"Oh. Little kicks." And most likely not the wild trashing I was without a doubt doing. See? I knew there was a trick with the legs. There's always a trick with the legs. Or the arms. At least that's what it looked like when I watched people swimming.
"Hmm?" I pause my getting ready, looking up at him puzzled. I hardly notice my shivering, the adrenaline building itself up again. "Oh, well..." Stop for the night? But what if it works! I mean, then I can float without his help, it'll only be a small step toward the actual swimming. Right? Right?
"Maybe," I say distracted, already concentrating on getting ready to float on my back again. "Lets see how it goes. I mean... I want to learn how to float on my front too." Floating isn't swimming. Floating is, well, floating. I wanted to learn how to swim, so that Angel can be proud of me. And himself for teaching me.
"Okay," I mutter, licking my lips a little nervously. Oh, they're getting a tad cold. "Here we go. On my back," I mutter, "toes sticking up, arms flapping." And while I do just that, there's a brief reminder of Angel and how he was learning to use the computer. Seems that saying what you're doing out-loud is a 'learning' thing.
Slowly pushing my breath out, I lay there on my back, finding my balance a little bit easier this time. My eyes keep searching Angel's, wanting to know if I'm still doing it right. "Little kick. Up and down." I push my breath out again before starting to move my legs up and down and... I'm moving.
"Oh! The arms!" I remind myself quickly, moving them as well as my legs. "I'm moving!" Some water gets in my mouth again, once more leaving me spluttering. Can't seem to care though, because I'm moving. Which is what I keep telling Angel between the coughing and the actual moving, huge grin on my face.
Oh. Oh now I really want to learn how to do that on my stomach!
He is...totally ignoring me. I cross my arms as he totally, obliviously, shrugs off me and my worries about it being cold. I huff a little, but continue standing guard next to him.
"Wes," I start but then decide to forget it since he can't hear me anyway. He's stuck in floating land, concentrating as hard as he can on each step.
I can't help smiling in spite of my slight annoyance about being ignored, but he really is so cute about the success he's made. I, of course, grin back without even having the chance to school myself not to and be stern. My little fish. No more Tiger, but a happy little Fish.
Hey, conveniently, I can just walk beside him since we're staying in the shallows. This way I can see his face too. See the huge grin in spite of swallowing probably gallons of lake water.
I notice that we're getting kind of far away from the blanket. "Wes, Wes we should probably turn around." He really gotten pretty far with the flapping and kicking. It's starting to get kind of rocky under my feet though and I don't think we want to get lost. Plus, hello, cold. The breeze cools my skin, and even though I don't shiver, I do feel it.
Wes is still happily paddling along though. I get up close enough to him now that I can touch him. "Wes," I nod my head back the way we came. "You wanna turn around and swim back the other way?" Yes, I said swim, I think with a smile.
This is...this is wonderful! I imagine it's even better when you really know how to swim. It's like flying through the water. There's this odd sense of freedom and a carefree feeling taking over. It's fun! Well, no wonder father never thought it necessary for me to learn how to swim until it was to late.
I keep flapping my arms and kicking my legs, - small kick - while grinning like an idiot. I'm pretty sure I look the part as well. The idiot part that is. Angel is smiling too, he doesn't look like an idiot too. He should be smiling, he's the one who's taught me this. Just like I kept telling him I would.
"What?" I yell, realizing that the whole swallowing the lake has made me follow his tip about keeping my chin up. Only now my ears are below the water and I can't hear him. He's pretty close by though, so I reach out to take his hand and use it to put myself on my feet again. I'm sure there's a trick to getting on ones feet without help as well.
"What did you...Oh! Woops!" Sort of wobbly here. Looks like the sand ground made way for rocks? "Goodness, look how far I've floated," I say with a sense of awe. I did that. I floated all that way without panicking! Wow. I never thought that was ever going to be possible. It's also getting rather cold. Didn't think the wind was that cold, but be because I'm wet. Obviously.
"You want to go back?" I ask, his words finally filtering through. I glance at the blanket which *is* rather further away then it was. "Alright," I nod, ignoring my clattering teeth. "But I want to try it on my stomach now!" Nodding eagerly, I beam at him. "Show me how to do that, please?"
Woah, I scramble for the hand that's outstretched and grabbing for me, and pull Wes up out of the water. Only to have to catch him again as he lurches on the rougher rocks below us now. He lands against my chest nicely, but now I can definitely feel the shivering he's doing. Not good.
"Wes-" I try to get a word in but he's finally caught up with me and nods that he's ready to go back, so I start to turn around, maybe go through the shallows and walk up the beach, but before I can even move a muscle, it's I want to try it on my stomach now!
I pause mouth gaping open, "We-" And he's off again, like I'm not even here, or like I am and I'm just going to do whatever he wants now that he's gotten the floating part down. And his teeth are chattering!
But who could resist that face... Tell me, who in their right minds could resist the eager, bright face of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, practically begging you to teach him something, just one more little thing.
