Swimming 101 (JD)

[JD Paerson]

JD raised his eyebrow at Zac's plush commentary. "What, do you test these sorts of things, trying to find the best stuffed animal? What about the story of Theodore Roosevelt finding and saving a young bear cub, so that's why bears are called 'teddies'? Does that help or hurt the teddy bear image, especially internationally? And, more importantly, do you think it makes me feel any better that you think of me like a bear as opposed to some other stuffed animal? Because really...yeah, I'm not impressed."

He did have to laugh at Zac's commentary about girls. "I'm surprised you're not doing better with girls, then, seeing as you're a glittery leech. And no, you can't woo me, for several reasons. Firstly, you don't have enough class to 'woo' anyone, you have to be Darcy-ish to do that. Secondly, I'm not woo-able. Thirdly, I'm way too good for you. I could go on." Namely with the "I'm not gay, and I'm fairly certain you aren't either despite the way you hang off me" argument.

"Seriously? Just because you have money doesn't mean that all the girls are going to fall over themselves for you. And believe me, being able to mimic the abilities of a possum will not make anyone like you more either. And as far as manners go, you might know which fork to use, but I at least remember to hold the door open for my date." When he had a date. But that was unimportant. JD refused to mention the fact that despite all this, Zac had actually gone out with more girls and had more actual relationships than the speedster.


JD blinked about the leotard costume. "You mean the costume Robin wears? Did you never watch Teen Titans? Beast Boy was the green one. Robin was the smart one. You are not Robin. But sure, you can wear the leotard, if it floats your boat." While he was not an avid comic book reader, he had greatly enjoyed the superhero cartoons that filtered their way to him. Even if sometimes he'd watched them in other languages.

"So that's why it's so easy for you to float," he said. "You've got nothing going on up there." He did try to take comfort in Zac's promise and took a few more deep breaths. "No awkward touching. And you're strong enough to hold me up. But then that's one of the properties of water, right? I'll be lighter here..." He knew all the science of it, how people going to space sometimes went into the water where the gravity was greatly reduced. It still didn't make this particularly easy.

He looked at the water, then tried to clear his mind. Then he eased back in the water, letting his legs float up and relying completely on his friend's support. After a few seconds, he finally relaxed enough that he was floating on the water, and he was able to open his eyes again.

Was it a comfort to see Zac standing there with a huge grin on his face? Nah. It was probably just left-over good feelings from having managed to finally start feeling more comfortable in the water.

"Start kicking now, right?" JD asked quietly, scared to speak too loudly in case he upset the careful balance he had on top of the water. "And is that supposed to just get me to swim? Or is there more to it than that?"

[Zachary LaRousse]

It doesn’t take much to see that Zac is rather lost with the battery of questions JD threw at him. Not only were they asked in a relatively fast pace, they were also a bit too ‘philosophical’, using the word loosely, for Zac’s tastes. Never had he imagined such a ‘harmless’ comment about stuffed animals would come to this. “Woah dude, calm down,” he chuckled, “If you don’t want to be associated with a bear, you just have to tell me.” He gave the boy a soft punch on the arm before adding, “So if you’re not a bear, then what are you? And don’t tell me you’re a horse, else I’d be forced to go grab me a newspaper and start whacking you crazy.”

“Darcy? Darcy who?” Unfortunately for JD, any reference to literature (unless it’s obvious, like say Romeo&Juliet) would be lost with Zac; his concern for the classics is very much like his concern for money when he’s out shopping – none. One’s better off using a newspaper roll to shake some sense into him really. “Un-woo-able? You haven’t even seen me try.”

“Awww Dee. This is why I love you so much,” he teased, tightly hugging the boy from behind after his spiel, “Don’t worry, I’ll find you a date soon enough. I’ll even make a Super Bowl commercial if I have to.” Times like these when he feels bad for the boy really. JD’s rather gentlemanly and caring, not to mention attractive (though Zac still maintains that he’s way above JD); if only he toned his aloof-ness to others down, Zac’s certain he would’ve had a long line waiting for him. “In the mean time, I’d make you my ‘mancrush’. So you’d have someone swooning over you and all that.”


