User blog:Promestein/Starcross - Beach Episode

“You know I don’t like the water,” EQUINOX whines, pulling out on the towel underneath her, trying to make sure it’s nice and flat. But, despite her hard work, she can’t get it right, because the sand isn’t an even enough surface. It bothers EQUINOX, not too much, but just enough that she’s kept at it, on and off, for a couple minutes, trying to pat down on the towel to flatten the surface underneath. Still, perfection eludes her. Spitefully, she shoots a glare at the ocean, as if it’s to blame for all of this.

Alice, standing up to her full height, pouts and crosses her arms. In response, and partly to drag her eyes back down from the sight of her girlfriend in a swimsuit, EQUINOX cracks open her book. “Come onnnnn, EQ. You love the rain, don’t you? How’s that any different than the ocean?” A second of silence passes, during which EQUINOX stares at her from over the top of her book. “Okay, yeah, I know.”

EQUINOX’s incredulous stare quickly becomes ogling again, and she looks back down at her book, innocently. “I just don’t like big bodies of water. I can’t even swim. You know that, too.” All the words on the page go straight through her head, and not a single letter successfully processes. It’s all because of Alice, who’s smugly packed herself into a swimsuit. Damn her. It’s a wonder EQUINOX can do much thinking at all when she’s dressed like that.

When she had first thought about going to the beach with Alice, EQUINOX had found herself imagining a bikini, but the one-piece Alice’s picked out definitely suits her better. It’s just skintight enough that EQUINOX can make out the shape of her abs, and, with a more open back, she can trace out her back muscles, too. Not that she’s been doing so. It’s patterned blue, too, looking almost like the sort of thing one would see on a professional athlete, something that fits Alice so unbelievably well. EQUINOX doesn’t need to stare to have her brain consumed by the visual, and she focuses all her efforts on her book, managing to read a few lines.

“I can’t believe I drag you all the way out to Oahu and all you want to do is read. I can teach you to swim, come on. Look at me! I’m the most athletic person on this beach. If anyone can teach you how, it’s me!” Alice sounds so proud for coming up with this, but EQUINOX knows that this has been the plan the entire time. It’s obvious.

With this in mind, EQUINOX pointedly flips a page, even though she hasn’t read much of anything. “No thanks, babe,” she says, without hesitation, in a cruel, mockingly sweet tone.

“You’re breaking my heart. Fine, though. You’ll see how much fun I can have in the sun, and you’ll get all jealous that you’re just sitting in the shade reading some book.”

EQUINOX tilts her head, pretending to think. “Hmmmm. No, I think I have the better deal, there.” Underneath the shade of this parasol, EQUINOX can escape the oppressive rays of the sun - and the eyes of anyone who would try to catch a glimpse of her, squeezed into a swimsuit.

Alice whines and stomps a foot in the cutest, tiniest way. “I can’t believe you don’t even know how to swim! That’s a vital life skill, EQUINOX!”

With a snort, EQUINOX pretends to keep on reading and turns a page. “Not in Arizona, Alice. Its name is basically ‘arid zone’. I’ve never once been in a situation where I’ve had to swim.”

Tapping her foot against the sand, Alice grumbles, “Maybe I should throw you into the water. That’d change that, right?” It’s an empty threat, a joke and nothing more, and EQUINOX knows it. But she’s still not exactly a fan of the idea.

“Maybe you’d enjoy sleeping alone tonight,” EQUINOX counters in a dull monotone.

Alice whines again, and pouts. If it wasn’t for her height, in that moment, she’d have looked so much like a child. “You’re no fun. I’ll go splash around, then. Enjoy yourself!” Though her voice starts off sour, it slowly turns more sincere, and once Alice turns and starts running to the beach, she’s virtually skipping all the way into the water. EQUINOX watches her go from behind her sunglasses, and then looks back to her book, flipping back to the last words she had actually read.

But, still, no more words actually register in her mind. Instead, the thought of Alice swirls around. It’s moved on from the specifics of her swimsuit and how it hugs her body to why they’re both here. After a year of dating, Alice had invited her to go along with her and Venus to Hawaii. It’s a lot to process - most of EQUINOX’s past girlfriends were living paycheck to paycheck, just like she was, but Alice is more than well-off. It’s a welcome change of pace - this is the first time she’s ever gone on a vacation with a girlfriend.

Not for the first time, EQUINOX finds herself wondering if Alice qualifies as a sugar mommy. She’s certainly wealthy enough, and she never hesitates to spoil EQUINOX with lavish gifts. … And she’s also eighteen years older than her, something that EQUINOX finds that she can never quite forget. There’s that too. Goddammit, Alice is a sugar mommy, isn’t she? It’s not the first time EQUINOX has come to this conclusion, either. She doesn’t know why she keeps asking herself. It’s not like Alice will magically stop being a sugar mommy. Well, it’s not like it’s the worst thing in the world.

