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

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

We should go shopping.

Personally, after the most recent development in their relationship — admittedly just over a week settled now — Sajah was perfectly content spending as much of his spare time in bed as he could get away with. Or against walls, floors, their tub, and anywhere else readily available, all the while attempting — so far without success — to convince Leukos that it would be at least as enjoyable if they flipped roles occasionally. Leukos remained stubborn, but Sajahka was not impatient, and since the man was a deeply satisfying lover regardless, he didn’t see fit to complain. He was content.

Happy.

They couldn’t, however, spend all of their free time dedicated to such activities, and even Sajah did have to concede that point. Thus, by the time their second weekend came around, they collaborated on a plan for lunch out, a prospective shop for new attire for Sajah — since apparently he ‘needed’ it, despite having already expanded on his slightly since arrival — and an afternoon shoreside excursion and swimming lessons afterward. After breakfast and a pleasant morning in, Sajah felt up to it, ready to stretch his legs and spend some time on the town.

And, as it happened, it was a lovely day besides. Hot, but with frequent ocean breezes skirting down the market streets between the architecture, and with clear, almost blinding blue skies overhead. Perfect for water later, even if he hadn’t yet mastered the art of not drowning.

As they passed through the merchant sector, various wares on display and any number of wholly unnecessary things up for sale, Sajah left the picking and browsing as much to Leukos as he could get away with. So long as it fit and seemed practical and durable, he didn’t much care what he wore. But he was more than happy to indulge the whims of the man at his side just the same, and in the meantime, it was nice simply to be out with him in general and spending the time on a pleasant day.  

[MissMisnomer]

Meandering leisurely through the crowd, Leukos kept an eye open for anything that gave off those ‘Saj-y’ vibes, on the hunt for something of quality to add to his wardrobe. He'd been shopping with the man before, but only as friends. Now, though much was the same, it felt altogether different. He was buying something for his boyfriend. Just like normal couples do. He enjoyed shopping enough as it was; the added challenge of properly outfitting someone he had laid claim to just added another level of excitement to the task.

And something did catch his eye, dragging Saj by the elbow to a stall where colorful fabrics hung from hooks and racks, out on display to draw people in. But he was on a mission for one in particular, passing the more gaudy explosion of color out front, honing in on a length of fabric closer to the back.

“Look Saj,” he mused, pulling the ream off its peg to hold it closer to the light, admiring the way the black fabric seemed to shimmer a deep teal luster. The alol around his shoulders squeaked in protest at being jostled, but readjusted as needed to stay comfortable. “It's like the sky here in Matori; it has such a great depth to it. And the weave is so tight, feel how smooth that is…” He held it close to Saj's chest, tipping his head in obvious interest. “It suits your pallette. And I bet it would hold a nice cut, easily tailored for a close fit. A seam…right here, and here…And with a green hem, something thin, in the same hue…silver buttons.”

He took it away, smiling approvingly. “I'm going to get some of this for you; it's time you have a shirt that is tailored specifically for you.” Before Saj could argue, he whipped his hands with the tube of fabric, tutting. “It is a quality weave: it will last a long time even with wear and tear. And it is better to spend the extra coin once, than many times to replace shoddy workmanship. Don't try to stop me, my mind is made up.”

[1/10]

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Leukos was excited and attentive, on the hunt for something—and Sajahka by virtue of that was curious and amused, and happy to let himself be lead. The sheer amount of color at the front of the market display they approached was slightly off-putting — not that he minded color on others or even generally, but since this was supposed to be an excursion to find something he would wear-

Fortunately, Leu seemed to have something else in mind, and when Leu’s selection was made clear, Sajah eyed it with passive interest. It certainly wasn’t objectionable. It looked a touch — ‘shimmery’ — for his tastes. But not too bad, and it was a suitable color. He didn’t know much about fabric make, but it did look—and feel, when he touched—to be high quality.

