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Ryona shifted to her side, looking at Calderon, sprawled across his own lounge chair. She couldn’t see his eyes under his dark glasses, but his brow was furrowed and his body was tense.
“Captain, it’s time for you to reapply sunscreen,” she said gently.
There was a pause, during which Ryona could swear she saw a vein pulsing in his forehead. She sighed, adding hypertension to the list of medical issues Cal was looking forward to.
“I’m relaxing, Ryona,” he said in a strained voice. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“Captain, I thought even you could see that a break benefits all of us,” she replied.
“Obviously you didn’t think I would, because you tricked me into coming here.”
“I thought you would accept the idea once we were already here.”
“Well you were wrong.” He sounded a bit petulant at this point and Ryona knew it wouldn’t get better. “Essential medical supplies my a-”
“I think I’ll go check on the others,” she interrupted. “Remember your sunscreen or you’re going to get wrinkles before you turn thirty.”
Cal grumbled something inaudible and turned his head away. Ryona tied her wrap around herself and left him there, stewing.
She had, in fact, tricked Calderon into coming to the planet with the most pristine beaches in the system. It was her medical opinion that the crew of the Andromeda Six needed rest, relaxation, and the feeling of sand between their toes. They’d been working for months straight and their work had a habit of turning very messy, very quickly.
Now, there were rumors of something big happening on Goldis, which meant Cal would want to get in the middle of it. She knew the only chance she had to alleviate some of the crew’s stress was acting quickly and with the discretion her bond with her crewmates gave her. Now they were scattered over a pristine white beach on a warm, breezy, sunny afternoon.
She breathed in the fresh, salty air and let her feet sink into the sand, feeling the worry melt away for the first time in a while. The sounds of the beach were nice, the murmur of voices, the crash of the waves, the sound of little feet running in the sand and splashing in the water.
Ryona’s silent reflection was interrupted by Ayame’s shrill laugh. Aya was nowhere in sight, but Ryona was so attuned to the voices of her crewmates that she could pick them out in an instant over the rest of the crowd. She heard her laugh again and turned towards the volleyball courts where a crowd of semi-interested onlookers were gathered. She pushed her way through the crowd just in time to see Damon spike the ball over the net so hard that his opponent chose to shield their head instead of returning the ball. Aya ran over to him, laughing with glee and they shared a high five.
“Let’s not put anyone in the hospital,” Ryona called out to them, more charmed at their good moods than alarmed.
Damon and Aya looked over at her with identical satisfied grins. Ryona folded her arms as the pair wandered over. Damon leaned on Aya’s shoulder. “Hey Ry, did ya come to watch me and Aya kick these assholes into orbit?”
“You missed the last three matches,” Aya said. “We’re going to own this beach.”
Ryona smiled at them. “I don’t see the harm in a bit of friendly competition.”
They exchanged a look that Ryona didn’t like. Damon smiled and leaned towards her. “Come on, Ry, we could use another set of very capable hands here. It might do you some good to work off a little of that aggression.”
Aya glared and then Damon was sprawling on the ground, Aya laughing over him. Ryona couldn’t help but join her, it was rare to see Damon look so flustered.
“Don’t provoke Ry,” Aya scolded.
Quick as a flash, Damon was back on his feet, and he was… pouting a little. That made Ryona laugh even harder. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Damon huffed.
“I’m just enjoying all of you being in my sight and safe for once.” She glanced over at the opposing team who were staring daggers at the three of them. “Relatively safe, I suppose.”
Damon’s eyes followed hers. “Don’t worry about them, if they try anything too crazy…” There was suddenly a knife in his hand.
Aya raised an eyebrow and scanned him, bare besides his mid-thigh swim trunks. “Do I even know where you were keeping that?”
“Don’t answer that,” Ryona snapped, seeing Damon’s grin sharpen.
He slung an arm over her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Doc, I’m not damaging anything internal. Now, why don’t you stop worrying about the rest of us and go chat up a leggy human at the bar, yeah?”
