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Marcus really shouldn't be surprised at how fast Ren climbs out of the carriage—as soon as it's stopped, she's heaving the door open and stepping onto the grass. It's not often Marcus gets several days off like this, especially not with his second job as Silco's pet enforcer.
They've taken advantage of the time with a vacation. The smell of salt permeates the air as he steps out of the driver's seat, waves crashing a few dozen feet away. Ren is already running, her sandals kicking up sand as she approaches the water.
With a short laugh, Marcus gathers up everything they'd brought: towels, sunscreen, beach toys, and a book. His own walk to meet his daughter on the shore is slower, so Ren kindly meets him halfway and grabs two of the towels to lay them out on the sand. The book is carefully placed on one, in an effort to not get sand between the pages.
Although Ren is eager to get into the water, Marcus insists that she stay and get sunscreen on her.
"Trust me," he says, smoothing the cream along her cheeks and forehead, "if we don't take the time to do this now, you'll feel really bad later. You don't want a sunburn."
Ren stays still dutifully, only racing to the water once Marcus has given her the go-ahead. His own sunscreen is applied afterwards. He could have brought an umbrella, but it probably wouldn't do him any harm to get some sun, especially with how much he's had to be in his office this week.
Shrieks of laughter draw Marcus' attention back up, and he sees Ren splashing her arms through the water, up to her waist already in the ocean. After a moment of consideration, Marcus stands up and moves to join her.
The water is icy cold in contrast to the warm day. Ren's small hand grabs onto his, and they walk further in together.
It's peaceful, out here. The fact that nobody's at this beach today only adds to the feeling—as if they're in their own bubble. safe from the world. The waves push a rhythm through Marcus each time they flow past and onto the shore.
Ren breaks him out of the strange trance, lightly splashing him with water. Marcus grins, then splashes her back.
They continue trading blows in their mock-fight. Every laugh and shout from either of them only makes the other laugh as well. It goes on for a while, enough that they're both panting from running around and flinging water.
In the end, there is no real winner–though Marcus is the first one to ask for a truce, so perhaps that makes Ren the winner.
The two make their way back to the beach, covered head-to-toe in water. It's a good thing that the weather is so nice, or they'd both be freezing like this. The towels help as well, soaking up most of the dampness.
"I wish we could live here," says Ren.
She's always loved swimming. It's a shame that the river isn't usable, or else she'd surely be out there whenever she could.
Marcus glances at her, then at the ocean. It's so different from the crowded city. As much as he loves Piltover, it's hard not to agree with her. "Me too, pumpkin."
Ren looks at him, a small frown on her face. It puts an unpleasant feeling in Marcus' gut.
"Why can't we?"
It's the first time she's asked something like this. Marcus scrambles for explanations. "I—I have my work, you have school... Even if it sounds nice, uprooting our lives wouldn't be easy."
Seeing Ren's sad nod makes his heart fall, but it's a truth that she needs to hear. This isn't how he wants her to feel on their vacation, though.
"Hey, how about some lunch? All that running around has me hungry."
Ren's face lights back up, and Marcus gives her a small smile. He gets up and heads to the carriage, pulling out the bags of food he'd prepared early this morning before they'd headed out here. The bag labeled with her name is handed to Ren, and Marcus keeps the other, pulling his tuna sandwich out and relishing the first bite.
In Ren's bag is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crusts cut off, as well as baby carrots and a bottle of orange juice. Hardly a word passes between them for a few long minutes as they eat together.
Marcus finishes first, folding his lunch bag and putting it to the side so they can take it to the carriage along with everything else later. He picks up his book from where he'd left it, thumbing the pages open to where he'd left off.
It isn't long after that Ren is off again, picking up a few of the beach toys and starting on a sand castle. Her knees and hands get covered in sand almost immediately. Marcus makes a mental note to get all that sand off her before they get into the carriage again, since the last thing he wants is to be cleaning sand out of the floor for weeks after.
The book entirely takes Marcus' focus after this, although he's sure to occasionally look up and check on Ren. He knows that his daughter is normally responsible, but a parent can't be too careful when this far from home.
Honestly, Marcus can't remember the last time he was this happy and relaxed. Thoughts of the city and his duties have left him almost entirely, now replaced with the calm waves and the pages in front of him. He's smiling unconsciously.
It's mostly Ren's doing—she's the light of his life, and every hardship he's had to struggle through, it's all been for her. The most important thing is that she's happy, even if that means he suffers for it.
Sudden tiredness in his body is what makes Marcus look up at the sky. They've been here for several hours; enough that he's gonna need a nap when they get back home. He suppresses a yawn with one hand.
"Ren? Ten more minutes, then we're heading out."
She pouts, but responds, "Okaaay."
The small sand castle that she's been working on is finished up, and Marcus himself bookmarks the page he's on and starts gathering up their things. The towels get the sand flung off them before going in the trunk of the carriage, along with all the rest of their things.
Ren comes running up with her toys in hand, all washed in the seawater. "Can we have pizza tonight?"
Saying no to her when she's shining so brightly would be impossible. Marcus closes the trunk of the carriage once her toys have been placed inside. "Alright, fine, pizza it is. What made you think about that?"
"That's what we had last time we went to the beach, at that place with the good sodas. Don't you remember Daddy?"
He hadn't, as a matter of fact. With a small shake of his head, Marcus gets into the driver's seat and starts up the carriage. The littlest things that Ren remembers astound him sometimes. That's just how kids are; they latch on to things even if they aren't important. Or perhaps they are, and Marcus just doesn't understand it. "I do now. Thanks for the reminder, sweetheart."
Her still-damp hair is ruffled, then the carriage pulls away from the beach, cruising along the rickety road. As they leave the beach behind, Ren stares out the window, towel still over her shoulders.
Marcus will make sure to have his next vacation sooner, this time around. For now, he turns on the car radio and listens to his daughter sing along to whatever comes on.