Tailored specifically for you, however, had him eyeing Leu skeptically. Because he was fairly sure he didn’t need that—but, he could agree with everything else. It was better to purchase right the first time, and that Leu wanted it for him was more than enough to make it flattering such that by the ‘don’t try and stop me,’ his cheeks were faintly warmer, and he grunted.

«I will trust your judgment…thank you.» He was, now that he thought on it, fairly certain he had never worn anything meant to look nice and certainly never to suit him specifically. He simply hadn’t owned such a thing, nor had it ever been his prerogative, nor had there been any occasion to even if it had. Such things certainly had appealed to Nyko, but Nyko had not cared to dress him up nor had he had the opportunity himself until their final time together after attaining freedom—and their funds had been so limited it simply hadn’t been needed that he look any nicer or showier than he always did.

Which was not at all.

It might be interesting to have something for him just for that. And if it lasted well, all the better. Still, it begged the question with a curious squint: «But…what is to be done with the cloth?» Were they going to have to go somewhere to have him fitted? He certainly knew nothing about sewing, and he wasn’t sure Leukos did either, though given the man’s wide array of talents, he wouldn’t have put it entirely past him—it just didn’t seem quite the man’s style either, and the more he considered it, the more it seemed likely that there would be multiple steps to this process.  

[MissMisnomer]

Clearly, and not very surprisingly, Sajahka was not a fashion aficionado. Leukos did not expect he would be, with his history and the general way he dressed himself. It was all about function.

But in sharp contrast , Leukos was.

He smirked, toting the roll of fabric and his boyfriend through the tent, to the cutting table. “We are going to take it to someone who knows what they are doing, and they will make a shirt for you out of it-” Without missing a beat, he set it down, addressing the assistant instead. “I want five feet of this. Please wrap it in paper.”

And as they worked their sheers, he turned his attention back to Saj, pulling his money out. “But that is a task for another day, preferably one where we do not have plans already. I want to make a whole affair out of it, you might even enjoy yourself~”

That he wasn't so sure about, but Leukos could support some wishful thinking. If nothing else, the process was new and interesting, which he knew Saj appreciated. He collected the parcel and paid the merchant, stepping back out of the tent with his newest purchase tucked away into a safe place in his bag.

Staying under the shade provided by the different businesses, he looped his arm around Saj's elbow. “Where to next, ready for the beach?” He reached to scratch under Kyro’s chin, whose eyes closed contently.

[2/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Fortunately, even if Sajah didn’t, Leukos clearly knew what he was doing and what he wanted, so he followed cooperatively, watching as the clerk took up the requested cloth and began to measure off the amount requested. At, I want to make a whole affair out of it… his gaze flit to Leu, eyebrows raising, and the corner of his lip edging up with amusement—flattered, in spite of himself. He found it difficult to imagine himself being fun to dress. He was satisfied with his body and certainly not unattractive in his own opinion. But as compared to Leu there was simply no question as to who would make a showier dress up doll.

Still.

Since he had never done it, he had to admit he was curious and far from opposed. The novelty alone was reason enough to go along, and when the desire to appeal to Leu and show appreciation for his time, attention, and coin, were all added to that—there was no doubt he’d be happy to go along with it at least once. He had to wonder, though, since the concept of ‘tailored to fit’ to him brought certain things to mind:

«Will there be needles and pins?» His eyes wandered upward at movement around Leu’s shoulders, and he tisked at the alol there. Kyro spent most of his time at the facility, but today Leukos had chosen to bring him along, and so far the lucky beast seemed perfectly content to spend all his time draped around the man’s neck like a scaley neck scarf, participating little more in activities than to occasionally yawn, flick its tongue, or blink drowsily at passers by.

Then, they were on their way out, and Leukos’ arm wound into his. “Mm.” He nodded in affirmation. He was ready for it. Though he didn’t know how to swim and one of the day’s goals was to begin working on that, he saw no reason to be anything but eager to get the process underway. He liked the water, despite general lack of exposure to it prior to arrival, and felt somewhat ridiculous not to know how to make his way around in it. As a Matorian, it seemed par for the course.

