He'd arrived at the pool during non-class hours in order to get some relief from the itch that was bothering him. His molting had been delayed due to his illness and now it was in overdrive. The only way to fully shed his layer of old scales was to take a lava bath, but for now, all Ashton had was the coarse sands and rocks on the beach that he used, while in dragon form, to rub against his scales in long rolls on the shore. There were places in his lair that were rubbed down from the hard scales scraping against the rock. The dragon could only find temporary relief.
Even in human form, as he'd experienced today, he could feel the itch - or imagined he did, anyway - and so after leaving Barclay to some important witch studies, Ashton had made his way to the swimming pool. He was not allowed to turn into a dragon under light of day, much less fly above the treeline and make dives into the sand.
Had Ashton known Alex would be there, he would have taken the risk of detention and gone that way, regardless.
He stood with one hand on his hip, a towel around his shoulders, and black swim trunks on. "Begone," Ashton waved him off like shooing a fly. Alex, the one responsible for the period of illness he'd suffered and now, subsequently, for his late molting. Barclay had already taken matters into his own hands, Ashton knew, and Ashton had let him. Now he was more annoyed at Alex's presence than vengeful. Still, it might be noticeable that Ashton didn't approach any closer, keeping a rather large distance between them. The dragon did not want to experience sickness again.