Aya’s arm circled her waist and suddenly Ryona was nestled between her friends, feeling their affection. She smiled and knew everyone would see her glow with happiness. Aya squeezed her a bit. “You need to relax too, okay? I need you at your best when you have to patch me up after I end up in a fight with one of these clowns.”
“Please don’t,” Ryona said. “Damon, please make sure she doesn’t do that.”
Damon released her and shrugged. “I’m no match for her when she really wants to kick someone’s ass.”
Aya laughed and walked back towards the net. “I can promise that I’ll be able to walk back to the ship on my own.”
Ryona rolled her eyes as they lined up for the serve, but her heart wasn’t in it. Those two weren’t happy if they weren’t getting attention of some kind and this was one one of the least risky ways she’d ever seen them go about it. She watched for a bit, seeing both of their genuine joy. They carried so much anger and sadness around, their joy was often false or sardonic. The sight of them experiencing real joy with something so mundane touched her heart. Ryona tried to study Damon’s smile and the way Aya’s eyes crinkled when she really laughed. She wanted to remember her friends like this forever. If things ever ended badly, she wanted to remember them like this.
The dark thought yanked her out of the moment. She frowned and tried to banish it from her mind. She had two other crew members to track down.
Ryona wandered farther down the beach towards the blue green water. She could see fish and other aquatic animals flitting along the ocean floor. The waves passed over her feet, cooling on her skin, but not quite cold. Two human children ran past her, trying to push each other into the water. She looked after them, remembering doing the same with her own sisters.
“Ryona!”
June waved her over. He and Bash were surrounded by children which made both of their already impressive heights look even taller. As she approached, she saw that what she thought were dunes on first glance, were impressive sand-structures of some kind. Children were working on digging, packing sand, and sculpting sand.
“Are you helping them?” Ryona asked Bash, watching a child haul June over to inspect a part of their structure.
Bash smiled at her radiantly. “Yeah, we’re having a competition. Could you be the judge?”
Ryona inspected the two structures. June had clearly gathered over rocks and logs that none of the children could have possibly could have carried to form the foundation the children built a fairly standard sand castle on top of. An older child was currently instructing June to lift her up to place shells along the upper walls.
Bash had clearly had a heavy hand in the engineering and construction of the structure which was definitely a ship and not a castle. Several children were working on methodically wetting sand and using seaweed to reinforce the lines and edges.
“Of course. Though I think the engineer may have a bit of an advantage here.”
Bash chuckled. “Hey, look at them, they have heart and scrappy charm.”
“And you have that eye of yours. What did you wager?”
He feigned shock. “I didn’t wager on a sand castle competition with a group of children.”
Ryona gave him a look.
“Okay, okay, I said the loser had to buy the rest of us ice cream. All of us. Even the kiddos.”
“Well, I guess I can approve of that.”
Two children ran up to Bash and did a rough approximation of a salute to him. Ryona side-eyed him and he shrugged.
“At ease,” he said sternly to the children. “Update me on your progress.”
One of the children gave Bash a wide, gap toothed grin. “Sir, we did the improvements you said.”
“Good job kiddo!” Bash said. “Let me see, I’m sure we’ll all have ice cream in no time!”
Bash followed the children, leaving Ryona alone to watch June with the children. She watched him take the child on his shoulders down so carefully that the child got impatient and tried to wiggle out half way down. One of the other children grabbed him around the leg and laughed. Ryona saw him freeze, his muscles tensing.
She recognized the fear he saw in his eyes. He was afraid he’d hurt them. Pain and empathy for her friend welled up inside her heart. She joined him and knelt down to the child’s level. “Hi there.”
The child, still clung to June’s leg and tried to hide behind it. June chuckled. “Be nice to Miss Ryona, alright? She’s my friend.”
The child looked up at June, back to Ryona, and bit her lip. “You’re friends with June?”
“I am, we live on the same ship together. Has he been doing a good job helping you with your castle?”
