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After face-timing her parents for an hour — which was extremely hard to do, considering how far Brazil was — Arden found herself changing into a swimsuit for the pool. She was never a fan of bikini's, so she was only fitted into a plain black one-piece. When she walked out of her dorm, she had a towel wrapped around her neck, a pair of shorts to cover herself until she arrived at the pool, and a pair of flip-flops. To the eye of any other Vanderbilt student, she must've looked too casual, but Arden really couldn't care.
Arriving at the pool, she noticed that there was a lot of people for a Thursday afternoon, but didn't think too much of it. She found a deck chair to set her stuff down on, and began to slip off her shorts to get into the pool.
Swimming had never been one of Theo's big things. Being an Ace student, he knew how to swim and was relatively good at it, but that was only thanks to his athletic abilities in other areas. For the most part, he swam only for pleasure. He had been hanging around the pool for a while now, chatting up some cute boys on the swim team when he saw a brief flash of familiar looking blonde hair. Another glance in her direction made sure that he had been right, Arden had come to swim. Looking back at one of the particularly handsome boy he whispered something softly to him before getting up and making his way towards Arden. She wasn't wearing the most revealing bathing suit in the world, but any normal bathing suit still showed a lot of skin. Theo himself was wearing only some swimming trunks and he figured that he could have some serious fun with Arden today."Lovely day isn't it?" He said airily, sitting down in the chair next to Arden.
"Theo, in case you don't remember." He added with a smile, a total the gentleman today.
"Shit," she breathed out from surprise. She looked up at Theo, only to see him sitting beside her and smiling. Assuming that he was smiling at her current appearance, she reached for the towel on her chair and wrapped it around her torso to conceal most of her body. "I, uh, I remember who you are," Arden told him, raising her eyebrows in confusion. She didn't forget people easily, especially people with a personality like his, so there wasn't any point in repeating his name to her.
"Have you been here this entire time?" she asked. After their encounter in the dining hall, a week had passed where Arden had the pleasure of avoiding him at all costs. At least, until today. And it wasn't even a normal meeting circumstance; no, because she was wearing a swimsuit and he was shirtless. Definitely not normal.
"Aww, I feel so loved." Theo replied dryly as she swore under her breath. His smile grew even more wicked as she reached not too subtly to wrap a towel around her, covering some of her revealed skin. That didn't stop Theo from looking her up and down, not bothering to hide what was going on in his mind. He looked like what people often describe as "mentally undressing someone". "I liked the view before." He complained softly, ignoring her comment about remembering him. Of course she did, he was hardly forgettable. He had meant the comment just to be sort of nice and polite, but it hadn't really worked.
"No, I saw you from across the room, and I couldn't miss the chance to talk to a beautiful girl again." He flirted, his voice soft and gentle. He didn't want to scare her away, not before he had some fun with her. He loved playing with people's emotions, especially people like Arden. Crossing his arms over his stomach Theo turned away from her and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and tilting his face into the sunlight that filtered in from the window on the roof.
A scoff fell from her lips from the numerous of compliments he managed to have for her in under five minutes. When Theo closed his eyes, Arden took that chance to drop the towel back on her chair and walk towards the edge of the pool. Before diving in, she looked up at the sun beaming through the roof, then around the area. Theo still seemed occupied with whatever it was that he was doing, so she took that moment of silence with a happy smile. Arden then dove into the pool, swimming towards the center of the pool, then surfacing.
Her feet barely reached the bottom of the pool, seeing as different parts of it had different depths, so she had to stand on the tips of her toes to keep her chin above the water. Her hands found her hair, combing it out so that it didn't look haphazard with the water.
Theo had been sure that Arden would be one of those girls who would eventually fall for the bad boy routine. As much as she hated it, she eventually would fall in love with the mysterious puzzle that was Theodore Cassian. Apparently though, she wasn't falling for it as fast as he had been hoping for. Theo was willing to put in some work to have some fun with people once and a while, but he didn't have the patience to wait all that long. Taking a few more moments to relax in the sun, Theo let the rays of light play over his skin, warming him up to the bone. When Theo opened his eyes, Arden had disappeared and for a moment he thought that she had left completely, but soon he spotted her in the pool. Grinning he sat down by the edge of the pool, sticking his feet into the water. He gently kicked his legs so the water leaped up to splash Arden. After a moment He slipped into the water and waded over to her.
"Really though. You're beautiful." He said so quietly that he was sure that she could hardly hear it. Theo wasn't some love struck teenager, but he was trying to figure out the best way to get Arden to like him back so he could finally make out with her.
When Theo sat at the edge of the tool and began to kick the water at her, Arden found herself chuckling, shielding her face with her hands raised. She lowered them down to her sides when he got into the water. She curiously watched as he moved over to her, now standing beside her. She waited for him to pull one of his antics, but was instead surprised to hear him something. "Huh?" she asked, as she couldn't hear what he said.
