Incline 21: Heiya

"Ok... Towel, monokini and... That's everything. Nothing more, nothing less." I huff and puff, once again checking that I have everything I need. I don't know why I'm checking, anyway. There's no need for me to. Got everything and nothing has changed since leaving the house. So why am I...?

I shake my head and trap a length of towel in the jaws of my wrapped-up fist. The attached arm shifts and shakes, knocking out my bothersome worry. Each step brings me closer to the sound of unfamiliar music and splashing water. Laughter and joy, squeals and shouts. 

The buildings make way for an open lot, one rimmed with a chain-link fence and a handful of posts. The scale of the event makes me stop and I linger on the wrong side of the crosshatching. A thoughtful noise escapes me and I try to spy what I can through the swarm of shirtless boys and bikini'd-up women.

A few signs are up, warning about running while wet. Some more warning about the rocks and no one's giving a damn. Doesn't seem like the lifeguards are either, they're basically involved in the party, too. Oddly, there's a pile of used mining equipment lying out here.

People go flying and my eyes snap their way, right in time to watch the splash. For all the noise and mess that comes of the unending conversations, people still hear the warnings. Cannonball. Splash!

"Huh, they carved one of the boulders into a slide...?" I suspect, barely able to catch a glimpse of a dark rock occupying one half of the immense pool. Another sits in the shallow end, as if the divine had a sense of humour during the earthquake. An island to rest on and a mortal-made slide to dive from. A burst of fire goes off, away from the pool, from inside the main building.

Seems like they've rented out the kitchen of the centre or whatever it is called. Turned it into a hotbed for distributing drinks and soon-to-be soggy food to the partygoers. Though, there's certainly a lot of people trying to keep the gobblers and swiggers from getting anywhere near the water. Bloated enough, doesn't need any more things floating inside of it. Got enough inflatables and other toys in that regard.

"Enough looking around, time to go on in!" I encourage myself to do, a twitchy smile coming to my face as I spot a few peeking eyes. Someone whistles and my smile grows firm, a grand swing entering my hips as I reach the front gate. I slip in amongst the other late arrivals and mind my way through the crowd. What a claustrophobic experience. 

The mall was packed when I went, but there was at least room to walk. This is something else entirely. It's a living, breathing wall of quills, fur and all the muscle and bone underneath. A mess that will no doubt trample me and so many more if we are to but only slip.

Forcing my way out to a patch of freedom, I look around at what everyone else's doing. So many have brought more than just towels. Boxes and containers filled with other snacks and drinks and some even brought umbrellas. Why, I cannot fathom. Looking up at the underside of the surface does little to answer my curiosity.

I smirk and shake my head at the silliness of the local culture and set myself up. I've nothing to mark my towel with, so this unused and broken metal bar will have to do. A storage area for broken things in general. Easy enough to recall, not my towel, anyway.

"Now what?" I ask myself, suddenly lost as to how to proceed. I linger on the towel, wiggling my toes as my mind goes over the vague, obvious detail. Pool party. Go party in the pool.

Shrugging on the way up, I make my way to the water. Some guy pinches the bottom end of a girl and something comes of it. Going past some more people, they giggle and laugh over a glass of something golden and fizzy. The edge of the pool is almost within reach and a guy runs in front, blocking the way. A pair of girls chase after him, their faces not as joyful as his.

"Mmm. Cool." I remark, getting into the water and making use of the relative openness of the shallow end. My fur soaks up what it can and I glance around to weigh my options. Running lengths of the pool is not exactly an option unless I'm up for a challenge. Mui insisted my makeup is waterproof, however. Still... What to do... What to do?

My eyes shift to the island and I head towards it, spotting a means to get up. Some people have set their towels up on it, and no amount of ferocity is keeping them dry. A giggle finds its way into my mouth and I make my way over the cracks in the pool's bottom. I linger my gaze on one of them, a slight frown forming as I notice a jagged spot. Guess I'll have to be careful with that.

The water starts to reach my thighs, and I pull my way up. I offer a smirk to the atypically younger boy with wide eyes on my right. He snaps his head away, the girl next to him growing jealous. My giggle comes back and my chest swells with more than my next breath.

So that's what makes it all worth it for girls like Mui. Those moments of being able to get all the attention from everyone else. However, I don't think that kind of stuff is for me. A few glances and whistles every now and then will do me fine. That simple reaffirmation that I'm a pretty girl. Wouldn't be much of a marksman if I revelled in being swarmed with attention.

Leave things like that to the indescribable abnormalities like Nin. Nice and comfy in his brand new metal cage, stuffed into the back of a van. I laugh at my thoughts, growing louder and louder with my cackling. I sigh the final shoulder-shaking chuckles and meet some girl's eyes as she gives me a weird stare. Several of her friends do much the same.

