No Harm, No Fowl

Chapter Nine: The Beach

Alma opened her eyes to dim sunlight filtering in around the curtains, giving the room a soft glow. She looked down at the woman still asleep in her arms and smiled at how peaceful she looked, cuddled up to her chest with a faint smile on her face. She rubbed her thumb over her cheek and jaw, feeling her soft, warm skin and the features that she had come to love so.
"You're so beautiful, my Jenny." She whispered, near silently so as not to wake the woman.
She looked over at the clock on her wall, and was happy to see that they had ten more minutes before she had to get up and start getting ready. She pulled Jenny a little bit closer and planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head, then rested her cheek there and ran her fingers through her hair. She fluttered her eyes back shut peacefully, content with the warmth of Jenny against her and the down comforter over the two ymbrynes.
"Alma?" She perked up, hearing a soft sleepy voice coming from Jenny.
"Yes, darling?"
"I've been awake this whole time." Jenny giggled and looked up at Alma, who playfully narrowed her eyes with a smile.
"You're a sneak."
"I know. I was enjoying the attention."
Instead of responding, Alma kissed the top of Jenny's head again, then rubbed her hand up and down her arm. Jenny pushed herself up so that their faces were even, met with a kiss on the nose from Alma. Their foreheads met and rested against each other, as they basked in the light of the rising sun and the feelings that they gave each other for a few minutes. A wide smile was spread across Jenny's face, and Alma had one of her own as she pulled Jenny closer.
"Good morning." She whispered.
"Good morning, love." Jenny said, then her smile fell slightly. "I need to ask you something."
"Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine. Wonderful, even. It's not bad. I just wanted to ask," She stopped to take a breath and brace herself for what Alma's response might be, "What are we?" Alma smiled at her, relieving what little stress had seeped into Jenny.
"We're whatever you'd like us to be. If you want to be an official thing, that's wonderful. And if not, that's alright too. We can just be whatever this is."
"Will you be my girlfriend?" Jenny asked quietly after a moment.
"I'd love that, Jenny." The brown haired woman watched in wonder as Alma allowed a wide, goofy grin to grace her features, then leaned forward to kiss her. Jenny readily accepted the kiss, resting a hand on Alma's hip and dragging her closer so their waists were flush to one another.
"You're my girlfriend. I have a girlfriend. I have a gorgeous, perfect girlfriend." Jenny pulled back and spoke, heavily in awe as she examined Alma's face, which turned slightly red at her words but she chuckled lightly.
"You're the gorgeous, perfect girlfriend here." Now it was Jenny's turn to redden.
"How long do we have?" Jenny asked, prompting Alma to look over her at the clock again.
"Two minutes and fifteen seconds."
Jenny cuddled in closer, putting her head back on Alma's chest and listening to the quick beating of her heart. It beat like a bird's, she realized. It wasn't as fast, but it was faster than a normal human's resting heartbeat. She wondered if her own beat similarly, and she simply never knew. Jenny let out a small giggle and hugged her girlfriend tighter.
Alma hugged tighter as well. Her mind raced, all thoughts about Jenny of course. She subconsciously stroked her hair, not even aware she was doing it. She smiled and kissed Jenny's forehead.
"Time to get up." Alma felt Jenny tighten her grip one last time, then release her. She rolled over and stood, stretching- but making sure to be careful not to look like she might hit Jenny. Alma watched as Jenny stood on the other side of the bed and yawned, making a small sound in the back of her throat.
Alma walked to her closet and picked out a suit identical to the one from yesterday, but this time she put a black button down underneath it. She slid on her navy skirt and tucked her shirt into it, putting her jacket over that. But before she buttoned it she sat down at her vanity and pulled her shirt aside, examining the darkly colored mark that Jenny had given her. She smiled as she touched it, then buttoned the jacket up, hiding it well. Then she checked her pocket watch and put it in her pocket.
She turned back around and when she did, she saw that Jenny was also now fully dressed. She had on a very pale yellow short sleeved button down, tucked into black pants much like the ones she had worn yesterday, though they were a little looser. Alma noted that the shirt only had one button undone, she must have been hiding the marks. She looked her up and down, her eyes settling on her face.
"You look lovely." The two said at the exact same time.
"Thank you." Also at the same time. Alma tried to suppress her laughter, but it was futile when Jenny burst out laughing, making the other woman laugh too. The two laughed uncontrollably for a minute, and every time they managed to almost calm themselves they'd look at each other and laugh harder.
Finally getting her laughs to subside to just giggles, Jenny made her way over to stand behind Alma who was now facing the mirror of her vanity, about to do her hair. She laced her fingers under Alma's chin and tilted her face directly up, placing a kiss on her lips and then releasing her.
Alma smiled and did her hair quickly, pinning it a little more firmly than usual. She stood and held out an arm, which Jenny hooked hers through. They talked casually as they walked, on their way downstairs to the kitchen to start cooking breakfast. Somehow, the topic of the family trees of peculiarity rolled around, and Alma was explaining that it always stemmed from a peculiar somewhere in the family, though it could skip many generations.