"Wes, you're freezing," I blurt out finally after staring at him with my mouth open for several seconds, still not quite believing the request on my doorstep here. "You're shivering and your teeth are chattering, I think we should call it a night before you get sick again," I point out and then look at him pleadingly. "It'll take me a little while to explain swimming the other way, you'll be an icicle by the time I'm through," I add trying to appeal to his logic.
On your stomach! *That's* how you swim. Well, of course you can swim on your back, but that's only when you're drifting or like I've done, floating. Everywhere I look and everyone I've seen swims on their stomach. I want to swim too, I want to learn this the way it's supposed to be done.
"Huh?" Bringing my hands up against my chest, I look at him stunned. I hardly notice that I'm shivering, not do I think my teeth are clattering that much. Do they? But if I go under water it'll be warmer! Wont it? Sure it will!
"Sick? When was I sick? I had a slight cold which you hardly noticed," I point out. I drank tea didn't I? It was just a slight cold, dozen of people have colds. I'm not going to get a cold now. I just want to learn how to swim.
My mouth is already opening to tell Angel just that when he on his turn tells me that it'll take a while to teach that. A very small disappointed "oh," gets out. Slumping down I pout a little, glancing out at over the lake.
"But I can learn fast? You said so yourself," I try, "Can't we just try it once?" I plead, giving him a look to match. "Please? Just once? I want to l-learn how to swim." It *is* getting a bit cold. Just need to get moving, and under the water and it’ll be fine.
"Hardly noticed?" I sputter. Fretted and worried and fussed over more like it. I'm pretty sure I got reprimanded more than once for worrying about his 'cold' too much. "No more colds then," I say with a little exasperation.
Oh no, not the pout. Not the pout! Please not the pout.
"Wes," I look at him defeated.
"You're cold," I point out in a futile hope that maybe he'll have heard me this time.
"You *are* a fast learner, but I want to teach you properly, not do things too quickly and make you scared of the water again." I give him yet another pleading look. "You learned how to float today, that's a big thing already. Umm, we should celebrate!" I add, hoping to coax him out with a small reward maybe.
"Please? For me?" It's time to pull out the puppy dog eyes, I think. "We can come back again tomorrow?" Every moment we stand here debating this, is one more moment that Wes stands in the cold, and that I want to pick him up and drag him back to the blanket and towels and robes. I give him the eyes again one more time for good measure. It can't hurt, can it?
I think my pout got a little bit worse just now. So what if it's cold? I'm English, I was born and raised to be cold. I'm always cold, what's a little more cold? I used to walk in the rain, there was snow, there were the lessons at the academy. This is actually a fun kind of cold.
With every word from him trying to discourage me, I slump down a little more. By now I must look very disappointed. I was doing so well, why do we have to stop now? We can do the stomach swimming thing back to the blanket can't we? Just one more try, that's all I ask.
"If I move and am under the water I'll get warm again," I plead, giving him a wounded puppy dog look of my own. I really just want to learn how to swim.
"I'm doing so well now. I think I can do it, please Angel?" Oh, he's getting out his own puppy dog look. Damn.
"But-but I wanted to go up to the mountains tomorrow. To see if our snowman is still there and hopefully have some more...err...snow fun," I pout, letting out a long suffering sigh.
"Please, love? Just back to the blankets?" I try one last time, ignoring my shivering and actually trying *not* to shiver. I think I manage that somewhat. "I want to try it on my stomach, the way you're really supposed to swim."
"Hmm?" I pause my getting ready, looking up at him puzzled. I hardly notice my shivering, the adrenaline building itself up again. "Oh, well..." Stop for the night? But what if it works! I mean, then I can float without his help, it'll only be a small step toward the actual swimming. Right? Right?
"Maybe," I say distracted, already concentrating on getting ready to float on my back again. "Lets see how it goes. I mean... I want to learn how to float on my front too." Floating isn't swimming. Floating is, well, floating. I wanted to learn how to swim, so that Angel can be proud of me. And himself for teaching me.
"Okay," I mutter, licking my lips a little nervously. Oh, they're getting a tad cold. "Here we go. On my back," I mutter, "toes sticking up, arms flapping." And while I do just that, there's a brief reminder of Angel and how he was learning to use the computer. Seems that saying what you're doing out-loud is a 'learning' thing.
Slowly pushing my breath out, I lay there on my back, finding my balance a little bit easier this time. My eyes keep searching Angel's, wanting to know if I'm still doing it right. "Little kick. Up and down." I push my breath out again before starting to move my legs up and down and... I'm moving.
"Oh! The arms!" I remind myself quickly, moving them as well as my legs. "I'm moving!" Some water gets in my mouth again, once more leaving me spluttering. Can't seem to care though, because I'm moving. Which is what I keep telling Angel between the coughing and the actual moving, huge grin on my face.
Oh. Oh now I really want to learn how to do that on my stomach!
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"Wes," I start but then decide to forget it since he can't hear me anyway. He's stuck in floating land, concentrating as hard as he can on each step.
I can't help smiling in spite of my slight annoyance about being ignored, but he really is so cute about the success he's made. I, of course, grin back without even having the chance to school myself not to and be stern. My little fish. No more Tiger, but a happy little Fish.
