`but this ain't seaworld. this as real as it gets.

[Jennah Raine Advani]

First day of swim lessons. This was truly one of the most exciting times for a child. Today would mark the start of a life skill these children would need. Well, some of these children. Other kids here were returning for yet another level of swimming. Jennah, though, considered herself lucky enough to teach level one. She loved kids and she loved swimming. How could this job possibly go wrong? Besides, almost all the kids in her class were still young enough to play fun water games like Marco Polo and what not. She couldn't have asked for a better job!

She tied her towel around her waist and closed her locker before she collected her clipboard for attendance. Jennah's bare feet slapped against the tile ground softly as she walked towards the door to the indoor pool. The heat and humidity from the pool embraced her as she walked in. She looked over at all the kids ready for their instructors so lessons could begin. The turn out was great this year! She smiled a bit to herself as she watched kids give their parents hugs goodbye and their parents promising them they would be waiting for their child when class ended. Jennah walked over to a bench and put down her clipboad. She ran her fingers through her thick black hair and pulled it into a pony tail. Once she had it tied back, Jennah removed her towel and placed it on the bench before she took up the clip board again. She was just about ready to begin. She had yet to look up and see her own class. The moment she would, though...she'd be in for quite the shock. And awkwardness would ensue of course. But it's not every day that your own boyfriend is in your swim class.

-------------

"You'll behave now, won't you, Tehmina? You'll be good and listen to your instructor and be quiet when you have to?"

Mina was barely listening to her as grandmother told her to listen to her swim instructor and when she was going to be picked up. She was too excited. The 6-year-old was going to learn to swim, just like her brothers before her. She quickly gave her grandma a kiss on the cheek and hurried over to her lessons. She tossed her towel on the bench (narrowly missing Jennah, who ducked without looking at the towels to dodge them) and looked at all of her class mates. Her eyes landed on a tall boy. He was as tan with hair as dark as hers. He didn't look like he was the other kids' age and he did not look very happy. He wasn't the instructor, was he? Her brother took this class. The instructor was Miss A. This boy was not a miss, that was for sure. So who was he? He didn't seem like someone's older brother...no one around looked like him.

So she walked right over to him. She walked over and stood next to him, her dark eyes peering up at him for quite some time before she screwed up her face slightly and said, "You don't look like the swim instructor....you're not the instructor, are you?" She tilted her head to the side and tucked her black hair behind her ear as she looked him over and shook her head, "The instructor's supposed to be a lady. Miss A. My brother said she's nice and pretty, but I don't know because I've never met her before. Have you? Is she nice and pretty like my brother says?"

She stopped talking for a moment and looked out at the water before looking back up at him and giving him a smile. "My name is Mina," She said to her new friend, "What's your name?"

Right after that, a lady in a red swim suit and black hair walked up to the class, her eyes stuck on her clip board as she told them to line up for attendance. Mina could only assume this was Miss A. Mina looked around as the other kids stood beside their friends. She looked up at the tall tan boy for a moment before scooting closer to him so she would not be alone.

Jennah's chocolate brown eyes stayed on the clip board as she said, "When I call off your name, say 'here', okay?" She took off the pen cap and placed it on the top of the pen with her teeth before calling out, "Andrew?"
Which was shortly followed by, "Here."
This process went on as she mentioned names. After a while, it really became a robotic process for Jennah and she wasn't really paying attention to the names she read. She was just waiting to hear the call of "here" in return. So, when she read off, "Iskander," she didn't think on it.

...Until she read it again. Her eyes widened, then.

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WORD COUNT: 821
OUTFIT: click
LISTENING TO: fireflies - owl city
TAGGED: Dante/Iskander
COMMENTS: there. now we're both lame for listening to owl city =]
oh and sorry if this doesn't make sense. iSleepy

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

His mother was a twisted, twisted woman. Just twisted. Just damn twisted. If truth be told he liked his present mother more than his past one, but right now, that could be contested. She signed him up for SWIM CLASSES. Now, that didn't sound so bad. Previously, they hadn't had the money, and in his past life, there was just no need the sultan of the desert learn to swim. But now to learn? In a class of six year olds? She had done this as a joke, but made him go anyways. No need to waste good money, but this hurt the sultan's pride something mean. He did not want to learn how to swim among small children.

