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"Um um um." Came the scorpion child's only response as he allowed himself to be dragged in towards the pool. He gave it another skeptical look, swallowing heavily. His guardian hoped he wouldn't get too upset- he didn't want to be dealing with a panic attack about something this small... But Nero knew the water didn't bite, so he was prepared to follow the other child in- "U-uh... B-but I d-don't have a sw-swimming s-suit..! A-and I-I'm we-wearing my sh-shoes..." Besides, it was kind of cold outside for swimming.. "A-and water sc-scary." He added in, as if that were a normal thing for someone to be saying.. Or even as if it were some commonly known fact.

Axel watched with his arms folded, speaking to the woman under his breath, "It's alright... He seems fine..." His eyes narrowed in thought. The two had a very strong connection. He could tell just by looking at his charge when something was really wrong.

Nero shifted, looking towards the woman, "I-i-i-its ok-okay! H-he's not b-being too b-bossy! I-I'm okay! I-its okay!" He assured her quickly, not wanting his newfound friend to be getting into any trouble.

Nero appeared uncertain at first, and then looked down to the floor and kicked at the ground sheepishly, "W-well..." It wasn't the water itself that was scary... "O-one t-time I w-was w-with my fr-friend J-Jekel and th-this me-mean b-bully came a-and.." He remembered very clearly being told to stay out of the water if he couldn't swim, and the fight that broke out... "A-and..." He hesitated, looking over towards Axel.. He wasn't allowed to tell the rest of the story.. But he really wanted to explain how Jekel bit that mean kid! But he wouldn't. He'd be good.

He turned back to the other boy, just shrugging now. "I dunno." He muttered softly. "I-It's j-just scary.."

"U-um..." Nero appeared to be seriously thinking it over, examining the water with a thoughtful expression. Maybe it wasn't as scary as he thought it was, if Jekel and Chath liked it so much... Maybe it'd be worth learning to swim.. Although it was true he'd probably never be agile in the water, simply because of how he was built. His body was not for working with water. He was a desert creature, after all. "Th-thirsty?" His head turned as he heard the woman speak again. "I-I gu-guess... Th-that'd be n-nice, th-thank y-you." His eyes turned back towards Chath.

Axel watched the two of them for a few more moments, and then began rummaging through one of his pockets idly. "They seem to be hitting it off."

"U-um... W-water's g-good!" The child responded, suddenly shy as the attention turned completely to him. He lowered his head sheepishly, rubbing a claw at the back of his neck. He wasn't quite used to the attention, to be honest. He seemed kind of disapointed when he learned they couldn't swim right away, eyes darting between the woman and the pool.. And then he perked, "Y-yeah! D-daddy c-can wa-watch us! H-he's a b-big gro-grown-up!" He smiled brightly at the realization.

Axel arched his brows slightly, "Sure, that'd be fine with me. I wouldn't mind playing lifeguard for awhile. Feel free to let 'em swim." He gave a shrug of his shoulder, smiling towards Jay slightly.

Nero smiled uncertainly as the child tried to take hold of his claw, "O-okay..." He looked back towards Axel thoughtfully, and then stooped over to slide off his shoes and move them aside. He then forgot about the rest of his clothing, leaving it on for now, hesitantly thrusting an ankle into the water. He swallowed heavily, claws clacking nervously.. And then he edged his way in, following the younger child before brightening a bit. Hey, this wasn't so bad! His tail sloshed through the water behind him.

Axel gave a wave of his hand, "Nah, I'm alright." He smiled reassuringly at his hostess and then turned his attention back towards the children, yawning a bit. He'd give Nero some playing time, but then they'd have to get home..

Nero looked at the dinosaur curiously, taking it awkwardly in one claw.. Hey, it looked kind of like a dragon! He brightened a bit at this realization, and then slowly lowered himself to his knees in the water. He looked around the small kiddie pool, then decided it really wasn't that bad. He didn't even need to really swim in this! "O-okay..." He said uncertainly, blinking. How did one go about playing fire trucks and monsters? "U-um... H-how d-do yo-you play th-that?" His head cocked itself to one side slightly.

The child bit into his lower lip and shuffled uncertainly, feeling a bit sheepish because he didn't know how to play. He felt suddenly as if the other boy were disapointed with him. His head lowered shyly and he looked down at his feet, "U-uh-huh." He peered up as the other started explaining, and then nodded enthusiastically. Sure, he didn't really like the thought of being a big scary monster but.. He wanted to play. And thus, he began, with some difficulty because of his claws, moving the moster towards the firetruck. "R-rhaaar!" He even used his best scary voice. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Nero brightened as the game began, tail swaying contentedly behind him. Oh, it was just like a normal game! Although he had to admit he only played games like these with Simon or himself, but he still had fun with them. He smiled shyly at the compliment, ducking his head a bit, "R-really?"

He went right on into it after that, doing a little mock-roar and tried his best deep, monstery voice, "Arrrrhh.." He continued moving the dinosaur towards the ducky, "It's n-no u-use! I-I'm gonna g-gobble y-you up l-little d-ducky! Rhaaarrr."