Love Struck Delusion
Chapter 179 – Swimming lessons.
Cody's POV, Thirty minutes later.
"Oh god damn that was good." I stated aloud as everyone was just about done their breakfast. The meal was probably one of the best things I've had in the past few months. Hecan has it made. Might have to get me a cook of my own after all this. I thought to myself as I looked to Raptor who had been done eating for a while now. In fact he only had a few bites and not a lick of water or juice we had available. That could mean a bunch of things in my book. Number one on the list was he was so stressed he just didn't have the stomach for it right now. Can't imagine how he is even smiling after bringing down a bear that size outside. Which is fucking nuts on it's own. This politician in my mind up till this point wasn't just a figurehead. He was a real deal cut clean special forces soldier and he proved it. God damn I wish he would have woke me up. I would have loved to see it happen in person.
With maybe a minute passing, he shifted focus to his dog Molly who was busy eating what he left on the plate. Which was a whole god damn meal. But she needed it. Dog like her needs the protein. She's just a puppy. With his eyes watching her finish the plate in a matter of seconds he calmly asked her.
"That good?"
"Braf!" She replied as Zeta just chuckled and watched with me as it was clear she was smart girl. She spoke really well and judging by how she treats him it was clear to me she probably considered him her father at this point. That or she was just really fucking loyal.
With Raptor letting out a laugh of his own after some time. He soon turned his gaze to Roman who was at the other end of the table eating a meal of his own. With his voice very chill for just going through a battle; Raptor asked to the cat who was barely paying attention to any of us at this point in time.
"There any place I can go with her and just relax?"
Looking up to him in some confusion. Roman replied while putting down his fork.
"Ahhh I mean there are plenty of places around the estate to go relax commander. There's a movie theater, a gym, the indoor greenhouse, the pool. The list goes on. You remember the tour of course."
Nodding his head Raptor began to stand up. We all watched as he grabbed his cloak. Tossing it over his shoulder he replied while placing Molly down on the ground.
"Choices then. Come on Molly." He urged the dog as I quickly wiped my mouth to shout.
"Commander!"
Stopping to look at me as I got out of my chair. I said to the man as I came around his side of the table.
"Let me come with."
His eyes crossed to Zeta who calmly said to him.
"Pepper and I are going to go get a lay of the land and figure out the security around this place. We'll be busy for a bit Raptor so he might as well."
Raptor nodded and looked back to me as Pepper said out from the sidelines.
"Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid Irish."
Chuckling I replied while fixing my hat.
"I got him. Just do what you two gotta do."
Turning around to start walking off. Raptor kept silent as I just smiled at the girls to get moving with him. When we got out of sight, I ask him from behind as I caught up.
"What you want to do? Go kill another bear?"
I got a small smile from him as he kept us walking. After a few seconds he replied.
"Nah. Like I told them. I wasn't trying to get myself into trouble this early in the morning. I just wanted to focus on her." He directed that towards Molly who was walking between us. Keeping my smile on I asked with a curious voice.
"You plan on training her?"
Nodding as we turned a corner Raptor replied.
"She's a good dog. An even better tracker. And when we were out there I saw some things."
"Like?" I wondered as he calmly replied while occasionally looking at me.
"She's fast. She's accurate. She's smart. And above all else she is loyal. A stone and I know just by looking at her that she's in this to protect me. To help me. To keep me sane through this mess. She'll follow me through hell cause I saved her life back in Pakistan from a broken down building just outside the city. She stood up to a wolf three times her size and didn't back down. She tried and with the proper training I'm sure in time she can grow up to be a great companion and an even better war dog."
Looking to her for myself, I listened as he finished.
"I know she can track. I know she has fight in her. But sometimes I gotta get her to learn the basics. Simple things you know?" He asked me as I nodded and replied.
"Yeah. Sit. Stay. Paw. All that stuff."
"I plan to relax now that I have gotten a chance to see the outside. Maybe in another day or two we can go back out. But for now I wana focus on her."
"Don't you worry about yourself?" I then asked him as he questioned.
"What you mean?"
As we got to the end of a hall, Raptor opened a double wood door that led into this midsized room which had two indoor pools. All lit up with bright white lights at the bottom. One of the pools was smaller and it was clear it was meant as a hot tub of sorts. You could see steam coming off it as it was clear to me as we entered what he wanted to do to relax now. But keeping to the question, I replied as we stopped before the hot tub.
"You've been working nonstop for how long now? You need to rest at some point. Otherwise your body will give out at some point don't you think?"
Nodding Raptor replied with a smile.
