baby steps

Frowning immediately at the unsatisfactory response to Hadrian's direction, Ania tilted her head in confusion. Pushing the water back sounded awfully strange, and not very practical. You'd be swimming like a frog, wouldn't you? Altair seemed to be doing something similar to the description, though he wasn't flailing his legs like she had imagined. The image in her mind produced a funny little noise, and she turned to look for more direction. He was staring back, blankly it seemed, and he didn't seem to be in any hurry to answer or start. Hadrian finally snapped out of his thoughts, and her confused expression returned. It seemed she'd be using that face a lot lately.

"What were you thinking of?" What she wouldn't give to be a telepath right now. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, especially since she realised that she had never caught Hadrian zoning out before. He was usually very alert, and the change was interesting. "You looked awfully distant just then. I asked what you planned on doing first. Lessons, I mean." Though, if Hadrian would rather not teach her any of this, she wouldn't mind too much. It wasn't really like she came over here seeking any type of swimming lessons.

Her eyebrows shot up, and she stared openly at the nervous boy. This definitely wasn't like him, and it made her even more curious. She would go to the ends of the earth to find out what he had been thinking about, now. His reaction only made her even more desperate to know. It most certainly was not nothing by the way he answered so quick.
Reluctantly, Ania allowed herself to be temporarily derailed from her goal. "Yes, I can float."

It seemed Hadrian was focused back on the swimming again, and her questions still pestered her. Obviously the way to go was to be as irritating and petulant as possible. "Hmm. He taught me lots of things, now that I think about it. I bet he would have told me what he was thinking about." It wasn't even that she thought it was important, nor was she bothered by him hiding things. She was simply just incredibly nosy, and blinked up innocently at Hadrian. "He taught me lots of stuff." After a brief pause, she added, "Lots" with a brief nod for the extra emphasis.

Inhaling slowly, she clawed her way up the side of the pool, deciding to go the hard way instead of fighting her way across the water to the stairs. It was hard to be grumpy at someone if you were dog paddling piteously, after all. Struggling for a moment to pull herself out, she bounced a second time before she managed to kick herself up to sit on the ledge again, one leg still swishing back and forth in the water. Steeling herself against the air, she tensed up against the new temperature change. It wasn't cold out, not by far, but the water on her skin made the wind feel at least ten degrees colder. She had only just gotten used to that stupid water, too.

Ania tilted her head, watching Hadrian curiously. "Does that mean ... I should go home?" Was he saying that he wanted her to leave? He was hard to decipher sometimes, and she fidgeted a little nervously. She didn't mean to upset him, and especially not over some creepy teacher. He looked serious enough about it, and she withdrew her leg from the pool, easing it underneath her body gently. Guilt washed over her and she desperately wished she had more clothes on. It was worse, feeling guilty while you were half naked. Drawing her knees up to her chest, the girl remained sat where she was, unwilling to uncurl just yet. Tentatively, she offered out, "Oh. I don't think ... You're dumb... I like you much better. " She didn't see any wrinkles on Jacob, nor old enough to have to take any pills, but she didn't say that. Whether Hadrian was teasing or serious, she didn't know, and didn't care to provoke him in case he was the latter.

Bundled up into a towel and lifted up, Ania instinctively buried her face in Hadrian's neck, relaxing immediately. She felt happier being so close to her boyfriend. She could feel his heart beating through the towel, and she nestled in even closer to his warmth, incredibly comforted by such a small thing. Untangling her arms from the damp cloth, she pressed her palms to either side of his head, squishing his cheeks gently. "No. I don't want to go. I like being held. But at least you look cute when you're sorry."

Ania pressed a gentle kiss onto Hadrian's lips before retreating for a moment. The poor boy looked like a lost puppy when he thought something was off, and it was so endearing to her. Affectionately brushing his hair back with her fingers, she leaned back in to kiss him a second time. Ania decided that hopefully if she kissed him enough, things would go back to normal. Though, she didn't much feel like swimming anymore. If she could help it, she would try her best to stay bundled up in Hadrian's arms. "I love you. Don't make me go homeee. I like it here with you. It's warm."

"Good, I like staying here with you." Happy now that she knew she didn't have to go anywhere yet, Ania curled her head under Hadrian's chin as they moved from the pool to the kitchen, a little sad that Altair had to stay outside. It probably wasn't easy to dry a tiger off, though, and was probably for the best that he stay out. It wasn't like it was cold, thankfully. Quickly distracted from her thoughts of the tiger, she fidgeted as she was sat up onto the surface.

She didn't want to put more clothes on, she wanted to ... Well. Was this too soon? At least she could try her limits. "Nooo." She didn't really know what she was saying no to, but it felt like it fit the moment anyway. Tugging Hadrian back closer to her, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs quickly following to tangle around his waist. Pressing another kiss to his mouth, she pushed herself up, moving to his neck until she could follow up with a light trail of kisses from his jaw to his collarbone. "This is more fun than clothes, though."