Participants:
| Scene Title | Waterbreathing |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Some people don't play fair when it comes to water. |
| Date | January 14, 2020 |
When Elaine wakes, Rhett is gone. A stretch of arm to the pillows and sheets next to her reveals only cold; his body heat has not been present for a while.
However, a note was left, in a clear spot for when she awakened. The note reads, “Doing laps in the pool. - R” in Rhett’s handwriting. This may be the first she’s seen of it: it’s a slightly slanted cursive. One of those small hints that Rhett wasn’t always a plumber or smuggler that sometimes can surface in unusual places.
Elaine had gotten used to having the other side of the bed occupied. Even when he’d been gone before, she’d look up and see him somewhere nearby with his spot on the bed still warm. So when she turns over and finds the spot next to her unoccupied and cold, she blinks for a moment before sitting up. For a brief moment when she notices the note her heart speeds up, but she reads it quickly.
The pool. She traces his ‘signature’ with her fingertip for a moment before the note is carefully set aside. Crawling out of bed, she digs through her drawers until she finds her swimsuit, dresses quickly, and tosses a spa robe over the whole thing. She hurries, only because he’s been there for a long time and it would be a bit awkward to show up right as he’s leaving.
It takes a minute for the elevator to reach the lower level, and once there she hurries out towards the pool.
Rhett isn’t doing anything overly weird or unusual; he’s currently doing laps in the long deep end of the pool. There isn’t a lot to really see, since he’s in motion, and the serious workout that he’s doing creates a lot of motion, though not a of splashing. He’s very fast, remarkably so, but it isn’t anything that a passerby to the pool would think was inhuman.
For now, Rhett is focused on what he’s doing, propelling his body up and down the pool. He does smooth, quick flip turns when he reaches the walls, with minimal splash.
There’s a little pile of his stuff on a bench well away from the pool: shoes, a zipper hoodie, and presumably some other small objects in the lump.
Elaine makes her way over to the bench, removing the robe and making her own pile of belongings before she walks over to the water’s edge. She sits down, her feet dangling in the water, but she doesn’t get in. She seems to think about it, but just remains there, tucked out of the way, just watching him. It’s a look of admiration, appreciating someone in their element. It’s probably the way he looks at her when she’s in the kitchen.
When she does slip into the pool, it’s in the shallow end where she can slowly ease her way into the water with minimal movement and effort, feet on the pool’s floor. Still, she gives him a wide berth, not wanting to interrupt his swim.
Rhett doesn’t take in her presence at first; he’s in his own head and was putting a lot of physical effort into what he was doing. However, as he comes to the wall and flips back the other way, he spots her, and instead of immediately surfacing to continue, he pushes out further, staying under, and then smoothly hooks to face her location, coming to the surface with a swift partial kick of feet.
He breaks the surface and passes one hand back over his hair immediately, to get it out of his eyes. With the water, it’s a very dark blonde. He isn’t wearing swim goggles or anything like that, just dark navy swim trunks with a silver stripe up the sides. He gives her a curious, interested look, one eyebrow lifting: he did not expect her to come into the water at all! A wave follows, and he begins to do an easy breaststroke towards her location.
It’s easy enough to tell that Elaine’s swimsuit is more for looking at than swimming in. While it covers plenty, the sky blue swimsuit has unnecessary and impractical ruffles on it that do a great job of looking cute and just about nothing else. She lurks just a few feet away from the edge, bringing up her hand to offer a wave in response.
When he makes his way over, she smiles sheepishly. “I got your note. I’m glad you’re making use of the pool, I don’t use it near enough. To be honest, I don’t see the pool get used a lot by anyone. It’s a great pool though.”
“I hadn’t been in a big pool in a while,” Rhett answers, as he comes over, moving to stand on the bottom as he reaches her. He has a weird heavy quality to his voice, an intonation as if he was speaking from a strange area of his throat.
“Sorry if you were messaging me; I was about to check my phone,” Rhett apologizes with a nod of his head towards the items on the bench. “I’m glad you’ve joined me though. I’ve been lazy lately, felt like I needed a work out.” Rhett glances down at himself a little self consciously, aware of his bare torso —- and neck. One hand automatically comes up to rub his throat and neck a little.
