[IC] Breath

[Atrexiel]

He had always felt at home in large bodies of water. For a while it seemed like the university pool could contain his desire, so he joined the swim club. But, as it got fulfilled, the need grew. It expanded to the point that the only days when he was truly in his element were those few rainy ones spent by the turbulent shore. Yes, it was fair to say Dennis had an unhealthy attachment to water. Even most of his adult life was dominated by the need to be close to it. He had opted to study fluid dynamics, hoping to better understand the strange things water sometimes did. He even got a job he hated, selling seaside arrangements over the phone - and all for the sake of his obssession. Any further, and he’d abandon air completely. He would breathe water, just like he often did in those dreams.

Today was a particularly wonderful day, as the class was taking a trip to the city’s water refinement center. For someone like Dennis, this seemed like a dream come true. He tried to share the excitement with pretty much everyone he knew - but all they saw was water becoming more watery. Even his parents - it bugged him especially how they didn’t understand. No one understood.

Heading into class - he was late. He was always late - almost as if he planned the nonsense. Truthfully though, he was just incredibly bad at the art of timing, and too grown and lazy to change his ways.
As he progressed inside, for the roll call that came before the trip, he’d stepped on some guy’s foot, knocked over a plant and caused quite a ruckus in the line. He’d finally be stopped by someone pulling on his collar. Annoyance grew into recognition, and he’d nod to Kent and bend over dusting the plant dirt from his jeans, as the other boy calmed him “You’re already signed up. I knew you’d be late. The professor probably knew it too, but it isn’t his job to do it” even if they weren’t looking at each other, they both felt each other’s eyes rolling. Mr. Price was a dick - on that much most everyone agreed. Apparently, even if you couldn’t please everyone - you could always alienate everyone. Well, he had a wife and four kids...so maybe that wasn’t quite true either. The kids must’ve been quadruplets - it was hard to believe anyone would bed the old fart on four separate occasions.

“Can you believe it? We’re actually going to see the treatment center! I heard they process over like 90% of the city’s water supply!” and as his eyes went wide, so too did Kent yawn. Apparently he was alone in his amazement and his shoulders slumped for a bit. He had given up on sharing his enthusiasm for the day. Until a female voice came up from behind him “Actually it’s closer to 86,5%” and she’d even add cheerfully “it’s a common mistake. The side plants handle partials that cover the rest” and even if he was too much in his thoughts at first, the more he looked at her, the more he saw some familiarity. He had seen her staring at him from time to time. Once she even almost spilled some water on him, but the liquid inexplicably never got out of the open bottle.

“I don’t think so! I’ve read all about it these past few days - if there were more side plants for the mismatched 5%, I’d hear about them” and he almost felt the need to stick out his tongue to this newcomer know-it-all, but decided to be mature and refrained. And good thing too, since she soon put a paper into his hand that pretty much disapproved his claims. The paper was written by none other than Professor Michael Price - figures, even when he did nothing wrong, Dennis still found a way to dislike him.

“I guess you didn’t read everything” she said as she moved away. Dennis could only sigh at his defeat as he motioned his head to Kent “Is she even in this class? Don’t remember seeing her around before”

“Yeah man, that’s Price’s daughter” and Kent almost laughed as Dennis’ face went through a myriad of colors.

“Figures..”

[oOWonderKinOo]

Laura took a deep breath, and started her jog across campus. She had class on one side and small window of time to get to the other on the opposite side of campus. The girl was heavy laden with a portfolio slung over her shoulders complete with drawing boards, a large backpack overstuffed with things she forgot to clean out and a tackle box jingling with an assortment of brushes, tubes of paint as well as other odds an ends. Without all her gear, she would have enjoyed the jog, but at that moment, she felt sluggish and clunky. She would often bump into people with her things as more students bustled down the sidewalks and between buildings.

