Spooky water

The room in which the pool was contained was devoid of people except for Anima, who was in the pool in the one bikini she owned, although she was staying at the edge of the pool, both arms on the edge. Feet planted on the floor of the pool, she stared out at the water, noting how deep it was at the other end. It looked nightmarish. She really should know how to swim by this point, and the fact she didn't was the whole reason she was here. Coming alone wssn't a smart idea, though... both because of the danger of doing so if she did try and swim, and because it'd only mske getting over the overwhelming terror of it all the more difficult.

God fucking dammit, how could someone like her be scared of water? She was capable of melting through virtually anything she wanted and could probably murder someone in an instant if she really wanted, yet fucking water mortified her? Anima suddenly snapped to attention as she heard a door open.

She hadn't been the only one there to try and face her fears.

Liam had never been a good swimmer. His house never held a tub alone that wouldn't cause a leek all over the damn place and he hadn't been anywhere near a pool until his teen years, well after his gift had surface. It went without saying that him and cold water didn't mix well. Never-mind even wading around in the shallow end of the pool, the Summer had himself convinced if he went anywhere the deeper end of the concrete, he'd still straight down like a stone.

But at a place like this, who gave a shit if he boiled the pool into a hot tub? He couldn't be a pussy and had to get over his stupid complex sooner or later. He had even went as far as to plan his visit carefully. It would be after Summer, when the rush to cool down would end, during the evening, when everyone would be heading back to their dorms or grabbing dinner. He was assured to have the place to himself, or so he thought.

He stepped out of the locker rooms, in a simple shirt and shorts, much of his vision blocked by the towel thrown lazily atop his head. Everything seemed fine, until he lowered the thick fabric and saw a lone girl at the edge of the pool... Rather shamelessly. Liam needed only a glimpse before his face burned red and he spun around on his heel. He couldn't tell if she were wearing anything at all.

"What the hell?" He barked. So much for the perfect plan. "Lady, this isn't the locker room!"

Anima flinched at the sound of Liam's voice, spinning around quickly, narrowly avoiding slipping and falling the rest of the way into the water. Well, looks like she wasn't going to be here alone, although the fact was a double-edged sword in her mind. She probably wasn't at too much of a risk of drowning now, but now there was someone else here while she was wearing her tiny bikini. She didn't mind too much however, if wearing it bothered her she wouldn't have bought it in the first place. The student who just walked in however, seemed a bit flustered. Hoping against hope, she picked up the notebook and pen at the edge of the pool. It wasn't the usual one she carried with her; she figured it'd be for the best she brought a waterproof one for this. Quickly, she wrote on the page before holding it up so that the page faced Liam.

"I know it isn't... I just came to try and teach myself to swim." Noticing he mentioned the locker room despite her having a bikini on, she added, "I'm not naked..."

For some time, he refused to turn around, waiting for a stumble or some obscure apology or anything; but instead he was greeted with silence. Liam frowned, digging his hand into his neck and wondering what the problem was. He should have left then and there, but the sound of quick scribbles picked at his curiosity, that and he didn't come to this place to be driven out by some chick without a decent dress code.

When he finally turned to look her way, he barely managed to focus on the piece of paper in her hands and it's hasty, scribbled message. Hell, he might have been comforted in the thought that he wasn't the only one around who couldn't float to save his life, but the Summer couldn't bring himself to look past that thing she was wearing... Could you even call it clothing? He'd seen more conservative pieces straight out of porn.

It was... It was...

Liam darted his eyes away. "Watch yourself." he murmured, pulling the towel back upon his head for cover as he stepped around to the opposing shallow end. "They don't let trash in the pool."

Anima wasn't too sure of what he meant, but whatever. He probably just meant that she shouldn't let a bunch of paper get into the pool or something. Now what was she supposed to do? She wasn't exactly sure of what she was supposed to do first to try and swim. Maybe she should just try to go out into the water where it was a bit deeper and see if she could keep herself afloat? Visibly trembling, Anima sat down her notebook and pushed off the edge of the pool gently, the floor of the pool vanishing beneath her feet. Oooooh shiiiiiiiit. Immediately she sank down until her feet were against the pool floor again, although now her head was barely above the water. Anima considered trying to go back up, but if she slipped she'd end up even deeper. Fuck.

Anima looked over at Liam desperately. Maybe he was having better luck?

Liam pulled himself to the edge of the shallows, lowering himself down and doing his best to get comfortable on the edge. The moment he put his feet in the water, steam began to burst from the surface. An uncomfortable chill went down his spine. Whilst he tried to get himself somewhat accustomed to the water, the stranger seemed content on jumping into the deeper end of the pool, bobbing around awkwardly on the tips of her toes.

"Are you stupid?" he called. Was this her plan of action the whole time. "If you drown, I'm not jumping in to save you." The last thing he needed was for someone to run in on him with a half-drowned stripper.

Holy shit, was that steam? So much for him having better luck. Anima could only guess that his gift had something to do with what happened. She tried to ignore his comment about how he wouldn't save her. Then again, maybe it'd be better for her to try and save herself; she might end up being boiled alive if he tried to help her, judging from how steamy things got from him barely touching the water, let alone swimming in it. Anima was also still stuck with her head barely above the water. Hoping for the best, she took a deep breath, trying to keep herself afloat by kicking her legs... or something. She slid further into the water, and upon seeing what she was doing wasn't quite working, flailed her way to the edge of the pool. Quickly she grabbed the edge and pulled herself up just enough and just long enough to get another deep breath of air before going under again.

