SWIMMINGGEDDON.

[wwistful]

WHO: Murdoc Donoghue and YOU
TONE: Fun, WHIMSICAL, horrifying
RATING: PG-13 and onward
WHEN: September 7th
WHERE:  The Lake.
WHAT:  After this Murdoc realised the children (and staff) of Hogwarts were in dire need of swimming lessons.
STATUS: Ongoing

[GATHER AROUND CHILDREN it's a warm summer day and the lake is perfect for diving into your sudden but inevitable deaths. You should all be dressed in your swimming trunks (which you clearly have don't even lie) because Murdoc sure is. He's determined to conduct this in the best manner he can, though he wasn't quite expecting the turn out to be so large. People who can swim are welcome to become his assistants because he could probably use the help.]

Comments

[grandhighwizard]

[The older man shows up right on time, strolling out from the direction of the castle in a pair or swimming trunks that are much more modest that Murdoc's - something more similar to board shorts, fitting at the waist, but loose to about the knees in black and purple. Perhaps surprisingly to anyone who's never seen the man shirtless, he has a powerful upper body. Not sculpted, the way, say, Strider is, but thick through the arms, broad shoulders, a heavy chest. It's a body one only gets after a lot of hard work, and not the kind at the gym where individual muscle groups are honed to a specific shape. He's got a fair amount of black hair on his chest and arms, too - he's really not the kind of fellow, unlike most of the other male teachers here, who would appeal to 14 year old girls (or boys). There's a towel around his neck, which he sets down when he reaches Murdoc, and smiles, pushing his hair back.]

You showed up. I was wondering if you actually would.

[wwistful]

[Alright. This is a thing Murdoc can handle. He's just going to stand here and feel like the scrawny boy he was for years of school. Which he isn't, of course. He has a swimmers body, but he's always been naturally slender and had never been able to pack on muscle the way a lot of other men could.

He's a mixed between jealous and apprehensive about the size difference, both being unsurprising feelings for him. He greets the larger man with a nod, not returning his smile and keeping his facial expression bland and not at all impressed.]

I wouldn't have agreed if I had no intention of showin'.

[grandhighwizard]

[Unlike certain blonds, though, Rhys doesn't seem to be looking to impress. He makes no attempt to show off his physique, nor does he eye Murdoc in anything resembling an inappropriate way, at least other than his omnipresent sense of amusement.]

One can never tell; you seem so convinced that I plan to ambush you somehow. I'm really not sure why. So where do we start?

[wwistful]

[Murdoc folds his arms over his chest, being ever so subtle about the way he both straightens and puffs up when Rhys approaches.]

I still don't trust you. How much do you know? Do you know how to float?

[grandhighwizard]

[He certainly does.] Is that a skill one has to learn? [raising an eyebrow just slightly - don't think he didn't notice that little posturing] I thought you just lay there in the water, and it happened, if you weren't too dense.

[wwistful]

Are you the teacher? No? Didn't think so.

How about you get in the shallows and I'll tell you what to do from there.

[grandhighwizard]

[Rhys puts the towel down and strides past Murdoc, moving through the water until it's about up to his waist, then turning. The cold doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest, but then the man does live in Northern Wales.]

I'm yours to command. [grinning insolently]

[wwistful]

[Murdoc hangs back to scowl at the back of Rhys' head before he trudges after him, zipping past him until he's much deeper in the water.]

Keep walkin' till your abnormally large feet can't touch the ground.

[He wades back futher, realising they're going to have to go pretty damn deep for that to happen]

[grandhighwizard]

[Rhys calmly follows, having to push harder as it rises up to his broad chest, then his neck. Finally he gets to the point where he has to push off the bottom, and he does so, sweeping his arms through the water to keep his head up.]

[wwistful]

Alright, so you know how to keep yourself up.. I suppose now you should practise kickin'. [Now he's regretting not having a kickboard, because he sure as hell doesn't want Rhys holding his hands while he practises.]

Aah.. [Why is he incapable of thinking fast.]

[grandhighwizard]

Which would presumably push me forward. What should I be doing with arms? Holding on to something? You? [Oh, this is utterly delightful, watching Murdoc try to figure out what to do. He clearly doesn't want to be touched, but yet what else can he do?]

[wwistful]

Why do you always point out the obvious? [He snaps at the other man, his discomfort with the idea of being touched becoming increasingly obvious.] You don't need to hold onto me. Why don't you hold onto the bank or somethin'?

[grandhighwizard]

Because we just came from there and it's not deep enough. [points out serenely]

[wwistful]

Right.

How about we practise floatin' instead? Get on your back.

[grandhighwizard]

[Oh, that's going to earn Murdoc a raised eyebrow and a very, very amused look, but Rhys doesn't bother commenting. That one was just too easy. Instead he just relaxes back into the water, arms outspread.]

[wwistful]

[Murdoc returns the raised eyebrow and matches it, his face bland and expressionless until the moment Rhys is looking away. Then he's going to bring his hands up to his face and shake his head furiously before letting his hands slide back down, staring at Rhys.]

You seem awfully adept at this.

[grandhighwizard]

I am, aren't I? [smirking, and then going on before Murdoc can answer] Oh, you mean floating? Yes, it's not difficult. It's the actual swimming I can't do.

[wwistful]

[Yeah, he's not letting that one slide.]

I don't know what you meant, but I meant that you seem fairly ...at ease in the water, considerin' the fact that you can't swim.

[He sighs. Loudly.] Now. Err. If you want to actually move you might want to consider moving your arms back through the water and kickin' your legs.

[grandhighwizard]

I'm not afraid of it, if that's what you mean. It's hardly deep enough here to be a worry, is it?

[letting himself float a bit more, Rhys starts kicking his legs, but keeps his arms out, which isn't very effective (which is the point, of course, he doesn't want to seem too adept), then starts moving his arms at the top surface of the water, from shoulder to hips, which is a little better, but still not the best way to try and swim on one's back]

[wwistful]

Seems like a fairly rational train of thought for someone who has gone nearly hundreds of years without learnin' in the first place.

[He coasts through that sentence without so much as a change in pitch when he makes the remark in regards to the other man's age.

He watches for a moment before he tuts at the the other man.]

You're movin' your arms wrong. You won't go anywhere fast like that. Watch me. [He clicks his fingers for his attention before he cycles his arm through the air.] Like this, see?

[grandhighwizard]

It's terribly amusing, how you seem to think exaggerating my age is some sort of insult. [Rhys says cheerfully, watching how the other man's arms move. It's a little differently than how he normally swims, so he does his best to imitate Murdoc's movements, propelling himself through the water a little more effectively than he'd managed before.]

[wwistful]

It's irritatin' that nothin' seems to bother you whatsoever. Where do you get off bein' so serene?

[He scowls, watching the other man move through the water.] Better. Remember to kick your legs.

[grandhighwizard]

Oh, plenty of things bother me. [Rhys admits with a lazy smile, as he starts to kick, stroking in a languid circle around the other man in a manner that nevertheless is reminiscent of a shark circling a spot where it's smelled blood in the water.] Just nothing you could say.

[wwistful]

That's a disappointment.

[He scrunces his mouth, watching carefully. He feels a hell of a lot like a little fish right now. The temptation to turn into his animagus form is so very high. Though he doubts much good would come of him being an actual shark.]

Yes, very impressive. Is that all you want to know?

[grandhighwizard]

[Oh, Murdoc, if you do, Rhys is going to be that much more interested in you.]

Is that proper swimming, then?