Bristle Crios had an amazing range of facilities to suit every student who studied there. For students like Cas, who lived on campus, those facilities were something of a godsend, providing activities out of hours. She was friendly enough, but she hadn't really made any real friends yet. It was tough to do that when you spent most of your time under water one way or another. That was what she was doing now, making use of the swimming pool to push herself hard once again. It was a pretty solitary way to spend her time, but since she wasn't that academically minded, she tended to focus on sports and physical training anyway. Her one concession to academia at B.C was Marine Science, and she was already struggling with that. But being able to spend time in the pool, usually deserted at this hour, she could lose herself in the feel of the water and her own mind, and sometimes concepts in class suddenly made sense after a while.

Even for those who weren't living on campus, there were few facilities that were off limits to those studying there, and though Matt preferred King's Cove for swimming, it was turning quiet and lonely this time of year, now that surf season was nearing an end. Besides, the cute girl he'd met at the aquarium liked to hang around the pool, so there was an added incentive to swimming indoors - so long as she wasn't disgusted by his obvious mutation.

She hadn't been disgusted by his gills when they'd first met at the aquarium - there was no reason to think she would suddenly have changed her mind. All right, so maybe she was a little too focused on swimming, but it was more to push herself than to push anyone away. And she was good, there was no doubt about that. Her time from one end to the other was impressive, no matter what stroke she used. It gave off the impression that she'd spent a lot of time in the water since she was little. Breathless, she clung to the side of the pool, wiping the water from her eyes as she tested her pulse, timing it to give her breathing a chance to even out, oblivious for now to the fact that she wasn't alone.

He'd watched her lap the pool from the sidelines, not because he was interested in challenging her, but because he was impressed by the obvious skill she had in the water. Now, how to approach her without freaking her out or making her think he was stalking her" "You should join the swim team," he suggested, making himself known at last as he stepped out into the open, clad in swim trunks and a t-shirt, a towel tossed around his neck. If there was a swim team.

She looked up, surprised by not startled, recognizing him not only from class but from that meeting at the aquarium. "I thought you were going to," she said cheerfully. "Matt, right?" She didn't bother getting out of the pool, tucking her arms onto the side to hold her head out of the water as she looked up at him.

Matt shrugged as he stepped closer, in splashing range but not quite close enough to join her in the pool just yet. "It doesn't seem fair, does it?" he asked, unsure whether it was or not. The student population at Bristle Crios was certainly diverse, but would it be cheating to have a meta-human on the team"

"Why would it be unfair?" she asked curiously, tilting her head as she looked at him. "It's only unfair if you use your gifts to win, and all yours gives you is a slight advantage over lifting your head above the water like me. I bet I could give you a run for your money with most of the strokes, and there's nothing special about me."

"Not exactly," he replied, though it was easier to show her what he meant by that than to try to explain. He tugged the towel from his neck and tossed it aside, before moving closer to take a seat at the pool's edge and dangle his feet in the water. "Watch."

"What am I watching?" she asked, twisting to look at his feet as he dangled them in the chlorinated water.

Though he preferred fresh or even salt water, the chlorine hardly deterred his body's ability to mutate so that he was more suited to water than land. It wasn't immediately noticeable, but over the course of a few minutes' time, Matt's feet changed noticeably, until they looked more like flippers than feet.

"Wow." Cas was Rhy'Din born and bred; the unusual side of life didn't really surprise her. "Okay, so maybe you have an advantage," she conceded, looking up at Matt's face with a smirk. "I still think I might be able to beat you in a two length race. I'm skinnier."

Relieved she hadn't turned away in disgust, Matt grinned. "Is that a challenge?" he asked, even as he tugged his t-shirt over his head and tossed it aside in the same general direction of his towel. He was pretty sure he could beat her in a race without much effort, but he admired her gumption.

"Uh, yeah," she laughed. "Why, scared of taking on a girl?" Grinning, she pushed herself up and out of the water, shaking the excess off as she climbed up onto one of the diving platforms. "Gotta make it fair."

"How's that make it fair?" he asked as he watched her. He didn't bother giving her a hand getting out of the pool, but mostly because she didn't really give him the chance to do so. He furrowed his brows as she made her way toward the diving platforms. "How so?" he asked curiously as he followed her to the deep end of the pool.

