Gotta Talk To You (Jackson)

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The swimming pool was one of the places that Zeke felt pretty calm and in his element.  Even though he'd graduated from Hammel, since he still had training practice there, he usually just swam in the pool there because it didn't cost him anything and he was familiar with the place.  It was always new environments that made him the most nervous, so as long as he could keep coming here, he would, despite the fact that he was at least a couple years older than most of the other people there.

He half-wondered if he might see Rina around, but since he hadn't told her that he was coming over, he didn't expect to unless it was by accident.  And that was okay with him - he liked the girl he was dating, but he didn't always feel up to being around her because it did stress him out somewhat. That was just how his mind worked, apparently.

So here he was, making laps in the pool, switching between different strokes in no particular order.  It just felt good to move his hands through the water and pull himself powerfully forward, using his broad shoulders and back to move at a high pace.  When he eventually tired enough for a break, he paused at the shallow end of the pool and leaned against the side, letting himself catch his breath as he looked around at the other people in the area.  It wasn't all that crowded - probably because it was later in the evening on a weekday and most students were likely doing homework or socializing elsewhere - but that was just fine by him.  Nearby, a couple of people that appeared to be a couple were paddling around, but he didn't pay them much attention.  Once he caught his breath, he would take off again.

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Jackson loved the pool. Of course, he liked to wear his trunks and pretend he was an all-star olympic swimmer, but…well, anyone who knew him knew that he couldn’t jump from the high board, so it was best that he stick to the sports that stayed on land. At least with the swimming, he could act silly and not look too much like a fool, especially since that was pretty near what everyone else was doing anyway. Not everyone else entirely, there were a couple of people around the pool who did their serious lap swimming, which Jackson was jut continuously amazed at! Though this was also why he was trying to keep himself and Bunny in their own lane so as to not bother those people.

Bunny sure looked cute in her frilly swimsuit, though. How cute was she? Enough to make Jackson blush upon seeing her emerge from the locker rooms. And Jackson again had to wonder whether he was gay or at least bi. Because the latter was much less problematic for him than the former.

He’d gotten a kickboard for his (girl?)friend, so she wouldn’t have to worry about sinking in the deep end if she happened to get tired halfway across the pool. Jackson held the board and swam slowly backwards while she kicked her legs out behind her, leading her gradually from one end of the pool to the other. “You’re doing good, Bunny!” he encouraged enthusiastically. “Just a little more!”

Jackson’s eye couldn’t help swerving to the side to catch the physique of the man who had just powered past them with a gorgeous butterfly stroke. He peeked over his shoulder to see the man’s muscular back rise out of the water. Jackson wondered if he’d ever get shoulders that broad and beautiful… Wait, no! He had a girlfriend(sorta) to tend to! Jackson turned his eyes front again to usher along the small paddling girl. “Almost there, just a little more!” he said again.

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Bunny was having the time of her life, paddling around and having fun with her Hunny-bear. She’d been self-conscious at first to put on the swimsuit, especially since she’d been putting on a couple pounds since her last medicine change, but the ruffles on the front did a pretty good job of hiding them and she hoped that Jackson wouldn’t mind anyway. He didn’t seem to, so Bunny quickly forgot her worries and just let herself relax and have fun with her sorta-kinda-boyfriend.

Unfortunately, she tired easily, so even just one lap up and down the pool had her getting weary by the time Jackson was encouraging her to keep going and do ‘just a little more’. She did manage to make it to the end, but by then she was panting a little and needed to take a break. She was smiling broadly nevertheless. “Thanks for the encouragement, Hunny,” she beamed up at Jackson. However, she noticed his gaze lifting and looking over to another lane, and, interested, followed to see where he was looking. Oh, wow… “He’s really got one of those swimmer’s bodies, huh?” she said with awe. And he looked so tall!

Even while she was gawking, a cramp suddenly developed in her side, and Bunny yelped as she suddenly crumpled, flailing around for her paddle board. It may have been the shallow end, but as tiny as the girl was, it was still pretty deep for her.