"Do you know of anyone in your immediate family who could have been peculiar?" Alma was asking. Jenny thought hard for a moment.
"No. Though I don't know too- Wait. Alma, Olive's peculiarity is that she's lighter than air, right?" Alma nodded, prompting Jenny to continue. "My mother was an acrobat. I never knew her because she... She died, when I was born. But I know she was world renowned. People say that she was so skilled that it was almost like she could actually fly. Would it be possible for her to have had a peculiarity similar to Olive's, only she could control it?"
Alma nodded, deep in thought.
"There are no limits to peculiarity. That's very possible, and quite likely, actually. It would make sense." Alma dropped off, going deeper into her thoughts. Concern etched itself in her face as she looked at Jenny. "Has Agatha ever shown any signs?" Jenny froze.
"She was an Olympic class hammer thrower. In nineteen-sixty-nine, she won gold. She's always been incredibly strong." Her stomach dropped as she caught the look of dread flash across Alma's face, though it was hidden quickly. "I just assumed she had worked out... Oh god, she's known all along. What if she knows what I am? Alma, what if she's figured out who you are? What if she finds us?" Panic was clear in Jenny's voice as she began pacing. Then, she suddenly stopped. "I think you all interpreted Horace's dream correctly." Her voice dropped to a defeated whisper.
"Darling, it's alright. It'll be okay. I'm sure she doesn't know where we are, and if you never discovered your peculiarity for yourself then she couldn't know for sure. All these are just what if's. We must focus on the facts. We know that she is most likely peculiar, and has most likely become a wight. But we can't possibly know that she knows where we are, or what we are." Alma squeezed Jenny's shoulders comfortingly and wrapped her in a hug. "Now, let's detach ourselves from this foul subject and make breakfast. I try not to discuss unpleasant matters." She said firmly, tilting Jenny's chin up to kiss her briefly. The shorter woman took a shaky breath and steadied herself against her.
"You're right. You're always right. She doesn't know where we are. She can't hurt us."
"That's right, Jenny. It's alright. And even if she did find us, I'd claw her eyes out for everything she's done to you." Jenny grinned thankfully and hugged Alma, who kissed her cheek and turned to make breakfast, sensing that Jenny was still watching her. So, just for fun, she added just a slight extra swish of her hips as she walked though it wasn't enough to be obvious. Soon enough Jenny joined her to help, and they had a nice breakfast ready by the time the children should begin trickling downstairs soon. Alma lit her pipe and idly chatted with Jenny while they waited, careful though to avoid subjects that could be related to Agatha. Happiness grew in her stomach every time she looked at the woman beside her, and it was all she could do not to hug her and keep her in her arms forever. She was watching Jenny as she spoke, thoughtfully listening and puffing her pipe, when she heard heavy footsteps coming downstairs.
"Olive. Her boots are heavy." She said and Jenny nodded.
"Good morning." Olive poked her head into the kitchen and greeted the two ymbrynes.
"Good morning, Olive dear. Are any of the others awake yet?"
"Yes, Enoch and Emma. Emma's telling Enoch something, and she says I'm not allowed to listen." Alma stood straight up from leaning on the counter, alarmed, and hurried off to see what was going on, leaving Olive and Jenny.
"Good morning, Miss Honey." Olive came and stood by Jenny, who smiled at her warmly.
"Good morning. How did you sleep?"
"I slept well-" She was cut off by an exclamation from the dining room and both of them looked in that direction with a yelp. "We should go see what that was."
The two went off to locate the source of the sound, finding a furious Alma and even more furious Emma staring down a sour faced Enoch, who was seated while the other two were standing.
"It's not my fault if it's just the truth-"
"But you don't have to say it! We all know, just shut up about it already!" Emma hissed, Alma putting a hand on her back.
"Seriously Enoch, I don't know what your problem is lately. You need to stop acting this way. You're so different. Stop acting out and purposely trying to scare Miss Honey and her daughter away." Alma fumed.
"I'm not. I'm just being honest, which none of you seem too terribly inclined to do. I'm trying to keep you from getting your heart broken like Emma did, when Jenny takes Matilda and inevitably leaves us all in the dust. Just like Abe." He growled. No one had yet noticed that Jenny and Olive were now standing in the doorway.
"Abe left for a reason! There was a war, he had to go be a hunter. They needed him. He was the only one who could see them. You know this, Enoch. Stop bringing him into everything. You know damn well it's not the same." Emma tried to walk towards him but Alma pulled her back and into her arms, whispering something into her ear as Emma let out a choked sob. She seemed to have let the curse go just this once, because of how upset the girl was.  Though normally she absolutely prohibited anything of the sort.
Jenny silently walked over and put her hand on Emma's back, though the teen didn't yet pull away from Alma's embrace. Alma shot a warning glare at Enoch before he got a chance to speak again and make another nasty comment.
