Poolside Balk, open

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

Day Eight - Afternoon

The recent few days of interaction with students and teachers alike had managed to slowly lead Sarah out of her room more and more. The shell was still more or less in place, but now she was wandering the mansion and grounds every day, exploring places she didn't recognize. Today's expedition happened to be fairly rewarding, as it ended at the edge of a very large pool with glittering clear-blue water. She knew there was a pool, it had been mentioned when she'd first arrived, (she may have even seen it on the tour of the grounds, but as out of it as she was she wouldn't have remembered) but until now she hadn't really thought about it. Rather, Sarah had chosen not to think about many things that might make her realize that everything that had happened recently had actually happened. But this was wonderful, now that she was looking into the depths of it, standing at the deepest point, perfect center, looking down at the water, black tiles that marked the rows for swimming competitions distorted and waving ever so slightly at the bottom.

What really surprised her was that, with all the kids here, no one was swimming. There weren't even any signs that the pool had had any use today, which struck Sarah as particularly odd. It was the perfect day for swimming, all clear blue sky and vaguely discomforting warmth. She could feel the need for a pool in this weather under the thick black cotton of her jeans, the slightly baggy Marilyn Manson Antichrist Superstar t-shirt and the ever-present black Doc Martins. An excited little smile stuck to her face, Sarah looked this way and that, making sure no one was venturing over to her new found treasure. Seeing no one, the young redhead gave a decidedly giddy 'eeee!' and ran off toward the main entrance of the mansion.

Several minutes later Sarah bounded back to the pool with all the energy of a 10-year-old, now clad in a simple black one piece swimsuit and black flip-flops with fake neon green pain splatters on them, a red beach towel with the image of Betty Boop on it wrapped around her waist like a sarong. Sarah once more looked around, as if what she was about to do was very private. To her it was, unless she was surrounded by friends, the young mutant wasn't used to being so exposed. She'd actually run though the halls, dodging small clusters of people, trying not to let them see her exceptionally white legs. She'd considered putting on a pair of pants to negate that problem, but had been far too excited at the prospect of having such a large pool to herself and wanted to get back to it quickly, as if her presence would keep others away.

Sarah unwrapped the towel around her waist, laid it carefully over the nearest white plastic lounge chair and walked back to the edge of the pool. Rather carefully, she slipped her left foot out of its flip-flop and held it just in front of her, pointed like a ballerina's, then slowly bent at the knee until she was low enough to poke at the water with her big toe. She gave it a quick little tap, then another, sticking her first few toes in. The water seemed rather cold, and she contemplated whether or not she should just jump in or do the girly thing and sit there poking at it with her feet for a while. A tiny whine formed in her throat and she stared at the water with big sad, slightly worried eyes, as if that would cause it to warm up for her. A faint breeze started, just enough of one to cool down the already cold water on Sarah's foot. Automatically, she lifted it in close to her body and shivered slightly as the temperature changed flicked through her body before rapidly disappearing. She emitted a second whine, standing there at the deep end of the pool, looking like an albino flamingo, trying to decide whether or not to jump.

[Kurt Wagner]

It was afternoon when Kurt finally arrived at the mansion. The few days on Muir Island with the professor had shown him much about mutants and their abilities and he had decided whether to stay at the school or to go back to Germany. The fact that he now was walking right up to the great house makes clear how he had decided. Actually, there were two main goals the furry mutant had. First, he wanted to make use of his powers and help other people. And second, he was curious. Curious about all the pupils and other mutants he hadn’t seen yet.
So the professor had organized Kurt’s return and since his two wounds had started to heal and didn’t really affect him, he had been allowed to return earlier than the others did.
Dressed in his old washed-out jeans and a dark t-shirt, Kurt decided not to go inside the building but to stroll through the gardens and to explore everything. Lorna had shown him so much that he couldn’t quite remember where exactly everything was. So he had to investigate everything on his own initiative.
It seemed strange to him that he didn’t see anybody else outside since the weather was not that bad. But who knew what was going on. Perhaps there were some lessons given at the moment.
He ended up at a place he could remember and he knew the pool was not far from there. After all, he didn’t like water that much and his mother had always said he was too much like a cat. But this glittering blue water seemed to be interesting and he had to admit that he had never been to a swimming pool yet though obviously every other twenty-year-old had been there so often they didn’t remember the number of their visits there. Perhaps he could catch up now. But he first had to see this pool before he would think about taking a bath.
When he came around the corner, he saw the fascinating blue before him. So far, he just had seen lakes and their colour usually was everything else but fascinating. But as he came closer, he realized that he wasn’t alone.
His bright yellow eyes fixed on a girl standing close to the water. She had auburn hair and a somehow familiar scent – though he was sure he had never seen her before. She stood thinking and since she wore a bathing suit, Kurt suggested she wasn’t sure of getting into the water or not.
He wasn’t sure if she had already seen him and he didn’t come closer. Actually, he wanted to get to know more of the students, but he still was afraid of the reaction to his appearance. Until now, no mutant had ever been shocked by the blue fur, his tail and his three-fingered hands and feet but the encounter with humans was nothing he could forget that easily.

