Logs:Poolside Puppy Love

Poolside Puppy Love
Dramatis Personae AJ, Leonidas
In Absentia	2024-05-17 AJ finds Leonidas by the pool and invites him to prom.
Location <XAV> Pool - Xs Basement
Like any indoor pool, the room is lined with tile and smells faintly of chlorine, the rippling water occasionally casting wavy reflections across the walls when the sun shines through the high, narrow windows at just the right angle. Unlike many, the facility is respectably large, of Olympic length and of sufficient breadth for a respectable number of lanes, with an array of retractable diving boards set up at the deep end. With prom coming up a good chunk of the school is busy shopping and making plans. Leonidas is not one of them, seemingly unbothered by the upcoming event. Instead he’s been spending his free evening at the pool swimming laps instead of running circles around the grounds. Currently he’s sat near the deep end in a (honestly too short) pair of vintage style navy blue swimming trunks, feet in the water and a folded up towel next to him. “Guess I should run some more of The Finals. Need to finish that damn battle pass.” he mutters to himself, feet kicking idly. There's tge soft slap of bare feet on concrete before they appear in his periphery, painted a deep shade of purple.ry. They belonged to none other than AJ Hayashi, dressed in her one-puece swimsuit and her green hair wet and slicked back from swimming. She stops a few feet away, and grabs at her arm nervously. "H-hey, Leondias! Are you uhm ... are you busy right now?" Leonidas looks back at the sound, eyes finding painted toes and lazily moving upwards until he’s looking AJ in the face. “Howdy howdy.” he greets cheerfully. “Nah, I’m not up to anything presently. What’s up?” AJ sat down next to him, slipping her legs into the water next to him. "You know how prom is next week, right? Did uhm, did anyone ask you to go, yyet? She stared out across the pool, unable to even look at him her hair was flashing like it was trying to send a morsecoded message to him or someone from how clearly anxious she was. "I mean I'm sure a log of girls and sone guys asked already so I'm just curious s'all!" Leonidas just sort of stares at AJ for a few moments before slowly blinking. “No.” He finally manages, reaching up to rub awkwardly at the back of his head. “No, uh, nobodies asked me. Kind of a bad luck charm. Hang out with me too much and next thing you know you’re in another dimension or locked up in torture jail. Had somebody ask me to make a beer and vape run for it though.” AJ did a nearly comedic double-take "Are you serious?! You're a total catch! I've had my brain rewired and I've nearly burned down the dorms *twice* so I don't mind if we go on a crazy adventure I want you to be mine!" She them went beet red. "My date, I meant my *dare to the *prom*!" She hid her face in her hands, already planning on getting up and running off. It only takes a few moments for Leonidas’ hue to match AJ’s, which looks out of place on his older looking face. “Y-yeah, that’d be cool.” Suddenly there’s something super interesting at the bottom of the pool, because that’s where his gaze is glued. “Just let me know what colors you were thinking so I can get a matching suit.” "Oh, uhm, just purple, I like -- white. Wait you - you really wanna go with me ... ?" AJ, flustered, peeks through her fingers at Leondrias, shocked at his agreement she had to know though. "A - as friends? Or, well, the other thing. Romantic interest. Phys - physical, interest. Stuff." Leonidas doesn’t answer right away, instead reaching up to place his massive hand on the small of her back, “Let’s play it by ear, yeah? If this goes well we can go out afterwards. No pressure though.” She goes and even deeper red and there's a faint hissing noise. With a squeak of fear AJ pushes off onto the water, just as a few bubbles of her acid manifest of the circular opening on yer back, just below where it hooked together and where Leondrias' hand had just been. She popped out of the water and tried to compose herself. "Yeah! No, of course! Actually did you want to go dress shopping with me? I'll be theifyibg since we'll, you know but hey I'd always like a second opinion and you're my date - oh gosh you're mydate - why can't I stop talking?!" Leonidas also yanks his hand back faster than any human could, but he doesn’t seem upset, instead chuckling softly to himself. “Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.” Once he’s composed himself he nods, “I can go with you, we can grab some lunch while we’re out. I assume we’re gonna want to do that tomorrow?” "Y - yeah! Yeah!" AJ smiled brightly, looking up at the scruffy boy with a sweet, soft smile. Her brown eyes were soft as she gazed up at him, still lightly treading water. ,"we can get McD's or something ..." Leonidas waves his hand dismissively, “I was thinking La Lanterna di Vittorio or something.” His southern accent does the Italian no favors, presumably shaming his Italian ancestors much to the delight of the Greek ones. “Unless you don’t like Italian, in which case Sakagura has some swinging wagyu.” He lifts his shoulders in a shrug, “I’m not too picky.” "I like spaghetti," AJ shrugged with a grin as she climbed back out "is this place sorta dressy? I don't really have anything fancy..." “A little bit, but we can get you something for that. I get that money Ryan Black put back for us next month when I turn eighteen, so it won’t hurt my savings too bad.” Leonidas grins to himself, before a thought hits him. “Out of curiosity. Do you think you’ll get all… acidy if you kiss somebody?” Realizing what he said after the fact the red returns and he splutters out a cough, “N-not that I plan on trying. Just curious.” AJ looks uncertain and her fave flushes again at the thought of kissing him! "Ah - I - I don't know? I don't think so ... I hope not," She awkwardly pats tye edge of the pool abd then blurts out, "Wanna test it now?" Regret immediately flooded her "sorry- s- sorry uhm, I don't hear to be pushy or anything!" Leonidas just sort of stares at AJ before pushing off the side of and sinking down to the bottom of the pool in an attempt to stop his face’s burning before floating back up near the girl. “I mean. I have insurance.” "Okay, well, uhm ... if it starts to tingle in any way pull me underwater znd go with me okay? And I Gove you full permission to trial kiss me and - ohmigawd this is actually happening like for real ..." AJ's heart is pounding in her chest. She wills herself to keep her scid glands closed. Leonidas looks around anxiously, making sure nobody that could write him up is actively watching. “For science, right?” He doesn’t seem to actually have any idea what he’s doing before he just goes for it, head tilting slightly and tenderly pressing his lips to AJ’s, bracing for the burn. There's none. Instead there's the gentle pressure of soft lips, before they pull back AJ touches her mouth doghly, gently with a shyyetdreamy expression, almost dopey it would seem. "Yeah, science ..." she mumbles happily with a sigh. “So that’s what that’s like.” Leonidas let’s out a shaky breath and turns to face the pool wall. “So.. shopping and dinner tomorrow?” "Yeah! Yeah ..." Her dopey smile then drops. "Wait. Wait! Was that your first ...?" “I’ve looked like this for… five years? So, yeah.” Leonidas admits. “Little late to the party, but, I’m here.”