"Alma. Should we tell him? It might be what shuts him up, if he knows that we're together." Jenny whispered into Alma's ear.
"No. Not yet. He'll get used to you." She whispered back, Emma finally pulling away to finish composing herself. "No more nonsense now, Enoch. You will be nice. This is not optional." Alma warned him as Emma and Olive took their seats. There was an empty chair between them which they insisted that Jenny sit in.
Now that she was seated between the two girls, they began asking her questions. Most of them Jenny could answer, as they were just about her life at home.
"Girls, remember the what I said about questions of the future." Alma reminded them and they sighed, dropping off of that.
"So, how long are you staying with us this time?" Olive asked, leaning back in her chair. Jenny looked quickly to Alma, then swallowed and smiled.
"A while." She said vaguely, getting an excited squeal from Olive.
"So you're not leaving today like last time! Yay!" She exclaimed.
Then the rest of the children started coming in, Matilda leading the group and sitting across from Jenny. Millard was actually wearing clothes, and insisted upon sitting next to Matilda, making Jenny chuckle quietly. Claire was on Matilda's other side.
"You can start eating." Alma addressed the table once everyone had taken their seats, and everyone did just that.
The rest of breakfast went by smoothly, but as soon as he had finished Enoch stalked off to the attic.
"What'th hith problem?" Hugh asked, muffled around a mouthful of eggs.
"Hugh, polite persons swallow before speaking." Alma said. Hugh finished chewing and swallowed.
"Sorry. What's his problem?"
"He's still mad about our guests. He'll get over it soon enough." Alma went back to eating. Jenny's eyes landed on her and she marveled at how pretty she looked. Then her eyes traveled around the table and landed on Claire, who suddenly put the toast she was holding down on her plate and looked away.
"Claire, why did you stop eating, dear?"
"She's still embarrassed about eating while someone's watching." Horace explained.
"Oh, you don't need to be shy around me or Matilda. We won't judge." Jenny addressed the little girl with a smile, and the little girl grinned. She moved her toast to the back of her head, shifting her golden curls out of her way, and Jenny smiled even wider as she heard chomping. So she had seen correctly. Claire did have a second mouth.
Everyone finished their food and Alma stood. "Today is the day of your requested picnic. I know we typically have picnics in the garden, but I thought we could go to the beach to make it extra special. So, everyone who wishes to swim as well will dress appropriately." She stated and collected plates, heading off to the kitchen to wash them before their daily walk. Emma joined her, while the rest of the table talked. Olive excused herself to the attic to retrieve Enoch and tell him about the beach picnic. When she returned, she was dragging him by the wrist.
"I'm sorry about my behavior, Miss Honey." He mumbled and shot Olive a reproachful look as she let go. It was obvious to Jenny that she was forcing him to do this.
"It's alright, Enoch. We're new and different, it's understandable."
"I'd like to show you my peculiarity, if you don't mind." He said suddenly, holding out a hand. Jenny took it, though she was slightly suspicious about his sudden change in behavior. She jumped at how cold his hand was, and she thought she saw the corners of his mouth quirk up as he led her upstairs. Olive trailed behind the two, to make sure he didn't scare her too bad. She knew that was most definitely his intention.
"This way to the attic." He said, pulling her down the hall. They entered a room full of shelves lined with jars, seemingly full of... Jenny startled when she realized what the things in the jars were. "My peculiarity." He motioned around with a smirk, releasing her hand.
"Collecting vital organs?"
"I'm a dead-riser. I use them to bring things to life. Wanna see?"
Jenny was apprehensive, but nodded slowly. She wanted Enoch to trust her, and perhaps even grow a liking to her.
"That'd be cool."
He nodded curtly and held out a hand to Olive, who picked out a doll off a shelf full of them and handed it to him. He pulled out a small red thing that seemed to be moving on its own and Jenny winced when she saw what it was, earning another smirk from Enoch. He plunged the heart into the doll's chest and set it down on the desk in the middle of the room. He stepped back and the doll sat up on its own, then stood and paced around the desk. Olive clapped and Jenny approached the doll in wonder.
"How do you do that?" She asked him, noticing the phantom traces of confusion on his face.
"I just put a heart in them, preferably rather fresh, and they do whatever I tell them. You should have seen some of the epic things I did at my parent's funeral parlor when I was younger." He said slowly.
"I can imagine that was... Quite something, Enoch."
"You should have seen it. It was great. The dolls are fun, but not anything like raising a human." Jenny resisted the urge to shudder and forced a smile instead.
"That's so cool."
"Isn't it? I love his peculiarity." Olive giggled.
Even though it was just a little bit freaky, Jenny really did think that Enoch's ability was impressive.
"Now that you've seen that, there's one more peculiar child here that I think would very much like to meet you."
"Enoch, don't you dare. You know it upsets Bronwyn, and you'll be in even more trouble with Miss Peregrine than you already are."
