A Cinematic Vision Ensued [Nicki]

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

It was a perfect day to visit the water park. Asia would not be regretting this spur-of-the-moment decision. Even if it had been overcast and pouring rain, though, she would have tried to make the most of it. The junior had been going through her homework that morning, looked out the window, and decided she needed to do something. Something fun and impulsive. It was Saturday, after all. As soon as she had stepped outside, she decided it was a good day for a visit to a water park. Of course, she couldn't go alone. A quick scan of the grounds returned no possible companions, though. Undettered, she spent the next 30 minutes tracking down people and asking them to abandon their responsibilities for a day. The school year had begun in force, now, and most people were loaded down with homework, which made her task that much harder. And then she'd spotted Nicki.

Well.... less spotted, more like invited herself into his dorm. It hadn't taken long before she talked him into coming with her. She felt a little bad, because the freshman probably didn't want to come, but he'd said yes because he was Nicki. The junior decided to try and make it up to him. She started by strongly suggesting that they take the bus despite the freshman's obvious dislike of buses. They got there so much faster than they would have by walking, so Asia felt justified. And terribly guilty.

Upon emerging from the locker rooms, the junior decided that now she would start making it up to him. She looked around, taking in the smell of chlorine, the sound of splashing and laughter, and the sight of crowds of people running around and n general having a good time. But she couldn't see her friend. For a moment the junior worried that he'd turned around and gone back to Sabal Palm. Would he do something like that? No, he wouldn't.... would he? She reviewed their interaction thus far. She had busted into his room, demanded that he come to the water park with her and hauled him down here on public transportation. Asia bit her lip and shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously. This wasn't looking too promising.

Just when her worrying was about to peak, she turned in a full circle and caught sight of the freshman, just now stepping out into the park. She laughed at her pointless worrying and walked over to him. ”For a second I thought you'd left me here. I wouldn't blame you, honestly. Ready to go?” She looked around, taking stock of her surroundings. Slides on one end, kiddy park on the other, and an assortment of pools in between. Fantastic. She turned to look at Nicki again and noticed that he didn't look very prepared to swim, so she asked, ”Where do you want to go first?”

[Nicki Burne Michigan]

Nicki had been having a good day; happily hanging out in his dorm, finishing up the last of his weekend homework and listening to music. He had even had some snack food to chow down on, just to make his perfect day even better than it was. His annoying roommate was gone, and for once he got the room to himself, which meant enough sleep and better grades for the freshman. He yawned, rolling over on his back and staring at the ceiling before there was a soft knock on the door. The pika shifter was already sitting up at full attention when Asia opened the door, proclaiming that he had to go to the water park with her. What and why were the two questions that crossed his head, but they never passed his lips.

Nicki Michigan had never learned how to say no, even if one of his friends asked him to go on a killing spree. Sighing, he had grabbed a few things before being practically dragged out the door and forced into a public transportation bus a few blocks away from the school. These things were just… horrible. Nicki had never liked them, and he probably never would. True to his animal, the freshman didn’t like small spaces unless they were absolutely his. Sure, he practically lived in the enclosed space that some people called a dorm room, but it was his. Or, at least half of it was. This bus was small and enclosed and it smelled bad. He just didn’t like it, but Asia didn’t seem to hear his protests. She was normally nicer than this…

The pika had to admit that they had gotten here faster than if they had walked, and that was put into great consideration due to the fact that the freshman was only about five feet tall and therefore didn’t walk very fast. Sure, he could walk for long periods of time over long distances without getting tired, but he didn’t do it at the speed of sound. But just because they had gotten here fast, he didn’t have to like it.

The locker rooms were another thing entirely. Nicki didn’t swim. Ever. That was that, and nothing Asia said could change him. In fact, he wasn’t sure that he even had a swimsuit… That guess was confirmed by the fact that in his rush, he had only packed some shorts and a white v-neck shirt. That was embarrassing. He was sure that his junior guardian would be amused by his predicament, but he wasn’t going to mention it. He quickly changed, stuffing the clothes he had come here in into the bag, which was then crammed into one of the lockers. It didn’t matter if someone stole it; Nicki could deal with walking back to school in shorts, as long as he had a shirt, too.

This was going to be eventful, the freshman could tell that much already. Sighing and stuffing his hands into his pockets, Nicki looked around. Should he just ditch Asia and go back to the school? No, that would be mean, and the innocent kid was sure that she would never do the same thing to him. Apparently, he was just going to have to tolerate Asia dragging him around the park the rest of the day. It couldn’t be too bad, could it? As long as the freshman found some way to weasel his way out of swimming, he would be fine. If Asia wouldn’t see through his little plans to the fact that he just didn’t like water, that was.

He smiled hesitantly at her worries. ”No… I wouldn’t abandon you,” he said softly, looking around the park. Too many pools, and the smell of chlorine was overwhelming. This was going to be a long day. But where did he want to go? Back to Sabal High, but he wasn’t about to tell Asia that. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings. ”Uhm… I don’t know… Wherever you want to go, I guess…” As long as it didn’t involve water, he was happy with it. Sadly, this was a water park, and it didn’t look like little Nicki was going to get his way. This was another time that knowing how to say no would have come in handy…