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

It was time for Sarah to face the facts; whimpering at the water wasn't going to make it warm, and the longer she stood there, just balking at the thought of how cold it was, was wasting valuable swimming time. The redhead's pitiful face fell to one of determination as she lowered her leg and pushed back her shoulders. Though now, with her gaze lifted, Sarah immediately spotted something rather odd near-by and again her expression changed to one of confusion. It was a moment before her mind registered that this 'something' was actually someone, though they looked...very odd. Not being able to rationalize what exactly she was seeing, the young mutant's mind came up with the idea of a Halloween costume; lots of blue body paint and a few prosthetics.

"Ummm...hi." Sarah's tone was one of dumb-founded surprise, her eyes wide and blank, because even though one side of her head was saying 'costume', the other side was saying 'real'. "Did you...I...um...I like your...blue." For the life of her, Sarah could not figure out why she kept opening her mouth, though she supposed it was the simple fact that if she spoke to this new person, the weirdness would leave. "I'm Sarah." The young girl's arms self-consciously went to her stomach, wrapping around them for a second before she realized what they were doing and she lifted one, giving this new blue person a friendly wave and a slightly nervous smile.

[Kurt Wagner]

The urge of melting into the shadows of the nearby mansion got bigger the longer he looked at the unknown girl. She seemed to just have decided to go into the water when she saw him. And the expression on her confused face made his tail twitch nervously. Not that she reacted like the humans he had encountered.
She didn’t shriek or shout at him and she didn’t call him a daemon. Not yet.
When she greeted him, her voice sounded surprised and as she was not very sure of herself at all.
The surprise got ever so clear when the next words came out stumbling. Then she managed to introduce herself and after a little hesitation she even waved at him and tried to smile.
”Hello”, he greeted her, trying to sound calm and comforting. ”My name’s Kurt. Ahm… I didn’t want to scare you though I have to admit many people react this way. I was just strolling through the gardens to orient myself a little.“
He had no idea why he kept talking but he had a feeling she needed to see him as a real person. Meanwhile, he looked her face over and came to the conclusion that she must be about the same age as he was. As he hadn’t really minded the appearance of girls until the last few days, he wasn’t sure if one would call her beautiful or not but he was very sure he wouldn’t call her ugly. No, absolutely not. And as far as he could tell, she had no reason for hiding her body. But as the last times that he had thought about this topic, he had the feeling of blushing only that his fur hided the darker colour of his skin.
Kurt took the few steps to the nearest border of the pool, trying to move fluently and without any jerkily movements. Without exactly knowing why, he had the feeling of coming closer to a wild animal that could run off every moment.
Again curious, he dipped the tip of his tail that most people compared to the tail of the devil because it was pointed the same way into the water carefully. It was cool and unpleasantly wet. Automatically, he shook the water out of his fur and kept his tail away from the water.

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

Sarah's immediate surprise ebbed away when Kurt returned her greeting and her smile became more a genuine, though rather shy, one. She still felt rather exposed.

