xp_logs | Fred & Julian: Poolside Chat

Julian and Fred have a heart to heart by the pool.

Fred sat calmly, cross-legged, with his eyes closed, humming softly to himself. He had been trying, for several weeks, to learn how to properly meditate, and with Nathan's help and a lot of reading, Fred had managed to learn pretty much what he needed to. Since he was new, he read that he should try his best to seclude himself completely to try and find his center.

And that's why Fred was currently sitting, cross-legged, with his eyes closed, humming softly to himself...at the bottom of the deep end of the Mansion's pool.
With the sun directly over the crystal water of the pool, Julian figured it would probably be warm enough for a quick dip. Approaching the sight of yesterday's fight with Callie, Julian renewed his resolve to make things right...even if she was being ridiculous. That meant making things up to Fred, but the night before hadn't seemed like the right time.
Shedding his robe and acid green towel on the usual lounger, Julian approached the edge of the deep end and looked down. At first he thought he was seeing his reflection in the water, but it was too large for that. Below the surface, he could clearly make out the shape of a man...a large man..."Fred!" Thoughts raced through the young scion's mind as a surge of adrenaline hit him. 'Can I lift him? Is he too heavy? Why is he down there?' Of course, he was reacting at the same time and found himself wondering if his roommate could be saved through the practical application of telekinesis, only as he was diving into the still chilly water.

Fred was oblivious, somewhere far away, until he heard the the crash of the water breaking. He at first thought it was just his imagination, but his imagination was never that good. He looked around, his head moving slowly in the water, and finally thought to look up, spotting Julian moving toward him.

'Did he just look at me?' Julian asked as he reached his roommate and tried to pull him up toward the surface.

Fred didn't budge. It wasn't that he was trying not to resist, even in the water, however, Julian didn't really have the leverage to move Fred. Fred grinned and stood up, waving his arms at Julian and pointing up to the top water, then turned and walked slowly on the bottom of the pool towards the shallower end.

Unsure of what the hell was going on, Julian had been about ready to try using a TeeKay blast to leverage Fred out of the water. When his roomie stood up and started pointing up, Julian was confused, and out of breath. Breaking the surface, he took in a deep breath and watched the surface of the shallow end as Dukes did the same- albeit more casually and at a walk. "The hell?"

Fred strolled out until he was only about waist deep in the water, and then turned to Julian, "You, uh...y'know I can't drown, right? Well, I probably could. But I can hold my breath for about an hour or so..."

Slowly Julian made his way over to the edge of the pool and pushed himself out. "No, I wasn't aware of that." Catching his breath he looked at Fred and shook his head, "I...I thought you were in trouble. Didn't occur to me." With a sigh he nodded, "You're okay then?"

Fred smiled a little, and scratched the back of his dripping head, "I, uh...heh, sorry about that Jules. Didn't mean to...uh, heh," Fred was rarely overcome with the humor in a situation, but this was one of those times. "I uh..." he stopped to chuckle, "Thanks for trying to save me, though. Heh, it's the thought that counts, right?" Fred didn't really think about the fact that he probably looked ridiculous, still standing in a pool completely clothed, boots and all.

The humor of the situation finally hit Julian and he couldn't help but laugh along with Fred. He focused on the pool lounger and floated it through the air, landing it next to himself. Taking the towel off it Julian rubbed his hair and shook his head. "Can't say as there's anything to apologize for, man. What were you doing down there?"

"Uh...meditating, actually. Mister Dayspring helped kinda point me in the right direction for how I should be doing it, and I've been trying to get better at it since.." Fred reached over to the stairs leading out of the pool and, without leaving the water, grabbed his cigarettes and Zippo. He lit a cigarette and puffed on it for a bit, "It's...uh...it's actually helping, believe it or not. With the pain, I mean..."

"Ah." As much of an awkward conversation that had been, Julian knew what he had to talk to Fred about was going to be even more awkward. "So, I hear you're taking Callie to the prom."

Fred shrugged as he dragged off his cigarette. He blew the smoke away from Julian, as he knew it bothered the more athletic teen, "Uh, yea. She asked me to go with her while I was tutoring her. Go figure, huh? But we're just, uh...we're going as friend," he said, and held his hands up. He didn't want Julian to get the wrong impression or anything.

