[attr="class","mila2"] mila adored summer.

[break][break] there were certain people who preferred the comfort of winter, of cuddling up beside a fire place and drinking a mug of warm chocolate. others liked the youth of spring, of budding flowers and new life; or the sweetness of pumpkin lattees in autumn, full of scarfs and peacoats. mila like all those seasons, but she liked summer the most.

[break][break] summer embodied the freedom that she'd ever rarely got as a child — the time of the year where she could be everything and anything that she wanted to be, without having to worry about any of her responsibilities. when she'd gotten a day off, and Mei Liu had gotten a day off too, mila had thought it a great opportunity to hang out with her two closest friends.

[break][break] right now, though, she only had one of them.

[break][break] "she's not! what's with her?"

[break][break] mila huffs on the blanket beside gunner. she's wearing a red bikini that she'd bought just the day before, one that probably bore too much skin, but the hearts on it were cute enough to make her not care. mila lays on her stomach, kicking her feet in the air as she listens to the dialtone for what feels like the fiftieth time.

[break][break] "she's such a - " before the unspeakable can leave her mouth, however, there is a ping on her phone. from mei no doubt, coming up with some excuse about work and how something came up and mila has had enough — she tosses her phone towards a corner of the blanket and then turns to him, bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

[break][break] "she said something came up."

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] "yeah. that's it."

[break][break] mila knew, just like gunner knew, that Mei Liu's excuse was probably some big fat lie. after all, what could've possible come up when they'd been planning this day for weeks? she was going to have words for her best friend —

[break][break] she pouts aggressively, not even bothering to hide her discontent, before Gunner Graves kisses it away. his touch ease the upset from her face almost instantly, and she blinks her eyes open to find him grinning ceaselessly at her.

[break][break] Gunner Graves's lips split into a grin before her, his face a backdrop against the summer sun. her heart fluttered, and she finally pushes herself up and turns towards him, settling herself firmly down onto his lap.

[break][break] "i can think of a few things, but first... "

[break][break] she leans against him, lips just a breath away from his. reaching around him, she pries a bottle of sunscreen from his bag. then she grabs his wrist, squirting a dollop of cream onto his palm.

[break][break] "spread this on me."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] 'yes ma'am.'

[break][break] his obedience stirred a lust in mila that was only barely quelled; there was just something about a man like gunner, who never bended or broke for anything, listening to her that made her smile widen - if so briefly.

[break][break] his touch - wide and warm - on her skin only furthered the feeling as he spread the sunscreen over her. her skin prickled with satisfaction.

[break][break] a laugh trickled between the both of them, as she squirted some sunscreen into her hand and rubbed her own hands together. her creamy palms went for his face, sliding slowly against his cheeks.

[break][break] "you know how to make a girl happy," she said, eyes twinkling as she leaned down. "don't you, gunnie?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] happiness.

[break][break] did a girl like mila know what that was? was she allowed to know?

[break][break] she had spent her childhood days on the very cusp of it — being born beneath two rockets often meant that she was allowed to think or feel in the way that others were. but being born as ambrose alexopoulos' bastard daughter was of no small consequence. she'd been born admist a pit of fire and flame, a sin from the very beginning.

[break][break] she wasn't made for happiness, wasn't built for it, and yet - as much strife as he caused in her life - being with Gunner Graves had always made her feel ...

[break][break] her hands slid down his cheek, his neck, his shoulders, up his chest. all the way spreading the creamy sunscreen against his tanned skin as she felt his taut muscles roll beneath her fingertips.

[break][break] was he right? did he make her feel happy?

[break][break] it felt criminal. to want that.

[break][break] her hands slid back up to his jaw again, as she pressed against him. this time when she dipped her head, her lips claimed his fiercely. something about the conspiratorially way he had said it had lit a fire in her, one that she'd been chasing — that she was always chasing when it came to Gunner Graves .

[break][break] "you make me feel good," she whispered against his lips, teeth dragging down onto his bottom lip.

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] good was safer than happy, and hearing that gunner felt the same instilled a sense of warmth in her that she was not quite able to ignore. it fluttered against her chest even as he pulled away from her, her heart tumbling in her chest.

[break][break] to any outsider looking in, it would have been ironic to catch the two of them like this. especially since half the time they spent together seemed the opposite of anything good or happy. they screamed and fought and clawed at each other until they were raw; they seemed like the very antithesis of whatever good was supposed to be.

[break][break] on their worst days, they were enemies. on their best, they were... friends? something more?

[break][break] it was an answer that mila never liked to think about, so she didn't. instead, she indulged herself in small moments like this, because it was the only moments that she thought she deserved.

[break][break] "mm," she hummed, as his fingers pressed against her cheeks and spread the sunscreen carefully along her skin. mila knew more than anyone that gunner could be rough around the edges — demanding, obstinate, abrasive. he had to be, with the job that he had. it wasn't like anyone could be a secret agent. but the way he touched her then was gentle and careful. nearly sweet. "maybe you're right."

[break][break] she leaned her head back so that he could spread the sunscreen down the pale expanse of her neck and chest.

[break][break] her eyes glimmered as she looked down at him, teeth flashing into a knowing smile.

[break][break] "but isn't it tempting?"

[break][break] slowly, she rolled her hips down on his for emphasis.

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] it wasn't as if there weren't others. mila could have anyone she wanted — or at least that was the lie she led herself to believe. but it was Gunner Graves who's company she found herself craving these days, especially since they'd been spending more and more time together ever since he'd declared that she could stay over whenever she wanted to.

[break][break] she tried not to think about what that meant. she tried not to wonder if she should have been worried.

[break][break] on bad days, she could worry; on good days like today, she was content to bask in his presence. flirt with him, tease him, draw whatever it was out of him that set a fire in her chest like nothing else.

[break][break] her lips twisted into a frown as he avoided her advances, and eased her off his laugh. her eyes immediately dropped to his pants, and laughter nearly bubbled in her throat at the sight — only to be followed by a similar heat of desire as his voice, low and warm, brushed against her ear.

[break][break] "Okay," she said back, obediently taking the sunscreen from him and squirting the rest of it onto the parts that he missed. Moments later, they were both complete — safe from the sun's damaging rays - and Mila pushed herself to her feet. Her eyes twinkled.

[break][break] "Bet you can't catch me!"

[break][break] With a giggle, she leaped off and out of the comfort of the umbrella's shade. Her feet grazed along the hot sand as she danced backwards, smirking at him.

[break][break] "Come on, slowpoke!"

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] a squeal chased it's way out of her throat as gunner raced after her and grabbed her with the ease that only he could. she was lifted off the ground, and she cried out in protest.

[break][break] "hey!"

[break][break] but with the glimmering look in her eyes, it was clear that she was anything but. laughter bubbled forth as he sent them back towards the surf, and suddenly she felt waves wash over her in cool satisfaction against her sun-warmed skin as she was placed back onto the ground. water splashes in her face, and she raises her arms out to defend herself.

[break][break] "no fair!" she said in protest, before leaning down and grabbing a fistful of water and splashing it towards him. "i'm gonna get you back," she growled playfully before she leapt right at him, attempting to shove his head under water.

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves

☉