"They won't know." He held up a hand at Olive and turned to Jenny. "So, what do you say, Miss Honey? Do you want to meet Victor?"
"Oh- Victor. I really don't think I should. I know... I know what happened to him." Enoch raised a surprised eyebrow.
"She told you?"
"I kind of figured it out myself." Jenny lied. If she knew one thing about Alma, it was that she clearly didn't want to expose any sort of vulnerability to her children. She was always strong for them, and Jenny didn't want to betray her.
"Come on. It's probably about time for our walk." Olive changed the subject, relieved that Jenny had not agreed to see Victor.
"Yes, we should head down." Jenny nodded, glad to have gotten an excuse out of it. Enoch crossed his arms but agreed.
The three made their way downstairs, where they found Alma holding her watch out to face them.
"One minute and six seconds late."
"Sorry, Miss Peregrine." The three mumbled.
"Enoch was just showing me his peculiarity. It's quite spectacular." Jenny said, and Alma looked sharply to Enoch.
"At least you're getting along. Come now, let's be off. We'll have to cut our walk a little short to make up for the lost time, but it's nothing I can't adjust for." She had already started walking, leaving the group to follow behind her.
They strolled down a path, Jenny walking behind Alma but beside Enoch. They were discussing his peculiarity, and he was pretending to be reluctant to answer her questions but Jenny could tell by the way his hands twitched when she asked a good one that he was actually kind of excited about it. Jenny found out that really no one but Olive actually seemed to like or care to understand his peculiarity, and though Jenny was a little nervous about it, her intrigue overpowered that. Alma was listening to them talk behind her and smiled to herself. Finally, there was peace between Enoch and Jenny, even just for a moment.
"I can't believe you didn't run. Most people who react to the jars the way you did run as soon as one of my homunculus wakes up, if they haven't already. Not that I get very many people visiting, anyway." Enoch was saying.
"I was just a little surprised. It's not exactly what I was expecting, that's all. And what is a homunculus?"
"It's basically a doll, like the one I rose to show you. They're little representations of humans. I don't technically have to have something that was ever alive, though it's more fun if at one point it was. I pretty much just take the life of one thing and give it to something else." He shrugged, as if it were completely normal.
"That's insane." He looked at her and Jenny realized he might not have realized what she meant. "In a good way!" She assured him and he nodded.
"So, when are you leaving again?" He asked, though a bit less gruffly than he normally might have. Suddenly, Jenny had a thought.
Was he unhappy about the idea of them leaving? Was he just hurt about Abe's leaving?
"Enoch, I don't know who Abe is. But I want to ask- did him leaving hurt you?"
He clenched his jaw and his sour expression returned.
"No, of course not. But it hurt everyone else. I'm just the only one who is honest and doesn't really care."
"That's not true, is it?"
"Of course it's true. Now, when are you leaving us?"
She stayed silent, not wanting to press him or answer the question.
"You can tell him, if you'd like." A soft voice came from in front of the two.
Enoch looked suspiciously at Jenny, then at the back of Alma's head.
"I'm not." Jenny said quietly, taking a step closer to him to ensure he heard but no one else did. "I'm not leaving."
"Really. That's what Abe said, he said he'd never leave us. And he did."
"I promise. I'm not leaving." Enoch raised an eyebrow.
"I guess we'll have to see." He kept walking, and by now they were almost back to the house.
"It's been really nice getting to know you, Enoch. You're actually pretty cool. Friends?" She stuck out a hand.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. I still don't like you. But it's rather obvious that the Bird does, so I suppose I'll tolerate you." He suddenly stepped up to her and hissed quietly, "But if you hurt my ymbryne, I'll kill you. And then, I'll bring you back and kill you again. I can make it quite an unpleasant cycle."
"I don't plan to." Jenny swallowed, somehow slightly intimidated by the teenage boy in front of her. He sensed her intimidation and the faintest trace of a satisfied smile crossed his features, quickly replaced by his signature stoic expression. They reached the porch and Alma opened the door, ushering them inside.
"Go ahead and change, those of you who intend to swim. We'll go a bit early, to have time for a swim before we eat." She waved a hand and a few of the children bolted off. "No running in the house!"
The rest who remained walked upstairs to their respective rooms. It seemed that everyone was intending to swim, or at least dress appropriately for the beach. Jenny started off, then paused.
"Aren't you coming?" She asked Alma.
"No, I don't need to change."
"I know what you got dressed in this morning, you're going to be hot in what you're wearing." Jenny protested, taking Alma's hand and beginning to lead her off.
"I can't, I can't let the children see my mark."
"I'm sure I have something you can wear to cover it." Jenny winked and Alma sighed, allowing her girlfriend to pull her upstairs.
She thought of that word and it brought a slight smile to her lips.
