[Ania] Learning to Swim (With Another)

As soon as her teacher said 'go', Ania took a deep breath and shut her eyes tight, a little afraid of dying in an Olympic swimming pool with no one but a teacher around. Maybe this was his plan all along. Make her dive and keep her under. Wait wasn't diving her own idea? Well, maybe he had planted the idea there. Her eyes slowly opened, not wanting to die without a final look at the world. Hey, her suit was still missing, too. Scanning the floor slowly, she was concerned to see no hint of her clothing. Maybe her teacher had taken it after all. Her lungs were holding out surprisingly well, and she didn't feel anything yet. Ania started when she felt something slide along her legs, and thought for a moment that it might be seaweed or a fish. But why would a fish and seaweed be in a school swimming pool? The familiar texture of skin against skin gave her the idea that it was perhaps hands. It was an odd feeling, to be rubbed like that. Especially by a teacher. Alone and underwater. How would Hadrian feel? Probably upset. Feeling a little awkward being stroked underwater, she squirmed and pressed her hand into her mouth, so happy she didn't automatically say something. At least he wasn't going too much higher.

The beginning of a burn was starting in the pit of her chest, and she wondered if that's what oxygen deprivation felt like. Letting the burn crawl up higher, she remembered that it was probably not the best idea to let herself pass out underwater. What was the signal again? It was something about ... hands. Hands. Hands were on her legs, were those the hands to signal...? She was losing focus fast, growing dizzy with every passing second. Oh! She should tap his shoulder, right? Nudging at his shoulders desperately, Ania squirmed harder, fighting to keep her mouth shut and her lungs calm. She should have just stayed put as a fish.

Feeling the air break around her face was a relief, and her lungs gratefully took in the fresh air. Towed over to a ladder, her attention was drawn to something Jacob had found. Swimsuit! Gleefully, Ania plucked the fabric from her teacher and began to fasten it safely once more. It wasn't anything close to comfortable to put wet things back on, but it had to be done. Between pauses to pant for air and forcing the soaked material over her body, she finally managed to slip it on fully. Diving was exciting, in a close to death sort of way. She supposed it would be much more fun with an oxygen tank. In the ocean. Hey, maybe after she learned how to swim, she could go for an outing in the ocean. Her attention was diverted from a twisted strap to spoken words, and she listened halfway. The humidity in the air and the clean air made her sleepy, and she couldn't really seem to focus fully.

Unteacherly thoughts? That sounded odd. He must mean that he thought of her more as a friend than a student, right? But why would her losing her suit have anything to do with friendsh--Oh. Unteacherly. Oh my. Well at least he was honest about it. Would she have preferred to not know? That might have been easiest. Definitely no more kissing, then. Was that what set it off? She had somewhat of an idea what kissing meant to normal people. It was a declaration of like, wasn't it? Something along those lines. Well, whatever the case, nothing bad happened. No harm done. Happy as ever, Ania flapped a hand at Jacob. "Well, um! Good job for keeping it in your pants, tight as they are." She wasn't sure she would have had much success keeping her desires down, had she felt anything. Did this mean that the lesson was over? Or that there weren't gonna be any more lessons? "Wait! Does that mean you don't wanna teach me anymore?" It would be difficult to learn how to swim if the swim teacher was nervous of anything happening. She wouldn't want to cause him any discomfort, especially now that they had established some sort of trust bond in their time swimming. "I do still want to learn from you, if that's alright. I'm sorry for kissing you! And wearing a bad suit...Oh, and being bad at swimming!" She felt guilty for this whole ordeal, and kept thinking of things to apologise for. If she had just worn maybe a nun garb to swim in, he wouldn't have had anything to think about.

Well, in any case, she was happy that he had told her. She would make sure to watch her actions more closely. This could get tiresome. Ania wasn't used to having to guard herself, especially not against a teacher. Was this the effect she had on people? She hadn't ever put a filter on her words or actions, so maybe this is what people thought of her. This would definitely be something to think about when she was home.
"Yes! Teach me still!" Oh, she felt much better now knowing that he didn't want to drop her as a student. This also probably meant she couldn't latch on to him as a buoy anymore. Rough life.

She felt proud to hear that she wasn't a bad swimmer, though. She wasn't as horrible as others! She would practice whenever she could. It was a shame they hadn't met in the warmer season, though. Practicing would be much easier in nicer temperatures. "Okay~! What else are you gonna teach today, then?" Swimming hadn't gotten boring yet, and for that she was thankful. Without this lesson, she would probably have just been sitting at home, only thinking about the things she wanted to do and people she wanted to see.

"Diving is scary, though. Is that required?" Diving made her feel like she was willingly sinking to her watery death. The feeling of water closing in around her head, and getting her face wet was not desirable in the least. The dark water didn't help any, either. She had seen far too many documentaries about sharks and alligators. Serial killers, too. Serial killer sharkigators, lurking in the depths of your local swimming pool. "Um. People regularly check this pool for ... things, right?"

Jacob took her hands and she tensed, cautious of any physical touches. He explained his plan for the next lesson, and she took a breath, both excited and a little unhappy to go back to exercise. She hadn't done this much exercise in what felt like an eternity. Did the school even have a gym? She really had to pay more attention. Whimpering, she didn't ever like leaving her safety spots. However, she would never get any better at swimming if she clung to people and ladders all her life. Taking a deep breath, Ania kicked and pushed, trying to minimise her teachers effort. Her arms were happy to let her legs do most of the effort, though, and she kicked and wiggled and pushed herself with her legs. Her legs began to burn with the effort, and her head dipped down out of reflex. Catching a mouthful of treated water, Ania wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue. Chlorine didn't taste very good.

A hiccup came out in a quiet, awkward squeak, and her lips pressed together. Focusing on the steady churning of her legs, she smothered the second hiccup with force. It felt like she had been kicking for ages. Just how big was this stupid pool? "Are we thereee yet?" Whining, she clutched at Jacob's hands tighter, pulling herself up closer before letting her body drift back. It was almost like an odd ... pool pull up, and she thought that it would be interesting to have more pool sports. Water ... racing? No, that was just swimming fast. Pool floatie fights! Those strange little foam noodles could be used as swords, right? "Am I a champion swimmer, yet? I'm ready for the Olympics now." She could beat them all. Kiss someone just before the race started. She could win the gold!

By now she was ready to stop moving. From the way her muscles were shivering, she could tell that she probably wasn't going to be able to move tomorrow. Thank goodness she hadn't any scheduled classes in the morning. That would be a rough day. Her legs disobeyed the desires of her body, and kept kicking, falling into rhythm like her teacher had told her to do. She kept reminding herself to point her feet, and was taken back to the days of taking ballet. At least swimming didn't make your feet bleed profusely. So far, anyway.
She felt his hands begin to loosen their grip, and it only made her cling harder. Her biggest weakness was her own confidence in her abilities, and she hadn't given much thought to the idea that maybe she could do something well.

She was growing tired rapidly, the last of her energy reserves were sapped with the effort of thinking and kicking simultaneously. An extremely rare concept, Ania wasn't used to not having any energy. She, the upbeat creature with the hyperactivity of a 5 year old. Taking ballet hadn't even sapped her energy like this, and that was a demanding sport. Her legs slowly ground to a halt, and she let out a weary sigh before forcing them back to kicking. It hurt, to restart them, but she frowned and ignored the curious sensation. "I'm tired, lets take naps. I like that idea. Don't you want to take a nap, too?"