"I'm okay Cody. Trust me when I say this to you. I've had twelve years to rest. And once this war and all this bullshit going on with Zeta and her sister is over. I'll have all the time in the world to rest. But till then I need to keep focused and working on things. Otherwise things could fall apart."
"Well what's one of the things you want to work on then? Is there a reason we are here now?"
Nodding Raptor replied while walking to the other pool. Molly at his feet still as she clearly was getting excited by the water in front of her.
"I need help."
Widening my eyes slightly, I asked in confusion.
"What do you need help with?"
Looking to the pool Raptor replied.
"I ahhhhhh...I would like to learn how to swim."
Now I was at a standstill. Raptor had a smile on as I just stared at him to question.
"You don't know how to swim?"
Now his face looked at me in disbelief I would even ask that question. Knowing why very shortly, I said to correct myself.
"I mean how could you? Living in the middle east and all that. Dumb question. Sorry."
Smiling once again Raptor replied.
"It's cool. But yeah not like swimming pools are a big thing over there. Can't say I remember even hearing about one."
Remaining by the hot tub, I kept my eyes on the hedgehog as he looked back to the water to wonder.
"You know how to swim yeah?"
Caught off guard I replied.
"Yeah I know how to swim. Learned when I was a kid. You ahhhh...you want me to teach you commander?"
Looking back to me, he said back with a sense of force to it.
"Can you stop calling me commander? I told you last night. It's Raptor to you. If your going to be my body guard who decided it's in his best interest to follow me around everywhere; then at least do me the honor of calling me by my real name. Not commander. Not boss. Not even sir."
"Are you sure?" I asked in concern that would be getting a little too personal this early on.
Nodding his head however Raptor replied.
"I'm sure."
I just smiled as he then said.
"Remember what you said last night kid? I'm worth twenty million to ya? That ain't worth shit if I drown at some point. And the way things seem to be going who knows if that might be a thing that happens at some point. So consider this part of your job. Teach me. Then maybe we can teach her." Looking to Molly I just kept still as he locked eyes with me. After a second more of silence, I replied with a confident tone.
"Your right. Ain't worth shit if you drown. I'll do it then. But hey? Are you sure about this?"
"Your as bad as Zeta Cody. Stop asking if I'm sure and start instructing. The girls said they would be busy. So that gives us some time. If you're not confident you can then we can...?" Cutting him off I replied.
"I'm confident I can teach ya. Been a while since I swam."
With that comment Raptor made his way over to a small bench that was placed against the wall just behind us. I stared at him closely as he put down his cloak and asked.
"Should I take this off?"
Part of me just kinda blushed as he referred to his armor. So with a red face I replied.
"Ahhhhh...yeah that would be a good idea. Kinda hard to swim with gear on. At least at first."
Nodding Raptor then began to undo his vest. Which was another thing that got me curious. I had no clue what that armor was he had on in the first place. It looked advanced as shit for being as skin tight as it looked on him. But when his chest piece came off, he got to work on his arms and undoing his belt. Unable to hold back the question, I asked as I came over to look at the gear he had placed down on the bench.
"What kind of armor is this by the way?"
"G.U.N combat mark seven prototype ballistic armor. Only five suits in the world from what I know. My old protection detail have the other four. I took the fifth one before I left Iraq to find Zeta. Built for max mobility and damage absorption in a light and compact package. We stole them from Linnen early in the war. It's saved my life a lot since then."
"Must be worth a pretty penny to G.U.N. This shit is crazy feeling." I stated as I ran my hand over the chest piece to feel the bear claws going across it.
Taking off his belt and placing his glock back inside the holster. Raptor went on to say.
"Zeta did something to it though. She made it lighter somehow. Never told me how. But I haven't asked ether."
"I heard her and Pepper are pretty fucking smart."
Laughing a bit Raptor replied.
"I don't doubt that."
I kept my focus on the armor as he then got off his undershirt. It was a pretty beat up black tank top and no doubt he wore those to keep at least a little cool while in this type of gear. My eyes glanced over to him as it became clear to me just how in shape this dude was. Yoked out of his fucking mind for being thirty eight. Hell he looked better then me and I'm half his age. Keeping my shirt on, Raptor soon sat down to start getting out of his boots. Once he got them off he asked me in confusion.
"That good?"
Having to catch my tongue I replied.
"Yeah that's perfect. Ahhhh...you should go get a feel for the water first. Go to the shallow end. Tell me how it feels."
Nodding his head as he got off his watch. Raptor slowly stood back up with Molly at his side. I'm sure she wanted to swim too.