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Once they had gotten dressed- Alma insisted on wearing her normal suit, but was wearing a black t-shirt from Jenny tied around her bra under it, because Jenny had protested that she'd be hot in the button down. She also had a pair of shorts on under her skirt, also insisted upon by Jenny- the two women went downstairs to make lunch. Jenny wore a loose sundress with flowers printed on it over a one piece backless swimsuit, with small circles cut out on the sides. Luckily for her, the straps were fairly wide and fell across the marks from Alma. The ymbrynes busily began making lunch, cutting up fruits and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the group. Jenny was impressed at how quickly they got it done, marveling at how comfortably Alma moved about the kitchen.
"How long until we leave?" Jenny asked when Alma pulled out her watch.
"Seven minutes exactly." Alma washed her hands and looked around as she dried them. "Meaning we have a couple extra." She held out a hand to Jenny, who instantly took it. She led her to the parlor and shut the door behind them. She moved her hand from Jenny's hand to her waist, pulling her close.
"Hello, my darling." Alma caught Jenny's breath hitch at the proximity. Her face was about an inch from the other woman's, as she closed her eyes and leaned forward, connecting their lips softly. She felt Jenny smile and within an instant she was kissing back. Her hands laced together behind Alma's neck.
"Don't mess with my hair, little bird. I don't have time to redo it." Jenny huffed out a little puff of air through her nose, but obeyed.
Vaguely and with a note of annoyance, Alma realized that without her normal heels she was about an inch shorter than Jenny. She had elected to wear flats instead in favor of not sinking into the sand.
The kiss got deeper, but Alma didn't let it go too far since they only had a couple minutes. Within what felt like a very short instant, their time had run out and she reopened the door to the parlor, finding an impatient Emma standing outside the door.
"When are we leaving, Miss Peregrine?"
"In four minutes and thirty-two seconds. Go collect the others, please." Emma nodded and ran off to find the other peculiars. Alma went and retrieved the two wicker picnic baskets she'd packed the food into and handed one off to Jenny, and within two minutes Emma returned with the whole group and Alma laid out some ground rules.
"No trying to drown one another, no going out too far, stay within my sight, don't eat sand, no boiling the water, no swimming in the nude," She gave the pair of floating swim trunks a pointed look, "And that should be it. Don't do anything too ridiculous, please." By the time she'd finished speaking it was time to go. The children bounced with hardly contained excitement, and Alma sighed. "Go ahead." At her prompting they hurtled off, laughing and yelling at each other.
Jenny watched them and suddenly grabbed Alma's free hand, sprinting towards the beach with her in tow. Taken off guard, Alma shrieked Jenny's name as the two ran, then Jenny started laughing. She admittedly didn't know the way, but she followed the sound of children which was fairly easy to track. Their two sets of footsteps thundered across the ground, one perfectly even and the other slightly off, as Alma started laughing lightly too, catching up to run side by side with Jenny instead of being towed along behind her.
"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Jenny exclaimed and raced ahead, and Alma laughed at the childish joy.
"We're ymbrynes- bad choice of words!" Alma joked and ran to try to catch up. With her uneven gait though, it was a little bit harder to navigate the terrain quickly. But soon they reached the beach, and Jenny was first. The two collapsed into sitting positions in the sand, setting the baskets down and gasping to catch their breath.
"You may be the fastest bird, but I can beat you on land." Jenny panted.
"You simply surprised me."
"Sure. You just don't want to admit that I'm faster than you." Jenny flicked Alma on the shoulder.
"That's because you're not!"
"And how are you going to prove it? I just beat you. That's proof." Jenny leaned back on her hands and listened to the sounds of the children already playing in the water.
"Again, only because you surprised me. If it were a proper race, I'd have beaten you easily."
"Sure. Whatever you'd like to believe, dear." Jenny smirked. She'd caught her breath by now, as had Alma, so she stood and took off the sundress, revealing her black swimsuit, which made Alma's eyes wander over the form fitting attire and revealed skin. She realized she was staring and snapped her eyes away. Alma realized that Jenny had her hand outstretched.
"Well? Come on."
"What?"
"We're going swimming, of course."
"No, you go ahead. I'll just stay here and watch you all."
"But that's no fun." Jenny wiggled her outstretched fingers and Alma raised an eyebrow.
"Go ahead, Jenny." She said softly, but firmly.
Jenny gave in and dropped her hand, though she made a promise to herself first. She would definitely get Alma into the ocean, somehow. She jogged off to the shore, feeling the woman's piercing gaze follow her the whole time. She eased into the chilly water, and didn't make it two feet before Matilda dragged her under.
"Hey!" She yelled when she resurfaced, searching for the little girl.
"Over here!" Matilda taunted from a few feet away, then dove back under as Jenny chased her.
Back over on the beach, Alma neatly set the baskets to the side and moved herself a little closer to the water, though still far enough away that she wouldn't get splashed. She watched her wards play, and all at once they circled Jenny. She held her hands up in surrender but it was futile as they all moved their hands in sync, sending a large wave over Jenny who was knocked off her feet. Alma chuckled at the antics, then glanced over at the only two wards that weren't in the water. Horace, and Enoch.
