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After trying about a hundred times to cook something for his boyfriend, fWhip finally gave in and started thinking about other ways to make him happy. This however was harder than he thought it would be.
fWhip knew he loved food, this being his love language and he’s a very good chef. He also loved going on walks with their dogs, with any dog to be fair. Swimming was also a thing he enjoyed to do, but fWhip not so much, he’d always sit on the edge of their pool.
So when he asks Sausage if he could tag along on Saturday, he’s jumping with joy. “Really? I mean sure, I’d be happy if you joined me. I do have to fill another tank then.” Thinking over how he’s going to get this done. “Just a silly little question, but you do know how to swim?”
“Yes” Looking a little annoyed at the question, but it’s reasonable to ask. “Because I don’t really enjoy it as much as you do, doesn’t mean I can’t do it.” This being a statement that’s very true for both of them.
“Wait, why exactly do you want to tag along?” Thinking his own question over for a second, and then he follows up with “Is it because you can’t mess this up and I like it?”
“You caught me. But is it really not hard to mess up?”
“You can have your tank explode and it can get you in a wheelchair for the rest of your life if you make it out. You can also get lost in a cave. Or just.”
“Do you want to scare me into not going with you?” Looking very horrified as he cuts his boyfriend off mid sentence.
“I do want you to come, I just want you to know that there can be an accident, but it’s rare.” fWhip knew from his own studies that there were certain risks in his soon to be workfield, so why would another job be safer?
“If I did stress you out that hard, you can always stay on the boat if you want.” That’s one thing he loved so much about him, how he cares so much and yeah, the occasional argument sometimes did dampen the mood a bit, but he still cared enough to make things right again.
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When Saturday morning arrives, fWhip is a little iffy about his date later that day. He doesn’t know why, he just feels a little bit uneasy about it all. Like something is telling him not to go. So, imagine the surprise on his face when he sees Sausage standing there with something weird in his hand.
“What do you have in your hand?” He asks a little unsure of what it is exactly.
“Morning sleepyhead. Do you also want a muffin?" He asks, totally not aware it's about the thing in his other hand.
"The thing in your other hand, you idiot." Rolling his eyes so hard they might get stuck looking upwards.
"Oh, Felix came by to bring this. You hold it up against your face and pull the elastic band over your head to just above your ears. And now you can still talk to me.” Taking the mask off, he hands it over and gestures to try it on.
After a nervous bit of contemplation he tries it, taking it off in half the time he took to put it on. “Are you sure it will work?” Sounding skeptical about it.
“You can trust Felix on this one. He knows what he’s talking about and working with. I also used this before, it’s really useful for people who are unsure about trying and want someone to talk to to ease their stress."
This does put fWhip’s mind a bit at ease, not fully tough and Sausage sees this. “Do you want me to ask if Felix can bring his?” Getting a quiet “yes” in return. “Okay then, one emotional support Felix coming up.”
This makes fWhip chuckle a bit. “Surely he has better things to do than going with us to the beach, like resting perhaps. He did get beaten up pretty bad Thursday. By the way, didn’t you have somewhere to be?”
“It’s already ten o’clock, I was back half an hour ago. He didn’t have a lot to say, so yeah.” As fWhip looks at the clock above the fireplace it is actually ten o’clock. “Did you already eat something?” Getting a shaking head. “What do you want?” Already walking to the kitchen as he asks this.
“Some toast is fine.” When he finishes eating, in the meantime Sausage called Felix and he liked the way he phrased his question, while getting a less than amused look from his boyfriend.
When they arrive at the beach, Sausage gets his tank and all his other things out as fWhip’s walking to the others. “Hey, looking good.” Felix compliments as he walks closer. “Your emotional support Felix is ready for use. And here are some swimmer's ear plugs to keep the water out.” He says with a big smile on his face.
“Thank you, but please don’t expect too much from me.” He says as he laughs shyly. “Thanks for bringing that thing with you. But can you help with it a bit when we get to the place we are meant to be?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?” As he knows they would do the same for him.
“Are we ready to go then?” Sausage asks, getting a nod from all of them.
“Hey, if you want we can just float at the surface, ‘cause I’m also not intending on going any deeper.” Nice of Impulse to ask, but for now he declines.
As they arrive, Skizz and Sausage are jumping with anticipation while the others, this being fWhip, Impulse, Felix and Cleo (who came along for the fun of it and is also intenting on staying dry.) are just sitting and chatting a little like normal and totally not water crazy people .
Before they both jump in, Sausage asks if it’s really okay that he doesn’t stay with his boyfriend. “Go have fun, I'll be fine.” But something doesn’t sit right with him about those words.
After thinking it over quickly, he doesn’t jump when Skizz does. “Take all the time you need, I’ll wait.” As he just goes to sit on the edge. It takes a bit, but then he’s joined by fWhip and Felix. “You ready?” fWhip just nods. “Please tell me if anything’s wrong, okay?” And with that they’re off.
The water is colder than he thought but the two other guys don’t seem to mind, Felix doesn’t ever have his wetsuit on. After a bit Felix asks “And, what are your first thoughts?”
“Do you also have a weird taste in your mouth?”
“Yeah, but you’ll get used to it.” Felix says in respons.
A while later fWhip sees something that peaks his interest, not thinking about telling the others because it’s still in viewing distance. When he’s done looking at the fish, he looks around to see none of them are in sight anymore. Panic starts to set in as he frantically looks around him. “FELIX? SAUSAGE?” But no answer returns to him in this big blue void.
When Felix notices that fWhip is missing, he gives a tug at Sausage’s fin. Then he watches as he grows paler with the second and then dashes off. “Hey, wait for me.”
It doesn’t take that long to find him, but fWhip does ask a seemingly weird question. “Do you also hear that beeping?” After which Felix also starts to hear it.
“That’s our signal to return to the surface. When we’re nearly there you have to breathe out all your air and take it off.”
“What?! I’m not trained for this.”
“We’ll take it nice and slow, you can also take it off when you surface, but you still need to breathe all the air from the mask out before you take it off.”
“What is he doing?”
“He’s saying sorry for not telling you sooner.”
So when they're almost at the surface, fWhip does as he’s told and then takes off the mask, shutting his eyes so the seawater doesn’t sting that hard. As he surfaces he takes a big breath in and out, he repeats this a couple of times until he feels arms around him.
“Sorry about not giving you all the info you needed.” He says as he hugs fWhip tightly.
“I also should have said something when I went to look at something.” Rubbing his neck a bit ashamed. “You do or don’t know how scary it is when you’re alone and don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I can imagine that it’s scary. I also know I’m a bit tired, so do you just want to lay here for a bit?”
“Sure, if I can get this thing off of me because it’s sticking to my body and I want it off. And yeah, I’m also tired, so can I choose what we eat? Getting a nod and a slime, as they go and take off their wetsuit and change into something a bit more comfortable. After that they just lay on their back in the water, holding hands as all the stress about why he agreed to do this thing melts away.