Ghost Don't Swim

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

"I thought we knew how to swim." Jasper said to his brother as the two of them stood against the wall in their swimming trunks inside the indoor pool. It was still winter outside but that was the point of an indoor pool. You didn't have to worry about not being able to swim just because the weather outside was not ideal for it. "We do, in shallow water." Casper informed his brother who then gave a small nod. Yes, they had worked with water, had been in water, and even had sex in water but they had always been able to touch the bottom or at least one of them was always able to. Plus they knew how to float on their back so it never was a big deal.

Yet, they didn't actually know how to swim. It was easy to play of not knowing how to swim when you could just make sure you or your twin were close enough to touch the ground. They might have been able to tread water a little bit as well. Overall however, they didn't actually know how to swim and figured they would just jump into the deep end of the pool and figure it out. They had gone at a odd time and had not seen anyone around so figured they were alone in their little 'training' exercise.

It should have been easy to figure out how to swim, since they did know how to hold their breath and open their eyes under water. "Let's just jump in on the count of three then." Jasper said as he and his brother carefully moved towards the ends of the deeper end of the pool. "Okay. One. Two. Three." Casper did the countdown for them, but when he said three, neither of them moved. The siblings just stood there, staring into the water.

[Gabriela Moreau]

It had been with a heavy heart that Gabriela, once again, forced herself to say goodbye to her family and ventured back to the Academy. She had been away for a few months on a sanctioned leave of absence while her family dealt with devastating news. It wasn't over, and the affects of her hiatus would stick with her, probably for months to come. But the amount of time the Academy would give a mutant who had been known for having trouble containing their power was limited and she was called back.

The one redeeming quality Gabriela could glean from being back at the Academy was the pool. She absolutely loved swimming and having free reign over a heated pool in the middle of winter was a luxury she would surely take advantage of.

Pulling open the door to the pool room, Gabriela went to take a long, slow inhale of the unique scent that always lingered in the air. It brought a light smile to her face as she stepped inside and started along the outside, paying little mind to the two boys standing near the edge of the water. She kept her head down, focused upon the loose sneaker she'd pulled over her feet to stave off the still crisp winter weather outside. She tossed her towel onto a deck chair and her pack on a table sitting nearby before kicking off her shoes and going to pull the oversize hoodie up over her head. There was a pause as she carefully folded the sweater and placed it on the table beside her pack and then began to shimmy her way out of her sweatpants, still utterly oblivious to the twins' presence.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

Neither of the twins had jumped on the count of three like they had agreed. Now they were just standing there in their swimming trucks, staring at the water. "You go first." Jasper said to his brother, patting him on the arm a little bit. "As your elder, you go first." Casper said back to his brother, patting him on his arm a little as well. Jasper made a face. "You are older than me by a little bit, like a few minutes." Jasper pointed out as she crossed his arms over his chest. Casper just shrugged his shoulder at his brother.

"Still older, you jump in first." Casper said as if he didn't have a care in the world. The siblings were then glaring at one another; getting ready to beat one another up and loser would have to be the one to jump in first. They stopped however when they heard doors open and a girl walked into the pool area. She seemed lost in her own little world, not even paying the siblings any mind as she walked in and started to strip. It took a moment for the siblings to even recognize the girl since it had been a long time since they had seen the girl. Yet, they did know who she was and now they were just glaring at her.

She was gone for a while, didn't say bye, and now was back and not even noticing them. How rude. "Look at her, as small as ever and not even noticing us." Jasper muttered to his brother, the siblings practically staring at the girl. "At least we are getting to enjoy a show." Casper pointed out to which Jasper nodded and in fact was enjoying the show. "All we need now is some music, and some singles." Jasper added with Casper nodding in agreement as well. The siblings then both whistled really loud, the sound echoing over the water. "Woo, take it off." The siblings said in unison.

[Gabriela Moreau]

She had just pulled her leg from the sweatpants and began folding them when Gabriela heard the identical voices cut through the quiet building. With a furrowed brow her eyes snapped to the source. "Oh..." She said softly to herself the moment her gaze settled upon the twin boys. The two of them had made for a handful of... interesting moments, to say the least but here and now, Gabriela wasn't sure if their presence was welcome or feared. Still, there was no sense to be rude, and they weren't shy about voicing their opinions of her, which she had to admit, she kind of liked.

With a bright smile touching her lips, Gabriela walked toward the edge of the pool where the twins stood. She didn't know why they were standing awkwardly over the water, but figured it probably had to do with some sort of argument between them. "Hello, boys." She said, wiggling her fingers at them in a short, playful greeting. "Long time no see. How've you been?" She still eyed them warily, though, and kept well out of arm's reach. She remembered the twins seemed to like to get handsy and she wasn't sure how that would go over. Anyway, with the two mischievous boys around a large body of water she figured it was only a matter of time before they tried to throw her in.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

Oh. All she said was oh. The brothers look at one another, having one of their silent conversations that mainly consisted of eyebrow movements, certain stares, and blinks. It was basically something along the lines of how it had been forever since Gab's had seen them and how she seemed to think it was fine to just waltz around and just say oh. No gasping, no yelling, and not fainting? None of those happened and the brothers could not help but to feel disappointed in the matter. She moved over closer to them, the sibling’s eyes locked on her with every step she took closer to them.

