ψ come away little lass come away to the water | SWIMMING MINGLE OTA

[fishermansweater]

WHO: E V E R Y O N E
WHERE: The waterfall
WHEN: During the hot weather in late May
OPEN TO: Anyone
WARNINGS: PROBABLY NAKED. cw your warnings in individual threads.
STATUS: Open. THIS IS A MINGLE, have at it, tag around, you know what to do. If you want Finnick, let me know in the comment subject!

---

He wouldn't actually say it was really hot yet, but it's definitely getting to the sort of temperatures that make Finnick miss swimming. There's no substitute for the sand of a beach underfoot, the reassuring roar of the surf, the taste of salt in the air, but there is at least water here, tumbling down from the waterfall and flowing through the canyon until it disappears into the rocks to the south. And he knows from constantly checking his fish traps that the water is deliciously cool.

He's tested out a few spots along the river for swimming, and it's good to be in the water again, after being kept out of it for so long by the harshness of the winter.  Not swimming doesn't feel right to him, and it never has. He's never spent this long somewhere with a winter this cold, and he can't remember ever going this long without swimming. So Finnick's been testing the water out since before it was probably what most people would consider to be warm enough to swim. It had helped that he and Annie had some gifts to hunt for in the river, but those have long been found, and now it's just for relaxation.

The calmest, most relaxing place he's found so far for swimming in the river is the pool at the foot of the waterfall, where the water plunges into the canyon crisp and cool from the heights of the cliffs. It's deep around the falls, and it's big enough to swim, and Finnick spends most of the hottest parts of the day there.

So whenever he hears someone talking about the heat while he's dropping food off in the village, he suggests they try the waterfall pool. Word's likely to get around, so he won't be entirely surprised to find other people stopping by the falls.

When they do, they're likely to find him swimming around the deep part near the falls, stripped down to his underwear and, from the grin on his face, having the time of his life. It's clear just from looking at him that he's good at this, moving through the water with a confidence and grace more like to a sea-creature than a man. He's in such a good mood that he even calls out to greet many of the people who approach.

Of course, he's not the guardian of the waterfall: everyone's welcome to stop by whether he's there or not. Once or twice, there's even a moose to be seen standing at the edge of the pool taking a long, relaxing drink.

Comments

[ex_assertiveness90]

This is precisely the opposite of the problem they were having in winter, Stella thinks. She herself isn't used to these temperatures in the slightest, to the unrelenting heat that makes her clothes stick to her skin with sweat and makes it next to impossible to sleep properly at night, given the houses here have no interior cooling whatsoever. Yet, until recently, she'd never really thought about swimming near the waterfall as a means of combating the heat.

Stella is an excellent swimmer, as she herself is well aware, but it's been a long time since she last swam anywhere but in a swimming pool. They've nothing in the way of swimwear, so while she quite misses her swimsuit from home, the cotton bra and knickers will have to do. She puts her hair up off her neck as best she can, finds somewhere to put her clothes, and surveys the pool for a few moments, choosing the spot with the least amount of people so as not to accidentally collide with someone before entering the water in a shallow dive — she might be showing off, just a tiny bit. She straightens, resurfaces quickly and lets her breath out, combing loose strands of wet hair off her face with her fingers. The water is blissfully cool by comparison with the air, and she has to allow herself a few moments just to enjoy it.

Only then does she notice she's resurfaced not too far from Benedict, who's giving the water a nervous look that suggests that, perhaps, he might not be entirely comfortable with it. "I don't think it's going to bite you," she says, mildly, raising her brows at him slightly.

[warriorborn]

He has tried not to do anything as crass as stare at the bodies around him — not that there are many, or that they are just lounging around; most people who have had the same idea as he are already in the water, not being nearly as terrified of it as he is — but Miss Gibson's dive into the pool would be impossible to ignore.

Benedict isn't sure if he's impressed or jealous. Or, perhaps, both.

"It might do something worse," he mutters darkly, his fingers curling at his sides as he eyes the place the water and land meet, the slick stones that could prove quite treacherous if he's not careful. "I, uh, am not a...competent swimmer," he confesses finally, as if that wasn't obvious. "I do not think I have ever been afforded a chance to try. It is...somewhat alarming a prospect."

[ex_assertiveness90]

Stella learnt to swim when she was five years old; she barely remembers a point in her life when she wasn't completely comfortable in the water, so Benedict's clear anxiety about it is foreign to her in the sense that it's difficult for her to imagine exactly what he's feeling.

Still — she's hardly going to make fun of him for it. There are plenty of adults who've never swum in their lives. "I could teach you a little," she suggests. Enough to at least tread water so he doesn't sink, and maybe if that makes him less nervous he'll actually learn to enjoy it. What is probably not a good idea is having him get into the deep part of the pool straight away.

Stella glances downstream from the waterfall, toward where the pool exits into the river. The water is clear enough that she can see where the bottom slopes upward a bit, making the pool just about shallow enough for her to stand in even at her height.

"Over here," she says, and swims the few strokes to get where she wants to be. "It's a bit more shallow; you should be able to stand on the bottom."

She's right here, in any case. He's not going to drown.