[Open] Like a fish

[garwin]

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.]

Comments

[garwin]

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?

[blueeyedflyboy]

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.]}

[garwin]

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.

[blueeyedflyboy]

<sub>[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.]</sub>

[garwin]

[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.

[blueeyedflyboy]

_{[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.

[garwin]

[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.

[blueeyedflyboy]

<sub>[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.]</sub>

Please tell me not all swimming looks like that.

[garwin]

[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?

[blueeyedflyboy]

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.]}

[garwin]

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.

[blueeyedflyboy]

<sub>[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.]</sub>

[garwin]

[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.

[blueeyedflyboy]

<sub>[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.]</sub>

[garwin]

[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.

[blueeyedflyboy]

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.]}