The mimic shrugged his embarrassment off with a chuckle. “Oops. My bad. Don’t tell me you geek out with Isaac without inviting me. That’s just mean.” Feeling a bit dry and cold, he quickly submerged himself, shaking himself briefly like a dog would before brushing the wary hair off his face when he resurfaced. “And I can be smart you know. It’s just that you’re too stuffy already that if I act smart around you, things would become boring.”

Zac simply rolled his eyes at the speedster’s comment. A smirk quickly appeared on his face at the mention of ‘awkward touching’ however, his fingers playfully poking JD’s abdomen. “Oooh, someone’s been working out,” he winked as his fingers continued ‘exploring’ JD’s torso.

“Yup. Start kicking. Keep your legs straight, but not too tense,” he said, removing one arm from below JD to give him an ‘OK’ sign. “That’s it. Relax, relax and relax. Just keep going straight and you won’t go anywhere too deep.” He followed the boy, walking by his side as they reached the other side of the pool. “See, that wasn’t so hard. Now let’s go back.”


It went on for a while, JD ‘swimming’ as Zac helped him get to the other side of the pool. After around five or so laps, Zac decided it’s high time to remove JD’s training wheels. In the middle of their sixth lap, he slowly took his hands off JD, careful so as not to break the boy’s concentration, and let him finish the rest of the pool’s width himself.

[JD Paerson]

When in doubt, throw lots of questions at someone and hope they lose interest in the subject.

It was a theory that didn't work on everyone, but it tended to do well with Zac. JD smirked.

"I'm a Tyrannosaurus. Be nice or I'll eat you." He didn't bother to look threatening. It was impossible to impersonate a dinosaur without looking like a complete idiot.

"I guess it's no surprise that you don't know Pride and Prejudice. Don't worry, next time I'll make sure the reference doesn't go over your head. And if your actions toward girls is any indication, believe me, whatever you can pull will not sway me in the slightest. But if you don't currently swoon over me and treat me like your mancrush, then what do you call it?"

He frowned over Zac's comment. "Isaac? I don't remember that name...but no, I don't geek out. I watch cartoons. I'm surprised you never did, since you're so childish. And glittery. Teen Titans was kind of glittery. Totally up your alley." He frowned when Zac dunked himself. It seemed to imply an unnatural affinity for the water which the speedster did not altogether approve of.

"If you ever could be smart then you might do better with a real date. And you'd be surprised how interesting intelligence can be. You should try a decent conversation sometime."

He carefully ignored the comments about working out and focused instead on staying afloat. Zac would give off eventually if he didn't get any sort of response.

JD slowly kicked his legs and they set off down the pool. He didn't even notice when Zac let go completely, he just continued all the way to finish his lap. It was when he didn't feel the supporting back turning him at the other end that he realized the mimic had gone.

It was the same feeling as when he first was riding a bike and his mother let go of the seat--simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. Unlike when when he first rode the bike, though, he didn't let himself panic or fall over. Instead, he turned himself and slowly pushed off from the wall toward the other end of the pool.

"I did it," he said, standing up with a huge grin. "Thanks. But when I'm in something less calm than a pol, will this work just as well? I'm not a good swimmer and I don't know that much, but I get the feeling there's supposed to be more to this."

At that moment he looked up at the clock on the wall. An hour had passed, but it was still early.

"Are you planning on staying in the pool all day, or did you have something else in mind? And what about breakfast--you have any plans for that?"

[Zachary LaRousse]

“Nope. Still a bear to me,” Zac said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and shaking his head in an exaggerated attempt to look disappointed, “Though if you’re telling me you’re Barney – which for you information, is a purple Tyrannosaurus Rex – I think it just might work.” No way was he letting JD off easily. Not when he felt extremely flustered and embarrassed with the machine gun questions he just gave Zac earlier.

“Pride and Prejudice? Isn’t that the one with the weird masked dude? The one with a mustache, mischievous grin and cape? Where he tortures a girl and all that? Darcy comes from that?” It would probably do Zac good if he just closed his mouth and all. He’s just making his case worse and worse. He did give JD a rather self-absorbed grin (complete with the half-opened eyes and all that) when he mentioned something about wooing the boy. “Is that a challenge?

He did feel a bit stumped when JD called him over his swooning over the teen. “You’re my teddy bear remember?” he replied after a two-three second delay, “It’s how I show my love for my cuddle buddies. And don’t make me explain why again. Else we’d just be going in circles.”


