A/N: Here's some more Red Cricket for you guys! I bit of a fluffier piece; an off-shoot of a Rumbelle idea I had. At first, I hated this and wasn't gonna publish it, but now it's kinda grown on me. I hope you guys like it!
As his feet hit the cool sand and he struggled to keep both the chairs and the cooler from slipping out of his grasp, he wondered to himself, why the hell did I agree to this?
As if immediately answering his unspoken thought, her giggle caught the wind and floated back to him. "This is it! The perfect spot!"
Muscles sighing in relief, he deposited his load less gently than intended. Before Archie even moved to set up the chairs or umbrella, Ruby was shrugging out of her clothes, leaving nothing but a skimpy, scarlet bikini. Her choice in beachwear left so little to the imagination that Archie's sense of decency forced him to stare at the blinding white sand instead.
"I- uh- I packed us some sunscreen. You should- uh- probably put it on," he stammered as he handed her the bottle, still averting his eyes from her exposed body.
"SPF 100?" she snorted. "Arch, seriously?"
His ears burned bright red with embarrassment. "The lady at the store told me this was the best one," he defended.
"It's been a while since you've been to the beach, huh?" Ruby barely concealed her smile as she slathered on small amounts of the white lotion.
"Well… no. No other patient has asked for a trip like this as a means of therapy, so I've never had a cause."
Her nose crinkled in obvious displeasure at Archie's mention of the true purpose of their trip. "You ever think of going just for fun?"
He pondered that as she went to test the water. Fun? His toes curled in the salty powder surrounding him; was this fun? He could do without the pounding heat, and the blinding sun, and the toned muscles constantly jogging past him that made him look at his own body with a guilty, shameful attitude.
And then Ruby caught his eye, playfully leaping over the waves, gesturing for him to join her, and calling his name while she laughed as each new rush of water knocked her slightly off-balance.
Sure, he thought, this could be fun.
Ever so slowly, subtly, Ruby's grin morphed into a grimace. She began to limp through the water, clumsily making her way back to him. She was in pain.
Instinct kicked in, and, before he knew what he was doing, his arm found itself around her waist, aiding her to her beach chair.
"I think it was a jellyfish," she said. Archie's eyes widened as he saw her grasping at her now-swollen, lobster-red foot.
"Oh, no. No, no, no! This is terrible! This is all my fault. This was supposed to be therapy! It was supposed to be my job to make sure today was stress-free."
With every line that casted Archie's face in worry, Ruby's smile grew.
"You really are clueless, Arch, aren't you?" she beamed, craning her neck to give him a kiss on the cheek that lingered a little too long to be considered merely playful or friendly.
Archie's face burned a bright enough red to rival the streak of scarlet in Ruby's hair.
She chuckled as she pulled away, "Guess you are gonna need that SPF 100."
A/N: Well? What did you think? Please review! It takes two seconds and keeps me happy for much longer than that. You guys are the best!