Now I knew this was the time and place for me to get undressed. So slowly I took off my hat and placed it down next to his things. By then he had a foot in the water to state with an open mind.
"It's pretty cold. But I can manage."
Laughing under my breath, I then focused on getting off my shirt. Underneath however was my dogtags I got from Shader and those I decided to keep on for now. Not like they would rust from a little dip.
After that I got off my boots and made sure my phone and everything else was out of my pockets before moving towards him. But when I got there, I got around his side to put a foot in for myself just to know exactly what he meant by cold.
"Oh god damn." I muttered as he chuckled to my reaction.
"Yeah that is cold. Let me hop in and once I'm warmed up to it we can start."
Nodding Raptor sat down with his feet still in the pool. Watching carefully as I gently lowered my body down and into the water.
Instantly I began to shiver and with that in mind I asked him as I got some of my fur out of the way of my eyes.
"By the way. Last night when you went to bed was it fucking freezing for you too? Cause I was frozen."
Raptor just smiled and replied.
"I fell asleep the second I felt that pillow hit my head. But no I didn't feel anything. Maybe it was just imagination?"
Taking a second to dive down, I soon reemerged to state.
"No way. I felt it for real. It was weird as shit."
Again fixing my fur, I soon began to just swim around. Raptor's eyes on Molly now who he asked.
"You know how to swim? Do we even have to bother training you?"
"Braf!"
"Fine then. Go ahead." He urged her as she clearly responded to him just then with a positive answer.
Keeping to the deep end for a few seconds, I watched as Molly leaped off the edge of the pool to splash right in between us. She came back up after a second and with her ears to her sides she let out a more held back bark.
"Braf!"
She was cold and I knew it, but that wasn't stopping her. Raptor who was clearly happy for her soon said to me.
"God damn dog knows how to swim and she didn't even try. What does that make me?"
Laughing I replied.
"Inferior?"
Again laughing to my response Raptor then asked.
"Should I come now?"
Keeping myself afloat, I replied while starting my way over to him.
"Yeah. Just take it a few inches at a time. Let your body warm up before you leave the shallow side."
"Got it." He then said back as he stood up to start creeping his way further in. Once he was up to his chest he stated to me directly.
"Not too bad."
"You just can't feel the cold my man." I told him as he kept himself going. Once at his neck I urged him while getting next to his right side.
"Now when you feel like your feet are about to leave the ground, you put all your focus in your upper body. Using your arms just try to push up to get your body to stay above water. Almost like your pushing down. But use relaxed and constant motions like it's just walking one step at a time."
"Okay." He replied as I witnessed him lose his footing for the first time. Instantly his head went under and I gave him a second to try and do what I just said. But clearly it wasn't doing anything since his motions soon turned into a panicked toss up.
"I got ya." I told him as I reached under to grab him from under the arms. In a second Raptor came back up to shout.
"Holy shit that is weird!"
With our heads basically touching, I told him while starting to give him some free room.
"Do what I do. Watch. Look what I'm doing with my arms and my feet. Just replicate that."
"Okay. Okay." He replied as I let him go again. All I wanted to do was laugh as it turned into another fight for his life. So once more I got him from under and back above the water to say.
"It's not something you just get perfect on the first go. Plus hedgehogs aren't the best swimmers so you got that working against you."
Raptor's eyes came right back to me and the second we stared at one another I grew star struck. That purple color he had was absolutely crazy to see up close. And as we kept at it I soon began to notice his pupils. They were black but there was a white film almost over them. Like he was going blind. In my attempts to not sound like an idiot I asked.
"What's up with those eyes? Why is there a white film over your pupils? You're not going blind are you?"
Chuckling as I continued to keep him afloat, Raptor replied.
"You noticed that huh?"
In confusion I replied.
"This close it's kinda hard not too."
Nodding his head Raptor then stated back.
"It's a long story Cody. You want to hear it?"
Instantly I replied.
"Ahhh duh."
Sensing I was fully willing to listen he then suggested.
"You teach me to swim and I'll tell you sometime. How's that sound?"
Again I replied just as fast.
"That sounds like a deal to me. You want to go again then?"
Keeping his smile Raptor replied.
"Yeah let me try it one more time."
Nodding my head once, I let him go and with that he managed to keep himself up for a few seconds. But soon he went back under and all I could do was laugh this time as it happened. But not being cruel; I got him back again in my arms and listened close as he ordered into my face.
"Keep going runt!"
I wasn't going to ask anymore. I knew he wanted it just by looking at him. Determination was a hell of a thing. And did he call me a runt?
mT Shadow.