Swimming Lessons (Ciran and Nemuru)(job)

She was dressed in a simple bikini, powder blue with a gold tone circle in the center, a blue sheer coverup around her waist. Thick scars knotted her stomach, revealing an old wound. The poison mage walked alongside her partner, trying not to trip herself in the sandals she wore on the uneven pavement. Another job, another day, more kids. Nemuru looked up at her partner. "How are you with kids? I've had jobs previously with children and I seem to have little luck. I watched a baby that even the parents found troublesome, as well as a pair of twins at an amusement park. Then, there were some kids causing trouble in a library..." She trailed off with a sigh.

"In all, I am no good with them. Maybe this job will be better. Though, we're only getting 500 jewels each for our time. Still, I'm not sure how much teaching we can manage in such a short assignment. We can both swim, at least. I'm thinking a few simple strokes are our best bet, eh? Perhaps just one basic one if he is too difficult to work with? They aren't paying us much after all." All kids seem difficult, I'm getting tired of giving them the benefit of the doubt.
(212)

He was dressed in a pair of trunks, two towels tossed over his shoulder, showing off the muscles he had from years of working a forge. "Don't usually deal with kids much, honestly....So we will see. And should be a quick job, easy small change....Unless something awkward happens." He tilted his head, thinking a little.

"Breast stroke at the very least. Maybe backstroke....if he's really obnoxious and doesn't want to learn, we'll do the doggie paddle. At least that way his friends will make fun of him, and we will still fulfill the terms of the agreement. Have to keep getting paid to keep traveling. And there's still a lot of this world to see together." Another pause. "did the ad say why the kid needed swimming lessons, or are we left in the dark and wandering again? Because that woman from the train job was just....." He shook his head in disgust.

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"I am hoping for an easy job, myself. I'm not so good with breaststroke. I learned front and back crawl and sidestroke as a kid. After all, Hargeon is a port town. Yeah, travelling expenses are nice, but I hope our next job will pay enough to also allow for a decent meal.

These few jobs aren't even enough to consider settling down. It's a good thing, we're still eager for travel. Though it'd be nice to find a place where we can set you up a forge and have a bed to come back to.

I'd prefer not to have the kid made fun of, just in case the client has a repeat job. I do worry that this time they are meeting us at the job site, like the last job." They approached the town swimming pool. "It just said his parents were too busy to teach him and he wanted to learn. Ah, this must be the client."

A woman in business dress with a preteen boy in blue swim trunks beside her looked them over. Her eyes lingered on Ciran's muscular form and the scar on Nemuru's stomach before smiling. "Hello, are you the mages who replied to the ad? My name is Emiline Rosco and this here is my son Adam. He wants so bad to learn to swim, but we can't find an instructor in town. He's so very drawn to the water, but we're ever so worried he'll drown. Can you help him out?"

"Please, sir and ma'am. Ma said I can't go near the water unless I can swim. Please." The boy shuffled his feet as he spoke honestly.
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"Well, we will do our best to teach you. Your the one that will have to do most of the hard work." He squatted down to be on the same level as the boy, sort of. "Are you ready to do some hard work and teach your body how to swim?" He smiled up to the woman. "Don't worry ma'am. He'll be safe with us, and we will teach him all we can about swimming before we are done" He stood up, arms above his head "First thing, is we stretch. If your muscles are not stretched out, they can cramp up in the water, and cramps are bad. Stop you from moving properly, and if you can't move properly, you can't swim." He continued his own stretches, showing the young boy a few different ones, making sure the legs and arms both got their proper workout, gesturing for Nemuru to join them

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Nemuru joined in the stretches, watching as the mother left. "So, why do you want to learn to swim? I'm sure you have a good reason."

"My father is a fisherman, he goes out everyday. He fights through the storms and against the odds to make enough money so we can survive. I wanna start learning, too."

Nemuru's face broke into a smile at the surprisingly mature response. "I bet he's a great man, Adam. I'm sure you'll be just like him, someday. I grew up in the port side of Hargeon, myself. I've seen the hard work fishermen do, it's a noble profession." She looked over his head to wink at Ciran. "You'll need to work on your strength to throw the fish up on the docks to be weighed and to swim so you can survive a squall.

