Beach Day Bliss

 Eventually, the pair returned from the flowery cliff, and made their way past the flower-filled field and buildings. Other people had emerged from the buildings, and Elias and Serena joined the throng. Elias’ shock of blonde hair made him stick out amidst those with darker colors, and Marcel and Lin found him. Lin carried a canvas under her arm. Both hers and Marcel’s gazes wandered to his hand connected with Serena’s. Lin’s smile grew strained.

“Is everything all right, Lin?” said Elias.

“I’m fine,” she said.

Marcel cleared his throat quite loudly, and drew Elias’ gaze to him.

“There’s plenty of food at the shore,” he said. “We’ll have to hurry up if we want to get the best morsels.” He inclined his head toward Serena. “But I’m sure they’d spare some for you if you asked. We all would.”

“I’m sure they would.” Serena’s smile didn’t meet her eyes.

They all made their way to the shore. Upon arriving there, Elias saw heaps of food, several kegs of drink, several volleyball nets, and several people already playing. Everyone had stripped down to swimsuits. Marcel and Lin stripped off clothing to reveal theirs underneath, and Elias’ gaze lingered on Serena.

Their eyes met for a moment, and she stripped as well, avoiding his gaze as she did so. A bikini, the same color as Elias’ swimwear, highlighted her bountiful chest. Elias tried not to stare, even as the sheer beauty enraptured him.

Eventually she frowned at him. “Well, aren’t you going to do the same?”

“Ah, right.” Elias did so. His face burned and his hands teased the hem of his jeans, and then he slid them down. The intensity of Serena’s gaze upon him made him wonder if she felt the same as when he looked at her. The notion that someone was interested in him in such a way, that she would anticipate the sight, made his heart leap in his chest.

“You look good,” Serena said. She’d been so blunt when she’d first caught him changing, and he wondered what had happened since then. Then again, maybe intent mattered. Just like how swimsuits differed from underwear, but both held certain implications.

“You too,” said Elias. It struck him that Kuchisake must’ve made sure their swimsuit colors matched, and his cheeks flamed.

Lin cleared her throat, and the two turned toward her. Her swimsuit was a onepiece that suited her slender figure.

“I’m going to capture the essence of those playing volleyball,” she said. “I would ask that you two join in.” Her smile strained. “I would like to capture the fiery passion while it still burns.”

The phrasing made Elias’ head tilt to the side, but he nodded.

“Sure?” He walked over to the closest volleyball game, and Serena joined him.

It wasn’t a conventional game with teams of many people on either side of the net, however. Instead Elias saw pairs of people going against each other. A game ended just as he approached the net, and the losing pair left.

“Next team,” a brown haired girl near the net called. “Next team get ready!” Her gaze settled on Elias and Serena. She inclined her head toward the redheaded girl. “If you would like to participate, feel free.”

“I’d be happy to,” Serena said, before flashing a smile at Elias. “Shall we?”

“Let’s do it.” He grinned back, tail flicking behind him. The two played against the winning team, and Elias struck the ball with a yell of strength.

The opposing team sent it back, and he knocked it high into the air.

“Serena!” he called.

“I’ve got it!” She leapt high into the air, matching his pace, and smacked it down. As the volleyball slammed into the sand on the other side of the net, her chest bounced up and down. “We did it!” she cheered.

“We did, yeah.” Elias smiled back, even as he tried not to look at her chest.

“Next team!” the brown-haired girl said, and another pair joined. Elias and Serena defeated this team, and the next, and the next. He wasn’t sure how many rounds this impromptu tourney would last, but soon he found himself falling into a rhythm. Playing alongside Serena made even the continuous matches feel soothing in a way he couldn’t put into words.

Eventually, however, Lin and Marcel stood on the other side of the net.

“Why’re you two here?” said Elias. Lin was an especially odd choice, given she didn’t seem tall enough to even reach over the net.

“Yes, why am I here, Lin?” Marcel gave Lin a pointed look, reluctance oozing from his clenched jaw. “I don’t want to risk hitting Serena in the face with the ball.”

“I have witnessed their prowess long enough,” said Lin. “But if I want to truly commit it to memory, I must experience it firsthand!”

“All right.” Elias exchanged a look with Serena, who shrugged with a small smile.

But the volleyball match began, and Lin’s feet kicked up plumes of sand as she darted from one end of the volleyball court to the other. At one point, she even leapt onto Marcel’s shoulder to return one of Serena’s serves. Serena’s eyes widened at the unexpected tactic, and the ball flew past her. The force of Lin’s body upon Marcel sent him collapsing to the ground.

Just before the ball could strike the ground, however, Elias dove for it. He suffered a mouthful of sand for his trouble, but his wayward right hand managed to keep the ball in the air. Serena vaulted it high. Marcel could have returned it if he stood upright, but Lin’s tactic had sent him sprawling in the sand. And Lin’s range was too short, and she groaned as it landed.

“I thought I’d won with that last move,” she said.

“Maybe don’t stomp on your teammates next time,” Marcel remarked as he stood up from the sand.

“You okay Marcel?” called Elias through the volleyball net.

Marcel responded with a silent thumbs up, even as he glowered at Lin.

“Maybe work on making your shoulders stronger to be able to bear my weight,” Lin countered, pouting at him. “I’m not that heavy.”

