RP:Swimming Lessons

Part of the Once Upon a Midnight Dreary Arc

Summary: Meri tries to teach Quintessa and Karasu how to swim while Dadgik is looking pretty cute with Fleur and Berry.

Treehouse D’Chath

Magik is just floating on his back with his eyes closed in the middle of the pool wearing a regular pair of black swimming shorts. The only odd thing out is a fat black ferret curled up on a ball on his stomach with a loud snore.

Meri makes her way onto the scene, dressed appropriately for swimming lessons. The blonde is just not really a bikini sort of chick, she’s got on short-shorts and a tank top. Magik and his unfamiliar companion are spotted in the pool but Meri does not jump in after them, yet. She’ll wait for Tessa and her daughter barside for a moment while asking, “So who is your friend there?”

Magik just keeps on floating while answering Meri, "Hi honey. This is Vhid." Magik opens one eye to look towards Meri then taps the sleeping Vhid, "Vhid, Meri. Meri, Vhid." Vhid was not impressed or awake. In fact, his snores get louder. "Vhid's been with me since I arrived here. He's fat and sassy and I wouldn't change a thing about him. How are you, dear?"

Quintessa stifles a yawn as she exits her and Karasu’s shared room, nearly stumbling as she takes slow steps out into the hall. Her hair is already a mess and tangled from yesterday and a loose, untied silk robe drapes over her shoulders to cover the skimpy two-piece bathing suit that she bought a long time ago and never got to use. With bare feet her footsteps barely make a sound but the groaning as she rubs her eyes gives her away. Perhaps she should have had a cuppa first… “Hey, do you have any Xalious Breakfast Tea in this treehouse?” Comes the changeling’s voice as she starts looking through the bottles of liquor at the bar. “That kid ran me ragged last night…”

Meri changes her mind about waiting for Tessa and Fleur at the bar, abandoning her stool and plopping herself down on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water. There is the temptation to splash Magik with a bit of water as he floats around, Vhid sleeping on his chest is the only reason that this does not happen. “I think you can add sleepy to that list too,” Meri smirks and then goes on to say, “Fabulous.” Magik might have an idea of why. Tessa drudging her way into the pool area has Meri grinning in a lopsided and slightly apologetic fashion, “Yeaaah, werewolf kids. She’s so high energy. We really appreciated it though.” Meri wiggles her brows first toward Tessa and then toward Magik. She’ll leave the Lyastri to address if there is tea in this house. Meri knows there is whiskey.

Karasu enters the pool area, wearing a simple black bikini that hangs just low enough for her spotted tail to wag freely with each step. "I still don't understand why I need to be dressed so lightly for this kind of training. Tessie won't even tell me what kind of training we're doing except that it's water-based." The soldier complains, resting a hand on one hip. Her ruby eyes flicker to the bar by the pool, where she quickly moves towards to fix herself a mint julep, only the mint is replaced with catnip.

Magik manages to float towards Meri. He scoops up Vhid before allowing his legs to lower and touch the bottom of the pool. He places Vhid next Meri as he wiggles between her legs to give her a wet kiss..because of the pool, obviously. He then looks to Tessa, "There's a stash of tea below the mugs, Tess." Vhid was not as happy. He uncurls from his ball then darts to under the bar. As Karasu enters, he gets a quick headcount. He then looks back to Meri then Tessa and back again, "Where's Fleur?"

Quintessa looks back at Meri with a smirk, a hand on her hip as she scoffs at the notion that werewolf kids are ‘high energy’. “That’s putting it lightly, I think. Next time I’m taking her to Vailkrin and letting the Nanny Corp. watch over her.” Seeing the drink that Karasu was planning on making, Quintessa slides a bundle of fresh mint across the bar over at her, “Afternoon, Love.” She says, turning back around to search under the mugs for the tea. “You see, if you wear clothes in the water it weighs you down- I found that out last night when -someone- tossed me into the ocean in my combat gear.” She gives a pointed look to Meri and Magik, but her tone suggests she was only joking about still being mad. “And Fleur fell asleep by the fireplace last night. She should be around here somewhere…”

Meri tries to befriend Vhid with some ear scratches but the attempt is short lived as Magik steals her attention with a bit of affection. Where is Fleur, that is a good question. If it seemed like Meri wasn’t overly concerned it is because the lycan woman can most assuredly smell that her child is within the house. “Where is Oat?” comes her retort to Magik, suggesting that Fleur is probably with her favorite wolf. Meri places her hands on Magik’s chest and applies a bit of pressure, trying to very gently urge him backward so that she can slide into the pool with him. Her gaze is toward the common room though, trying to see if there are signs of motion from one large black wolf and one rambunctious child. Give it a minute, they are definitely around. Meri expands on the purpose of today for Karasu’s benefit, “See, today we are teaching Quintessa how to swim. And by the looks of it, she’s tricked you into these lessons also.” The blonde smirks. “So step one will be...caffeinate yourselves and then get your cute asses into the water.” Meri will wait. In the water. With Magik.

