Chapter Text
Urie didn’t know what he had been expecting. It was the first day of camp and he was supposed to be focused on getting ready for the day with Shirazu, the other lifeguard. He was supposed to be putting sunscreen on, making sure the lake was safe to swim in, sweeping leaves and branches off the dock so that kids wouldn’t trip on them... But for some reason he had decided to avert his gaze towards the shore, just in time to see Mutsuki, the camp’s small, green-haired canoe instructor, trip over a pile of metal canoes, tumble forward, and fall face-first into the mud.
As soon as he hit the ground, the chubby blue-haired girl at the snack bar, Saiko, as well as the camp’s nurse, Sasaki both ran over to his side to help him up. Urie rolled his eyes from the dock as he watched the two of them escort the green-haired man into the nurse’s station (how clumsy). He had never been very close with Mutsuki (or with anyone, for that matter) but the rest of the camp’s staff seemed to care for the tiny canoe instructor very deeply, which really just annoyed Urie. Why even bother caring for someone like that, someone so uncoordinated and helpless? Urie didn’t get it. Plus, Mutsuki was too much for him; he was too cheery, too sweet, and too enthusiastic about his job. And while Urie didn’t necessarily loathe him, he wasn’t very fond of the man either.
He was distracted from watching the scene on shore when a gruff, familiar voice called his name from the other end of the dock.
“Oi, Urie...” Shirazu was squatted next to his too-big ‘lifeguard’ duffle bag, rummaging through it as he spoke. “I must’ve forgotten my sunscreen. Think ya can go down to the nurse’s station to see if Sasaki has any?”
“..... (get it yourself)” Urie stared at him blankly, hoping that the lanky, orange-haired man would just leave him alone. He wasn’t going to give Shirazu any of his sunscreen, why would he?? But he also wasn’t thrilled with the idea of making a trek to the nurses station, especially with all the commotion going on inside of it.
Shirazu sighed and stood up, this time fully turning around to look into Urie’s dark, dull eyes. “Please? I’ll take care of everything here. I’ll do your sweepin’ for ya, even. I’m gonna burn to a crisp if I don’t put it on soon...”
Getting irritated with hearing Shirazu’s harsh, scratchy voice so early in the morning, Urie finally huffed in response and managed an unenthusiastic “...fine” before turning on his heel and making his way towards shore. He was starting to wonder why he even continued to work at this camp when the directors, Arima and Akira, the only people who didn’t drive him crazy, were never to be found. But Shirazu, Saiko, Sasaki, Mutsuki...just a bunch of headaches waiting to happen. At least the pay was decent...
Urie stomped his way through the mud towards the nurse’s station and then climbed the wooden steps, hoping that he could find some sunscreen himself and get out of there as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to talk to Sasaki, and especially not to the other two. He wasn’t in the mood to tolerate Saiko’s energy or Mutsuki’s cheerfulness. But, just his luck, as soon as he entered through the creaky screen door, Sasaki greeted him enthusiastically.
“Urie! Great seeing you today! The weather out there is beautiful!” Sasaki gave him a too-warm smile. He was sitting on a cot next to Mutsuki, carefully cleaning a particularly deep cut on the dark-skinned boy’s shaking knee. Mutsuki hissed through his teeth, squinting his eyes closed but trying his best to handle the stinging pain of the wound. “Saiko had to go back to setting up, so may I ask a favor of you?”
“I need sunscreen.” Hell, he didn’t need anyone else to ‘ask a favor’ of him. He was in the middle of a favor. And the ‘beautiful’ weather was the least of his concerns.
“Well, Mutsuki here just took quite a fall over by the canoes. He’s lucky that nothing’s broken, but he’s going to be pretty bruised up and sore for a few days. And it’s tough to manage both boats and kids, especially when you’re not feeling good...” Sasaki just continued on with his request. Obviously, Urie’s blunt response hadn’t read as a ‘no’ to him. “But my point is that Tooru is going to need some help this week. Or at least today and tomorrow. From you. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I also know for sure that Shirazu can manage lifeguarding on his own.” Sasaki patched up Mutsuki’s knee with some antibiotic ointment and a big bandage, before standing up and reaching out to squeeze at Urie’s upper arm (much to his disgust). “Shirazu’s a strong swimmer, and you’re going to be a strong paddler, alright?”
Urie stared at the energetic nurse in disbelief. Not only did Sasaki’s tone of voice peeve him, but this was a lot more than a just a simple favor. The man was literally asking him to give up his lifeguarding to paddle a bruised-up, clumsy brat around in a tiny metal boat all week. That was not his cup of tea, and he was definitely not getting paid enough to do it. But if he knew Sasaki correctly, he was going to be stuck with the job whether he liked it or not.
Stuck with Mutsuki...
The petite, green-haired canoe instructor gazed over at him nervously, a guilty look in his usually bright eyes. He was wearing a light blue camp t-shirt that was a bit too big for him underneath a large, cushiony lifejacket that covered his entire torso. He fidgeted with the sturdy zipper on the front of the jacket while Sasaki went to find sunscreen, looking awfully uncomfortable sitting there on the cot. He had a little scratch on his left cheek, and quite a few bigger ones on his arms and legs. Some bruises were also already starting to form, much to Urie’s surprise. It hadn’t looked like that bad of a fall, but he really had managed to bang himself up. How pathetic.
“...Um, I’m sorry about this. I-I know you don’t like to be bothered...” Mutsuki’s soft voice caught Urie off guard, since he had been wallowing in a sea of angry thoughts. “I could probably make do by myself, but you would definitely be a huge help and I would appreciate it a lot. And, uh, I definitely don’t mind sharing my sunscreen either.”
Urie had to stop himself from sighing out loud. The first day had barely started, and he was already wishing that the entire week was over.