With everything that’s happened, they definitely need a break. They don’t have time for a proper vacation, the Bay would probably be on fire when they got back, but they can take a… day trip.
The Heart of Kandrakar’s portals make it easy to find a beach somewhere. Sure, they’re almost certainly going to get embroiled in a local issue– the Veil is fluctuating and heart often takes them to places where they’re needed– but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a nice time before fighting for their lives.
Five fairies fly through a rip in space and one is carrying a wolf. Alec huffs as he lands, wings gossamer, small, teal– the same as all of them. His skirt barely hides his decency as the wolf in his arms struggles to get free.
“Goddamnit, Rachel, I know you’re still human-smart, don’t make me drop you!” He yells, finally stopping a few feet from the ground and letting her tumble onto the sand.
The ocean stretches into the distance, under the portal. Alec flies up as the others fly over land, gentling to lower themselves.
“Alright, we’re here, change us back.” Brian says immediately, purple boots kicking up wet sand.
He’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t immediately try to cover his exposed midriff, his long skirt, or his tits, but he is never comfortable transformed.
“Five seconds! I don’t get to enjoy the sea breeze and fly for five fucking seconds!” Alec buzzes by, staying in the air. “Come on, compromise with me here.”
“You know exactly why I want to change back!” Brian says, practically a growl.
Alec rolls his eyes.
“My skirt is like a tenth as long as yours and you don’t see me complaining.” He cajoled, lifting a few feet higher. He did a loop just because he could.
“It’s not the skirt I’m complaining about,” Brian’s voice was harsh, half a shout, and he visibly regained control of himself. “You know what? Fine. Fly around. I’ll just fucking… deal.”
“It’s not that bad.” Alec said, rubbing an idle hand over his own chest. “It’s just tits, for fuck’s sake.”
“It’s not just tits and you know it.” Brian sighed. “Whatever, enjoy your flying.”
“That’s not so bad, either, you’d hardly notice if–”
“I hate you!” Brian called up, almost cheerfully. “Shut your fucking face! Fly.”
“You can’t just–”
“Fly… or come down here and let me get my dick back.”
Alec cackled, almost caught off guard.
“Well, it’s no fun to fly by myself,” He mumbled, angling over to another teammate. “Lisa?”
“Ughhh it’s supposed to be a vacation! I want to sunbathe.”
“I’ll put sunscreen on your back if you fly with me a little,” Alec wheedled. “C’mon, wind in your hair, sea breeze…”
“Sea spray in my face, salt crusting in my hair, skin drying out…” She continued for him, unimpressed.
“I’ll rub some of my nice oils on you later, rehydrate your skin. It’ll feel so good, I promise. Your skin will thank you.”
“Ugh, fine.” She stopped putting up her big umbrella and towel situation and kicked a particularly large rock away. Her boots were pink.
She looked graceful and agile as she took to the air, knees resting easily.
“We hardly ever get to fly for fun, Lis, just enjoy it for a bit!” Alec darted close to her, took both hands in his own. They spun around a little and at the end of it Lisa was laughing despite herself.
“I notice you’re not trying to argue Amy into leisure flights.”
“Amy doesn’t know what leisure means,” Alec complained, loudly. “Or pleasure. Or fun. Or relaxing.”
“You’re supposed to teach her,” Taylor’s form came close, in the same pink-purple-blue-green color scheme as the rest of them. Alec blitzed forward to tag her and she dodged, giggling a little.
“Ten minutes.” She told him sternly and he whined. “C’mon, Brian is being nice. You know he hates sitting around in this state.”
“The hero hates it, too.” Lisa says shrewdly. “She hates the long skirt and the–” Lisa gestured at her own chest, much grown from her base form.
“What? That’s the best part.” Taylor’s expression gets baffled for a second.
“Right!?” Alec threw his head back and laughed, before letting the motion flip him right over in the air. He dipped so low his toes tipped the waves and flew across them, grinning.
When he rose Lisa was already screaming, “Don’t you fucking dare!” but it was too late. A wave of his hand sent a vertical wall of water– more a geyser– in her direction and as she dodged, it followed, changing direction midair.
