The Pool, Sunday Morning

[endsthegame]

He'd left his room, and no one had stopped him. Then he'd left the floor, and no one had stopped him there either. So in the dorms, at least, Ender had freedom of movement. The same might have gone for outdoors-- there would be no guard stopping him. That was good to know. At least this prison had space

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[ecirpnellehada]

Sometimes, the wanderlust struck at the strangest moments. Perhaps Adah could place the blame slightly on Igor's missing experimentation, but another morning of sitting in her room, reading her books, commiserating over the laundry list of basics classes she didn't want or need to take at college seemed positively stiffling. Whatever it was that had escaped the mad lump scientist's clutches was unlikely to have made it as far as the dorms, perhaps, but Adah wasn't feeling like exploring much with the current weather and location conditions. Certainly no exploring the wilderness here as she had other places; ice and limps were terrible combinations. And she knew her last venture into the basement had not revealed labyrinthine tunnels and passages like she had hoped, but she had hoped that perhaps, at this hour, the pool she knew to be there would be empty, and perhaps the lights on the chlorinated water against the subterranean walls would be relaxing, like waterlogged catacombs of her favorite lore

[endsthegame]

He had felt them watching him before: the boy at the picnic had watched him for several minutes before he'd spoken. Now, it was happening again. The noise the other made as they came in nearly knocked him out of his thoughts, but he wouldn't let them. Let them watch me, he thought again, rebelliously, let them watch me and I'll do nothing.

It didn't last. It was new, here, and unexplored, and he'd heard something a little off about the other's movements. Curiosity made him pry his eyes open as he continued to bob gently on the surface.

What was it that the people here said? He recalled the slang, this time. "Hi."

[ecirpnellehada]

He hadn't responded at first; it was unlikely that it was because he hadn't noticed her. Adah lacked a certain grace just as she lacked the majority of the feeling in her right side, so one would have had to been mentally an idiot to not notice her half the time, although she was quiet when she wanted to be, and this was one of those cases. Still, it was the little things that clued her into the fact that he had in fact noticed her and was choosing to ignore her watchful eyes. The slightest, barest tensing of muscles, a natural response, probably unconscious, a defensiveness of sorts. Slight, but noticeable to someone who knew what to look for and could notice the way the slight change rippled the water, though just barely.

But then he gave in, opening his eyes. Addressing her. Adah shook her head lightly, held up a hand. Please, no. Don't let her interrupt. She was content in being just a mere, silent observer if he was content in being observed. But perhaps that was why he'd addressed her, because he wasn't. Most people

[endsthegame]

Patience had always been a virtue, if not in the way whoever had coined the phrase had intended. She hadn't reacted with words; she hadn't been startled, and so he'd take both gesture and silence as his answer. If she had a reason to be here, she'd make it known with time. He could wait. Their patience always ran out quicker than his did.

But he was going to take the moment to observe and categorize on his own-- most noticably, there was a certain odd weight to her. Like her body had been damaged, half of it refusing to work along with the rest of it. The movements, the silence--

Ender had a feeling she wouldn't say anything at all. And so his eyes shut again, and he imagined being in the Battle Room, except it wasn't a Battle Room, it was just him, and there were no gates, no suits, and he couldn't fall anywhere at all.

[iseewhatyoumean]

Cassandra wasn't a huge fan of swimming, though it wasn't bad. It was, after all, a physical activity.

What she was a fan of was quiet, and stillness though, so she found herself in the area near the pool on a surprisingly regular basis. Today, however, it was not as empty as it generally was.

At least it was still and quiet. She paused in the doorway, pulling her shirt more tightly around herself as she tried to decide whether to just come back another time. But that would mean she had put on the bathing suit for nothing, and she didn't like that idea.

[endsthegame]

The pool hadn't been as quiet and empty as he'd thought before-- but sharing his space wasn't new to Ender, and so he acknowledged the newcomer with the opening of his eyes. He wondered if the people would continue to watch him. He wondered why they did: to analyse, to plot, or just because they didn't have anything better to do.

He wondered if he was up for caring about it. At least no one had recognized him, so far.

[iseewhatyoumean]

After another moment to study him Cassandra decided that she could use the pool without being too disturbed. For now, at least, it was occupied by people who were quiet and still. They wouldn't intrude upon her if she needed her space.

She hoped.

Still, it was people, so she decided it would be more comfortable to keep her shirt on as she slipped into the water.

[endsthegame]

He wasn't going to pass comment. She seemed cautious, almost wary-- Ender supposed he could reach out to her, verbally, and try to put her at ease. But that didn't seem like it would matter, and it was a public pool; the lack of conversation was more soothing than it should have been, most likely. But after yesterday, he was already worn out about it.

His eyes flicked away from her, and he returned to studying the ceiling. Quietly.