Zeke’s swimming instincts kicked in without him really thinking about it when he heard the distressed sounds. His gaze snapped over to the floundering girl and, not noticing Jackson at first, quickly darted over and lifted the tiny thing up out of the water and placed her on the edge of the pool and out of harm’s way. …. Now what was he supposed to do? She didn’t appear to have ingested any water, so he stood back sort of awkwardly, only now realizing she had what looked like a boyfriend nearby. He stayed mute.

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Jackson was glad that Bunny was having such a great time, despite her waning energy levels lately. But even when you were too tired, it was always better to get up and do some sort of activity! Otherwise, it got harder to do even when you were feeling well. So…that was the purpose of them going out like this today, in addition to various other activities they’d done together. Besides, Jackson got to see Bunny in her swimsuit and she was just so darn cute! He couldn’t stand it!

He knew he couldn’t expect Bunny to keep it up for very long though, so when she finally made it to the end, Jackson didn’t continue to urge her to keep going. The girl was itty-bitty and no doubt needed to rest her tiny legs. That, and he was slightly distracted by the giant swimmer of a man in the lane beside their, staring up at those popping back muscles. “Yeah….” With a small pout, Jackson looked down and pinched the small patch of flab on his waist, wondering if he would ever get to that point? Probably not. While Jackson enjoyed the sports he enjoyed and was fit enough to play them, he was also very undisciplined to do anything else that didn’t hold his interest. Like weight lifting, or competitive swimming. Yeaaah, that just seemed like a lot of work, and boring too, considering it was a solo sport. Jackson preferred team sports. They had a bigger sense of camaraderie or something. Like you were a part of something much bigger. That, and even if you sucked, you still won when the team won, so you still got to share in that glory, ha ha!

Jackson may have been too distracted by these daydreams to respond as quickly as the person in a whole lane away when Bunny slipped from her kick-board and sank into the water. When he heard the splash of the swimmer emerging from the water, with his sorta-kinda-girlfriend in his arms, it took him a whole five seconds to process what had just happened, and his eyes went wide. “……wha…what just happened? Oh my god, Bunny!” he exclaimed, sloshing through the water to the edge of the pool where she had been settled. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need me to get one of the teachers?” Jackson rapid-fired out those questions, his only concern being how close to doom his girlfriend had been. Where in the world were his eyes that he didn’t see her sink under the water?

Wait? Somebody had saved her, right? Jackson turned to the hottie-hunk from the next lane over who had reacted with much greater speed than he was able to and offered him a grateful bow(just like his grams had taught him!). “Thank you so much! I don’t know where my head was, but if you hadn’t been there….” He didn’t want to think about what sort of horrors would have happened. Jackson raised his head slowly, his eyes slowly trailing over the…the bare chest of the man standing beside them in the water. Wow! He looked even better up close! Jackson’s cheeks automatically flushed a light pink that he hoped people would simply see as from exertion…or embarrassment for failing to save his girl from certain doom.

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Bunny hadn’t meant to make Jackson feel self-conscious about his own body – she loved his soft tummy, it was so nice for hugging and cuddling! But she did very much like looking at aesthetically pleasing men, and the swimmer beside them seemed like perfection in that regard. She would have tried to assure Jackson that he was perfectly fine, though, if she had noticed his pouting and looking envious. It wasn’t like she had a perfect body by any means, either. But before she could do anything, she found herself flailing helplessly in the water before thankfully being saved by her boyf-

Wait, no, that wasn’t her boyfriend! Bunny stared up at the tall beauty in awe as he placed her on the edge of the pool, coughing and sputtering only a little, and hardly caring that it hadn’t actually been Jackson that saved her. Wow… He looked even better up close… “Th-thank you,” she squeaked at him, before being bombarded with questions from Jackson. Bunny shook her head. “I-I’m okay, I think he got to me before anything bad could really happen…” Besides her normal achy joints and feeling a little waterlogged, she thought she was fine. She giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her head, embarrassment making her cheeks pink. “Only I could nearly drown myself in the shallow end, huh…?”

