Disclaimer: Seven Deadly Sins also known as Nanatsu no Taizai is not mine and I make no money off this.
Summary: Margaret, Elizabeth and Gilthunder are kidnapped and have a day of summer fun at Lake Pernes.
Author Notes: My contribution to Sinswap on Tumblr. A slight AU with the ages since Margaret is 13 and Elizabeth is 6. Thank you Lickitysplit/maybeishouldwait for once again being an awesome beta. I would also like to thank Woundedowl, who is extremelypoorperson on Tumblr, for the cover art. It's wonderful.
Lakeside Fun
The meeting was boring and it was hot. Those were the only thoughts that floated through Margaret's head as she sat as straight as she could in the uncomfortable chair and resisted the urge to fan herself with her hand. Even the normally cool castle was stifling under the wave of heat that had locked Liones in its grasp. The air was so humid that it felt like you were constantly swimming.
I wish I were swimming, Margaret thought longingly as she looked out the window in the direction of Lake Pernes. Anything would be better than listening to father's lecture in this heat.
The meeting had been going on for a while now, and with the heat causing her mind to drift into lethargy, her father's voice became a scratchy drone in the background. A noise that she could hear, but wasn't listening to.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Lazily her eyes drifted in that direction, and when she caught sight of Meliodas sneaking, Margaret didn't say anything but watched intently, fighting to keep her face blank so as to not give him away. Anything Meliodas was involved in was bound to be more fun than a lecture in a hot room.
"Good afternoon everyone." Meliodas said abruptly, suddenly appearing beside Elizabeth's chair and startling everyone in the room except Margaret.
"Mellll." Elizabeth squealed happily, jumping out of her seat and into Meliodas' arms to give him a hug, which Meliodas happily returned.
With a loud sigh Bartra leaned back and crossed his arms while shooting the captain of the Sins a baleful look. "Meliodas do you have a reason for interrupting my lecture?"
"Of course." Meliodas answered simply. "I'm kidnapping your daughters."
"Really?" Both Margaret and Elizabeth questioned in delight, excited at the thought of spending time with the always fun Sin.
"What?" Both Veronica and Bartra questioned at the same time, not at all impressed by what they were hearing.
Meliodas nodded sagely. "Yep. So everyone who wants to come needs to go and get their swimsuit real quick, because anyone who isn't in the garden in fifteen minutes gets left behind."
With those words as motivation, Margaret didn't hesitate to bolt from her chair and run from the room. She didn't care what her father thought, she was going swimming!
Apparently Meliodas had this all planned out. The moment Margaret entered her room to search for her swimsuit, she saw her personal servant had not only gotten it out and placed it on the bed, but she had also gotten a towel, and was holding a light dress in her arms that Margaret could use as a cover up.
Smiling in gratitude Margaret was quick to strip out of her royal gown and put on the swimsuit followed by the light dress. Grabbing the towel and tossing a quick "thank you" over her shoulder, she ran for the gardens.
This was gonna be great.
~.~.~
Margaret stumbled a bit as she, the Sins, Elizabeth, and Gilthunder all abruptly arrived on the shore of Lake Pernes, thanks to Merlin's teleportation spell. Already she could feel the difference in the air, and Margaret couldn't wait to get into the water.
With two quick claps Meliodas had everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, first things first; safety. We have two princesses here. Each one must have an escort at all times. Understood?"
"Yes." Everyone answered back, including her and Elizabeth. Margaret didn't like it, but she understood the importance of being safe, especially outside the walls of Liones. However, she also knew that the Sins were amazing and respected her intelligence. They allowed her a ridiculous amount of freedom to do whatever she wanted, since they knew that she could judge if a situation was safe or not. Any other guard would treat her as if she were made of glass, and would impose restrictions and try and control her movements. Elizabeth, being only six, would be more closely watched, even with the Sins.
"Good, good. Second is sun protection, Merlin?"
At the prompt Merlin waved her hand and suddenly several glass bottles, and one large barrel, appeared. "Magic item #51: Sun block." Merlin informed them all of the contents.