Hey, conveniently, I can just walk beside him since we're staying in the shallows. This way I can see his face too. See the huge grin in spite of swallowing probably gallons of lake water.
I notice that we're getting kind of far away from the blanket. "Wes, Wes we should probably turn around." He really gotten pretty far with the flapping and kicking. It's starting to get kind of rocky under my feet though and I don't think we want to get lost. Plus, hello, cold. The breeze cools my skin, and even though I don't shiver, I do feel it.
Wes is still happily paddling along though. I get up close enough to him now that I can touch him. "Wes," I nod my head back the way we came. "You wanna turn around and swim back the other way?" Yes, I said swim, I think with a smile.
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I keep flapping my arms and kicking my legs, - small kick - while grinning like an idiot. I'm pretty sure I look the part as well. The idiot part that is. Angel is smiling too, he doesn't look like an idiot too. He should be smiling, he's the one who's taught me this. Just like I kept telling him I would.
"What?" I yell, realizing that the whole swallowing the lake has made me follow his tip about keeping my chin up. Only now my ears are below the water and I can't hear him. He's pretty close by though, so I reach out to take his hand and use it to put myself on my feet again. I'm sure there's a trick to getting on ones feet without help as well.
"What did you...Oh! Woops!" Sort of wobbly here. Looks like the sand ground made way for rocks? "Goodness, look how far I've floated," I say with a sense of awe. I did that. I floated all that way without panicking! Wow. I never thought that was ever going to be possible. It's also getting rather cold. Didn't think the wind was that cold, but be because I'm wet. Obviously.
"You want to go back?" I ask, his words finally filtering through. I glance at the blanket which *is* rather further away then it was. "Alright," I nod, ignoring my clattering teeth. "But I want to try it on my stomach now!" Nodding eagerly, I beam at him. "Show me how to do that, please?"
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"Wes-" I try to get a word in but he's finally caught up with me and nods that he's ready to go back, so I start to turn around, maybe go through the shallows and walk up the beach, but before I can even move a muscle, it's I want to try it on my stomach now!
I pause mouth gaping open, "We-" And he's off again, like I'm not even here, or like I am and I'm just going to do whatever he wants now that he's gotten the floating part down. And his teeth are chattering!
But who could resist that face... Tell me, who in their right minds could resist the eager, bright face of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, practically begging you to teach him something, just one more little thing.
"Wes, you're freezing," I blurt out finally after staring at him with my mouth open for several seconds, still not quite believing the request on my doorstep here. "You're shivering and your teeth are chattering, I think we should call it a night before you get sick again," I point out and then look at him pleadingly. "It'll take me a little while to explain swimming the other way, you'll be an icicle by the time I'm through," I add trying to appeal to his logic.
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"Huh?" Bringing my hands up against my chest, I look at him stunned. I hardly notice that I'm shivering, not do I think my teeth are clattering that much. Do they? But if I go under water it'll be warmer! Wont it? Sure it will!
"Sick? When was I sick? I had a slight cold which you hardly noticed," I point out. I drank tea didn't I? It was just a slight cold, dozen of people have colds. I'm not going to get a cold now. I just want to learn how to swim.
My mouth is already opening to tell Angel just that when he on his turn tells me that it'll take a while to teach that. A very small disappointed "oh," gets out. Slumping down I pout a little, glancing out at over the lake.
"But I can learn fast? You said so yourself," I try, "Can't we just try it once?" I plead, giving him a look to match. "Please? Just once? I want to l-learn how to swim." It *is* getting a bit cold. Just need to get moving, and under the water and it’ll be fine.
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Oh no, not the pout. Not the pout! Please not the pout.
"Wes," I look at him defeated.
"You're cold," I point out in a futile hope that maybe he'll have heard me this time.
"You *are* a fast learner, but I want to teach you properly, not do things too quickly and make you scared of the water again." I give him yet another pleading look. "You learned how to float today, that's a big thing already. Umm, we should celebrate!" I add, hoping to coax him out with a small reward maybe.
"Please? For me?" It's time to pull out the puppy dog eyes, I think. "We can come back again tomorrow?" Every moment we stand here debating this, is one more moment that Wes stands in the cold, and that I want to pick him up and drag him back to the blanket and towels and robes. I give him the eyes again one more time for good measure. It can't hurt, can it?
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With every word from him trying to discourage me, I slump down a little more. By now I must look very disappointed. I was doing so well, why do we have to stop now? We can do the stomach swimming thing back to the blanket can't we? Just one more try, that's all I ask.
"If I move and am under the water I'll get warm again," I plead, giving him a wounded puppy dog look of my own. I really just want to learn how to swim.
"I'm doing so well now. I think I can do it, please Angel?" Oh, he's getting out his own puppy dog look. Damn.
"But-but I wanted to go up to the mountains tomorrow. To see if our snowman is still there and hopefully have some more...err...snow fun," I pout, letting out a long suffering sigh.
"Please, love? Just back to the blankets?" I try one last time, ignoring my shivering and actually trying *not* to shiver. I think I manage that somewhat. "I want to try it on my stomach, the way you're really supposed to swim."
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