Hopefully easily remedied.

What he didn’t anticipate, however, was-

“Where’re y’all goin’?”

Sajah, arm still looped through Leu’s, paused in spite of himself, squinting backward over a shoulder—and down. Two deep orange squinting eyes peered up at him, and then peeked over to Leu.

“I thought you said he wasn’t your girlfriend?”  

[MissMisnomer]

Catching a familiar voice, Leukos glanced over the scaly hide draped across his shoulders. Looking just as small and disheveled as the last few times he'd seen her, Naz was looking quizzically up at him. Grinning despite the improper noun she'd labeled him with, he turned, drawing Saj around as well.

“I'm still not his girlfriend. Now I'm his boyfriend,” Leukos said, wagging a finger. “Clarification is important. And we-” He bumped Saj's hip, gesturing to the rug and collapsed umbrella under the man’s arm and the large bag over his own shoulder. “Are heading over to the beach. It's been an eventful week for the both of us, but we have some business to take care of there. Like napping, for a start. But, most importantly…”

Glancing to the side, he leaned down, urging Naz closer with a crook of his finger. And cupping his hand near his mouth, he whispered in a hushed conspiratorial tone. “Sajahka doesn't know how to swim. Don't say anything: if word of this gets out, he may very well be kicked off the island by an angry mob.”

He stood again, shaking his head as he tutted. “It is really quite shameful. But I am a generous soul, and have taken pity on this poor man, so it is my solemn duty as his kinsman to remedy this predicament.” He glanced over at Saj with a wry little grin, then looked away innocently. Was it supposed to be a secret? Well, it wasn't now~

[3/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Nazumi blinked, wiggling bare toes in the dirt as she listened and looked between them. Eventually, she puffed, and then gave a bit of a crooked grin. “I knew it. Just-” As quickly, she squinted suspiciously. “No gross kissing.” That’s what normal boyfriends did, right? Naz was fairly sure.

At the conspiratorial nature of Leu’s invitation, though, her interest peaked further, mouth making a curious ‘o’ as she listened — Doesn’t know how to swim — and she gave a small squawk, somewhere stuck between amused and aghast. “Who doesn’ know how to SWIM?”

Sajahka squinted down at her.

“It’s easy,” she insisted with energy, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I can do it. I’m real good. I can go so fast-” She made a sweeping gesture with her hand, complete with enthusiastic sound effects, presumably to demonstrate speed. At his latter commentary though, she nodded. “You’re doin’ good. He should know. Anyhow, it’s fun,” she piped up. “I like swimming. I can show you, too.”

For his own part, Sajah snorted, shooting Leukos a very brief look. But he supposed it didn’t much matter if the girl knew. It was true — and she seemed more keen on being excited in general than on mocking him for it, which was just as well. He wasn’t exactly ashamed. He simply hadn’t had the opportunity to learn. And now he was going to.

He wasn’t sure they needed the complication of the extra company—but, as they made their way along, he decided he didn’t care enough to ask Leu to ask her to leave. He thought she might go on her own way of her own accord. But that clearly wasn’t the case. And as they neared in on the beach, he supposed it was just as well from his perspective. While he wasn’t her babysitter, nor did he much mind the extra presence, and he didn’t suspect at this point that there would be much either of them could do to dissuade her from doing whatever pleased her.

“Does that have a name?” Nazumi was pointing now, up to Leu’s shoulders and the quietest member of their group aside from Sajah himself.  

[MissMisnomer]

Leukos couldn't say he was entirely displeased to have the small child inviting herself on their little outing. This wasn't meant to be a romantic rendezvous by any means, so it wasn't like she was intruding on anything. It was nice to see that Saj had someone so fond of him, even without understanding a word he might have to say. They had gotten along before Leukos even came into the picture, and remained close even when he was not there. Their bond went beyond words, and there was just something heartwarming about that.