Elaine laughs. “Don’t even worry about it. I just read your note and came down, I thought I might as well. The water sounded nice even if I’m not the greatest of swimmers.” Which, of course, explains her proclivity for the shallow end and hanging about there. She does take a moment to look him over, the tiniest hint of concern on her face.
“Everything’s okay, right?” She’s assuming nothing’s wrong, but she still feels the need to check.
“You’re going to end up exposed to a lot of water, around me,” Rhett answers to her not being a great swimmer, with a brief lift of brow and smile, dropping his hand away from his neck. The self-consciousness seems to have at least faded: though he did act like he may have just realized he was doing it and policed his hand position back down.
“If you’re going to be wearing that when it happens, I can’t say I’m going to apologize, though.” Rhett’s joke is friendly, warm, even if his voice is still a little odd, still speaking from a strange place of his vocals. “Everything okay? Yes…?” Rhett’s confused.
“Oh, I am pretty sure water’s always going to be around. Doesn’t mean I’m so great at it, even if I like it. I could use some practice. Didn’t really have a lot of time to swim over the course of my life.” Elaine smiles sheepishly. “You’ll have to give me some tips.”
She clears her throat a little, partially out of awkwardness, partially to emphasize her point. “Your voice was just a little…” She doesn’t finish the sentence, just kind of nods in his direction.
Rhett shuts his mouth quickly, the smile turning uncomfortable or uncertain, though not unhappy. “I sound different right now?” Rhett asks, slowly, as if he probably had a clear thought about what that could be, but seems to be embarrassed about it. The answer, though, is yes: he does continue to sound equally odd: though it did take an ear that’s used to how he normally sounds to have picked up on the difference. Such as hers.
“Did… you not notice it?” Elaine is reminded of the fact that it’s a little hard to perceive your own voice as others do. “It was just a little… deep, I guess? Just not how you usually sound. I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt or have a cold or something like that.” She does look the tiniest bit concerned. “But if you’re okay, that’s good then.”
“Ah, I didn’t know that I sounded different when I did this,” Rhett says, seeming to take in the information she’s presenting, as if someone had just told him that he has a tic he wasn’t aware he did.
“My, um,” Rhett says, hesitating over how to explain it, one hand coming up in a gesture near his upper body, at the surface of the water. He pauses, looking at her weighingly: it’s a look that’s clearly showcasing that he’s deciding if he’s going to get a strange reaction or not.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Elaine says, putting a hand out towards him. She doesn’t touch him, it’s just there as a calming gesture. The fact that he said something about when he ‘did this’ makes her think that it’s an ability thing, and she’s already giving him his space with it. “Don’t worry about it. Pretend I didn’t say anything, okay? You’re good.”
Rhett’s brow furrows and he steps forwards, though, to bring his chest into contact with her lifted hand. He can’t help but glance down at her hand on his bare pectoral; there was something a little distractingly electric about that, but he works his jaw a little and meets her eyes.
“No, it’s just odd to say out loud,” Rhett answers, his voice quieter — and still from that odd place in his throat. “It’s just that my um,” he pauses, but gets it out this time: “My lungs are full of water.”
“What, really?”
Elaine’s face is one of surprise. Mostly because usually that’s a bad thing.
When she acts surprised, and asks him, Rhett makes a sort of brief embarrassed shrug of shoulder, and in a sudden act of playfulness, releases a thin little stream of water from his lips, much like someone could do if they’d had a mouthful of water: but he clearly did not. There’s a quirky, embarrassed little smile after doing so, but there’s trust in his eyes: he trusted to play.
While her knowledge of biology and the human body are not exactly Elaine’s strong suit. So it doesn’t help that she’s not sure what’s going on when suddenly there’s water. It reminds her of something, and she suddenly smiles. “Hey, none of that!” She laughs, moving one of her arms to push a wave of water towards him.
“Unfair advantage! You’ve got to give me a handicap. So we’re equal.” She sticks her tongue out. He trusted her to play, she’s playing right back.
“Like what?” Rhett asks as she splashes him, amused, as her wave of water splashes up against his chest and shoulder. “You’re already distracting me in that suit; that’s a significant handicap,” Rhett points out, with a sideways stroke of one arm, sliding to the side.