"Because you get more push diving in than I would pushing off the side," she pointed out with a grin. She raised a hand, beckoning to him. "C'mon, big guy. Show me what you're made of. I'll buy you a milkshake if you win."

"Okay, but I'm not gonna go easy on you just 'cause you're a girl," he told her with a grin, accepting her challenge. "What do you want if you win?" he asked curiously, as he shook his arms and stretched a little to warm up his muscles.

"Surprise me," she challenged laughingly. Despite her bravado, Cas was pretty sure she would be shelling out for a couple of milkshakes. She was good, but not good enough to beat his natural advantages, not unless he let her win. In which case ....that would certainly be interesting. Besides, he was cute. There wasn't any harm in spending time with a cute boy, was there"

If he'd been bolder, he might have wagered for a kiss, but he wasn't quite that bold, and he didn't want to scare her off. He thought she was cute, too, and though he was the more sociable of the two Foster brothers, he was still too much of a newcomer in Rhy'Din to have made many friends, so he didn't want to risk losing her friendship by crossing some unspoken boundary line. "Okay," he replied with a grin, bending forward to take a stance of readiness near the edge of the pool. "Whenever you're ready, hotshot," he challenged.

Rolling her shoulders, she bent into position herself, years of training like this making her fair more supple than she first appeared. "1-2-3-go, jumping on go," she clarified for him, to make sure they were on the same page. "1 ....2 ....3 ....go!" As she shouted go, she dove, taking in her breath just before she hit the water, her feet already kicking as she began her stroke.

Twenty minutes was all Cas needed. She wasn't the type to dry her hair before venturing outside; it was short enough to dry on its own without help in about an hour anyway. Clad in jeans and a tee of her own, she was outside right when she'd said she would be, leaning against the wall, hands in her pockets, looking ridiculously at home.

It didn't take him long either, though he had to wait for his hands and feet to return to normal, which slowed him down just a little. By the time he met her outside, his hair was almost dry, his hands were back to normal, and the flush had faded. He was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt over a t-shirt and jeans and a pair of navy blue Keds.

"Well, howdy there, fish food," she greeted Matt cheerfully, pushing off the wall to meet him as he came out. "Where do you fancy going" I got paid last week, I got money to burn."

"I'm not poor, you know," Matt said. Far from it, in fact, though his father had done little to support them once they'd left Rhy'Din. Still, they were related to the Grangers, if distantly, and the family had been more than generous and welcoming where they were concerned. "You working at the aquarium?" he asked, shouldering a pack as he fell into step beside her.

"Mmhmm," she nodded. Unlike him, she didn't carry a bag. After all, she was living in at the campus, so all she needed to carry was her wallet. "Just Saturdays now I'm at school, but they pay pretty well. Sunday is homework day." She grimaced as she said it. "I've seen you in the Marine Science lessons. How're you getting on with it?"

He shrugged. "I'm doing okay," he replied. He wasn't getting straight A's, but he wasn't flunking either. He was generally a B student, anyway, and Marine Science class was no exception. He seemed to have a flair for it. "I was kinda hoping to get a job ..." he started, frowning in obvious disappointment. He'd been hoping to get a job either at the aquarium or the surf shop, but the surf shop was too far to go without a car, and he hadn't heard anything from the aquarium yet.

"It's all Greek to me," Cas admitted with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not really the studenty kind, you know?" His disappointment made her smile. "When did you put your application in" It takes ages for them to get references and stuff."

"A week or so after my visit," he replied, frowning thoughtfully over at her. "If you're having trouble, maybe we could study together," he suggested. "You give me pointers on diving, and I'll help you with your homework."

"Sounds like you got yourself a deal," she smiled at him. "Who'd you put for your reference, by the way' Maybe you could give them a call, find out if they got contacted yet."

"Professor Granger," he replied. She'd been the only reference he'd given. After all, he didn't know that many people in Rhy'Din yet, and even fewer who might offer to serve as references who weren't actually related to him.

"The Prof?" Cas looked impressed. "Dude, you should call her! Seriously, if she's your reference, you don't even need an application. You got her number, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I think so. Somewhere," he said, slightly flustered. It seemed a little like nepotism to take advantage of that connection, but he though he and the professor were distantly related, he hardly knew her yet. "My choices are kind of limited. I haven't been in Rhy'Din that long."

