The Raven's Nightingale

#3 Stay Above Water

I don't know why I had agreed to do this. I was exhausted from having just finished working a 14-hour night shift at the hospital, and now I was sitting on a set of uncomfortable metal bleachers with the longest pool I had ever seen stretching out in front of me all the way to the other end of the building. I wasn't good with being around big crowds like this, there were too many loud people gossiping on the bleachers.

I don't know why I agreed to come to this competition of his. Maybe it was because it was the first real personal thing that Mac had ever asked me to go to, or maybe it was because this swimming competition was the first thing that I had seen him take a real competitive interest in that didn't involve a crime of any sort. Either way I was finally able to rest my feet with an actually warm cup of coffee in my hands trying to ignore the chatter as I waited for Mac to come out from the changeroom and complete his heat.

After finalizing the divorce with my now ex-wife, I needed something besides work to help keep my mind occupied during this rough patch, so this was mildly helpful. I lifted my head up when I heard the crowds begin to cheer and scream.

On the far side of the pool, coming through the tiled doorway of the male changerooms were eight very athletic looking males all dressed in thin goggles, various coloured swimming caps, and bright coloured, tight speedos. I glanced between the swimmers as they were walking down towards the left side of the pool, searching for any sign of Mac. I found him walking in the middle of the line as they all lined up behind their launching points.

Mac didn't even notice me sitting in the stands, he was so deeply concentrated on the task that he was about to perform. I couldn't help but chuckle as I could see his hands clench and unclench at his sides, a sure sign of his true eagerness and nervousness.

As the crowd was cheering loud enough to make a person start to go deaf and the ref was talking with the competitors, I tried to busy my eyes with anything that I could find so that I didn't wind up drifting off to sleep before the competition even started. My eyes drifted back to the starting positions where the men were getting up onto their jumping blocks after nothing else in the room piqued my interest.

Mac liked to look good which is why I wasn't surprised to see how much solid muscle there really was on him underneath his usually tight but more conservative attire. But seriously, how the fuck did he manage to stay that fit, there wasn't an inch of fat on him anywhere. Mac's body looked like it was sculpted from marble completely smooth and hard, well at a distance anyway.

However, I had grown up with Mac and I knew of his not so happy past better than most people, the scar on his back that was hidden just behind his shoulder blade, and the scar that was hidden in the lines of his prominent four-pack. I could hear some of the women that were sitting around me gossiping about how hot Mac was, if only they knew that Mac didn't take romantic relationships seriously.

Mac didn't trust people enough to stay around, to be faithful and be honest to him. I can't say that his mentality didn't bother me though, because frankly it did, but I did understand where he was coming from. I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard the whistle blow and watched as all the swimmers dove off their boards and into the pool.

I sat up straighter as I tried to look further out, towards the end of the pool, my vision being blocked by standing spectators. I was able to catch glimpses of Mac as he made it to the other end of the pool and was starting to make his way back, neck and neck with another fierce swimmer. My gut tightened as they both got closer and closer to completing the race. They were so close that I couldn't really tell which was the one that was further ahead of the other.