I Know You Want Me (Rya)

[Rowan Booker]

Ah swimming, such a nice thing to do. It allowed for him to cool off, get some laps in and just overall have some chill time. He'd been running into a lot of different people lately and each and every one of them had a different reaction to him. He always kind of expected to be loved or hated and never in between, but at the same time, he mostly expected to be loved. What was there to dislike? His arrogance? Who the hell were they to judge. His way of handling 'relationships'? Again, no one was perfect. Those who hated him didn't know him and if they wanted to judge right off the rip, that was fine by him. He just found it funny since it was so hypocritical.

He tried not to let those things get to him. Being the way that he was, he didn't allow for himself to get angry about things and he didn't let other's anger effect him either. People got annoyed by him a lot and they said mean things about him, but ya know, it just wasn't worth acknowledging. If they wanted to hate him, fine, their loss right? He had other friends. Even if some of his friends weren't really his friends. He shook the thought from his mind.

As of late, he'd been kind of off. It wasn't anything with school and he typically didn't let it show, but the fact that his cousin was pulling away from him had him worried. He didn't know what to do about it. Beatrice was one of the only people in his life that he trusted wholeheartedly because she knew him. Ever since he got back from visiting home the week of the retreat, she hadn't been around when he called and his aunt Maryna didn't seem to think it was odd at all. But Rowan knew Beat. He knew the things that went through her mind and some of those things weren't exactly happy. He'd been keeping it from his aunt, but when this happened every year he had the same reaction every time. It didn't matter if Beatrice eventually came back to him, it just mattered that she wasn't there now and he was going a little crazy.

Rowan rounded the pool again after one more lap and finally came up for air. He pulled himself up on the ledge and wiped his hand down his face to get the water off. The stress he felt was clear in his tensed muscles and he sighed.

[Aryana Darcy]

You would think after so many times of being in the water, she would get sick of the feeling of getting pruned fingers and having to wash her hair at least twice after getting out of the water. But Rya was far from sick of it. Being in the water allowed for her to exercise and relax all at the same time. It also gave her practice with her powers, which was always a plus (in the Institute's eyes). Today was no different than the past few days. Every day she found herself in the pool, swimming laps to relieve herself of excess stress. It was how she kept her mind from thinking of the negative.

Normally she was up early enough to get in and out of the pool without running into anybody, but she had woken up late today and just felt weak overall. Her body was exhausted, but she wasn't going to give up that 'me' time that she had grown accustomed to. Instead of going in the morning, though, she decided it was best just to go back at night so she had a day of rest.

Night came relatively quickly, and for that, Rya was grateful.Putting on clothes over her bathing suit and putting her hair up into a messy ponytail, the brunette headed down towards the institute pool.

The smell of chlorine hit her immediately as she stepped into the locker room, and she gave a soft sigh. Familiarity. Into the showers Rya went and stepped out into the main room, her eyes immediately spotting a guy in the water, leaning up against the edge of the pool. Two things ran through her mind then: What the hell was a person doing in the pool this late, and he was hot.

"Sorry, Not sorry I interrupted your swimming time," Rya called out before diving into the water. When she came up for air, Rya wiped her face gently, her hands drawing the water away from her eyes.

"You know, most people would be out drinking or sleeping on a Sunday night. Not in Hammel's pool, alone. You really must lack an interesting life," She said, though she made no move to go any closer. Rya was fine right where she was.

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan looked up when he heard footsteps and his eyes met a very attractive girl. Not that those words were what he'd use to describe her, oh no. That was far too polite for Rowan. Two things went through his mind when he gave her a once over. Nice. Rack. Mmhmmm. He smirked as his eyes roamed over her body. Seriously, this was hardly even fair! It was night time, a prime time for Rowan to be in that kind of mindset and in walks sex on a thin frame with insanely gorgeous eyes and a sinfully hot body. And here he thought he was going to be all alone in the pool. Hm, he'd never had sex in the water before, maybe she'd be up for the experience. After all, who wouldn't be with this kind of hot (gestures to Rowan)?

When she dove in, he leaned back on his elbows and waited for her to come back up for air. And if she didn't, he'd more than willingly give her mouth to mouth. No hesitation necessary. Rowan was feeling pretty good about this. Most girls caved into his dashing good looks and witty charm (they were really just in it for the abs). Heck, he got guys to cave even easier than girls. And by easier, he means way easier. She finally came up for air and he placed his overly confident smirk on his lips. It was the smirk that he was infamous for. Everyone knew him by it.

"You and me both it seems. Did your date run out on you? That's what happened to me, she just couldn't handle it I guess," He laughed. Because that was totally why he was here. Right. Yup.

