Chapter Theme Music: Air Harmony ~ Star Ocean 3 OST37Please respect copyright.PENANA5rLQf0FGIE
<04/10/2011 - 16:51 | Link Street (Pool), Marietta, GA, USA>
37Please respect copyright.PENANAMtZrCyw7D1
When I pushed my way past the gate opening up to the community pool, I was thrilled to see that it was still open, and also devoid of all other people besides myself. I threw my arms up in the air with celebratory attitude, chanting to my good luck. "Look at this! We get to have the pool to ourselves!" Being in full link with Lumina, I still didn't want to risk that somebody lurking or hiding nearby could overhear my physical voice, so I shouted in the safe space of telepathy.37Please respect copyright.PENANAAq5jqcqdez
37Please respect copyright.PENANA8QDzBhUnbE
My mood really was as good as I made it sound. Ever since last night, I've felt a lot better about our situation. It wasn't the brightest of topics, but we managed to feel better about the past, and I felt more attached to Lumina's sisters than ever. Plus, going by what she suggested earlier, I figured now would be the best time to try out something new Lumina could enjoy. I was stoked to arrive at the pool with it being just the two of us.37Please respect copyright.PENANAHhl8PF9ymG
37Please respect copyright.PENANA6LdzfrLMWr
"Yay..." Lumina sounded most deterred to be in this kind of place with me, for reasons I already knew why.37Please respect copyright.PENANAaKunGpSMED
37Please respect copyright.PENANA3c6ia4wLGS
"I bet you don't get to go swimming a lot in your world. But because it's so cold out, you should be able to feel all of that water rushing around me." I'm a bit nervous to dive into a pool when it's below fifty, but then it's literally the only way Lumina can share such sensations with me in the first place.37Please respect copyright.PENANAo6qThvAeUi
37Please respect copyright.PENANAjlRlvcEu5G
"Yeah... On second thought, how about I just shut off the sensation node where I would feel the water, and you just have your fun at the pool today?"37Please respect copyright.PENANAIHp7l1T7aa
37Please respect copyright.PENANA0tmGjEbDlM
I should have known she was going to try and chicken her way out of this, but I'm still surprised to be reminded that she can even do that with telepathy in the first place. "Come on. Quit being such a baby about it. It's just water."37Please respect copyright.PENANA3J3GTRuWNO
37Please respect copyright.PENANAUCKdLHo9LS
"I'm not being a baby about anything... I just don't feel like swimming today is all."37Please respect copyright.PENANAZMmwH3WOzH
37Please respect copyright.PENANAvIeQBM7sFy
Based on her voice, I'm imagining her making such a cute fish face trying to get out of this, but she has to learn at some point how to swim. "Oh, I get it now... You're just afraid of a little bit of water." I made sure to tease her about it obviously, waiting for her desperate denial.37Please respect copyright.PENANA3GvM1ISL5J
37Please respect copyright.PENANA4pHXLxCDK4
"I am not afraid of swimming in the water!"37Please respect copyright.PENANAkDsURxzf4z
37Please respect copyright.PENANAn9BoMI4p2B
But it was too late for her to pretend she was fine now. A sadistic smile formed through my lips, and right as she was talking, I dragged my bare foot an inch deep into the cold pool water, slushing it forward before lifting it out again.37Please respect copyright.PENANAjr9o8QMSUw
37Please respect copyright.PENANAat2sgV8cnz
"Reeightebee!" Those weren't even words just now, but her expression was totally priceless. "Why would you do that? It feels so gross!"37Please respect copyright.PENANAL2WmCY8LQ7
37Please respect copyright.PENANAgyfZVaWV7z
Her reaction was too cute and funny to ignore, so I just started laughing at the thought that I could sneak that onto her. "That's rich! Out of everything you are and everything you've been through, a little bit of water messes with your head? Haha!"37Please respect copyright.PENANAq4LfLsE8MT
37Please respect copyright.PENANAmTsu9nlLxU
"That's not funny Reed! You know Altiri people don't like going for a surprise swim."37Please respect copyright.PENANAV6sD738yh3
37Please respect copyright.PENANA9jICscbCU6
"Yeah... Wait, it's not just you? All Altiri people are this way?" Call me shocked. I was under the impression that it was just an irrational fear only Lumina had. But if all the Altiri have the same reaction to water on their skin, it warrants answers.37Please respect copyright.PENANAUD3BXFavwT