Water drenched her but didn’t come close to muffling her outraged scream.
“I’m going to throttle you!” She screeched, blurring forward in a burst of speed, and Alec’s face went quickly to ‘oh shit’ even as he cackled and sped off higher.
“She’s pissed.” Amy said as Taylor settled down on the beach with a sigh.
“Naw, she’s fine.” Taylor paused. “Steam coming off her, yeah, but that’s just drying off. Her base form clothes won’t be wet.”
“She’s going to drown him.” Amy’s lips curled up in a mean little smirk to herself.
“That would be a neat trick. And no, look, if she were really mad she’d be throwing fire.”
They both watched as the distant, dragonfly-like forms darted after each other, small in the sky. Two orange dots appeared and flew from one of them.
Amy rose an eyebrow.
Taylor sighed.
The dark-haired girl gestured and from her chest a pink glow emerged. Floating in front of her hands was a familiar, round pink gem, swirling with inner glow. Made of light and glass.
The curving metal containing it like an artistic globe barely hid a sliver of the pink sparkle. The chain floated ethereally around Taylor’s hands.
“I promised them seven more minutes.” She muttered.
Brian waved a hand over from where he was setting up his own towel.
“Let them have it. Besides, as funny as it would be to send them crashing into the sea, they’re pretty far out.” Brian sighed. “And Lisa really would kill you for dropping her base form into the ocean.”
“It would brick her phone.” Amy agreed. “You should do it. Imagine the scream.”
“It’d be like hitting concrete from that high up.” Taylor squinted at the flyers. “I could wait til they dive low again– Alec’s going to try to fake her out and make her crash into the water– but… yeah. Not worth it, I guess.”
“Alec’d probably survive it.” Amy offered with a rude shrug. “I don’t think water can kill him.”
She wiggled her fingers over the sand, letting it rise up in ropes and ribbons.
“Think you can get the sand off this?” Brian asked curiously, shaking out his towel. “I swear, all I did was set it down and it’s already covered.”
Amy got a considering look. She smirked.
A wave of her hand sent the grains of sand off of Brian’s towel and onto Lisa’s.
Taylor sighed.
“That’s so fucking petty.” She sighed, before eyeing the empty coast. “Think you can give us some shade, actually?”
There were trees lining the beach a few meters up from the sand. She eyed them and Amy followed her gaze.
“Nah, let’s not uproot the alien trees.” Amy frowned, then brightened significantly. “Oh, wait. Look. I can do this.”
She cracked her knuckles and made a few sweeping gestures. The beach rumbled. The ground underfoot changed.
The actual dirt under the sand rose up, forming an arch and solidifying there. A large boulder shook free of the earth and formed a sunshade.
“It’s like a big horseshoe.” Brian said with surprise. Rachel the wolf huffed.
“It’s like half a cave in the middle of the beach.” Taylor said, approving. “Nice work, Amy.”
Amy grumbled something but seemed pleased.
“I left a firepit for Lisa to start when she gets tired of chasing the prettyboy.” She said, nose wrinkling. “And– here.”
A gesture and her brow furrowed with concentration for a moment.
“What are you– oh, good thinking.” Taylor smiled a little as dead piles of wood floated out of the tree line. “Camp fire!”
Taylor unloaded the cooler she’d carried through the portal, excited.
“I even got the stuff for s’mores, don’t worry.” She smiled at Brian who grinned back. “And some steak for Rachel– no, you can’t have it now, it’s raw.”
Rachel gave her an unimpressed look.
“I hardened the sand under the towels so it doesn’t get everywhere.” Amy said begrudgingly. “Even Lisa’s. You’re welcome.”
“Thank you.” Brian said, already adjusting his before sighing. “Can we even lay down like this? I think it’d squish the wings and laying prone…”
“I’m just impressed you know the difference between prone and supine.” Amy muttered. “And yeah, with these it’d be just as uncomfortable.”
She nodded down to her chest.
