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 Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:58 pm
Even for a pirate, ninety degree heat was opressive, and summer on land seemed to lack the hard breezes of summer at sea. So she had grabbed Melchy, who was laying in the sun, fast asleep in the warmth, and dragged him out to find some way to cool down before he died of heatstroke.
A few days ago, during a trip to scope out the area she had ended up in, Katrina had come across a large-ish community pool. It was one of the strangest things she had ever come across, especially since the scent of chlorine was foul and the chemicals in said water were deadly in most doses. But today it was too hot to be health-conscious, and she had taken her child swimming.
They had, of course, needed to make a brief stop at an air conditioned store to purchase the proper swimwear. But the stop had been brief, and now Katrina and Melchy were fussing at the edge of the pool, Katrina in a respectable but still too-revealing-for-her-taste one-piece suit, Melchy in boardshorts. The boy wasn't quite sure what to make of the water, and Katrina crouched at the edge, gingerly dunking the boy's feet into the shallowes end of the kiddy pool. The boy was shaking like a leaf.
"You're not going to die, Melchizedek."
"I's weeeettt, Cap'n."
"But it's good. Honestly, have you ever heard of a pirate who didn't like water?"
"...no."
"Are you a pirate?"
"Guess so..."
"Then go ahead. Get your feet wet."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:03 pm
"I can't believe you didn't tell me before another teacher did!" Antony said lowly as he and Shade headed into the pool area, both wearing long swimming trunks and a towel hanging over their shoulders. How Antony was still so pale, Shade had no idea. The boy never burnt, either, but that was because he was obsessed with sun lotion.
"She cornered me that morning!" Shade said bluntly. "She's a bit--"
"Psycho?"
"Ah, yes, that might work for her." He looked around, checking for the most empty part of the pool and promptly headed for the area where the pirate lady and her kid were testing the water.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:11 pm
Katrina looked up as someone walked over to her, forgetting for a minute what she was doing and dunking Melchizedek to his waist. The boy screamed like a cougar, and Katrina lifted him up instanty, turning him around to face her.
"Don't screech that way in public; it's unbecoming and just plain bizarre," she snapped, glaring at Melchizedek until he looked away. Then she gently ducked him again to his waist. This time, the boy didn't squall. Instead, he looked curiously at the water and slapped at it a little bit. "There's a boy," Katrina mumbled, bordering on fond, and then looked up at Shade. "May I help you?"
She glanced at the child beside Shade and smiled to him briefly. Melchy looked up, focused on Antony, and waved brightly. "HI!!"
Katrina winced; Melchy had learned many things from the neighbor boy, Harper, most of which consisted of screaming.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:14 pm
Antony blinked, but smiled politely. "Hello."
"Hi," Shade said with a grin as he walked down the steps and into the water. "We're going to work on his swimming before his school class comes here for gym. Mind if we do it here?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:20 pm
Katrina nodded to Shade, smiling. "That's fine. I'm working on this one's swimming to, you might say." She dipped Melchy a little deeper, ignoring his squalled annoyance, and looked at Antony. "Learning to swim, then?"
Melchy looked at Antony, noticed that he wasn't screaming back like Harper did, and immediately changed his tactics. "I'm Melchy," he said brightly. "Who is you?"
"Are," Katrina corrected absently, setting Melchy down so he was standing on one of the steps without her. The boy wobbled a bit, but returned to slapping at the water. It was weird, being in water without it being bathtime.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:23 pm
"My name's Antony," Antony said with a light smile. "And I learned somewhat at the lake."
"It's easier to see things in a pool," Shade explained. "He's good at copy-catting things. Is your kid having trouble with it?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:55 pm
Melchy leaned forward, lost his balance, and flopped forward into the water. He squeaked, and Katrina pulled him up quickly, making sure he hadn't inhaled anything. Melchy glowered at the water.
"He's never been before," Katrina answered with a shrug. "I'm sure I'll have no problem teaching it. I'm very familiar with swimming, trust me." She dunked Melchy all the way again, and pulled the boy up spluttering. Melchy scowled at her, and then at the water, and then at Shade, as if it were somehow this man's fault that he was getting wet.
"The name's Katrina Chandler, by the way," Katrina said, suddenly remembering her manners. "The child is Melchizedek, we call him Melchy or Mel."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:00 pm
"I'm Shade," Shade said. "This is Antony, my kid."
Antony nodded and walked down the steps, into the water until he was up to his waist. "It smells funny, Father," he complained, wrinkling his nose.
"Yeah, not like the lake, huh?" Shade agreed.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:08 pm
”A pleasure I’m sure, Shade.”
Katrina smiled brightly at the little boy’s observation of the water’s scent. “It does smell odd, doesn’t it?” she said conversationally. “Nothing like lake or sea.” She tilted Melchy a little so he was on his stomach, supporting him. “Kick your feet, love.”
Melchy did so, hair plastered to his head and all the fur on his ears and tail wet and stuck down so he looked like a miserable sort of drowned rat. He looked surprised when he moved a little, and he looked up at Katrina. She smiled.
“See, it’s not so bad.”
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:10 pm
"See? Even a baby can learn how to swim," Shade said. "Now take a deep breath and go under, see how long you can stay there."
Antony looked at him blankly for a moment.
"You can hold your nose," Shade said.
Antony took a deep breath, clasped his nose closed and sunk under the water, his eyes wide open.
"Hope that doesn't make him go blind."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:19 pm
Katrina watched how Shade dealt with Antony, and couldn't help from smiling. It was nice to see that people other than her employed a no-nonsense sort of parenting technique. Melchy stared, wide-eyed, as Antony sank below the surface. He looked up at Katrina, obviously terrified that she'd make him do the same thing.
"I'm not going to make you do that," Katrina said to the boy, shifting her grip so she was holding his hands. "Now keep kicking and you'll float."
Melchy did, and grinned when Katrina was right. Katrina nodded and turned back to Shade. "How old is Antony?" she asked.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:26 pm
Shade looked blank for a moment as he counted mentally. "A couple of months?" he finally offered. "But I think he's about twelve in human years. He grows fast--"
Antony surfaced, taking a deep breath and rubbing at his eyes. "Some got into my nose," he complained as he coughed.
"Hold it closed tighter next time," Shade said. "But other than that, good time. You almost got to two minutes."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:34 pm
Melchy was tiring of kicking, and said so loudly.
"Wanna STOOOP," he whined. Katrina looked at him, sighed, and then scooped him into her arms.
"You're doing well." Then she returned to Shade. "Months, really?" She looked at her own child, who had aged almost three years in as many weeks, and something dawned on her. "Did he by any chance come from a cabbage?" she asked.
Melchy looked up at her. "What's cabbage?"
"A vegetable," Katrina answered. "Green, leafy, like lettuce but different. Y'make saurkraut out of it."
Melchy didn't understand anything but the word 'green,' so he ignored it and looked at Antony. "You stayed under long time," he said brightly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:43 pm
Antony smiled at him, shoving his bangs out of his face. "It wasn't so bad," he said. "I bet I can stay under longer."
"Yeah, actually. Is that where he came from?" Shade asked, motioning to Melchy. "They grow fast, huh?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:48 pm
"Alarmingly so," Katrina answered, ducking Melchy so quickly that he didn't have time to protest. "Especially since I hadn't expected my cabbage to hatch."
Melchy's eyes grew wide when Antony said he could stay under longer. "Really?" He looked at Katrina. "I do?"
"No," Katrina said. “You’re not ready for that yet.”
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