Evening Light, Shine On [open]

[Rosemary Anne Rutledge]

Glancing around to make sure she was alone, Rosemary unbuttoned her full-skirted lavender jacket and laid it on a chair at the side of the pool. She would not have been worried, but she was not exactly sure that she was allowed to be here. Taking a moment to smooth the short, ruffled skirt on her white swim bottoms, she admired the tiny pink flowers that dotted them again. There was a similar ruffle along the top of her bandeau bikini top, also sporting tiny pink flowers as it floated over the pure white material of the actual important part of the suit. With a quick double check of her looped braids, Rosemary stepped out of her white sandals, nudged them under the chair her jacket was on, and sat on the edge of the pool.

Sliding her feet in the water, she gasped slightly at its cool temperature. Sitting, back straight, on the edge of the pool, she braced herself with her long fingered hands and kicked her feet in the water, giving herself a moment to acclimate to the temperature. Then, with a deep breath, she pushed off of the edge of the pool and into the clear, calm, chlorinated water.

Popping back up above the surface, Rosemary rubbed her upper arms briskly, smiling happily as the dimming evening light sparkled across the surface of the pool. She looked around again, and finding that she was still alone, she launched out into laps. She let her mind wander as she swam, her butterfly stroke as perfect as she was capable of making it. This was a way of keeping in shape that was both relaxing and something she was not going to mess up too badly at, and she was determined to enjoy it. She only wished that Jasmine or Kirsten was here with her; both of them had been good at making sure that she swam at least three times a week.

And she would have to go jogging once it got too cool, which would be harder if she could not find herself a partner. She kept wishing that she had not been caught, but if wishes were wings ... well, then, she would be an angel. That was a pretty thought, herself floating in the air on a pair of brilliantly white feathered wings ... Smiling, she turned again, finishing her tenth lap. She could still feel the sun on her, and see it shimmering on the water around her. It was getting later, though, and she wanted to finish her fifty laps before the sun set completely. Maybe she should pick up her pace a little ...

Word Count;; four hundred fourty one!
Clothing;; white bandeau bikini with a ruffle and skirt dotted with little pink flowers!
Notes;; yay for the first post!
Tag;; open!

[Cassahra Stone]

Sometimes, Cassa just had these urges.

And right now... waking up, wide awake even though it was probably some ungodly hour of the morning... She wanted to go swimming. She knew where the pool was, and could probably make it there without getting lost. It wasn't too hard. And at this hour, she highly doubted anyone would complain about her lack of proper swim attire. She hadn't thought to bring a swim suit, so an old baggy shirt over a bra and some panties were just gonna have to do. She wriggled happily as she dropped her shirt over her head, liking the feeling of the well-worn fabric sliding over her bare skin. Not bothering with shoes, she slipped out of her dorm room and began to make her way down the hallway, one hand trailing along the wall as her anchor. She supposed she could have brought her stick, but it made it so obvious she was... blind. She hated the thing when it wasn't needed.

The pool was not the hardest place to find, she had been right. Excellent. Sliding her feet along the patio, she tilted her head, one unmarred eyebrow lifting in surprise. There were definitely splashing sounds echoing around her. So someone had the same idea as her? She crossed her fingers at the thought of it being a teacher. No, that would not be pleasant. They would probably tell her off for her 'bathing suit' and everything. Or panic over the blind girl going for a swim. You didn't need eyes to see! You just needed everyone else to pay more attention.

Speaking of attention, the splashing sound had a nice, even tempo to it, unwavering. Cassa smiled, and without even realizing it, changed the rhythm of her own steps to match. So interested in the sounds of her soft footsteps meshing together with the splashing and her own quiet humming, she forgot to concentrate on anything but sound. Including touch.

The next step had her foot brushing water, not patio, and a quiet gasp of panic escaped her lips, as she tumbled into the water, sunglasses slipping off her face as she did. As the water closed over her head, she almost forgot about what to do, and began to sink. But no! She shook her head and kicked her legs, rising, her head breaking the water to gulp in air, paddling hands keeping her there. The water was shockingly cold at first, but she was already adjusting to it, as her limbs fell into the familiar pattern of keeping her afloat. She loved floating. It was one of her favorite feelings. She smiled in relief, and laughed out loud. Noises above a body of water always sounded so cool! But... but where had her sunglasses gone? There was someone else here! She needed... She needed to find them before the stranger saw!

Word count;;487
Music;; Love Drunk
Notes;; Gah! I hope you like?

[Rosemary Anne Rutledge]

R[/font]osemary was enjoying the peaceful evening, reveling in the gentle sunlight and the cool water. This was why her exercise of choice was swimming; it seemed as though it cleansed the soul as well as toning the body. It was, in a way, almost like flying.