Unfortunately, he had to. He was the first to arrive, walking out to the point among children's floatation devices and toys in the first pair of swim trunks he ever owned, just simple blue and black. He was going to stand out like a sore thumb, he knew it was the first kids began arriving. Not only was he one of an immensely small arab population in Riverdale, but...he was a decade, if not more, older than the rest of the students. He was just going to glare at everyone in the vicinity, the black-haired boy decided. He was going to glare at people and so sue him, he was pissed, and moreso because his mother was likely taking pictures and watching along with the rest of the parents. Fuck his second life.

Of course, even glaring angrily around couldn't go according to plan, could it? He stared down at the shallow end of the YMCA pool, watching the ripples in the water, wondering why one earth he'd even want to jump in. Obviously, he'd have to, but he doubted he'd be on a boat that was sinking anytime soon, and other than that, being able to swim didn't matter that much. A little girl walked right into his vision, and looked right up at him, her dark brown eyes into his ones of the same hue, as she rambled at him. Of all the kids present, she had to choose him. Every other kid was giving him a wide berth. Oh no, she had to come. Mina, her name was. Normally Iskander wouldn't care, but right now he just wanted to be angry at life.

"Hello, Mina. My name is Iskander." His voice was so low and gruff compared to that of two little boys chattering about Pokemon beside him. "I don't know who Miss A is, either." He did, but didn't know it yet. His mother had kept that secret from him completely, but was cheerfully telling the confused parents of Andrew why Iskander was in the class, and that his girlfriend was teaching the class, so she had been totally unable to resist signing him up. "We'll just have to wait and..."

See would be the appropriate finishing, but Iskander didn't gt there as who was presumably the instructor came walking. Oh he was going to do Thomas a favour at this rate and kill his mother. This was cruel. This was downright cruel and humiliating. Jennah taught this swim class. Jennah Raine Advani - Miss A - was his girlfriend. And there was no way in any life he may live he was calling her Miss A. He hoped she would understand that. Only...what to say to her? Hi?

He didn't have to work that out right away, as she didn't right away notice him, and just called attendance. But it was just a matter of time before...

"Iskander,"

"Isn't my mother a funny soul?" He said by means of a 'here'. "Though I don't know, this doesn't seem that funny to me." After that, Iskander shut up so she could finish the attendance, crossing his arms over his chest. Just preachy. Just great. He wasn't even sure if he'd ever told Jennah he couldn't swim, which was just going to make this more awkward.


-------------
words| 740
tagged| Jennah / Tina
notes| Oh the things we put them through. XD

[Jennah Raine Advani]

When she read that name, she had hoped it wasn't him. Sure, Iskander wasn't a common name. It wasn't common at all. Still, there had to be more than one Iskander in the world. But Jennah quickly learned that though there may indeed be more than one Iskander in the world, there was only one Iskander in Riverdale. And she was currently in a relationship with him.

"Isn't my mother a funny soul?"

Generally, Jennah liked the sound of Iskander's voice. It was deep and quiet. It comforted her. But right now, his voice was the last one she wanted to hear. His voice didn't match with the small, high-pitched ones of the children around her. He was not supposed to be here. Jennah looked over to where the parents were sitting and gave Miss Azizi a disapproving frown. She admired Iskander's mother and she usually found her antics against her son were rather funny...but this was not. This was going too far. Jennah looked back at Iskander, "Hilarious."

Menawhile, Tehmina looked up at Iskander with wide brown eyes. "You're supposed to call her Miss A," She whispered, completely innocent to the tom foolery going on right now.

"Though I don't know, this doesn't seem that funny to me."