"Go play, boys." She called out to them, and Enoch begrudgingly entered the water. Horace held back, though.
"My hair!" He protested.
"Shut it. Even Olive's in the water, and she has lead boots." Enoch came back out of the water and dragged him in by an ear.
"Be gentle, Enoch!" Alma exclaimed.
"Miss Peregrine! Come play with us!" Fiona exclaimed, coming out of the water towards her headmistress.
"No thank you, I'm content to just stay here and watch you all."
"Come on!" She started getting closer to Alma, who scooted away because Fiona was soaked and she didn't particularly fancy getting wet. What she didn't notice was the second set of footsteps following behind Fiona in the sand.
Fiona's eyes widened suddenly as she tried to let out a muffled scream and was dragged toward the water.
"Millard! What did I say about swimming in the nude?" Alma shrieked, leaping up.
"Sorry, Miss P! It's just more fun this way." He chuckled, having gotten Fiona successfully back into the water.
She was so focused on trying to make Millard put clothes on that she didn't hear the soft snickering behind her until it was too late. Wet arms wrapped around her from behind, quickly unbuttoning her jacket and stealing it before she processed what was happening. She whirled around, met face to face with Jenny, who was dangling her jacket with one finger.
"Give that back." She demanded, but Jenny just folded it up and laid it down, holding out an expectant hand.
"Skirt, please."
"You didn't make me dress this way because I'd be hot, you did it so you could drag me into the water, didn't you?"
"Maybe. Skirt, please." She repeated with a smirk.
Alma sighed and stripped the skirt off, handing it to Jenny, who promptly folded it and laid it with the jacket.
"I'll wade in, but I'm not swimming or getting my hair wet." She mumbled as she took off her shoes and stockings as well. She leaned down to pull her pocket watch out of her jacket to check it, seeing that she had forty-five minutes before lunch. She stood back up and faced the other woman.
Jenny breathed deeply as she examined more of Alma than she'd actually seen before. When they'd changed, for the most part they'd had their backs to each other. She had a t-shirt tied over her bra, making a sort of makeshift bikini top that effectively hid her mark, and matching black shorts. Her stomach was visible, and Jenny realized that Alma had the faint outline of abs.
"Well, are you coming?" Alma asked with an amused tone, one eyebrow raised.
"Oh, uh. Sorry. Yeah, of course."
The two walked to the water, Jenny wearing a proud look. She'd won. She had convinced the one and only Alma Peregrine to get in the water.
"I can't think of a better way to spend my first trip to the beach." Jenny smiled and spoke, happiness ringing in her voice.
"This is your first time?" Alma looked at her, met with a sheepish expression.
"I've never really gotten to travel much." By now they had reached the water and it was about up to their mid thighs.
"Well then, let's make it count." Alma grinned and suddenly pushed Jenny further in, knocking her off her feet. When she resurfaced, she pushed her hair out of her face and huffed when she saw Alma laughing.
"That's like the third time in the past ten minutes!" She growled, lunging for the other ymbryne, who dodged. But in this vulnerable moment Alma felt a pair of very warm hands on her back and shrieked as she tried to stop herself from being pushed forward into the water, yet ultimately failed. She stood back up and searched around for the culprit. Her eyes landed on Emma, standing there smugly with her arms crossed. Now Alma was completely drenched, and her hair was falling again. Although thankfully this time it wasn't caused by something her charges couldn't know about.
She narrowed her eyes as a look of dread passed across Emma's face and she tried to scamper away, but the water slowed her down too much and Alma lunged forward, caught her by the ankle, and pulled her so tightly against her that she couldn't move.
"Try that again. I dare you." She challenged, letting her go.
"I won't. But I'd watch my back, if I were you." Emma pointed over her headmistress' shoulder with a giggle and she whirled around right as her feet were swiped out from under her. She opened her eyes underwater, scanning for the person who just knocked her over. She saw Hugh viciously kicking away from her and shot off after him. He looked back to see Alma following him and his eyes widened as he kicked harder, trying desperately to escape.
As Alma was chasing Hugh, she passed a set of feet that looked an awful lot like Jenny's. She reached out a hand as she swam past, dragging her foot with her and letting out bubbles as she laughed when Jenny fell under again. She kept swimming, and she was gaining on Hugh. He was almost close enough that she could catch him, and suddenly he shot towards the surface for air. As he breathed deeply, she caught up to him and gripped his shoulders.
"Caught you." She said wickedly, then laughed as she dunked him underwater and watched him shoot away.
She was actually having a lot of fun. She almost never allowed herself to act like this because she had to set a good example, but she truly loved it. True, her hair was ruined and she was sopping wet, but she was still having an incredible amount of fun playing with her wards.
Suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and looked down at the strong hands tracing the faint ab lines on her stomach.
