Zane thrusted his arm forward on Atani's count as their race began, his brain and his body still unsure about just how much effort he should be putting into this. On one hand he didn't want to pay for drinks, but on the other hand the idea of being a gentleman and paying for Atani also felt nice - and by felt nice Zane meant it would probably make her like him more. Maybe. As Zane's arms propelled himself forward into the water two small balls of light appeared to him in his mind, his eyes currently closed as not to get any water in his eye. One was black while the other was white. The black ball bore a pair of menacing fangs while a holy halo floated above the white one's. "Zane, be a kind spirit. Let Atani win." The presumably holy ball remarked, Zane finding himself rather convinced thanks to its soothing voice.
"Hah! Don't be such a fool. If you win you won't have to pay for anything and you'll probably still go h-" The evil ball was soon interrupted by Zane. "Excuse me?" Zane asked, unable to understand anything the evil ball was saying. "Can't you hear me?" It asked, the holy ball laughing towards its opposite in a manner that was oddly similar to that of an old rich woman cackling. "Ha! This buffoon forgot to pick a text color that was readable."
"N-no I didn't!" The evil ball stuttered, embarrassed to the point where some shades of red could be seen within its sphere. "I just... was testing you." Zane groaned. Why did all of his crazy person inner monologues have to be so out there? "Look, just give me the closing arguments already. I've wasted enough time as is." The holy ball immediately stepped up to the proverbial plate to offer its take on the matter first. "Zane. Think about Atani's feelings. She's a water mage, is she not? It would not bode well for her self confidence if she lost to you in a race. You'd be saving her wallet a fair bit of grief as well."
Zane figuratively turned to the evil ball, waiting for it to give him its take. "Think about it. Going all out means that you don't have to pay. Not only that, but you also get to impress Atani with your cool, amazing, perfect, brilliant, honed, graceful, intelligent swimming skills - thus making her want you more." Zane immediately felt pretty convinced by the evil ball's little speech, deciding right away he'd go with it. The holy ball attempted to protest as Zane began to leave this odd mind space he had found himself in. "W-Wait! No fair! Evil ball only won because he threw out a bunch of positive adject-"
The balls faded from existence as Zane's speed suddenly tripled, putting in his full effort in the second half of the race. In a way it was somewhat inspiring. Zane didn't even know he could swim this fast, yet the promise of free drinks and leaving a girl impressed somehow managed to break his limits. Kicking his feet as though he would die if he didn't reach their target first, Zane swam and swam before he eventually found his hand landing onto the buoy, grabbing onto its rail and clinging on its side as he caught his breath. He was surprised he managed to win when he opened his eyes to find Atani arriving after him.
Clearly exhausted, Zane gave Atani a tired handshake as he attempted to recuperate himself. "I'll make sure to order juuuust enough to make sure we don't get to the point where you no longer like me as much as you currently do." Zane responded in a humorous tone. The plot twist was that he wasn't joking. His mind was actually already going through intense calculations to figure out exactly what that tipping point was, though they were definitely a lot slower than his usual thoughts thanks to how worn out he felt. "That took a lot out of me." He admitted, letting go of the buoy as he proceeded into a backfloat. "Let's head back to shore. I wanna check out that bar. And your bikini. But mostly the bar. Probably."
Zane had realized by now he wasn't even trying to hold back his less than honorable comments, maybe on account to getting used to Atani's presence. It did feel pretty nice. He felt as though he was funny enough to get away with it too - he was the comic relief character after all. Catching his breath as he relaxed on the backfloat back Zane slowly but surely found himself on the shore once again. Lifting his back off of the shallow water he'd stretch a little bit, getting used to being on solid ground once again: not that he was off it for very long anyways. "You know, I really should've brought a towel." Zane remarked. His hastiness in making his way here most likely led to that mistake. "Oh well, We'll be mostly dry in a minute anyways - I'm sure that bar gets water everywhere all the time. So, ready to go buy me some drinks?" Zane asked, shining a somewhat cocky smile towards Atani. "Lead the way, I'll be right behind you." Zane gestured his hand towards the tiki bar in a way that told Atani to go on ahead, yet something about his face made it seem as though there was some ulterior motive.