Jennah frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Uhm...well..." She didn't even know what to say. Jennah blushed a bit and looked back down at her clipboard for a moment before quickly walking back to the benches she had been at prior. She picked up her towel and wrapped it tightly around her waist and tucked it in so her new towel skirt would stay on her hips. This was...this was just inappropriate. She gave Miss Azizi another glance, this one silently asking her 'Why did you do this to me?'

Mina tilted her head to the side as she observed Iskander and Miss A. He made Miss A blush. Her older brother made his girlfriend blush. "Are you and Miss A boyfriend and girlfriend? Is that why she's covering herself? My mom always thinks Luke's girlfriend, Tina, needs to cover up more..." Mina told Iskander.

Jennah blushed harder at Mina's question and went on with the role call. Perhaps if she just pretended he wasn't there he'd...just...poof. Maybe he would be easy to ignore. Yeah. Maybe he'd just be cooperative and quiet and she could just focus on the other kids. Yeah. That would work.

Except not really. As she continued with the role call, she kept glancing back at him. He really did stick out like a sore thumb. She frowned and looked at him, "Iskander, what are you doing h-..." She thought better of her question. She shook her head and finished up the role call before saying, "Alright! Everyone in the water."

The water was three feet tall but as Mina turned and looked at the water, it frightened her. For a little girl who couldn't swim, this water seemed like the deep end. She frowned and looked back at Miss A, who was putting her clip board and looking down at her towel skirt, unsure whether or not she should really take it off and get in the water as well. Mina then looked up at Iskander. Shyly, she asked him, "Will you go in the water with me, Iskander?"
She was too proud to admit her fear, but if he went in with her, she'd feel much, much safer. Unless he was afraid of water, too. That would be sad then. Two kids afraid of water, petrified to get into the 3 feet end of the pool. But he was really tall. Probably taller than the water where as Mina was barely above 3 feet. He shouldn't be afraid of the water.

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WORD COUNT: 633
LISTENING TO: rabbit hearted girl and the drumming song by florence and the machine
TAGGED: Dante/Iskander
COMMENTS: that is one sexy picture of luke pasqualino.

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

If Iskander didn't have a general rule about not killing his mother, he'd have killed her. This was not funny to him. Even if Jennah hadn't been his instructor, this was not funny to him. He could not swim, and never had been able to and he didn't like the water. He was okay with some wading. But generally? No, he wasn't a fan. Jennah seemed no more amused than him, which was a relief, at least. He didn't glance back at his mother when she did, but down at Mina when she spoke.

"It's okay, Mina. Don't worry about it." He assured her. He would called Jennah "Miss A" over his dead body...Iskander dead body, that was. The other one was entombed in a mosque in Damascus, in which case he did have a dead body to call his girlfriend Miss A over. But he meant the one he was currently in. "You call her Miss A, and I'll call her Jennah." He spoke quietly, so as not to disturb the class. At least the kids were obvious to what was so strange about this teenage boy in the class. He looked back up as Jennah walked back to the benches, and watched as she put on a towel, something she didn't need to do. This was a swimming pool, after all. It wasn't like she looked out of place without the towel; now she looked out of place with it. He dared a glance back to his mother, but she was chatting with another mother now. Maybe she had just done this to make friends, and force a miniature one on Iskander, who was now prying into his personal life.

"Nevermind." He told her, not sure if he should say he was in a relationship with Jennah just now. That seemed like it would harbour more problems than it was worth. "I just know who she is, from school, okay?" If someone was shy enough, that alone could do it. She spoke to him a moment later, but didn't finish the question. "My mother is retarded." He said by way of explanation, not caring if the kids thought 'retarded' was a bad word or not. He shut up again and let her finish roll call, worried to wonder what was to come...

"Alright! Everyone in the water."