“Yeah! He’s so strong, I hope I grow up as big and strong as you,” she said, beaming up at him. “I’d use my muscles to help people like you do.”
June glanced at Ryona, guilt written all over his face. All of his feelings showed on his face, he was that kind of person. He carefully detached the girl from his leg and bent down to her level next to Ryona, a faint smile appearing on his lips. “Can you promise me that you will? There are lots of people that need help in this system.”
The child did her best to replicate his solemn expression and stuck out her pinky. “I pinky promise.”
June smiled widely this time and linked his pinky with her tiny one. “I look forward to seeing you saving people, little lady.”
She giggled and then was pulled away by another child. Ryona rested a hand on June’s shoulder. “You won’t hurt them.”
“You don’t know that.” His jaw was clenched and he wouldn’t look directly at her. “What if something provoked me.”
Ryona squeezed his shoulder. “Well I know you. You’d never hurt them, June.”
There was a moment where Ryona began to feel a bit silly crouched down in the sand surrounded by little children. Then June smiled at her, radiantly. She stood and offered him a hand, pulling him to his feet, as much as she could with his superior height and bulk.
“Hey, it’s time for the competition!” Bash called.
The children crowded behind Bash and June as Ryona inspected the two sandcastles. Rather, the sand-structures as Bash’s structure was decidedly not a castle. Ryona sighed, she wondered how long Bash was going to be holding this over June’s head.
“I’m sorry June, but Bash’s is just better constructed and original. I have to choose the sand-ship.”
Bash punched the air and the children around him cheered raucously while June consoled his disappointed gaggle.
“I guess I have to pay up for ice cream for everyone,” he said, cheerily. The children perked up at that.
“That’s right cowboy, brain wins over brawn,” Bash said, slapping June on the back.
Ryona frowned. “I guess brains don't translate to good decision making.”
Bash’s eyes narrowed and June laughed. “No one can put him in his place like you can, Ry. I’ll get you ice cream on me.”
Ryona looked at the happy, chattering and laughing children and suddenly felt very tired. The towels and big umbrella that June and Bash had vacated looked very inviting. She shook her head, “I’m alright, I’ll be here if you need me.”
Bash and June exchanged a look. “We’ll try not to need you then, get some rest,” Bash said with a wink.
Ryona opened her mouth to snap at him for being presumptuous and then saw the earnest look on both men’s faces and softened. They were worried about her. She could get some more rest. The herd of children wandered over to the food stalls with her crewmates. Ryona laid on one of the towels and looked up at the striped umbrella above her. Now that she thought about it, she was a little tired. Maybe she would close her eyes for a few minutes, now that she knew her family was safe…
“Ryona, it’s time to go.”
That was Cal’s voice. She opened her eyes and was confused for a moment. There was a beautiful orange and purple sky above her, not the familiar grey steel of the Andromeda Six.
“Don’t be rude, Commander, can’t you see our medic needs her beauty rest.” Damon said, mocking Cal as much as he was scolding him. “You’re just mad you didn’t follow her orders and b-”
“Can it, Reznor,” Cal growled.
“Wake up, kiddo, I made pancakes,” Aya said and shook her gently.
Ryona sat and rubbed her eyes. “Sorry, I must have dozed off…” Her eyes fell on Cal whose pink cheeks, shoulders, and chest were going pinker by the moment as Damon laughed at him. “ Calderon,” she said, and was suddenly on her feet.
Cal had the decency to look sheepish as she descended on him. “Oh, you’re awake.”
“You didn’t reapply your sunblock did you? It’s a wonder the ship keeps flying captained by a man who is so against taking care of himself.”
“Ryona, we’re in public,” Call muttered. Damon laughed harder.
Ryona folded her arms. “Fine, but you report to medical immediately unless you want to be as scaly as Oppo!”
Cal cringed and Damon patted him on the back right on another patch of sunburn. The yelp that came from their captain was not stoic nor captainly. Damon’s grin was so sharp it could have cut glass. “You know, I think this trip was worth it after all.”