"So call her," Cas chuckled. "Make the most of the connection, dude. I would. Hell, I had to beg to get the job. I think they only employed me out of pity." She snickered cheerfully at her description of herself. "Is her number in your phone?"

"Uh, I think so," he replied again, as uncertainly as before, or maybe he was just embarrassed. "Cas, uh ....there's something you should know ..." he started, unsure what she'd think once he told her. "The Professor and I are kinda sorta related. I mean, I didn't know that until recently, but yeah."

She raised a brow, not entirely sure what she was supposed to take away from that. "Congratulations?" she offered, walking a little closer. She had a definite aim in mind - she wanted hands on his phone now. "Is that supposed to change anything" It's not her I think is cute, it's you."

"No, I ..." He blinked, as she moved closer, furrowing his brows at her. "You think I'm cute?" he asked, echoing her words doubtfully. He couldn't have heard her right, could he"

"Well, yeah." She flashed him a grin, and her hand dove into his pocket, rummaging around for his phone. "If I didn't think you were cute, I wouldn't have asked you out, would I?"

He just about jumped out of his skin as she dove for his pocket, not only because he was ticklish but because, well, it was his pocket! "What are you doing?" he exclaimed, pulling away but not before she got a hold of his phone.

"Got it!" Grinning, she twisted to hold him off while she searched through his contacts. "You need a job, I want you to get the right job, and I'm totally shameless. So I'm gonna call the Prof and tell her you didn't get your invite yet."

"No, don't!" Matt pleaded, terrified she'd offend the professor in some way and blow his chances at getting the job. He had his pride, after all, and he wanted to earn this job on his own. "I'll call. Promise."

"Promise?" One hand on his chest and his phone held out as far as she could away from them, Cas grinned at him, daring him to say no. "Promise, swear, and cross your heart?"

He sighed. Girls were really silly sometimes, but he got her drift. If he really wanted this job, he was going to have to do more than just sit and wait and hope he got it. "Promise, swear, and cross my heart," he said, one hand going to cross his heart and brushing the hand that she still held against his chest. "Can I have my phone back now?" he asked, holding his hand toward her, palm upwards.

She considered him for a moment, and her grin broadened. "Good." Lunging forward, she kissed him square on the lips, and handed his phone back to him, tossing him a wink as she stuffed her hands in her pockets once again. "So ....milkshakes, wasn't it?"

That kiss, as innocent as it was, rendered him completely speechless, and he just stood there staring at her for a moment, wondering if that had really just happened and why. "Uh, yeah ..." he replied, obviously more than a little flustered and confused by that kiss. Friends didn't kiss friends on the lips, did they' He fell into step beside her again, silent for a long moment before admitting quietly, "I think you're cute, too."

She glanced up at him, her smile bright. "Thought so," was her cocky response. "Wasn't so hard to admit it, now, was it?" Chuckling, she nudged his arm, nodding toward an ice cream parlor nearby. "C'mon. These guys do great milkshakes."

"It's nice having a room of my own, though," she went on, seemingly oblivious to his discomfort. "I've been sharing with my brothers since I was big enough to sleep in a bed. Lemme tell you, that room smells awful after we had beans the night before." She giggled, slurping milkshake off her spoon.

"You shared a room with your brothers?" he asked, brows arching curiously. He remembered that she'd said she had four older brothers, but he'd assumed she at least had her own room. Though they had things in common, it seemed their family and economic backgrounds were very different.

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Our farmhouse isn't really very big, more like a cottage than anything. We were in the attic - no windows." She grinned. "My dad's room is colder than ours, though. He does have a window, but when it's cold outside, it gets in, no matter what you do."

Matt wasn't stupid by any means and he noticed she was telling him more about her family with what she didn't say than what she did. It was no big secret that his family was estranged from his father, and he was starting to notice how Cas never mentioned her mother. "What's your dad do for a living?" he asked, curiously, hoping not only to get to know her better, but answer his own question without coming right out and asking.

She smiled, playing her spoon through her shake. "He breeds rare sheep," she chuckled. "They have black wool, and lots of it, so it doesn't need more than washing before it can be woven, and it comes out softer and finer after it's been combed. My brothers work the farm with him, but I've never really been a sheep kind of girl."

