I'm not usually one for hot weather but I still come anyways. The sight of Muriel brings me a little more joy and I go over to sit by him. "Hello."
He doesn't respond, only places a tiny crab in my hand. My face lights up and I smile widely at him, "Who's this!!"
"He's a friend who wanted to say hello."
"Hello!!" I look closely as he scuttles across my palm, "Where does he live?" Muriel points at a small rock pool and I gently place the crab on the rock. He seems very pleased with my treatment of the little guy. I look back at the intense game of volleyball and shuffle back over to my beach towel. "Asra." I poke him as he sleeps, "Asra!"
"Hmm? what?" He looks around.
"Lucio's about to loose." I point at the pitch as the ball hits the floor and Lucio scowls. Asra laughs tunefully and gets up to congratulate Portia's winning score. I turn back to Muriel and smile. "What do you want to do today?"
"Go home." Theres not much truth in his words.
"C'mon we'll do something fun! We could look for fossils or collect seashells or..." I look up at Muriel as he looks out into the waves, "...we could swim?"
"No it's...unsafe..."
"I'll be here."
"I'm not...the best at swimming."
"We can just stay standing up then, you're tall enough for it." I jump up and pat his head. He holds back a little smile and sighs, plodding over to the waves. I pull off my robe and look at him, "Aren't you gonna take off that cloak?"
"N-no..."
"Why's that?"
"I burn easily...let's just go..."
Whatever it is, he doesn't want to take it off so i just leave it. I sprint into the water and dive deep into a wave. "Y/n!" Muriel calls nervously before I pop up and tie my hair back. He floats over next to me, the water barely touching his chest while i'm in neck-deep. The waves are bigger up close and I love it. I duck under them and body surf while Muriel stands awkwardly. He looks like he isn't rly enjoying it so i swim below the waves and pop up behind him. Strangely enough, I'm under his cape. I wrap my hands around him and give him a long backhug. He jumps a little and blushes, "Oh! There you are..."
"This thing is dragging you in the waves...you could-" I lift the cape that's covering me.
"NO!" His voice becomes loud and it scares me so much I fall back into the water, "I'm sorry..."
I feel his hands pull me up again and I stay quiet.
"I just don't want the others seeing my scars..."
I pout and take his hands. "Come under the waves, they won't see."
He thinks for a moment, "...okay." Gently, I lift the cloak off and place it on a nearby rock. He sinks into the water immediately and goes under a wave. His hair is messed up as he pops out and i chuckle, "You gotta keep it back!" I swim over and french plait his hair out of his face. He smiles shyly and turns to look at me. I grin widely at him, what a beautiful boy. "You know, with that hair and those little shorts, you look so cute."
He blushes into oblivion and sinks into the water. For a moment I think he's fainted until I'm pulled in with him. He holds me close and when we come out of the water I clamber onto his back, resting my head on his shoulder. "Woah!! This is how you see the world?"
"Yeah..."
"Hi world! I'm Muriel! I'm so pretty!"
He snorts into my arm, "That's a really bad impression of me."
"I think it's perfect."
"I don't sound like that."
I lower my voice more, "I have pretty eyes! My hair is really soft!"
"It's not that soft..." He says shyly.
"It is." I kiss him on the head, "c'mon let's go deeper." He wobbles a bit as I jump off him and swim further into the waves. I pop up quite far out to give him a thumbs up but I don't see the giant wave behind me. It pushes me down and Muriel's eyes go wide as I tumble along underwater. He crashes into the waves and searches, "y/n! y/n!" I hear his distant calling as I wash up on shore. "y/n are you okay? are you hurt? are you feeling alright?" He checks me carefully. I pop up like a frog and run back into the water, "THAT WAS SO FUN!"
Muriel sighs.
At the end of the day at we sit around the fire I lean to Muriel, 'I made you something." He looks at me, a little surprised. I hold up a little necklace with a pretty seashell on it and watch as he smiles. "It's to remind you that you're pretty." I tie it round his neck and kiss his cheek.
