Kanaya slipped her sandals off and felt the warmth of the sand on her feet. There was something she loved about the beach. Perhaps it was the sun, or the gentle rush of the waves, or the fact that it was one of the only times she got to spend with her family. As much of a headache her cousins could give her, she loved them, despite the bullshit she received, particularly from Karkat. Her sister was much more adept at handling Kankri's particular brand of ranting. That suited her just fine. Kankri's brand of social justice was… overbearing? Kanaya wasn't sure how to put it. Hypocritical.
Karkat was under one of the few umbrellas they had set up nearby, griping at his father about having to come if he couldn't spend time in the sun. Karkat really was such a grouch. Kanaya supposed she couldn't really blame him; he had a lot of emotions that he let overwhelm him, and dealing with the entire family was a lot for him. Especially with Nepeta's uncomfortable crush. Didn't Nepeta realize that was really awkward, especially since their parents were engaged? Well, there was a lot of doubt that Nepeta would ever say anything to Karkat. If she did, well… he'd have to be honest. Whenever she thought about that, it made Kanaya glad she didn't live with them. Kanaya's sister, Porrim, was rummaging through the bags of stuff, retrieving a volleyball. She glanced at Kanaya.
"Are you up for a match?"
"Oh. Certainly. Do you want me to tell the others?" Kanaya asked. Porrim nodded at her and she stood up from her seat and tapped Nepeta on the shoulder. "Nepeta, would you and Meulin like to play volleyball with me and Porrim?" she asked. Nepeta paused, glancing over at Meulin as the two had a quick exchange in sign language. Nepeta turned back to Kanaya, and answered.
"Sure! Meulin wants to go in the water for now, though."
"Of course. Enjoy yourself; we can wait." Nepeta beamed at Kanaya, then turned and ran towards the water with Meulin. Kanaya smiled to herself a bit. Nepeta was quite endearing, even if the shipping thing she had a tendency to do was a bit uncomfortable. Kanaya was still tempted to ask what she thought of her and Vriska as a pairing. That one-sided pining was getting real old. To make matters worse, Vriska was, in all likeliness, straight. Her relationship with Eridan sure was a thing that happened, and then there was Tavros… ah, well, it didn't matter. Kanaya paced over to Karkat, who seemed disgruntled. Whether that was due to his exile beneath the umbrella or due to whatever Kankri had just said, Kanaya didn't know, but she shot a smile at him. "Karkat, Porrim and I were going to join Nepeta and Muelin in a volleyball match in a bit; would you like to play as well?"
"Don't feel like you need to cater to me, Kanaya. I'm fine." Well, now that was just rude. Kanaya frowned at him
"I wasn't catering to you, I was simply trying to be nice. Remind me not to do that next time," she huffed, stepping away to return to her lounge chair, vaguely hearing Karkat sigh behind her. "Kanaya! Sorry. Yeah, I'll play," Karkat conceded after a moment. "Only if Kankri will play too. I don't want to make the teams uneven." Kanaya spotted her cousin's grin and knew exactly what he was trying to do. Kankri scowled from where he was sitting behind Karkat, and began to say something, but was cut off by another voice.
"Kanny~~," Porrim sang at him. He frowned even more, if that was even possible, but still answered.
"I would love to play," he grumbled. Karkat had a look of satisfaction in his eyes, and Kanaya couldn't help but giggle a bit.

Once Nepeta and Meulin returned from splashing around in the ocean, they began to gather their belongings for the volleyball match. Kanaya glanced over her shoulder as Karkat stood up and shielded his face from the sun. His poor pale skin couldn't handle too much of it. Kanaya tutted and shook her head at him, then removed her hat and handed it to him.
"Here, take my sun hat." Karkat frowned, but grabbed it from her hands anyway. If he got a sunburn or skin damage, she wouldn't be able to help but feel responsible. Karkat begrudgingly put it on, and it was sufficient to shield his face, thankfully.
"I'm gonna look so fucking stupid," he muttered. Kanaya rolled her eyes a bit. There was hardly anyone else on that beach. They only had access because of Kanaya's uncle's friend, Spencer, who somehow had a beach house. Kanaya wasn't really sure what he did for a living, but she figured it was best not to question it.
The six of them split into two teams—Kanaya, Karkat, and Meulin versus Porrim, Kankri, and Nepeta. It was a pretty good match despite none of them really being very athletic (except Nepeta, what was even with her?) and Kanaya couldn't help but laugh when Kankri fell into the sand. Overall, it seemed pretty successful until Meulin sent the ball soaring over the net towards a group of nearby kids.
"Oops, sorry!" Meulin shouted. Kanaya had to refrain from covering her ears. Meulin was quite loud, and standing right next to her.

"Karkat, could you get the ball, please?" Porirm asked. Karkat faltered, then yanked the hat off his head.

"Yeah, but take this first." He shoved it into Kanaya's hands.

"You really shouldn't be in the sun," Kanaya tutted at him.

"It'll be like two minutes, it's fine! I'm not fucking walking over there with this dumbass hat on." Kanaya frowned as Karkat walked off. Was it really that bad? It was one she'd designed and made herself, and she couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious at Karkat's scorn.

"I thought it was quite fashionable," she muttered.

"Don't worry, Kanaya. Men simply have no taste," Porrim said. Kanaya wasn't sure how reassuring that actually was, though.

"I find that offensive," Kankri chimed in. Oh great. They were going to go down that road. Kanaya was actually surprised it had taken that long. That was what always happened any time they got together with their cousins. Porrim and Kankri would almost certainly get into at least one argument.

