Breathing the pool (+short story)

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by lolboy4

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Settling down to the bottom of the pool, the lizard takes a moment to steel his nerves, getting himself mentally ready for what he's about to do. Eventually, he begins exhaling, bubbles streaming away for some time before they trail off to a stop, the lizard's lungs entirely empty. He looks up at the last bubbles floating to the surface, before opening his mouth... And purposely inhaling.

Pool water rushes down his throat, and he fights off the urge to cough it back out as it splashes into his lungs, an intense discomfort immediately forming. He inhales fully, entirely flooding his throat and lungs, before closing his mouth again and puffing his cheeks, holding in the water. The extreme pain inside him rapidly saps his willpower, and his body continually tries to make him cough, but he holds himself shut.

Despite this being far from his first time holding a breath of water, he can't keep this up for long. Strong heaves of his chest try again and again to force the water back out, leading him to cover his mouth in an intense struggle to keep it down. Just before the point it'd been 10 seconds since he'd taken that watery breath, he finally can't hold off a coughing fit any longer, hacking up the water along with what tiny bubbles are left in him, before gasping again as he starts to truly drown. The lizard quickly jumps off the bottom and swims for the surface, pool water pouring from his mouth before he hoarsely gasps an actually helpful breath. He's definitely gonna need some time for his lungs to recover...

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