… Why… how did her brain reach this? EQUINOX backtracks, ending back where she started. Alice. Hawaii. It had been a bit of a struggle for EQUINOX, a difficult proposition. None of her past girlfriends had really been ‘year-long relationship going into vacationing in Hawaii with her daughter’ material. Some of them were pretty okay, but others… not so much. Alice, though… she’s lovely, and sweet. Compared to her exes, Alice is a saint. It’s also hard to not mention that she’s really hot, too. Especially when they’re at the beach. Yeah, EQUINOX would have to be lucky to get any reading done today.

But, of course, luck isn’t actually real, and EQUINOX is able to pull it off by focusing a bit more. The beach becomes a lot nicer once she starts reading - the feeling of the wind on her skin, through her hair, the sounds of people enjoying the beach, and the slight warmth she still feels. It all goes so well together with her book. Reading this, though, EQUINOX feels like a parody of herself. Choosing to read a book on theoretical physics at the beach, rather than touch even a single toe into the water.

“Oh, hey, EQ!” Alice’s voice cuts off a line, and EQUINOX looks up to see her rushing over, kicking up sand and holding something in her outstretched hands. “I found some cool shells! You like those, right?” She skids to a stop at the edge of the towel and kneels down, holding out her hands to show off her collection. She had collected a nice, colorful little assortment, and after letting EQUINOX investigate them, she drops them down onto the towel.

“These are cowries,” EQUINOX points out a few of them. “They’re pretty. That’s all I really know, I’m not an expert on shells. Maybe Venus knows better?” Rather than go with her mother and her ‘slutty new girlfriend’, Venus had opted to stay at the hotel, where EQUINOX is pretty sure she’s watching Animal Planet in her (separate, of course) hotel room. This works out for EQUINOX, as Venus would probably have nothing but cruel things to say if she saw EQUINOX in her swimsuit.

Alice, though, had given nothing but compliments. “Can you keep an eye on them for me, then? I’m sure she’d enjoy trying to identify them. I’ll try to find some others, too! You wanna join me?”

EQUINOX stares at her for a few moments, and she finds something in her heart tugging her along. With a slight blush on her face, she sets aside her book, folding the corner of her page. “... Yeah, sure. Don’t expect me to do much, if any, swimming, though.”

“I can live with that, babe!” Alice beams down at her, smile shining like the sun, and after depositing the shells down on the towel, she reaches down to pull her up to her feet. “Come on. I dunno how you feel about walking on the beach, but I’m a fan.” EQUINOX doesn’t miss the fact that, for a second, Alice’s eyes wander to her cleavage, and tilts down the brim of her sunhat in response.

Then, with a sigh, EQUINOX takes her hand and accepts her help up, all the way up to her feet and out of the shade of her parasol. She misses it already, the instant she feels the heat of the sun against her skin, but, now that Alice’s hand is squeezing hers, EQUINOX decides it’s not that bad after all. It may even be worth it. The height difference is embarrassing, increasingly so, as Alice gently guides her along to the water’s edge, and EQUINOX knows it’s only going to attract more attention to herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, EQUINOX investigates Alice’s face. She’s smiling to herself, serenely. EQUINOX’s thoughts wander, and she wonders. She wonders if Alice is going to propose to her, here in Hawaii. Maybe today, maybe on this beach, or maybe later. When Venus is so opposed to EQUINOX’s existence and avoids her whenever she can, it’d be no challenge at all to slip away for a quiet, intimate moment together. Twirling a lock of her hair, EQUINOX looks down at the sand, feeling a blush tingling in her cheeks. If Alice proposed to her on this trip, would she say yes? How about if she did it today? On this beach?

… It’s very, very embarrassing and overwhelming to find that the answer is ‘yes’. As the feeling of that rushes to her head, EQUINOX loses her balance and stumbles, her legs fighting against one another. Alice catches her easily, though, and in a voice soft with concern, asks, “You okay, EQ?”

EQUINOX shakes the blush away and nods, quickly, before realizing the movements are completely contradictory. “Yeah, I’m good. Just got lost in thought.” Her heart is pounding in her chest, and, when Alice looks down at her, eyes searching for hers, she looks away, avoiding eye contact. Still, she can feel Alice studying her face, and EQUINOX wonders if she can guess what she’s thinking. Sometimes, it really feels like she can. She’s always seemed really, uncannily good at reading her emotions. Maybe EQUINOX has just finally found someone who really, truly understands her, for the first time in her life.

“... I love you,” she adds, flustered, fixating her eyes on the sand, blushing further when sickly sweet emotions swell inside her chest.

Alice chuckles, and smiles at her. EQUINOX isn’t looking at her, but she can feel it in her voice as she responds with a cheery, “I love you too!” and leans down and in to kiss her cheek. Then, she stands up, tall, all the way up, and EQUINOX can’t help but note the slightly more mischievous smile on her face. “Come on. Want to go into the water, now? Shin deep, honey? … For you. Not me.”

“... I guess I could live with that, and maybe even a bit deeper, if you hold on tight.” Without another word, Alice wraps an arm around her waist and guides her into the water, and, for EQUINOX, life is simple and blissful and there’s little to think over.