"Guess who." A smug voice came from behind her. Jenny. "This is payback, darling."
Suddenly Alma felt herself dragged underwater and further out to sea, still trapped in Jenny's arms. Her hair floated around her face as she was spun to look at Jenny, who grinned and kissed her underwater where none of the children could see.
They stayed there for as long as their burning lungs permitted, but then they had to go to the surface and breathe. Jenny let Alma go and the two kicked up, gasping when they reached air again.
"You play dirty!" Alma exclaimed, pushing Jenny's shoulder lightly as they treaded.
"Yes, well, as you were swimming past me you grabbed my ankle and dragged me under so I'd say it was only fair."
"It was the perfect opportunity, and I'm not exactly known to often pass those up." Alma smirked.
"Really? Well, I happen to see quite the opportunity for you here."
Alma got the message and within an instant her hands were on Jenny's hips, dragging her underwater again. She pulled her into a passionate kiss, fingers caressing the bare skin on her sides that was exposed by the circles cut out of her swimsuit. Jenny's hands came up and cupped Alma's face, holding her lips firmly against her own. Alma nipped at Jenny's lip, feeling her grip on her face tighten sharply.
After a minute Alma was trying to ignore the burning pain in her lungs but it was too strong, so she had to part from the other woman as they both resurfaced, gasping for air.
"We should rejoin the others. We don't want them getting too suspicious." She was almost breathing normally again, but Jenny was still gasping a bit more. Both of their faces were flushed.
"Let's go then."
The two ymbrynes swam off in the direction of Alma's wards, diving under just before they were noticed. They shot through the group, grabbing ankles and knocking unsuspecting children off their feet. The only ones they didn't knock over were Claire, Olive, and Enoch. They got to Enoch, shared a look, and each grabbed one of his ankles. He tried to jump in shock, but the two held his feet firmly, dragging them forward until his full body was in the water. The two let him go and surfaced, laughing at his fury.
"That wasn't fair!" He was growling.
"Sure it was. All's fair." Jenny laughed.
"Then you shouldn't have a problem with this?" He lunged forward and put his hands on Jenny's shoulders, pushing her underwater with an evil grin. Alma watched, a grin of her own spreading across her face. Then she felt water splash against her back and spun around, finding a giggling Claire. She scooped her up and flicked little drops of water in her face, laughing when she ran her hands through Alma's hair.
"Your hair looks so pretty down!"
"Thank you, darling."
Suddenly, Claire started giggling and watching intently behind Alma.
"If there is a child behind me, don't you dare push me into the water. I am holding Claire." She commanded, earning a heavy, dramatic sigh from whoever was behind her. She turned to see who it was, and was met with a grinning Jenny.
"Well, I suppose it's a shame I'm not a child." The woman stepped quickly forward and stole Claire, taking her into her own arms as her foot hooked around Alma's ankle and knocked her over. But in doing so, Alma reached out for balance and ended up dragging Jenny down with her.
The brunette just managed to keep Claire above water, laughing uncontrollably the entire time. Claire was laughing too, and it was such a sweet sound. Alma sat up in the water, soaked hair falling into her face. She started laughing too, when suddenly she was muffled by an invisible force.
"Millard!" Jenny exclaimed. "What did Miss Peregrine say about swimming in the nude?" She set Claire down and crossed her arms playfully.
"I don't quite remember. Miss Peregrine, would you tell me?" There was a note of playful malice in his voice. "Oh wait, that's right, you can't speak because my hand is on your mouth!"
Anger burned in Alma's eyes as she said incoherent, muffled phrases. Though everyone knew the anger wasn't real, it was still intimidating. Suddenly she was released and started blindly grasping the air, trying to find Millard.
"I said not to do it! Go put some shorts on, Mr. Nullings!" Jenny noticed footprints appearing in the sand a few feet away, then a pair of swim trunks floated up and ran off, attacking Matilda and Bronwyn. Claire had long since gone off and was now playing with Olive, since neither of them could go too deep in the water. Claire because she couldn't yet swim and Olive because... Well, she had lead boots. Jenny turned back to Alma and saw a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Why are you giving me that look?"
"What look?" She asked innocently.
"The one that says you're planning something." Alma hummed at this.
"Perhaps I am. You'll just have to wait and see, petit oiseau."
"You're never going to stop calling me that, are you?"
"Nope. And the more you protest, the more I'll do it. You're my little bird." Jenny reached down and splashed Alma, drawing a gasp from the raven haired woman. "This is war."
The two splashed each other for a while, then Alma had to go check her watch again. Jenny watched as her shoulders dropped and she moved her gaze across the children.
"Two more minutes." She called, earning acknowledgements from the children. Some of them trudged out of the water already to start drying off, though most seemed to have forgotten towels. Alma gave them each a look and told them that when they got home she would go inside and bring them towels and that they absolutely were not to enter the house dripping wet. She knelt and started laying out the food on a large blanket she had tucked into one of the baskets.