Zeke had nodded mutely in response to the girl’s thanks, thinking back to the other girl he’d save from the pond recently. Rina. How did this happen to him twice so close together? When the boy he assumed was the girl’s boyfriend began bowing and thanking him, Zeke grew more flustered, not sure how to respond. “It’s alright, I’m sure y-you, um, would have noticed soon,” he replied quietly, feeling like reassurance was probably good in this situation. He wondered what Danny would do – maybe reprimand him for not paying enough attention to his girlfriend? What had he been thinking, anyway? “Um… maybe you should have h-her wear arm floaties, if she isn’t a strong swimmer yet,” he suggested, his voice still soft and meek. Zeke was completely oblivious to the two of them gawking, thinking they were both just glad that he’d come over to help.

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Jackson couldn’t really blame Bunny for staring at a very aesthetically pleasing man - Jackson had found himself doing that just a few moments ago himself - but the problem was that she was looking at another man. Another man who was so much more appealing visually than Jackson. Now, Jackson would always have body image issues, no amount of working out or taking care of himself would cover up the scars he had on his belly or underarms or thighs, nor the stretch marks from any significant weight gain from his condition….but he did wish that he could be just a little bit more appealing than the average person.

But he couldn’t exactly be mad at this guy. One, because he was a super ripped hunk(maybe not super ripped), and two, because he had gone out of his way to save his drowning girlfriend(not really) while Jackson was off in wonderland somewhere. So, of course Jackson could only approach him with appreciation and kindness. “Yeah, thank goodness, I’m so sorry! I should’ve been paying more attention!” Though now that he knew she was fine, he could breathe easy and extend that appreciation to the hunkguy who had saved her.

The reassurance he gave was…not very reassuring. It definitely sounded fake, but Jackson supposed it was alright. What else was he supposed to say? That Jackson was an incompetent boob who would’ve let his girlfriend drown? “Y-yeah….I would’ve…but still, it’s better that you reacted quicker than I could, I never want my BunBun to suffer more than she ever has to. Well, I don’t want her to suffer at all, but…you know what I mean, right?” His eyes beamed at the mention of the floaties. Far from thinking it was inappropriate for her age, he thought it was a great idea. Besides, Bunny would look adorable in them! Jackson turned around to look at the recovering girl. “What do you think of that, Bunny?” Hopefully she thought it was a good idea too, though he wondered if she might be embarrassed being a 15 year old girl in floaties.

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Zeke didn’t regret saving the girl at all, but he was starting to feel really awkward and uncomfortable with the situation, completely out of his element and unsure of what to do with these people thanking him. He didn’t think he deserved it that much, he’d just done what anyone would have, right? “It…. It’s okay,” he said quietly, feeling sorry for the poor soaked girl more than anything. “We all make mistakes sometimes…” Was that the right thing to say? Maybe? He wished Danny was here, he would make everything less awkward…

He rubbed the back of his neck as the other boy kept talking, wondering how soon it would be before it wouldn’t be considered rude for him to leave them be. “Bunbun?” he repeated, wondering if that was really the girl’s name. No… it had to be a nickname, right? “Ah, right,” he agreed, suddenly realizing the intense look that the blonde boy was giving him. “I-I’m sure she’ll be fine, she, um, w-wasn’t under for long.”

Bunny had become busy wringing out her now wet hair, pouting to herself because she hadn’t wanted to get her face under the water. Oh well…. It was worth it to get saved by such a handsome man! She looked up again when Jackson addressed her, her gaze automatically going to the tall, quiet stranger before glancing over to her kinda-boyfriend. Floaties, was that what he’d said? “Sure!” she chirped, not at all embarrassed. If the hunk was recommending it, she would totally do it! “I’m just… not really a good swimmer yet… But Jackson’s a great teacher, so I’ll be better soon,” she said confidently. “But in the meantime, I don’t wanna have that happen again, so I’ll try the floaties!”

Zeke nodded and glanced away, now rubbing his arm in his awkward discomfort. “Good… Well, um… I’m… Going to get back to swimming… So…” He gave the due a small wave before paddling back over to his lane, figuring his work was done. Bunny kept her eyes on the gorgeous swimmer, wishing he would have stayed longer. “I bet he’d be a really good swimming teacher too,” she mused to herself. But of course, her hunny was just fine too!