Panic! At The (Pool) Party
"Ambidextrous," Temrash explained lightly. "It’s pretty helpful."
"We’re making sure he doesn’t go soft," one of the older boys, who was adding to the cookie arrangement, yelled from the other end of the table. "Since he quit the team and all."
Temrash cheerfully flipped him off with his free hand, now empty again after giving Astrane her pop. “Just for that, Josh, you get a Chicago-style burger. In case you numbskulls dunno what that is, it’s burnt. Black.”
Another boy gently stole Astrane’s plate from her hand and passed it to Temrash. Ignoring Josh’s indignant hollers, Temrash scooped Astrane’s turkey burger—complete with toasted bun—onto the waiting plate and handed it back to Astrane with a small flourish. “Here ya go. Hopefully it’s to taste! I’ll see ya in a few hours.”
Astrane rolled her eyes, taking her plate. "Show off," she joked. "I'll see you later, good luck with the whole not=dropping-food thing!" She gave a slight wave, before turning and weaving through the crowds, taking bites of her burger as she went. Temrash had been right - she was running late.
Spotting some space towards one side of the hall, Astrane switced direction and aimed for the gap. She paused for a moment upon reaching it: crowds were not fun.
<Eat up,> Kat urged. <Need to get you down to the pool. I'm not the only one who needs to feed.>
<Humans feeding? Interesting way of putting it,> Astrane mused, but she obliged, chomping the remainder of her food. Casting a quick glance around, she dropped her cleared plate into a nearby bin bag. She pushed her way back through the crowds, making for the door. Once she'd escaped the crowds, punctuated with more greetings, she rounded the corner towards the maintenance room of the school swimming pool. Casting a cautious glance to check for any passers-by, Astrane slipped into the room, before taking a moment to breathe. She turned to the controls and punched a series of buttons. A portion of the wall beside her slid to one side, revealing the entrance to the Yeerk pool. Astrane joked flatly.
<Yeah, yeah. Get on with it,> Kat replied. Her mood was somewhat soured: trips to the pool were not her favourite.
<Couple of hours and we can go,> Astrane reminded her as she made her way down to the pool. Kat did not reply. The rest of the journey was made in silence.
Astrane stepped up to the pool, and dipped her head towards the sludge, Hork-Bajir guards standing idly to one side. For voluntaries, their presence was simply a formality.
<I'll see you in two hours,> she said to Ka, before gently detaching herself and slipping out of Kat's ear.
Kat shuddered slightly before she stood. That was never pleasant. But then, precious few things about this place was. She jogged down the steps, and paused. She was starting to wish they hadn't eaten at the party: she had a lot of time to kill.