As they squabbled, Serena helped Elias up and brushed some of the sand off.

“You’re worried about Marcel when you dove for the ball?” she rolled her eyes. “That was a good save. Didn’t think you’d go that far to return the serve.” She chuckled.

“We came so far, I’m not about to lose now,” said Elias. “Might as well show a little dedication to the team.”

“Well keep that up and you’ll have someone dedicated to you.” Serena winked at him.

Lin and Marcel walked off of the court. Nobody immediately took their place, and Elias looked over to her in silent askance. She shrugged, and they looked toward the brown-haired girl that had been standing off to the side.

She beamed at them.

“The tourney is at an end,” she called. “Our winners are…”

The sound of a gunshot tore through the air, drowning out the girl’s declaration. She, Elias, Serena, and everyone in the immediate vicinity whirled toward the source of the sound. A chorus of whispers exploded among the people in the aftermath. A pair of people walked toward the net, striding along the shoreline. Elias’ eyes widened. Though the man only wore a pair of swimming trunks and nothing over his torso, Elias recognized Bill’s familiar wide-brimmed cowboy hat, and the handgun in his hand. The woman beside him then had to be Kuchisake, but the slit mouth woman’s figure earned a baffled stare. She wore a black two-piece swimsuit, which shone all the darker against her pale skin. Her curves filled out the swimwear even more generously than Serena’s. Kuchisake had only ever worn a white gown that hung loose from her frame, so Elias had never seen how endowed her figure actually was.

“We heard that you were doing a good job here,” Bill said. “Thought we’d congratulate you.” Even as he smiled at Elias, he walked around and took a stance up on the other side of the net. Kuchisake joined him.

“By facing us?” said Elias. “Shouldn’t we get a reward, and not another fight?”

“Having a gander at my darlin’ when she’s dolled up like this is reward enough,” said Bill. Kuchisake then pointed to his sculpted abs and forearms with a slitted mouth smile. “And I guess I clean up nicely too. Thank you, darlin’.”

“I’m not complaining,” said Serena. Elias stared at her, and she rolled her eyes. “What? You don’t think he’s attractive?”

“I mean…I don’t, err…” Elias shifted his weight from foot to foot, unsure of how to respond.

“He’s just jealous of the hat,” remarked Bill. He tipped the brim upward with a chuckle. “Girls love the hat.” Kuchisake rolled her eyes, but she chuckled. “Anyway, I think we’ve bantered enough. Let’s finish this quickly so I can have lunch.”

Elias served first. Then he blinked, and Kuchisake was already in the middle of returning the serve. Instincts took over, and he returned the serve. After a few more of these near-misses, he could perceive it. Kuchisake wasn’t using magic, but instead moved at a speed that made Lin seem like a snail by comparison. If he had Tiberion’s training with a rapier, then he could return those hits more reliably.

Fortunately Serena made up for his fumbles, and they managed to stay in the game barely. Kuchisake couldn’t be in two places at once, and Elias gradually adapted to her speed. Once her sheer speed had stopped being such a shock, he noted a certain rhythm to Kuchisake’s movements. Elias couldn’t match her speed, but he could adjust to the timing of her strikes to compensate somewhat. He thanked Serena a thousand times in his head. If she hadn’t been around to make up for his mistakes, he wouldn’t have been able to catch on and stay in the fight.

Eventually he’d adapted enough to Kuchisake’s movements that he managed to aim the ball for the other side of the arena, further back than Kuchisake could reach.

“You’ve got this Elias!” Serena cheered.

The moment after he struck the ball, however, Bill darted for it. Elias winced. He’d been so focused on surviving Kuchisake’s relentless returns that he’d somehow forgotten about the cowboy. However, just before Bill’s hand reached the ball, he snuck a wink at Elias. Before he could probe, Bill fumbled the ball at the last moment, and failed to return it.

“Elias and Serena win!” the brown-haired girl cheered.

Elias didn’t even have a moment to bask in the victory before Serena embraced him. After a stunned moment, he returned the hug. It was just a game without any stakes, but he was pleasantly surprised at how hot his blood ran.

Peering past her, Elias saw Kuchisake shaking Bill.

“Whyyyyyyy?” she groaned.

Bill pointed toward Serena and Elias embracing each other with a smirk. Kuchisake’s gaze followed his finger to the pair, and her hands fell from his shoulders. She glided along the ground toward them, regaining her composure and appearing as though she hadn’t just been shaking Bill back and forth for losing a game of volleyball.

“You got us good,” Bill called to them.

“Wellll doooone,” Kuchisake warbled.

Serena beamed at Elias, not seeming to have noticed that Bill had gone out of his way to avoid returning the serve at the last moment. As Elias beheld the way Serena looked at him after their victory, he decided to let that stay a secret. Whenever Serena wasn’t looking, he gave Bill a grateful smile.

Elias spent the rest of the day revelling on the beach with the rest of Merloine’s people. He drank from the keg of pink and light blue tea many times, and a pleasant fog stretched over his mind. As he indulged in volleyball and meals alongside Marcel, Lin, and Serena, he felt a certain reassurance with them. Maybe staying here in this place wouldn’t be so bad. In fact, it felt as though he’d been here for a long, long time.