Nick looked left, then right, then behind him. Then left again to check no one had appeared in the last half a second. Only when somewhat reassured that no one was around did he slide the water wings up his arms.
He studied himself in the mirror as he adjusted them. The same smooth, slender, sleek-furred fox as always, rendered utterly hysterical by the two puffs of orange wrapped around his biceps. His face slid into a look of pure contempt, which drew his companion over to his side.
"You look great," she said as she appeared in the mirror.
Nick glanced at her wearily. "Don't humour me, Judy."
"Hmm?"
"I'm a grown adult wearing pool floaties. I'm about as far from 'great' as you can get and you know it."
"You're wearing pool floaties?" Judy said with an exaggerated scratch of her head, "Sorry, I was too busy looking at your body."
"Can you say that again without making it obvious it's an attempt to make me feel better?"
Judy gave up her act with a shrug. "Well, at least I tried. Shall we just go ahead and get started?"
"Yeah, let's get this over with."
Judy started across the tiles, but stopped when she noticed she wasn't being followed. She looked back to the mirror to find Nick still staring into it.
"Nick?" she said. He responded by tearing the water wings off his arms.
"Sorry, I just can't," he said, storming towards her, "If I'm going to drown I'm going to do it with my dignity intact."
Together they weaved their way through the mess of tiles that formed the changing room. Judy stretched her stride as far as she could, but struggled to keep up with Nick's frantic steps. The fur on his arms was visibly on end, and his eyes had taken on the familiar twitchiness he wore whenever he was stressed.
"So how come you never learned to swim, anyway?" she asked as casually as she could.
"Inner-city kid. When all you see is concrete you don't really need to know how to get across water."
"Ah, I see. I was just surprised when you told me because..."
"...Of how I managed to escape the asylum? Yeah, that wasn't swimming, that was a scramble to the surface that just about worked. Didn't enjoy it, but needs must, and once I was out of the water I could at least reassure myself I wouldn't have to do it again," he gave a sarcastic grin, "So imagine my surprise when I find out the ZPD Academy has a swimming test!"
"You'll be fine. All you have to do in the test is swim a hundred metres, tread water for a minute, and hold your breath underwater for ten seconds; that's it. You don't have to develop a perfect stroke or anything, it's just a basic test to ensure officers can go in water without drowning. Plus you've got the best possible teacher you can ask for – I have two whole swimming badges from when I was eight, you know!"
Judy laughed to herself, but promptly shut up when Nick gave her a death glare.
"You know I'm just messing," she said sweetly, but it only made Nick pick up his pace with even more forceful stomps.
They turned a corner and stepped into the pool area. Nick stopped dead, forcing Judy to skid to a halt. She looked up to quiz him on the sudden stop, but the words lodged in her throat when she saw his glazed expression: face taut, mouth open, eyes staring into the middle distance.
"Nick?" she whispered. He shook his head vigorously.
"Sorry, just nerves."
"You've nothing to fear. We'll stay in the shallow end; we came here at 6am specifically so that no one would be around to see you, and you're pretty much weightless in water so even if you run into trouble I can just lift you up," she gave his arm a comforting pat, "It's all gonna be fine."
Nick broke out in a smile. Satisfied, Judy clapped her hands together.
"Let's get started, shall we? First things first we need to get loosened up." She stepped in front of him and began flexing her shoulders. "Cramp's pretty common, and the last thing you want as a beginner is your muscles seizing up. The legs are most affected, so focus on them."
She widened her stance and leaned across to touch her left foot, but stopped midway as the corner of her eye latched onto Nick. She turned her head to see him clearly, and confirmed what she suspected.
"Nick," she sighed, "Stop staring at my butt and take this seriously."
"Don't mind me, I'm just calming my nerves. Anyway, can you show me what the next stretch is?"
She stood upright and glared at him, to which he responded with a trademark smirk.
"Hey, you admitted to ogling me back there. If you can stare at me when I'm wearing tight swim trunks then I can stare at you in a swimsuit."
"Alright, alright!" she groaned, "Can we just focus on the task at hand? I think that's enough warming up for Swimming 101, anyway," she pointed to the edge of the pool, "Stand on the edge of the pool, will you?"
Nick's easy confidence melted away. He did as he was told and stood on the water's edge, but not before his fur had stood on end again.
"Good, now jump in."
Nick looked back at Judy, forcing her to turn her head from her revenge ogling of his backside.
"What?"
"Jump in the water. Pretty routine instruction if you ask me."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Nick nodded dumbly. He turned back to the water, staring down at his reflection in the blue. He swung his arms, curled his toes around the pool edge, gave a succession of steadying breaths, but didn't even lift his heels. Over his shoulder Judy watched with increasing impatience.
