[FIN] That Obligatory Beach Filler Episode [Saj | Leu]

[MissMisnomer]

Leukos was only aware that someone was joining them when the eyebrows of the females in front of him rose skeptically, looking past him at something else. And then a hand was at his hip and a kiss on his arm, signaling that Sajah had returned to the sand once again. And then the expressions on the ladies changed into an interesting range: surprise, embarrassment, amusement, and on one girl in particular, a wide eyed grin that betrayed the naughty thoughts on her mind by this sudden development in Leukos’ relationship status.

“I thought you just might develop gills and start swimming on your own without me,” He joked, placing a quick kiss on Saj's temple. “I'm all finished here, I was just getting acquainted with the girls who have set up next to us. I'll come over and join you now~”

The first girl to speak was flushing the darkest of all, suddenly less preoccupied with putting her assets on display. “Oh Goddess, he's your boyfriend?” She glanced over at the child left behind in the water, eyes wide. “I just assumed she was his sister…and you two were…” She covered her face as some of her more merciless friends laughed, poking her sides. “I'm so sorry, I had no idea you swung that way! I shouldn't have made assumptions, I feel so silly….”

Leukos looked a bit surprised himself, but then laughed good naturedly. “Did I not say anything?” He slipped a hand around Saj's arm, resting his cheek against the top of his head. “I don't know how that happened. I had no intention of misleading you, my apologies. This is Sajah, and yes, he is my boyfriend.”

He rubbed his cheek affectionately against the stubble on Saj’s skull, pulling him closer. “Sorry Love, were you worried?”

[8/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Sajah snorted amusedly. “Mmhm…” Grow gills indeed.

His attention, though, quickly flit to the first girl to speak, and he felt—both very slightly sympathetic for her genuine abashment and confusion, but a good deal more pleased with himself and glad he had successfully cleared things up in a timely fashion. ‘But doesn’t he just look like he prefers men…’ Perhaps not to everyone.

And, while he hadn’t been concerned, there was still a distinct satisfaction and relaxation that came with having Leu’s hand slip about him and the clarification re-confirmed verbally, he is my boyfriend. At Leu’s question, though, he gave a slight head shake, working to ignore the heat inspired in his cheeks even at the casual use of of the term love.

«Not worried,» he assured truthfully, «but they did seem to be understandably interested in your lovely body on display and I thought I would help them understand more quickly and not prolong the period before disappointment. Besides, the ocean is lonely without you…»

As if to counteract his point, a smaller voice piped up loudly from the shoreline.

“OI, are either of you two comin’ back? I wanna fly more. I bet your butterfly could throw me further, ‘specially now that you’re all tired…”

Sajah tossed a skeptical look over his shoulder in her direction. But, it appeared Naz had already vanished again beneath the surface.  

[MissMisnomer]

The strange movements Sajah was making with his hands earned more than a few quizzical looks from those gathered, but Leukos could hardly be bothered to explain the finer points of Saj's handicap to a group of girls they might never meet again after today, so he just left them with the confusing mystery.

And apparently their ward for the day required their continued attention instead, so Leukos waved back at her, hollering over the din of the waves, “Yeah, we're heading back now, don't go too far-” But she was already out of sight. Leukos shrugged, turning his attention back the the girls.

“Well ladies, it was nice meeting all of you. I'm sure we'll see you in the water soon, or if not, taking a much needed nap on the sand, as I suspect the two of us are going to need it after dealing with our guppy in the water.” He gave a small bow of his head, and then journeyed to the water with Sajah in tow.

Wading in, he kept an eye out for their little fish, absentmindedly running his foot through some seagrass as it floated around their ankles. “Sorry for leaving you with her for so long, but it looked like you two were having such a good time without me, that I don't think I can feel quite as guilty as I should,” he said, giving Saj's hand a squeeze. “You'd have made a good big brother~”

But then Naz came swimming up to them, so he released Saj's hand, ready to splash the child as she came up for air. Which was met with the expected amount of sputtering and scowling, which Leukos laughed off as she chopped her little arms through the water in revenge, thoroughly soaking every inch of him. When she seemed pleased with the drenched nature of his person, Leukos squatted to get at eye level with her, grinning.

