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'Hollywood Beach' plastered on a faded sign fashioned of wood sat solitary in a dull mound of sand, misshapen seagulls cawed overhead in an open blue sky and white waves left damp trails at the edge of the beach. Bright tri-colored umbrellas peppered the beachfront, while creatures copied from wildlife documentaries poked noses and claws out of manmade holes.
"I kinda missed this place!" Whirl removed one blue sneaker and poured at least a pound of sand out of it, "Not sure what this stuff is, but it's kinda cool. I don't think I like it all that much."
"That's called sand," Bluestreak adjusted the spaghetti straps of her bikini, a cute two piece, "It's like, a staple of beaches. You won't see a beach without sand– and if you do, it's not a beach."
Rung and Skids followed behind, cooler held by Skids while a large red towel, aptly named for the beachy occasion, and umbrella branded with the Autobot symbol secured in Rung's thin arms, almost identical to that of said umbrella's pole.
The very edge of the group was heralded by Swerve, Cyclonus and Tailgate, holoforms appropriately changed to match the location. Cyclonus stood a good three feet above Swerve and Tailgate, all while a large picnic basket, stuffed with energon goodies was held in their left hand.
"I took the extra liberty of creating this place to be as screen-accurate as possible!" Swerve declared, while Rung set the umbrella down in the sand and unfurled its canopy, "Just like they'd have it on earth, complete with the sand and the water."
"And… whatever these things are!" A small mole crab, light silver and round in shape, dug itself out of its hidden spot and lingered around Tailgate's foot, "Aww, It's kind of cute!" He scooped it up into one cupped hand and held it out for Cyclonus' investigation, "I think it likes me!"
"Put that down," Cyclonus set the picnic basket down and assisted Rung in unfurling the beach towel to lay underneath the umbrella, taking a seat, "You don't know what it's capable of."
"It looks harmless to me!" Whirl kicked off both shoes and threw one at Cyclonus, who caught it, despite being turned the other way, and tossed it back with precision.
"How many times have we said that about other random things we've run into, and then they turn out to be huge and scary?" Bluestreak huffed.
"Too many times to be certain." Replied Rung, who shed his overcoat and tweaked at the side of his glasses until the lenses dimmed.
"There's no scary stuff on Swearth," Swerve grinned, "Well, except for the parts I used horror movies as inspiration for but that's not here." He blinked, "At least that's how it was the last time I checked."
"And what about these outfits?" Skids slipped his shirt off and kicked his sandals in the direction of the growing pile, "I mean, not that I'm complaining– I look great in these shorts!"
"Human custom! These are what they'd typically wear to the beach."
"These too?" Rung reached into the basket and pulled out a kite accented with reds and golds in the shape of an arrow and a green plastic shovel with a matching bucket.
"They enhance the experience!"
Bluestreak snatched the kite from Rung and gave it a quick inspection, turning it around in her hands as Cyclonus removed the light shawl she had draped over her shoulders and folded it so it would rest underneath their sandals. Seafoam frothed against the shoreline in thick strokes, and more anatomically-incorrect seagulls swooped down to patter around in the sand with wings too large for their bodies and feet too weak to support themselves.
"What's this called again?" Tailgate asked.
"The beach?" Swerve responded.
"No, no, back on the ship you had a fancy name for it. Beach… something."
"I believe he called it a 'Beach Day'," Rung supplied.
Swerve gave his most haughty expression, and then materialized a TV guide out of thin air, "My dear Tailgate," He mocked, in Rung's accent, "This is what is known as a 'beach episode'," He nodded, "Or, an episode where the cast takes a break from their routine and decides to visit a beach for fun."
"Oh!" Tailgate frowned, "I thought we were just trying to escape Magnus making us do work while the Lost Light is stopped at the space port."
"Well," Swerve wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, "That may also be a reason…"
"And… a-ha! Got it!" Bluestreak exclaimed with triumph, holding the unspooled thread that connected to the neck of the kite in one hand and the kite itself on the other, "I'm figuring this human stuff out! Look at this!"
"Nice!" Skids nodded, "Let's go give it a spin! I think I have an idea about how you're supposed to use it, I feel like I've almost seen it somewhere before."