And really, she was a well meaning girl, if a bit rough around the edges and high energy. But many children seemed to run that way, from what Leukos had experienced. He suspected having her along for the day would provide an ample supply of entertaining surprises and learning opportunities, and as such happily let her tag along.

At her eventual inquiry, he reached, stroking under his alol’s chin. “All great things have names, and this handsome boy is named Kyro. He's a spectacularly lethargic creature, but clever nonetheless, and easily spurred into action by rewards.” The large reptilian opened its mouth, absorbing the sun as they began padding along the sand of the shoreline.

There was a healthy smattering of people on the beach today, all moving about in various stages of activity. Some galavanting through the waves, leisurely walking along the waterline, and others sleeping in the shade of makeshift canopies and tents. The sound of children's laughter mixed with the ambient noise of the ocean, lending the whole place a pleasant, inviting atmosphere. Heading closer to the water, Leukos stopped at a nice open space, dumping his bag on the sand to stake their claim on it.

“Naz, can you hold him for a moment while we set up?” He said, peeling the creature off his shoulders and holding it out for the girl to take. “He's a gentleman, don't expect any trouble from him.”

With that taken care of, he retrieved the large umbrella from Saj, stabbing it into the sand until the thing was nicely rooted. And then the tube under his arm was next, unrolling the two rugs inside to lay on the sand, as close to covered by the shade as possible. Quite satisfied with his handiwork, he sat down on an open space, pulling his boots off.

“You didn't happen to bring a towel with you, did you Saj? Or were you just going to suffer through soggy clothes on the walk back home?” He turned an eye on Naz, patting the spot next to him. “And I don't suppose you're the kind of free spirit to go all-natural while enjoying a dip in the ocean? Or are you more self conscious?”

[4/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

“Kyrooo,” Naz repeated with interest. “I wanna touch him-” Her attention, though, was distracted momentarily as they made their way onto the beach and several children approximately her age came darting by—evidently fully immersed in whatever game they were already playing with each other and paying no mind to the new arrivals, but enough just the same for some reason to earn a squint from the girl.

Sajah realized he hadn’t thought on it before, but now wondered how she did get along with others in her age group. At, ‘Can you hold him?’ though, her attention was immediately eagerly back on Leu, and she made reaching hands for the beast, making an almost squeaking noise of excitement as it was deposited in her hold, her eyes large with fascination.

Saj snorted softly, the corner of his lip just edging up.

Umbrella.

A different sort of amusement seeded in his gut as Leukos set himself up and settled under the protective shade. Personally, it never even occurred to Sajah to take measures to shield himself from the sun, even on the longest of days. His skin was naturally among the darkest of their people and beyond that, it seemed simply especially tolerant to long exposure. He could hardly remember an occasion where he’d suffered for a day out.

Leukos, apparently, was another case entirely. In quite the opposite way, his was among the fairest skin Sajah had seen, and while he hadn’t spent much thought on that before, eventual inquiry as to why they needed special lotions and a broad personal awning in the form of an umbrella revealed: Leukos suffered from sun burns otherwise, and had particularly sensitive skin.

How he managed to work all day every day now out in it was a new mystery, but Sajah found himself amused just the same to see the man tuck up and stretch out on his beach blanket. «I brought nothing,» Sajah signed before beginning to pluck off his shirt and then work open his pants. So far as he saw it, though, he oughtn’t need much. His clothes could remain here with their things and when he finished with his time in the water, the sun would dry his skin quickly after exiting. It was a simple process, if one let it be. «I do hope you will not be spending all of your time in your…area of protection?»

Naz, after a curious and uncomprehending squint at Sajah’s hand signs, plopped to a brief sit at Leu’s side with his lizard, turning her attention down instead to stroke the alol’s head. “You gotta tell me some of the important ones he does sometime,” she said. And then, at the question, she shrugged. “I’ll swim however, but I don’t need ta get my clothes all wet, they’ll slow me down in the water ’n get in the way.”