Karasu pauses as soon as Quintessa mentions being in the water. "I'm not going in there." She says flatly, her rounded ears flattening against her head in warning. "Fleur was making drawings out of ashes with Berry last I saw." She pointedly does not mention where these drawings are taking place, and pointedly takes a step back for every step that is taken towards her in an attempt to get Karasu in the water.

Magik was about to reveal Ohtar's location as he took a step back in the pool to allow Meri to drop in but the sound of a large wolf running in the common area followed by the giggling of a certain little girl answered that question for him..along with Karasu's statement. The elf simply smiles at Meri before shifting his tone to Karasu, "Plus you never know when we may have an incident where we need to use water to our advantage. And, knowing how to swim could save your life one day..Baby steps. Let's go."

Quintessa boils a mug of water with her back turned to the rest of those gathered, flipping up the back of her robes to show off her butt when Meri says ‘cute asses’. She looks back with a playful wink. “We are pretty cute, aren’t we?” Quintessa begins to brew her tea as she walks from around the back of the bar, finding a spot on the edge of the pool to dangle her feet in the water. “I’m not exactly hyped about this either,” The changeling says, kicking the water to splash it idly as she blows the steam from her tea. “Being submerged in water is… scary, but at least this water is clean and there’s no tentacled monsters hiding in there…” Quintessa tries to hide the frown on her face behind her mug, taking a sip to test the temperature. It was still much too hot. “So, come on- It won’t be that bad.” ‘I hope,’ she wants to add, but refrains.

Meri turns her back to Magik and holds her hands out toward Fleur, “C’mere, shortie.” Wolf. Mom. Wolf. Mom. Mom wins out this and Fleur ends up stripped down to her britches and then pulls the kid into the pool. Were floaties even a thing? Probably not. It’s fine though, because both Meri and Magik are literally right there and the kid was balanced on Meri’s hip for the time being. “He’s got a point, better to know how to do it even if you hate it.” Getting Quintessa and Karasu into the water was probably going to be the biggest challenge for Magik and Meri. The psion makes no attempt to force them in beyond a bit of verbal prodding. “It won’t even be that bad. No currents. You can see the bottom of this pool….” Meri is pointing to Fleur with her free hand. “If she can do it then so can you.” It’s right at that point that Fleur decides she’s over hanging out with mom, but not the pool, it looks like the kiddo is making grabby hands for Magik.

Karasu feels her ears flatten completely against her head and her tail dip between her thighs in shame as she is completely shown up by this adorable child. "Yes, underwater combat is important, I suppose." The demifeline begrudgingly leaves her drink in lieu of the shallow end of the pool and steps onto the first submerged step. With just her feet under the water, a low yowl of protest rumbles up at her throat, slowly increasing in pitch with each nervous step further into the pool. By the time Karasu is up to her knees, the noise she is making sounds somewhat akin to centraurian throat singing. "Momma! We ran out of wall!" Berrentram bursts out of the house in a pair of bright blue swim trunks to contrast his red scales. He waddles up to the edge of the pool, and with no warning, launches himself forward to climb onto Karasu's back to climb up to her shoulders. This has the effect of knocking Karasu off the stairs she is currently on and fully into the pool with the toddler in tow.

Magik scoops up Fleur and ventures towards the deeper side of the pool. Occasionally he dips down a bit to further submerge himself and the little one but never making her head go under water. After all, Magik was abnormally tall so the 3ft section barely does anything for him. Magik spins about in the pool with Fleur, only catching the part where Karasu 'jumps' into the pool. "Hell yeah, Kara! Never use the stairs!" Berry knows what's up too! "Let's see if we can get Tessa in now," he quietly says to Fleur. The two bounce and spin until they are back in the shallow end. Magik is basically on his knees at this point while he holds Fleur, "The hardest part is getting in, Tess. Don't even think. Just drop in." With that, Magik and Fleur back up to give her some space and make their way back towards Meri.