Zac promptly sent JD a stare of mock annoyance, flaring his nostrils up and putting his hands on his hips for that extra effect. “I did watch Teen Titans you know,” though the memory just came back a few seconds earlier, “Though I think I prefer the comics better. Moonfire (or was it Sunfire?) had a better costume in there than in TV. And what is up with you and glitters anyway?”

Hearing more of JD’s comments made Zac puff his cheeks, huff and pout like crazy. “That’s just mean JD,” he said sullenly. He knows most of their conversation is just for some good clean fun, but he can’t deny the sting JD’s words do to him, no matter how small. And the fact that they are rather true makes the sting a bit more painful. “Do you really think I act a little too dumb for my own good?” JD’s the only one he knew bothers to keep up with him, and if he says his ‘enthusiasm’ is a little too sickening for his own good, then well, he might just have to clean his act up.

All traces of glum were erased from his face when he saw his friend other boy celebrate his achievement. “See. Told you it was easy,” he said as he approached the boy. He did take into consideration what JD has told him earlier, so instead of rushing towards the boy and clinging to him like a leech, he simply opened his arms and tried to act ‘cooly’. “Hug?” asked the teen teasingly, giving the other boy a cocky grin.

“You do need a bit more practice, but we don’t have to do it all in one go.” He nodded, trying to look all sagely. “Though if that happens, I think I’m going to need some…compensation for my services. Unless of course you’d be confident to do the stuff yourself alone and all,” he teased. Not that he would ask JD to pay him or anything.

“And yeah, breakfast sounds nice,” muttered the boy as he got out of the pool, reaching his arm out to help JD get up, should he need it of course.

[/justify][/blockquote]

[JD Paerson]

"Whatever then, I'm a bear. I will still eat you if you get too close." JD remembered Grizzly Man. Bears were vicious. And apparently Zac was going to take the tyrannosaurus thread the wrong direction.

"I think you're thinking of The Phantom of the Opera." In his defense, the description was a bit vague. And what he did to Christine could be construed as torture. Though JD didn't remember the phantom having a mustache... "Darcy is from a book about people who should be married but aren't for stupid reasons."

He shuddered when the guy gave him that stupid look. "No, it's not a challenge. It's an invitation for you to leave me alone and go pick on someone else." He frowned. "That includes finding a new cuddle buddy."


JD shrugged about the Teen Titans comment. "I dunno, I never read the comics. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get decent things to read overseas. Though it's probably easier now with the internet." He did have to raise an eyebrow, though, when Zac denied an association with glitter. "It's not my obsession with glitter, LaRousse. You're the one who dressed up as a fairy princess for Halloween." It was probably true, though he had no real evidence to the fact. At least, he wouldn't put it past the guy to have dressed up as a fairy princess.

"You could stand to smarten up every once in a while. For one thing, your teachers would probably appreciate it. For another, if you started having intelligent conversations we could walk around in argyle sweaters with pipes sticking out of our mouths, talking in a British accent and astonishing all our classmates with our brilliant discourse. The girls will fall over themselves--I hear argyle's the new thing, and pipes are making a huge comeback." And he even managed to say all this with a straight face, nodding sagely the whole time.

While part of him wished for some intelligent conversation, he was just glad that Zac was able to keep up with him and didn't get put off by all of his side tangents. And he wasn't sure he wanted Zac to change too much, because that might upset the strange dynamic they were in. Namely, he might have to start actually respecting the guy more.

When Zac offered him a hug, he reached out and pushed the guy, walking past him as he did. "In your dreams, Beast Boy."

Zac was leering again, but JD had a nice way around. "Sure, I can see the logic in that. How about this. You give me a swimming lesson, and for the rest of that day I will leave my edition of the Times locked firmly in my room. Deal?" Better to lay out some terms before some other set of rules could be set one, one that would be undoubtedly less acceptable.

"Breakfast it is, then." The guy was kind enough to lean his arm down to give JD a hand. Really, he should've known better. The speedster grabbed the helping hand, then gave a mischievous grin and yanked his friend into the pool. JD hopped out quickly and shouted, "Last one to the cafeteria buys!" He ran to the locker room, dried off and changed, then raced outside.