Yep. Yep that would be something that occurred in a swimming class. Some kids jumped in, other climbed, some sat on the edge and slid in. And Iskander stood there, looking down at three feet of water he didn't want to get into...but he was a freaking sultan. He kinda had to get into the water, or he'd embarrass Jennah beyond words. But he didn't want to. Saladin might have even been a little bit afraid of water. There was no point to being scared of three feet of water when you were twice that size. Not when little kids just did the same damn thing. But he didn't want to go in...and then...Mina spoke. At her words, Iskander sighed. He chanced a look at Jennah, who seemed to be contemplating taking off her skirt, and then back at Mina. "Okay, okay...fine." He sounded a little more grudging than he wanted to, as he poked a toe into the water. It was cold to him. Dammit. Carefully, he sat down, so his lower legs were in the water. His face showed just how uncomfortable it really was: 'do not want' was written across his usually stoic features. "Come sit." He instructed, before sliding into the water and standing in it, still looking deeply uncomfortable. He knew he wouldn't drown, and he knew he couldn't cause Jennah more pain, but a second later he was back to sitting on the deck beside Mina. "Just like I did. It's easy." Only...he was back out of the water again.

-------------
words| 731
tagged| Jennah / Tina
notes| Luke's girlfriend Tina....you did that on purpose. XD

[Jennah Raine Advani]

She almost wished he would call her Miss A. It was simply a sign of respect between teacher and student. Right now, they were teacher and student, not boy friend and girlfriend. She didn't want him giving the other kids ideas and having her call her anything other than Miss A. Still, all the same, Jennah knew better than to ask him to stop calling her Jennah. She knew there would be little to no cooperation from him, so she just let it go after she gave him a subtle look, her eyes asking him to call her Miss A. It was worth a shot...

A failed shot, no doubt...but a shot none the less.

She wrapped her towel around herself a bit tighter. She knew she looked out of place now. She knew that Iskander had seen her legs and what was hidden beneath her swimsuit. She knew all that, but she was still embarrassed. Iskander just...wasn't supposed to see this much of her in public. She didn't know why, but his presence in her class was making her slightly uncomfortable. Maybe she was just being ridiculous. She looked back at Miss Azizi. This entire situation was ridiculous.

"I just know who she is, from school, okay?"

Mina looked from Miss A to her new, tall friend again. "Are you two friends, then?" She asked. Because right now...it didn't seem like they were. Her new friend, Iskander, was being crabby and Miss A was acting kind of funny. She was young and were she older, Mina would understand the connection between the two without having to ask. But because of her youth and naivety, Mina didn't know quite what it was about them. All she knew was there was a connection between the two. There was something she was not being told. A detail that was missing...

"My mother is retarded."

Jennah frowned at his word choice as some of the little kids looked at Iskander with wide eyes. Yes. 'Retarded' was a bad word. He should know better. Jennah sighed and looked down at her clipboard for a moment. She didn't want to scold anyone, specifically Iskander, but she couldn't let the kids think they could get away with saying bad things. So, gently but firmly she addressed Iskander. "I know you don't want to be here," She sighed, "But please cooperate while you are here, Iskander. Please? For me?"

She'd rather not get fired because her boyfriend was grumpy about being at a swim class for little kids. It wasn't her fault his mother was good at bad jokes and she would rather not deal with the attitude caused by this joke.

Mina was happy, though, that Iskander was here. She was happy he was willing to go in the water with her. "Okay, okay...fine." She didn't catch his grudging tone. She was pretty oblivious and innocent to his grumpiness in general. Mina stood beside him and watched as he stuck his toe in the water. She carefully did the same and retracted it, shivering. That water was really cold. She looked up at Iskander again, watching him as he sat down and put his legs into the water.

"Come sit."

Carefully, she lowered herself onto her bottom and put her legs in the water, too. She watched him as he went into the water and stood there for a moment. Mina began to consider also getting him when Iskander was back out again and next to her. "Just like I did. It's easy." He told her.

Mina looked up at him with innocent brown eyes. "If it's so easy," She began, "Then why are you back out of the water?" Just then she felt a presence behind her. Mina tilted her head back and saw Miss A (who finally decided to remove her towel) towering over her. Miss A gave her a smile, "C'mon. Into the water, there's nothing to be afraid of."

