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Green wasn't sure why she'd decided that it would be a good idea to take Belle, who'd done everything in her power to make the trip from their home to the indoors swimming pool in town a lively (and horrible) adventure, for a little dip. The petite, blond woman resisted the urge to groan as she slipped into the pool room, dressed modestly in a dark blue bathing suit, and was greeted by a giant swell of noise. It was crazy- how well the glass door kept the unnecessary ruckus from penetrating the insides of the changing room.

She glanced down at Belle, whose tiny, dark hand she gripped tightly in her own. Was that a particularly vicious twinkle she saw, sparkling in those beautiful eyes?

"No wandering off," Green said loudly, not really caring whether or not somebody heard her.

The toddler, who was dressed in a pretty pink bathing suit with purple ruffles on the side, resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her mother. There were so many noises, so many people! How could she expect her to stay in one place? It was absurd! She wanted to run, she wanted to play. Her head buzzed with all of the voices and her hands tingled, fingers itching to race over and snatch that big red ball away from a tearful little boy. He was hardly doing anything with it.

But, she stayed where she was, and gave Green's hand an affectionate squeeze. She suspected that they had neglected to bring Marie and Gage along because mummy had wanted to spend special time with her. For this reason alone, Belle could forgive the woman her overly protective attitude.

"Let's go!" she squeaked merrily and made an attempt to drag the blond woman along.

Green laughed and let the toddler pull her towards the edge of the pool, where the water lapped playfully over the tiled edge.

Finnegan had been sulking. Okay, maybe not sulking, but Auska didn't know how to describe it. The boy had taken up a permanent residence on the window seat that faced the backyard. She'd often find him with his face pressed up against the glass, staring fornlornly outside. He'd move only when he had to, or when she asked if he wanted to go outside. Auska didn't much care for the cold, so she didn't ask often. But today she couldn't handle the sad little sighs he gave every time she walked past and caved in.

"Alright," she grumbled, hands on hips as she stared the morose boy down. "We're going out."

His face lit up and he moved quicker than he had in a long time as he rushed upstairs to collect anything that he wanted to take. Later, Auska had to gently pry things away from him (stuffed rabbits, blankets and electronic devices are not okay for the pool) but soon they were on their way. Somehow she'd managed to buy him a pair of forest green swim trunks in her first mad rush to the store. They looked rather cute on the deer-boy as he trotted into the pool room.

Auska kept a hand on the boy's head as he shrank closer to her when confronted with all the noises and people. "Momma..." he whined, fingers curling into the bottom of her skirt. "Momma, I'm scared."

She couldn't help but frown at that. She knew he was skittish but she hadn't thought that he would be scared of new people. Her lips pursed as she gently, but firmly, pried him off of her and pushed him towards the shallow end.

Finnegan watched as his mother turned and walked off to one of the chairs on the side. His eyes widened and he resisted the urge to bolt. It was his fault that they were here, and he'd wanted to go out...he might as well enjoy it. Blinking, he stepped out and trotted to the edge of the pool, staring into the water with large eyes. Did he really want to do this, and why was everyone so loud? And running - why couldn't everyone just stop moving so he could stop jumping at everying?

People were coming and going like bees in a hive. Belle watched with a fascinated expression on her little face as dozens of half-naked people ranging from ages five to eighty bustled this way and that. A particularly rowdy group of teenagers, who were play-fighting and splashing water at each other in the deep end, caught her eye. At that precise moment in time, nothing in the world looked like more fun.

The dark skinned toddler gasped in delight and took a step towards them, but was quickly pulled backwards and steered in the opposite direction by a rather concerned looking Green.

Her mother had sensed Belle's distracted attitude and had known, in that special way that mothers do, exactly where her toddler's mind had flown. The deep end and the rough-housing teenagers were off limits. Green would have informed the little girl of this fact out loud, if she didn't suspect that Belle would only shrug the rule off.

Before she'd even stepped in the car that afternoon, the blond woman had known that she'd have to keep an especially keen pair of eyes on her mischievous daughter.

Belle had realized, the moment her mother had turned her away from the group of much older children, that she was not destined to have a good time here. She crossed her arms over her chest, stuck her bottom lip out and made a good show of her suddenly nasty mood- all the while being pushed along by her mother, whose hands had now moved to the little girl's shoulders.

As they passed by a slightly frightened looking boy with legs like a deer and a very cheerful little girl, Belle was tempted to shove the pair of them in the water.

Finn had been paying little attention to his surroundings - he was engrossed in his watery reflection and wondering why everyone looked so happy to be splashing around in it - so the sudden voice by his ear was not something he was expecting. If it was possible, his eyes widened further as his head snapped to peer at the little girl in a blue suit. She must be the one who had spoken to him. He tried desperately to recall what she had said, but he was too...ah...'deer in the headlights' to think properly.

"U-uh," he stammered, looking rather unhappy at the fact that he did. He looked even more unhappy as he finished it up with a lame, "Hello." Auska had told him to be polite, so he shifted nervously as he tried to remember what polite meant. Did it have to do with light? It sounded similar to him.

His awkward social interaction was salvaged by the appearance of another child, who obviously had to be his savior. Or hero. Or something. Only savior-hero-somethings saved people from awkward moments. Finn relaxed a bit, but not much. And the relaxation lasted only as long as it took that natural instinct to kick in.