It wasn't so bad though. She only had one more studio before she was done and she could unload and at least enjoy some of the day while going to work. The studio wasn't bad either, they room used to be an old factory storage room. It was large with huge window panes that allowed for loads of natural light and a very airy feel. She loved the room, but she wouldn't have the time to linger that day. Laura was always rushing from one activity to the next, but like having a fast paced schedule. If it wasn't school, it was work, and if it wasn't work, it was long walk/jogs around the city.

The girl loved being on the move and hated staying still, which infuriated her roommates and her family. They wanted to settle down and make better decisions concerning her future. Majoring in art and working for a local flower shop wasn't very stable. It's true, she didn't know what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, she sorta just went along with things mostly. She enjoyed art and the new experiences it often brought, so she stuck to that the most, but everything else seemed on the fly, which was what she preferred.

Hurrying into the studio, Laura finally made it over to the weird cubby hole made from scrap wood. She rather unceremoniously tossed her belongings into it after fishing out the things she needed. Today, she was working on a collaborative sculpture with two other classmates. The idea was to make something that would draw attention to itself, but it could only be constructed from cardboard and tape. It also had to be free standing and able to be moved in case it got displayed outside the studio. They were given three large sheets of cardboard to work with. They decided to construct a six foot tall arch made from warped card board that would have a sort of wind chime hanging from the center of the arch made of cardboard cylinders. They were working on making sure it was standing on it's own that day.

"Laura did you bring the extra duct tape?" called one of her partners, who was holding the structure steady while the other proceeded to tape around the arches feet. She cheerily lifted her arms to show she was wearing the rolls of tape like gigantic metallic bangle bracelets.
"Well, that will work." He chuckled catching one of the rolls she tossed at him.
"How long will you be able to stay?" He asked after flashing an apologetic smile at their other partner who was struggling to tape the feet.
"Not long, I got work after class" Laura reminded them.
He shot her a disapproving look and she shrugged assuring him that she would try to work on it when she got off work. It would be tough doing it alone, but she wasn't about to make them meet up with her after her shift to work on it.

[Atrexiel]

It was a real surprise that they actually had to take a bus to the facility. Dennis saw no real reason behind any of this. After all, the plant was merely 25...maybe 26 minutes away by foot. He did walk quite a bit faster than the average person, but it was still much better in comparison to spending an hour and a half strapped into a tin can. When he voiced his discomfort, everyone else looked like he was at least three quarters insane. So apparently you had to do the democratic thing and make yourself into a canned sardine so that everyone else could be happy. Fuck democracy!

Being who he was, Dennis obviously pressed the issue enough to alert even his holiness - Mr Michael Price. This time he acted through an avatar, aptly titled daughter. “My father would like me to tell you that it was all stated in the insurance release everyone signed” and that shut him right up. What do you even say to something like that? She stuck around for a few moments - enough to show him just how stomped his idea was - and then she just turned around and left. Alright - well done, girl! Point made! He sank a bit in his seat and refused to look up at the looks of ridicule the other students were probably shooting him with right about this point.

Kent thought he was being helpful “Hard to imagine Price fathered something so fine!” he’d punch Dennis’ shoulder and wait for a retort of some kind. He wasn’t helpful tho - he was Kent. And sometimes you just wanted him to be - what? - Ken Lite? Whatever you called it, not everything could be boiled down to the size of her assets. He did have a skill point in persistence though “Oh come on, haven’t saw you this debilitated since you tried to pick up your neighbor with that ‘No speak English’ story” and then he’d wait for some teeth to show, because he knew Dennis well. No such luck today.

“What was her name? Amanda? Tori? Kri...”

“It was Rachel, as you well know, and she’s sitting three rows in front of you. I’m talking, alright! Will you shut up already?” he understood what Kent was trying to do, but some reflexes you were born with. Not like staying quiet was one of his fortes anyway.
“So the only way to make you talk is to embarrass the shit out of you?” Kent chirped “That’s useful to know actually! Wonder why Lil’ Miss Price has the opposite effect on you” even if he didn’t tone it like a question exactly, he still expected an answer. The silence threatened to be long, and Dennis got pulled in yet another mouthful “There’s something strange about her”.