But Mina still looked rather intimidated by the water. So, Jennah leaned over and carefully picked the little girl up. Then Jennah climbed into the pool herself, the cold water not really phasing her, and held Mina with her in the water. "See, Mina? Nothing to be scared of." She brought Mina back over to the edge and told Mina to hang onto the edge and wait for instructions. When Mina's little hands were gripped to the edge, Jennah let her go and went back over to the over-sized student. Jennah held her hand out towards Iskander, giving him a small smile. "Now you," She said.

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WORD COUNT: 767
LISTENING TO: nothing. i just woke up.
TAGGED: Dante/Iskander
COMMENTS: my writing is never intentional. i put no thought into it xP

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

Iskander saw that pleading look on Jennah's face, to be called Miss. A. And he ignored it. She probably expected him to, but really. He was not going to call her Miss. A. It wasn't meant out of disrespect. It was about not lowering himself that far. He wouldn't do it. He knew she didn't want to get fired over this. And so he wouldn't act out. But they could always explain that Iskander wasn't like the other pupils - he was older than Miss. A, in fact. Kids would accept that as reason, he was sure. Besides, he didn't plan on talking a lot. Not even to Mina, who seemed to want to jabber away to him. Nothing against her. But if he didn't say or do much it might somewhat eliminate the awkward, if he stayed out of her hair.

He looked down at Mina again when she asked if they were friends. He didn't know how to explain how damn bad the situation was (and how maybe they'd laugh at it in 30 years...maybe then Mina would be laughing, if she remembered, too) to a little kid. "It's a very long story, Mina. We can't discuss it in class, okay?" He said simply, hoping that would do it. "Right now we should focus on learning to swim." Garg. Swimming. He didn't want to do that any more than he wanted to to tango with Errol.

Try as he might, he couldn't put together a nice attitude for this whole thing. He was civil but not all that friendly, if truth be told, and had to watch his tongue, too. So he nodded at Jennah's words, apologetic. The point here was to survive and not to have Jennah fired because that would be a lame way to say I love you, after all. He didn't say much more, feeling big and giant and stupid and his voice was a whole lot deeper than anyone else's in the area, which just added to the big and stupid effect, which Saladin didn't like at all.

Nor did he like water, but he gave it his best shot, sticking his legs in, then standing in the water. He had to admire the sheer silliness of the situation - he was a boy trying to convince a child to get into the water as it wasn't scary at all, when the boy himself was disconcerted with staying in the water. It seemed like some ethical question, and if Mina hadn't pointed out that he was back out of the water, he might have delved into it. Instead, he had to delve into some sort of comeback. "Because...oh, I don't know." He said with the smallest of smiles. "I just don't like cold water? But it's not scary. I'm just being silly." Nope, that was a fail explanation. He tried, at least, but then looked up when Mina did to find Jennah looking down at them. Great. He was going to go home and hide in his room for quite some time now. With popcorn, as he hadn't had dinner yet.

Iskander watched Jennah get Mina into the water, still sitting on the edge, then saw her reach a hand out for him. He met her eyes, then looked at her hand. Normally, when presented with her hand, he'd take it. But now he felt like he'd been made into a child. Despite that, he took it and got into the water, dropping her hand right after and resisting the urge to shiver, not from enjoyment, but from the cold. He'd get used to it, but for now, Iskander did not like.

Not a cat in water or a fish out of one, but a sultan in water acting effectively as both.

-----------
words| 699
tagged| Jennah / Tina
notes| Guess what?

[Jennah Raine Advani]

She made another face at him at his refusal to just play along as a good student and call her Miss A, but really, she couldn't really blame him. She was his girlfriend and he was older than her and so on and so on. She just...wished he would behave. She let the Miss A thing go, but she wouldn't hesitate to scold him or kick him out and make him sit on the bench. Grant, she didn't want to and if she did, Jennah knew she would end up apologizing for it later when they were alone, but she would if she had to. She hoped he wouldn't give her a reason to.

