Down By The Waterfront

[Elsa Seymour]

Elsa ran a hand through her messy blonde hair as she kicked her feet around in the water. She'd cheated a little and put on her swimmers and board shorts underneath her school uniform. The lake was her favourite place to hang out, and maybe she spent a little too much time swimming and not nearly enough time studying. She couldn't help it, really. The water was the place she was most comfortable in, not around the other students. Elsa didn't consider herself to be an unpleasant person, she could just be quick to react poorly, especially to other girls. She didn't really know what it was, just a competitive nature she guessed. Girls didn't seem to share her enthusiasm for boating and sports in general, and she didn't share their enthusiasm for doing hair and makeup or things like that, so she often ended up at odds with her classmates.

Shrugging, Elsa loosened her tie. She'd probably have to make a better attempt at studying and doing well, so as not to disappoint her family - well, her mother, her father could get stuffed for all she cared. She rested her hands back on the ground, pointing her toes in the water as she relaxed. She couldn't help it that the lakefront was such a nice place, and that staying away from classmates was a much better use of her time than actually talking to them. Mostly. She did get lonely, though. And she was sure there were some she could tolerate, if she took the time to get to know them. Maybe.

 

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

It was Kyle's first day back from France. He had enjoyed his stay in both Nantes and Paris with his aunt Genna and his close friend, Rose. He felt weird switching back to English because for the past month it had been all fluent French. The one thing he enjoyed was the sun which was shining on them in the south unlike the north. After the Potions lesson Kyle went back to his dorm to check out the Qudditch schedule. This term was going to be fun. Last term he had got straight O's and he had made his point clear to his father. He was free to play Qudditch in the team and he could not wait for the matches to begin. The practice did not start until next week. As Kyle had some free time on his hands and nothing fun to do he decided go for a swim. He changed out of his Gryffindor uniform and wore a pair of comfortable swim shorts and a plain white t-shirt. Putting on his sunglasses he asked his friend to join him but they were busy in a game of wizards chess. He cursed himself for teaching them and left the dorm with a bright yellow tube and a beach ball.

Kyle wished he would find some company by the lake because playing with a ball while swimming all by yourself was just plain boring. The grounds were welcoming and as he walked down to the lake he magically inflated the yellow float. As he came closer to the Lake he saw some movement in the water. He grinned as he noticed someone swimming and they seemed very good at it. As the person came up Kyle noticed the blonde and recognized her as a class mate. "Hi Seymour. How's the water?" he asked with a smile. He knew the girl was a Slytherin and had heard caught her name during the regular attendance. He pulled the t-shirt over is head and put it on the branch of a tree. He was so ready for a swim.

 

[Elsa Seymour]

Elsa had torn off her remaining outergarments (well, not exactly torn - her mothers would hang her for that) and slid casually in to the water, a huge smile on her face. Swimming, surfing, sailing...anything water based was her passion. She loved storms. Sunshine was fine too, of course - all the more reason to go swimming. She started off with some basic breaststroke, as she was feeling rather lazy today. The lake was surprisingly nice, not quite as nice as the open sea or a pool, of course, but the water wasn't disgusting at all, in fact it was quite optimal for swimming.

She was a little startled by someone approaching her and saying hello, so she looked up, holding a hand up to keep the sun out of her eyes, and saw a guy she recognised from class. A Gryffindor, if she recalled correctly. "Beautiful as ever," she responded, before she noticed the float he was carrying and smirked. "A float? Do you think this is a game, Cavanaugh?" She gave a light chuckle as she tilted on to her back and kicked her feet at the boy, endeavouring to splash him (but probably just splashing her own uniform, ah well). "Swimming is serious business, son." Elsa endeavoured to look stern, but couldn't help but giggle again. Shrugging, she swam backwards a little way, allowing him plenty of space to get in the water.