Oh, was she worried about the fact that they were going to throw her into the pool? Good, because that was so what they planned on doing for her treating this just like any other casual meeting between them and her. "Hello girl." The brothers said in unison as they both crossed their arms over their chest. She didn't call them by name so they were not calling her by her name. It was mainly a test to see if she even remembered their name. How dare she forget them. Okay, yes they were being more then dramatic over the matter, but this was Casper and Jasper Emory she was dealing with. "Indeed a long time, no word, no call, and all we get is an ‘oh’ and ‘hello boys’." Jasper said, shaking his head as he let out a sigh.

"It's like she didn't even miss us." Casper said, letting out a sigh and well and shaking his head. The siblings then started to move closer towards her as they unfolded their arms to try and grab a hold of her. Yes, they fully planned to grab her, pick her up, and then hold her while being ready to toss her into the pool. They would give her a chance to redeem herself first, but she had to be quick about it. "Oh, and we have been just peachy. One of our precious toys just left without a word as if we would not miss her." Casper added, since they had not stated that. They might not have acted like it, but they did miss her and think about her a little bit.

[Gabriela Moreau]

"Oh." The thin, albeit uncertain, smile faded from Gabriela's face. Her leaving the Academy had happened so suddenly and her mind had been so fogged by the news she knew there had been so many she'd failed to reach out to. She frowned a little, actually sorry that the twins looked genuinely upset that she'd disappeared with nary a word. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to go." She wanted to go home, yes, but not for the reasons she was allowed to. She glanced to the side and reached her hands up to collect her cascade of dark hair to pull over her shoulder where she nervously played with the end. "But there was this family thing, and I, uh..."

Her almost pleading explanation trailed off as she saw the boy's arms unfold. Eyes narrowed and shifted toward the twin's hands. The moment they raised and stretched out for her, Gabriela immediately began to backtrack. Yes, she understood the irony of the situation. She was, after all, in a bathing suit (a modest, black one piece) and had every intent on jumping into the water anyway but she'd long hated being picked up. It came with being the smallest person she knew. "Ooooh no!" She exclaimed, her hands coming up as if shielding herself from the boys. "I said I was sorry!" The look on the twin's faces were so serious she didn't know if she should be seriously afraid or playfully laughing as she scooted away in vain. They were bigger, faster, and much, much stronger. If they wanted to get their hands on her, there was little she could do to prevent it.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

"But you did and didn't even think to say anything, call or write." Jasper said, clearly upset as he said the words. Yes, they were going to make her pay for making them like and care about her on some level and then her just up and vanishing on them. It was unfair of her and they didn't like it at all and were probably being a little more serious about it then they needed to be. She brought up that there was a family thing, but didn't finish. What did family even mean to them? They were orphans, their family was the circus. Yet they didn't think they would have been allowed to just leave for months to go back to the circus. If they could have, they likely would in fact not come back at all.

Gabs looked as if she knew what was coming. She could have. She might not have spent a lot of time around the boys but it was enough to know how the two of them operated. There was very little she could do besides scream for help or soothing. If she did that, then they likely would leave her be but then they would just be even angrier at her. So for now they moved, not using their powers since they didn't actually want to slip and end up hurting themselves or her in the process. "Oh, yes." The siblings said as they reached out to grab a hold of her, if they were successful they would pick her up, and hold her while standing near the edge of the pool. They would have her in a good grip too, with Jasper holding her legs and Casper holding her arms.

Well, it was more so Jasper holding Gab's lower half and Casper holding Gab’s upper half since it was after that way. Casper was the at least more decent of the two when it came to handling a woman so he would not make any moves to 'accidentally' get a free feel. "If you said that you missed us and can figure out who is who, we won't throw you in the pool." Casper said as the siblings both started to smirk at the game having already started. "You get once chance." Jasper added right after his brother. They could not give her two because if she got it wrong the first time she would get it right the second time.

[Gabriela Moreau]

"Nooooooo!" Gabriela's head shook and her eyes grew wide as the boys closed in. She went to turn and run but her feet got tangled with one another and she ended up toppling forward, right into the waiting hands of the twins. She was thankful they had been there to keep her from sprawling out over the concrete floor of the pool room, but that lasted all of a single second. The moment she felt the strong grip of the boys tighten and pull her from the ground she let out a short yelp in surprise. She flailed some, but to no avail. She really didn't feel in that much danger so singing the twins' eyebrows off seemed a bit of an overreaction. Instead, she simply resigned herself to the occasional squirming.

"Wait!" She squeaked, trying to twist her upper body around so she could get at least an arm around Casper in case they decided to go against their terms and toss her in anyway. She was going to either cling to him like a koala, or take him with her. There was no way she was going down without some sort of fight. "I missed you guys. Really, I did." She managed to get her voice under control and speak without it wavering too much. It was the truth, part of her missed everyone she'd gotten to know at the Academy. Even the ones the jury was still out on, like the twins.

Now on to the second part of their little game. Gabriela didn't have much choice to play, she'd resigned herself to that from the beginning. She looked down at the boy holding her lower half and studied him a moment before her eyes lifted to take in the other one. She had no clue. They had told her once, when they first met, which twin was which. She had only a fifty/fifty shot at it. The uncertainty in her face was sure to tip them off that she was guessing and she figured that, even if she guessed right, was probably worse than her simply giving in and accepting her fate. "I don't know." She said with a heavy sigh, her body going limp in their hands. "You win. Just get it over with and toss me in."