Mina was also unsatisfied with Iskander's behavior. His answer was too...vague. "It's a very long story, Mina. We can't discuss it in class, okay?"
Mommy said something like that almost every time Mina asked a question. She was so sick of people putting off her questions and ignoring her. Her bottom lip stuck out as she pouted. She was about to protest and pout more when Iskander added, "Right now we should focus on learning to swim."

...He had a point. Alright. Fair enough.

Mina nodded and looked back at the dark, scary, cold water. She looked at her reflection in it and watched the waves for a moment before looking back up at Iskander. "You are gonna tell me though, right?" She asked innocently. She hated not knowing things and chances are that she would nag Iskander until he told her. She would find out one way or another. Mina was good that that.

Meanwhile, Jennah was wondering how she would explain this if she were to get in trouble. What would she tell her boss? This entire situation seemed...just...impossible. 'Why would a mother do that to her son?' Her boss would ask. And all Jennah would be able to say is 'It's Miss Azizi'. To anyone who knew Miss Azizi, this was an acceptable answer. But her boss did not know Miss Azizi. Jennah was screwed. She was SO going to lose her job for this. In fact, after today's lesson, she might as well go job hunting since she would soon face unemployment.

Because...oh, I don't know." He said with the smallest of smiles. Mina smiled when he did. She didn't know Iskander knew how to smile. This was nice. He should smile more. He was scary when he didn't smile. "I just don't like cold water? But it's not scary. I'm just being silly."

"I thought you get used to the cold water..." Mina said slowly, looking back at the intimidating waters. She sighed and looked back at Iskander. "Perhaps we can get in together?" She was too scared to go alone. But Miss A quickly fixed that and made everything okay again.

But Miss A couldn't make things okay for Iskander unfortunately. She gave him an apologetic look when he took her hand. She wasn't really surprised when he let her hand go right away. If she could kiss his cheek, she would. But, with all these kids around, he would just have to accept her 'I love yous' through the look in her eyes.

But for now, she had a class to teach. She turned her attention towards the whole class. "Alright, guys," She said, "We're gonna practice kicking in the water. So hold onto the wall..." Jennah waded over to the wall and held onto it and floated her body so it was horizontal towards the wall. "Just like this," She said, "And when you all have it, we'll add stuff to it. So, are you ready? Set? Go!"

Hopefully some simple kicking would be easy enough for the class...

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WORD COUNT: 627
LISTENING TO: there for tomorrow's new CD "the verge"
TAGGED: Dante/Iskander
COMMENTS: this fucking sucked. ._.
what? <3

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

How far he had gone! From a Sultan with the power of bestowing life and death to those in his command to a guy in a swimming pool with six year olds, pride bent but hardly about to snap. There was a point at which Iskander would go no further, and upon reaching that point he knew full well he'd get up and leave, speak with Jennah's supervisor and make clear it wasn't her fault don't fire her, and go have popcorn. It wasn't honorable to be so prideful it got in the way of things, but at the same time, but the damn situation into perspective! If you were six, this wasn't so bad. Eighteen and a reincarnate? Yeah. It was so bad. Iskander's mouth drew into a hard line as Mina pouted, making it clear he would take none of that from her. If she wanted to be his friend she wasn't going to pout at him like a child. It only made sense, anyhow; why would you pout at a friend? If Mina was willing to be mature and deal with a somewhat sour Iskander, he'd be okay with having a six year old friend.

"Maybe, Mina. Don't pout at me. I doubt that's how you'd get a friend to tell you much." Maybe she did, but as said, Iskander didn't think so.

Nor did he think highly of staying in the water. Or Mina's comment. "Eventually, you do get used to it, I suppose..." He grumbled dubiously, forced back into the water by Jennah once more. He disliked this. He disliked this very very much. And kicking? Now he disliked this that much more. A darkness crossed over his face, the sort of face the sultan reserved for getting angry at the Crusaders. Damn crusaders. Damn Christians! He looked so quietly enraged at all of this, it was quite shocking he didn't get up out of the pool right then and there, but he grasped the edge by Mina and no one else (the kids had taken to clustering around Jennah and avoiding him like the plague) and lowered himself down, wincing a bit as the water hit his chest. He was going to kill his mother as dead as Raynald had been dead. Only not literally, because she was his mother, but fuck her. Only not actually fuck her because that was sick and wrong, but he'd kick her ass. Only not literally again. Suffice to say, Iskander was really, really, really mad.

