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"NO!" The ear piercing shriek was coming from a kicking struggling girl held in a viselike grip by a tall woman in a dark red bathing suit who seemed, generally speaking, to be disinterested in the girls frantic struggles. She walked forward, and the girl stumbled along next to her, tripping but never falling, as her hand stayed firmly held.

"No I won'!" Tansi continued to shout, all of a small child's fierce resentment in that cry. "I hate you, an' I hate wader..."

"Evident enough by how filthy you were when your father dropped you off, dear." Jane responded levelly, apparently accustom to Tansi's tantrums. "But you've had your bath, and now we're going swimming, or do you want all your cousins to laugh at you because you're afraid of the water?"

That caught her up short, her little bottom lip puckering out and quivering. "'m not ascared." She replied, temperamentally, no longer struggling though, in her awareness of the pointlessness of the activity.

"I'll believe that when I see it." And with that, she marched the young girl over to the steps that led into the shallow end. She did not, at least, throw her in. No she entered herself, actually releasing the little girl's hand. "I'm just going to wait here for you. And I won't believe your not afraid until I see you actually put your face in the water."

"'m not ascared!" A foot stamp to punctuate it, but she made no attempt to actually get in.

((Hope it's okay for me to toss them in ^^; ))

Plants liked water, didn't they? That was Qing's rationale when he decided to take his "little experiment" to a local pool. That and the fact that it was winter, and Aidan didn't seem to be enjoying the frosty outdoors. Pools had water, warmth, and as he found when they arrived, other kids!

"Rlook, Aidan! Rlots of kids forr you to prlay with!" Glancing at the parents sitting around the pool, Qing was glad he had decided to wear the two-piece suit, instead of the trunks Anandi had suggested. That was good for kids, maybe, put the parents were all wearing more covering suits. That meant that he was right!

Aidan wrinkled his nose at the smell of chlorine in the air. It wasn't that he'd never smelled funny chemicals before- Qing used them often in his experiments- but that didn't mean he had to like them. Even worse, Mei had heard that they were going someplace with water, and refused to come along. That almost made him change his mind too, but the promise of warmth was strong. Besides, he was curious.

When he saw the pool, his eyes widened, and he looked like he would have jumped in if Qing hadn't been holding his hand. Instead he just stared, tugging at his green swimming trunks and wondering how deep it was, and what he could do there... much less about the other kids. As soon as he was released, after promising to "be good," he walked quickly towards the edge of the pool and sat, dangling his legs in the warm water. That felt good.

That was her name! Footstamping forgotten at the promise of attention, Tansi turned her gaze away from Jane, and toward the speaker. It was... her face wrinkled into a frown as she tried to remember. She remembered him, or his ears anyway. He'd been shorter, before. She'd have to look up at him now. And she wouldn't be able to reach his ears! Oh no!

Still, it was a distraction, and something that meant maybe not getting in the water. So long as the bunny person stayed away from the trecherous liquid, no one could call her a coward for not wanting to get in. And she wasn't. She wasn't at all!

"Hi!" The response was a joyful singsong, and she waved enthusiastically from her spot. Moods were easy to cast aside, when the threat of the moment seemed avoidable. She'd rather think about him then water anyway. The others, she'd yet to notice, as they had yet to make an attempt to pay attention to her. And what else mattered, really?

Content that Aidan was behaving well enough, Qing found a chair a few feet away and tossed his towel over the back. He was planning on going in, of course, and if Aidan went in he had to as well anyway, but not yet. First he wanted to watch a little bit. He'd never been to a swimming pool before, though he'd heard of them a lot. This was as much a research project as anything else.

There were lots of people in the pool, but Aidan wasn't ready to go in yet. Nor was he particularly ready when a girl surfaced in front of him. Whoever she was, she looked like she was really good at swimming. Maybe she'd had a lot of practice, or something like that.

"Hello," he replied, and followed that up immediately with "How'd you do that so good?" Maybe she would tell him how she did it! Either way, the whole 'swimming' thing looked like fun.

Yes, yes she would make a nice picture! She'd make the best picture ever, and she'd be a model, and everyone would love her. Wait... what were they talking about? She blinked at Owen in mild confusion for a moment, then summoned up her best charming smile.

"T'anks. You b'ing it nex' time." She instructed, with frank confidence and self interest. False modesty was not a concept she'd yet learned.

"'m asposed to go swim. I don' like wader though." Her attention moved away from the bunny boy then, skimming lightly over the surface and landing at least briefly on the girl with the fishing tail.

"She's a fish!" She spoke with a child's unrefined delight, pointing openly at the 'fish' in question, before turning back to Owen. "'m not a fish. I'm not made for wader."