"What do you mean you can't swim?" The shocking revelation had Nikki pushing herself up onto her elbows as she glanced across at her girlfriend beside her, sunbathing in one of the already harvested fields.
"I... can't swim! What's so hard to understand?"
"But... it's swimming. How can you not know how to swim?" Nicola seemed to be having difficulty grasping the concept and her lack of understanding was pushing Trish on to the defensive about the perceived defect.
"Do you know the Sidonis-Kader algorithm?"
"No, but a) that's complicated, and b) I'm not going to drown if I don't know it."
"Hey I know how to not drown! I just can't swim." They sat staring at each other, both unwilling to either back down or apologise before Nikki suddenly jumped up, offering her hand out.
"That's it, come on. I'm teaching you to swim."
"What, now? Come on Nick, you're still grounded."
...
"It'll be fine! Stop worrying and come on." Thomas heard his daughter's protests in the background as he answered him omni-tool.
"Hey Mr Shepard," Trish's voice rung out once he'd made his presence on the call known. "We were just wondering if the lake counts as being on the farm?" 'We'? Didn't sound much like a joint decision to check to me. He paused thoughtfully, ownership of the lake had always been an iffy subject with the local landowners, it had eventually been decided that each farm's territory ended at their respective bank and the lake itself would be usable by all but owned by none. Which Nikki knows! He was glad his talk with the older girl seemed to be having the desired effect but his own daughter seemed to be more and more willing to push at the boundaries set upon her. He couldn't just back down, she still had another week of being grounded left, but at the same time he remembered how every time his own parents had imposed limits on him as a kid it had just made him more resentful and rebellious.
"Officially it's not Trish. However since you were both good enough to check," he knew Nicola hadn't planned to, he also knew she could hear him and that the perceived assumption that she'd always do the right thing would guilt trip her into doing right next time far more effectively than reprimanding her for not. "I think as long as Nikki doesn't touch any other bank but ours then an argument could be made that she hasn't stepped anywhere that isn't the farm."
"Thanks Mr Shepard you're the best!"
...
"This is NOT a good idea Nikki. What if something goes wrong?"
"Come on, you told me you knew how to not drown!" The youngster teased treading water several feet away from the bank. She became serious as she saw the brunette still standing, fully clothed on the edge of the bank and swam back over to her, tapping the top of her foot. "Hey, sit down a moment so I can reach." She smiled as Trish complied, stretching one wet hand out the water to hold her girlfriend's dry one.
"Look, I'm not going to pull you in here or make you do anything you're not comfortable with, but I promise you you'll be safe. I won't let anything happen to you." Her other hand had come up to gently caress a cheek and Trish impulsively leant forward for a kiss, Shepard's body lifting slightly out the water as she happily reciprocated. Suddenly Trish felt a damp hand push her chest back as Nikki pulled away from her lips with a smirk. "Careful, don't want you falling in... Just think about it OK? I'm going to swim over to the other side and when I get back either I've gotta get out or you're coming in."