Who? What? Huh?

Chapter 5 - Swimming Lessons

Xander glanced around the empty building. Of course they had to
break into the Sunnydale Park public pool. Spike didn't want to learn
at the lake since the dragon was there, and Xander whole heartedly
agreed for once! But did they have to actually break the law?

At least there hadn't been any alarms or anything. At least of the
non-silent variety. God he hoped there weren't any silent alarms!

Spike stood at the edge of the pool looking nervously around. Xander
had already stepped in and was wading at the 3 foot deep end. It
was strange for him to be looking up at himself in nothing but his
slightly used red speedos.

Did he look that good in high school? He couldn't have. If he had a
body like that he wouldn't have had so much trouble getting dates!

He sighed and motioned for Spike to step down into the water.
Spike's expression was still wary but he dutifully took the first step in.

"Bloody hell that's cold!" Spike cried.

"Shh! Do you want us to get caught?" Xander demanded.

"Who's going to hear us whelp? The only things out and about at this
time of night are the nasties. And I think we can handle them just
fine."

"Just get in the water Spike! It's only three feet deep! You're not
going to drown unless I hold you under!"

"Fine!" Spike took the final two steps, submerging himself up to his
waist.

Xander let him get used to the temperature for a bit before asking him
to wade over to the middle of the kiddie side of the pool.

"Okay. The first thing you're going to learn is how to float." At Spike's
pensive look Xander stopped to reassure him. "Don't worry, floating
is the easiest part. And if you panic and forget what your supposed to
do just roll over onto your back and start to float."

As he spoke Xander pushed down on Spike's shoulder causing him to
lay onto his back. He place a hand on the small of Spike's back,
keeping him above the surface.

"Just let your body relax. The water will keep you up. Just don't
tense up." As Spike began to relax Xander slowly removed his hand.
The second they lost all contact Spike tensed and began to sink.

"I said don't tense up!" Xander cried, immediately replacing his hand.

Spike sputtered, spitting out the water he'd accidentally swallowed
when his face had gone under. "You let go!"

"Of course I let go. How else are you going to learn how to float?"

"You should have warned me!" Spike was indignant.

Xander was losing patience. But he could tell from Spike's tone that
he was more embarrassed than anything else. And Xander
supposed he could understand that. Spike was a master vampire.
Used to being feared and obeyed.

Now, without his bite he'd lost all that. And to top it all off he'd had to
go to one of his enemies for help with a problem that most 10 years
olds don't even have. It must be pretty humiliating for the guy.

"OKAY. I'm sorry." Xander gritted his teeth. "We'll try it again. I'll
hold you up for a few seconds and then let go. Just stay relaxed and
you'll float without a problem."

Spike still looked unsure, but he did as Xander asked.

"I promise." Xander tried to reassure him.

Spike relaxed minutely and lay his head back into the water.

"Good job!" Xander praised him after about five minutes of floating on
his own. "Are you ready to try something new now?"

Spike stood back up and nodded his head. Xander was actually
being nice about this lesson. He had come prepared for the whelp to
be a git and use this whole thing against him. But so far he'd been
reassuring and complimentary whenever Spike had followed
directions correctly.

"Now I want you to lay down on your stomach, and I'll hold you up.
You're going to kick your feet and paddour our arms, just to get used
to the feeling."

Spike panicked. He had to put his face in the water?! "How the
bloody hell am I supposed to breathe pet?"

"Don't worry Spike. Just hold your head up so that your face doesn't
hit the water. A lot of people swim without dipping their head in, but
we'll do a lesson on that later before we leave. Just so you know both
ways."

After a few minutes of this Xander decided it was time for Spike to
actually start to swim. "Okay, don't get nervous. I'm going to let go
now and you can swim to the edge of the pool. It's only a few feet
away. You can do it."

Spike steeled himself against the fear. He was not going to keep
panicking in front of the whelp! He was the Big Bad!

He felt Xander's hand slip away and his face began to fall toward the
water, his arms and legs continued their movement automatically. He
snapped his head back up before he could breathe in any fluid and
then his hand hit concrete. He'd done it! He was at the edge of the
pool.

He turned back toward Xander with a grin on his face.

