Nightshift 49: Lake- Surrounding Area

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

[From here, with much AUGH]

Of all the things Recluse was expecting when he walked through the door, immediately falling into a lake was not one of them. He began to sink immediately from the weight of his weapons, swimming back up to the surface, spitting out a mouthful of water that he'd nearly swallowed in surprise.

Hopefully, Agatha knew how to swim. Recluse wasn't quite sure he was in the mood by this point to do something so charitable as save her if she couldn't.

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[slipperymagic.livejournal.com]

"Well, I'm not imagining her, am I?" Howl snapped at the real Rita. The venom in his voice was weak and half-hearted, and even it seemed to be shivering. A touch around his body pulled his attention back to the face before him. It had only been a moment or two in which he had not noticed the girl, but now that he spared her some of his focus, he was astounded it had taken him so long.

She was beautiful. The unforgiving night, the storm, the cold, all of it only seemed to make her more lovely by comparison. Her shoulders were bare, he realized, but she was smiling. He heard her laugh, soft and quiet under the sound of the water. Unsure of what else one was supposed to do when faced with a beautiful, naked woman in the middle of a freezing lake who seemed to be a significantly better swimmer than himself, Howl smiled. If he had been warm and dry, it would have been a smile to light up the room. One that he hoped girls remembered, long after he had left. This situation had stripped him of all that, though, and he smiled the grateful smile of the uncomfortable young man he had been before Ingary.

"We all need to get to shore," Howl said unnecessarily. The undressed young lady holding onto him had apparently made his mind even duller. "If you're more eager to get out of the water than be cross with me, I'd like your hand," he called to Rita as he reached out to her.

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

When the unclothed woman started reaching her arms around Howl, Rita fought the urge to groan. Did this really seem like a good time for flirting? Really? If Howl knew what was good for him, he'd watch where he put his hands. If this woman was too out-of-it to punish him for doing anything inappropriate, Rita would gladly do the honors.

"I can swim just fine by myself," Rita retorted, turning her nose up at Howl's offered arm. "Besides, you look like you've got your hands full already."

Not only was Howl wearing a heavy suit, but he had a strange, possibly delirious woman hanging on him. If he was going to worry about someone, he needed to worry about himself.

Besides, now that her shock had begun to wear off, Rita's ego couldn't possibly allow her to accept Howl's help.

Fortunately, Rita was a decent swimmer - at least, considering she'd only ever swam once in her life - so she was able to back up her words with a few kicks that pushed her farther from the center of the lake. With the darkness and the pounding rain making it difficult to judge the distance to shore, the girl decided she'd just pick a direction and go for it. Her fingers already felt stiff from the cold, and she needed to move before that feeling took hold of her arms and legs.

She stopped a moment to give Howl and the stranger another glance, then continued paddling toward the edge of the lake, keeping her head above the surface as she did.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

Get to the shore? Something as simple as that? The mermaid glanced to the female, but she seemed uninterested in any help. Very well, then, and all the better for her.

All of the mermaid's attention then focused on the young man she'd discovered, and she reached out to capture his hand in her own and draw him closer. With a small smile curving her lips (which parted ever so slightly, giving just a hint of bright white teeth behind them) she shifted her hold to wrap both arms around him, her cheek resting lightly against his shoulder as with a stroke of her tail she sent both of them gliding through the water. It took but a moment to catch up with the other, who insisted on swimming by herself, but even then the mermaid didn't deign to acknowledge her presence.