No.

"Nice form by the way, you a swimmer?"

[Aryana Darcy]

"You're funny," She gave him a sarcastic chuckle as he mentioned a date running out on her. Two things were wrong with that statement: First off, people didn't run off on her, she ran off on them. Secondly, Rya didn't date. Period. The first thing she noted, though, was his accent. She had been in the states for a few years now, but the accents always seemed to throw her off a bit. Boston... or was it a New York accent that he sported? Rya could never distinguish the two. All she knew was that it was far different from her rather generic sounding English accent that was beginning to even out with a few american influences starting to be picked up.

"Smart one, I must say. Definitely am. It was kind of a given, considering I was practically made for the water." It was a bit deep in the part of the pool that she was treading in, so she whipped up a bit of a current underneath her feet to keep her afloat. The current, swirling in circles under her feet, acted as a sort of 'stepping stool' if she didn't feel like physically swimming. The concentration needed to do this was minimal, as she had done this a million times.

"Now what really happened, six pack?" There was no shame in her voice as she held eye contact with the guy. "And by the way, eyes are up here," Rya gestured to her face, "Besides, a boy like you couldn't handle a woman like me. Trust me on that one, I'd break your pretty little heart faster than you could blink."

Most men would be the ones to leave at ungodly hours just to avoid waking up and talking about 'feelings' or 'how this was such a mistake' after the one night stand. Rya was like that, except she didn't have the male parts for that. She was all female, just non-committal. There was only one man she had a regular fling with, but he accepted the fact that she didn't want anything serious, and neither did he, so it worked out very well.

"Now if you'll excuse me, six pack, I'd love to chat, but I came here for exercise. If you want to talk to me, you have to come up with a bit more interesting, yeah?" Rya swam back to the edge of the pool, ducked under water and pushed off the side, only to reappear above the water several feet away, swimming toward the other end. She made it to the other end in minimal time, a satisfied grin on her face.

"So," She called again, "Are you going to keep my attention or should I just keep going?"

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan could appreciate a girl with a bit of snark. Hello, his best friend was all snark. That being said, he was put off by the holier than thou attitude that some girls and even some guys had. He was arrogant, sure, but he never held himself above anybody unless he was joking about sex. In those times he would no doubt say that he was the best anyone would ever have and someone would be lucky to enjoy that kind of pleasure. That was probably the douchey-est side of him though. He didn't think he was too good for anyone, though he had his own standards, sure. With his kind of lifestyle, he had to have some.

"Wouldn't you like to know," He said with a smile. Whatever was going on with him wasn't her business and he didn't mix business with pleasure. With a smirk he shrugged, wasn't his fault she had a nice rack and his eyes happened to wander. Besides, she should take it as a compliment that he was looking at her that way. He could have just ignored her completely. "See you don't know me well enough to judge that. I happen to be very capable of handling many things, even a girl like you. Trust me on that." Because he happened to have more experience than even he realized. The number of guys and girls he'd slept with was a blur, yet he could clearly tell if he saw someone whether he had or not. "And don't worry, falling in love has never been my thing." And he never really planned on it either.

Being the way that he was, Rowan was very put off by the idea of intimate feelings. It made him uncomfortable and he didn't like feeling that way. Feelings were pushed back to a far corner of his mind that held everything he wanted to avoid. He was that guy. The one that shacked up and then never called again, unless it was a girl that understood booty calls and the rules behind regular hookups. No feelings. No strings attached. He was the kind of guy that 'broke up' with five or six people at once in a group text message. And he only ever really broke things off if they were bad in bed. He was kind of a dick, though many people seemed to get this strange idea that he wasn't.

Her comment made him snort. He had to make things interesting, oh no. That's not how this worked. If she wanted something from him, she had to do something. He wasn't the puppy dog type that followed a girl around just so he could shack up with her. He was chased, he didn't chase. Not unless it was absolutely worth it, and to be honest, he'd seen a lot of girls like her already. All of them eventually broke. She swam away and he splashed in the water with his legs, not really paying her any mind.

Before she came back, he found himself making little whirlpools with his ability to keep himself entertained and debated on getting out or doing more swimming. The pruiny fingers thing annoyed him, but at the same time, he loved swimming. She went to the other end of the pool and called out to him. He gave a shrug and ran his hand through his wet hair, "Depends on if you can keep my attention, babe." Because if she couldn't, he had several people on speed-dial that could.

Though he had to admit, he would have liked to add another girl to his list that he could be kind of proud of bedding. She was definitely hot, there was no denying that. And she was practically naked anyway.