"You're doing fine," said Tiffany.  "Just keep yourself level and relaxed.  You should float on your own, but for now, let's try kicking with your legs.  Just alternate right and left, moving them up and down.  That would move you forward if I weren't holding you; it also helps keep you from sinking."

 Felicia do what Tiffany is telling her to do. Felicia will try and keep herself level and she will relax into the water and Tiffany's arms. Then she tries and kicks but doesn't go to hard at first and she says," How is that Tiffany."

(OOC: Felicia rolled a 21 on her Athletics roll for swimming. Tiffany you can rollplay that out)

Eliza surfaced not too far away, slicking their hair back out of their face, sputtering little water from mouth. "Okay, wow, this is a deep friggin pool. This must cost a fortune to maintain, let alone build."

"Well, it does," said Tiffany.  "A lot of the family comes by sometimes, though, and we all love to swim.  We need to have a pool big enough for everyone."



The feeling of a cute catgirl moving in her arms was extremely pleasant, and Tiffany was tempted to savor it for a while, but she was trying to teach Felicia how to swim, and she was going to honor that.

"You can kick harder," she said.  "Don't worry.  I'll make sure that you'll be fine."

 Felicia will kick harder and try and stay afloat as Tiffany holds her up and holds onto her. Felicia was having fun, then Eliza pops up from her swim, Felicia is kicking and is trying to swim. " How is this Tiffany what else do I have to do?" Felicia did like being in Tiffany's arms that is for sure and her bathing suit was amazing. Felicia didn't have much on at all either. Felicia's fur was still soft in the water, and her tail was still wrapped around Tiffany's waist. " Hi Eliza I think I am getting the hang of it."

Eliza nodded, "No, makes sense. It's kind of been forever since I've swum to be honest. My dad only likes watching sports, and my mom loves hiking, but I'm wondering now if I shouldn't warn her to be careful of predators." Eliza gestures a flimsy hello at a boy too far to hear. He looked otherwise normal but seemed like he couldn't help but eye the spectacle of the three girls, mostly staring at Tiffany.

"You are doing great, Felicia. Always remember that if you feel yourself going down, breath in air while ya can. Most of your floating is because of your lungs. Not sure the same is true for Tiff." They cocked a smile for their water-bourne friend, before continuing, "Sorry, the water in general doesn't do it for ya. You'll probably want to make sure you do take a solid shower later, or else the chlorine does tend to linger."

"Telling her to be careful couldn't hurt," said Tiffany.  "...You're doing fine, Felicia.  Turn your head to the side to breathe... now we'll try using your arms, too.  Have you seen how people swim with them?  The key is to face away from the arm going in to the water, so you can breathe air."

She was vaguely aware that boys were looking in her direction.  She didn't particularly care, though.  Right here, with these two, was where she wanted to be in this party.

 Felicia wasn't worried others or boys at this moment she was having fun learning to swim from an amazing girl Tiffany. Her friend Eliza was here Felicia had all she needed at this time. She would say to Eliza," Thank you I will remember that, oh yes definitely a shower later."

 Felicia smiled at Tiffany and said," I will be careful, thank you this is actually fun. Okay I will try my arms Tiffany, don't let me go please."
Felicia would then use her arms and try to actually swim with Tiffany holding onto her. She will turn her head and do everything Tiffany told her to do.

Eliza mostly watched, not wanting to get into Felicia's way, but was also willing to demonstrate for any particularly bit as Tiffany did the couching proper. "Since Bastet don't do much swimming, I am guessing most of your kind stick to the deserts and savannahs of Northern Africa? No jungle cat cousins?" Eliza was wracking her brain for what little they knew of African geography. Didn't it turn kind of rain-foresty around Congo? Or was that just in the book Heart of Darkness? Eliza was still a kid raised in Chicago, arcane knowledge of an Apex Nether or not.

"You're doing fine," said Tiffany.  "Don't worry-- I won't let go."

She was curious about what Felicia would say about her cousins.  She knew tigers swam... did jaguars?  Or leopards?  She didn't know.

 Felicia smiled at Eliza," Most of my people where born and lived in Egypt and the Middle East. I am not afraid of water I just don't know how to swim, my Father is afraid of water and my Mother can swim but she hasn't had the time to teach me yet."

 Felicia thought then and said," There have been jungle Bastet's but the most common is the Desert Bastet."

 Felicia was kicking and using her arms it was fun and she was floating, the best part was that Tiffany was holding her. Felicia was getting cocky and then slipped, she made sure her claws where retracted, then loosing control she moved into Tiffany. They collided, Felicia instinctively used her tail which tripped up Tiffany and they fall into the water Felicia's chest would get smashed right into Tiffany's face, as they went under.

 Felicia didn't panic she didn't know what to do she waited for Tiffany to react and save her, she didn't want to hurt Tiffany with her claws either.

Tiffany was going to say something, but she abruptly found herself underwater, pressed against Felicia.  That was a bit distracting, but she was used to the occasional abrupt immersion, especially when her family was around.  Her arms wrapped around Felicia's waist, and she easily straightened herself up, kicking off the pool floor to bring them both up above the surface.  The strength of a Deep One kin was useful...

Eliza was about to ask more, but they didn't bother speaking to the capsized pair, backing up a bit and peering through the water. Eliza wasn't too concerned, though if Tiffany got a little clawed up, that might be awkward. They knew that they would just get in the way.