"I just don't see why you have to undermine me at every turn."

"I don't see why you lump all men together like that and make some general statement like that. It's very rude."

"I swear to God, if I hear you say 'not all men' one more time, I will choke you with your own sweater sleeve." Yeah, that was about par for the course. Kanaya couldn't really blame her sister, though. Kankri was the type to say "I'm not a feminist, I support equality" or "the wage gap is a myth", discussing things he believed to be problematic while not addressing that he himself and a good amount of his discourse was also problematic. In short, Kankri was kind of a prick.

Kanaya walked up to Nepeta, trying to distract herself from the ongoing argument, noticing Nepeta's eyes following Karkat a bit. Then there was that whole thing. Nepeta's crush on Karkat. Kanaya was aware of it, and aware of the discomfort Karkat felt in regards to it. Nepeta glanced at Kanaya, who was still clutching the hat that Karkat had discarded, and patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Kanaya. I like your hat! Karkat's just a little grumpy sometimes." Kanaya chuckled to herself.

"Yes… if by sometimes you mean literally all the time." She put her hat back on. "I do have to ask, what is it exactly that you see in him? And… I hope you won't find this intrusive, but don't things get awkward?"

"I… I don't know, I just think he's sweet, even if he doesn't show it in the way other boys might. He cares about his friends a lot." Kanaya pursed her lips. She wanted to tell Nepeta that Karkat wasn't interested, he just didn't feel that way about her, and let her down easy since Karkat was wholly avoiding the subject. She decided not to say anything, though. Maybe it wasn't her place. Bugging and fussing and meddling was what got her into her current situation with Vriska, after all, which was not a position she necessarily wanted to be in.

Everyone sort of ambled back to the adults at their own pace, not really bothering to pick up the volleyball game again. Kanaya settled into the lounge chair beside her mother's.

"Kanaya, you should let your hair grow out. It's so pretty when it's long," her mother said.

"But Mother, I like having it short. I think it frames my face well."

"It's not… feminine."

"Mother, please. Hair style is not solely indicative of gender expression. Besides, I hardly think you need to worry about either of us 'not being feminine'," Porrim said, plopping into her own chair. She had far fewer inhibitions about calling their mother out on stuff like that. She didn't always approve, especially of Porrim's tattoos and piercings. It made Kanaya glad she'd never had to come out, really. It happened when she was about 5 and told her parents she wanted to marry a girl. That was really all there was to say on the matter. After a moment, their mother spoke again.

"I have to head into work early tomorrow, so I'm going to drop you two off at your uncle's."

Porrim sighed, but Kanaya just nodded at her mother and let the quiet resettle. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for another argument to break out, this time between Nepeta and Karkat. Something about ships on Supernatural. Karkat's volume overtook Nepeta's, naturally.

"Okay, Dean is not gay. I suppose YOU could argue that he's bi, but I doubt even that. And anything the writers put in hinting at Dean and Castiel being a thing is blatant queerbaiting, which is gross. They tease and they tease and they tease, saying 'hey guys, look, we might have this potential gay couple, look how progressive we are!' And they proceed to jack each other off in some massive circlejerk at how they've now attracted this fucking fanbase of teenage girls searching for ~teh yaois~ without even putting the gay couple in the show in the FIRST PLACE, when all the actual queer community wants is some goddamn representation!" Kanaya glanced over at her family. They were far less exposed to Karkat's… colorful language, and weren't desensitized to it as she was. Their grandmother looked particularly upset. Nana Rosa hated it when the boys got like this, as they were known to do, each in their own way. Thankfully, Solomon prompted an apology. "Sorry… Nana Rosa," Karkat muttered, sitting back down. Kanaya glanced at Porrim for a moment, but Porrim wasn't paying attention. So much for sisterly guidance. As Nepeta got up and wandered off, Kanaya stood from her chair and went to sit behind Karkat, who seemed to need some relaxing. She started brushing her fingers through his hair. Oh dear. His roots were showing again.

"Mother is unable to take me and Porrim to school tomorrow, so we'll be coming over early in the morning," she informed him.

"Okay… what's your fucking point? I'm sure Dad would have told me later."

"Porrim still has some black hair dye left."

"Why would Porrim have—oh yeah. I remember, that dipshit at the salon over-bleached her hair when she got the green streaks put in and she bought the dye to fix it up when the color faded."

"Right. So she could touch up your roots if you would like it done before you're forced to be seen by the general population."

"Well I'm sure as shit not going to make it over to the salon tomorrow morning so that would be great, actually."

"Though to be honest I still don't know why you don't just embrace your appearance. White hair certainly is unique," Kanaya said. She genuinely liked Karkat's natural hair color, even though he obviously hated it. He really was too hard on himself.

"It's freaky as fuck, Kanaya, and I hate it."

"Very well, then, it doesn't make a difference to me." Why was he such a grouch all the time? So frustrating. Karkat sighed.

"Not your fault, Kan. I shouldn't be snipping at you." Well, at least he acknowledged it.

"It's in your nature to immediately get defensive, and while I can tolerate it as your cousin, others may not be so used to it, and you should try to work on that."

"Jesus, now you sound like Kankri."

"Now that is truly insulting," Kanaya said, smiling a bit, though still hoping that Kankri wasn't within earshot. She was glad Karkat let her into his life. Yeah, he didn't actually have much of a choice, but not all family was as close as hers was, and while things weren't exactly perfect, she wouldn't have it any other way.