"Oh," he replied, with a small frown. What was she going to think when she found out he was a senator's son and a distant relative of Humphrey Granger" It didn't matter to him that she was the daughter of a sheep-farmer, but it might matter to her. "How long's your mom been gone?" he asked, quietly, almost timidly as he stirred his shake with a spoon, almost afraid to meet her eyes.

"Long enough." Cas shrugged, shaking her head. "I never knew her, so I never missed her. My brothers do, sometimes, especially Orion. Altair and Rigel are just angry with her now, and Vega doesn't seem to care. She's the one who walked out on us when I was two days old."

He arched a brow, realizing also that, like her, all her brothers were named for constellations from Earth. He wondered, too, if she'd actually walked out or if something bad had happened to her, but he didn't want to poke that wound too much. "My dad sent my brother here when he could no longer hide his ....wings," Matt said, instead of "mutation".

"Well, that's kinda crummy," she said, not really understanding why anyone would send their children away, or walk out on them. "Did he send you away, too?"

Matt shook his head. "No, he wanted me to hide my ..." Once again, he struggled not to say the word mutation - a word that had been hammered into his brain by his father, who'd thought his own sons freaks of nature. Matt only gestured to the gills on his neck, that were barely visible unless he was in the water. "Mom finally had enough and brought me here." He didn't mention the heated argument that had taken place before that, or the fact that his mother was a Rhy'Din native, and that was where the mutation had most likely originated.

"Where you don't have to hide," Cas nodded. "I'm sorry about your parents not getting on any more. But I'm not sorry you're here. I guess that makes me kinda selfish, huh?"

Matt shrugged again. He didn't really want her pity, but he didn't mind her compassion. "It's better this way. After Luc left, all they did was fight. My mom ....she's from Rhy'Din, but I never knew that until recently. Anyway, this is home now, so ..."

"Kinda tough settling in, though, isn't it?" she said quietly. "I remember Earth, a little bit. I was about six when my dad moved us here - he's from Rhy'Din, too; my mom wasn't, not that I know of. We were in the city for a couple of years, and then he bought the farm and the land. And the sheep." She laughed at the mention of the sheep. "Don't let anyone tell you counting sheep to go to sleep works. It never did for me. I once got up to three hundred before I gave up."

"I have never counted sheep," Matt admitted with a smirk, a little relieved to find they had more in common than he'd originally thought. "If I have trouble sleeping, I just read something boring until I fall asleep," he explained, though he didn't say what he considered boring enough to put him to sleep.

"I used to go outside and watch the stars until I felt sleepy," Cas offered with a small smirk of her own. "Even in the snow. I have a window here, this big bay thing with a seat, so I might even be able to fall asleep watching the stars now."

"Do you miss it?" he asked curiously, for perhaps the first time finding a real connection to someone on Rhy'Din who wasn't related to him in one way or another. "Earth, I mean' I grew up in San Diego. I miss it sometimes, but I don't want to go back there."

"I miss being close to the sea," she admitted with a faint shrug. "We lived in Carlsbad, I know that. But I remember being able to get up and go straight to the sea. I guess that never really left me; I'm still fascinated by it."

"You're from California?" he asked, as if needing confirmation. How ironic was that' The city wasn't that far from San Diego. He'd even been there. "I miss the ocean, too," he added with a faint frown. It hadn't been that long since he'd come to Rhy'Din, and though he knew he was here to stay, there were somethings about Earth that just couldn't be duplicated. "I was wondering why you and your brothers were all named for constellations."

"My dad's a hippie," was the laughing answer to that. Cas shook her head. "I don't know why they decided to name us all after stars, but it made us stand out. At least I can make a nickname out of mine - Orion and Vega have never been able to get anyone to call them anything but their names."

"Well, Orion could be shortened to Rion, which isn't too bad, but I can't help you with Vega!" Matt replied, echoing her laughter. Now that the ice cream had melted a little, he tried to straw and was rewarded with a mouthful of chocolatey goodness for his efforts. He gave Cas a thumbs up and a grin.

She giggled around her own straw, glad he was enjoying the treat she'd offered on a whim. He was very easy to talk to, she was coming to realize, easier than some of the others they attended class with. So, cute and fun to be around ....it wasn't a bad combination. "Rigel's getting married in a few months," she offered, wanting to keep the conversation going. "His fiancee is threatening to make me a bridesmaid."