New kid meant more of an obligation to speak. Finnegan didn't much like speaking, as he had yet to master much of it. So he just blinked and tugged at the top of his trunks, staring at the bright orange water wings. What were those? They looked funny.

"Those look funny," he decided to let the spotted boy know. Perhaps not the smartest greeting, but they did look funny. And he had a tail! A long one! Finn was a little jealous over that, if he was being honest.

All of these kids seemed to know each other. Belle stood on the sidelines, watching their interaction with a somewhat bemused expression on her face. The only other kid she'd met, aside from her own siblings, was Owen- the crazy rabbit boy who'd tried to murder her beloved toy cow. She wondered, absently, if these other children were anything like him.

Anger at the rabbit boy flared up in her little frame once more and Belle was suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to make somebody else unhappy; to share her feelings of frustration and hurt with them. She'd lost interest in the rowdy teenagers ages ago and Green, who'd sensed this simple fact, had unwisely let go of the toddler's shoulders.

Belle stood quietly as her mother fitted her into a bright orange life-jacket, beautiful emerald colored eyes trained determinedly on the legs of the deer boy. The moment her mother stood up and let her go, the blond toddler took a couple of steps towards the shy little boy and pushed him towards the water with all of her might.

"Belle!" Green sounded horrified, and pissed beyond words.

Finn stared back down into the water, not at all sure that he was as enthusiastic about it as the othe child. What was her name? Had the catboy said Reese? He wasn't sure, and so he wasn't going to use it until he was sure. Risk-taking was not his strong point, no matter how small the risk was. "Maybe..." he mumbled doubtfully, still eyeing the water.

Auska had settled into a chair of her own, knees drawn up and a book propped up for easier reading. Though it looked like she wasn't paying attention, every so often her eyes would slide over the top of the pages to check on her child. But at the moment she had her nose buried in a very, very good part.

Neither the boy nor his mother expected Finnegan's sudden dive. All he knew was one moment he was standing and dry, the next moment he was falling and wet. He was too surprised to make any noise, other than the splash that signalled that he was now floudering around in the water.

Auska was still reading, and Finn was flailing. He had never been in this much water before and it was scary. And his hooves weren't touching the bottom, even if it was the deep end. Perhaps it would have been a good idea if he's had water wings, too. Finn latched onto the side of the pool and hung on, staring up at the others.

"W-why would you d-do that?" his voice was tiny in the large room, and his eyes sounght out the person who had shoved him. Auska had said that pushing was not polite, so he didn't understand why someone would do it. All he knew was that he was scared out of his mind and was not going to let go of the side very easily.

And Auska was still reading. It was a really good book.

There was just no controlling that little girl. Green had known since day one that Belle was violently intended- mainly because she, as her mother and the usual source of resistance, usually ended up as the unfortunate victim. Until today, Belle had never gone out of her way to annoy or pester somebody who hadn't earned it in some way, shape or form. There was no excuse for attacking a strange little boy, whom she was sure the flower girl has been able to sense some kind of vulnerability in.

She was torn between jumping into the pool after him, in case he couldn't swim, and whisking her daughter away that instant. As it was, however, the fawn boy somehow managed to find the surface of the water and a ledge to lean on. Belle still looked angry- but, Green could see that she'd have her hands full trying to fend of all three other children at once.

So, the blond woman sat back and watched carefully, ready to step in if the situation called for immediate intervention. There was bound to be some kind of consequences for the toddler's rash actions. It was time Belle learned to deal with them on her own. She was young, sure, but it was better for her to learn a valuable lesson such as this sooner than later.

Belle had been more than aware of her poor victim's companions. At the time of her decision, they had been of little concern to her. Now, as her chest swelled with pride at having achieved her goal, she turned on the strange-looking cat boy with the funny things on his arms.

She hadn't counted on any of them sticking up for the simpering little faun. Still, she wasn't about to just sit back and let their insults or their crazy loud voices bounce off of her skin.

"I wanted to, that's why," her voice was much calmer than the other child's, as she glowered at him through a pair of icily narrowed eyes, little fists bunched into balls at her side. Intimidation clearly wouldn't work with her. So far, her mother was the only one who'd ever gotten her to apologize and, even then, it was only because Belle was tired of sitting in a silly corner all day.

Punishment be damned.

Oh my. This book must be really good, because Auska had yet to look up. Besides, there were lifeguards for a reason, right? So she didn't need to worry too much. What was the worst that could happen?

Finn clung to the side as if it was the only thing keeping him from sinking into the seemingly bottomless depths of the pool. It really was, although the ladder was near enough that he could reach it if he wanted. At the moment, he couldn't think of any way to get at it, even though he'd noticed it. He wasn't about to let go, so his hands were out of the question, and his fawn legs and hooves did nothing in the water.

Despite the terror he felt, he was glad that the other two were just as upset as he was about this. He stared in fascination as Reese dove in after him - quite gracefully - and then popped back up like it was nothing. How did she do that?

"Yes, thank you," the words sounded rehearsed but sincere. "How did you do that?" It seemed like he was developing a habit of saying exactly what he thought. He was so in awe of Reese's ability to move in the water that he forgot about the other girl that had pushed him in.

Though he hadn't forgotten about the water. He hated the water. It was cold and...weird. He couldn't stand, his arms were getting tired and it was cold. And weird. Finnegan couldn't think of anything else.