"Go on, you can do it," she said, but they were the only encouraging words she could manage before she ran out of sympathy. Jumping into shallow water was an issue for him, really? His feet would touch the bottom before the water even reached his neck, let alone his mouth, and here he was looking at his feet like he was about to jump into a volcano. He'd fallen down a waterfall and felt alright-ish about it, so why was a climate-controlled pool posing a problem for him? He was winding her up, wasn't he? She rolled her eyes. She hadn't dragged herself out of bed at this ungodly hour to waste her time. She owed it to herself to get the ball rolling.
With stealthy steps she crept up behind Nick. His eyes never flinched from the water. She feigned crossing over to his other side just in case he was watching, and as she passed by Nick she thrust out her arm and pushed him firmly in the back.
Nick yelped as he toppled forwards, which was promptly drowned out by an almighty splash as he belly-flopped into the water. Judy stood at the water's edge and surveyed with satisfaction as he broke the surface with a splutter and swabbed the water from his eyes.
"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she chirped, but her cheery disposition was wiped from her face when Nick looked up at her. He was scowling: brow narrowed to a sharp point, lip curled as his teeth ground together and fur on end, but what made Judy's ears fall limp down the sides of her head was the look of pure hatred in his eyes.
Without a word Nick heaved himself out of the pool and started walking.
"Nick," Judy called after him, but he paid her no heed as he stormed back into the changing room.
She chased him as best she could, but his long stride was too much for her to catch even as she desperately hopped between every dry patch of tile she could see.
"Nick, what's up?" she asked, but he kept walking away from her, only turning to slide into one of the changing cubicles. He shut the door with a slam and heaved the lock shut until it groaned.
Judy stood in front of the door, eyes watering. What had she done? Alright, it wasn't nice of her to push him in the water, but she'd wound him up plenty of times before without drawing that kind of a reaction from him. The only other time he'd looked at her like that was after that press conference she'd spent the last six months repressing – why did this of all things make him look at her with contempt? She didn't know, and that only inspired her hurt, her anguish, and her desire to make things right.
She gently knocked on the door of the cubicle.
"Nick," she said softly, "I didn't mean to make you mad, I was just trying to get you into the water so you could see it wasn't anything to worry about. I realise now I shouldn't have done that, and I'm sorry."
She could feel his presence behind the door, but he didn't stir once she'd finished speaking. She started to panic.
"I mean it, I'm really, really sorry if I hurt you. You know the last thing I'd want to do is harm you, Nick, and if I knew you'd react like this I never would have done it. I thought I was helping but I made a mistake, and I want to put it right. Please come out, Nick."
Still no movement from behind the door.
"Please, Nick. At the very least tell me what's wrong. I know I hurt you by doing that but I don't really understand why. If you don't want to go back to the pool that's fine, we'll leave it 'til another day, but if you've got something on your mind I want to help you with it. You know how much I care about you, Nick, and you know how bad I'm feeling right now for what I've done. Please let me make it up to you."
A scrape on the tiles told Judy that his feet were twitching, but no more than that. At least he was listening to her, but he required more persuasion to open the door. Judy racked her brains for any more apologies, but she'd exhausted that avenue. That left bartering, and one idea instantly sprung to mind.
"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers," she sighed to herself, but seeing no other option she raised her voice.
"Nick, if you open the door I'll do some more stretching for you."
The lock rattled and the door opened just enough for Nick to poke his head out. Not smiling, but at least he wasn't seething at her like before.
"Throw in unlimited touching and we're even."
Judy's eyes narrowed. "Unlimited PG-13 touching when nobody's around. Deal?"
"Deal."
Nick opened the door all the way. Relief swelled in Judy's chest, bursting out as she lunged forward and grabbed the fox in a tight hug.
"I'm really, really sorry," she said, voice muffled as she nuzzled his stomach.
Nick dropped his arms over her back. "It's alright."
"No, it's not alright. I did something that hurt you a lot. I know I didn't mean to, but it's not about my intent, it's about setting something off inside you that clearly stings. I've done that too many times already, and I don't want to do it again." She nuzzled his stomach, then looked up at him, "Will you tell me what's wrong?"
Nick hesitated. The same glazed-over expression, the one he'd worn when he'd first stepped into the poolside, washed over his eyes, but after a few painful seconds he blinked it away.
"Okay."
He shuffled backwards and sat down on the cubicle's bench, lifting Judy into place at his side. She took his paw in her own, and he curled his fingers around hers.
"There's a reason I never learned to swim," he said, eyes rooted to the tiles beneath his feet, "That's not just because I'm from the city. I did get lessons when I was small, but I never got beyond dog-paddling and clinging to a float for dear life. I think I lasted three sessions before I stopped going back because my Dad walked out on me."
Judy's heart trembled. She squeezed his hand tighter.
"And because you missed him you didn't feel up to it after that?"
Nick shook his head. "Quite the opposite," he said sourly, "My Dad was my swimming teacher, so when he left there was no one around to teach me. When he first took me to the pool he told me that swimming was one of the most important things I could ever learn; a few weeks later he decides that teaching his son an important life skill isn't worth his time, packs his bags and his money and leaves me and my Mom on our own without a word of goodbye. Seriously, Mom brought me home from school one day and found a letter on the dining table saying he'd run off with someone."