Theo was undeniably attractive, she'd give him that. There were plenty of males in the school that Arden genuinely found pleasing to the eye, but just like everybody else, Theo had a sour personality that she couldn't get close too. She had to continuously look down at her hands wading in the water or adjust her stance on the tips of her toes to keep from ogling at him.
"You're beautiful." Theo repeated, a little bit louder this time. He didn't see why he couldn't have a little bit of fun in the pool with a pretty girl, so for the moment he let go of his sour personality. He just wanted to relax, and talk to this girl, no malicious intent required. Of course, endgame goal was and always will be to get her into a room alone and be able to kiss her. Not kiss her nicely, kiss her until she couldn't think about anything else. For now though, he just let himself relax and talk to her. Since Arden hadn't seemed to mind the splashing too much he flicked a hand in the water, splashing water all over her.
"Oh, sorry, nervous tick." He teased, smiling. He was tall enough to stand next to Arden and not have to be on his toes, but he could see that she was struggling to keep her head above water.
"Don't your feet hurt?" He asked, as though totally perplexed.
Immediately, the blush settled on her cheeks. She considered dunking her head under the water until she was positive that the heat left from her face, but she'd probably be even more embarrassed when she lifted her head back up. So, Arden could only slap at the water to splash him back. "Should check that tick out. Make sure it's not Tourette's," she muttered sarcastically, though with a distracted look on her face.
Still hung up on his blatant compliment — which she wasn't even sure why it was so important to her — she furrowed her eyebrows when he asked about her feet. "Like... right now? I mean, just a bit."
Theo smirked at the look on her face. That bright blush was quickly become Arden's patented look around him. Not that he minded. Again, Theo liked to know that he affected people like this. That he could make people laugh when he wanted to, or scream, or cry, or blush. He liked to have reminders that he could read people's emotions and manipulate them just as easily. He moved back in surprise as splashed water back at him, grinned at her comment before shaking his head like a dog, water droplets flying everyone in little crystal drops. "I am very tempted to pick you up right now, just to give your feet a rest." He said earnestly, giving her his best innocently smitten high-school-boy look.
Arden raised her hands to deflect the water droplets from his hair, but the playful action didn't change the small smile on her face. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then went back to fixing her hair. Her eyebrows raised curiously, and she asked, "Really?" Arden had never been one to have trouble swimming, save for instances like these where she'd balance on the tips of her toes, so his suggestion made her chuckle. "You don't have to. Wouldn't it be hard for you to keep yourself above the water while carrying me?" she asked, tilting her head.
Theo smirked at her. He wasn't crazy tall, but once you were 6 feet or more, you could do most things any tall person could do. That included being able to go into deep water and still be able to touch the bottom. Short people had to learn to tread water very well, or tip-toe like Arden was doing."No, see, I'm tall, so I can just walk along the bottom. Unlike you, shorty." He teased gently, grinning at her.
"Do you want me to prove it?" He asked and then went right ahead and picked her up bridal style. In the water it was always easier to pick people up because of the lack of gravity.
"See?"
As soon as she was in his arms, a surprised squeak fell from her lips and she wound her arms around his shoulders, holding tightly. "Holy hell, you better not fall," Arden said, tilting her head to look down at him, which she regretted instantly. Their faces were just a bit too close to comfort, and as she too-familiar heat rose to her cheeks, she turned her head to look away.
As the early afternoon settled into the evening, students were beginning to leave. The pool was still rather crowded, but Arden could tell that it'd be closing for the night soon. She turned her head to look down at Theo, focusing her gaze on his. "I'm not that short... Just take me to the shallow side and I'll be fine with standing on my own."
((because we're all busy with our daily lives... but this rp is still going on. i can't be the only one to make a decision, so we should wait until max returns.))
((Plot wise, do you want them to start dating? (Or Theo's version of dating) which definitely involves cheating))Theo smiled at her endearing little squeak when he picked her up. Sloshing over to the shallow end of the pool, Theo let his gaze settle on her face before flicking down for a short moment before coming back up to her face again. Even if she wasn't wearing one of those crazy revealing bikini swimsuits, there was still a lot of skin to be seen, and that was exactly what Theo wanted to see.
As a joke, once they got to shallower water, Theo dropped Arden, catching her right before she hit the water. It was times like these where playing sports was very useful. Finally letting her down he set her on her feet where it was shallow enough for her to stand.
"Want to go get dinner?" He asked casually, giving her a sideways glance.
((at some point, yeah... it'd be an interesting plot point, since arden doesn't actually realize what his version of dating is and she just assumes that they're a traditional couple. so, when she does find out the truth, well...))
After carrying her through the water and then placing her back on her feet, Arden swatted at his arm for having thrown her, even if it was jokingly. Despite the violent response, there was still a smile on her face. In the shallow end of the pool, the water reached to just above his hips. She couldn't help but notice the droplets of water that trailed down the ends of his hair, ran along the lines of his chest, only to end up in the pool. Before her gaze could trail down just a bit lower, she glanced up to meet his gaze, raising an eyebrow.