Neither Margaret, Elizabeth, nor Gilthunder needed any prompting to take hold of a bottle and start applying the lotion to their skin. They all had the utmost faith in the Sins and would do as instructed, even if it meant using a strange smelling paste.
"Do you want me to get your back Captain? Then maybe you could do mine?" Diane asked, holding out a hand covered in white lather enticingly.
"No that's alright. Don't forget your face Elizabeth, I don't want you going home with burned cheeks and nose."
"Ok Mel."
"I could get your back Diane."
Margaret smiled as the other Sins joined in on the conversation, insults, stammers, and boasts flying through the air with ease. Finished with putting the lotion everywhere she could reach Margaret looked around to see who would be willing to help her with her back. Her eyes fell on Gilthunder who was just finishing with his face. "You get my back and I'll do yours?"
A light flush dusted Gilthunder's cheeks, but he smiled and nodded. Smiling in reply Margaret turned her back to Gilthunder and lifted her hair, wishing she had thought to bring a hair tie.
Upon seeing Margaret's actions Meliodas snapped his fingers. "Oh that's right, Margaret do you want something to tie your hair back with?"
"Oh yes please. That would be wonderful."
"Right then, Escanor." Meliodas called getting the attention of the giant of a man who kept getting smaller with each passing moment. "Can you please go into my bag and get the little green bag inside and give it to Margaret?"
"Of course Captain. It would be my pleasure."
As Escanor bent to rummage through a traveller's sack that Margaret had failed to notice before, she couldn't help but notice something about Escanor, and leaned a bit to the side to get a better look. Only a moment later Gilthunder's scandalized gasp of "Margaret" echoed throughout the clearing where they were currently located, and causing everyone to look in her direction.
Oops. Caught. Well there was only one thing left to do now. Be completely shameless.
"What? I'm a sheltered princess who is currently surrounded by a wonderful display of attractive men lacking a good deal of clothing. Did you honestly expect me not to look?"
There was complete silence for a moment before everyone except Elizabeth and Escanor broke out into loud laughter.
Elizabeth looked around confused. "What? What's so funny?" While Escanor stood frozen, unsure how to take the fact the he had been subject to Margaret's blatant ogling.
"Oh I quite agree dear." Merlin said as she glided up next to Margaret and politely ignored Gilthunder's spluttering as he caught sight of her wearing nothing but water. "The best thing about being in the Sins is the fine specimens of the male variety that make up the majority of the group."
"Trips to the beaches are fun." Diane chimed in, happy to add to the female conversation while eyeing Meliodas. "The sights are really nice to look at."
Margaret eyed Meliodas herself for a moment before laughing at the sight presented to her. "Elizabeth agrees with your statement Lady Diane, even if she's more interested in touching than looking."
There was another moment of profound silence as everyone took in the sight of Elizabeth sitting happily in Meliodas' lap while she rubbed lotion into his chest, leaving little white streaks where she had missed. At hearing her name, Elizabeth looked up with a "huh?"
The sight was completely innocent, but in lieu of the conversation context…
Laughter echoed once again through the clearing and over the water, while Meliodas said nothing, but smiled innocently.
Elizabeth looked around, confused. "I don't get it. Why is everyone laughing at me?"
"It's nothing Elizabeth," Meliodas was quick to reassure, although his smile belayed his amusement. "The girls teamed up to tease the boys, and even though you didn't say anything they decided that you're on the girls team anyway."
Tuning out the rest of the conversation between Elizabeth and Meliodas, as well as the angry shouts between Ban and King, Margaret turned her attention back to Escanor. What she didn't realize was that Merlin had noticed where her attention had shifted to, and decided to help the young princess out.
"Escanor," Merlin called, getting his attention. "Have you found a hair tie yet? If not, than can you please turn your posterior in this direction when you resume your search?"
A glance from Margaret revealed that the mage was standing with her hand over her mouth, presumably to hide a smile, while her eyes twinkled in wicked amusement. With her own mouth twisting into a wicked grin, Margaret turned her attention back to Escanor to see what he would do.
Escanor's eyes went wide, and they flicked back and forth between Margaret and Merlin. For a moment Margaret thought he might say something, but in the end he didn't and simply turned and bent over, presenting his rear for Margaret and Merlin's viewing entertainment while he dug through Meliodas' bag.
