|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:20 pm
The sounds of screeching laughter reverbrated off the walls and the scent of chlorine hung sharply in the air. The indoor swimming park wasn't terribly busy for the middle of the week but there were enough children there to create a regular cacophony. There was the lap pool where the grownups and older children played, the hot tub where the grownups and older children relaxed and then there was the kiddie pool. It was nice and shallow and not too terribly full.
Darsh didn't know what to think about it. He glanced at his arms where two bright green water-wings were attatched to keep him afloat, just in case. He had a yellow duck-shaped floatie tube around his waist. And despite the water at it's deepest point being just over his head, he still felt miserably vulnerable. The mommy-and-me class had ended five minutes ago and Aunt Emma had promptly dumped him in the kiddie pool with an admonition to "be a good boy, honey bear." While she went to the hot tub to take a nice relaxing soak. So now the little blue boy stood there, feeling mildly stupid with all the floating things attatched but too nervous to get rid of them.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:29 pm
In a way Vox was honestly glad that Port and Aft were a little too stupid to heed Rit's warnings on were he was allowed and not allowed to go - the pool being a 'nokay zone' as she had put it - and as he stood surveying the different types of people in the area the Kelpie toddler almost wanted to say thank you.
It was mostly because Port and Aft were unaware to the full extent of what he was and what he did, what with the twins always traveling around to get more business for their shop, and all they knew about everything was Vox has a small biting problem.
And the ocean is a puddle. A small, salty puddle.
" . . . . "
Vox hit his pay dirt when he noticed a kid in the pool...with floaties. It was like someone above was just rewarding him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:34 pm
Okay. So the water was wet. And not too cold or anything. There really wasn't anything to be worried about, right? Except for the fact that Darsh was not even a successful mommy-and-me graduate. He'd had his first and only swimming class today in the big pool. And now he was all alone. He had been assured, of course, that as long as he held his breath he would float. But the little blue boy was mildly doubtful of this fact.
Feeling eyes on his back, Darsh turned slowly, his face schooled in his usual insolent expression. The boy who was staring at him was... well, Darsh wasn't quite sure. Half of him was drawn towards Vox and the other half immediately labeled the other boy as competition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:47 pm
Vox looked the strange boy over for a few moments before his brain clicked and reminded him that he was now bigger then most other children and a little stronger as well, if only enough to revival a ten-year-old children instead of a 3-year old toddler, but it wasn't something he could easily control when he wanted to. He probably had to be angry or hungry to even draw something out worthwhile, but that seemed dubious at best.
He finally took a couple of steps over the pool, away from Port and Aft who were making fun of one another in their matching (as usual) swim suits, towards the new child with the floaties.
Now, seeing as Vox wasn't really hungry or in the mood for confrontation . . . yet, he started things off simple by asking a question once he reached the boy's side.
" . . . Can you drown?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:51 pm
Darsh blinked, rather put-off by the question. But the questioner had very pretty eyes... He shrugged in what he hoped was a negligent fashion. "I dunno. I guess so. Auntie says these things are supposed to make it so I don't drown, though."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:59 pm
"I see, I see. Do you want them off them? They look rather uncomfortable."
Vox moved around the other boy, an uneasy feeling in his stomach churning as he drew close enough to reach out and touch one of the floats, but he ignored the nausea and kept at the task at hand. This was turning out to be way to easy and he knew, deep down, there had to be a catch somewhere.
Like a killer mother-figure, or the ability to produce gallons of holy water on command. Or acid blood. The toddler's imagination was infinite thanks to recent bouts of unsupervised television view times, what with Sloop and Caravel and their strange love for B-movies acting as his baby-sitter.
"I can help you get them off if you want, and even show you maybe how to swim if you want to learn that too. The water isn't too deep and I'm a good swimmer."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:05 pm
"Really?" Darsh brightened up. "Maybe just the duck one..." He was still a little reluctant to let go of the floatie wings on the off chance that he didn't turn out to be good at swimming. Which, while the thought tickled at the edges of his mind, he didn't take terribly seriously. Darsh was good at everything, at least as far as he was concerned.