As Sajah made his way towards the water, though, she sent a suspicious look after him.

“Is he gonna drown if we don’ go with him?”  

[MissMisnomer]

Leukos set his shoes aside, waving Saj off towards the water. “I'll join you eventually. I just need to apply first, and let that set. Go get your feet wet; in all terms of the phrase,” he said, rather satisfied with the way that word play worked itself out. And then worked on getting his own clothes off, folded neatly away from the bothersome sand.

At Naz’s question, he hummed for a moment, and turned himself to better face the girl. “Well, he's in the interesting position of needing to invent nicknames for people. Like, for instance, if he wanted to say my name, he'd have to spell the whole thing out, because there is no real ‘sign’ for ‘Leukos’. So, to save time, he calls me ‘butterfly’.” To demonstrate his point, first he formed every letter of his name. And then quickly crossed two flat hands at the wrists, palms facing backwards, bending his hands at the large knuckles twice in the manner of a butterfly flapping its wings.

“See how much easier that is? And you know how you call him ‘long ears’ because you haven't quite learned his name yet. Well, he has a name for you too. It's-” He placed the tips of his fingers on either side of his mouth and pivoted them twice, like a set of gills. “Guppy.”

“Now you'll know whenever he's talking about you, so be sure to call him out on it. If you want to learn more words, we should make a day of it some time. And maybe even work on your reading while we're at it. But today, we need to teach Sajah a lesson. And you know what…”

He looked over at the waves in mock concern, placing a hand over his mouth. “I think you may be right: he could drown if someone isn't there to help him. Someone who's an expert swimmer.” He reached, taking the alol out of her hands to plop onto a sunny spot on the rug. “You should go make sure nothing happens to him. Those children look pretty feisty…I don't think he's tough enough to handle them.” He touched a palm over his heart, sighing remorsefully, as if Sajah had already perished in the waves.

[5/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Apply.

Sajah blinked, halfway to the shoreline, his feet pausing in the sand at the thought. He could help with that, and his eyes wandered back to where Leu was stripping. It would only take a moment. It seemed far worth it.

Meanwhile, Naz watched with interest. “Weird,” she deduced. But then, a moment later: “I could do that.” She squinted, though, at the word for her. Guppy. “I ain’t-” Leukos’ point was a valid one, however, and so she ceased her immediate complaint in favor of attempting to memorize the hand gesture so that she would know. He wouldn’t sneak it around on her now. And, at the offer to spend the time to learn more, she nodded enthusiastically. It was a strange sort of language, and she hadn’t seen anyone else use it, but it seemed fun and particular to these men. Like a secret code.

To think that she could be in on it seemed especially exciting, at least in concept.

Her eyes widened a touch at the words regarding Sajah’s swimming disposition—and then narrowed with a skeptical puff, though her gaze did dart to the other children. “They look dumb. I bet-”

Sajah’s shadow cast itself over the sand, and she blinked upward. Wordlessly, he stooped, dropping to a knee beside Leukos and leaning to steal a kiss lightly before fetching out the lotion himself. «I can help with this. Give me your back?»

Naz, for her part, wrinkled her nose at the kiss, and huffed again, darting up of her own accord. “I’m goin’ swimming. When you’re ready t’ not drown or be gross, I’ll be there.” And with that, she was darting off down the sand, an audible splash coming but a moment later as she trounced through the waves and disappeared under the surf. Sajah, umbrella shade and Leukos now relatively to himself but for the several dozen other distracted beachgoers, grinned.  

[MissMisnomer]

Puffing amusedly, Leukos watched the young girl run off towards the more ‘favorable’ setting, bereft of nasty kisses and boring back rubs. He hoped she could keep herself amused, as her opinion of the other children seemed rather poor, so a play date might not be a viable option at the moment. Maybe she'd come around.