”My name’s Kurt. Ahm… I didn’t want to scare you though I have to admit many people react this way. I was just strolling through the gardens to orient myself a little.“

Kurt was right to continue speaking; it helped Sarah's mind logic away the idea of a costume calmly, reminding her that everyone's mutation was different. Did she not have to deal with a different form that was fairly terrifying? Hell, at least he was sentient; she just turned into an animal. The thought made her feel empathy towards him, on a level she understood how difficult it was to have such a strange appearance. And when he explained that he was exploring just a she had been doing until she'd run across the pool, it made her a little happy, even; it was a point of familiarity. "I was doing that too, that's how I found the pool." She responded in a more chipper tone, watching Kurt step closer. Briefly, her eyes flickered down towards the movement of his tail, and again she felt a little shock of empathy. Without much thought towards her actions and how they may be construed, Sarah pointed at the flicking tail with a big smile. "Oh, I like your tail!" She said excitedly. "I've got one too, only..." She paused, falling back into slight discomfort. How to put it..."I change shape." Straight forward, simple, but vague. Sarah supposed if he were curious he may ask, or he may even just understand.

[Kurt Wagner]

Even as he talked, Sarah’s expression somehow got more and more relaxed and Kurt thought he had been right about talking so much. Although he always had been kind of chary.
As she told him she had been investigating the area, too, he smiled. That meant that she hadn’t been in this mansion for long and Kurt was glad to have found someone who didn’t know everything yet. That didn’t make him feel like a little child that told the rules.

“Oh, I like your tail!

Sarah’s explanation automatically made him look down at his own tail and once again he was glad that the wound wasn’t near the end of his tail.
The area where the fur still was missing would just have caused questions that he didn’t want to think about.
Though the mutants on Muir Island had rather treated him like a hero he didn’t feel like that. Actually, he wasn’t proud of this mission at all. He had been the one who had endangered Lorna while everybody had counted on his powers. And though the professor had talked to him and tried to comfort him Kurt still felt ashamed.

”I’ve got one too, only…” She paused and then directly told him: ”I change shape.”

The blue mutant felt his eyebrows lift a little. He hadn’t heard of any shape shifters until now. But now, he wasn’t sure how to react. Lorna’s careful questions about his powers made him stop before he said something that might insult Sarah.
”Wow… that’s cool, you know. I’d like to do that, too.”
His smile widened a little at his last sentence and his tone was far from serious. Of course, there always was some jealousy of all the mutants that could live without being hunted down by the humans. But there was no point in being jealous since nobody could change these facts.
”You seem to like quite a bit of me.”, he said grinning, showing his cat-like canine teeth in doing so and getting back to her explanation that she liked his tail.
”But don’t say you like my hands. I can’t remember anyone liking them except for my mother when I was a little furry ball.”
He chuckled quietly.

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

As the tension eased between the two, Sarah's posture and speaking voice became more friendly and relaxed. Briefly, she considered asking him to swim with her, but pushed the thought away before it completely formed. She was far too shy to ask any question that may be construed as a sort of invitation, and a small pang of deceit in her stomach reminded Sarah she still wasn't up to trusting anyone, particularly any male, no matter how friendly. The memory of her ex was soon chased out of her consciousness by Kurt's response, and the young redhead was very thankful for it. Her emotions seemed to be making a break for the surface, so to speak, and there were still some she wasn't ready to deal with yet.

”Wow… that’s cool, you know. I’d like to do that, too.”

Sarah recognized and decidedly brushed off the possible jealousy held in Kurt's sentence. Right now, she more than understood why he'd like to change shape; who could blame him? Sure her friends hadn't written to her or even tried contacting her in any way shape or form, and she was fairly sure it was because of her newly awoken X-gene, but at least she'd had a place in 'normal' society up until recently. "Mm...It's kinda difficult, actually." Sarah admitted, casting her eyes down at the calm blue water with a pensive look. "It's hard to control, and it's really draining." The young girl explained, her thoughts going immediately to yesterday, when she had 'freaked out' during Logan's impromptu breakfall class.

”You seem to like quite a bit of me.”

The comment made Sarah's face split into a wide grin, which she promptly attempted to reign in, a very slight pink flush appearing momentarily on her high cheek bones. When he mentioned his hands, her eyes flicked down towards them for a second or two and the grin faded away to a more pensive smile. Of course, then she tried to imagine Kurt as a 'little furry ball' and the grin was back, bringing with it a small giggle. "How adorable.' The words escaped in a whisper that reflected her mood. Sarah was starting to like this new person quite a lot more than most. He was genuinely friendly and, for all that strangeness of his appearance, he wasn't anything she would call 'scary' or even 'ugly'. To Sarah, he was more like a mythological creature come to life. She quite liked mythological creatures.