Quintessa makes a high pitched ‘eep’ noise as Berry basically tackles Karasu into the water, the changeling pulling up her legs quickly to avoid being splashed. Involuntarily her body tensed, those hidden memories of drowning flashing in her mind’s eye before fading away just as quickly as they came. “It’s okay… it’s okay.” she reassures herself, taking a breath as she lowers her feet back into the water. Setting her mug aside, she allows her robe to slip away from her body to reveal the revealing bikini she wore beneath before she tentatively pushes herself off the edge and into the water. She lets out a breath of exasperation at the temperature of the water, complaining that it was too cold as she clenches the side of the pool as if her life depended on it. Never mind that she could literally just stand up in this part of the pool. “That’s not fair, Berrentram! Dragons have a natural proclivity to aquatic environments, even red dragons like yourself. A wyrmling can even hold their breath for up to four hours provided they aren’t stressed or entangled by something…” As Quintessa keeps her eyes closed she continues to rail off ‘dragon facts’ as some kind of strange coping mechanism. If she kept her mind on all the things she learned and not the water, there was nothing to be scared of, right? “...Some dragons have even been known to hibernate under water for months or even years…” She whimpers, “And dragon turtles have the ability to remain submerged in the sea indefinitely…”

Meri :: Oh, Meri’s heart. It was pretty adorable watching Magik play with Fleur and the kiddo was without a doubt having a blast too. All giggles could be heard coming from her, along with the occasional demands of “again!” She also slips in a “Berry too!” Will Magik end up with both children hanging all over him? Meri’s heart might be melting just a wee bit and she’s definitely grinning, but she hasn’t lost focus. That grin turns into a smirk as she watches both Karasu and Tessa. She’s not sure which is being the bigger baby right now, but it was adorable and amusing. For Tessa and Karasu, “Honestly, I think the two of you are going to pick this up no problem. What we’re going to do is break down the motions for you? And then try and get you to go back and forth a couple of times.” Meri motions from edge to edge, but she is gesturing between the shortages. Baby steps. “So let’s start with the arm motions, yes?” Meri is demonstrating said arm motion. Come on, Kara! Come on, Tessa! “This is called a breaststroke.” No. Meri does not keep a straight face when she says this. If only she could be that serious.

Karasu gently places Berry back on the edge of the pool, her hair plastered against her face. "Stay." She says simply, trying to keep a straight face despite her shaking from being submerged and close to death. With a grumble, the demifeline steps back to the shallower area until she's waist deep to practice the motions Meri is making.

Magik keeps bouncing about the pool with Fleur, and cheering on any progress Kara and Tessa make. Magik ends up shifting Fleur to his back and they start swimming laps around the pool.

Quintessa still hasn’t pulled herself away from the edge, her eyes clenched tightly as she hugs the side of the pool. “Plus, there are other subspecies like tatzelwurms and- I beg your pardon?” Quintessa looks back at Meri incredulously. “Listen, you’re an attractive woman and all but I don’t think giving me the breaststroke would be appropriate even if my girlfriend wasn’t RIGHT THERE!”

Meri doesn’t stop her demonstration, not even as Tessa starts rambling on about how dare Meri talk like that right in front of Kara. The woman smirks, “Now, come on. That would be just a little bit weird, I think. You’re family.” Meri stop talking. Right now. “Which means if I were trying to give either of you two ladies the breaststroke? It would be Kara and her breasts.” She doesn’t stop though. “Except I think everyone here in this pool knows that I would much rather have Magik come teach me a thing or two about breaststrokes.” Does Meri look sorry? No. Ashamed? Nope. “Anyway, you two think you got this arm motion down?” If they indicated yes, Meri’s gonna grab the ledge of the pool and show them how to kick next.

Magik is purposely doing laps towards the deep side of the pool for obvious reasons, "I heard that.." He does manage to get to the shallow end while Meri is showing the next step. He whispers something to Meri that would probably make her blush. Kara and Tessa were next. "Show them how we kick, Fleur!" Magik and Fleur start kicking at the water but with the elf obviously not kicking at the water with his full potential. That'd be a little rude to the two beginning swimmers. Magik ends up shifting Fleur back to his hip then scoops up Berry from the edge of the pool. Spins and dips into the water are back in session while Karasu repeats Meri's motions. Passing by Quintessa, Magik quietly says, "She might end up being the better swimmer.." You know, for that little bit if competition Tessa needs..

