Solo Through the turbulence II

[Cleon]

58th of Spring, 522 A.V

However he didn’t have long to muse on just that as he caught Luke swimming away out of the corner of his eye, and still a bit perturbed, he had a sudden sense of urgency to make sure the boy wasn’t going to blab to the other children what he had been doing.

Guiding Brea back over to the surfboard, he gestured for her to climb and Kelton too before guiding it back alongside Randal.

“This one next.” Cleon said, patting Brea on the back with a grin, before adding. “I’m going to check on Luke and bring him back over to the group.” He said tossing a thumb in the boys direction before swimming away.

He was clearly not as capable a swimmer as Luke was. His strokes where sporadic and didn’t carry him nearly as far as he pushed off the bottom of the pool before swishing his arms through the water in a vertical stroke.

Until he was a good distance away, he avoided kicking with his feet so he didn’t splash the party as he swam away but that lead to a somewhat stunted progress as he tried to mimic Luke’s breast stroke without using his legs.

All that did was just about get him no where while using a lot of energy till he realized by pulling down at the water with his arms and legs he could go underneath it and swim a short ways without splashing anyone. It was scary, but knowing that he could easily reach the bottom with his feet made him considerably braver as he shifted in the water till it was almost like he was brushing the water behind him with his uneven strokes.

Eventually he made it to Luke who was studying him curiously with a flat expression as he surfaced and slowly stood up, catching his breath before speaking.

“Hey don’t you want to join the rest of them surfing?” Cleon asked to break the tension he felt. It didn’t work because the boy only shrugged while continuing to fix him with a blank stare that was considerably more creepy having been in the boy’s mind recently.

“So uh, I hear they found you out in the water. One of the boys said that you are an Ivyess? You seem to know how to swim very well” Cleon said.

Luke cocked his head. “It isn’t polite to snoop around in people’s minds like that. Why aren’t we swimming in the sea? This isn’t really swimming.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Its an effect of this charm I wear on my wrist. I didn’t really mean anything by it. I like the sea too though, but Randal says its dangerous around this time of year, and I have to agree with him and to be honest I’m not a very strong swimmer. Probably why Laviku had to rescue me, and left me with this mark right here.” Cleon explained pointing to the swirl of waves on his upper arm.

“Oh really? I’m actually Laviku’s son. I told James that when he found me. I suppose he didn’t tell you that though.” Luke said in that weird monotone way he had.

“Really. I don’t sense any marks on you and I’ve felt such things in the past when it came to individuals who share the mark.” Cleon said, and almost regretted saying anything as Luke gave him a mixed look that look a little annoyed and exasperated. The boy then leaned in dramatically, and Cleon took the obvious clue to lean in as well.

“Okay so my father has sent me here to watch over events. Be his eyes and ears so to speak, but don’t tell Kyle I told you that. I don’t like that boy one bit. He is up to something. I know it.” Luke said evenly.

Cleon nodded. “You know he says the same about you. Or at least thinks it. I’ll admit something too. I’ve been using these charms to investigate the curses, and I’m pretty sure if it is anyone, they are going to be among this group. Well not this group exactly because I’m pretty sure I’ve cleared all of you here now, but I think I’ve been gifted these charms so that they can prepare me for whatever these curses are building up to.” Cleon admitted.

Luke nodded but didn’t say anything for several ticks. Then abruptly he said. “That could be so. Just remember about what I said about not telling Kyle, okay?” Luke asked and when Cleon nodded, the boy dived underneath the water to swim away faster than Cleon could have anticipated.

Looking around briefly confused, he decided to swim back to where the rest of them were gathered.


WC - 791

[Cleon]

Cleon did his best not to walk back to the group. He desperately wanted to get better at swimming even if it made him look like a fool in front of the rest of the group. This moment he was trying spreading his body thin across the pool while he stroked out with his arms and legs. This posture had the added benefit of using his weight to keep him afloat as he propelled himself along through the water.