[Kurt Wagner]

Immediately interested, Kurt listened to what she told him about changing shape. He hadn’t thought it could be so exhausting but then he reminded himself that he also hadn’t thought teleporting could be so exhausting when taking someone else with you.
”May I ask what your other shape looks like?”, he asked with caution. He just hoped he hadn’t offended her with his question as he had a feeling that there were some mutants who didn’t want to talk about their powers.
When she grinned at his comment, Kurt thought the last ice was broken between them. She even giggled and her ”How adorable.” made the corners of his mouth lift again.
Actually, not only his hands had liked by his mother when he had been a baby. And looking at photos from that time, he had to admit this little furry ball had been really cute. But now he was fully grown up and he himself couldn’t see any cute thing at him anymore.
Deciding to come closer, Kurt made a few steps around one of the pool’s corners and then sat down on the plastic deck chair from which he looked up to Sarah.
”So… swimming obviously can’t be that much fun as you have to think about going in there for so long, hm?”
His eyes still sparkled with humour.
”But no… ah…” He paused, looking a little confused. Though it had been so good the last few days, now, his knowledge of the English language failed him now.
”I mean…”, he started again but didn’t know how to go on. Then another way he could say it occurred to him.
”Don’t think about it. I can fully understand you if you don’t want to go in there.”
Relieved that he finally had brought it out what he had wanted to say, he looked at the girl and smiled – a little shy again. He had been so happy about the progress he had made in speaking this foreign language and now he had stumbled over such an insignificant comment. Now, afterwards, the right phrase crossed his mind. Don’t mind, he thought. The exact translation from German into English just was completely wrong. At least, his German accent wasn’t as thick anymore as it had been when Logan had found him. There still was hope.

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

”May I ask what your other shape looks like?”

Sarah's eyes fell away from Kurt and back onto the water again, darkening slightly. The question didn't so much offend her, but the only response her mind could bring up was the description her parents told her her ex had told them; 'some kind of weird cat-lizard monster'. With a small scowl she realized he was the reason she was here, and the thought threatened to consume her. Thankfully, the more physically aware part of her consciousness chimed in to point out that her facial expressions may be misinterpreted and it would be best to answer the blue man, lest she give him the wrong idea. "To be honest, I've never gotten a proper look at myself when it happens." Sarah spoke quietly, her expression softened though she didn't look away from the water. "I know it hurts...and I get claws and scales and fur, and it's all black." A soft breeze ran ripples across the nearly calm surface of the pool, further distorting the bottom of it as well as fanning a bit of the young mutants hair into her face. Again, Sarah shook her head, lifting her left hand to tuck the few stray locks of hair behind her ear. Again, the smile came out and she looked at Kurt once more. "I flew once, but I don't really remember it." The young redhead admitted, trying not to think of why she'd flown.

Sarah followed Kurt to the chair with her kind gaze, rather happy that she hadn't let herself be distracted from this encounter by...unnecessary thoughts. He mentioned the pool and she glanced back at it briefly, remembering the cold water. When he seemed to struggle a bit with his words, she listened patiently, observing him with her head tilted slightly to the left, a small curious smile unfolding on her lips.

”Don’t think about it. I can fully understand you if you don’t want to go in there.”

"Well, I do, but it's very cold...and...I don't want to shock myself is the thing. My..." Here she paused, bit down slightly on her lower lip and furrowed her brow, looking for the right word. "...mutation, it seems to be triggered by shock, or my heart rate." When she'd first arrived, Professor Xavier had continually referred to it not as a mutation, but a 'gift', but Sarah still couldn't make the association; gift's weren't supposed to be painful. "Could I ask you something?" Sarah didn't wait for a reply. "Your accent...is it German?" Being vaguely familiar with the dialect and rather curious about Europe in general, Kurt's way of speaking intrigued her almost as much as his appearance.

[Kurt Wagner]

It seemed obvious to him that her powers were a bad topic. Though he had asked quite politely, he was afraid she would be offended by his question. Her face darkened and even when she looked at down at the pool, Kurt had a feeling she might lose control and automatically he tensed a little so he could teleport immediately – just in case.
But when she spoke to him again, he saw that his conclusion had been wrong. It was a bad topic, but she wouldn’t attack him or whatever he had expected. He silently called himself a fool and relaxed.
In fact, Sarah’s mutation really sounded quite bad. She couldn’t remember anything and it hurt – it was the first mutation of which Kurt heard that seemed to have no positive aspects. Of course, flying was cool, but not to remember it… that was just too bad.
When he had gone over to the chair and tried to lighten up the atmosphere a little, it obviously hadn’t been the right way.