"What's wrong with that?" he asked, pausing a moment to sip up more of his milkshake. "Don't want to have to wear a dress?" he teased, hoping she didn't take any offense. She had already claimed that she wasn't very girly, but being female wasn't just about wearing a dress.

"So ....gonna bring me here sometime, are you, huh, huh?" she asked, nudging him a little more confidently with every word, her grin growing wider as she teased him. "Next time, I might even have brushed my hair."

He grinned back as she nudged him. "Oh, yeah, that might be an improvement," he teased back, unable to hide the grin from his face and ducking away from the swat he knew was probably coming his way.

"Hey!" But this wasn't a girl who did swats. This was a girl who was the youngest of five, all the rest of whom were boys. Cas launched herself at him, cackling with laughter as she made a creditable attempt to get her arm around his neck so she could stick her tongue in his ear.

"Hey!" he echoed, laughing as he tried to fight her off, his arms going around her to keep her from doing something gross with her tongue, resulting in him holding her a little too close for comfort and staring into her very green eyes.

Pinned in place, Cas giggled a little more quietly, meeting his gaze with the by-now familiar brightness of her smile. "Okay, love puppet, you got me," she conceded. "What are you gonna do with me, that's the big question."

"I don't know. I was thinking about maybe returning the favor," he said, meaning that kiss she had planted on him earlier. While not exactly toe-curling and more playful than passionate, the taste of her lips had been all too brief.

"You think too much," was her response to that. Her head jerked forward to plant another cheeky kiss on his lips before drawing back, another challenge laid down by the eternal optimist he had somehow managed to catch the attention of.

His eyes widened at she took advantage of the moment and planted another kiss on him before he had a chance to do it himself, and he found his face flushing pink again. He cleared his throat and glanced around quickly to see if anyone had been watching. "We should probably get going," he said, taking a last slurp of his milkshake.

She smiled, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed reluctantly. "You don't want to miss your ride home, do you?" The sparkle in her grin suggested she'd let him bunk on her windowseat if he did.

He laughed as he batted her hand away, the smile fading when she reminded him about his ride. "I guess not," he replied, sounding almost reluctant to part ways with her, but with any luck, he'd see her tomorrow. "You, uh ....You wanna meet up somewhere tomorrow" Maybe we could hang out or something."

"Sure, that sounds like fun," she agreed, dropping payment and a tip on the table with a wink to Trevin. "I'm free after Science tomorrow - what about you?"

"Me, too," he replied, sliding out of the booth and to his feet. "Maybe we can work on our homework together or something," he suggested, though that didn't sound like very much fun. Still, she'd hinted that she needed some help, and he was only too happy to do just that.

"Not so much fun, but necessary," she chuckled in agreement, easing up onto her feet beside him. "We could do both. Bring your trunks - you can patch up my science, and I can work on your dive."

"Sounds like a plan," he said with a smile, one hand reaching forward to tangle his fingers with hers. "See you tomorrow then, Cassi?" he asked, needing that little bit of assurance that she wouldn't blow him off on a whim.

"I said so, didn't I?" she countered, squeezing his hand. There was no objection to holding his hand, either; her fingers stayed wrapped in his as she drew him back outside. "One thing, though ....if you ever call me Pee, I will break your nose. I did it to Altair, and he's huge."

He laughed again. It would have never occurred to him to call her that, until she mentioned it. "Deal. Likewise, don't call em Hew," he told her, though it wasn't nearly as funny as Pee. As if on cue, his phone rang and he pulled it out to find it was his mother calling, probably wondering where he was. "Crap," he muttered. "It's my Mom."

"Should probably answer it, then," Cass grinned, stepping back to free up his hand. "I'll see you tomorrow, love puppet. Diving and homework, always a fun combo." She tipped him a salute and a wink, heading back to the campus and her own room for the evening.

"See you tomorrow!" he called as he waved back, watching her go even as he answered his phone to tell him mother where he was so she could pick him up. He knew she was going to have a lot of questions, but he hoped she'd be happy he was making friends - maybe even a girlfriend. He smiled at the thought of that, and touched a finger to his lips. Maybe his new life on Rhy'Din wasn't so bad after all.