinned. Except Tyler joining him naked possibly wouldn't lead to much swimming.

He made a show of looking around-the place was empty right now, after all-before adding]

Not like there's anyone here.

Would it matter?

[ it probably wouldn't, but he's teasing anyway as he undresses. first his shirt pops off over his head and then his jeans slip down his hips and off his legs. he then shrugs out of his boxers, steps back a few steps before he runs and jumps in with a loud yell ]

Not to me. But maybe you'd be shy about it or something.

[He was teasing right back, still grinning.

On one hand, he hadn't honestly expected Tyler to do it, but he should have known better. And he certainly wasn't going to complain, nope. He just watched Tyler undress, and then turned after he'd jumped in.]

Water's nice, isn't it?

[ he treads the waters a bit, a large smile on his face ]

Better than nice.

The good company helps too.

[He smiled, swimming over to steal a quick kiss before continuing past him.]

[ it's like the kiss is a come hither gesture for Tyler. he swims after Reid eagerly ]

Can't say anything against that.

[Catch him and there'd be more. Reid was feeling playful today-alright, yeah, so he was almost always feeling playful, but today especially.

He offered a teasing grin before he turned and started swimming quickly for the other end of the pool. What, a sudden unannounced race? Exactly.]

_{[Oh, look who found the pool. Is it really a surprise, considering it's in Orlea and he's almost always here, exploring. He pokes his head in the door, attracted by the strange, rancid smell. And who does he see, but Reid.]}

I swear I'm not following you...

_{[His voice barely carries and he sounds nervous as he steps inside, looking around.]}

What is that smell?

[You know, by now he really wasn't surprised to see Balfour around Orlea anymore. He practically spent more time here than he did in the district he actually lived in. Reid suspected he had something to do with that, and it wasn't just his ego talking.

He finished his current lap before pausing to answer, swimming over to the side of the pool and resting his arms on top of the edge.]

I wouldn't give a shit even if you were. I like it when you're around.

[He grinned, then shrugged a little.]

What smell? The chlorine?

Is that what it is, chlorine? It smells like a cleaning product.

_{[He sighs, making a face at it, but shakes his head. He'll get used to it.]}

I just...

_{[Just what? Huh? He doesn't really have an answer, so he walks over to a nearby chair.]}

Never mind. Are you enjoying yourself?

Well, it kind of is. It's supposed to kill the germs or algae in the water or something and keep the pool clean.

[He shrugged again.]

Yeah. It's been forever since I've been swimming, I really missed it. I'm on the swim team back home, you know. One of the best.

Sort of like flying for me, then.

_{[And just as smelly. Soot, ash, and human suffering smelled much much worse than chlorine. Still, he wasn't sure what to think of the sharp scent.]}

Swim team? How do you swim on a team?

[Hey, chlorine didn't smell that bad :| Then again, Reid was used to it. Liked it, even. Tasted awful though.]

Probably not the kind of team you're thinking of. [Maybe.]

It's more about style and speed. And endurance. [Coupled with a smirk to make the innuendo...clearer. No, there was never not a time for that. Especially not when he was almost naked.] A swim team just makes all of that a group effort. For who's the best.

_{[The chlorine smell isn't bad per se, but it is unpleasant and brings back unsettling memories of screaming and stark white everything.]}

I see.

_{[Except, no, he doesn't. And he misses the innuendo, as well. He's busy staring at the water, wondering how Reid does it, how he swims. He's heard of it, some of the boys from neighboring estates went swimming all the time, talked about it quite often. Still, it made him wonder what it was like, how it was done.]}

Can you show me some things?

Like what?

[He wasn't sure what he would show. It wasn't exactly something he was asked a whole lot.

Considering something, Reid cocked his head to the side.]

Have you ever seen anyone swim before? Or been swimming?

Well, you said something about style. I didn't know that there were more than a couple ways to swim.

_{[But that's not an answer to his question. Truly, he doesn't want Reid to know he can't swim, that he's never been swimming before.]}

Yeah, there's a couple different strokes.

[He shrugged, then smiled.]

You didn't answer my question though.

Will you show me?

_{[He's not answering, whcih should be an answer in and of itself.]}

Do you even know how to swim?

[Sorry, Balfour, as much as Reid loved showing off, that desire right now has been replaced with curiosity.]

_[Fine]

Never had the chance to learn.

_{[Huff huff. He'll just sit here now. And not look at Reid.]}

Edited 2013-05-05 01:43 (UTC)

[There we go. Finally, an answer.]

Nothing wrong with that. There are lots of people who don't know how to swim, you know. [He smiled.]

I could teach you if you wanted.

It's okay. I've never really...

_{[He waves a hand vaguely. In truth, he's lying. He had always wondered what swimming would be like. He doesn't want to admit that, though. He doesn't want Reid to worry about teaching him how to swim.]}

Show me some of those strokes.

Oh come on. [Nope, he wasn't going to let it go just like that, sorry Balfour.]

How about this. You agree to let me teach you how to swim, and I'll show you every stroke I know.

_{[He smiles a little and nods, tugging a bit at his shirt and gloves.]<}

I suppose we can do that. I don't have anything to wear to swim in, though.

[Reid grinned.]

Well you don't have to wear anything to go swimming.

_{[Mini. Panic. Attack. Balfour 'eeps' and shakes his head, hunching a little.]}

N-no, I can't.

_{[He won't go shirtless for anything. Even when they were comparing, Balfour had kept his back well away from Tyler and Reid's field of vision.]}

Is it okay to get in in my clothes?

_{[Tee shirt and heavy jeans probably weren't the best swimming clothes, but his other option was not an option.]}

Alright.

