I Swim For Better Days (Open)

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ had finally come to realize that although swimming had become a coping strategy in the recent years, she still really loved it. She felt alive in the water and it was really the only sport that had ever called to her. She wasn't big on competition, but she found herself in the pool today for one reason: to practice. Because she was joining the swimming team. Finally. After years at Hammel trying to convince herself, she was going to become part of a team. She was still pretty good, her strokes all had good form, but she was afraid her speed wasn't what it used to be. She really needed to fix that.

And she was finding that this was therapeutic as much as it was fun and so she did some laps, swimming from one side of the pool to the other, focusing on her speed and form. Nobody was really at the pool right now and she figured it was because it was a Saturday night, and while AJ would normally be in her room with a book or hanging out with Adaryn...tonight was different.

[Deleted]

Sera had good form when it came to swimming. Her naturally slender figure made it easier for her to slip through the water quickly and gracefully. She might even be able to out-race her brother, considering how much bulk he had on him to slow him down. Though in truth, Malachai was built much like her, slender and toned. It was her advantage to have been a woman, which gave her naturally less body mass than a man, as well as better buoyancy. However, Sera had to admit that she adored the high dive. The rush of falling, the surge of adrenaline….it was better than driving down the roadway. And far more satisfying. It was, hence, one of the outlets that Sera used to relieve the stresses which had pent up over the course of the day. Or in this case, the past few days.

She had her hair tucked back into her swimming cap and a pair of goggles sat atop her head. Her one-piece was a simple navy-blue with an indented design of a cluster of forget-me-nots, scattered from her left hip, across her torso, and up to her right shoulder. Her back was exposed, her bony shoulder blades jutting out sharply. Sera walked out into the pool area with her usual slender grace, her chin held high, and her eyes paying little attention to those around her. She dropped a towel upon a bench, then confidently headed towards the high-board.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

Another face appeared in the pool, a tall and slender girl who AJ was sure she hadn't seen before. She briefly wondered if she was on the swimming team or if she just came here for fun, but judging by the swimming cap and goggles on her head, it appeared that she was, considering AJ only had a pair of goggles with her. Hammel provided the swimming caps. She wanted to speak up as the girl walked towards the pool. Possibly ask her about the swim team.

This was what was going through her head as she resurfaced once more and grabbed the opposite edge of the pool, taking off her goggles and pushing her hair out of her face to focus on the girl. "Uhm, hey, are you on the swimming team, by any chance?" she asked, slightly out of breath.

[Deleted]

Sera stopped at the sound of the voice and turned her head towards the girl who was swimming up to the edge. She studied the girl with hard eyes, briefly wondering why the girl was even bothering to ask in the first place. Was it not obvious?

Still, she may as well humor the girl. “Yes,” she replied bluntly. Sera was half inclined to leave it at that and continue on her way. She had little desire to wait for this girl to float around trying to find her words. Instead, she took a resigned breath and stepped towards the edge of the pool. “Are you asking because you have an interest in joining or because you simply wanted to know?” she pressured, hoping to move the interaction along so that she could get back to her business. If it was the latter, then Sera would leave without another word. She hoped it was the latter if just for that.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

The girl had made AJ feel rather small. Not just because she was seemingly towering over her on the edge of the pool and was tall and slender in comparison to AJ, but because of how she was regarding her, almost as if she couldn't be bothered. AJ wondered if she should have said anything.

"Yeah..I do have interest. I mean, I've had for a while." She wouldn't just ask that question as a meager attempt for conversation. "I just wanted to know if you liked it...how the people are on the swim team. That sort of thing." The girl was probably a lot less rusty than her.

[Deleted]

Well…so much for getting back to practice, though really, what was she expecting? Sera sighed softly and stepped closer to the girl, kneeling down to engage more at eye level, or at least as close as she could make it.

At her question, Sera glanced away, regarding it with her usual ice cold stare. “I like it,” she replied shortly. “I wouldn’t be on the team otherwise.” She liked to swim, so of course she’d be on the swimming team. About the people, however… She took a moment longer to consider that part of the question. “I can’t say much about the people,” she said with honesty. “We don't ever talk.” Her own choice, she tried to tell herself. They were all commoners anyway...

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

The girl's sigh told AJ she shouldn't have asked. Well, at least she was answering her question, even if she was being unnecessarily nasty. She wasn't very helpful in her answer, and AJ figured she was the type of person who joined a sport for the competition, to swim, and that was it. She'd picked the wrong person to chat up about her insecurities she now had about swimming and how the team was. She seemed highly serious as well, not like AJ wasn't, but it was intimidating. She didn't speak more than she had to.

"Thanks," she mumbled, not really sure what else to say. So much for coming across a friendly face of someone on the swim team to ask about it. She obviously wasn't a people person, but not in the way AJ wasn't.

[Deleted]

Thanks? That was it? Sera found that annoying, that she didn’t even try to ask any further questions. Her interest must have been superficial if all she could manage to say was “thanks”. The tall girl started to step away. “You’re welcome,” she said in her usual monotone. After another step or two, Sera stopped and turned back to the brunette at the poolside. “There is a meeting later this week,” she informed. “Will you be joining us?” It was an invitation, yes, but Sera liked to know these things. When people dropped by unexpectedly, it threw everything off. Partnering, supplies, lane sharing…it was easier to compensate if they knew ahead of time.