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 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:48 pm
He was left to do as he pleased now even though he was barely out of that awkward toddler stage he felt like he'd been trapped in, the sudden growth to a stronger child well warranted in feeling, and as Vox walked into the pool that he had frequented as a baby it all seemed different.
There was a stronger feeling of dominance, a stronger feeling that there was no threat here. Sure this place wasn't a loch, a pond, or anything else natural in terms of being a body of water, but to the young Kelpie it felt like it could be.
This was his domain, his turf. He could claim lordship over this area and rule it as he saw fit and there would hardly be a challenge to take it away. Vox couldn't recall anyone that would give him trouble in the water, the last time he'd been with anyone so long ago thanks a a recent string of...activities, so the children he had met were almost gone from his memory.
" . . . . "
As he viewed the pool one last time, knowing now he could take the bigger pool and actually cause some damage, a thin smile crept over Vox's lips. It was time to play.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:12 pm
The cast was off and summer was in full swing. Fish was free to roam as he pleased on his new bicycle, even if it was technically his sister's old bike and painted an odd shade of lilac. (He didn't think Ophelia even liked the color purple. Then again, the bike had been bought used.)
Eventually, his wanderings took him to the pool. Since his arm had been broken, Fish hadn't yet been back to the pool since his growth. Still, it had occurred to him that he could now swim in the bigger pool and no one could tell him he couldn't be there. He locked his bike in the stand by the entrance, peeled off his helmet, shirt, and sandals, and left them in the basket. He walked through the gate like a king returning to his rightful kingdom.
...Only to feel a shiver run up his spine. He frowned and shrugged it off to head for the water. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:07 pm
Vox was in the pool when the other boy had arrived, already moving about the rather empty water with ease. He was below the surface and skimming along the bottom, the feeling of the tile on his bare stomach tickling and feeling rather nice. It was a different feeling than the plants growing on the bottom of the lake he sometimes swam in, and even though it was all man made it felt natural enough. The young Kelpie was growing used to being domesticated by humans, but soon he would want something else.
The chlorine on his skin still smelt pretty bad and was almost too thick for him today, a difference from when he was little. Still, this was his kingdom until he could venture out on his own, so there was no use complaining. Instead he needed to try and find someone to play with, someone to act as a challenge to him. He wanted to make someone cry, someone perhaps strong enough to fight back a little.
With that in mind he rose to the surface of the pool, barely allowing his head to break the water's top enough to peak his eyes out and around.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Fish paused at the water's edge. There was someone here already. He could see the top of their head poking out of the water. He frowned curiously at it, still feeling a bit of dread, and then crouched by the water for a better look.
It took only a moment, but seeing those spiral irises sent a surge of recognition, he took a few hasty scoots back from the edge of the pool.
"You," he said, narrowing his eyes nervously. "Bitey-boy."
He sighed, frustrated with the situation. He did not want to get in the pool with that thing, nor did he want to get in the kiddy pool, but he did not want to leave without swimming.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:06 pm
" . . . Who're you?"
Vox's eyebrows pushed downwards as he looked at the boy who had just addressed him, his memory of meeting (and eating) this child back when they were toddlers something distant. It was almost like his first meeting with Fish hadn't left any impression at all on the Kelpie child despite the fact he'd bitten him and Rit had given him one of the longest "baths" of his life, up to the point anyway.
He didn't really wait for an answer as he made his way to the side of the pool from where he'd been treading water, the motion almost as fluid as what he was swimming in, and with a small grunt he placed his hands on the side of the pool and hauled himself out. Almost right away the water that had been clinging to his body seemed to dry, leaving only small droplets to trickle down from his hair and onto the concrete.
"If I don't know you, it would be best for you to leave my land. I'm feeling territorial today."
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:13 pm
Fish scowled. He didn't remember him! He had practically taken a chunk out of his arm (that was an exaggeration, maybe) and he didn't remember him!
"It's a public pool," he declared stubbornly, and made efforts to fight the urge to turn tail and run. Nope, not doing that. Bitey-boy didn't remember him. Oh man. It was on.
"It's a public pool," he repeated, and stuck out his chin and strode forward. He glared at the other boy with a sort of internally-falsified bravado, and then dove into the water in one smooth, fluid motion. He stayed under a long time before surfacing.
He looked at the other boy, and suddenly began to sense his impending doom, retribution for his moment of inspired, foolish bravery.
Well, that was dumb.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:22 pm
"Public or not, I have read that there are things called 'turfs' among people and they rule them while still letting them be 'public'. I suppose it would have been best for me to say that this pool is my 'turf'?"
Vox was slowly staring to recall the appearance of this youth, the way he looked so different from the other walking buffets was trying to trigger something in his memory. He had met so many people at the pool, one of them something inhuman that had a tail, another one that made him feel sick just at the memory, and then -
The boy jumped into the water and didn't come up for air any time soon. It was an unnatural length of time. An inhuman length of time. Vox's lips peeled back into a sly grin, his white teeth exposed as his face seemed to narrow. The grin stayed on his face until Fish came up for air, and he slowly moved to the side of the pool and squatted down.