Julian sighed and draped the towel over his shoulders, "Look, Fred, I owe you an apology in a big way, man. Callie and I were out here yesterday and...well...." He left the comment hang and became suddenly aware of how it must have sounded. "Oh! No, not that, we weren't like...or anything. Callie doesn't think of me that way."

Fred held his hands up, "Hey, Jules, it's cool, I knew what you meant.. Even if she did think of you like that, I'm just going with her as a friend. Ain't none of my business what anyone thinks of anyone till they bring it up to me." While that last sentiment was slightly incoherent, it made sense to the man who'd said it.

It made some sense to Keller too. "Well, look, here's the thing." There was a long pause as a bird flew overhead, "Okay, so I may have inadvertently said to Callie that I was surprised."

"Surprised about what? Me going with her to the Prom?" Fred rolled his shoulders a bit and grabbed his lighter. He lit another cigarette as he stood in the pool, "I'm surprised too. Who wouldn't be?"

"I may have indicated my surprise is over...well, the way you look. It wasn't what I really meant or anything- it just came out." Julian shook his head, "Dude, I was stupid for saying it and even stupider for even thinking it. I'm sincerely sorry."

Fred is very quiet for a moment, his face unreadable, the only movement comes from the smoke wisping away from the tip of his cigarette.

Julian was equally quiet, looking Fred in the eye as the smoke lingered away. Finally he cracked, "You're a better man than that and you didn't deserve it."

Fred inhaled for a long time off his cigarette, smoking pouring out of his nostrils. Finally, he says, "So what it is you're saying here is that you...basically called me fat, which I am...and were suprised that Callie would want to go with me, which I also am? Is that what happened, Jules?"

It felt like a trap, but it was unavoidable. "Yes and no, you are a bigger guy and everything, yeah, but at the same time, I really never pictured Callie being with...anyone. But it came out as what you just said, yeah- but it's not what I meant to say."

Fred actually couldn't hear Julian's response over the sounds of his own laughter. Fred had thrown his head back and was almost in danger of swallowing his own cigarette he was laughing so hard.

This was not at all the reaction Julian had expected, "Dude...you're laughing," was all he could think to say.

Fred finally managed to get enough control over himself to bring his laughter down to a dull smile. He wiped a tear (or what could've been a tear; there was still a lot of water on his face), "Heh heh...uh, heh....sorry Jules, it's just...dude, you called me 'fat' about eight thousand different ways while we were playing the Street Fighter the other day...I am fat. Mother nature saw ta' that. And like I said: I'm suprised Callie asked me to go with her, too."

Fred took another drag off his cigarette, and dissolved into another fit of deep, baritone laughter, "So essentialy, you feel really bad because...what?"

He tried not to crack a smile, but Fred had infectious laughter- which was causing ripples in the otherwise still water. "Dude, essentially its because I thought you couldn't get a date. Which is messed up, you may be a bit doughy, but you're a good guy."

Fred gave a small, helpless kind of shrug, "It's not really a date, so you're still pretty much right. Look if you wanna feel bad, okay man, but...uh, I know ya pretty well, man. I really don't thing you mean anything by it,"

Julian thought for a moment, "Why isn't it a date? I think she likes you, man."

Fred raised his eyebrow a bit, "Pretty doubtful, Jules. We get along great, but I'm pretty sure she just asked to have someone to go with. We hung out a lot while she was helping to tutor me."

Julian held up his hands, "I'm just saying, she got pretty pissed off when I said that yesterday. Stormed off and called me a jerk and everything." He stood up on the side of the pool and picked up his blue robe. "Just kinda curious is all. You sure we're cool?"

Fred nodded once again, "Yea man, we're fine. Like I said, you apologized for it, which tells me you didn't really mean it, so where's the foul?" Fred flicked his cigarette away from the pool, and shook some more of the water from his head.

"Alright, cool. I'll let you get back to meditating- water's still too cold for me anyway and I find myself in need of a shower." Julian gave his roomie a nod and started back to where he'd left his flip-flops. "I'll let you know when I go to get fitted for a tux, we can go together."

"I uh...." Fred starts to move back towards the deep end, "I'm not wearing a tux" he said finally, and made sure to be completely immersed before Jules could ask anymore questions.