“I don’t know, maybe I start with more points,” Elaine says, deciding that the game suddenly had points. “And if you think this suit is a handicap I should have worn my other one instead!” Practical swimsuits, she has not. “Somehow I don’t think this suit is quite as distracting as you think. I have a hunch you’re still very capable.”
She’s not even sure what the game is, exactly.
“This is a public pool, I don’t think your birthday suit is appropriate, Elaine,” Rhett says, deadpan, with a slight little smile the breaches the deadpan; he can’t hold the straight face about it, not fully.
“Capable at making lots of points? Maybe,” Rhett answers. He drops into the water a little, to chin level, and then hesitates. He’s playing, but how much of his ability does he feel comfortable showing? And if not her, then who?
It sobers him a little. Is there a purpose of hiding this from her? He drops into the water, to where just his eyes and head above the nose level are out, trying to give her a little shark-like playful side-eye. There’s something under the play, though: he’s uncertain, there’s some waters that are being tested cautiously.
“Rhett, I was not referring to my birthday suit, thankyouverymuch.” Elaine shovels the last set of words out as one, her hands on her hips under the water. “And at this rate you won’t get to see the other one any time soon.” She smiles slyly over at him, watching what he does. This is a game she’s not sure how to play, but she’s playing it.
So she tries to mirror him. Obviously, in her case she has to hold her breath, but she peeks at him just over the surface of the water, eyes looking playful back at him. Of course, she only has so much breath. He’ll have the advantage here.
Rhett drops his brows in a clear overact of being very upset indeed. Very very overly sad, and he sinks into the water entirely as if he were extremely depressed. Instead, he goes under fully, and darts. He’s very quick; it’s fish-like, how he suddenly moves down in a curl of body to her left and around, low.
And then he’s suddenly bringing his head and body down, shoulders coming up under her thighs to lift her physically upwards and out of the water, seated on his shoulders, as he stands up from underneath her, hands hooking on her knees!
Elaine isn’t entirely sure what he’s doing. Her head turns, trying to watch him as he moves around, dipping just above the water’s surface for air before she suddenly finds herself above the water. She yelps, though the tone is a mix of surprise and joy, but her arms flail a bit as her hands don’t have much to hold onto other than his head and that’s sort of an odd angle for her to hold well.
“Well, uh, I’d say that’s a point.”
“Just one?” Rhett asks, promptly tickling her foot, without mercy.
Her foot kicks out a tiny bit out of reflex, but given his position and where his hands are, it doesn’t make it very far. Elaine laughs, this time actually putting a hand on top of his head to steady her. She doesn’t really need it, she’s certain of his grip, but her hand drifts there anyway.
“How many points do you want for this? You can’t have all the points.”
“You aren’t in a position to barter for points,” Rhett teases her, starting to walk towards the deeper water, hands now on her shins just under the knee, to keep her steady. “Eighty points, or a dunking,” he ‘threatens’, with another tickle up her foot to the heel, then returning his hand to her shin again.
“You wouldn’t dunk me!” Elaine says, loudly, her hands going to her hips, which she regrets for balance. “You’re bluffing.” She doesn’t sound sure of that and her hands drop to rest at her sides to be ready just in case she gets dunked. Her foot kicks out just a little bit at the tickle, glaring at him verbally. “Don’t you dare.”
“Eiiiighty points,” Rhett requests again, clearly considering the dunk, his hands moving to hook to her thighs to prepare for what is clearly about to occur.
“You won’t, you won’t!” Elaine says with a laugh, but at this point she’s starting to feel resigned to her fate. Her arms move up to protect herself in a way that won’t work in the slightest, and she’s ready for a breath the second he moves. “Zero points!”
There’s a drop downwards - with plenty of time for her to anticipate what he’s doing. Rhett is not trying to drown her, of course, just play a little. There’s the drop, and then an upwards lunge, a playful upwards toss similar to springing off a diving board. There’s some air there, but nothing that would be dangerous, Rhett is very aware of his speed and power in the water. He only intends to playfully propel her into a proper toss into the water!
Elaine is mostly prepared. She’s prepared enough to be dunked, that part she can manage just fine, it’s when she’s tossed that she’s a little more surprised. On the plus side, she has enough air and her arms are in a position to swim up, but she’s certainly a little bewildered. Not in a bad way, but it was certainly annoying and unpleasant. She treads water okay, well enough that she’s not flailing for the floor or the wall, but she bobs up and down a little more than a strong swimmer would.