“Seems to me like someone likes her!” and there was that itching need for Kent Lite again, but Dennis was all out of resistance today, so he simply nodded agreement “Must be it” and just as Kent went for…

Dennis felt his head jerk, heard what must’ve been the bus horn and saw the window coming closer to his face. He felt the fall in his right even before it came. The side of his head shook hands with the window and after a flash of black fireflies across his field of vision, the whole bus flipped to the side, and he could feel water coming closer. As they fell he thought he could hear something like screams. Most people flew from their side of the bus and into his, and he could hear crackling noises as they made the window’s acquaintance too. And then as the fall intensified, time seemed to shrink in meaning as everyone lifted off the side, just slightly before being slammed wholly along with the bus again. He could swear there was something sticky on his face, but he couldn’t feel it. The crash came with a silence. Everything went dark.

After what seemed like a good nap, he finally twitched back into consciousness and scratched his nose. The motion seemed blurred and slowed somehow. Where was the pain that was cutting his side? Where was...where was everyone? His head moved left and right, sluggishly. Everything was so slow… and why was the light so dim? What was..? As he tried to speak, he finally grasped the water he was immersed in.
The crash! How long had it been? Where was Kent? He couldn’t see his body in one of the many floating ar….FLOATING! Goddamit! It was one of those dreams again. It had to be.

He got up fairly easily. It almost felt like he was unhurt. As he walked - strangely enough - out of the bus, he tried to will himself awake. The few fish that had gathered to nibble on the corpses skittered away from the one that forgot to stop moving. For a moment he thought he could see Price and his daughter in the distance, but the next moment they vanished in a swirl of a great tail. Great, even in his nightmares they haunted him!

Every step felt like a brick, until he tried pushing off the bottom. The initial force slowly guided him towards the surface. Accompanied by occasional swings, he would surely reach the glassy surface in front of him. When he finally breached the line, his first breath felt...wrong. And the water that inhabited his bowels up to that moment...it simply climbed up his tubes, slowly pouring out of him. He paddled towards the shore, where he saw a ruckus. A few more paddles and he could recognize some of them. There was Kent, and there were the Prices. He couldn’t see Rachel anywhere. Had he passed her floating body on the way up? Everything in his head seemed so fuzzy now.

He should’ve woken up by this point.

[oOWonderKinOo]

Who knew it would take the whole class period to get their sculpture to stand properly? It was such a frustrating process, that Laura decided to throw as much as would fit into her locker in the art building and just walk to work form campus. The distance was a bit long by most people's standards, but Laura didn't see it that way. The distance never seemed to be an issue, if she was running late, she could always jog to work. In fact, she liked the idea more and more. It was a lovely day out and the wind running through her hair would be rather relaxing after an arduous day in the studio applying layers upon layers of duct tape to a sculpture. She didn't want to have to drag all her belongings onto the bus then throw them all into her room and then walk from there to her work.

Only carrying her back pack which had only a couple text books in it, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She supposed it was a large weight, given all that she had earlier. Blowing out a huge sigh, she stepped out into the day and stretched. It was a while before she had to clock in, so she could take her time. A lighthearted tune began to chime out from her backpack. It had to be Angie, one of her roommates. She must have gotten out of her micro economics class. Angie often called her to chat while she waited for Laura to join her on the bus back towards her apartment. She was one of those people who didn't like times of silence and absolutely had to talk to someone, which was usually Laura.