“You want to really fly? When I dip under water, stand on my shoulders, in a crouch, and hold onto my wrists when I put my hands up for you to take. I'm going to stand up quickly, and when I do, you jump as hard as you can. Okay?”

[9/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Our guppy.

There was a brief moment, in spite of himself, where the words drew to mind—something else. The fleeting concept of what he associated the term with: children, generally. And everything that came with that thought. But, just as quickly, he tucked it away, fully pleased for the moment to focus on what was before them.

He didn’t even like kids.

Naz’s voice distracted, and—well, surely she didn’t really count, in any case. At, You’d have made a good big brother… he felt his earfins heat in spite of himself, and he had to very privately admit, the child wasn’t the worst. And, now that he actually thought on it, she wasn’t that much younger than either of them. She might have been a little sister, under other circumstances. His posture was relaxed and amused as Leu’s fingers slipped from his and the other two of them engaged in a water battle.

He was glad, he realized, that Leukos had taken well to the girl too. For whatever good it did either of them. Even if she wasn’t an orphan, he was happy to have the opportunity for this time at least.

Meanwhile, Naz likely couldn’t have expressed more vibrant excitement for the concept of further flying maneuvers, and as it turned out, the springboard method truly did send her sailing to impressive heights. Saj could only be relieved that the ocean was as broad as it was deep, and a gentle catch, for the most part. It might have taken them some time to get around to the ‘purpose’ of their excursion, but in the end, Sajah found he didn’t mind that, either.

He was spending time in the sea at least, acquainting himself with the concept—and it felt good just to watch, and participate, and eventually, when both of their arms tired of tossing their small charge, Naz did seem content to putter about as Leu made some actual attempts at swimming lessons.  

[MissMisnomer]

Hurling a child through the sky was a tiring endeavor for any man, and Leukos was no exception. Thus it was a relief to have Naz give them a much needed break, allowing Leukos to focus instead on the significantly lower energy level activity of trying to teach Saj how to swim. Leukos was no expert by any means, nor had he ever taught someone else how to before, but he was up to the task of teaching Sajah one more skill. But it turned out to be a more difficult challenge than he had thought: swimming was just such a natural process, like walking and breathing. It was hard to try to explain it to someone after so many years since he had learned himself. But Sajah was patient and a good sport about it, and by the time Leukos had to call it quits simply by virtue of being entirely too tired and feeling the beginnings of a sunburn, Sajah was at least floating by himself without any help.

It wasn't necessarily swimming per se, but at least he couldn't drown anymore. It felt like a small milestone, but Leukos was willing to take it.

And thus their beach day came to a close, packing up everything left on the sand, scooping up the ever lazy alol, and returning to the embrace of the city. But it was agreed that they would have to come again, if only to work on getting Sajah actually swimming. But really, they needed no excuse: today had been fun for everyone. Naz looked more than put out to have to return to her home, but Leukos was insistent on this front, assuring the girl that her mother needed to see her after she had been gone all day without warning the woman beforehand. Whether or not her mother would actually be worried was not his concern: it was simply the responsible and courteous thing to do.

So the two men walked back to the inn without a small shadow trailing behind, the trip all the more starkly quiet with her absence. But it was not an uncomfortable quiet, because even though Leukos and Saj were thoroughly spent, neither was unhappy. And after a nice long bath together, Leukos crawled readily into bed, practically passing out as soon as he closed his eyes.

But not before snuggling close to the man at his side, laying his head on Saj's chest as he whispered sleepily against the tiny hairs under his cheek, “You'll be a good father someday…”

And then promptly clocked out for the night.

[10/10]