Quintessa || The color of Quintessa’s face begins to grow more and more red the more Meri talks, the blush in her cheeks expanding to encompass her entire face. She felt so embarrassed now that she was surprised the water wasn’t boiling from how hot her cheeks felt. “That’s not- What I meant is- Hey, don’t turn this back on me!” Tessa can’t even look at anyone right now as she quickly turns her face back into the edge of the pool. It isn’t until Magik swims by her does Quintessa sigh and finally let her fingers slip away from the edge, allowing her legs to stretch out until her feet touch the bottom. She stands there for a moment, bouncing on one foot and then another as she slowly drifts from the edge, a tiny smile forming on her pale features. “Hey… This isn’t too bad… I’m doing it! I’m-” Quintessa spoke too soon, bouncing toward the deep end enough that the bottom was too far to reach and she dropped under the surface, inducing a panic filled thrashing around as she moved desperately back to the shallower end. “I’m drowning!” she pleads, “Halp!”

Meri :: Did Meri manage to embarrass most of the pool? That was the angle, it seemed Tessa was blushing like a fool. Magik, though? It’s no easy task to make Meri blush so whatever Magik said….yeah the rest of the pool doesn’t need to know. The rest of the pool also does not need to see Meri blushing, the blonde decides. Nope. It’s not possible. Can’t happen. Hopefully before anyone catches sight of her red face, Meri dives beneath the water to swim from one and to the other and back. The lycan woman might not actually be able to hear Tessa’s pleas for help, as Meri’s currently underwater, but she can still see that panicked thrashing. Meri snags Tessa by the waist and pulls her back to an area of the pool where Tessa can stand with ease. Meri points out once her head is back above the surface, “You can also float if you don’t panic.” Meri demonstrates, relaxing her limbs and just floating on the surface of the water.

Magik continues keeping the kiddos entertained. Thank goodness Meri was on top of the struggling changeling. Magik was only worried for a second. After she's pulled back up, Magik and co make their way to the shallow end. Dadgik time. "My dear Tessa, when has panicking ever benefited anyone?" He stands upright in the shallow end just next to her, "Don't let that discourage you. Just pay attention. We won't let anything happen to you." Then he's off again with the kiddos, practically jumping out of the water only to come back down to create a big splash with the kids. Of course, he moves the shenanigans away from the swimming lesson.

Quintessa grips onto Meri’s hard, hard enough to dig her nails into her skin as Meri carries her to the shallow end. “I’m sorry Halbera-” she whispers, “I won’t do it again, I promise- I just wanted to read your spellbook- I didn’t mean to get it dirty…” What in the world was Quintessa whimpering about? Who was Halbera and why was Quintessa trying to apologise to her? In the changeling’s memories she pleaded the same words as the yellow eyed woman lifted her up into the air and threw her into the Black Pond, ignoring the child’s words and thrusting her into that cold, bleak darkness… Soon the memory fades and Quintessa relaxes her grip, her breathing still on the verge of hyperventilation as she realizes she is safe again. “It’s okay- it’s okay- it’s okay…” Quintessa inhales through her nose to steady herself, trying to take back control of her body. “Why am I like this?” The changeling asks herself out loud, looking down at her shaking hands. “I think I might need my anti-fear serum after all… I can’t panic like this. I can’t. I can do this, I just need… confidence. Yes.” Quintessa turns back around as she lowers herself into the shallow water up to her neck, trying to focus on the weightless feeling the water gave her. She could float, she could feel it, she just needed to let it happen.

Meri grimaces at the sensation of Tessa’s nails digging into her skin. It’s not the first injury that Meri’s received in her years and it wouldn’t be the last, so it’s not enough to elicit a knee-jerk reaction. Meri keeps her hold on Tessa until she is sure that she is back in the shallows. Tessa and those nails though. Rather than have her blood continue to tint the pool red, Meri removes herself from the water and goes back to the bar. Is she mad? No. But she is looking for something to press to the fresh injury so she doesn’t bleed all over Magik’s place. At this point, Meri has given Kara and Tessa all the information she can for a very basic swimming lesson. They could explore different styles in the future, but the blonde was trying to keep it simple. It was just a matter of practice. “Practice and confidence,” Meri says from the bar. “I like swimming though. It’s a good workout. And I have a feeling I will be out here quite a bit? You will have plenty of chances to practice, if you want them.” Magik is not the only person in this room that is subject to being hit by questions from Meri. Quintessa too, “Who is Halbera?”

