tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; December 16th, early evening
Rating; MA
Characters; Lee Nicholas [

killerdimples ]and Tony Foster [

darkest0knight ]
Summary; Sink or swim time.
Log;

Tony wasn't exactly sure about this swimming thing. He hadn't been near water deeper than his waist since that last shoot on Vancouver's coastline, and even then he hadn't gone in. Swimming wasn't a skill he'd had to pick up on the street, and it wasn't like Henry had taken him on outings to the public pools of Toronto when they were dating. Even the one afternoon he'd walked Wreck Beach with Zev, he pretty much stayed ankle-deep in the water.

Wreck Beach didn't have any lifeguards. Well, neither did the City.

One ice cream cone and two sandwiches later, he still wasn't sure. He looked nervously at the shoreline.

"Don't we have to...wait an hour, after eating? I'm sure I've heard that somewhere."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah, it's a lie." Lee put his fists on his hips and tilted them a bit. He looked out at the water and shed his board shorts to stand in his speedo. "Come on, it won't be that bad."

He grinned. "You might even like it." He pulled Tony by the hand towards the ocean, stepping in the foamy shorebreak.

Ankle-deep. He was okay with ankle-deep.

Tony felt the foam tickle the back of his calves and tried not to step on any broken shells on the way in, letting Lee tug him until the waves started hitting his knees before putting up a bit of resistance.

"How do you know it's a lie?" he asked, trying to take his mind off the bigger waves further off by looking at Lee's speedo. It was a nice speedo. It hid absolutely nothing.

"I like not-drowning."

On one hand, Lee understood Tony's apprehension. He knew why Tony was so nervous in the water - not knowing how to swim had a tendency to do that. He was gentle as he pulled Tony closer.

"Because it's a way to control the masses, of course." The water was pleasantly cool against the ridiculously hot air. "Come on, the waves aren't that bad, and you'll float, I promise."

He wrapped his arms around Tony. "I won't let you drown."

It did feel nice; the water, and Lee's arms. If it weren't for the waves rocking against his knees, making the sand beneath him unstable, he could almost imagine he was stepping into a cool bath.

"I think you're over-estimating my buoyancy here." He nodded his head anyway, and let Lee take him further into the water.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Lee pointed out. "So first lesson."

He carefully fell to his knees, the water swirling around his chest and stomach. "You have to learn to float on your back. That way, if something happens, you can just turn over and float." He put his arms out. "I'll hold you while you get used to it. Just...kneel in the water and turn onto your back."

"If something happens..." Tony repeated, feeling less certain by the second. He crouched carefully in the water, then sat, trying to convince himself to fall backwards.

Don't be such a pussy, Foster. God. His inner voice sounded disturbingly like Amy.

"Um. What kind of something? Like shark attacks?"

Lee tried to hold back a laugh. This is serious, remember, he's actually scared. He gripped Tony's shoulder and helped him backward onto his other hand.

"I don't think sharks attack here, Tony. I haven't seen any sharks, and I come to the beach all the time. Only thing I've ever seen in water this shallow is that bum who lives on the beach and skimboards a lot." He urged Tony to let his legs up.

"See? Not so bad."

"You're the one that suggested Jaws last movie night," he accused, tensing as Lee gently pushed him backwards.

Water swirled around his ears, lapping at his neck. He fought the instinctive urge to sit up again, leaning back against Lee's supportive arm, letting his legs dangle and bob on the surface.

Lee laughed at that comment. "Okay, yeah, I did do that," he agreed with a smile, "but that was months ago, right?"

It was different in his head - more months, because he had gone home for so long, but the point was still the same. "See, now you're floating," he pointed out cheerfully. "You've got the idea, and that's a good beginning."

He moved Tony gently through the water. "Now, I'm going to turn you around, keep your head above the surface, but not until you tell me you're ready."

He wasn't exactly floating. Lee had him braced against his arm. The arm that he was going to take away in order to turn him around as soon as he was--Ha--ready.

"Um," he said. And that was pretty much all he wanted to say, since a wave sloshed some water over his chin, coating his lips with salt. Lifting up his head would make him sink. "Just give me a countdown," he sputtered, finally.