She had just barely answered the phone and Angie was talking so fast that she could only laugh.
"I'm guessing that ego maniac did most of the talking again?" Laura was referring to a guy in Angie's lecture that was always interrupting the professor to either ask questions that always sounded like he doubted their professor to actually know what she was talking about, or to make some long winded answer to a question given in class.
"Yeeeesssss." Angie groaned into the phone.
"We hardly got through 12 of the 30 slides she had for that lecture! AND there was some stuff in the latter part that I didn't quite get! I wish that guy would wake up with no vocal cords next class!" She grumbled.
"That's a bit harsh don't you think?"
"No! He's not even helping the class! He's just wasting time! I hate how Professor Lane is too nice to tell him to shut the hell up!"
"You could always tell him to shut the hell up." Laura said teasingly.

There was a long pause from her roommate. "Hey, where are you anyway? Aren't you getting on the bus?"
"Nah, I'm just going to walk to work from here."
"Laura! It's like a two or three miles from campus AND you BETTER not take any weird back roads! There are freaks out there Laura do ya hear me?!"
And there she went. She knew she shouldn't have told her, but Angie was just trying to make sure she was safe, which she appreciated.
Angie was like the mother of the two roommates she had. She liked to cook for everyone and reminded them when stuff was due or to get shit done before it was too late. So, in a way, Angie was annoying and lovable just like a mother.

The lecture persisted for the better part of twenty minutes before Laura finally told her she had to go. In all honesty, she really didn't have to, but she couldn't handle much more of that. "Fine! But you better call me when you get your ass over there!"
"I will! I will! Promise!" She urged then finally got Angie to hang up the phone.
Shoving the phone back into her book bag, she slung it over her shoulders and continued her walk.

For the most part, the walk was very pleasant, of course there were some less favorable places, but every route had that right? Passing the lines of coffee shops and restaurants that thrived off of the college crowd, she looked up at some of the older buildings. They were older but well kept by the city's cultural committee. They put a lot of effort into preserving the more historic part of the town including some old light houses some 10 miles from the city. It was odd that there weren't a lot of people out that day. Usually there were people walking their dogs or making their usual trek from the college to one of the apartments near by. A swift breeze tussled her hair and brought a relaxed smile to her face. She loved windy days, which happened often since she lived so close to the ocean.

Not wanting to think about Angie or her sculpture, Laura readjusted her bag and started to jog a little. The exertion would help keep her mind off of things and allow her feel the breeze once again. There was something so wonderful about the experience but she couldn't really explain it to anyone else despite how often she tried to. Her roommates would chalk it up as something to do with being a 'spacey art student'.
There was a steady rhythm to her pace that she did in fact, begin to space out. So much in fact that her thoughts wondered to her dreams of falling. It wasn't the scary sort of falling either, it was like she wanted to fall. To embrace it. It wasn't always falling in a traditional sense either. It was sometimes like she was falling up or to the side and some times is was like she was weightless.

The only thing that shook Laura from her lingering thoughts was the violent and unexpected twirl she had before making contact with the harsh ground. She could hear the rough grunts of someone above her, then she felt their weight on top of her. Whoever it was that hit her was trying to wrench her arms back, pulling at the straps of her back back and trying their best to use their weight to pin her down. Heart pounding, mind racing, she struggled against them and flung her head back as hard as she could. It connected with something with a sick crack and there was shortened cry followed by a sharp pain like she had cut her head. Her attacker groaned and rolled off of her enough for her to scramble out from under them. It was a large man wear a dark university hoodie and sweats. He held his hand over his mouth and there was blood and his eyes were squeezed shut in pain.

There was no time to think about what he wanted, she couldn't risk it! So she ran, her legs eating up ground in long strides. Normally, Laura was fast but even more so when she was terrified. The amount of speed she had was almost unnatural, not that she could pay attention to that now. All that mattered was putting more and more distance between her and the man that forced her to the ground. How long it took her to get to the flower shop, she didn't know and didn't care. Rushing through the door made the two small bells attached to it clang in an awful way causing Todd, one of her coworkers to look up with a start. "What the hell happened to you?!" He exclaimed. It had taken her that moment to realize there was blood dripping off her arms from where she had skinned them on the sidewalk. The first thing that managed to tumble from her quivering lips was,

"I got to call Angie.."