”Well, I do, but it’s very cold… and… I don’t want to shock myself is the thing. My…. Mutation, it seems to be triggered by shock, or my heart rate.”

Sarah’s pause shortly reminded him of his own lack of words but he was sure that she knew the English language well enough. In fact, he suspected she was unhappy with the professor’s term “gift” and he could understand it. He had never seen his powers as a gift – not with paired with this strange appearance that made his life harder than it had to be.
While he thought about her powers, a little pause came into their conversation before Sarah changed to a lighter topic.

”Could I ask you something?” Of course, this question was just rhetorical and she didn’t wait for him to answer.
”Your accent… is it German?”

Kurt made a face before he grinned. It was just too easy for everybody to guess where he came from.
”Yeah, right. Is it still that obvious?”
He tried to look at her contritely and hoped it would cheer her up a little. It was just than that it struck him – he was starting to behave like a clown! Lorna probably would be very angry with him. This thought brought him back to a grin.

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

Sarah was glad to see Kurt grin at the question, for a second she felt that maybe she'd been too forward, but she was was genuinely interested in where he came from. Her smile widened and her eyes fluttered down when he asked "Is it still that obvious?” and she couldn't help letting a small laugh from forming and vanishing quickly just in her throat. It wasn't derisive; rather more amused at the whole scene. "Well, yeah, but I like it." Sarah blushed slightly, again hoping she wasn't being too forward. Another breeze pushed passed them, causing the water to glint in its erratic yet calm sort of way, and again the redhead pushed back her hair, wondering if maybe she should've brought a hair tie. "I've always wanted to go to Germany..." Her tone became lofty, and again she looked at Kurt. "You're English is still very good, how long have you been here?"

As sincere as the statement was, it still made Sarah feel slightly awkward as she wasn't used to complimenting others. It was just one of those things she'd never considered before. Her stomach gave a random lurch and her heart rate hitched slightly, causing her a mild amount of surprise, though it didn't effect her demeanor, she simply focused her breathing and continued smiling at her new acquaintance. Silently, Sarah fought back the awkward wave of emotions she'd been hiding from for so many days now. It would be far too uncomfortable and strange a scene for her to break down right there after being so pleasant. She may have only known the blue mutant for a matter of minutes now, she felt he didn't deserve to bear witness to her problems. No one did.

[Kurt Wagner]

Kurt couldn’t help but to laugh when she told him that she liked his accent.
”Really, I don’t think anybody every liked so much about me, except perhaps for my mother.”, he grinned and his eyes sparkled with amusement.

”I’ve always wanted to go to Germany…”

Unwillingly, his eyebrows lifted. Obviously, Germany was more popular here than he had ever anticipated.
”I had to promise Lorna to show her around in Munich. You can come, too.”, he told her, still grinning since this journey to Germany hadn’t be planned at all but was some kind of joke. But who knew, if it wouldn’t perhaps come true one day?

”Your English is still very good, how long have you been here?”

Now it was his turn to look at the small waves on the pool. He frowned slightly while he was thinking about it and counting the days.
”Actually, I can’t tell you exactly. This is my fifth day here.”
He paused, not sure whether to tell her about the time before or not. But since she had been so honest to him, he decided to go on.
”Before that, I’ve been on the run. It sounds quite adventurously, but I’ve been kind of kidnapped and brought to America. Thanks to my powers I could escape but it was a completely new experience for me that people are scared of my appearance and think I was a daemon.”
Again, there was this topic he didn’t want to think about anymore. As a mirror to his mood, the tips of his ears slightly hung down and he stared at the pool absently.

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

Sarah let out a little gasp of excitement when Kurt invited her to Munich. Her whole face lit up and her posture straightened as she held her small hands up to her chest. "Really? That would be so cool!" She gushed, happier than she remembered being in a long time. When her heart thrummed up a notch though, she quickly toned herself down, not wanting to frighten or -god forbid- hurt the curious looking blue man.

