Cartoon Physics || Pietro + Zatanna
“Cartoon Physics: where you don’t fall until you look down”
Pietro kept his thoughts light and fast. He thought of peregrine falcons and zeppelins and, well, himself, as though a mental state of buoyancy might impact his actual physical density. His clothes were already waterlogged, sticking to the bony contours of his body like a second set of skin: a testament to the afternoon's many failed trials, but Pietro was far from ready to give up.
Taking in a deep breath through his nose, he dropped into a runner's starting stance, launching himself into a sudden sprint. For the first few glorious strides Pietro was weightless, his feet making ripples like rain drops on the pool's surface, a cloud of steam rising in his wake. The farther he ran, the farther his chest seemed to expand with elation, like one of those zeppelins he had been visualizing earlier. He was doing it, he was--
The water gave way beneath him, sending Pietro plunging into its depths. The room was empty around him, his spluttered curses echoing against its cavernous walls. Most of the school was out on the grounds, out on the lake, enjoying the sudden onset of summer. Not one keen to be caught in the vulnerable state of experimentation, Pietro had gladly snatched the opportunity to have Novus' Olympic size swimming pool all to himself. Or, he had. There was a new addition to Pietro's solitude.
Bracing his elbows on the lip of the pool. Pietro glared suspiciously out from under sopping silver hair. She wasn't saying anything (yet), only watching. The stare seemed a lot like judgement under the weight of his failure.
“And I suppose you could do better?” he snapped, irritation that felt a little like embarrassment creeping up his spine.