[Atrexiel]

People were crying. His classmates - the ones he could see - were all wet. Everyone was yelling to such an extent that it felt like they were actively trying to be louder than the next guy. Everything was so crowded - cars, passengers, reporters, ambulances… - everything was trying to turf out something else. And as soon as he was out - all these people were trying to get up in his face. They were all uniformed and asking really silly questions. Who cared what day of the week it was?! And of course he knew his name - he was confused, not brain dead.

It would take these men a few full circles around him before providing some breathing room. On and on, they went at him with silly questions. At a certain point he even felt like a medieval beast - mobbed ‘till being put to the bonfire. He could stomach EMTs crowding him, but when people from the bus started flocking around him, his peace was completely broken. First were two guys that have sat in the same classes as him for the past few years - somehow they thought that this strange experience had brought them close enough for a hug. When Dennis recoiled from one of them, they staggered in their tracks, but then there was another fool to attempt yet another grief ritual. This one he even pushed away harshly enough to send them down to their ass. These were people who left him! Left him to drown! And now they wanted to sympathize? What, they would all sit around fires and sing kumbaya and shit? That was not going to happen. They deserved their guilt. The fact that he survived by some freak occurrence did not pardon their actions. He knew he would’ve done the same thing in their shoes. Fuck that guy from three rows back that kept complaining about the bus, save yourself! He was quite aware of his hypocritical point of view. It didn’t matter.

At least people were discouraged from making advances on him now. But then he saw Kent! That traitor left him - just like that. And to him he wasn’t some blip from three rows back . They were friends for as long as either could remember. He thought they were…
So why? He may have been an asshole at times, but he did not deserve this. No one deserved this.
His shallow self control was already breached so heavily that it took him less than a heartbeat to start pushing through the crowd. He was betrayed. Perhaps he should attempt drowning Kent too?! It wasn’t the first time he had these stupid hurtful thoughts, but they were usually banished by a mere shrug. This time he felt certain. Certain enough. Kent was tall, and he saw Dennis coming.

“Thank God!” Kent exhaled heavily “I thought you were dead!” and of course he did. That bastard all but made sure of it. “You left me” Dennis was still contemplating murder. His nerves were shot. “I’m sorry… I just… panicked” and even though he was man enough to admit to the fact, that didn’t exempt him from his actions. Dennis’ blood felt like boiling. And he swung for Kent, only to be elbowed aside by Price. Getting back his balance took more effort than it should and when he glanced back at his professor, the bastard seemed vaguely content about something. It was almost as he had sensed his student’s moment of anger and shrugged them aside. Dennis could no longer focus on being angry at Kent, because Price now bothered him too. He would… he would… he’d do something - but later. Later was good enough. It had to be.

Pushing his hands into his pockets, he found them to be dry enough. Which was strange when you took into account being submerged for as long as he’d been. Stranger still, there was a dry piece of paper in his pocket. It was a phone number he didn’t recognize, and when he pulled out his phone by reflex, he found that it was busted. Likely from the crash. When he finally turned it around, he found something that intrigued him.

Water does not hurt kin.
Then it hit him. The paper was completely dry. Only seven or eight people ever came close enough to him to plant something like that. And there was that lingering picture of Price and his daughter at the riverbed - at least he thought it was them. Looking around, he tried to see if anyone was looking his way and found too many people to be doing just so. That wouldn’t get him anywhere. He finally turned back to the two men, only to find Price missing. Kent seemed agitated - apparently he’d been apologizing this whole time. Dennis would have none of it though.

“Where’s Rachel?” and when a boulder-sized fist connected with Dennis' cheek, he knew he’d struck a nerve of some kind. “So you left her too…” and that shook Kent enough to recoil. Neither of them would forget this.