37Please respect copyright.PENANAGBPJGf5OHh
"We don't like to get water on our skin."37Please respect copyright.PENANAjZ7gEGbHY0
37Please respect copyright.PENANAfRO5YBfNQP
"I know. But why is that? Don't you drink a ton of that stuff every day?"37Please respect copyright.PENANA8dMkZyBwcv
37Please respect copyright.PENANAEtUb3xe5vi
"Yes, in our mouths. Anywhere outside of that, and it messes with my peace of mind."37Please respect copyright.PENANArBzJVmBaKD
37Please respect copyright.PENANAOpHiRwZUbA
It sounds like even she doesn't really know why. "That's crazy. What happens when somebody spills a drink on themself by accident? I do it all the time with my water bottles."37Please respect copyright.PENANA76ngP6iLEo
37Please respect copyright.PENANAH3hcpiV5GT
"Please don't remind me of those moments that I hate." Her response tells me it has happened before, and at the same time, it doesn't cause any specific harm.37Please respect copyright.PENANAhGNPe6BpR2
37Please respect copyright.PENANAQ8I8h0ARQu
I giggled slightly to think on it, amazed that by all things, Lumina could be defeated by water. "I guess I just find it insane that Altiri people don't like getting water on their skin, considering their outer layer of skin is thicker and rougher."37Please respect copyright.PENANAxvXxwm9k9q
37Please respect copyright.PENANA6vUVkPtyF0
"If it spills on me, it will be a really bad day."37Please respect copyright.PENANAMGRlSYMNg2
37Please respect copyright.PENANAhZLHsn6yF1
I wish I knew why. Lumina seems to cringe at the idea of having water touch her skin when it isn't supposed to, kind of like how students would cringe when finger nails scrape against a chalk board. "So... I just want to test something... I'm going to dip my hand into that water, and I want you to tell me how it feels."37Please respect copyright.PENANA2JUkDIA96Q
37Please respect copyright.PENANAc1MeLlkBRp
"I already turned off my ability to feel the same things you do. I can't risk that you might try to cannon ball in there."37Please respect copyright.PENANAz9KGi2Z5bx
37Please respect copyright.PENANAWy0A9hl64K
"I'm kind of disappointed that you can just do that. But I'm more unimpressed that you won't even give it a chance. After all, it's just me touching water. Due to telepathy, it's not actually getting on you."37Please respect copyright.PENANA379VCTn0uc
37Please respect copyright.PENANAgDI7ctrgBW
"I don't want to feel what it's like, even from your skin." She makes it sound like I'm trying to let a big hairy spider crawl all over her.37Please respect copyright.PENANAPb8GkHmT3q
37Please respect copyright.PENANAC9TNL0oLzF
"Come on! You can't seriously be afraid to touch a little water."37Please respect copyright.PENANAUGJOzWUS1i
37Please respect copyright.PENANANmGIGT4IL8
"There is no need to, so I won't!" Her declaration was fierce, putting me in my place since she is technically correct.37Please respect copyright.PENANAhRQ9kuQzTb
37Please respect copyright.PENANAcGXQsNIWlV
"Jeeze! You're worse than a house cat."37Please respect copyright.PENANAsJNDRaQaZd
37Please respect copyright.PENANAi8hztBVc8q
"What did you just call me?"37Please respect copyright.PENANAvZ0R23ILMY
37Please respect copyright.PENANAotoUrBHNty
"Nothing. You're just overreacting is all."37Please respect copyright.PENANAOzNo6cngxu
37Please respect copyright.PENANAyPqibZ5cbw
"I'm not overreacting. And it's rude to make fun of me like that."37Please respect copyright.PENANAhvNDFXPKyy
37Please respect copyright.PENANAVTpufEbq9l
"I just thought it was funny." Nothing about this was as cute as it was before. Lumina really was being as serious as possible about ensuring I just drop it. I wasn't expecting her to get so defensive and angry at my teasing like this.37Please respect copyright.PENANATHqw6avw2c
37Please respect copyright.PENANAPJCeoQBUvq
"Well it's not funny to mess with me like that, nor is it fair. Besides, I'm sure there is something highly specific that you won't ever let touch your skin."37Please respect copyright.PENANACJEiGLvV6f
37Please respect copyright.PENANA7zkfMwz96I
"Sorry, but I can't think of anything at the moment." I don't have those kinds of problems. I can handle the creepiest bugs, and horror movies only make me laugh these days from how bad they are at their job.37Please respect copyright.PENANAYoxPOvwTVM
37Please respect copyright.PENANA1h7SMvDfl9
However, Lumina wasn't giving up, insisting that I had a fear similar to her own, her tone playful when bringing it up. "Something dark and crisp, something that can wrap around like a coiled snake, but also stretch and tangle into a mess?"37Please respect copyright.PENANA2IFT2fSa17
