Swimming with the Fishes

Writers: AL, Chelle
Date Posted: 13th May 2012

Characters: Veerona, Irabel
Description: Irabel gives Veerona swimming lessons.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 7, day 11 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Jylanya

She was in her little bathing suit and had her floaties on. Her first
reaction was to scratch her arms since the tight things were annoying,
but she had no choice but to wear them just yet. "Bel, I hate these
things."

"Why did you put them on?" Irabel didn't like the use of floaties -
they weren't really conducive to learning how to swim. There were
better ways. "Go take them off. We don't need them."

Her eyes widened and she looked confused for a moment. Then, she
decided she would listen to this adult instead and hurried to get the
foul things off. "Cuz they said I'd drown."

Irabel laughed and shook her head. "Do you really think I would let you
drown? No no, those things will only make it take longer to
learn. You don't need them. Go put them away and we'll start in
earnest."

Her idea of putting them away meant throwing them on the shore
where they wouldn't blow away. Running back through the sand, she
stopped at the shoreline, poking her toes into the wet sand and
squishing it between them.

"Come on Vee, time's a wastin'," Irabel called out laughing again. "And
we have to get you swimming like a dolphin soon enough - which you will
be within a month, I promise you that!"

Walking into the water, she waded toward Irabel, arms reaching out for
the dolphineer as the waves came over her. Vee wasn't afraid, but she
was cautious until she had an adult near.

Irabel moved to the child's side immediately and took her hand. "We're
going to go into deeper water, but don't worry, I'm going to stay with
you, all right?"

"Okay," she agreed, but she clasped onto Irabel's hand and didn't let
go. As they headed into the deeper water, she began to float.
Instinctively, she grabbed for the dolphineer's shoulders.

"It's all right, I've got you." Irabel had a firm but gentle hold upon
the child, keeping it around the middle. "Now, I want you to just feel
your weight in the water. You don't feel like you weigh as much do
you?"

"Nope," she answered as she wiggled around and flapped her arms,
sending splashes everywhere.

"Try to lie still for a bit. I want you to feel yourself in the water,
just lie back and try to float." That was the first part - swimming
came more easily, Irabel thought, when people learned to float first.

Unsure about that, she nonetheless stopped her activity. It took her a
bit before she was on her back, but she looked for Irabel. "You're
going to hold me still right?" Otherwise she might just float away!

"I'll not let you get away from me." Irabel assured the child. "If I
let go, I will warn you first and then I will stay _right_ by you. I
promise."

She took a gulp of air and then made her first attempt at floating. It
wasn't so great, but she seemed to have the idea at least as she tried
her best to get her rear up on the level with her head.

"Relax. Don't _try_ so hard," Irabel encouraged, amusement tinging her
voice. "Just pretend the water is your bed and you're just going to lie
there and relax."

Sighing, she gave a cross look, but then tried again. This time, she did
manage, though she messed it up by trying to move closer to the
dolphineer.

"Don't worry about moving right now." That would come later. The first
thing Veerona needed to do was feel comfortable with floating - then
Irabel would move on. "Just float. That's all for now, just float."

"Ohh....but that's boring," she whined. Floating wasn't swimming, right?
Vee obediently did it again, though she gave a long suffering sigh to
let Irabel know she thought this was stupid.

"It's boring now, but if you don't get the basics, you won't get to the
fun part." Irabel cautioned. "If you want to swim and have fun doing
it, you have to learn the boring parts too. They're important."

After about fifteen minutes of practicing, Veerona seemed to have gotten
the float down. She was still unhappy and wished she was doing something
more fun, but she had followed instructions.

"Very good. Now, I'm going to just move my hands, just a little.
They'll still be under you, but I'm going to have about an inch between
my hands and you. I want you to just relax and don't worry, I'm right
here to catch you okay?" This was the big test. Veerona needed to be
relaxed enough to float on her own.

At that point she realized if she suddenly starting flailing Irabel
would be close enough to catch her. So she continued doing what she had
been doing, watching the sky while she was flat on her back. Counting
clouds she thought she saw one that looked like a wherry.

"Very good!" Irabel laughed, let the girl float for a moment, then
lifted her hands to tickle her. "You're a natural, kiddo."

The tickling caused her to falter and she quickly reached out for
Irabel, grabbing. Making squeaking noises, she clung to the dolphineer,
surprised at how fast she could get into trouble.