W[/font]ith her mind cleared of everything but the proper form of a butterfly stroke and an annoying little ditty that she could not seem to shake, it was no wonder that someone managed to sneak up on her. Not that she noticed at first; she was more interested in trying to keep the mental chant of "Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah! Rom-mah-rom-mum-mah!" from messing up her stroke. Therefore the first indication that she was not alone was the clamorous din of someone entering the water. One more stroke and she propelled herself upright, treading water and looking down towards the shallow end of the pool and all the splashing.

A[/font]t first it looked like the dark skinned girl was drowning, and Rosemary launched herself through the water towards the flailing form. The splashing slowed as she got closer, and she lifted her head to look towards the other girl. She seemed ... well, she was floating expertly, so the earlier splashing (as frantic as it had seemed) must have been on purpose, too. Carefully aiming herself around the other female, the little blonde pulled herself up on the end of the pool.

I[/font]t was then that she saw the scarring that crossed the other girl’s eyes. Swallowing hard, she turned her gaze forcefully to the water so that she would not stare. "Excuse me, but I am doing laps; could you please stick to one side of the pool or the other? I am about half way done so it should not be too much longer." She wondered if the gym in the city had a pool. That would make things much simpler. "I had not expected anyone to be out here," she said, tugging at the ruffled skirting on her bikini bottom, wondering nervously how many flowers were on it. One, two, three, four ...

"I[/font], ah, had thought that I would be alone out here. Most people are either at supper or doing ... whatever they do after eating," she said quickly. She glanced back over at the obviously blind girl, and then pulled her eyes back to the skirt. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. Was the other girl wearing a T-shirt and underwear? Eighteen. "It seemed like a good time for me to exercise." She really was going to have to look into the gym. All she knew about it at the moment was that there was one, and it would be much better to swim laps somewhere with the lanes marked off. Maybe it even had an indoor pool so that she could swim year round! "I will probably only be another twenty minutes, give or take," she added helpfully.

Word Count;; four hundred eighty four!
Notes;; quite nice!
Tag;; Cassahra!

[Cassahra Stone]

"Is n'problem! N'problem at all, is fine fine!" The sound of silence has always made her skin crawl. She tried to keep from hiding her face, but it was very hard. Her hands inched up to rub at her forward, staying there for a much longer moment than needed. Pulling the hand down, at least her cheeks felt less hot. She waved a hand in a dismissive guesture, and accidentally slapped the girl's hand away. She gasped, flinching away. "Sorry! So sorry, I'm sorry!" She ducked her head into the water, raising it so that the hair trailed over her face, hiding her. She made no move to push it aside. "Sorry. Nice t'meet chya, Rosemary... Cassahra, at your service." The last part of that sentence was just reflex, and she bit her lip, makiing a face.

Why could she not calm down? It was her glasses, she supposed. Once she had her glasses, she could be okay. She could get back in control, yes. But for now, all she could worry about was more people seeing, or the girl leaving- she sounded scared, though not entirely disgusted, which was a comfort- and her being stuck there. She tried to take her mind off of it by trying to construct the girl in front of her. Pretty, kind, brave, too, to not leave. Her fingertips tingled, wishing to reach out and feel the girl's face, 'see' it so that she could at least pretend the girl was smiling at her.

A flood of relief. "Y'see em? Thank you! Thanks so much!" She quickly brushed the hair out of her eyes, and held out a tentative hand, waiting nervously. The sound of the girl slipping underneath the water was hardly a sound at all, and she sucked in a quiet breath, the sense of the girl's beauty growing. The idea of slipping through water without a sound was such a beautiful thing, Cassahra had always thought. It was fluid, like soft dancing. One night, Magnus had taken her to a pool (broken them in) and he had swam while she sat in the water and just listened. It was one of her best memories, even without Magnus' hand pulling at her's, pulling her deeper, pulling her down, pulling her in...

A good night.

The girl- Rosemary. Such a pretty name. There were good songs about Rosemary- had been gone a while. Should Cassa be worried? Should she... what could she do? Maybe the girl had left, but she hadn't sounded like she was running away, and Cassa had heard no footsteps. But... She gasped, the sound of the girl breaking through the water a magical thing, and also right in front of her. She bit her lip, tensing, but didn't move back. Didn't move at all. "...thank you..." Clutching the glasses, she slipped them over her face, and sighed in relief. A real smile spread across her face, and she even let out a soft laugh. "Well! That was disruptive... anythin' I can do ta make it up t'ya?"

Wearing the glasses again was like returning home, coming back to her body. She was Cassa again, who was wanted and not ugly and broken and something to pity, but could be attractive and something to stare at and even touch. Pretty enough to touch.

