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Steam rose from the pool as Jason placed his bare feet into the water. ‘Well, that sucked royally.’ He was determined to prove the Professor wrong, he was not a ‘loose canon’. He had control. ‘What you have is the illusion of control, Jason.You’re walking a thin line that will only end with you hurting yourself and anyone around you.’ At the memory of Xavier’s lecture only minutes earlier, the pyrokinetic grabbed a nearby kickboard and flung it angrily into the deep end. He followed the kickboard’s trajectory and quirked an eyebrow when a small wave moved to knock the board back toward him. Jason scanned the pool quickly but saw nothing. Something suddenly brushed his leg and as he went to pull his feet out of the pool, thin tendrils of water gripped his limbs and tugged him in with a splash. Jason’s panic dispersed the moment he opened his eyes. Across from him in the water he noticed a familiar pair of black and blue eyes. Jason flashed a quick grin and flipped the eyes the bird before surfacing.
“You’re a dick, Guppie.” A watery laugh bubbled up from his left. “You gonna get your ass up here so I can kick it?”
“I’ll pass, thank you.” Came the watery voice again. Jason scanned the pool for the second time, but the little bastard was still camouflaged. That was just unfair, bordering on cheating. Well, two could play at that game.
“I’ll tell Cass about your weekend swims in the lake. Alone. Past curfew.” Another wave rose up and bowled him over. Rude.
“You’re the dick, Jason.” Tim finally surfaced, his camouflage melting away. “I need those weekend swims. I can only handle so much chlorine before it begins doing things to my skin.” Jason rubbed water from his eyes.
“You look fine to me, a nice healthy blue. Like a waterlogged corpse.”
“Gee, thanks.” Tim flicked a bit of water in the other’s direction. “So what brings you to the pool? I hardly ever get visitors down here at this hour. Aren’t you supposed to be training with the Professor?” He watched the pyro’s face darken and the water temperature around them went up.
“Alright, say no more. I think I have a pretty good idea of why you’re here.” He watched as Jason swam toward the ladder and took a seat on the top rung.
“You know, he’s just trying to help. He’s been in tune with his powers longer than any-”
“If I wanted more of a lecture, I would have stayed in Xavier’s office!" As soon as it was said, Jason regretted lashing out at Tim. The younger teen’s skin began to quickly change colors as it was prone to do when he was upset. Shit. The kid was doing the thing with his face. The thing that made Jason feel like he'd just been punched in the gut. He was angry at Xavier, not Tim; the kid was only trying to help.
“Tim, I- sorry. I just don’t feel up to talking about this anymore." He reached out and poked Tim's cheek. "And you can stop doing that octopus thing. It’s giving me a headache.” He gave a small smirk that was returned before the younger purposefully flashed through a series of colors just to spite him.
“Hand me my reg. suit and you’re forgiven. I say we then raid the kitchen; you look like you could use something sugary and unhealthy.” Jason couldn’t help but grin as he grabbed the suit from the ladder rails and passed it to Tim.
“And what’s your reason for wanting to raid the kitchen? I trust you to always have ulterior motives, Guppie.” He climbed out of the pool completely and gently heated his body in order to dry off. Tim stuck his tongue out in retaliation to the nickname.
“Salt. I demand an unhealthy amount of salt.” He answered as he followed Jason out of the pool and stepped into his regulation suit. He rolled his eyes as he felt Jason’s staring.
“Yes?”
“Your swim trunks have smiling goldfish on them. Why the hell do they have smiling goldfish on them?”
“They were a gift from Dick.”
“And you didn’t destroy them immediately?”
“...”
“Ohmygawd. You like them, don’t you. And I bet he has no idea! That is beautifu-” Jason was cut off as a large wave rose out of the pool and crashed over him.
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I JUST DRIED OFF!”