Xander smiled back automatically but also in surprise. He didn't think
he'd ever seen that expression on Spike before. It wasn't one of his
usual smirks. It was actually a sincere smile!

"Great job! Why don't you walk back here and you can swim back to
the edge a couple more times."

They continued the lessons for another 15 - 20 minutes until Xander
was reasonably sure that Spike was comfortable with his skills.

Xander had found that Spike was at let learner once he got over the
fear of drowning. I guess if you've had a fear for over a century it
would be a little hard to suppress, Xander thought. He was actually
surprised that Spike was able to overcome it with such little distress.

"Okay one last lesson before we call it quits." Xander called out to
Spike as he reached the edge of the pool once more.

"I'm going to teach you how to breathe under water." Xander
explained once Spike was by his side.

"I'm not stupid you git! You can't breathe under water!" Spike didn't
appreciate Xander's teasing.

"Calm down fangless! I'll rephrase." Xander shot him an annoyed
look. "I'm going to teach you how to breathe OUT under water."

"What?"

"What you need to do while swimming is to breathe IN while your
head is above water and then breathe OUT while your head is under."
Xander had maneuvered Spike back into the position he'd been in
when first learning how to kick and paddle.

"Okay, just take a deep breath and then when you dip your face into
the water breathe out through your nose slowly." Xander instructed.

Spike did as Xander described, finding that if he was constantly
breathing out while below the surface he wouldn't accidentally suck
any water in. They did this for a few minutes before Xander asked
him to add the kicking and paddling to the routine.

"You're not going to let go?" Spike asked warily.

"Not yet. Just get used to the breathing while kicking and paddling
okay? I'll warn you before I do anything else." Xander gave him a
reassuring look.

Spike did this for a few minutes before Xander decided it was time for
him to try it on his own.

"Remember that as soon as you think you're out of breath, just lift
your head to the side like we practiced and take a breath in. You can
do it."

Xander let him take a few breaths while in his arms before letting his
hand slip away once again.

Spikem tom to the edge of the pool with ease. He was surprised at
the speed, since it had been a lot slower with his head above the
water.

He grinned triumphantly and turned back to Xander. "Wanna race?"

Xander laughed and shook his head. "Why don't you do a couple
more laps before we get out of here? I think I'm starting to get hungry
again."

Spike nodded and turned to launch himself back under water.
Xander had told him about the blood lust he'd felt earlier in the day
and what he'd had to do. Spike knew the feeling and was actually
surprised that the whelp was able to hold out as long as he did.

He was sorry that he hadn't been around to see him drink the blood
though. Xander's face must have been priceless!

Before Spike realized it, thoughts of Xander drinking blood caused
him to harden in his speedos. The feeling had come up rather
suddenly and caused Spike's movements to falter. Before he could
right himself he began taking in gulps of water and coughing.

Xander was at his side in an instant. Grabbing Spike up he held him
in his arms and drew soothing circles on his back, occasionally
patting him when the coughing became too rough.

"What happened? Did you just get tired? I shouldn't have told you to
swim any more laps! We've already been here over an hour."
Xander babbled comfort.

"No. 'S not your fault. Just got distracted 'S all." Spike answered,
making no move to retreat from the circle of Xander's arms.

After a few minutes, Xander became aware of the position they were
in. He had Spike wrapped in his arms and their bodies were flush
against one another. Neither of them were wearing much of anything
and so were mostly skin to skin.

Xander felt himself shudder and begin to harden in his boxers. The
cool water doing nothing to help him with his problem.

Spike felt the twitch against his thigh and looked up into Xander's
eyes. Deliberately he thrust forward pushing his own erection against
Xander's hip. They both groaned at the contact.

Suddenly Xander pulled away, walking toward the water's edge. He
pulled himself out and grabbed one of the towels laying near the pool.

"We'd better get going. I really need to feed, and you need to get
some sleep if you're not going to get me fired tomorrow." Xander
called out without looking back at Spike.

Spike watched Xander exit the room and sighed. He followed in
Xander's footsteps, grabbing the second towel along the way. He
was horny, but it didn't look like the whelp was interested in playing
just yet.