But in the meantime, he would enjoy his boyfriend's company. He shifted around, moving his hair over a shoulder and out of the way as me made his muscled back available for Sajahka. “Thanks, it would have been much harder to do it by myself; I should have asked for your help in the first place.” He did laugh a tad, looking over his shoulder at Sajah with his eyebrow arched. “But she had a point you know: we have to behave ourselves today, it's not just us on this beach. No ‘being gross’. We should keep the public displays of affection at a tasteful level…”

He turned his cheek back around, shrugging coyly. “Especially with the distinct lack of clothing everyone is wearing…wouldn't want to embarrass ourselves by putting anything private out on display~”

[6/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Out on display indeed.

“Mhm…” Sajah settled at Leukos’ side, actually already all too aware of how easily things could have been indecent. But, he wasn’t terribly concerned. There were many opportunities now to satisfy himself in that regard, and a public beach in broad daylight was not the time, nor the place. Even he was not quite so much of an exhibitionist as that. Still. He did take the opportunity to dip, placing a kiss just shy of the back of Leu’s neck, towards a shoulder, as he uncapped the lotion, before spreading a healthy amount onto his fingers—and then Leu’s back in turn.

Because of the circumstances, he didn’t over indulge or attempt anything that tested the limits of decency, but still managed to take his time and appreciate the substantial expanse of well-defined, fair skin as he spread the substance. When he finished, he gave a gentle pat and pinch to the man’s rear, kissing the side of his earfin before standing himself, and retreating towards the water before he could be tempted into anything else less appropriate.

The water was warm, glimmering with the noon day sun as he walked out into it, and not but a minute in, like a curious fish, he had a small figure circling underwater around his feet. He snorted. A second later, Naz broke the surface.

“Finally,” she exclaimed. “Now look. You do it like this…”

Sajah, standing now approximately waist deep, watched with quiet amusement as Naz ‘demonstrated’ an exuberant backstroke and a few turns through the water. There was of course no way he would manage to simply mimic her on command. He had seen people swim and that didn’t make it all immediately obvious in practice. But it didn’t manage to bother him just to watch as she showed off, evidently excited for her own part regardless.  

[MissMisnomer]

Bunching his toes on the tight weave of the carpet, Leukos simply relaxed and enjoyed the sensation of Saj working the gel onto his back. Much more preferable than struggling to do it himself~ And when he was done and had departed, Leukos gave an appreciative hum of thanks, rolling his scarred muscles as he cracked his neck. He looked out absent-mindedly towards the two, Naz doing a less than adequate job of teaching Sajah the ropes, who for his part was taking it like a champ.

Laughing to himself, he set about covering the rest of his skin in the sun-protecting lotion. And once thoroughly lathered up, all he had to do was wait for it to dry out, which was quite the easy task. He reclined back onto his elbows, watching everyone on the beach going about their business as he stroked Kyro’s cranium, who rested its chin on his chest contently. It really was a beautiful day, if a bit sunny for his skin’s taste. But that was what the prep was for, and something he was used to having to deal with by now.

But he found as he laid there, that it would be way too easy to fall asleep and not move for the rest of the day. Which wasn't really the point of them coming out here. Time to get active.

He got up off his rug, moving into the sun as he nodded at a group of girls that were setting up shop near their own encampment. He really was quite stiff. Which called for the perfect opportunity to limber up before swimming. So he tied all his hair back and set about working through his preferred yoga routine, stretching out his sleepy muscles by contorting into various poses. It felt quite amazing to so thoroughly loosen up, sighing contently as his back cracked.

“Umm, excuse me?”

He opened his eyes, looking up from his high-lunge on the ground. One of the girls was standing near, one arm gripping the other as her friends stood behind her.

“We're not in your way, are we? Did you need more space than this…we weren't sure with your stuff over there, but you doing your thing here…”

“No no, you're quite fine,” Leukos smiled, dusting the sand off his hands and knees as he stood up. “I'm sorry if it felt like I was hogging all the space. You aren't intruding at all.”