37Please respect copyright.PENANAUa7wLcUGXz
"Wait..." No, Lumina couldn't mean... As soon as I thought about it, the image was planted into my mind. My imagination and memory activated on its own, bringing up the visual representation of the mess she spoke of. Just thinking about it visibly made me cringe from top to bottom, as I tried to shunt the thought away.37Please respect copyright.PENANAOyt3ZgROvv
37Please respect copyright.PENANAHn85VyE1uo
"That's right! I know your secret fear! You're afraid of cassette tape!"37Please respect copyright.PENANAMPOaWOlRY7
37Please respect copyright.PENANAkrHGUMZFHy
I almost jumped just from her saying that, not from the thought of the tape, but from the realization that she knew - and was leveraging that against me. "I... I outgrew that fear!" That's what I want her to believe, but my thoughts tripped over themselves trying to come up with that. I haven't touched cassette tape in a very long time, and I don't ever plan to again.37Please respect copyright.PENANAba5dD72SM6
37Please respect copyright.PENANAdG87qILAir
"Oh yeah? Prove it." I couldn’t see the wide smile Lumina held onto her face with both hands resting under her chin, but I knew she was enjoying this moment too much.37Please respect copyright.PENANAvEntASiWe0
37Please respect copyright.PENANAfFzvRQoBs8
"What? Now? I don't even have any tapes to test it on..." I wanted to just play this off, but I was blowing every attempt to seem neutral about the topic. Even in telepathy, I was talking much faster than I normally do, trying to rush to the end of this. "Oh well. I guess I won't need to prove anything then. They don't even sell audio tapes anymore. Who needs to touch tape anyway? Certainly not me! Weren't we talking about something else?"37Please respect copyright.PENANACYLD7pu7lf
37Please respect copyright.PENANAWoNTgZ0xFa
"... I think your acting needs some improvement."37Please respect copyright.PENANAsbxVlQIraX
37Please respect copyright.PENANAheyURM4zDQ
"Okay fine! I don't like that icky feeling of cassette tape! Just thinking about it makes me want to jump out of my skin and hide in a deep dark hole!" Happy now Lumina? I'm sorry I even suggested that I don't like tape to her. I briefly mentioned a nightmare about a cassette tape I once had, and she somehow remembers it onto now.37Please respect copyright.PENANA0wjD0OjZOP
37Please respect copyright.PENANA1JvaLfmOna
But I really can't stand that stuff. As a little kid, when I was listening to an audio tape in one of those compatible beat boxes for a school lesson, the cassette glitched, causing the film material to suddenly wiggle and crawl its way out of the closed lid of the player itself. At the same time, the audio playback did not stop. Some of the tap got jammed and caught into the turning wheels, so it was still trying to read the bloody mess. The results were audio corruption that made that lady sound like a demon possessed her soul. I was so scared of what was happening that I tried to push my hands against the lid to try and stop it, but that was another mistake. All of that thin wiggly tape got tangled and caught around my fingers, and I couldn't get it off. The physical sensation of that material has ever since terrified me. I'm somehow traumatized into hating audio tape over something that happened when I was so small.37Please respect copyright.PENANA55MvOfd6ce
37Please respect copyright.PENANAB7kF1uVRL9
"Well it's the same for me. Just replace tape with water. It's a really disgusting feeling."37Please respect copyright.PENANAWCkfTYIUHd
37Please respect copyright.PENANARCEM1dtk2l
I have to question why, since Lumina of all people was never traumatized by the sensation of water... "Wait, so for you, it's not a fear of the water, but a disgusting, distasteful sensation to the physical touch of moisture?"37Please respect copyright.PENANAsc5Ushd3yD
37Please respect copyright.PENANAfZOrdVo8J4
"Yes?" I should have tightened up my question a bit, since she was now wondering where I was going with it all.37Please respect copyright.PENANA70gvLBUPT7
37Please respect copyright.PENANAe5NMCYsmSo
"It's the same way I get with that audio tape. Today, looking at it is fine, even touching it a little, but not when it gets all unraveled into a mess."37Please respect copyright.PENANA4brV5n4hTc
37Please respect copyright.PENANAI4pMeckZXv