Occasionally he would practice taking in deep breaths or letting it all out, seeing how that affected his buoyancy as he traveled across the pool using his back legs to give him most of his momentum while his hands clawed at the water front to back. In a way it kind of felt like he was crawling across the water as he got more used to pushing off of it. Feeling how it flexed off his hands and feet before adjusting his strokes appropriately.

Then he was back with the group so he stood up as Randal turned towards him, rolling one of the surfboards towards him.

“Why don’t you show them how its done. I think they could use another demonstration from a beginner.” Randal suggested, although Cleon thought it was really just to spit up some of the attention as the children were all over him. Well, one adult pretending to be a child he thought as he looked at Lexi curiously. She caught the look and gave him a nervous grin that perhaps he was reading too much into. Too late, the damage was done. Lexi was swimming over with Kelton and Julian in tow.

“How about it wave boy. Show us what’s what.” Lexi giggled and rolling his eyes, Cleon turned towards the board. With his hands flat across the top he pushed up as he had before and then as his weight was shifting to the side he used his slight bit of sway to swing his leg over.

He managed to pull off the maneuver but only barely and not without knocking his knee against the side of the board before getting it over. Wincing, he bit his lip to avoid crying out as laid across the top of the board a moment to catch his balance.

This time though instead of standing up, he remained as he was using his arms and legs to propel him across the pool. With the aid of the board, he was practically speedy darting across the pool though perhaps too much he thought belatedly as it looked like he might run into the side of the pool.

Backpedaling with his arms and legs as fast as he could, he only just barely managed to stop the board from crashing, earing himself quite the workout in the process as the board floundered for a moment. Unintentionally he found himself breathing hard as his exertions caught up to him, and for several ticks he laid across the top of the surf board catching his breath as it rocked from side to side, founding in the water of a moment till he adjusted his weight across the top.

WC - 527

[Cleon]

Then he looked back at the sound of splashing coming up from behind him. With Lexi leading the charge. He felt a little bad for the girl, she sounded so scared in her thoughts, a fear he could sympathize with although he didn’t know how to approach her about that just yet. Any of them really. They were all just hurt souls, and he felt almost bad about picking at their thoughts.

Almost. Because after what Luke had said, he felt that sense of urgency more than ever. A responsibility that briefly superseded his baser desires. Something he would mention to Randal later when he got the chance.

“See something you like?” Lexi asked, and Cleon realized that he had been staring.

“No, sorry.. Just dog tired.” He winced, throwing in a slight smile that Lexi returned half of.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you.” Lexi said with a playful wink that he couldn’t see the same any more after being in her head. Julian remained back a ways with Kelton, pretending not to pay attention while helping the boy to doggy paddle. Cleon didn’t really care if he watched. Having been in that boy’s head twice already he was pretty sure he had nothing to worry about there.

“Thank you. How about you help me hold the board while I stand on it.” Cleon asked with a smirk.

“That sounds like cheating.” Lexi said with a mischievous smile as she backed away from the board. Rolling his eyes, Cleon pushing himself to a seated position, gently rocking back and forth with the motion until he had stabilized. Then he tried a different tactic, placing his hands right in front of where he sat with his legs splayed, and pushing upwards before quickly walking onto the board with both feet. The board briefly surged forward as Cleon stumbled a step backwards, catching himself on the back foot while his arms pinwheeled.

Then the board slowed in its forward momentum and Cleon shifted some of his weight to his front foot before flashing Lexi a triumphant smile when it looked like he wasn’t going to fall off after all.

Or at least that was the plan, but he didn’t see her until the last moment because she had gone underwater and-

The board jerked under his feet as she pushed up from below and he went stumbling back into the water narrowly missing hitting his head off of the pool floor.

