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“I hate the beach,” Rembrandt grumbled for at least the twenty-fifth time in the last hour. Even Cochise, who was usually considered the resident saint for her patience, visibly had to keep herself from gagging the tagger with her towel. Rembrandt had already been slapped behind the head by a chipper Fox after the sixth complaint, which led to constant bickering between the two on the rest of the way.
Rembrandt's outfit did not even remotely fit for a day at the beach while the others had put their swimsuits on. She was wearing her usual clothes: a worn out T-shirt, her signature custom Warriors leather jacket, and ripped jeans. All of them knew very well that in a few hours, she would complain about not being able to get rid of the sand that was without a doubt going to slip into every crevice of her clothes.
Mercy, for her part, was staring at the gentle waves of the ocean with wonder-filled eyes, even though she had gone to the beach several times since she had joined the Warriors. She had taken a particular liking for the ocean, sometimes spending hours staring at the waves. Needless to say, she was overjoyed that Cleon had suggested for the group to go on a “beach day” as it meant both that the others truly did see her as a fellow Warrior and friend; and of course, she got to share her love for the ocean. She hoped to drag Swan in the water, even though her girlfriend had warned her that she would stay dry. Whatever, Mercy figured; her puppy eyes were nearly irresistible for Swan, even more so when combined with Fox’s.
As soon as their feet threaded the sand, Ajax yelled “last in the water is a chicken!” whilst taking off towards the ocean. The Warriors must have been used to it as Swan, Fox and Cowgirl bolted in her wake before she even finished her sentence. Determined to not be last, Mercy broke into a sprint along with Cleon and Cochise, almost tripping on the soft surface of the sand halfway through. Although she was laser focused on running, she was pretty sure she saw Rembrandt, who had stayed back, roll her eyes as she muttered something about them behaving like kids. The wind rushed in Mercy's hair, ears, and across her skin, and the adrenaline pumping into her veins brought an irrepressible grin to her face.
Apparently, the stakes were high for the pelatoon from the way they were trying to sabotage each other. Fox, sneaky and fast as always, took the opportunity of Swan and Ajax trying to tackle each other to take the lead. The two former Warriors ended up wrestling on the sand, which would have worried Mercy was she not hearing their laughs’ echo across the waves.
“I WON, SUCKERS! YOU OWE ME ICE CREAM!” Fox yelled as she ran head first into the water. Mercy and Cowgirl followed suit, splashing her in retribution. Cochise and Cleon joined them a few seconds later. Eventually, Ajax and Swan stopped wrestling long enough to try to beat each other to the water to avoid being last. In the end, the others declared them tied, which sent them into a game of chase in the shallow waters. Rembrandt, for her part, walked quietly to a low wall made of rock where she settled, her sketchbook open before her crossed legs.
After a while, Swan managed to pin Ajax into the wet sand until she admitted her defeat. Happy with her victory, Swan uselessly dusted off her clothes, planted a kiss on Mercy’s cheek, and joined Rembrandt on the dry sand to read.
Soon enough, Cochise and Cowgirl had started a battle, perched on Cleon’s and Ajax’s respective shoulders, each pair trying to make the other fall over. Eventually, Cowgirl threw herself at Cochise, making them both topple off and dragging the other two in their fall with copious splashes of water. A passionate argument ensued about who the victory belonged to. When asked to settle the disagreement, Rembrandt replied with a middle finger and a quip (“you all lost, losers!”) before redirecting her attention to her sketchbook without further ado. Swan, for her part, shook her head and declared that she was not getting involved, which Mercy quickly backed up (as glad she was that her opinion was valuable to the Warriors even for argument silly disagreement, she did not need to be on Cleon's or Ajax's bad side). Eventually, Cleon and Cochise begrudgingly admitted their so-called defeat, as both Ajax and Cowgirl were too proud and stubborn to give up or settle on a tie. The winners high fived, wearing matching grins, just before water splashed straight into their faces (courtesy of their defeated opponents), which then turned into a ruthless battle in the shallow water. At some point, Cochise’s terrible aim hit Mercy who was peacefully floating in the shallow waters with Fox, where their feet still touched the sand. Of course, revenge ensued, and soon a general water fight with every Warriors for themselves was happening before Swan’s amused eyes, while Rembrandt grumbled about them better not getting water on her sketchbook—although Swan caught her smiling fondly and stealing glances at Ajax.
