Work Text:
The metal railing was scalding hot under Hamish’s hands, reflecting the heat of the sun that day. Waves crashed against the rock beneath him, splashing water onto his bare feet. The strap of his and Vera’s shared bag of towels was light on his shoulder, the breeze moving it ever so slightly. Even with his enhanced hearing, Hamish couldn’t hear the sound of anyone but himself and the Grand Magus. He had managed to convince her to retire with him to one of the Orders many beach houses for the weekend just a few hours before their arrival.
Without her magic to aid her, Vera worked herself nearly to death to keep both Belgrave and the Order running as smoothly as possible. Hamish has been a constant presence at her side for months, their not so secret relationship now public enough that nearly the entirety of the Order knew about it, but he could only do so much (she would only allow him to do so much). But, with the university now on break for the summer, Hamish put his foot down and decided that the two of them needed a short vacation.
He heard her flip-flops touching down on the rocks before he saw her. She walked right up to him and placed her hand on the railing less than a centimeter away from his, both of their eyes facing forward towards the ocean. He could smell the sunscreen that she was using and resists against the urge to scrunch up his nose, the smell of sunscreen wafting into his nostrils not exactly the most pleasant thing on Earth.
”It’s lovely, isn’t it?” She says, looking up at him out of the corner of her eye.
”It is” Hamish responds, moving his hand so it was on top of hers.
”Hamish.....”Vera trailed off.
”What is it, darling?” Hamish asks, looking down at her with slight concern.
He didn’t miss the slight flush on her cheeks following him using one of his many pet names for her. She told him months ago that ‘sappy’ things like that weren’t her thing but he knew better by now, she loves all of the names that he’s come up with and hasn’t complained about any of them. She’s wearing black wide-rimmed sunglasses, a white skin-tight dress with a red bikini underneath, and black flip-flops.
“I don’t think leaving Belgrave for the weekend is a great idea” She says.
”If there’s an emergency we can go back but mostly everyone has gone home for the summer anyway” Hamish responds.
Vera gives him a flat look.
”Magic doesn’t have a summer vacation, Hamish” Vera responds.
”Vera, I know that and if anything does come up I’m sure Randall, Jack, and Gabrielle can handle it” He says.
They're not the only Order members who stayed behind to make sure the Temple remains protected and occupied during summer vacation but they’re the only ones that Hamish fully trusts. Other then Vera, of course, but you can never be too sure with members of the Order.
”Dear God, I hope you’re right” Vera says with a small laugh.
“Enough with talking about the Order, none of that for the rest of the weekend. Are we ready to go down to the beach?” Hamish says with as much authority as he can muster.
”Yes, let’s get a move on” She responds with a smile.
Hamish takes her hand in his as they move away from the metal railing, following the rock path to the beach. The path was connected to the Orders beach house so the beach is private, ensuring that they won’t have to worry about another human being for practically the entire weekend.
They walked in silence, not feeling the need to fill the air with small talk. Hamish liked that aspect of their relationship, they never had long periods of uncomfortable silence. Almost as if them being together was more then enough. The rock pathway soon turned to just sand underneath their feet, bringing them closer to the ocean.
The path leads them to a small sanded area, waves crashing down less than fifteen feet in front of them. They unclasped their hands and Vera took off her sandals, Hamish dropping their shared bag onto the sand next to him. Vera silently peels off her coverup, tossing it into the bag.
Hamish couldn’t help but stare at the older woman. He could easily describe her as perfect and that wouldn’t even begin to be right. Her bikini was the perfect shade of red, complimenting both her skin tone and her hair color, and it left little to the imagination. After a few moments had passed she arched a brow at him, clearly catching him in the act.
”Going to stare all day, are we?” She asks cockily.
”I had other plans but this works too” Hamish responds with a grin.
She rolls her eyes at him before grabbing her towel from the bag, laying it out on the sand in front of her. Hamish pulls off his tank top and follows suit, sitting down on his towel less than a foot away from hers. She lays down on her towel and her face is pointed away from him and at the sky.
Vera knew that Hamish was still staring at her, she could feel his eyes on her. He typically only allowed himself to openly stare at her like this when they were alone, which she appreciated, not as if the entire Order wasn’t already aware of their relationship. She was glad that he wanted to take her on vacation, even if it was just for a weekend, she desperately needed it but she isn’t going to admit that to him. He already gets on her case for working well into the early morning hours so admitting that it was starting to get to her would be comparable to signing up for him forcing her to go home early. Being Grand Magus without her magic was the toughest thing that she had ever attempted, and most likely will hold that title for the rest of her life, but the Order was all she has had for years so it was worth it. She would be nothing without the knowledge that the Order provided her over the years and she would also like to keep her memory intact.
"We could always extend this trip into a week" Hamish says beside her.
Vera opens her eyes and turns her head to look at him. He's looking at her with those puppy-dog eyes, no pun intended, of his and she groaned internally. She had other responsibilities to attend to back on campus, ones that were important both for the university and the Order, but she knew that Hamish was going to try his hardest to convince her to stay.
"You can, Hamish, I, however, can not" Vera responds.
"Who's stopping you from staying an extra day, two max?" He asks, practically pleading with her.
"My work, which I have a lot of" She says.
"Vera, please. You're going to work yourself to death at this rate" Hamish pleads.
Vera audibly groans before turning her head back towards the sky, closing her eyes as she did. She knew, deep down, that he was right but how else could she prove that she deserved to remain as acting Grand Magus? She's lucky that the council, mainly Kepler, didn't try and do another vote to boot her out of the position but who's to say that they won't do that in the future? How good of a Grand Magus can she be if she has to rely upon others to cast even the most basic of incantations?
"I have to make up for my magic being gone, Hamish, we've already spoken about this" She sighs.
He sighs but doesn't say anything else. Her magic being gone has been a touchy subject between the two of them for a while now. Hamish blames himself for not protecting her well enough while she blames herself because she's the Grand Magus, she's supposed to be prepared for any and everything and she seriously dropped the ball. Vera is a grown woman and should be able to protect herself, she shouldn't have to rely upon someone else. Ever. Or that's what she's managed to convince herself over the years, being in the Order for nearly half of your life will do that to someone. Hamish just doesn't understand that, doesn't understand that Vera should be able to protect herself and shouldn't have to rely on him.
Despite him being the only person that she's genuinely cared about since her daughter, Vera hardly ever acted in a way that would make it seem like that. In front of the other members of the Order, other than Jack and Randall, and in public they barely so much as glanced at each other despite nearly everyone knowing about their relationship. It's what will save him from being harmed if her enemies ever felt like acting out their revenge. She simply couldn't allow for that to happen, he won't be harmed as a result of their relationship.
"I love you, you know that right?" Vera says softly.
She heard him turn over to face her but refused to look him in the eye. He simply needed to know that she does, in fact, love him and that's all there is to it.
"I love you too" Hamish says and she can hear him grinning.