“Alec’s right, you two are upset about the wrong parts of this.” Taylor said, only to squeak when they looked at her. “I mean– I’m just saying! Some of us appreciate the transformation.”
She crossed her arms in front of her– slightly larger– chest.
“Also, the wings are magic. They obviously couldn’t really lift our body weight. They’re not really… physical. Try laying down.”
“It sounds like maybe you’ve laid down with them before.” Amy said suspiciously. “And you can transform yourself without any of the rest of us knowing.”
She smirked.
“How often have you changed into this form just to appreciate your assets, Taylor?”
Taylor sputtered.
Brian looked a little uncomfortable but mostly amused.
“I think their ten minutes are about up.” He said pointedly, tossing a shell onto Amy’s long skirt.
Taylor held the Heart above her palms, floating.
“Nah, they’re still too high up– but they are slowing down. You want to go get them, Bri?”
“I could send a tornado over.” Brian flicked his wrist and created a little curving breeze. “Maybe throw my voice that far.”
“Go.” Taylor threw a shell at him. “It’s sad that the water guardian likes flying more than the air guardian.”
“I like flying!” Brian said defensively, climbing to his feet. “I just don’t like the tiny, dainty wings. Or the skirt. Or the–” He gestured to his front.
“You look fine, now go.” Taylor passed Amy a water bottle. Brian sighed as he floated up, still looking mildly distrustful at the process and the wings lifting him.
Brian was actually the fastest flyer out of all of them, which made sense but looked weird due to his stature. He wound up a ball of air currents and tossed it between Lisa and Alec when he got close, throwing off their flight patterns and sending them spiralling out like knocked bowling pins.
“Time’s up,” He said, gesturing at the beach. “Also, you can’t kill him, Lisa– we need him.”
“Ooh, you need me?” Alec flew close, right up into Brian’s space. Their chests almost touched. “Tell me more about this need.”
“You need to get to the ground before Taylor yanks the transformation and we all fall to our deaths.” Brian said dryly.
Alec snorted immediately.
“The water kills me? I don’t fucking think so. You two, though– eh, yeah, you’ll have a bad time.”
“Surely the Heart can just choose another water guardian.” Lisa said sweetly. “It can’t be that hard to find someone with the aptitude. And less of the attitude.”
“You’re one to talk about attitude!” Alec flew backward lazily, one foot half-risen like Glory Girl flew. “Hmm, what if I want to take my chances with the water?”
“Then you smack into the sea like cement and we see if the Heart will choose another water guardian.” Brian said dryly. “C’mon, I’m tired of the skirt.”
“I thought the skirt was the least of your problems?” Alec needled. “And, wow, at least you’ve got leggings to help with the breeze.”
“It’s a miracle you don’t flash people with that little towel you call a skirt.” Brian said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t you want your pants back?”
“In this heat?” Alec put a hand over his heart. “The sea breeze is nice but it’s not nice enough for jeans. Jesus.”
“I’ll show you sea breeze if you don’t get back to the shore.” Brian raised a hand threateningly, the air currents shifting.
“Gah, fine.” Alec ran a hand through his hair. “Sure you don’t want a quick dunk, Lis, Bri? It’ll cool you off and you won’t even be wet when the transformation cancels.”
Fire crackled, too fast, and a ball of it went flying towards Alec’s head. He dropped like a stone in water, cutting his flight to dodge. He rose back up like an angry pixie.
“See if I offer you anything nice again any time soon!” The boy huffed, pursing his lips. He turned to Brian.
“Alright but one condition. You race me.”
“Dumb.” Brian sighed. “You know I’m faster than you. You know I can be even faster if I–” He wiggled his fingers, wind shifting fast to hit their face, bodies, legs.
“But you don’t. It’s tragic. You need the practice!” Alec smirked and got close again, leaning forward in the air at an angle that would cause him to eat shit on land. “Race me. Winner gets a kiss.”
“How’s that a win? Also, loser would also get a kiss. It would be a kiss either way.”
“Exactly.”
Brian pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Alright, if you want to… kiss.” He said. “You can just have a kiss for going back to the shore.”