Bluestreak nodded at him, and the two of them stood up from underneath the umbrella and ran off towards the shoreline, each holding a separate piece of the kite.
"If we're all going to do our own activities, I think I'll be taking this spade and bucket. I wonder if I could create a self portrait in the sand." Rung gathered the plastic tools from the picnic basket in his arms.
"It sure would be an improvement!" Whirl laughed, to Rung's frown, "I'm coming with, cause I get to kick down any interesting thing you create."
"I think I'm gonna go try the water out," Tailgate looked to Cyclonus, "Do you want to come with me?"
"No, thank you," Cyclonus replied, "I'm not interested in the ocean."
"Aww, okay. What about you, Swerve?"
"Nah, I'm gonna stay here. The beauty of Swearth is that everyone can enjoy it!"
"Okay!" He waved, "I'll see you guys later! Call me back when we have to leave!"
The two waved him off.
Silence settled underneath the umbrella, with Cyclonus sitting on their folded legs and Swerve lounging on his side. The seagulls called out, and in the distance, Bluestreak and Skids cheered as their kite wobbled off the ground and held in the air. Rung defended an odd sculpture of an unknown staff with a large circular window from Whirl's kicks, hellbent on bringing whatever sculpture it was down back to the sand. Tailgate skirted the edges of the ocean, but each time the tide pulled back in, he hesitated, and backed away in the opposite direction.
"Swearth seems different, in a way." Cyclonus began.
"What?"
"I said, Swearth feels different in a way."
"No, I mean, I heard you, but what do you mean by that? Like, how is it different?"
"You've changed it since we've been here, haven't you?"
"It's not an exact replica of the first Swearth," Swerve scratched at the patchy stubble of his holoform, "Ratchet said I had to shut that one down for my health."
"So, this is a new Swearth entirely."
"Exactly."
The silence was a bit strange to Swerve's tastes, but he'd dealt with silences more awkward before.
"Your holomatter avatar has changed, as well."
"Hasn't everybody's? The project was in its beta test, everyone was still working out their designs."
"You had three last time."
"I don't know, it's," He waved the one hand laying on his upturned side, "I think I just had a lot on my mind. I don't know what caused that glitch. But, we got it resolved, didn't we? You guys found me. So, there's nothing to worry about anymore."
"So much that it caused the systems to glitch which avatar to represent you." Cyclonus raised one of his eyebrows.
Swerve looked out at the shore. Bluestreak ran past with Skids on her heels, kite now reaching it's full height as the wind began to pick up. Rung had deterred Whirl from trying to destroy his sand sculpture enough for her to make her own sand sculpture, which, to no surprise, was that of one of her guns. Tailgate stood proud, a layer of the tide now crashed against his legs, as if it was he who has tamed the ocean, and not the other way around.
"It's kind of embarrassing." Said Swerve, "I heard nearly everyone came looking for me. Talk about distracting everyone from the quest, am I right?" He gave a nervous chuckle, "Right?"
"You are a member of the Lost Light, Swerve." Cyclonus shook their head, "We weren't going to continue the quest without you. You're quite popular on the ship, even if it is to your own disbelief."
"I can't tell if that's a compliment or not, so I'm gonna pretend like it was one."
Cyclonus smiled, "Good."
The bright blue sky began to melt into a subdued orange-red, with thin clouds gathering at the base of the sky where the ocean's peak kissed the horizon within an inch of the sun's light. Bluestreak watched the kite's altitude peeter out, and once it hit the sand, tossed it at Skids. Whirl had lost interest in making sculptures, and began to make his way over to the umbrella again. Tailgate ran back from the shoreline, each step displaced a damp patch of sand that filled up with water as the tide swayed out.
"I almost don't want this to end," Swerve sighed, "The best part of Swearth is that we're all hanging out together."
"But it was you who brought us together," Cyclonus responded, "You're stronger than you know."
"Now I know that's a compliment." Swerve smiled, "Well, at least I know everyone's having fun."
"Including you. Are you having fun?"
He paused.
"Yeah." Replied Swerve, "'m having a lot of fun, especially since you guys are here."