Tempe raised her eyebrows at his response, tilting her head as he ran off. She giggled and raced to the edge of the dock, watching him resurface with a grin. She sat on the edge quickly and looked down at him, slightly impressed. "Yeah, well, sorry that I'm not quite that skilled with my water acrobatics." She joked, kicking some water at him.

Zephyr smiled, a bit pleased when she ran up to the edge of the dock, her brain seemingly off of the things it had been worrying about. For the moment, anyway. That's what friends were for, right? To distract others from unnecessary worrying and figure out how to make them have a good time. That PROBABLY wasn't it, but Zeph was determined to at least not make her angry. At very least. "Skilled? That was nothing." He waded the tiniest bit closer to the dock before jerking away with an indignant snort as she kicked water at home. "Stop sitting on the dock and get in here. You're the one that dragged me down here." He rolled his eyes. Where he had jumped it might've been 13 feet, but here it was only about ten. He sank down before bouncing off the bottom and getting enough lift to hop up, grab her arm, and let his weight drag her in.

"Well, I would end up bellyflopping- so it requires some kind of skill." Tempe snorted, snickering as he waded back from her splash. "No! Do you know how long it takes this much hair to dry? Zeph, I'll look like a wet poodle. And not in a cute way." She huffed, tilting her head as he dove down. It took her just a moment too long for her to realize his intent. "Ze-" Was all she managed before he yanked her into the water. She fell straight into him with a yelp, curling her arms around him tightly, mostly out of instinct to have something to hold to. She giggled once she got herself settled, wrapping her legs around him instinctively. "That's not funny. I'm gonna look like a rat now." She snickered.

Zephyr was the slightest bit surprised when she fell the wrong way- he had tried to direct it away from him, but instead she ended up landing half on top of him. His plans seemed to go wrong like that a lot. It was especially awkward for him because, you know, average day of having the girl you like cling onto you like she might die if she let go. He used a little more effort to keep them both afloat now, wading towards shore the tiniest bit so he could just reach the bottom and use it at an anchor point. He had kind of expected her to let go, buuuut she didn't, instead wrapping her legs around him. What was he even supposed to do now. His brain blanked for a second and he stood there, frantically thinking of nothing, before she spoke. Immediately his brain saved him with joke mode. "It is too hilarious! No one cares if you look like a rat- which you don't- COUGH COUGH NOTICE ME TRYING TO BE SUPPORTIVE- and everyone else looks like wet rats too so join the club." He grinned, using the amusement from his own words to fuel real amusement.

Tempe giggled, enjoying just how confused he was. Enough so that she stayed right where she was, to see what he would do. She rolled her eyes at his comment. "Okay, okay, you're being supportive. Good job. And YOU don't look like a wet rat, so that's inaccurate." She corrected, huffing slightly and shifting to get a better grip on him.

Zephyr's face had pretty much just glitched for a little while- he really didn't know what to do. Part of him was like SHOVE HER OFF AND RUN AAGGHHHH and the other part was like Wait aren't we just friends does she like me too OOO WHAT IF SHE LIKES ME!?! So he was very unhappy right now. He knew for a fact she didn't like him, or otherwise she wouldn't be so flirty with other people. And he was good enough at hiding things, usually, that she'd probably never notice the small gestures that proved he liked her. As she spoke he smirked slightly, though it faltered, like he didn't know if he should smirk or chuckle or just look appalled or blink or freeze. "I probably DO look like a wet rat. My hair always glues itself to my forehead like it'll never come off." He snorted, standing still enough it was quite plain he still didn't know exactly what to do about the situation. It wasn't like he wanted to OFFEND her.

Tempe shook her head, lifting a hand to rustle his hair. "Not true! You look great." She huffed, tilting her head down at him. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" She asked, lightly releasing her legs from around his waist and dropping to her feet. "I can't even tell if you look more confused or flustered." She said, keeping her arms around him.

+She is just being a friend stop reading into it you clingy hippo+ he thought with an internal huff while the other part of his mind melted into non-existance. +I guess almost dying with someone can change your opinion about them+ he thought, the rest of his mind that was still functioning wandering off into nowhere. He partially ignored her first comment as he wasn't quite sure about how to answer without making what he was thinking seem horribly plain, so he focused the small part of his brain that was still working and present on her second sentence. "Deeeepends on which side of my fighting brain you ask. I could choose to answer no but I'm not quite sure you'd believe me." He answered with a slightly wrinkled nose as he thought, really about how to collect himself and not look like, as she said, a confused and flustered drowned rat. Not the best combination. "I can't tell either, believe me. Give me a second to figure it out." He snorted, shaking his head before looking at her again. "Okay, fixed. I'm confused."

Tempe narrowed her eyes at him, tilting her head. "You're right. I wouldn't believe you." She nodded, smiling softly as he really answered her. "Alright. I can work with confused. Why are you confused? How can I make you not-confused?" She asked calmly, releasing him and drifting on her back in the water. She felt strangely sure of herself for the moment.

Zephyr made a face, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to calm himself. Calm. Caaaalm. "I'm confused because of reasons I cannot say. If I speak them to you it will NOT end well." He answered, knowing he was being cryptic but not caring. He was still slightly uncomfortable and trying to find the best way possible to answer her questions without giving away anything. He glanced around at the people around them. At least none of them were paying attention.