It wasn't difficult to hold down her zeal after she saw how Kurt reacted to her question about how long he'd been in the States. Obviously, it had struck a nerve, and Sarah felt a little guilty for her prying questions. Quietly she listened to his brief explanation of the events he'd currently gone through. As vague as it was, it sounded very trying, Sarah didn't think she would've been able to handle anything like it at all. He mentioned that his powers would've helped him escape and she wondered what it was he could do. She daren't ask though, for fear of prying to much.

Her brow knit together at the mention of being thought of as a demon. That didn't sound right to the female mutant at all. Gray-green eyes flicked up and down, taking Kurt in for a few seconds before forming a small assessment. In a soft voice the young girl spoke up, eyes resting on the tip of one suddenly listless looking pointed ear. "I don't think you look like a demon at all." The corners of her mouth twitched upward ever so slightly at the next comment she made. "More like...a furry blue elf." Sarah hoped he wouldn't be insulted by the comparison and quickly tried to scramble up a compliment that would show she meant well.

Unfortunately she couldn't think of anything, and a little nervously (but with calm, controlled breathing still) she glanced furtively about, as if there may be some magic object or some such to make sure he wouldn't be offended and leave. Again, the pool caught her eye and she realized that the minutes were ticking away. "Hey." Sarah spoke up rather abruptly. "Wanna swim? Er...well, you don't have to, I was just figuring..." She fidgeted slightly, the words falling from her mouth before she could form a complete thought. The redhead was trying her hardest to tie swimming in with their conversation because right now she really wanted both. "It's gonna take me a little while to get in, so I was just gonna sit at the edge, and I'd hate to be rude and sit with my back to you." The explanation spilled out of her mouth a little fast, and she hoped he'd caught it all, but as far as social interactions went Sarah thought she was doing rather well for herself.

[Kurt Wagner]

Seeing Sarah so happy about the invitation to Munich, Kurt smiled.
”Of course. Only, it probably will take some time until we can go on this journey.”
He winked at her, enjoying her excitement – although it obviously wasn’t good for whatever creature was resting inside her.
But with telling her what had happened to him the last days or weeks, his good mood vanished and again a deep sadness overcame him that even let his good memories fade out. It left only the memories of the kidnapping tour, being drugged and caged, and then the escape from all those people who had hunted him.

”I don’t think you look like a demon at all. More like… a furry blue elf.”

Kurt turned his gaze at her looking doubtfully. But the sad look slowly disappeared and made place for a small smile. An elf sounded much better than a demon. Though, he had never heard of an elf that was blue or furry. But who cared? Elves didn’t even exist, so why not?
He was so lost in thoughts that he didn’t even realize how the time went by in silence. But it was no awkward silence. It somehow was nice to have Sarah around and he didn’t feel the need of talking all the time with her.

”Hey. Wanna swim? Er… well, you don’t have to, I was just figuring…”

Kurt looked up at her, seeing that the idea hat struck her and she was a little embarrassed by it. She went on with her explanation and he again looked at the pool doubtfully.
”You know… I’m not sure if I like water that much. Besides, I don’t even have any swimwear. I didn’t really have the time to pack my things, you know.”
Though he had every reason to sound bitter, he smiled at his words.
”But I have to admit that I have never been to a swimming pool before and I am a little… curious.”
Of course, that was the understatement of the century. He was more than just a little curious.

[Sarah Ray Morgan]

Sarah was rather surprised to find that he'd never been near a swimming pool. Growing up with swim lessons almost every summer, she had simply associated pools with childhood her whole life. "Well, if you don't have and swimwear I guess it'd be difficult to swim." Sarah glanced down at herself, just now realizing she'd been standing on one flip-flop. Almost automatically she slipped the other one off, stepping on to the warm sunbathed light brown concrete surrounding the current object of their conversation. "But, you could still sit at the edge with me if you'd like." She offered in a kind, almost meek voice. Pushing for the pool made her feel a bit selfish, even though it was the entire reason she was there, wearing a swimsuit. With the side of one foot she pushed her discarded flip-flops aside as a sort of silent invite to the furry blue 'elf'. "I like swimming, it's very calming." The redhead smiled, turning slightly and dipping one foot into the water before bringing it back up again, toes slightly curled. "Still cold." She muttered partially to herself, glancing back at Kurt with a shy smile.