"Let's get in the shallows." The boy tried to move further out. "N-no, start at the first step. We'll get there soon I promise. Hold the wall like this, relax, you'll float and kick your legs like a frog. That's a good job. Ciran, can you show him the rest of the stroke?"
(193)

He nodded from where he had been lounging in the water, and shoved off into the deeper water, showing a basic front stroke, going back and forth a few times so Adam could see it properly, before treading water in front of them. "So that is the basic front stroke. Simple, clean, will serve you quite well through rough waters or smooth. Next is the back stroke" He flipped over to demonstrate, though this one was a little shakier. "With these two, and treading water, which is how I stay in place here, you'll find yourself well served as far as swimming goes. Come a little deeper, lets see you try yourself." He held out his hands, ready to snag up the boy if he started to sink, but slowly treaded water away from them, expecting Adam to follow apparently. Well, if you wanted to swim, you had to take a risk sometime.

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Nemuru paddled closer, to watch the lesson and help out however she could. She smiled to her companion. The poison mage demonstrated the back stroke along side her companion. She was also a bit shaky at this maneuver but not so much that they wouldn't qualify as instructors.

Adam did well at first following Ciran, excitedly following along. However, he tried too hard to roll over on to his back. Bubbles began to rise as the boy went under. His limbs flailed as he forgot the basic lesson of swimming in his panic, how to relax and float.

Nemuru dove down to try and see if she could push him to the surface on her back. Though, if Ciran didn't save him, that would leave her under the water. If was a rather ridiculous plan, yet she couldn't exactly touch him either. Ciran, please, I'm counting on you! Please don't fail me now!
(154)

He plunged a hand down, snagging the boy by the back of the neck and hauling him up, one arm around him. "There we go...I got you Adam, calm down and you'll float again...Just float in the water, be as the water and be calm." He kept an eye out to make sure Nemuru came up to, slowly dragging adam back to the shallows. "You forgot the basics, forgot how to move your body, and went down, didn't you. Do you remember what you did?" He kept talking, checking the boy over to make sure he was okay and checking for his partner as well.

Once they were in the shallows he'd set the boy on his feet, standing in front of him. "So, too scared to try again I imagine? Going to give up on the water?" He watched him closely, judging his reaction, hiding the smile he wanted to have at this mature young boy.

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Nemuru came up spluttering a little. She followed the two back towards the shallower waters. She smirked as she watched Ciran with the boy. "You were doing well, Adam. Don't give up."

"I wasn't plannin' on it. I am still gonna be like my dad. Big and strong as you, Ciran. I'll come down here everyday and practice in the shallows til I'm stronger then I'll go out to the deep end. I will learn, I promise, thank you." The boy's enthusiasm shone through. He proved his point by swimming between the two mages with the front stroke, albeit a bit wobbly until his mother arrived.

"How'd Adam do while I was gone? Did he learn anything?" Nemuru shot a glance at her partner, while Adam began yammering excitedly and unintelligibly to his mother. Wading over to her tall partner, "wanna report for today's job?" The little poison mage looked rather content, a strange expression on her face.
(158)

He gave a chuckle and a nod. "Adam did quite well, and is well on his way to being a proficient swimmer. Apparently he wants to follow in his father's footsteps." He winked at the boy and smirked. "He had a slight tumble at one point, but nothing worse then getting a little wet. He should be fine to practice in the shallows for a while, then move to deeper waters, though..." He turned and knelt down a little. "Remember what I told you. Keep calm, and listen to your body. It knows how to move through the water, even if your brain forgets sometimes." He stood, and clapped Adam on the shoulder, a little rough perhaps, but not so rough as to be painful. The sort you'd give a fellow man for doing something well. "You've raised a good boy ma'am. He knows the value of hard work towards a goal, and listens when someone speaks. You should be proud of him."

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The mother nodded, pleased with the day's progress. At the mention of taking after his father, Adam blushed while his mother grinned."Thank you, Sir and Ma'am for teaching my son today. I wish I could afford to pay you two more, but here is your reward." She set it near their towels. "Come on Adam, I must tell your father. He'll be so pleased to hear you want to take up the family business."

"C'mon mom, really?" The boy mock whined to his mother as he toweled off and followed her through the gate.

"Cute kid, mmm, Ciran? And dedicated to taking up a trade skill...I guess they aren't all bad." She said with a blush looking at her partner. Nemuru looked away and up to the setting sun, changing the topic. "Pretty quiet here at this hour, and it's open all night. Guess we can stay a bit longer."
(150, Fin!)