~.~.~
As soon as Margaret stepped into the water she instantly felt so much better. The water was cool and felt wonderful against her sweat slicked skin, causing her to relax instantly. Allowing her body to go limp Margaret closed her eyes and floated atop of the water as conversation drifted around her. It was only the sound of King's panicked shouts over the sudden silence of all other noise that alerted Margaret of the oncoming danger.
Without any further warning the water swelled beneath her, causing Margaret to flounder as her balance was suddenly shifted. For a few brief moments that felt like an eternity, Margaret felt like she was slipping and sliding down a rapid river, getting tossed and battered every which way. Eventually the craziness ended and she was left treading water.
"What was that?" She wondered out loud as she watched a giant wave retreat towards the far side of the lake.
"Merlin's water dragons."
Margaret let out a surprised yelp at the voice and spun in the direction it came from. King was treading water a short distance away, scowling at the wave that was continuing to retreat. "Pardon, what?"
Abandoning his glare at the uncaring water, King shot her a resigned look as the wave turned around and started heading back in their direction. "Merlin has a spell that can manipulate water into something resembling dragons. The others love to ride them, but I don't much care for it."
"Well I don't much care for the fact that I wasn't given any warning," Margaret retorted primly.
"Merlin will pick us up on the next lap of the lake. Try and balance on top of the dragon's head and ride it. Get ready, it's coming."
With that warning fresh in her ears, Margaret turned to face the oncoming water dragons racing back towards them, her face just as resigned as King's. The roar was deafening, and the wall of frothing white was more than a little intimidating. At the last second Margaret's resolve broke and she closed her eyes.
The crazy sliding and being tossed about feeling was back, and Margaret tensed her body, trying to keep all her limbs close to her body while she waited for it to once again be over.
Arms closed around her waist and yanked her against a firm body. Margaret didn't hesitate and wrapped herself whichever Sin had grabbed her, and clung tight. It wasn't until she heard the "Don't worry. I've got ya," murmured reassuringly in her ear, did Margaret relax her grip and open her eyes.
She was clinging tightly to Meliodas who had one arm wrapped firmly around her waist, while the other was out at his side to help him balance. Now that she was sure that she was safe, Margaret relaxed and too a moment to look around.
Gilthunder was on the nearest dragon head, although he was managing to keep his balance, his arms were windmilling like crazy and every now and then his body lurched in a random direction. Elizabeth was safe on Escanor's sturdy shoulders and was laughing and clapping at Ban who was showing off by performing flips and handstands, while Diane and Merlin both rode their respective dragon waves gracefully and, in Merlin's case, elegantly. She couldn't see King from her current angle, but based off the dark tone of his voice and sounds of splashing, Margaret assumed he wasn't having much fun.
"Do you want to try and ride the wave or climb on my back and just enjoy the ride?" Meliodas asked as he shifted his arm, trying to adjust her weight and positioning a bit.
Margaret didn't even hesitate, that one look at Gilthunder told her all she needed to know about balancing on the water dragons. "Back."
If asked later Margaret wouldn't be able to answer how Meliodas swung her from his hip to his back without losing his balance, but somehow he managed. With her front pressed tightly against Meliodas' back, and her arms and legs wrapped around his neck and hips, Margaret laughed, delighted. She was having much more fun now.
Apparently Elizabeth had had the right idea. She didn't need to stand on the water dragon and frantically try to balance, instead all she needed to do was hitch a ride with one of the Sins and just hang on and enjoy the ride.
A wicked idea came to Margaret's mind, so with a grin on her face she readjusted her grip, wrapping her legs firmly around Meliodas' waist, then she loosened her hold around his neck and shoulders so he could move easier. And if her hands dipped a little on his chest so she could feel his pecs… well his skin was wet, and her hands slipped a little was all...
~.~.~
The water dragons, as fun as they had been, was nothing compared to the fun that was jumping off Diane's hands and into the water.
Margaret waited as Diane, who stood waist deep in the water of the lake, lowered her hands so that she and Gilthunder could climb on. Diane would then raise her hands to a height that always varied, and she and Gilthunder would then run along the palms and fingers of Diane's hands before jumping off to fall into the lake with a splash.