At some point, they tired themselves out and the fight died down. A disheveled Mercy came up to Swan, who was reading on the beach not far from Rembrandt’s spot. Her tangled hair was dripping with every step, her face was flushed from the effort, but the huge grin illuminating her face and the light sparkling in her eyes made Swan’s heart melt a little. Although, she did scold Mercy as her hair splayed droplets of water all over her girlfriend’s body when she carelessly plopped down next to her. She leaned over to reach Swan’s lips, but a hand on her chest pushed her back.
“Nuh-uh, no kissing when you’re dripping wet.” At Mercy’s pout, Swan shook her head softly, leaning over to plant a peck on Mercy’s lips, immediately lighting up her girlfriend’s face with a smile. Mercy then plopped down next to her.
“Don’t wanna join the fun?”
Swan raised her book—Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Mercy noted.
“I’m good here.”
Mercy chuckled, sparing a glance at Ajax and Cowgirl who were now weakly shoving each other.
“Wise decision. These ones are crazy.” Mercy paused, her gaze wandering as she searched for a way to phrase the next question without sounding ridiculous. Eventually, she put her hand on Swan’s free one to get her attention — and because holding her girlfriend’s hand was nice as well.
“What about going for a swim with me?” Swan looked up from her book again. Her eyes locked with Mercy’s for a second, before she looked away with something alike to… shame? Embarrassment?
Mercy sat with her in silence, deciding not to rush her.
“I don’t know how to swim,” Swan eventually confessed, blushing slightly. Sure, she could stay afloat for a minute on the water, but going farther than where her feets touched solid ground was out of the question—Ajax had learned that the hard way when she had playfully thrown Swan in the water only to be the one to save her from drowning a few seconds later. Still, it did not keep Swan from playing water pranks on her teammates. Not knowing how to swim was actually in her advantage, as the crew rarely dared to risk her drowning (and because Cleon had strictly forbidden them from another trip to the Emergency Room because of their shenanigans as well).
“I can teach you!” Mercy offered eagerly. A wide smile spread on her face at Swan's hesitant nod. She impatiently waited for her to put her book away before taking her hand and dragging her reluctant girlfriend towards the ocean. Mercy knew the grumbling was not to be taken seriously; she could hear Swan's giggles as she squeezed her hand. They stepped into the cold water until they started to lose their footing—or rather, until Swan’s neck was immersed in the water as she struggled to keep her chin up while Mercy lazy floated as the water reached her shoulders. The latter suggested simply to jump in, and Swan, the ever trusting girlfriend that she was, followed her.
In retrospect, it may not have been Mercy’s brightest moment, as she herself had not swam ever since she was ten years old. It could not be that hard, right?
It turned out it was in fact very hard, even more so as she had to keep both herself and Swan afloat. Cochise, despite being barely five feet tall, ended up having to drag them both to shore, which was probably one of Mercy’s most embarrassing experiences with the Warriors yet. (Although that one time Cleon caught her spilling her orange juice all over herself remained her top one most shameful moment for now.)
After this incident, Swan and Mercy both agreed to stay away from the deep waters until they learnt to swim properly. Instead, they settled to sit on the sand, Swan reading and Mercy watching the Warriors until the latter got bored and laid her head on her girlfriend’s lap. She melted with a soft hum as Swan began to mindlessly massaging her scalp with her free hand, stopping time to time to flip a page.
Peace settled for a moment as they enjoyed each other's company, until near splashes got their attention.
