she drifted closer to him, skin brushing against his own where her fabrics plumed up and out against the waves. she’d not thought to strip first like he had. lazily, the tips of her own fingers traced his torso, as she followed the direction of his skyward pointing.

”i’m very impressed.”

as if to emphasize it, she sank into the water and out of her shirt. pants soon floated up after it. moving even closer, she planted a kiss on his cheek, before disappearing entirely under another deep black wave.

when she reappeared, she was paddling towards the island again. the race was back on.

THEO BECKETT

☉

satisfaction builds upon his pride at her approval. he had unknowingly sought after it and now that he has a taste, a craving starts to grow. his lips curl into a smile, warm and pure and proud.

"good."

it makes him happy to hear. happy. as though he's capable of feeling such a thing.

but it's happiness he feels when with her. when she kisses his cheek. when she paddles away to restart the race.

smile still lingering, he follows after her, paddling the best he can to swim straight and on course.

who'll get there first?

Q9Jn03I2

Lulu Flint
mission!

☉

once upon a time, a laboratory in lilycove conducted a study quantifying the behavior of wishiwashi while drunk on alcohol. that is to say, the wishiwashi were drunk, not the scientists—presumably.

in this study, researchers found that the inebriated wishiwashi tended to swim faster in a group. furthermore, they swam ahead of their less intoxicated friends, who then swam faster to keep up with their drunken leader.

lulu was not a wishiwashi. 

or was she?

lDhpeJ|h

THEO BECKETT

☉

sucker.

as expected, theo's the first to arrive. he wades onto shore, kicking waves and water as he stumbles onto land before plopping down atop the cool sand.

chuckling, he turns back, doing his best to catch his breath. maybe his cardio's the one that needs work after all.

"hurry up!"

Lulu Flint
mission!

☉

she was a little late realizing she wasn’t swimming entirely straight. oh well. she’d righted herself eventually. theo was calling from the shore.

eventually, she stood up out of the water, putting hands on her knees after a few steps in the shallow waves. her heart pounded in her warm chest.

”you’re not drunk enough,” she grinned, panting, ”not fair.”

THEO BECKETT

☉

"i'm plenty drunk."

oddly defensive, he huffs, reaching out for the bottle she somehow miraculously still has even after that arduous swim. hopefully the cap's still on and no seawater's gone in.

"maybe you're just a slow swimmer."

Lulu Flint
mission!

☉

oh. the bottle.

no, there was no cap, as she’d tossed it out into the water after a few failed attempts at popping it back on. the bottle was full of seawater. there was maybe a tiny bit of tequila at the bottom, but probably not.

she handed it over.

”i’m just night-blind.”

THEO BECKETT

☉

ah. he tips the bottle over, then, and pours out all the sewater onto the sand beneath them. gross.

whatever.

the distance between them is closed with a single step forward. he reaches for her, tilting her head up before kissing her.

a breath later and he pulls away briefly to whisper:

"are you cold?"

Lulu Flint
mission!

☉

the loss of a race did little for her confidence from earlier, but his approach, and the feeling of his breath on her began to renew it. reminded her of her mission.

she savored his kiss, and when he pulled away, her eyes fluttered open to sparkle up at him with mischief.

”a little.”

her chest pressed against him, and she craned her neck to brush her nose under his chin. 

she matched his whisper, ”are you going to warm me up?”

THEO BECKETT

☉

wordlessly, he nods, lips tugging into a small grin before he kisses her again. his hands move down to her shoulders before gently falling to her waist.

there's not much cover on this island — he had seen as much (or little) before they jumped into the ocean. but the island is isolated, away from people, and quiet enough that the worry never comes to his mind.

he lifts her up by her waist, hands moving to support her at her thighs before he turns, taking her towards the beach.

Lulu Flint
mission!

☉

there were no worries at all in her own head. she relished his touch and attention, gentle like the waves lapping at her knees. when he picked her up, she wrapped legs around him easily, grinning against skin, between kisses.

at his ear, she played with the word again, attempting to match the tone she remembered him using. ”good.” except it didn’t quite contain the same power it had earlier. it was almost wistful, as though she were in a trance. maybe such boldness was to be continued elsewhere, when she didn’t feel so... like this.

as they reached the beach, she admitted with a giggle, ”i still think about that night.”

THEO BECKETT

☉

good.

except it falls rather flat, not quite able to match the power that had been present that night.

that night.

he stops for a moment, still carrying her as he pulls back to look into her eyes.

"really?"

then, gently he lowers onto the sand.

"what do you think about?"

Lulu Flint
mission!

☉

she smiled back at him, face beginning to flush, but it would have been difficult to notice in the dark.

”mhm.”

as he lowered her onto the sand, she continued to gaze up at him, silhouetted by the moon and stars.

”all of it. even at the bar, when you lifted my chin, and kissed me. i didn’t want to want you back then... but fuck, i did.”

”was it obvious?”

THEO BECKETT

☉