It was such a simple thing, but she and Gilthunder loved it.
Elizabeth loved it too, although she didn't jump from nearly as high and ended up slipping and sliding on her bottom down the grove of Diane's fingers more often than not. This event prompted a new game of sliding down Diane's fingers as fast and as smooth as possible.
Margaret was having a blast, and she was sure everyone else was too, including Diane, since she kept giggling and randomly decided to jerk her hands upward every now and then to allow for greater airtime. It was random and chaotic and so much fun.
It was also an excellent way to distract them from finding out that the Sins went hunting and started making dinner.
Margaret hadn't even realized just how much time had passed until suddenly she, Gilthunder, Elizabeth, and Diane were being called away from their fun in the lake to a fire that had various strips of meat hanging off sticks nearby. Four bellies roared with hunger as the wonderful smell of sizzling cooked meat reached their noses.
"Oh wow, that smells delicious." Diane complimented as she eagerly eyed the meat that was clearly hers just by the size.
"It does indeed. Thank you for the food Sir Ban." Margaret agreed as she dug into the strip of seasoned meat with full gusto and none of her princess grace. Elizabeth and Gilthunder echoed her thanks before digging in themselves.
Ban bowed with a flourish. "Oh Princess, it was no trouble at all. Now eat up, all of you."
Dining with the sins was a lively experience and far more entertaining than the formal eating that Margaret was so used to. The squabbles that erupted between Ban and King was ridiculous, and the flirtations between Escanor and Merlin, as well as Diane and Meliodas, were incredibly entertaining, if rather one sided in both cases. However, it was the tender moments between Elizabeth and Meliodas that caught Margaret's attention the most.
Only with Elizabeth did Meliodas look so peaceful.
"A question for you princess Margaret." Gowther spoke up, startling Margaret out of her observations.
Margaret politely looked in Gowther's direction, trying to hide her surprise. He was the one Sin she never really interacted with. "Yes Sir Gowther, what is it?"
"I have observed that since you have become a woman you have begun to observe men more closely, Ban and Escanor included. Yet it is only with the Captain that you moved to touch rather than observe. Why is that? Are you more attracted to the Captain and thus want him for a mate?"
The silence that descended upon the group was instant. Ban and King froze in their actions while the words that Escanor and Diane were saying died in their throat, as all heads turned to observe Margarets reaction.
What ever they were expecting, laughter was not it.
Margaret could scarcely breathe, she was laughing so hard. Of all things to ask… and everyone's reactions… and Gilthunder's eyes… she erupted into a new wave of giggles.
It took a while but eventually Margaret was able to calm herself enough to speak. "No Sir Gowther, that isn't it. I take such liberties with Meliodas because he is my friend, and with him it's simply all in good fun. I would never take such liberties with anyone else."
Gowther nodded, thinking it over. "I see. So to you, rubbing your hands up and down Captain's chest is a sign of friendship?"
Gilthunder choked and Margaret groaned as she flopped back off the log she was sitting on and onto the dirt. This was gonna be a long supper.
~.~.~
The sun was dipping lower into the sky, and everyone's energy levels were waning. As she walked along the beach, Margaret took in the calm atmosphere in contrast to all the earlier excitement.
Elizabeth was wiped out completely, and was currently sleeping on King's green pillow, while the fairy himself dozed next to her. Margaret wasn't sure what Ban was doing leaning over the two the way he was, but if he had any sense in him at all he wouldn't do anything to wake her sister up.
With the exception of Diane, who was building a sandcastle with Gilthunder a little further down the beach, Margaret couldn't see any of the other Sins at all. Still, even though she couldn't see him, Margaret knew exactly who grabbed her arm and twirled her around to hold her in a dancer's embrace.
Without thinking, her feet started to move in a waltz, which Meliodas followed seamlessly, and they began to dance along the beach.
"Did you have fun today?" Meliodas asked as they sashayed across the sand before moving into a dip.
Margaret smiled as she straightened up and they stood face to face again, as their feet began to move to the music of the lake and the nature around it. "Oh yes. Today has been a truly wonderful day."
End
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