Ajax came out of the water, her dripping skin glistening under the sun, from her toned abs to her muscled biceps. Such a show off, Swan scoffed internally. Ajax knew she was hot, and did not miss an occasion to flex as she was doing right now. She walked with a confident grin to the low wall Rembrandt was crouched on and lowered her elbow on the bricks, resting her chin in her hand.
“Hey, pretty face. Whatcha doing?”
Not fooled by her seemingly friendly behaviour, Rembrandt slapped her other hand away without looking away from her sketchbook. Ajax only had this mischievous smile on her face when she was about to pull a prank or execute an evil plan.
“Get it dirty or wet and you’ll regret it,” she threatened. Ajax tucked the hand that had been rudely slapped away under her chin as well, giving her best impression of innocence—which, for the record, was terrible; she got falsely accused of pranks that had been the others’ doing more than once. Speaking of mischief, Swan was surprised Ajax had not turned Rembrandt's sentence into innuendos as she so masterfully knew how to.
“Me? As if I’d dare to.” Rembrandt shot her an unimpressed look. “Put the pencil down, I have something to show you.”
“No,” Rembrandt stated blankly. She knew better than to encourage Ajax’s pranks. Plus, no one was crazy enough to risk damaging Rembrandt’s sketchbook. The woman may be tiny, but her wrath was terrifying. The only person who did not fear her was Cleon, and only because the two Warriors had a profound unspoken respect for each other.
“Fine, I’ll stay here with you then.”
Knowing it would be the only way to get Ajax to stop bothering her, Rembrandt resigned herself to give in with a sigh. Still, she took her sweet time to sketch a few more lines while Ajax started humming and tapping her fingers on the rock, then carefully closed her sketchbook and settled her pencil on top of it before turning to a grinning Ajax who had now crossed her arms over her bare stomach.
“Finally!” Ajax lost no time in lurching towards her friend, who realised Ajax’s devious plan too late.
“AJAX DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!” Rembrandt screamed as Ajax swiftly picked her up and threw her over her shoulder. “I WILL PUNCH YOU!”
“Worth it,” Ajax shrugged. The movement jostled Rembrandt who groaned. No matter how much she was kicking and thrashing around, Ajax’s grip did not falter once. Having impressively muscular friends had its great advantages, such as letting them do all the heavy lifting; unfortunately, it also meant that Rembrandt, being as scrawny as she was, did not weigh more than the furniture to move around in their apartment for Ajax.
“I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU DAMAGE MY JACKET!”
Ajax set her down, forcefully shrugged said jacket off, threw it in the sand and caught Rembrandt by the waist before she could run away. For good measure, Rembrandt kept struggling and insulting Ajax, although she knew there was no chance she would let go of her victim now. At this point, resisting was more for dramatic effect than anything—and to prove to Ajax that she would not let herself be manhandled without putting up a fight. In a last desperate attempt, as the water reached Ajax’s very defined thighs— focus, Rembrandt! What was she planning to do again? Oh, right, to scream bloody murder to Swan so the second in command would take pity on her as she usually did; it helped that no one dared to risk throwing Swan in the deep water. Ajax had done it once when Swan had first joined, before they learnt she had never learned how to swim, and the unfortunate victim of their prank almost drowned. It was an understatement to say that Cleon had bee furious with Ajax (and slightly with Swan as well for not telling them).
However, Swan only watched the scene with a fake apologetic smile as Ajax eventually threw her current victim in the water in front of Cochise, Cowgirl, Cleon and Fox, who were too busy restraining themselves from bursting in laughter to come to Rembrandt’s rescue. As the latter’s head emerged, her sopping wet hair hanging pathetically off her shoulders, she glared daggers at them, although its efficiency was somehow diminished by the water that made her eyes red. Fox gave her a barely sheepish smile.
“Traitor,” Rembrandt grumbled. The salty water was going to ruin her clothes. At least Ajax had the minimal decency to keep her precious sketchbook and her beloved leather jacket safe. “I'm never coming to the beach again.”
Despite her annoyed facade, she would not trade this moment for anything in the world.