“I’ll get that anyway. When I win.” Alec paused. “Or lose, I guess. Wow, you’re so right, what an airtight bet.”
“Alec, I will kiss you twice if you stop fucking around and go over there so we can detransform.”
“Damn, you really want your dick back, huh?”
“Alec!”
With the world’s loudest sigh, the other boy dropped a foot in the air.
“Fine, for the low, low price of two kisses, I will give up flight, freedom, wings and the finest pair of tits known to mankind.”
“Flatter yourself, much?” Lisa snorted.
“It’s Taylor’s tits I’m giving up, rude.” Alec wagged a finger at her. “Although Brian’s are also nice. And I’d have to say a tragic goodbye.”
“We’ll have to fly to get out of here, you’ll see them again.” Brian was unimpressed.
“To never see again, tragically.” Alec repeated. “This great sacrifice. All of it. For two lowly kisses. Doesn’t sound fair, does it?”
“Alec, what do you want?”
“Half up front.” Alec said immediately, expression dropping flat into his standard.
“What? What does that even mean?”
“You’ll find some way to get out of it.” Alec said, shrugging fluidly. “It’s the same as our payment for jobs, right? Half up front. As a show of… good faith.”
“Half of… you want a kiss.”
“Clearly.” Alec’s lips went wry. “And you want to make me beg for it, it seems.”
Brian growled. Lisa was watching the play-by-play with great interest, wings buzzing as they all three hovered in the sky.
“Why would I offer if I wasn’t going to follow through?” Brian demanded.
“I dunno.” Alec lifted a shoulder lackluster. “Why do you say anything you say, or do anything you do? The workings of your mind are a great myster– oomf.”
The larger boy yanked Alec in, fist full of the long-sleeved shirt that cut off somewhere right below his ribs. Brian kissed him soundly, gentling it at the last second into something that didn’t speak to his palpable frustration.
He pulled back and Alec was dazed, blinking softly.
“Okay?” Brian asked, shaking him a little.
“Mkay.” Alec agreed on reflex, flight unstable. Brian shoved him towards the beach with a hand and a little burst of wind.
“Fine, fine, I’m going.” Alec said as he got his bearings. “I didn’t know you were so eager to kiss me again.”
“I am eager. To be detransformed.” Brian said very, very slowly. “Go. To. The. Shore.”
“Yessir, Mr. Bossman sir.” Alec gave a half-hearted little salute.
He flew toward where Taylor and Amy were waiting.
“What.” Brian said wearily.
Lisa was smirking at him.
“Oh, nothing. Just wondering what my bribe is going to be.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “I’m not so easy as Alec, and I haven’t agreed to shit.”
“Lisa. Honey. Get.” Brian shoved with a massive wall of air, ignoring her giggling.
“Not even a kiss? A book? An offer of a massage like Alec used to get me up here?”
“So help me god, we are going to go down there and have a nice beach d–” Brian stopped. Paused. Sighed when he realized he was caught.
“You were totally going to say date,” Lisa said gleefully, and Brian just stared, despondent.
“What do you want.” He said flatly.
Lisa surprised him by flying over and kissing him softly on the cheek.
“No, you’re right.” She said, smiling. “A beach date does sound good. Now let’s get over there before Amy and Alec kill each other.”
“It’s been five seconds.”
“Four seconds more than they need to be at each other’s throats.” Lisa reminded, and Brian thought about it for a moment.
“I hate that you’re right.” He smiled at her and offered a hand. “Fly together?”
“Sure.” Lisa put her palm in his. “It’ll make him crazy to see us come back like this.”
“It’ll make Taylor jealous, too.” Brian murmured. “Don’t think I miss how you look at her.”
“Shut up.” Lisa’s lips drew into a brief pout. “You’re the one calling all of this a date.”
“You’re not going to forget that, are you?” Brian said. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Do I?” Lisa challenged. “Let’s go, so you can give Alec his other kiss.”
Brian flushed.
“The beach date was a mistake.” He muttered under his breath, and Lisa only laughed.