His eyes narrowed to a glare. "I was hurt, big time. So, so angry at how he treated me and my Mom, but when he's gone without trace there's nothing you can take that anger out on. So my Dad became a hate figure in my mind, and anything he represented was a bad thing. He thinks swimming is an important skill? I'll prove him wrong. I'll not learn to swim and show him how I can live a successful life without knowing how, because what could a heartless piece of trash about him know about what's important?" His lips turned into a wry smile, "My Mom tried to make me take swimming lessons again after that, but I refused. I'm talking proper tantrums over it and everything. She eventually gave up – can't say I blame her, life was hard enough for her back then without me making things worse – and I got my satisfaction. Obviously it was a childish thing to do, and now that I've grown up and come to terms with the whole thing a little bit more I realise it is a life skill I ought to learn, but it still wrinkles at the back of my mind enough to make me think about it right now."
"That's why you were so angry when I pushed you into the water: it made you recall that whole experience."
"Even more specific than that. On my very first swimming lesson my Dad made me stand on the edge of the pool and asked me to jump in. I struggled to do that 'cause I didn't like the thought of going underwater, so to help me along my Dad pushed me in when I least expected it. My Dad, whom I'd trusted wholeheartedly up until that point, gave me a nasty shock and made me choke and panic that I was going to drown, and it was all okay to him because it apparently proved there's nothing about the water to be afraid of. Then he walks out on me. So yeah, when you pushed me I felt his filthy hand on my back rather than yours."
Judy gnawed her lip. "I'm so sorry," she whined, but Nick reassured her by pulling her to him.
"I've told you Carrots, it's alright. I just lost my head in the moment – now that I've cooled off I'm fine. I forgive you." He looked at her and grinned, "Besides, the last thing I'd want to do is discourage you from touching me."
Judy laughed and snuggled against his side. "And you wonder why I turned to perversions to bribe you into opening the door."
"When did I wonder anything? The only thought that went through my mind was that you know me too well."
"Wouldn't be a cop if I couldn't put clues together," she said, "But in seriousness, thank you for telling me all of this. It's clearly very personal, and I'm touched that you trust me enough to open up to me about it. Rest assured I'll be more careful from here on in."
She laid her head on his shoulder and hugged his arm. Nick purred with delight.
"It's nothing," he said, curling his arm around her back, "It's for the best anyway that I let some of this stuff out – I've held onto it long enough. I'm just glad I have someone to let it out to who I know will always be in my corner."
He turned his head and they nuzzled, both clicking with delight at the feel of each other's fur against their own.
"So, has being sweet and sensitive and snuggly managed to get me out of swim class?" Nick asked mid-cuddle.
Judy laughed once more. "Yes and no. We still have time and I'm still happy to teach, but only if you want to."
"Well, at the end of the day I do need to learn how to do this to get my badge, so we might as well get on with it."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Judy hopped down to the floor and helped pull Nick to his feet.
"We'll just take it easy," she said, "I think it's best if we just float today. We'll get in the water and I'll show you how to make yourself float, so that if you start to struggle with the strokes you know how to get yourself back to the surface."
"Sounds good to me."
"Great. And please do tell me if anything is making you uncomfortable. At the end of the day I want you to enjoy yourself in the water, so please say something if you're getting bogged down with any negative thoughts."
"Ah, don't worry about me, Carrots. I know how to motivate myself."
Judy smiled at him. He beckoned for her to lead on, and she didn't hesitate. She faced the door, took a step, and stopped dead as a hand squeezed her backside.
"Ah!" she squealed. She skipped away and whirled around to face a fox with a switchblade smile.
"There, I'm feeling motivated now." He winked, "Though I'm sure I'll need to replenish it plenty of times over the next half-hour."
Laughing, he skipped past her and made his way down the corridor. Judy shook her head as she smoothed her swimsuit back into place, but any objections lurking in her throat dried up as she followed his relaxed, cheerful saunter back to the pool.
It's getting to the stage now where I'm finding the bravery to apply my own interpretations of characters to my works. Nick's Father is a pretty interesting character because how developed he is depends entirely on your own interpretation. He was pretty fleshed-out at one stage, but that story arc was dropped - do you take that character forward assuming things would remain the same, or are they now a blank slate? As you cans ee I went down the latter route, and the downward one too. To put it in multiverse terms: Original Plot Nick adores and is inspired by his father, whereaqs Final Story Nick never mentions his Father and he is never seen either, so I'd hazard a guess Mr. Wilde ran off at some stage. Probably split opinion with all of you on this but I'm just thinking out loud and doing what comes naturally to me.
I don't know if I'm happy with this one. I don't think it's badly written or incoherent by any stretch (plus touchy-feely Nick is best Nick XD), but at the same time...there's something missing. Maybe my personal high standards are weighing me down again and it's fine, but maybe I'll come to look back on this one as a 'could have been'. Oh well, onwards to the next lesson.
Thanks for reading!