He wouldn't be able to say "ready" if he had a choice.

Lee nodded and started, "10, 9, 8..." he carefully prepared to flip and brace Tony by the stomach, "7, 6, 5, 4..." he pulled Tony closer - it wasn't like they were that deep, "3, 2, 1."

Lee turned Tony at the same time his hand went to Tony's stomach to keep him aloft in the water. "You okay there, now?"

Edited 2007-12-17 04:57 (UTC)

He floundered a bit, since he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing with his arms. Flailing them didn't seem to help.

Lee's right there, idiot. He's not going to let you drown. So stop jerking around like you have tourettes.

His toes brushed sand, and that was reassuring. If Lee dropped him, they were still only thigh deep.

"Okay," he said. "I'm okay."

Lee floated them into water deep enough that he could stand to the stomach in and instructed, "Okay, now, kick your legs and paddle your arms."

Really, was swimming that hard? He didn't know, his mom had made him get lessons as a kid.

"I won't let go until you can do it well, okay?"

"How about you don't let go, period."

He was already kicking his feet, that was instinct. It made his lower half feel like it was only slightly sinking into the deep where sharks might or might not be waiting to chomp on it.

But what the hell did Lee mean by "paddle"? He moved his arms in an awkward waving motion, then clutched at Lee's arm.

"That's not working."

"You're not really trying," Lee pointed out. He let Tony's legs guide them a bit. "Come on, paddle. Just move your arms back and forth. Like a dog."

He pet Tony's back with his other hand. "You're too nervous, don't be scared. I'm not going to let you drown. Look. I'm standing. We're ten feet away from the sand." He propelled Tony a bit farther forward. "Go ahead and try again. I'll make it worth your while."

He took a deep breath, then another. Then he let go of Lee's arm, slowly, and began to move his hands through the water in a kind of crawling motion.

"Like this?"

"Yes, that's right," Lee said, smiling, his hand slowly moving away from Tony's stomach even as he stayed close in case of an emergency. "Just keep going, slowly, but don't worry."

He didn't say that he had let go - Tony might not even have noticed yet.

He hadn't noticed. He was too focused on keeping his arms moving and his legs kicking.

"Okay," he said as he made a little progress forward. "I think you can let go n-"

And then he noticed. Noticed that he was suddenly sinking like a rock now that he'd frozen up.

"Lee!"

Lee's hand moved right back to Tony's stomach before Tony could sink too terribly far. "I got you," he said, a little bit sheepishly. "Don't worry, you didn't sink too bad."

He knew that he was probably in trouble...oh well. No better way to learn than to just take the driver and screw it...Nicholas, sordid mind, shut up! He looked at Tony's face. "See? You did it!"

Tony was not answering. He was trying to crawl up Lee's body instead.

Higher ground. Find it. Cling.

He was probably leaving nail-marks on Lee's skin and he didn't really care.

Lee's hand went around Tony's bottom, holding him up so that he would stop acting like he was a scratching post. "There, calm down, everything's okay now." He pressed a kiss against Tony's neck. "I've got you, it's alright."

He held Tony while the other man calmed down. "You ready to go back in the water?"

"Tell me again why I'm doing this?" Tony muttered, slowly releasing his death grip on Lee's shoulders.

"Maybe George was right about the water wings."

"Hey," Lee said, "You told me you wanted to learn to swim." He carefully set Tony down - he was shorter, but the water level wasn't that high. "Everything's fine. Do you want to keep going, or do you want to go sit on the beach, instead?"

He took Tony's hand and held it tight, trying to reassure Tony that it was okay.

Tony felt sand between his toes and sighed. He didn't want to quit. It was just swimming, for crying out loud. He'd faced demons and shadow-hounds and guys with huge swords...a little water shouldn't be able to scare him that badly.

"If I can keep myself afloat for a whole minute, can we consider that enough for one lesson?"

Swimming was a different kind of scary. Kids took to it fast, but sometimes adults didn't and Lee knew that. He listened to Tony's proposal and nodded. "Yeah, that's okay. Let's try again."

He put his hands out to help Tony get started. "Just tell me when to let go."