“Hey! None of that!” She scrunches up her face as she looks at him, though there’s a hint of playfulness to her tone. “Zero points. Negative one!”
“You can dunk me, then,” Rhett offers, returning towards her, though he turns to give her his back, and pats one of his shoulders. “C’mon, latch on, I’ll tow you in,” Rhett says, relenting teasingly, but he’s noticed her difficulty with treading water and his intent is likely that he’s going to help her to keep her head more easily above water.
“Can I?” Elaine responds to his offer of dunking. She’s not entirely sure if she wants to. She’s not entirely sure what it would do. She does, however, take ahold of his back as he silently rescues her from her not-quite-so-great swimming. As she latches on, she says, a little more softly. “You can have a point.”
“So, with one point from before, then negative one, then one… am I back at one?” Rhett asks, drawing a hand up to pull her hand forward. “You can’t choke me,” Rhett asserts. It’s entirely informational: she physically cannot do it at the moment. He seems to also have forgotten about any problem with his neck for the time being as well, for whatever reason. Rhett does kind of an emulation of swimming, towards the shallow end, with very minimal actual physical swimming, to make it easier for her to ride in. It’s more like a glide, very even and easy to hang onto, more similar to holding onto a dolphin as it easily moves to gently locate to the area where she can stand.
Elaine seems a little more comfortable with her grip knowing there’s no real risk to him in terms of accidently holding the wrong way. “You have one point, yes,” she agrees. The ride over seems to have her impressed. “You get another point because that was kind of fun.” She finds her footing again before releasing him and she stands up straight. She seems to be favoring the method of awarding points for good deeds at the moment, rather than scoring points for besting the other player.
“I’m at zero, though.”
“No, you started with all of the points,” Rhett answers evenly, turning to face her as she stands up on her own and drops her hands from him. He watches her in a more quiet, thoughtful way, one of his hands coming up to rake his wet hair back from his eyes gain, a wet tousle now. “There weren’t any points until you came along,” Rhett tells her gently, stepping forward, hands coming up to gently rest on her waist on either side on her swimsuit.
“Oh, is that how it works?” Elaine laughs, looking back at him. She moves to rest her arms atop his, her mouth quirking to the side in a smile. “Well, what happens if I give you half the points and then we’re equal. Does the game end? Do we both win?” It’s sort of a rhetorical set of questions. She isn’t expecting him to answer and she doesn’t have the answers herself. “It’s a good game either way,” she asserts.
“That’s how teams work; both members win,” Rhett says smoothly, lifting one hand to her cheek and drawing a strand of wet hair back behind her ear. His smile improves and he steps in closer, and brings his arms around her in a comfortable embrace, though it doesn’t just grab: it’s more of an offering, if she wants to step close and settle herself against him, he’ll enfold her.
The offering is accepted, her own arms sliding around his in a familiar, comfortable way. Elaine’s head comes to rest against his shoulder for a moment, but it doesn’t remain there for too long. She instead rights herself to look at him fully. She likes the moments when they just look at each other. She’d leave it in silence, but she has something to say.
“I’m giving you half the points. We win.”
Rhett breaks the gaze between them, but only to kiss her wetly on the forehead. He drops one hand to her upper back, the other still at shoulder, palm spread against her shoulder and back. He stays with her that way for a time, looking at her, and then his smile adjusts to one of mild concern.
“Are you cold? We can go in if you’d like,” Rhett offers to her, with a tip of head roughly in the direction of the elevators.
“I’m glad the pool’s heated or I’d be very cold by now. I keep forgetting that it doesn’t seem to bother you much. We can stay a little longer if you’d like, but going in soon might be nice. Certainly going to be chilly when we get out.”
Elaine doesn’t look forward to that part. The walk to grab a towel is always the worst. “It’s kind of nice to see some of the things you can do, though. Both ability related and not. It’s nice to see you somewhere that you seem comfortable in.”
“We’ll just get you upstairs into a hot shower, then,” Rhett says, lifting his hands from around her to squeeze her upper arms gently. No, he won’t be chilly, but he’s not interested in her being frozen for any length of time.
