Cecilia and Meggan, Poolside (backdated)

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Meggan and Cecilia catch up at the pool.


The pool wasn't Puerto Rico, or even the beaches of California, but it was as close as Cecilia could get in Westchester. (Which, again, wasn't close.)

It wasn't as if she needed to tan, but given how much time she spent indoors lately, any time she got to spend lounging in the sun felt like a luxury. Running the medlab wasn't easy, no matter how Jean and Moira had made it look. And even with Jennie's help, there was still far too much to keep track of.

But when she was lounging in a chair in a bikini, the sun on her legs, all those things were too easy to forget.

Meggan was in need of a reasonably cool dip in the pool, to shake off some of the heat of the day herself. A nice breeze in a tree did half the job, and this would do the rest. A few laps around the bottom seemed the best antidote to any sort of heat wave outside of an ice cream overdose.

Maybe later she could stay under longer gill-style just like that for some relaxation, but for now she just wanted to quickly immerse herself. The water was soothing on her skin, and she did a quick twirl. She went back to the top to wave a quick hello to Cecilia, as she shoved wet hair from her face.

Cecilia raised a hand in greeting, then did a small double take. She sat up a little straight her in her chair and pushed her sunglasses down her nose so she could peer over them at the water nymph who emerged. "Wait, did you..." She blinked and looked around. "Meggan, have you been here the whole time?"

“Just for a few minutes, yes,” Meggan answered with a little grin as she moved closer to the edge. If she was going for a swim closer to the bottom, she should have realized it might be easy to miss her.

"Huh." Cecilia took her sunglasses off and tossed them on top of the canvas tote bag she'd brought with her. "Well," she shook her head and grinned, "good thing I didn't get into the pool."

“It wouldn’t have been that bad an experience,” Meggan reassured with a laugh. “I might have just waved as you passed over me, if you happened to be looking down. I wouldn’t grab your leg when you didn’t see me.” Because, really, it wasn’t good to scare someone like that. It only ever led to panic.

“Yeah? Well, thanks." The older woman reached for the bottle of sparkling water she'd placed by her chair. "I don't think I knew that you, like..." She gestured to the pool and shrugged. "Must be nice. I always feel so at peace in the water."

“Oh, right. I can make gills once I’m in, right before going under.” Meggan was glad that she hadn’t worried if she didn’t already know. Although, the thought did make Meggan suddenly wonder whatever happened to the old sign she used to hang up near the pool, warning others of her impending underwater gill use. It was probably misplaced during a move between rooms. “The surface noise might be a little muffled, but it’s more than often soothing,” Meggan confirmed.

"I bet you get a lot of eavesdropping done, too." Cecilia grinned before taking a healthy slug from her water bottle. "Given how people here never shut up about things."

“Not a lot since I’m not always swimming below when everyone else is above and talking. It might have happened a couple times,” Meggan ruefully admitted. It wasn’t like she was mentally taking notes for later use. There was more tranquility even with people talking, than there was in a tree when a mockingbird wanted to peck her away from a favored branch.

"Fair point." Cecilia turned, her legs moving off the side of the chair and onto the pool deck. She stood and tossed her sunglasses and her now-sealed drink on the chair, then moved toward the edge. She kicked her flip-flops off and sat, dangling her feet in the water. "I'm just glad to be outside," Cecilia said, looking at Meggan with a smile. "I feel like the medlab can be such a sad basement, and I'm some kind of sad basement zombie."

“Yeah, too much work or even too much studying can do that…but at least you weren’t a scarily vicious basement zombie,” Meggan joked as she moved up to perch on the edge of the pool. “At least the sun’s out while we’re here, too.” Too much winter could mess with people, too, which was why she preferred summer. The brightness of the day was why she picked now to leap back into the pool.

"No, not a basement zombie. Although." A small smile played on her lips. She turned over her shoulder at glanced back at the mansion. "Wouldn't be a first for this place."