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“Oh wow! The pool! Just the thing I need to cool off after a hot day out in the sun. You guys ready to get your swim on?!” Facty smiled, pointing behind themselves towards the glowing blue pool.
“Heck yea!!” Martian shouted, jumping in place with a small donut pool floatie held around his torso.
“Of course!” Lighty cheered knowing damn well he'd get electrocuted immediately upon entering the pool.
“But first, we must remember our pool safety.” Facty put one hand on their hip and the other pointed in the air. “No running,” They looked towards Lighty who had his arms behind his head, covering the small crack from the last pool incident. “Obviously. We want to make the pool a safe environment for you and all guests!”
“That's right!” Martian chimed in. “Pool safety isn't just for your safety, but for the others who share the public space with you as well!"
“Correct!” Facty winked. “Secondly, it would be best if you refrained from eating or drinking anything while in the pool. Eating or drinking while playing in the pool creates a huge choking hazard! And we don't have any lifeguards nearby so… You're kinda screwed.”
Facty looked around the pool. It was a public pool but it seemed like no one had shown up today. Strange, it was the perfect day to go for a swim too.
“But we can eat if we're outside of the pool, right?” Lighty asked.
“Yes! While you don't have to, I would recommend waiting at least ten minutes before entering the pool again.” Facty tapped on their wrist as if a watch were there. “So you avoid stomach cramps or aches while swimming!”
“Now with all of that out of the way can we swim!?” Martian gripped onto his pool floatie, already bracing for a cannonball.
“Sure! Jump right in there!” Facty smiled, watching Martian leap higher than he's ever leaped before and splash into the pool, causing a huge wave of water to crash right onto Facty and Lighty. Once the splash dissipated and the water settled the tiniest bit, Facty looked back at the pool, wiping the chlorine off of their eyes.
Martian was gone.
The donut floatie swayed in the water like nothing just happened.
In an instant Facty rushed into the pool, trying to spot Martian underneath the water.
Thankfully the pool was only about 5 feet deep so it didn't take Facty all that long to find Martian, but once they did they were horrified.
Martian was laying on the bottom of the pool floor, flailing their arms around, and probably seconds away from dying with how purple his face was.
Without a second to waste, Facty picked Martian up and brought him back to the surface. Lighty had already gotten a towel and was waiting for the two to emerge at the edge of the pool.
Once Facty brought Martian up and into the warm towel Martian immediately started coughing and sniffling as if he were still drowning. Salty tears were streaming down his face now which only made his eyes sting even more when they mixed with the chlorine.
“Hey, dude. Hey, you're okay.” Lighty reassured Martian. He wrapped the towel tighter around the alien and softly rubbed his shoulders.
“It's okay. You're okay now. Everything's okay.” He kept repeating while trying to stop Martian from shaking so much.
“I'm sorry.” Martian hiccuped, gripping tighter onto the towel.
‘How pitiful.’ He thought. Every single time the fact squad tries to do something fun he always finds a new way to fuck it up and ruin the adventure for everyone.
“I'm so sorry.” Martian cried, hiding his face in the towel. He couldn't bear seeing the look on his friends' faces. They were probably furious with him, maybe it'd be better if he simply drowned at the bottom of the pool. Maybe then his friends wouldn't have to take care of him every time he ruins another good thing yet again.
Facty and Lighty were probably saying something to him. Their voices mixed and meshed together into an incoherent cacophony, something adjacent to the high-pitched shrills they produce when walking.
Weren't they tired of always having to look after Martian when he inevitably does something stupid? How could they put up with him for so long.
What a mistake. It's not like he was meant to be on Earth anyway.
. . .
When Martian awoke he was laying under the shade of a tree. Disoriented, he sat up, trying to locate the pool. It seems like someone drove him all the way to a beach.
‘Why would they bring me to a beach when I can't even swim in a pool?’ Martian wondered as he stood up, spotting Facty and Lighty playing by the shallow end of the beach.
Martian debated going over to them. Of course they'd be happy to see him, but at the same time, what if something happens again?
He'd deal with that later.
Martian approached the duo. They were playing something childish, trying to run away from the water's tide before it touched them. But with the way the both of them looked completely soaked, it's safe to say the water touched them a few times.
“Martian!” Lighty exclaimed, quickly giving his friend a hug. “You're okay right? You look way better.”
“Yeah, I'm fine.” Martian replied, wrapping his arms around Lighty and melting into the hug. Everything suddenly felt lighter.
“Hi Martian!” Facty yelled from the edge of the sea, waving their arms in the air. “You wanna join us?!”
Martian looked at Facty then back at Lighty, tilting his head in confusion.
“C'mon.” Lighty took Martian's hand, leading him towards the shoreline.
They met up with Facty who was standing at the edge of the beach. It seemed like they found a few seashells and collected them into a pile.
Martian crouched down to look at the colorful seashells, flipping each of them over and intrinsically studying all of the small ridges, grooves, and patterns uniquely inscribed into every one of them.
Suddenly a rather big wave struck onto the sand, causing Martian to get up and distance himself from the water.
Facty watched some of the seashells get taken away by the ocean as Martian avoided the water. Facty felt a bit of pity as they watched that event go down.
“Martian, dude. You never told me you couldn't swim.” Facty frowned. “We wouldn't have gone to the pool if we knew.”
“Sorry. It's just,” He dug his feet into the sand. “I know you guys wanted to go to the pool so bad, I didn't wanna ruin your plans.”
“What? No, we care about your safety more than a day at the pool. Plus, now I have the opportunity to teach you how to swim, don't I?” Facty grabbed onto Martian's shoulders, smiling ecstatically at him.
“Teach me how to swim?” Martian's bug eyes widened.
“Yeah! I'll be holding onto you the whole time so don't even worry!” Facty picked Martian up, bringing him to the water while Lighty sat in the sand watching the two figure out how to conquer the waves and successfully get Martian to swim.
It was quite the heartwarming sight to see Martian open up and get comfortable with the ocean water. Maybe the next time summer rolls around they could try this again.