He watched as Vox circled him, feeling a little uneasy himself. He moved with the smooth grace of a natural predator, not that Darsh realized this consciously, at least. But Darsh did want to learn to swim. And was cocky enough to be confident he could handle it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:19 pm
So knowing he could get past the uneasy feeling and get to the child that stemmed it, Vox nodded and smiled in the best and most friendly way he could (still pretty creepy, coming from him), taking a step or two to remove the heinous lucky ducky floaty from the other child's waist. It gave him a chance to lean closer and actually get more a 'smell' of the boy, and just doing that made his stomach ache a bit more.
He had to be hungry, right? Why else would he feel this way? Upset stomachs, other then the time he ate liver on account of Rit shoving it down his throat, were rare and he could hardly remember them occurring. Vox passed it off for now and completely removed the ducky, tossing it aside like an adult would an article of clothing from their mate.
This was exciting somehow.
"Okay, now we both get into the water and you follow my lead all the way. Can you do that?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:28 pm
Darsh felt naked, despite the red swimming trunks and green water-wings. It made weird nervous butterflies rise up in his stomach. Not an entirely unpleasant feeling, but definitely a disconcerting one.
"Okay." He was willing to admit that Vox was probably a better swimmer than he was, since he couldn't really swim much at all. So he tried to be a good student, following Vox's orders.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:38 pm
Vox was dressed in his usual pair of swimming trunks, though this time someone had stitched a little skull on the left short leg, and he felt the nerves in his stomach disappear the moment his bare feet touched the water. It had been a little while since Rit had brought him here, what with all the attacks on other children apparently, so it felt good. Like he could be free once he would get in deep enough.
"Okay, to start with step in and get used to the temperature. There's no point in shocking yourself into liking it because you'll end up wetting your pants."
Not that he spoke out of experience or anything.
"It's easiest to get in and then sit down underwater."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:42 pm
Darsh sat in the water, but not deep enough for it to cover his head. Just enough for the water to come up to mid-chest level, his arms floating goofily at his sides. He would NOT, he told himself, wet his swimming trunks. Sitting in the water wasn't so bad. It was kind of relaxing. "Like this?" He asked, expecting an affirmative answer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:52 pm
Vox nodded his head to respond, watching with slight disdain at how the floaties kept the other boy's arms at the water's surface. He didn't know how they did that or why they did that, but he knew it would probably be hard to drag someone down if part of them floated up. Breaking an arm off was out of the question - it seemed to hard at the moment and most likely would make too much noise.
"You need to put your head underwater too, in order to get your hair wet. If you head is dry it doesn't matter because the rest of your body won't adjust so well. At least, that's what Rit would tell me during showers."
The boy was trying more for common conversation, but once the blue child got his head underwater it would be over. He could easily hold his head under and watch him turn blue...er. Would he really turn blue? Or would he turn purple?
He had to know now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:03 pm
He wasn't fond of putting his face in the water. He had discovered that earlier in the day during the swimming lesson. So Darsh instead tilted his head backward until his hair floated around him in a darkly glittering nimbus. From the position he blinked up at Vox. "Like this?" He asked again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:19 pm
. . . darn it. Didn't this kid agree earlier to follow all of Vox's instructions? If Vox had gone all the way underwater it then naturally this other kid should have followed but it seemed he did things his own way and that, of course, was irritating. Still, if he were just to lean forward and push down...he could probably force the other's head under.
So that's just what Vox did. With a swift motion he reached his hand out and clamped it down atop the blue boy's forehead, and with a bit of momentum he pushed down. Thanks to them both being in the water their bodies would slide to allow movement, and all that was left to do was to prevent flailing. Floaties could be blamed on that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:32 pm
Shock. Shock and the instinct to hold his breath. His arms were still floating at the top of the water, but his head had been thrust under. Darsh flailed and grabbed Vox's wrists, trying to wrench them off his head while he flailed as expected, trying to slide his head out of the way. The red jewel set in his forehead started pulsing in an angry heartbeat of light, though it was hidden under Vox's hand, only a small amount of illumination leaking between his fingers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