She really had to thank this girl, though there wasn't much she could do for her. Maybe it had seemed like a simple task, but Rosemary hadn't run away, she had stayed and helped and was even staying now, though she said she had swimming to do. Though, sadly, this girl might not be too interested in the kind of 'thank you's Cassa was good at. Cautiously reaching out, she brushed her hand against the girl's arm. A shy smile. "Anythin' t'all?"

Word count;;671
Music;; The dulcet tones of Mr. McCallum, psych teacher.
Notes;; This is fun! Now for flirting?

[Rosemary Anne Rutledge]

"T[/font]hank you," Rosemary said. She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks as she struggled to keep from staring at the other girl. She could practically hear her mother telling her, in a very disappointed tone, that it was not polite to stare. And she had not even introduced herself! "I am Rosemary, by the way," she said, reaching towards the floating girl before realizing that not only would it be awkward for them to shake hands at the moment, but the other girl was blind.

A[/font]s for a pair of sunglasses, the petite blonde had not seen a pair. Of course, she had not been looking, and the light was kind of low. She supposed that it was some sort of cover up for the girls scarring (it would be entirely understandable if she did not want her eyes seen) and so she looked around, trying to spot the glasses in the failing evening light.

O[/font]h! There they were! "I see them," Rosemary said soothingly, slipping easily off the edge of the pool and propelling herself towards the sunken sunglasses. It was almost effortless for her; she had been first put in swimming lessons at the tender age of four. It had been one of her first lessons, and had been chosen so that she would not drown. It was slightly ironic that she had her mother’s paralyzing fear of water to thank for being in such excellent shape.

S[/font]natching the sunglasses off the bottom of the pool was a little more difficult, but the army brat managed it and turned, kicking off the bottom of the pool to aid her journey back to the surface of the deep end. She always loved breaking through the surface of the water, and this was no exception, for all that she was closer to the blind girl than she had intended to be. "Here they are," she said with a smile as she reached out for the otherwise attractive girl’s hand, and closed it around the sunglasses she had retrieved.

S[/font]he really hoped that they were the appropriate pair and not a pair lost by someone else at an earlier time. Especially since that would have meant that they had been sitting at the bottom of the pool for God knew how long without being fished out when the pool was cleaned. The thought was really kind of disturbing.

A[/font]side from that, it was really sort of unfortunate that practically every girl here was a possibility. For once it was the male population that was less likely to be interested in her, and it made everything feel sort of surreal. The dark skinned girl was not precisely her type -- she had a bit of a thing for the athletic type, both in guys and girls -- but she was still very pretty and probably at least bisexual if not an outright lesbian. She was so used to pretending that she was not attracted to girls for their comfort that it was almost uncomfortable now to think that she might not have to hide it ... maybe it was just the cursory resemblance to Jasmine.

Word Count;; five hundred twenty four!
Notes;; This is making me giggle!
Tag;; Cassahra!

[Cassahra Stone]

"Is n'problem! N'problem at all, is fine fine!" The sound of silence has always made her skin crawl. She tried to keep from hiding her face, but it was very hard. Her hands inched up to rub at her forward, staying there for a much longer moment than needed. Pulling the hand down, at least her cheeks felt less hot. She waved a hand in a dismissive guesture, and accidentally slapped the girl's hand away. She gasped, flinching away. "Sorry! So sorry, I'm sorry!" She ducked her head into the water, raising it so that the hair trailed over her face, hiding her. She made no move to push it aside. "Sorry. Nice t'meet chya, Rosemary... Cassahra, at your service." The last part of that sentence was just reflex, and she bit her lip, makiing a face.

Why could she not calm down? It was her glasses, she supposed. Once she had her glasses, she could be okay. She could get back in control, yes. But for now, all she could worry about was more people seeing, or the girl leaving- she sounded scared, though not entirely disgusted, which was a comfort- and her being stuck there. She tried to take her mind off of it by trying to construct the girl in front of her. Pretty, kind, brave, too, to not leave. Her fingertips tingled, wishing to reach out and feel the girl's face, 'see' it so that she could at least pretend the girl was smiling at her.

A flood of relief. "Y'see em? Thank you! Thanks so much!" She quickly brushed the hair out of her eyes, and held out a tentative hand, waiting nervously. The sound of the girl slipping underneath the water was hardly a sound at all, and she sucked in a quiet breath, the sense of the girl's beauty growing. The idea of slipping through water without a sound was such a beautiful thing, Cassahra had always thought. It was fluid, like soft dancing. One night, Magnus had taken her to a pool (broken them in) and he had swam while she sat in the water and just listened. It was one of her best memories, even without Magnus' hand pulling at her's, pulling her deeper, pulling her down, pulling her in...

A good night.