As he tried to relax himself, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, all he could think then was how much he hated this; and the more he thought about he hated it, the more the water around him started to come to a warmer boil. Then the more he tried to breath again, which only served to add fuel to the fire, literally, once thoughts of his own discomfort quickly rose to the surface again.

But, at least the white trash seemed to be on a better leg than he was, so to speak. Or so it seemed. She was still bobbing around like a moron, but she was further into the water than he was. He watched as she gripped on to the edge and went under again, holding a blank stare. What the hell was she doing?

If only going back under again was intentional. She'd simply only managed to get one good breath of air before slipping back under the water. But hey, at least she could manage to do enough to get out of the water for a few seconds. Maybe she'd be able to stay above longer? Anima scrambled back up to the edge again, and again, and again. Every time she would flail or try one thing or another to try and stay afloat. After several attempts, she mamaged to figure out how to kick her legs such that she'd stay close enough to the surface but she didn't need to completely hold herself up to stay at the edge. She only needed to mostly hold herself up. Still, it was something.

After a few moments Anima pulled herself out of the water, flipping her dripping hair out of her face as she walked over to where her notebook and pen were sitting, before walking over to where Liam was. If it's okay... why does the water steam so much whenever you get into it? Along with honestly being curious since it looked like his gift was completely under control whwn he wasn't in the water, she also wanted to try and break the tension between the two. It was obvious she was forcing herself given how she was trembling as she held the notebook up towards Liam. Why did people need to be so scary?

Liam shut his eyes, at least attempting to let his mind get away from him and forget the uncomfortable feeling in the least before he heard the water stir again from the other end of the pool. Out of instinctual curiosity, he glanced up, only to look the other way almost immediately. It was hard enough of a mission to look at her for longer than two seconds with that thing on. It wasn't until he realized she'd made another move for her notebook, shoving it in his direction, that he forced himself to pay attention again.

He looked over the words and seemed thoughtful for a moment before snatching the notebook out of her hands. He tore out the page she had written, tossing the rest of the pad back in her direction and crumbling it up in his grasp. With a seemingly bored look on his face, the edges of the paper sizzled and sparked to life. In the blink of an eye, the entire page had burst up into flames, quickly scattering into ash and falling into the pool waters.

He let his warm eyes travel, looking everywhere but at her. "Why don't you just talk?" He muttered, "Or put on something that wasn't found in a stripper's dumpster?"

Holy shit. Well, maybe gift control had something to do with it, maybe it didn't. Anima didn't care as much now, flinching and jumping as the page was torn from the notebook, before the notebook itself was thrown away. Looks like asking him about his gift wasn't the smartest fucking idea after all. Putting an arm across her chest and another between her legs as she blushed from Liam's comment about what she was wearing, she hurriedly grabbed the notebook and wrote in it again, this time staying a little out of arm's reach of Liam, lest he try to abuse the poor notebook again. Because I can't talk... I'm mute... And this is the only swimwear I have, and it's better than being naked... Might not have been smart or effective to try and defend what she was wearing, but she didn't mind it too much...

The young man scoffed, shaking his head and looking the other way. Mute. Wasn't that something? It was better than being plain retarded, which was admittedly his first idea. "I'd respect you more if you were naked," Liam muttered, staring towards the other end of the pool and away from her. For a moment, he paused, grabbing the towel off the top of his head and tossing it at her. "Don't get any ideas."

Red-faced, Anima had reached behind he back and begun to untie her bikini top when suddenly her entire top off was blanketed by Liam's towel followed by another word from him. Carefully, she wrapped it around herself as to avoid showing what little the bikini top was covering previously. Anima walked over to where Liam was, sitting down beside him uneasily. Hopefully he wouldn't burn her or something. Anima found him... intimidating, to say the least, which was obvious by how much she was trembling. She wouldn't have gotten closer to him, but it was better than standing around awkwardly or trying to swim while wearing a towel. Uhm... sorry for looking like a slut... Maybe it'd help?

Liam's gaze narrowed, finally allowing himself to look in the stranger's direction as she wrapped the towel tightly around herself, taking a seat next to him. Still, the bikini left little to nothing to show and from any other context, it was all-too easy to leave certain things up to the imagination. He doubted anyone would be walking in anytime soon, however, and this was good enough for him. "No, you're not." He said in a matter-of-factly tone. "If you weren't a slut, you wouldn't dare touch that thing."

A mischievous spark flared to life in his eyes. He might as well help her out while she were here, do the poor thing a favor or two. "That's what you want? A guys' attention?" He focused on her now, turning his body towards her. Liam's face remained stern, a lick of flame traveling harmlessly across his hand for a mere moment as he grazed his fingers across her skin.

"Don't move," he warned under his breath, grabbing the delicate string behind her neck and pulling it loose.

Holy shit. Holyshitholyshitholyshit. Well, it looked like that comment certainly did help, but not in the way that she'd expected it to. Not that Anima was about to complain, of course... Although she'd initially taken offense to Liam basically calling her a slut, that feeling quickly faded away as Liam continued. She glanced over at him, keeping her body still as the words "A guys' attention" hit her ears, and she couldn't help but smile slightly. He certainly wasn't wrong. Feeling the almost soothing warmth from Liam, Anima did her best to stay perfectly still as Liam reached behind her and undid the top string of her top. Hoooly shiiit. Nervousness flooded over her as her top loosened around her chest, only being held in place by the towe, the bottom string already having been undone by herself. Still, she managed to stay mostly still for now. This sure beat almost drowning.