"Dinner?" she echoed curiously. What time was it? Arden looked over her shoulder, only to notice that the sun outside the windows had almost set and her and Theo were part of the handful of students that were still at the pool. Glancing back at Theo, she bit down on the inside of her cheek. Dinner couldn't be so bad. She survived breakfast with him, and he was being somewhat tolerable today. Surely she could survive dinner. Arden nodded, and said, "Dinner would be great."
((Yep I'm being a roleplay stalker and saying. I might have to murder Theo if he hurts Arden. Okay... I am leaving now...))
((Well, you might just have to murder him then))
((Oh I will. I'm already sharpening my torture weapons.))
((Alright! Just wondering))Theo was not an observant person. He was the type of guy who would notice you had gotten a haircut 2 weeks after, if he noticed it at all. The type of guy who would walk outside with shorts and T-shirt on because he hadn't realized that it was actually snowing. But the one thing he was good at seeing, was when he saw someone who was good-looking, or when someone who was good looking, looked at him. And right now, Arden was definitely looking at him. Not just seeing him, but really looking at him. Smirking at her he raised an eyebrow, momentarily dropping back into his normal narcissistic personality.
"Like what you see?" He murmured seductively before switching back to innocent-teenage-boy-Theo. Smiling brightly at her he pulled himself out of the pool, sitting on the edge with his feet in the water.
"Awesome! Dinner it is."
((#ardenprotectionsquad))
Arden bit down on her lip, following after him and lifting herself up onto the edge of the pool. However, instead of sitting next to him, she rose to her feet and padded over to her chair. She grabbed her towel and immediately wrapped it around her to fight off the sudden wave of cold air that was hitting her. She walked back over to Theo, pulling the towel close.
"Yeah... But, dinner on campus?" She asked. She was fine with having dinner in the dining hall, but if he said Wilmington, then that was a different story. It would entail something completely different. Arden stopped biting down on her lip, only to bite on her cheek, waiting for his answer.
Theo watched her walk over to get her towel, enjoying the view from behind ((Seriously, Theo is the worst kind of guy)). He was a bit disappointed at how quickly she disappeared into her towel but he knew that eventually he was going to be able to get more than just a view of her in a swimsuit. In Theo's mind, the less clothing the better. Theo grabbed his own towel and put it around his neck, giving Arden a sly smile."Well, I was perhaps suggesting a trip to a less student infested place. But whatever the lady wishes, she shall have." He answered with a shrug. He had been hoping for a date to Wilmington but he was still wary about scaring Arden away. She wasn't as bold as most of the girls he went after, but that just made it even more fun.
"Then... dining hall it is," she concluded, nodding her head as a second confirmation. "I, um..." Arden turned around to walk back to the chair, remembering that she left her pair of shorts there. She quickly dropped the towel to slip her legs through them, then wrapped the towel around her again. She slipped her feet into her sandals, then walked back over to Theo. "Do we go now? Or, do we shower, not together, and then meet up at the dining hall?"
It hadn't been unexpected when Arden had preferred the dining hall, but Theo was still annoyed with her decision. How was he supposed to seduce her if she wouldn't let him take her anywhere vaguely romantic. At the same time though, Theo was glad she had chosen to stay in the dining hall because he wasn't sure he could actually pay for a proper meal at a restaurant until his next paycheck came in from work. Theo found it amusing how quickly she was able to keep herself almost completely covered when most girls didn't think twice about wearing a swimsuit.
"I think a shower together sounds like a great idea." He smirked at her and winked, but he knew that she would never allow anything like that. Even the thought of it was probably enough to make her blush. He did want to continue his conversation with on of the very good-looking boys on the swim team though, so he was fien with retreating back to the boys change-room.
"Fine, meet you there in like 15 minutes?" He asked, or more demanded before striding off, giving the swim boy a smirk before they both disappeared into the change room.
The look in his eyes instantly told her that he was anticipating her blush. Try as she might, the confidence that she tried to ooze only failed, and she indeed began to glow red, fighting a small smile. However, the expression faltered when he suddenly changed his mood and stalked away from her.
Arden sighed, pulling her towel just a bit closer, then turning on her heel and walking towards the exit. Stupid boys and their stupid mood swings. And fifteen minutes? Arden may not go over the top with her appearance, but she needed at least an hour to get ready. She heaved a sigh, then picked up her pace towards her dorm.
Theo had realized not too much later that 15 minutes definitely wasn't enough time. For Arden, she was probably going to need some time to get dressed and stuff, and for Theo, he didn't quite want to leave his new handsome swim boy quite yet. But since he figured Arden was going to need more time, he didn't rush as he sat in the corner of the change room making out with the guy until he knew that he really did have to leave. After getting dressed in jeans and a sweater Theo made his way to the dining hall and chose a table by the windows. Putting his feet up on the window ledge he waited impatiently for Arden.
((oof,, sorry for taking so long... should we move to the dining hall?))