"...you're Fish. The boy who won't drown."
The grin only seemed to widen, like his face would crack.
"Your blood was delicious."
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:53 am
Fish kept his distance, but he did stop and tread water while he looked at the other boy. He didn't have to struggle to remember him, like Vox seemingly had to.
"And you're Vox," he said. "The creep who bites people."
He shuddered. That grin- wasn't natural. And the taste for blood. The apparent ability to smell fear. Again he had the thought that Vox was like a shark, but sharks, as far as he was aware, did not eat people.
Fish tried, rather unsuccessfully, to shake off his fear.
"I'm going to swim," he said shakily. "It's a public pool."
And with that, he slipped below the surface, kicked off the bottom, and swam away towards the far end of the pool.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:03 am
Vox didn't think of himself as creepy. Perhaps a little uninterested in the going-ons of everything else, but not really creepy. Rit had never called him creepy either despite her long list of words she shouted at him from time to time, so it actually intrigued the boy to know why Fish thought he was a creep.
His interest to know only grew when the other boy still didn't listen to Vox's warnings about leaving his 'turf', instead swimming deeper into the water, leaving the Kelpie no choice but to act on his threats.
Which he didn't mind doing, of course.
"I warned you."
It seemed only fair that he should speak out his intentions even if Fish couldn't hear them, no one else at the pool seeming to notice, and Vox took a few steps towards the edge before he dove in again and made his way quickly towards where he'd seen the other disappear to.
"Are we playing tag? I won't lose."
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:16 am
Fish, despite his better efforts, still had not learned to speak underwater and doubted that he ever would. He turned around and shouted 'Go away!' at the other boy, but it came out as a burst of bubbles and incomprehensible, burbling sound.
He did not want to play. Especially with this creep. He wanted to swim. He finally had his cast off and he wanted to swim.
He chose to try ignoring Vox, though he knew it would most likely not succeed in making him go away. He swam towards the other end of the pool and shallower water.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:22 am
No response was accepted as an okay by Vox, via means of his own twisted logic and how if you're dead you can't argue (?), and he sped after the swimming boy with the grace allotted to his new body. Moving around like this felt a little more awkward than when he was little, the ability to swim around people not as easy as it had been when he was smaller, but he still managed to do so fairly well.
Shortly he caught up to the Fish-boy and moved out in front of him, his eyes narrowed and his lips pulled into that eerie grin he was sure to become known (if not feared) for. He reached out with fingers splayed towards Fish, his hand coming to a stop before he could actually touch the other.
"I caught you, but I don't feel like running from you any time soon. Do you mind if I still play 'it' and chase you down? It's more fun for me that way."
Even if Fish didn't want to play, Vox did. He would play until one of them got tired and couldn't swim anymore, or forfeited their right to the pool and left its safety.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:26 am
"I'm not playing," said Fish, though it came out just as bubbly and garbled as his previous statement. This time, however, he didn't move. If Vox had taken his previous attempt to get away as 'playing', then maybe if he didn't go anywhere then he would get bored.
He crossed his arms over his chest and gave the other boy a glare. They could both breathe underwater. This could go on forever.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:35 am
"Eh? You're not fun then if you won't move on your own."
Vox crossed his arms over his bare chest, the dark patches on his elbows and shoulders looking darker under the shadows of the water, and the thin grin on his face turned into a peeved frown. He had no idea what Fish was saying, he didn't care to learn to read lips, but from the general motions of the boy in front of him not doing anything he took it to mean Fish didn't want to play.
A shame really that he didn't want to move, but Vox had ways of making people do things they didn't want. Sure it involved him having to put in some effort, but effort made things fun. . .for him anyway.
"If you're not wanting to play, then I suggest you start running for your life. I'm gentle when I play, but not so much when I want to keep my territory . . .which you're currently in. And I don't allow trespassing."
That grin again, the inhuman splitting of the face. His black eyes seemed to deepen as he slowly uncrossed his arms and bent his body down, preparing.
"Count of three, okay? One...two..."
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:42 am
Fish's glare deepened. This was just bullying, right? Vox didn't really mean it, right?
Actually, he suspected he did.
Spurred into motion, Fish swam as quickly as he could for the side of the pool and hauled himself out. He stared back at the water, breathing hard. He felt like a coward, and certainly would not be repeating this to Crowley, but if being a coward meant that the sharky creep in the public pool didn't, well, eat him or something, then that was cool.
He got up and headed for the gate. He did not want to wait for Vox to surface.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:55 am
But Vox did surface, rather quickly, and he hauled himself out of the pool just in time to see Fish making a small break for the exit. He was greatly disappointed that someone he thought would provide a challenge ended up being a bigger chicken then those human brats he thought of as food sources, and with a loud sigh of disgust he looked the Atlantis child over.
"Coward. I wasn't really going to hurt you, more or less just play with you. It's no fun if I don't have anyone ever again to speak with."
Part of what Vox was saying was true, the other part was a clear lie, but it was difficult to tell without looking directly at his face which he was sure Fish wouldn't turn and do. His expression was a mixture of disappointment and a smirk, leaving him to look like he'd gotten hit with something.
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