"Sure. Although, that nightmare you once had about the cassette tape turning into a tape dragon and then eating you alive was kind of a dead giveaway that your fear goes far beyond my own."37Please respect copyright.PENANAV7sieeYrFz
37Please respect copyright.PENANAefBVK6FrI9
"I had no such nightmare!" She's just trying to mess with me now.37Please respect copyright.PENANASI4WdBPH6r
37Please respect copyright.PENANAB5W2IaTKUn
But Lumina giggled a little, reminding us both how much she gets off on humiliating me in any manner. "Fine. For making fun of me, you have to make it up to me."37Please respect copyright.PENANACd5J9Y4OWa
37Please respect copyright.PENANAYwvf4pzZa2
Dare I even ask? "Make it up to you? How so?"37Please respect copyright.PENANAB6knarn5zn
37Please respect copyright.PENANAiwBPg9tkTN
"Next time you are at school, I want you to admit to all of your friends that you're terrified of cassette tape!" Lumina became much more excited by the end of her dare, with her eyes going full mischievous with glee. "It's the perfect revenge!"37Please respect copyright.PENANA23c1UEMiPH
37Please respect copyright.PENANADtt10Thkg5
"Yeah, you lost me at the part where I tell all my friends about the tape. And besides, I'm not actually terrified of cassette tape. I just go insane when it touches my skin is all."37Please respect copyright.PENANAfzpXMCfY0p
37Please respect copyright.PENANAGMaoio5WpS
"Right," Lumina disagreed. "Man you're not cool at all."37Please respect copyright.PENANApkgiPaLuxo
37Please respect copyright.PENANAOEt6FQURBY
So now she's using reverse psychology? She should know better. I mean, me, not cool? Lumina knows that I'm cool, right...? Right...?! "Fine! I'll do the stupid dare! But if they so much as bring it to school just to test it out, I'm going to punch you."37Please respect copyright.PENANAM8ge5nhR8L
37Please respect copyright.PENANAlu8khLGREw
"Good luck reaching me from all the way over there."37Please respect copyright.PENANA9SIbEcIfKG
37Please respect copyright.PENANARRrvBRo2St
Oh? She doesn't think I can do it? Without thinking on it any further, I slung my left arm around, holding a fist and punching myself in the right arm as hard as I could. The blow hurt me a bit, but unlike Lumina, I was expecting and willing to feel it.37Please respect copyright.PENANAJAKPGH8Qe9
37Please respect copyright.PENANA6cCmJUAYIi
"Ow!" "Hey! What was that for?!"37Please respect copyright.PENANAWpEsqqSVUE
37Please respect copyright.PENANAFSYolT5XV0
"Oh, well you seemed to think I wasn't capable of reaching a fist up there. I guess you forgot that we share certain pain receptors, so if I get punched, you get punched as well." I sounded so smug to say that too, proving her wrong.37Please respect copyright.PENANANmoEBYnFUz
37Please respect copyright.PENANAXY9ddTdmfE
"Oh Reed. Please don't beat yourself up for fun. It's really degrading to watch."37Please respect copyright.PENANAMGFgGpUKIM
37Please respect copyright.PENANAMEUkLhxhLs
I cringed again, not expecting her to unleash a sick roasting burn against me. She beat me at my own game too easily. "Now that I think about it, I thought you shut off your senses to that effect."37Please respect copyright.PENANA8JhgnBAg9r
37Please respect copyright.PENANAa1la0qwtTs
"I turned them back on. But now I'm turning them back off again. I wouldn't test me either if I were you. If you think punching me in the arm will deter me, I'll shove my foot up your ass and we'll see what happens to all that confidence you built up."37Please respect copyright.PENANAtAqvUoY0a0
37Please respect copyright.PENANAOrTDTfR1up
I curiously wondered how she could make that work. I've never seen someone literally kick their own butt before. The thought of her trying it made me laugh a little, until I concluded the only possible way she could accomplish this is if Junko walks by and kicks both our asses.37Please respect copyright.PENANAQRmfNVhda3
37Please respect copyright.PENANAJfPnmEMeWh
Before I could have any more fun with this, a few people suddenly opened the gate and started walking into the pool area with their own towels and change of clothes. "Someone's here? At this temperature? I guess I better play the part and swim." I was already bored of the idea of swimming, and now was only doing so to make sure I didn't seem out of place to be here. But not having the pool to myself and Lumina made the moment all too sad. I'll have to come up with better ideas next time.
37Please respect copyright.PENANACaZAo3Tan6