"What?" I snap, not really sure why I'm getting the looks. They're not paying attention to anyone else's behaviour. Why is mine so suddenly the focus of their world? Whatever is going through their heads, they break out into glares and snickers, turning away with paws over their faces. I return the glare and roll it out of existence with an accompanying shake of the head.

I slip down the rock, finding a new spot to rest on and I get my feet back in the water. Minding the decorations on my quills, I keep myself leaning forward. My feet kick back and forth, ruining any hopes for the water to settle and reflect my face. I look around, unable to spot a familiar face in the slightest.

It's not like I care much for Puhak or anything or his social circle. But he's a familiar face that I know I can at least attempt to approach. I'm not exactly here to mingle and get a cheap and easy date like others are. Gods and goddesses above, some aren't even taking it at a reasonable pace. They're just leaping straight to the hog and snog.

"Buy me a drink from the building first, hey?" I whisper to myself, watching one couple get broken apart by a very angry boyfriend. Shouts and threats break out, the party swallowing them back up. The offending kisser is out of sight, and now there's a relationship breaking down before my eyes. I roll the pair of fancy lookers I have and hop down into the water.

The splash snaps my attention away, and I wade through the water. The feeling of the warming cold reaches up to my chest and I feel my quills float. Decorations floating with it all, the demands of gravity a lesser thing for this one moment. One arm reaches around, holding one bit close as I worry about its ruination.

The other girls in the water don't care as much, and I find myself wanting. I wish I had the confidence to let my decorations be. Too much mindfulness right now. Too much of it and I know there's no point in working it out of my system.

Pops would kill me if some monster or thug didn't, as a result of my stupidity. I guess I'm fine, I can work my way through a crowd and pickpocket them clean and light. I know I have the dexterity and nimbleness to make it through that kind of situation. This should be no different with the choices and moments.

I guess the water is new, have never had to pickpocket a street while wading about. Then again, I doubt I'd have the chance to. My arms needing to keep me afloat and all! I smile and escape my thoughts, finding myself with no more time to spend on my feet. Just enough room opens up for me and I float through the water, arms going back and forth.

I make my way to the edge of the pool, minding the many partygoers and their toys. Briefly holding onto someone's animal inflatable, I push it away and propel myself. I hit the side of the pool and bring a hand up, securing my paw on the textured ground. Bumps and ridges to help with grip and stop the water from making a mess of everything. Though, unlike everyone else here, a cracked skull is unlikely to bother me, if at all. A blood spill would actually give me room to swim.

One of those would certainly liven up the place in a way I am familiar with, though. Not really too sure of anything right now. It's all noise, people noise, and on a scale I am not familiar with at all. Never been anywhere with this kind of noise without Pops.

I frown and heave my way out of the pool, twisting and dropping onto my bottom. My shins and below linger in the water, perching themselves on the tiled wall for a chance to get back in. A massive noise goes off at the other end and people wade away. I perk up, spotting the busyness of the converted rock.

Seems like they're making room for another load of people to use it!

"Ooo, yes, please." I quip, getting up and making my way through the crowd once again. My pickpocket skills come in handy and a handful of chips enter my mouth. Slightly soggy and weak and not from the oil they were cooked in. I laugh at the ruining flavour of pool water and rub my fingers into my fur. Not worth the effort sucking the salt and grease off while I have pool water moistening my paws.

I barely manage to slip into the end of the queue and linger as the on-duty lifeguard urges the disappointed back. My smirk hides itself in the turn of my head and I linger in my thoughts as the crowd gets to moving along. Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash and... My turn!

A 'teehee' breaks my closed mouth open and I grab the start of the bolted-on ladder. Making my way up, I find myself in a short-lived moment above the crowd and all the nonsense. My smile grows and I stare down the smoothed out rock. All the way to the slide's upward going end. I whistle, appreciating the work and broken backs that've gone into my one quick moment of fun.

"Here we go!" I let out, quite restrained compared to all the noise of before. Grabbing the bar, I rear my cheeks and legs into the air and throw myself down. I gently bang the rock and almost fly right out of the curve, a laugh ruining my focus the whole while. A swish and a turn and I am floorless.

I grab my legs and hold them close, my life more than preparing me for a good cannonball. The water explodes everywhere and I sink all the way to the bottom. Down, down I go. My eyes open and I find myself in a world unlike the rest of the pool party has been. An open space for me to swim and I have all the time in the world!

Well... All the time in my lungs... My giggles halve that time with a burst of bubbles and I make my way to the top. Keeping under everyone's feet until I am close enough to the shallow part of the pool. 

I throw myself back into the open, getting upright again and throwing my head back. Water rains from my fur and quills and I wade and then walk out of the pool. A few more crowds to get by and I'm comfortably set up outside of them. I linger around, dripping with water still, and a finger taps my shoulder.

I turn, meeting the familiar face of Puhak with a matching smile.