The girl- Rosemary. Such a pretty name. There were good songs about Rosemary- had been gone a while. Should Cassa be worried? Should she... what could she do? Maybe the girl had left, but she hadn't sounded like she was running away, and Cassa had heard no footsteps. But... She gasped, the sound of the girl breaking through the water a magical thing, and also right in front of her. She bit her lip, tensing, but didn't move back. Didn't move at all. "...thank you..." Clutching the glasses, she slipped them over her face, and sighed in relief. A real smile spread across her face, and she even let out a soft laugh. "Well! That was disruptive... anythin' I can do ta make it up t'ya?"

Wearing the glasses again was like returning home, coming back to her body. She was Cassa again, who was wanted and not ugly and broken and something to pity, but could be attractive and something to stare at and even touch. Pretty enough to touch.

She really had to thank this girl, though there wasn't much she could do for her. Maybe it had seemed like a simple task, but Rosemary hadn't run away, she had stayed and helped and was even staying now, though she said she had swimming to do. Though, sadly, this girl might not be too interested in the kind of 'thank you's Cassa was good at. Cautiously reaching out, she brushed her hand against the girl's arm. A shy smile. "Anythin' t'all?"

Word count;;671
Music;; The dulcet tones of Mr. McCallum, psych teacher.
Notes;; This is fun! Now for flirting?

[Rosemary Anne Rutledge]

C[/font]assahra? "That is a very pretty name, and quite unique," the petite blonde said with a smile that she hoped the other girl would be able to hear in her voice even though she couldn’t see it. She had been so awkward without her glasses, and Rosemary felt wonderful. She had been able to return some measure of comfort to a girl who had obviously been through a lot, and there was nothing better than that.

E[/font]xcept now -- was Cassahra flirting with her? Or ... there was no way that she was offering sex as a reward for fetching a pair of glasses. It had to just be a coincidence that the way the dark skinned girl was stressing the word ‘anything’ made it sound like a proposition. No one would demand something like that in return for so simple a favor as returning a lost pair of sunglasses. No, Cassahra was obviously just recovering from the clearly traumatic loss of her glasses. Making a mental note never to mention the curvy, dark skinned girl’s scarring, she kicked lightly under the surface, moving her arms in slow motions to keep herself afloat. "It’s no bother; having half of once exercise session disturbed is not going to mess anything up. I should just see if the gym in the city has a pool so that even if someone else wants to exercise at the same time as me than it does not matter."

S[/font]he smiled at Cassahra again, wishing that the other girl could see and hoping that she could tell some other way. She had always been the sort of person who would give anyone a chance, but there was something about the blind girl that made her want to think only the best of her. She also wanted to kiss her, just a little, but it would not be right to sneak a kiss on Cassahra when she couldn’t see it coming. "Would you like to play a game?" she asked tentatively. "I would be willing to bet that you are amazing at Marco Polo." Rosemary smiled again, nervously this time. She had not really made any friends here yet, and she really was somehow fond of Cassahra. She just seemed, well, friendly.

Word Count;; three hundred seventy five!
Notes;; sorry it's kinda short!
Tag;; Cassahra!

[Cassahra Stone]

"Ya think so?" A huge smile split her face. "Thank you! Although, I think I'd rather have a name like yours. Rosemary means somethin' beautiful, 'fter all. Sounds like it suits ya." It sounded as if the girl was being genuine, which made Cassahra's spirit lighten. If the girl was being genuine, then it could only be a good thing. She even sounded like she was smiling, which was a difficult feat after seeing her full face, Cassa knew. As long as it wasn't a pitying smile. Though it didn't sound like such.

She waited patiently for the girl to think over her offer, no longer really notice, but... hopeful. Yes, quite. Her hand moved up, to cup the girl's shoulder, pull her even closer, her smile wide and sly, as she licked her lips. "What are y'thinkin'? D'ya like my offer? I promise, m'good.' Her smile grows a bit more shy, and she drops her head. "I didn't come for... a work out. Just t'float, like I said. I'm not the best at the wholes straight line thing." She couldn't actually remember the last time either of the boys had let her go swimming without one of them there. The answer was probably a 'never'.

Cassahra tilted her head, confusion obvious in the lines of her body. "A... game?" She wriggled her shoulders, her baggy shirt sticking to her skin and showing each curve and dip of her shoulders. "...what kind of game? Is it a dirty game?" A wicked grin. "Those one's are m'favorite." Realizing she should probably tone it down a bit, she bit her lip, pulling back and talking in a louder, lighter voice. "But I like any game!" Dare she admit she didn't know what Marco Polo was? Though it sounded vanilla at least. Damn. She hoped this girl wasn't straight. That would be awkward.

Word count;; 342
Music;; Kiss Me, by... Sixpence, none the Richer? I dunno. >.<
Notes;; Short AND late? Erg. Sorry! D:

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