"I may or may not have also forgotten a towel." Jenny stepped toward Alma, who stopped and gave her a look.
"I'll get you one as well. You can borrow one of mine." She replied as she went back to neatly setting the blanket.
Jenny didn't know why, but just the idea of borrowing one of Alma's towels gave her butterflies. It was such a mundane thing, but to her it meant so much. It said that she cared- which, she was her girlfriend, of course she cared- but it was the little things that really meant the world to Jenny. The little thoughtful things that she'd never truly gotten to experience.
"Thank you, gu aderyn." Jenny smirked, trying out a new nickname. It meant "Beloved bird" in welsh. Well, that was what Jenny thought it meant anyway. Alma laughed, caught off guard, and looked at her.
"Jenny, darling, I don't think that means what you think it does."
"Beloved bird. That's exactly what I meant."
"No, it means 'to a bird'. I suppose you didn't know that gu in that context would be to."
"Oh." She looked down, hiding the flush of embarrassment. "I thought it was all cute."
"The attempt was very cute."
Jenny smiled awkwardly and knelt, helping Alma finish setting the food out.
All the children and the two ymbrynes gathered and sat in a messy circle (or was it a square? Jenny couldn't quite tell.) around the blanket and ate, chattering excitedly. Jenny actually sat between Enoch and Olive, as the three discussed peculiarity, death, homunculus, and other various things that were often quite morbid, thanks to Enoch.
Everyone had finished eating, and Alma looked around to make sure. She reached over and grabbed her pocket watch, nodding to herself.
"Alright, we have thirty three minutes and forty seven seconds to stay here at the beach. Then we'll go home and continue with our usual schedule." She placed the leftovers in one of the baskets, then rolled up the blanket and tucked it in with it. She also put her suit in the basket, still deeming herself too wet to put it back on.
Some of the children bolted off and practically leapt back into the water, while some elected to stay behind and enjoy the sun or build sand castles. Olive was helping Claire with a small sand castle, and it was coming along quite well. Jenny grabbed Alma's hand and pulled her up.
"Care to swim again?"
"Only if you promise no funny business." Alma raised an eyebrow and fought off a smile.
"I can, but I can't on behalf of your wards. Or Matilda, for that matter."
Alma nodded and allowed Jenny to pull her off, wading into the water. When it got too deep to stand in anymore, they swam out just a little further and Jenny flipped over to her back and floated peacefully, enjoying the sun on her face.
Alma stayed treading, though underwater one of her hands was laced with the other woman's. She watched her wards playing not too far away, laughing occasionally at their creative attacks. A couple times she nearly went over when a child stayed under a little too long, but to Alma's relief they always resurfaced. She suddenly felt Jenny's thumb rub the back of her hand, and turned to look at her, seeing that she had turned her face away from the sun and was watching her.
"You're so perfect." Alma blushed at the unexpected compliment, and tried to sputter out a thanks. Instead it came out as a bunch of gibberish. She kicked herself internally for getting so flustered.
This was because of the loving look on Jenny's face and how she looked. The sun was hitting her just perfectly so that her wet hair seemed to glow and her entire body had a golden aura around it. Her brown eyes sparkled in the bright afternoon light of the beach, and there was a slight flush on her cheeks. Her face plainly said how she felt about Alma, which made her heart turn flips.
"Don't you know that it's rude to stare?" Jenny righted herself so she was treading with her fellow ymbryne, putting the hand that wasn't holding Alma's on her hip and pulling her a little closer.
"My apologies, I was just-"
"I was joking, it's perfectly alright Alma. I quite like it when you stare at me." She smiled with a flirtatious glint in her eye, drawing a smile from Alma.
"Good, because I will never tire of the sight of you." This time it was Jenny's turn to be flustered.
"And I of you." Was the best comeback Jenny could think of.
"Care to join the children for the last few minutes we have?"
"I'd be delighted."
So the two swam over, unofficially racing as Jenny shot ahead, then Alma grabbed her ankle and used the momentum to pass the other woman. Before long, they'd reached the shallows where the children were and were instantly splashed and dragged under. Finally Jenny managed to sneak up behind Matilda, who let out a shocked yelp as she was pushed under.
"That's payback for what you did earlier, little bee!" Jenny laughed as Matilda came back up and put her hands on her hips.
"You're asking for war, Miss Honey." Matilda stared down at the water and a look of confusion passed over Jenny's face. Then it became realization as a wall of water rose into the air and crashed over her.
"How powerful have you become?" She exclaimed.
"I don't know, really. I can just do a lot of really cool things." At that moment, they realized that Alma was standing on the beach holding her pocket watch. They sighed as she called out that it was time to go home, but no one argued for they knew better. They wouldn't win against time. The group climbed out of the water and the very few who had brought towels wrapped them around their shoulders. Alma was one of them, and Jenny felt a trace of disappointment at seeing the headmistress cover up.
With that, so began the journey home.