 Felicia wasn't afraid she remained in control, Tiffany grabbed her and pulled her up. She stood back up in the shallow end.
Thank you Tiffany I slipped, did I hurt you in any way?

 Felicia actually enjoyed falling into Tiffany, she smiled at Tiffany, That was learning to swim, you are amazing Tiffany.

 Felicia would smile at Eliza,Not bad for my first lesson, you girls are great thank you for making me feel umm normal.

"Oh, I'm fine," said Tiffany.  "We Cabots are very, very tough. We have to be..."

She wasn't terribly eager to pull away from Felicia, and seemed to be sticking very close to her.

"And I'm glad that I can help you learn how to swim, Felicia," she added.

 Felicia will stay close to Tiffany she liked being close to Tiffany a lot. Yes Felicia wanted to learn to swim, but being close to Tiffany was a huge bonus. " Again sorry about that, I am very glad you are a Cabot then Tiffany."

 Felicia smiled and said," Well thank you very much we will have to have more lessons if that is okay Tiffany?" Felicia was looking at Tiffany, she was beautiful, strong, a great swimmer, and she smelled like the ocean. Felicia didn't want to be rude and she did really like Eliza as well.
 Then saying to Eliza," I did pretty good for my first try didn't I will practice more, how are you doing Eliza?" Then turning to both beautiful girls she says," So this school my parents are sending me too they say it is a school for Monsters and I will be safe and learn to be more human?"

Eliza was mostly treading water, watching the other people at the party and listening to the music, trying to place if it was a new remix or a combination of two remixes she'd heard before. Mostly, she was feeling a little like the third wheel.

"Hm? Oh, I'm good. Learning to be human is terribly fun and enlightening in person. So much nuance to every interaction, and so emotionally draining." They said this as if it were a positive, not a struggle. "But you really need to know what kind of human you'd want to be.  You need a glamour, a curse, or an enchantment to look the part, more than anything. They'll dismiss anything else as teenage fancy at our age. If anyone says you aren't human enough, they've not met enough humans."

"That's certainly true," said Tiffany.  "It's mostly a matter of not crossing certain lines in public behavior, and the lines are a bit fuzzy, anyway.  It shouldn't be too hard for you to learn things.  You've done all right so far."

 Felicia smiled at Eliza then after she was finished Felicia would say," Oh yes I would need something like that to look more human first, as far as me human, long black hair." She smiles and laughs after she says that. Then she will say," Aww thank you Eliza you think I act human."

 Then Tiffany spoke and she smiled and replied," Oh yeah I am not sure what Humans don't like to do in public, I also have no modesty I was told that can be bad in public." After Tiffany complimented her, she smiled her razor sharp teeth showing, she would than say to Tiffany," Thank you but I have mostly learned by going into town as a house cat and watch humans closely."

 Then Felicia looks at both girls and says," Could you both help me be more human, and maybe if we can disguise me take me into town as a human?"

"Sure thing, Felicia. Tiffany is the model to admire of course. I'm just pretending. Well, half pretending. It helps I have Eliza as an internal critic and they like me for some reason. I'm sure I have something to share after eight years of practice."

Eliza considered, saying, "On the plus side, you might be able to get out and about on Halloween."

"Halloween makes things easy, yes," said Tiffany.  "It would be a shame if we couldn't get you some practice before-hand, though.  Modesty... will be something to work on in public.  Sometime later, after the party, I'd like to see where you are right now-- how you'd normally act and dress in public, while trying to be human.

"Then, from there, we can see what, if anything, you need to change, and work on that."

 Felicia smiles at both girls and says," Thank you Eliza, yes Tiffany is one to admire, yes I can't wait till Halloween." Felicia was happy and both girls would help her be more human.

 She turns to Tiffany and responds," We can do that Tiffany right now I only go out into public in my house cat form, I don't go like this I don't look human enough. Is there any way I can look more human?"

Eliza added, "Somethings are so part of growing up in the human world, you may always seem a little off. How often does your kind stay in this form natively? I think some of the obvious things you might have to watch are how you walk or move. If I'm not careful, I tend to do my art faster than most humans can manage. I've been called out before, jokingly about my idle hands. You may want to watch how people walk." Eliza asked as they motioned to a tawny-furred werewolf looking person picking through the choice cuts of raw meat. They were short but nearly twice as wide as Eliza, "Do you have digitigrade feet like them?" Eliza asked, looking through the disturbed water to try to gauge Felicia's feet.

"If you're dressed for it, you might be able to pass," said Tiffany, thoughtfully.  "It might not be as comfortable as what you're used to, though-- you'll need to wear more clothes to conceal more of your body."

 Felicia smiled at both girls and then replied to Eliza," I never thought about that I walk like a cat not a human, but my legs are like a cat's how am I suppose to walk like a human? I will watch them and do my best, thank you Eliza."

 She will look at Tiffany and say," Dressed for it Tiffany? I usually don't wear to many clothes, it does make my fur itch sometimes."  Then she thought how could she pass with just clothes. " Umm Tiffany even if I wear more clothes I still look like a feline not a human, how do you disguise this Tiffany?" Felicia will move her hands over her distinctly feline features and her fur.