[oOWonderKinOo]

There was a decorative sign placed on the front counter stating that the cashier would be back in ten minutes. Towards the back, Todd had Laura sit on the counter where they cut and prepared their plants for showing. It had been cleaned off and the metal felt cool through her jeans. He opened the first aid kit with a click and muttered about them needing to refill the damned thing. Laura was still quite shaken from it all. She had called her roommate Angie and she didn't have to say much before the girl insisted that she come over to the shop. What would she do here? She couldn't seriously be thinking that she would convince her to go home and miss work. She was already there! Besides, she needed something to distract her from what happened. It all seemed like a blur. All she could remember was hearing her sneakers slap against the sidewalk and the wild thunder of her heart slamming into her chest.
Without much warning, she felt rubbing alcohol burning on her open cuts. She yelped and flailed so much that Todd cursed stepping back enough to avoid getting hit. "Watch it Jackie Chan!" He griped before grabbing her left arm and turning it to get a good view of her scrapes. "If you're gonna space out on me, try not to hit me sheesh!" The guy grumbled. Laura apologized and tried to focus on breathing. She never was good at tolerating pain. He was almost done when he looked up into her face. "Will talking about it help?"
"What's there to talk about?"
"I dunno, just thought.." He began awkwardly only to have Laura shrug.
"It's ok. It's over now" She stated dismissively.

Todd nodded putting a couple more band aids on her arms and closing the kit. She thanked him for cleaning her up and he waved it off saying it was nothing. She had worked with Todd for a little over a year now and she found him to be quiet enjoyable to work with. He did his share of the work and didn't mind helping out when they were short handed. He had dropped out of College due to some financial struggles and took more hours in the flower shop. He also worked a second job at a coffee shop in the heart of the down town business district. He seemed to be a pretty calm guy and gained the attention of Laura's roommates. Her other roommate Kate always got flustered around him. The guy's laid back appearance and gentle tone of voice always made her a bit weak in the knees for some reason. Laura always found it highly amusing and so did Angie.

Laura didn't work for about half an hour, so she sat in the back and did a little prep work. Normally she would have just sat somewhere, but she wanted to keep herself busy. To keep her mind busy. She had already swept the back part of the store and was working on straightening up the different scissors and decorative ribbons.
That was when she heard Todd call her to the front. "You need to hear this!" he said with his back facing her. She had walked in to see that he had been playing with the radio and turning up the volume. It was a news reporting of a buss filled with college students crashed into the river. Several students had drowned in the accident. The news went on to explain how the police and paramedics were already on the scene to help those who had survived the crash. "That's awful.." Laura frowned looking down at the counter. The only thing Todd could do was nod. Then the door slammed open with another obnoxious clang from the bell. It was Angie and she was pale with her jaw set straight. "Come here!" She ordered with her voice slightly higher than usual, grabbing hold of Laura's shoulders. Angie looked her over for a couple seconds asking a series of annoying motherly questions before pulling her friend into a rib crushing hug.

She had expected a lecture from her, about taking the back roads to get to work, but she had said nothing like that. Other than making sure she wasn't too badly hurt, all Angie could actually string together was how happy she was that Laura was safe. She sounded terrified for a while. It was like she took the event harder than Laura, but that was probably because she was still numb to it all. Surely enough, the over protective friend tried to talk Laura into leaving and taking the day off, but she refused no matter how many times she asked. "I need to stay busy and put this behind me!" she finally snapped after Angie tried to convince her for the fifth time. Laura could be passive for a time, but now wasn't one of those times. Her limbs hurt and she just wanted to forget about it. The room was so tense that a woman stepped into the shop, looked at the three of them and stepped out. Seeing that she was getting no where with Laura and that her trip to her work was almost completely worthless, she decided to talk to Todd about what they had heard on the radio about the crash. No longer wanting to hear more upsetting news, Laura tromped off to the back to rearrange some hyacinths.