“Oh, alright, that's good to hear. You seemed very focused with your…stretching…we didn't want to bother you…” the girl said, flushing as she very forcefully focused her eyes on Leukos’ face instead of his exposed manhood. One of her friends coughed, prodding her in the back. “AH, so! We come here pretty often, but haven't seen you here before. Are you…visiting with someone today?”

“Actually, I'm pretty new to this place. I moved here only a few months ago; I don't know why I've never come here during the day, everything is to beautiful under the sun.” Leukos propped his knuckles on a hip, waving out at his companions in the water. “Those are the two I'm here with today. Naz wasn't a part of the plan, but she kind of just invited herself along, and we didn't have the heart to tell her no.”

The gaggle looked out at the dark skinned pair occupying themselves in the waves, inching closer to stand with the lead girl. One of her friends piped up, “That was nice of you; it looks like they get along together. I can't stand hanging out with my little sister; kids annoy me, they're just so loud and rude.”

Leukos laughed, pushing some rogue hair out of his face. “Well, she's not exactly the most polite creature, but she's earnest, and means well. Saj is wonderfully patient with her; they enjoy having lunch together quite often. I think I am growing fond of her as well.”

“I LOVE KIDS,” the first girl blurted out, flushing as her friends giggled. “I mean…they aren't so bad, and most are nice, and honest…” She looked at her toes, then up at Leukos, pinching her elbows tighter and pushing her arm up further under her well endowed breasts. “So…what's your name, since we're going to be beach neighbors today?”

Leukos’ gaze was naturally drawn down to the movement, before he looked back up at her eyes. “It's Leukos. But relax, have some fun, and don't worry about intruding on our space or anything; the beach belongs to everybody after all. I’m sure the day will be fun, with such lovely, nice girls camped beside us.” He ended that with a wide smile, which earned its fair share of giggles and rosy cheeks.

[7/10]  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Though Naz was not especially helpful, or perhaps because of it, eventually their time together in the water became more of a splashing and chasing game than anything else. Then, she caught onto the fact that he could throw her. That then became Sajah’s sole task for a period, hoisting and tossing the small fish out as high as he could lob her as she squealed before splashing into the water like a large stone. A stone that swam back for seconds, and thirds, and fourth rounds.

When the process began, Leukos had just started warming up on the beach himself with whatever it was he was doing, and Sajah spent the moments in between — while Naz squealed, sailed, and swam back — to glance back to shore and appreciate the view in its various angles as Leu moved. Sajah was still somewhere in the midst of this process when the other man’s fan club arrived, and at first, he thought nothing of it.

Except, each time he stole a glance back, it seemed there were more of them, clustering in—and giggling audibly. Sajah wasn’t concerned, per se — Leukos had already picked him over a number of pretty faces and being that he wasn’t interested in the slightest in women himself, he found it difficult to see the appeal generally. Still, when they didn’t depart, it began to feel potentially relevant to at least make a presence of himself, when-

“Ack-” He squinted downward, to where Naz had just pinched his hip and was now peering up at him from the water’s surface.

“You better go touch his butt,” she suggested, lips only just enough above water to be heard properly. “‘Fore they try to.”

He blinked. ‘Isn’t that a little mature of a thought for you?’ lingered on the mind, but there was no way of voicing it of course. Still, perhaps reading the confusion in his expression, Naz puffed, blowing bubbles.

“I seen enough a’fore. An’ he’s your girlfriend. Don’t look like they know.”

Snorting, Saj found a small smile skirting at his lips in spite of himself—and he thanked her by dunking her head under water as she squawked before making his way toward shore. Eyes on the girls, he moved up without comment, stepping in at Leu’s side just to his back, and looping an arm loosely, low at his waist. Touching a light kiss to the man’s arm, he pinched at the hip where his hand had come to rest before removing it to sign.

«Are you almost ready? At this rate the Guppy may exhaust me before I learn anything…or are they inviting us to a game?»