 

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

Kyle watched Seymour do the simple breaststroke. It was common swimming but the way she did it, perfect as if she was a Professional or something. At first he had thought about maybe a race but seeing her do her stroke so perfectly he decided against it. "Other than academics, everything is a game. Isn't it?" he asked her with a grin. He was not insulting swimming but it was what most people did for fun and not for life or competition. He let his feet sink into the wet sand as he slowly started moving into the water. The temperature was just perfect. "And please call me Kyle" he said with a smile as he moved into the water some more until it reached his waist.He watched as Seymour continued swimming and was taken by surprise as she splashed some water on him with her legs. "Whoa!" he exclaimed as he wiped away the water from his face. The water on his lips told him it was not salty. It was fresh water and just perfect. He wondered where the lake got it's water from. Maybe somewhere far away there was a river from the mountains."You've probably splashed water all over your clothes" he said as he looked back to the ground by the shore which was so close and the girl's clothes had been left there.

Kyle put his head back and began floating. He enjoyed the sunlight that made its way through the trees to the waters. He could have continued floating forever. "You seem very passionate about swimming. If you're good when you grow up you could go try the Olympics" he told Seymour as he began doing a simple backstroke and swam parallel to the shore. He had learned to swim when he was six and since then he had enjoyed himself whenever he was near a swimming pool or natural water body. After a while he planned on using his float to chill but for now he was getting warmed up as he continued on his backstroke. He splashed some water with his feet at the slytherin girl to see her reaction.

 

[Elsa Seymour]

"Depends on the way you look at it," Elsa drawled, philosophically. "Academics is a game to some. Sports are serious to others." Elsa could be serious when called for, of course. She knew she had to put in the hard yards for study, and that was something she'd do. She often looked as though everything was a joke to her, but she had just been taught to go with the flow of life, to take things as they came. She didn't always succeed in this endeavour, of course, but she tried. "I'll call you Kyle if you call me Elsa. Deal?" She chuckled when her classmate noted that she'd no doubt splashed water on her uniform. "Happens a lot. Used to it." She could usually cajoule an older classmate to dry her uniform off with a spell if absolutely necessary, but Elsa had a good immune system. Hanging out in a wet uniform was something she could deal with.

"Eh, not my thing." Indeed, it wasn't. She was a very good swimmer - she knew that - but she didn't really have the patience or the effort to make much of it. "If I went to the Olympics for anything, it'd be sailing." Her eyes lit up when she thought about it. Sure, being only 13, she couldn't sail a boat on her own strength yet. She was getting there, though. She kept herself in good shape and she had very strong arms. She was going to participate in a Sydney to Hobart yacht race one day, hopefully before she turned 21. Maybe even before she turned 18, if she kept working at it when she had the opportunity. Still, professional sport wasn't really Elsa's style.

"Oi," the blonde Slytherin cried in mock protest when Kyle splashed her, before she ducked underwater. 5 seconds...10 seconds...before coming up behind him and splashing the top of his head. "Wouldn't have thought I'd see a Lion in the water. Thought you lot would be 'fraid of gettin' your fur wet."

 

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

Out of Character:

sorry for the extreme lateness. Now I am back shall not delay

Kyle nodded as Elsa said it depends on the way one looked at it. Qudditch, a game was pretty important to Kyle so he totally understood if Elsa felt the same way about swimming. "Deal" he said with a grin. Kyle was glad he was getting to be friendly with another one of his classmates. Elsa was very different from him, he realized. She was passionate about swimming but did not plan on doing it Professionally while Kyle one day hoped to be a Professional at Qudditch. But different was good and he liked different. "Sailing? Wow. I would have never thought a girl would be interested in that" he said thoughtfully. It always seemed more like a guy's thing to him. "Not meaning any disrespect to women but you know the only time I think of sailing is when I see Pirates of Caribbean" he said ending with a small laugh. And those movies were excellent but sailors, were dirty? Or maybe he just didn't know much about the subject so he decided to shut up.

Kyle watched Elsa get underwater to hide from his water splash. He knew this time that she would attack back. He laughed as she resurfaced and began splashing water at him. He hid behind his yellow float. "The lion thought he'd learn a thing from the snake about the water" he said putting his tongue out at her. "Back in England, we never used to go picnics or anything and the only swimming I did was in the pool. Not as much fun as open waters" he said with a grin. He wondered if Elsa was from New Zealand, that would explain her begin more used to swimming then himself. "You from around here?" he asked her as he began floating again.