Magik keeps an eye on Tessa while she apologized to the gods know who. Veneficus time. Magik makes his way with the kiddos to the steps leading into the pool. He sits on the steps only long enough to place Berry and Fleur there, "Let's take a break, kiddos..stay on the steps please.." It's time to calm the air. "Babe, there's clean rags behind the bar." Magik then walks over to Tessa in the pool. He places a gentle hand on her back, "Control your breathing. Remember your training." He looks to Meri, to the kids, then back to Tessa. He lowers his voice, "You don't need a serum. You're stronger than that." Like Meri said, who is Halbera? Quintessa has some trauma regarding water and he's determined to figure this out. Maybe not completely tonight but it'll be a start.

Quintessa gazes at the fading red tint in the water, the feeling of guilt creeping up on her as she lifts her hand from the water and examines the bits of skin she had scraped off under her nails. “I’m sorry.” she repeats once more, standing back up out of the water and to the edge where her cup of tea rested. It should be cool by now. As Magik places a hand on her back and gives her some much needed words of encouragement, she turns her mismatched eyes upon him and nods her head, concurring with the Lyastri that she needed to remember what she had learned in the past. The only problem was things just went blank when she tried. The panic was too much. Those yellow eyes in her memories were too piercing. “Halbera.” Quintessa repeats the name, her blue and hazel eyes staring down into her mug. “When I was little she would come visit me when my father was gone… she’d give me books to read and chalk to draw with… I used to think she was my mother but…” Quintessa furrows her brow as she tries to recall more information. A conversation between the two of them. “I’m not your mother, child.” Quintessa speaks, her voice changing into a harsh one as she quotes Halbera. “Mother told me I have to make sure you are worthy, but so far? I’m not impressed.” Quintessa clears her throat before taking a long drink of her tea. “I think Halbera might be my older sister or something.”

Meri locates those rags right around the same time that Magik was explaining they were behind the bar and ties it around her bleeding arm, good enough for Meri. It was just a little scratch anyway. Tessa’s apology is heard and Meri meets it with a soft smile, she didn’t even need an apology from Tessa. “It’ll be fully healed in like two days tops.” Perks of being a lycan. The blonde moves back to the pool, setting on the steps with the little ones. It could be her turn for kid duty while Magik offered assurances to Tessa. The smile that Meri had been wearing just moments ago fades as she listens to the changeling’s speculation of who Halbera is. Meri often flounders during these more emotional moments, so she’s not confident her words will be of much comfort for Tessa, “Those are cruel words coming from a sister….” Meri frowns. “I’m impressed, though, if it makes a difference.” Here is something that Meri is sure might make a difference. She wraps an arm around Fleur and tries to pull her close and starts to wrap an arm around Berry, but she waits for permission from both Tessa and Magik, “I think, though, that if there are no complaints from the peanut gallery. I will take Thing One and Thing Two off to the kitchen? Feed them? And start getting them back to decent?” Hopefully giving Tessa a small break to recollect herself.

Magik nods to Meri before turning his back to the edge of the pool and lifting himself to sit on the edge right next to Tessa, "I'll give you a hand in a few, love." Not wanting to press the subject too much, he directs some quiet words to Quintessa, "I think this is going to take a bit more than smoking a few herbs and meditating to sort this one out. Well, the herbs definitely won't hurt. Let's get dried off, cleaned up, and get some food, yeah?" He then pulls his feet out of the water and offers a helping hand to Tessa, "The better tea is in the kitchen, by the way."

Quintessa continues to stare down at her cup of tea until Meri spoke up, and the changeling girl allowed her gaze to flicker upwards and give her a soft, genuine smile. “Thank you,” She couldn’t deny the warm feeling Meri’s words gave her despite not being told such things very often. Was she really all that impressive? “I… I do my best.” She looks up to Magik and reaches for his hand, allowing him to help pull her out of the pool and back onto the edge. “I’m sorry I mucked everything up… This was supposed to be fun- I was supposed to get over my fears and learn to swim… But you’re right, this won’t be as easy as I wanted it to be. Yeah, let’s go get something to eat.” And with that Quintessa walks with Magik to join Meri and the others, still feeling a little guilty about how things went down. “Then we can try again later; I’m not giving up on this.”