Rhett tilts his head at her words related to his ability and affinity with the water. He looks at her for a long moment, which has a slight tension to it, as if he were deciding whether he’d say more. “I’ve never told anyone, but…” Rhett pulls in his lower lip briefly, his teeth worrying the edge. “It’s easier to breathe water, than air. It’s like … I can’t describe it. Like a shallow breath versus a deep breath, maybe.”
The water and potential chill is ignored, Elaine’s focus entirely on him. She looks concerned, more than anything, because this is new territory. She holds him, making certain that he can feel that she’s right there with him. “Does it hurt?” She’s not really specific as to if she means breathing water or breathing air, but the assumption is that he’ll say if either hurts. The concern doesn’t leave her face, watching him intently.
He certainly has all of her attention. Nothing could tear it away.
That was not the question he anticipated, and it shows on his face with a little blink and lift of eyebrows. “Hurt? No. Not whatsoever,” Rhett answers. “Salt water, chlorine, whatever,” he says, with a lift of his shoulders. The clarity question seems to have pulled him out of his nervousness significantly, since he’s now reflecting on that instead of if the original admission would sound strange.
“Just sounds different, I guess?” Rhett asks, with a question in his tone and soft smile.
“I was just worried,” Elaine says, her cheeks flushing a bit at her own rush of concern. She brushes it off, instead focusing on what he explained. “It doesn’t sound bad, mind you, just different. I wouldn’t have noticed so much if I didn’t know your voice so well. I noticed it a little when we were on your boat but it didn’t occur to me why it sounded different and I didn’t think enough of it to ask at the time. I wouldn’t have figured it out unless you had told me.” She pauses. “And I certainly wouldn’t have been able to discern the cause of it as well.”
There’s a warm smile as she looks at him. “Guess you really are my Aquaman, huh?”
“I generally just do it when I’m alone,” Rhett says, more quietly. “It’s easier to just… let anyone that seems me dive assume I hold my breath a long time. But I felt like I was hiding it from you.”
Rhett’s hands tighten a little more as she proclaims he’s her Aquaman. “I’d rather there not be any secrets between us. I’ll try to stop pretending like I’m not breathing water out of the shower,” Rhett says, a little guilty. His putting his face into the shower head has been brief waterbreathing; subtly.
“It’s hard for me to ask about these things sometimes,” Elaine admits. “There are some things I know are painful for you and I admit, while I like the idea of knowing more of you, I’m a little scared to ask about. I don’t like the idea of hurting you. I’ve always just figured if it was important to you that you’d tell me when you were ready.”
She smiles gently at him. “I do like that you’re willing to tell me your secrets. I feel like every time you tell me something about you, I feel closer. I’m more familiar. I like that.” She laughs a bit. “I think you know my secrets, though. It’s hard to think if there are any I haven’t told you.”
“If you’re really interested in me … you can ask. I like that you’re… interested,” Rhett answers. “Let’s go in, get you warmed up. Maybe another suit for the shower.” Probably the birthday one.
He moves a little bit, releasing her, adjusting. He glances around a little bit, in the pool area, as if checking for other people. “C’mere, let me pick you up?” Rhett asks, in a slightly playful tone, but there’s a shy factor, that suggests he’s going to do or show something.
“Then I’ll ask more. If it’s too hard, that’s okay. Like I said, I can wait until you’re ready.” Elaine does laugh at the bit about the shower, enjoying the shift from the serious tone to a lighter one. Her head tips to the side as she notices his glance around, curious. The suggestion of being picked up isn’t one that surprises her, but the tone in his voice is what has her intrigued.
“Yes, of course.” She moves to where she should be easier for him to get ahold of her, not entirely sure what he’s about to do.
Rhett moves easily in the water, comfortable in it as much as on land, or moreso, and draws one arm under her knees, the other to her back: easy to manage in water. He brings them both a little more into the deep water, though he doesn’t dunk her at all. Then he gains sudden speed, and propels them both up and out of the water entirely. It’s a jump clear out of the water onto the side.
Rhett immediately walks to the towels on the bench, and lowers her to her feet once they’re out, dripping water. His smile is playful and quietly proud at the same time.
Elaine does her best not to cling, but there is certainly some of that going on. She’s not worried about being dropped, it’s more that the sensation of movement forces her to need to hold on to something. That, naturally, ends up being him. She, however, is laughing by the time they land. “Oh my god!”
