Rappel du premier message :

CONTRAT DE NOT'RP !

- Statut du RP : privé
- Type de RP : FB fin 2007, près d’un an après l’arrivée de Katja dans la Confrérie.
- Tour de jeu : Mey - Sip
- Délai maximum d'attente de réponse : 1 semaine
- Sauts de tours : 3
- Autre : English :)

This is a terrible idea, I’m definitely going to regret it.

Except that this thought was about as improductive as the first 17 times it had crossed her mind, so Katja resolutely ignored it. When Dalton had first suggested to go to the swimming pool, she had agreed without a second thought. She loved swimming and she already spent a lot of time at the pool as a lifeguard. Except Dalton wanted to go there outside of the opening hours. During the night. She was so getting fired if her bosses found out. Well, at least this pool was small enough not to have things like cameras and other devices that would make it much more difficult to slip in unnoticed.

Why had she agreed again? Ah yes, because it was almost Dalton’s birthday and it worked well as a present. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder as she stripped to her swimsuit if she wasn’t making a terrible mistake. If she got away with this, she would have the proof that she had a guardian angel somewhere.

How do I make sure I don't sink ? The concept was bewildering. Katja had floated on the water like an elegant mermaid but all he could picture himself do was sink to the bottom of the pool. Granted, the bottom wasn't very far in the undeep end, but still. It was hard to twist his brain around it.

Dalton made a face. Don't do anything at all and you'll float ? Sure. Sounded fake. If it really were that easy, nobody would ever drown. Still, even if it were a prank (which he suspected), he had to try it. He pushed himself off the floor and... lo and behold ! He floated ! What the actual fuck ! Mind blown. How do people drown ?!

Right, right. Of course. He nodded as if he had completely understood — and some of it made actual sense! It's just that some of it also... didn't. Alright, so... To recap. I push myself off the floor, I keep my head up, I float (but on my belly) and I kick my legs, right? Suddenly starting with a dolphin crawl didn't seem like the brightest of ideas. What's something easier for the arms?

Kate was mildly relieved to see that Dalton was curbing his ambitions somewhat (for now). "Breaststroke is usually the first stroke taught. You press your hands together, extend your arms and once they’re completely extended, you open your arms to ‘push’ the water back and push yourself forward." She slowly showed the movement as she explained it.

That seemed more feasible. Surely he could do that! First the breaststroke (ha ha... breast... stroke...), then the dolphin crawl. Piece of cake. Ok watch me nail this! he said with confidence. And in truth, his breaststroke wasn't too shabby for a first attempt. He struggled to keep his head up and at some point he looked more like a dog than a human attempting to swim, but he was getting there.

Considering that people learning to swim usually started with a kickboard, Dalton wasn’t doing bad at all. In fact, all things considered he was doing pretty well in that he didn’t look like he was about to drown any second. "Not bad. Don’t forget to breathe, you still need oxygen."

Soooo not exactly nailing it but he'll take a "not bad" over a "what the fuck do you think you're doing" any day. I doubt I can just forget how to breathe, don'tcha worry. I think we can proceed to step two.

Seriously? Less than a minute of breaststroke-ish and he wanted to tackle crawl? Well, of course he’d have zero patience for learning and practicing. "Crawl is tricky when it comes to getting your head out of the water to breathe, so maybe we could start with back crawl to get you used to the movements?" She followed her suggestion with a demo, still with slow and clear movements.

Back crawl, huh ? Not exactly what he had expected for a second step, but why not. There was just one issue. What do I do with my tail ? It was a muscle after all. Above water there wasn't really an issue. It could float on the surface or just above if it hindered him with swimming. But he imagined it'd be harder control in the heavy water — it wasn't a very strong muscle.

Right, his tail. Now that was something Katja hadn’t considered (mostly because she’d never given swimming lessons to someone with extra appendages before). "Hmm, can you try to keep it in on line with your body? Or does that come in the way of your legs?"

I can try. He never swam before. Guess we'll find out ! He snapped his fingers to send another kickboard to the other side of the pool. They had unfortunately migrated to their side. Maybe he shouldn't have thrown them all into the pool ? Alright. Focuuus please. He jumped up and down for a bit, as if he needed to warm up, then floated on his back like Katja had shown him and slowly went into a crawl. Hey, this one's easier !

Well, look at that! Who would’ve known that Dalton had been about to drown only moments ago? Sure, it wasn’t too hard to see that he was a beginner, but for a beginner he was learning pretty damn fast. "Looks like the tail isn’t in the way, or am I wrong?" And it also looked like someone had turned on the lights. Katja turned her head to look around, and caught a flash of bright green in the process. Oh, just her hair, ok.

Nah, it's not. Thank god, though. Can you imagine trying to find floaties to fit a tail ? he grinned, then gasped. The swimming stopped at the same time and Dalton's feet touched the floor. Your hair is glowing ! And not just glowing—like violently glowing. He's never seen that particular color on her. Was it even a color ?

So fucking cool. You're like a nightlight. My little brother would've killed for me to have glowing hair when we were kids. (This also meant he didn't consider himself to be a kid anymore, although his behavior might suggest otherwise). Do you think you'll ever be able to control it ?

"Yeah, well…" She took a deep breath and reminded herself that it was Dalton she was talking to. If anyone was ok with being an odd colour, he was. "I think it’s completely random. I used to try to turn it back to my original colour when it first started to change, but I never even came close to influencing the colour change. Same with my other marks. It’s not even chameleon or anything. Just… odd and random."

I feel ya. He took one of the kickboards and folded his arms on it for support. A watertable. Genius. Now he could rest his chin on his hands. I used to stare at myself in the mirror when I was younger and try to jedi power my appearance. Obviously it hadn't worked.

Definitely not, he scoffed. More untrue words had never been spoken. Dalton struggled even today (and he would for years to come) although by now he had at least come to terms with the fact that there was nothing he could do about it. Best embrace things you can't change. "Fake it till you make it" is one of my mottos.

"Wow, then you’re pretty good at faking it. You definitely fooled me." Which was a good thing, because that was one of the reasons she'd stopped dying her hair. "Well, at least we’re easy to spot in a crowd if someone’s looking for us?" That could be good or bad, depending on who was looking for them.

You definitely can't lose sight of us. He had learned to embrace that too. Being purple was his brand. He was recognizable — might as well cash in on it. At least social media didn't discriminate. Yet. You'd spot me from miles away if I were drowning in the sea.

"Oh no, do NOT try to go swimming in the sea just yet. You might get a live demonstration of how floating doesn't always prevent drowning." She wasn't entirely sure that she needed to warn him, but she was definitely rather safe than sorry. Especially after what she'd witnessed since their arrival at the pool.

Yeah, I know, cause sharks, right ? Dalton was so sure of his answer that he didn't even consider questions such as "are there sharks in the New York harbor" or "would they randomly attack purple objects" ? Everyone had seen shark week, right ? Those beasts had a nasty reputation. So, when do we start diving ?