To swim back up to the surface he pushed off the ground with his elbows as his back touched the base of the pool. Then using his hands in a similar claw shape he’d used earlier, he used his arms to swim into an upright position before pushing off with his legs which resulted in him surfacing with a brief hop out of the water before landing gently on his feet. After he tossed his head every which way to get the water out of his eyes, he briefly opened them to stare at Lexi.

WC - 507

[Cleon]

“Why- Did- you- do- that-” He sputtered as he came up from the bottom till he found that she was a few inches from his face, giggling. Before he could react, Lexi wrapped a hand around the back of his head and pulled him in for a quick kiss before she broke it with another giggle.

“Does that make up for it?” Lexi teased, and when his expression didn’t immediately change, she raised her hand out of the water pinching something silver between her fingers. “How about this? I think you dropped it off your charm bracelet.” She said handing it to him.

To surprised to respond and still processing what just happened he took the piece and dumped it out onto his own palm where he took a moment to study it. It looked like a tiny snake fang that was made completely of silver.

Curious he touched it to his bracelet and sure enough it snapped on alongside the others. “Wow, huh thank you.” He said, looking up at Lexi who was giving him a strangely intense look as she bit her lower lips. Cleon felt an uncomfortable prickling sensation along the back of his neck and another sensation elsewhere as he realized what was clear between the both of them.

“I see that.” She said, clearly amused. “But don’t thank me quite yet, maybe later if you are a good boy. What do you like to do for fun anyways?”

“Uh, well I mostly hang around the Protea. Ooh yeah, well just drinking and smoking I guess.” He admitted rather hastily while squeezing his thighs together hoping his ardor would go down before anyone else saw.

It was working but only just as Lexi kept pointedly glancing down.

“Well I haven’t been around the Inn much. Maybe you could give me a personal tour.” Lexi said suggestively, and Cleon nodded with a gulp.

“Sure thing.”

“Okay. I’ll hold you to it Cleon. See you little Cleo.” She said waving downward before she swam to rejoin Julian and Kelton with a giggle. Cleon brusquely shook his head as he turned to face away from the group and gather up his board.

To get his mind off of what had just happened he focused on how he was swimming once more, cupping his hands downward this time as he sloshed his arms through the water while kicking out with his feet together in one large fin shape. It made him picture himself as one huge fish as his movements carried him ungainly through the water until finally he got close enough to the board to grasp where it had carried off to. He decided to remember that maneuver for next time as it was reasonably effective. More so than what he had tried earlier at least.

With all of that effort expending in swimming, his ardor had gone down to normal, or at least his normal as he swam alongside the board splaying out his limbs so he floated alongside it before he tried what he had in mind.

When he was at least sure that it wouldn’t immediately slip out of his grasp, he threw his right arm around the board then wiggled the rest of himself over top of it. It was actually a lot easier to do it that way then the way he had been doing it, at least until he tried finding his balance to not flip over the other side. If it hadn’t been so well made, he might have been thrown off of it several times over already.

As it was he finally managed to get it to stop rocking back and forth by straddling his legs across the back of the board while bear-hugging the middle. When he finally looked up to see what the rest of the group was doing he caught several amused expressions much to his chagrin.

Naturally this left him little choice but to swim over slowly, paddling with his hands and feet in the water on either side of the surf board while he watched James helping Brea to learn how to stand by herself on top of the board. Meanwhile Julian was trying another board by himself.

WC - 702

[Cleon]

Grade Award!

Cleon:

Skill:

Endurance: 1
Logic: 1
Investigation: 1
Observation: 2
Rhetoric: 1
Swimming: 3
Surfing: 3




Lore:

Luke: Laviku’s son
Luke: Sent to watch what happens to Syka by Laviku
Luke: Hates Kyle
Swimming: Breathing out to swim underwater
Lexi: Kissed Cleon first
Lexi: Huge flirt
Swimming: Cupping hands to get momentum

Feel free to pm me with questions or concerns about your grade, and don’t forget to edit your grade request!