She doesn’t release him right away, even when she ends up on her feet again. “I didn’t know you could do that. That was amazing! … and kind of actually fun.”
That last part was admitted a little more quietly than the rest.
“Maybe someday we’ll get you some diving gear, I’ll show you some … really fantastic things under water,” Rhett says, having brightened up from her laughing, though he draws it down a little it when he catches her quietness to her tone.
“Are you okay?” Rhett asks, checking on her visually, as if unsure exactly why her tone adjusted.
“I’d absolutely love that. I’ve never gone diving, never had the opportunity, but I’d really like that. I bet you could show me all kinds of things down there.” Elaine’s still smiling, not seeming particularly brought down from the quiet tone, from her flushed face she might be a little more embarrassed.
“Oh, I’m fine, I’m sorry. I just wasn’t really expecting to feel all the things I just felt in one brief moment.” She fumbles for a towel. “It was scary, because anytime you’re moving without having control over the movement is a little much, but it was exciting and fun… and I felt safe.”
Rhett watches her with concern, but seems to take her words at their base value. He picks up his towel… and playfully tosses it over her, with a funky little smile. During the time that she’s covered, there’s a light little spray of water, like from a spray bottle sensation.
And when the towel is, no doubt, pulled down, Rhett will be dry, entirely. Because he is a cheater, much like his ability to clean or dry dishes. He attempts to hook an arm behind her shoulder and hand up to her head to aim a kiss at her left temple on her forehead, though.
He is indeed a cheater and she proceeds to tell him so. “You cheat,” Elaine laughs as she pulls the towel down. “Fine, I’ll just shiver over here with my normal drying method.” She doesn’t seem too put out about drying off, however, doing her best to dry off, but he makes that a bit challenging with him right there.
She gives him a playful look after the kiss. “I wish I could do more to retaliate but I’m afraid talking to you in French or something so you couldn’t understand me would only be amusing for about thirty seconds. My ability is so very useful.” She pauses. “Although I could write you a secret code that only you and I know.”
Rhett laughs softly, though it sounds a little off - he’s still got water in his lungs, so it is more from the throat, and has a partial cough in it. Still, he doesn’t seem to be in any pain at all, and snakes his head in for another kiss to her cheek.
“You’re cute; I love you,” Rhett chuckles. It’s different than the normal way the affectionate statement is said. There are certain times where such a phrase comes in a deeply important and romantic way, and is said out of depth of emotion of needing to convey it. In this moment, it is purely natural and said without thinking about it at all. He felt it, and told her, in complete comfort.
Elaine’s still got a bit of concern over the whole water-in-lungs issue, but she knows that he’s familiar with it by this point and if it was an issue he would do what he needed to be fully comfortable. So the concern is gone after a brief moment. Her cheeks flush with color at his statement, not out of shyness or embarrassment, but more about both the compliment and the sentiment. Even though she’s gotten used to more compliments over the course of her life, she’s never been the greatest at knowing how to receive them. They never come when or how she expects them.
So she blushes, furiously patting herself with the towel to try and get all the water.
Rhett lifts a hand with a questioning look past her cheek, into her hair, checking with his eyes that it’s okay for him to do so before he does it. He caresses both hands over her blushing cheeks gently, his expression sober now, and draws his hands into her hair gently— and forces the water out. It sort of sprays outwards a little bit, but will, in fact, leave her hair at least not cold and dripping.
Rhett then moves to collect the objects - the shoes and so on, and looks to her silently.
Elaine is now regretting her concern over him. There were his words, sweet and natural, and then he was close and… certainly ruined the moment. While she doesn’t look angry, she certainly looks a mix of both playfully annoyed and disappointed. She towels down the rest of her hair, thankful for at least him not leaving it worse, then tosses the towel in the appropriate receptacle.
She scoops up her robe and slips it on so she’s not freezing the whole way back, but remains silent. He’s sure getting the side-eye though.
Rhett misses the side-eye, because he’s pulling his shirt on and pushing his feet into his shoes. He’s dry, there’s no reason not to do that for at least the trip back, since he lacks a robe, and doesn’t need to be wandering the halls of the apartment complex in just swim trunks! So, he’s mostly unaware of why there might be any side-eye, and flashes her a calm, relaxed smile, offering her his hand to hold as they go back up.