He tried to float, he really did, but fun fact: adult males don't float very well. Muscle mass and denser bones lead to this fact, meaning Iskander sunk down, flailed back to the laughter of some boy, and tried again, finally settling for the soaking wet sultan look: chin on the edge, hands gripping the edge, half-floating but with one leg on the ground, dark hair covering his eyes to the point where he could barely see.

Oh, if Richard the Lionheart could see him now.

---------------
words| 553
tagged| Jennah / Tina
notes| ily. =?

[Jennah Raine Advani]

Jennah couldn't help but feel that Iskander was being a little melodramatic. It was just swimming. She told him she was going to teach him to swim at some point anyway. Sure, she didn't intend for this to be lesson one but, eh...you roll with the punches. But seriously, he was acting as if someone had spit on the Qur'an or something. The water wasn't suddenly going to bring forth Poseidon to spear him through with a Trident. There was no Lochness monster beneath the gentle waves of the pool. It was a pool. Swimming would not kill him. Swimming with children would not kill him. It wasn't degrading; she did it every day. If he could stop acting so proud and get over the sultan thing, that'd be great. If he wouldn't...then she would show him exactly how angry Wang Cong'er can get and then he would have a reason to fear the water. He would have a really good reason to fear the water, then.

...Also, she would take his popcorn. So...behave.

"Maybe, Mina. Don't pout at me. I doubt that's how you'd get a friend to tell you much."

She sighed. Guess the pouty face didn't work on him. Eh...she'd still get him to tell her later. She certainly wouldn't forget nor would she let him forget. She was soon staring at the water with him, wondering exactly how cold it was. She really didn't want to find out first hand. Neither did Iskander. She could tell by how he grumbled, "Eventually, you do get used to it, I suppose..."

Mina frowned a bit. He didn't sound very convinced. Neither was she. However, Miss A got her into the water and Iskander after, so, Mina didn't say anything about their current situation except to mutter so only Iskander could hear, "I don't like this."

But she did as she was told, like her grandmother would want her to. She gripped the wall and floated on her tummy with ease. She looked over to Iskander and noticed he was struggling a bit. Miss A seemed to notice too, and she waded over to them.

Jennah shot the boy a look when he laughed. "Don't laugh at him," She said to the boy, "Everyone struggles at times, but we help each other instead of laughing at each other." She looked back at Iskander. ...Okay. She had to admit, he did look kind of funny standing on one foot like a Chinese crane and his hair in his eyes like a eyes like a Shitzu. However, she knew pointing this out or laughing at him would not be good for him right now. She had this feeling he'd fail to see the humor in this situation. She gently pushed his wet, dark hair from his eyes and said so he'd hear, "You have to pick your feet up, baby."

She reached under him and put one hand on his chest and the other on his abdomen. Carefully, she swept his foot out from underneath him and held him level with the edge of the pool so he was floating. She continued to hold him there so he could get used to the feeling of the water and how he should be positioned on it. "Do you think you've got it, Iskander?" She asked, "Because...I'm going to let go of you now."

She slowly began to slide her hands out from underneath him. Her dark eyes stayed on him as she pulled her hands away, carefully watching to make sure he didn't sink again.

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WORD COUNT: 600
LISTENING TO: LIGHTS
TAGGED: Dante/Iskander
COMMENTS: =] oh really now?

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

Just swimming?! Just swimming?! This was not just swimming, it was humiliation, too. If it was just swimming, if it was a class of older beginners, or just swimming or being thrown into a fucking ocean, he'd be more okay with it that now. Maybe he was overreacting a bit, but Iskander sure didn't see it that way. Overreacting people typically did not see their actions as overdone. At least, though, his expression was more of less neutral, so he wouldn't be scaring the children any time soon.

NOT DONE