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Kira stood at the shallow end. The floor went from completely level with the walk in to about ten feet deep on the far side in a range of twenty feet. The width was closer to twelve feet. Barely letting it touch her, she waited patiently, watching the changing area for Quinn.
Emerging, the man was white as a ghost all over. His angular body formed from lifting himself through small crevices and holding heavy machinery in place. His paleness made him look like someone who’d spent his entire life in space, only ever getting UV from the station’s bulbs. The only other feature she felt herself staring at was his tattoo, directly over his heart. A bar code, underneath a string of letters and numbers.
Q-0X1U-F761-BX7N-3DL2
He paused, red tinged his cheeks as he frowned.
Squinting to reassure herself of his reaction, she looked behind her. There was nothing of note. Just her, in the little black number with cutouts on the side and a deep V that formed over her like a second skin. She wasn’t ashamed, but he’d never… well, he’d never seemed to notice she was a woman. It gnawed at her to ask, to push farther, but he came over to stand next to her, toeing the edge of the line of the water like she did, drawing her attention back to the moment.
“So it gets deeper as you go. You’ll be good for quite a while before you go under.” She decided on this instead of the other comment that wanted to come out.
Kira treaded forward with confidence, a glance back and he seemed to look pointedly anywhere but her, but she smiled as he followed, slowly, painstakingly, a familiar flash saying his net was off.
She kept semi-close to him in case he slipped. “This is the closest I’ve ever come to the weightlessness of space, but there’s still some resistance in the water. It’s excellent exercise and easy on the joints.”
“You mean besides the actual weightlessness of space?” Quinn said with an arched eyebrow.
“It’s better exercise because of the resistance.” Still an arm’s length away, she held in laughter, not sure if he’d been joking. “Is it alright?”
“I’ll let you know once I get deeper.”
Barely knee deep, he stepped forward a few more feet until the water nestled against his hip. Observing his progress, the water lapped at the v’d line of his waist, where it slipped into his shorts. Making it her turn to pointedly find anything else interesting.
Then, he risked just falling forward, or so Kira assumed, because he did not even extend his arms to catch himself. He scrambled about in the water for a moment. Splashing and flailing before he popped back up on his feet where the water hit shoulder height for him and he laughed, just a soft laugh.
Prepared to rescue him, she’d gone under and came back up with him. She’d opened her eyes under the water to watch him, and once he got his footing, she came back up. He was taller than her, so while she had to be on her tiptoes to keep her chin above the water he stood flat. While he bellowed, she smiled. “Like a duck.”
“Like a what?”
“It’s a bird that is normally found in water and swims very well.” Catching the sight of his eyes, for the first time they were in bright lighting where she could see them clearly. She stared, admiring the pale color, knowing they were blue did not do them justice. Like pale seaglass.
“I am pretty sure I would drown if I tried to go any deeper. So, I am not sure that applies.” Quinn didn’t hide the upturned corners of his lips, even when he looked away from her, again toward the deep end of the pool.
“They have to learn to swim as well, and you came up very well. I can help you tread water when you’re ready to try.” She pushed back into the deeper water, barely bobbing.
He just stood in the water, experimentally waving his arms about, testing the way it resisted his body. He found his balance and then leaned backward so he fell towards the shallow end, trying to mimic what she did, but flailing a bit and dunking himself instead. Which just made him laugh again.
His laughter came out boisterous, deep. Unexpectedly, it was her first glimpse of his freedom. She knew she couldn’t comment on it because he would stop, he would retreat within himself and she’d have to wait to hear it again, but it was nice to hear.
Quinn, seemingly in his element, attempted the lean back again. This time he went slowly and kept his body spread wide. He mimicked her well and for a few moments; he floated on his back. She thought his willingness to learn new skills one of his best qualities and he seemed quite pleased with himself as he puzzled through the backstroke. Slowly piecing together how to float.
Diving under, she came up next to him, supporting his upper back for a moment. “Just like a duck,” she teased him, not knowing how she looked, not knowing her hair clung to her neck, along the line of the material of her swimsuit and over her arms, strands floating in the water as she brushed them back from her forehead, licking water off of her lips.
“Hrmph.” He flung his arms back, flushing again.
Relaxing back, she figured she was still close enough to save him should he need it.
Quinn set his feet down. “I must be having some adverse reaction to the chemicals in the water. There is some swelling.”
“Are you alright?”
His retreat wasn’t immediate, or quick, and he adjusted his shorts in the lower water. His back to her, but she knew. “Quinn it’s, it’s not the pool.”
“What else could it be?” He kept looking downward as he stalked to the shallow end, grabbing a towel, drying off, paying more attention to his neck and the sides of his head before giving her a sharp look.
“I, uh…” She hesitated to answer. She followed, giving him space. Kira grabbed her own towel, pulling it up over herself. “You’re just going to look it up.”
“What? You want me to ignore a medical issue and hope it goes away on its own?” Quinn’s voice filled with incredulity.
