"But I thought you hated parties, Chit."

"I loathe them, Colly. But I can't not go. I'm sort of the host."

"Sort of?" Walter asked.

"I asked everyone to come, so I *definately am* the host. Sheesh!" Chit lashed his tail
back and forth. "I just don't like to think about it, okay? I mean, it's in a good cause,
but that doesn't change the fact that the total number of parties has gone up by one.
[nosewrinkle]"

"So why didn't you invite Derek?" 

"'Cause he's not in on this one. [flick] And, well, he's not speaking to me. [shrugflick]"
He checked the room number, and opened the door. "No, really, I figured we should keep 
this... [stare]"

"Oh, go in, Chit. [flick]" Kara giggled. "So I invited a few friends."

Maintenance parties aren't generally much fun. Conversations tend to revolve around
gaskets and circuitry and computers, depressingly emphasizing how little the squirrels
of that department have in common compared to the other major groups, like security, or
scouting.

But this was definately a Scout party. There must have been a hundred of them, all
decked out in the feathers and fur and utility belts that they didn't dare actually
wear on the job... well, okay, more like a dozen, but after the third of them pounced
at Chit to twist tails and [greetingsflick] he decided that there were more than enough.

"What's wrong?" a fourth asked, tilting her head, "Are you okay?"

"Fine. [smile] I'm just not a terribly enthusiastic person. And I've never liked parties.
But you have fun."

And despite him, they seemed to, devouring the can of mixed nuts and playing various
games that looked far too dangerous... and Zander and Walter and Khyron huddled in the
corner, in a state of semi shock. Chit was in the middle of the room, but he figured
the clear zone around him was a sort of portable corner, at that.

"So Chit," Kara said from right next to him, "What are we going to do?"

Chit rubbed his head. Damn low ceilings... he looked around, then turned to face her. "Do?"

"Yeah... I mean, we can't just stand around and talk all night. [flick]"

"Er... I thought that was you did at a party. [flickflick] Er..." Kara looked a bit
disappointed. "Oh, okay. Do you think they'd like to go swimming?"

"Oh! Cool!"

"Um Chit..." Walter said, venturing away from the wall.

"What. [sigh]"

"The water, Chit. It's sort of... you know."

"They're too cheery, Walter. They deserve to die." Chit grinned at the look on his face.
"But that's not where I'm taking them. It's spring break, Walter."

* * *

"A scavenger hunt!" Chit exclaimed, after determining that the door was, in fact, locked.

"What?"

"I don't like hunting scavengers. [chitter] They've got nasty teeth."

"Chicken! [chatterflick]"

"No no no," Chit said impatiently, "It means you go and scavenge around until you find
what we need. What we need," he said, "Is a student's cardkey."

"I'll go down to storage and get one," Kara said.

"This'll be more fun. You four..." he waved at some of the scouts, "You four, you three
and Colly, and then the rest of us. Winner takes all. Ready? Set? Go!"

The scouts raced off in search of an unwary student. Chit and Zander and Walter and Khyron
looked at each other. Chit grinned.

In ten minutes Kara's group had come back, victorious, and barely an hour later they'd
tracked down the others. Chit scrambled up the brick and (on the fourth try) scanned the
card, and they went inside.

* * *

The squirrels lined up on the edge of the pool, staring into the water. One of the
more adventurous scouts stuck a paw in the water, then jumped back, shaking it.

"So none of you can swim," Chit sighed.

"I can swim," Kara said, "Just not when it's over my head! [flick]"

"I'm afraid the shallow end isn't quite that shallow. [flick] We need more of a bathtub
than a pool -- oh, wait, I know." Everyone looked at him expectantly. "To the showers!"
he proclaimed, leaping into motion.

* * *

After another scavenger hunt, and a bit of work, all the drains in the big shower
room were plugged and they had a nice three-inch deep (in the center) pool. The scouts
splashed in (well, those that hadn't already been standing under the showers), and Chit
managed to lure Zander and Walter in. 

Khyron just stood by the edge. "Um, I think I'll stay out, if you don't mind. I hate
getting my fur wet. Takes forever to dry."

"Really," Chit said, grinning.

Once the sopping wet professor had joined them in the pool, glowering all the way, and
the frantic splashing and thrashing had died down to more calm floating and such, Chit
slipped quietly out of the shower room and went back to the pool.

He stood near the edge, the water from the shower making a puddle on the concrete as it
dripped from his fur. The room was so dark... only the moon shining down through the
windows that lined the wall facing the quad... but the pool was lighted. And the water was
unnaturally blue from the tiles on the bottom.

But no... not just blue. There was black too... a pattern, distorted and garbled by the
movement of the water. Chit stood up as high as he could, but it was no use... then, out
of the corner of his eye, he saw it.

The metal was slick, and the stairs human sized, but there's nothing a human can climb
that a squirrel can't somehow make his way up, up, up... to the highest board, closer
to the ceiling than the floor, the open air stretching out beneath him... Chit felt that
he should be scared, but he wasn't. It was comforting. Reassuring. A shielding void.

Out to the edge... to peer over at the water far below...

"Chit!" a distant cry came from below... "No!"

"I could never jump off this board," Chit whispered, too softly for the squirrel on the
surface to hear. "I was always too afraid. But there's nothing to be afraid of."

"YOU HEAR ME?" he shouted, his voice echoing off the tiles, "NOTHING!"

From below, Kara saw Chit stand up on his hind legs on the edge of the board, fist raised
at the moon... and then....

"NO!!!"

* * *

They stood near the edge... but not too near. Kara and Zander... with the rest huddled
a little ways back, muttering and whispering in low tones. The ripples had died down,
now, and nothing, nothing was wrong with the picture... except that there were only
fifteen of them.

And then a paw reached over the edge, and just hung there for a second... until Kara and
Zander raced forwards to pull out a limp, bedraggled form, coughing and gasping for
breath, and shaking from the cold.

"What were you thinking?" Kara asked when he looked ready to talk, lashing her tail and
glaring angrily. "You can't swim!"

"Maybe not," Chit said, a distant look in his eyes. "But what a ride!"

==
Chit