Swim Lessons
Friday, September 1, 2000
Thursday bled into Friday with little conversation between the men, but with
a comfortable quiet that came from spending inordinate amounts of time together
on the road. They didn't need to fill the silence with meaningless chatter. They
were content to sit side-by-side and listen to the world turn.
Friday was blisteringly hot and, after lathering up heavily with sunscreen,
Xander ducked into the always-cool Pacific ocean with a sigh. He was glad such a
big body of water couldn't conduct the electricity coursing through him in a way
that would cause any damage to the marine life, and his own messed up system
protected himself from electrocution. He floated for awhile, far enough out that
the cresting waves didn't disturb him. He let his thoughts drift like his body
on the water, not concentrating on any one thing.
Eventually, he uprighted himself and, careful not to lose his sunglasses,
swam towards shore, his powerful strokes easily eating the distance the ocean
had carried him. When he touched bottom, he stood and walked toward Spike, who
was sitting in a few inches of water and looking out over the ocean, a white
figure against the white sand and white surf, as if someone forgot to color in
the world.
Xander flopped into the sand beside the blond, sending up a small spray of
water. "Did you eat like I told you to?"
"Yes," Spike replied. He gave Xander a sidelong glance. "You shouldn't go out
so far."
"In the water?" Xander said. "Why not? I can swim."
"I can't."
Surprised, Xander said, "But you're old."
"And you're ugly," Spike countered flatly.
Xander rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. "I meant -- comma -- that
you've been around for a long while. It's just surprising that you didn't learn
how to swim."
"Killing was more my idea of fun, Xander, not splashing around in a giant
kiddie pool," Spike said pointedly.
"Okay. Yeah. I can see that." Xander tentatively put his hand on Spike's
wrist and, once he was sure he wasn't going to electrocute the vampire, stood
and tugged Spike to his feet. "C'mon, I'll teach you the basics."
The blond resisted Xander pulling him further into the ocean. "Why? I've got
on this long without knowing how t'swim."
"But you never know, we might go on a cruise on board a ship called the
Titanic, and we saw how that movie ended," Xander said.
"I somehow doubt that," Spike said, still resisting.
Xander gave him a suddenly understanding look. "Spike, are you afraid of the
water?"
"No!" Spike glared at Xander, but shortly wilted under Xander's continued
stare. "I'm, uh, just not too fond of the undertow."
Xander grinned knowingly. "All the more reason to learn how to swim. In case
you ever fall into the undertow."
Spike's glare returned, but he allowed Xander to pull him into the ocean.
Xander's hold on the vampire's wrist became Spike's death-grip on Xander's hand
somewhere between the ocean's foam caressing their feet and where they'd stopped
in the waist-high salt water. Xander was highly amused, though he tried not to
let it show. A vampire afraid of the water -- correction, the undertow
-- was a novelty in Xander's book.
"Doesn't the water feel good?" Xander asked, dipping slightly into the cool
water.
"It's wet," Spike said, his voice tight.
Spike's hand trembled in Xander's, and Xander immediately felt badly. He
wanted to teach the blond to swim, not terrify him. It took a lot of trust for
Spike to even allow Xander to drag him into the water when he was clearly
afraid, and violating that trust would be not very nice. As much as Xander
didn't like the vampire, he would never purposely terrorize Spike, not
after the loyalty Spike had shown over time.
"I won't let go, Spike," Xander said, his tone quiet and serious.
Spike looked at Xander a moment, nodded, and slowly exhaled the breath he
didn't need but held anyway. "What do you want me to do?"
"Get wetter," Xander replied, lightly splashing the vampire with his free
hand. He received a glare and a face full of water in response.
Laughing, the impromptu swim lesson got underway. Not once did Xander break
his word, keeping a hand on Spike at all times while they were in the water.
Xander taught Spike emergency floating once he managed to convince the blond to
put his face in the water.
Breaking only to reapply sunscreen every so often, they stayed in the water
the rest of the hot afternoon.
End