Irabel caught her and Veerona's head never made it below the surface.
She curled her arm around the child then tickled her again. "Want to
try kicking and moving on your back now?"

"Could I maybe do it on my belly instead?" Otherwise she tended to
splash water into her face and that was no fun.

"First your back. Then we'll go to your belly. I promise you'll get a
chance to do it before we end for the day, okay?"

"All right fine. Just feels weird on my back." She got back to the
floating position after some time and then began to kick.
Unfortunately, the kicking upset her floating and she almost ended up
with her nose in the water.

"Calmer. Just a little at first. Get a feel." Irabel grinned and
continued to coach the little girl. She was a bright child and while
willful, generally complied when she explained things. As promised,
when they had finished on her back, Irabel let Veerona try doing it on
her stomach.

When she did it on her stomach, she felt like she was getting somewhere.
This was how it was supposed to work. And she did manage to keep her
head above water. After quite a bit of splashing around, she realized a
gray head was nearby. "HI!"

"Hi!" Kerchek clicked back, then whistled. In truth, Irabel hadn't
really let go of Veerona, helping her stay afloat, but the child was
still catching on quickly. "Would you like to go for a ride?"

She looked at Irabel then back at the shipfish. "Umm I dunno if I'm
allowed cause I'm still learnin'."

"He won't go fast and he will stay near me. I'm here so it's up to you.
Do you think your fostermother might object?" Irabel certainly didn't
want to make any parents mad!

"I don't think Lany will care if you say s'ok." Of course Veerona
really wanted to do it, so she thought Jylanya would say yes. There was
an adult there, so what did it matter? Reaching, she tried to get to the
dolphin.

"Easy there. Let me show you how. Don't grab too roughly. Firmly, but
roughly." Still holding on to the child, Irabel carefully guided the
child's hand to Kerchek who remained as still as possible. "Curl your
hand around his fin..."

She'd seen so many others do it, but it was different doing it herself.
"Ewww!!! He's all slimey!" Squicked as only a small girl could be, she
pulled back to Irabel.

"He's not slimy. He's wet, just like you are! His skin is just
smoother. It helps him move through the water really fast." Irabel
shook her head. "You didn't really touch him. Come here, pet him.
You'll see what I mean." Kerchek moved closer to allow the girl to pet
his skin and feel it.

Frowning as if this didn't seem very good, she nonetheless was curious.
Slowly, she came closer to the dolphin then reached out toward his sleek
skin. At first, the sensation she'd felt before was there, but she
pushed through it and kept stroking. "How fast is he?"

"He's _very_ fast when he wants to be." Irabel's lips curled up as the
child became a bit more bold. "But he won't go fast unless someone is
comfortable with him doing so."

"Hmm...is it gonna be easy to hold on?" She had of course made the
connection that if she let go, she'd be free in the ocean and could
easily drown.

"Yes. But don't worry, he can get under you if you slip and you can
ride on his back. I promise nothing will happen to you." Not to
mention, Irabel was right there and he would not stray far from her.

When it came down to it, it was Veerona's trust in adults so far that
allowed her to approach the creature. If Irabel said she would be okay, then she would. Her hands reached out and she figured out how to grab the fin since everything else was very slippery. Small as she was, she almost could ride on his back instead of hanging off the side.

"Hold on firmly but not so tight you hurt him." Irabel encouraged the
young girl. "Ready?"

"I think so." It was hard to be sure since the fish was so slippery, but
she had a death grip on him with her little hands as much as she could.
Her eyes got big as she waited for her first ride to start. Wait till Lany
found out what she did!

Kerchek kept it slow and easy and remained near Irabel, even though he'd
never let anything happen to the little girl. After a few laps, he pulled
back alongside his partner and Irabel's hands slipped around the child.
"Okay kiddo, time to go. But you can have another ride next time if you
like."

She let go of the dolphin after enjoying the ride and looked up at Irabel.
It was on the tip of tongue to say 'Do we have to?' but she realized she
was tired and she had been in the water and sun for a long while. It was
probably time for a bath and a nap.

Irabel smiled and guided the child back to the shore. It had been a good
lesson and Veerona was truly a delight. Irabel liked children, but some
just grew on her more than others.

Last updated on the May 28th 2012

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Swimming with the Fishes