[He bit his tongue and resisted the urge to ask what was up with that, because he didn't think Balfour was just that shy.]

Yeah, you can do it. A little harder that way, but it works.

_{[Balfour nods and stands, emptying his pockets on the chair and kicking off his shoes. He tugs at his pants for a moment, then reconsiders and removes those, deciding to just go in in his boxers and tee. And then he was sliding into the water, a frown creasing his face at the cool temperature.]}

It's a bit cool. I figured the jeans would be too heavy.

_{[The statements are disjointed, and he realizes this, because he falls silent again, looking down at his hands under the water. Damn. He'd forgotten to take off his gloves. He removes them and carefully wrings them out, placing them by the pool, as far away from the water as he can reach.]}

Well, I'm in the water.

Yeah. Wet denim is pretty damn heavy, and not fun to swim in.

[Reid got the impression that Balfour was kind of like, well, a fish out of water, right now.]

So you are. D'you know how to keep yourself afloat or anything?

I've never done this before.

_{[He wobbles his hand in the water a little, making small splashes. He's not sure he wants to do this.]}

Alright.

Well, it's not like you'll drown or anything; I'm here. So don't worry about that.

[He swam over closer, close enough to hold a hand out to Balfour but not close enough for Balfour to reach him without moving a little closer himself.]

C'mere.

_{[Balfour moves carefully, and Reid, consider yourself privileged. He's touching your hand with his bare hands as he drags his feet along the bottom of the pool.

Once he's next to him, he smiles, carefully pressing his fingers to one of Reid's tattoos, eyes locked on the dark ink instead of his face.]}

[Not quite what he was intending, but, baby steps. This was also the first time he could remember that Balfour had his gloves off.]

See, it's not that bad. [He smiled.

Even though they hadn't really done anything yet...this was still a start.] I think the easiest thing to master is probably the dog paddle. Not the most elegant though.

_{[Can you feel how badly he's shaking, Reid? He's not sure he wants to do this, not at all. Still, Reid's asking him, so he's willing, if only barely.]}

The dog paddle?

_{[What an undignified name! He supposed it worked with the description of it.]}

Show me.

[It was only swimming, Balfour, it wouldn't kill you. At least, not with Reid around.]

Yeah.

[Well, it looks like what it sounds like :| The dog paddle is so far below Reid, but he could manage. He sneaked a quick kiss to Balfour's cheek before pulling away to have enough room. And then he demonstrated the dog paddle.]

I mean, it's not the greatest. But it works to keep you afloat.

_{[Yes, he was right, completely undignified. Don't mind him looking a bit off-put that he's expected to move like that. It looks stupid.

But he coughs and lowers his head from the way he'd been looking at Reid--or rather, what he was doing--down his nose. He had agreed to let Reid teach him how to swim, and this was a part of it. And the sooner he mastered this, the sooner he could be more elegant.]}

Please tell me not all swimming looks like that.

[Yeah, it did look stupid, and Reid felt stupid swimming like that. So he stopped. Easier to talk when he wasn't splashing around anyway.]

God no. If all swimming was like that there wouldn't be a swim team. [At least, he hoped there wouldn't be because that would be ridiculous if there was a swim team for the dog paddle.]

But hey. If you're drowning and you're not a strong swimmer, better to look ridiculous than die, right?

Ridiculous. Yes, I like that word.

_{[But it's not strong enough. It looks absurd, to him, absolutely degrading, but...]}

But you have a point. Now how do you do this?

_{[Because he wants to get this shame over with.]}

Ridiculous is a pretty good word for a lot of things.

It's easy. [And he was back with the dog paddle again, swimming in a circle in front of Balfour.] Kick your feet and paddle.

_{[Balfour has a brief moment in which he regrets not getting in the pool naked. After all, that would have distracted Reid so that he didn't have to do this, right? But then he has to admit that, no, it probably wouldn't. And the best way to get this over with is to master the doggy paddle. Which is why he's sinking into the water a little more--and damn, if that isn't scary--and kicking his feet, trying to paddle his hands.

And they're flapping as fast as he can, but he still manages to not quite do it right and he's sinking, shit he's sinking and this is like slow-motion falling and oh my--

He stands up and shakes his head, turns around, and tries again.]}

Edited (html, wtf) 2013-05-16 15:01 (UTC)

[It definitely would have been a distraction, yes, but with Balfour's luck, Reid probably would have still manage to focus on the swimming thing.

For now though, he just stands back and watches and god it's hard not to laugh, he had to bite his tongue to keep from snickering. Balfour kind of reminded him of a house cat someone'd just tossed in the water.]

Keep trying, you'll get it.

_{[He didn't like this, not one bit, especially the parts where he was sinking. Even though he could easily stand up and stop sinking, it was still terrifying. Sinking reminded him too much of falling from great heights, only slow-motion. He said nothing, just kept trying. At least here, he could stand up and stop himself. What if he was in a position where he couldn't and he didn't know how to swim?

It takes him a while, but finally, he's staying on the surface with some regularity. He still looks almost like a traumatized wet cat, though.]}

[Reid could tell that Balfour didn't like this. And yet he was still somewhat amused.]

You'll get it, like that. Baby steps. We'll do a little bit at a time until you get comfortable with it. [He smiled.] And only when I'm here.

You really think I'd try this without someone to save my ass if something went wrong?

_{[If so, you're insane, Reid. Insane. Batshit. Balfour does not plan on swimming unless he absolutely has to, and even now, he's more than content to just stand there, feet firmly on the ground. Nope.]}

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[Open] Like a fish

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