It wasn't too often that members of STORM got a vacation. When Commander Trey offered to give the Strike Squad some leave while Core-Tech settled into the base they jumped for joy. Alpha knew the sudden offer was so the five teens wouldn't get in a fight with Core-Tech during the moving process, but he didn't want to ruin the others' fun.
The Strike Squad took one of the hoppers to a cabin located on the beach shores of Coastal City. The cabin was of a decent size with three rooms, a small kitchen, two bathrooms, and a small gathering room furnished with two chairs, a couch, and a love seat. X-Ray was bummed out there was no wifi or television. His perked up when Tango asked what swimsuit she should wear out on the beach.
After changing into swimsuits and gathering beach supplies, the Strike Squad walked out the back porch onto the soft sands of Emerald Beach. The beach was a magnificent sight. The sands were white and soft under their feet. The ocean water was clear, showing schools of fish swimming below the surface. What made the beach unique were the shiny, emerald colored rocks sprouting from the ground. They were smooth to the touch and one could see their reflection on the surface.
"Hurry up!" Tango called as she walked ahead of the group. The teen had never been to the beach before, so this was a new experience for her.
"We're coming!" Alpha let out a chuckle. "Slow down Tango. You'll trip yourself."
X-Ray couldn't help but feel his face redden as he watched the female Strike Squad member. Her bathing suit was gorgeous. She was wearing a black bikini with the kanji for love over her left breast. The nerd was jostled from his gawking when Alpha nudged his ribs with an elbow.
"Hey four-eyes, see anything you like?" the red head said with a chuckle.
"Um…yea," admitted X-Ray with slight shame.
"You know Commander Trey is going to kill you, right?"
"I think it'll be worth it. Plus, I've been kissing the commander's butt for so long now that I think he'll let this slide."
As the two babbled about Tango, Kilo's eyes wandered the beach. It really was beautiful. This was only the second time he had been to a beach. His family barely made enough to pay the bills so vacations weren't a common occurrence. The dark skinned teen's eyes then wandered to Bravo.
Bravo looked completely at home. His eyes sparkled as brightly as Emerald Beach's ocean. A smile spread across his face as he got closer to the water.
Kilo noticed that Bravo was carrying a surfboard under his arm. He had never seen one in person before, just on STORM's rec room TVs. The board was much larger and more impressive than he had imagined. Bravo's board was especially stunning due to the color being tie-dye.
"You know how to surf?" Kilo asked the blonde.
Bravo shifted the board under his arm before answering Kilo's question. "Yea I do. I was raised on the beach, bro. I've spent my whole childhood in the ocean and on a board."
"That's cool," Kilo replied curtly, trying to hide his interest from the slightly taller male.
The Strike Squad finally reached a desirable spot by some of the large emerald stones. Tango sat her things down and climbed up on one.
"Mmm~ Smooth and warm," purred the black haired girl. "I will lay up here. X-ray help put on sunscreen?"
X-Ray's face reddened. The teen adjusted his glasses nervously. "S-sure Tango!"
He climbed up the rock and sat behind the girl. The tech expert shivered as he applied the sun screen to Tango's shoulders and back. Tango only hummed happily the whole time. Her cheeks were slightly reddened while X-Ray looked as if he had already received a sun burn.
Tango turned her head to grin back at X-Ray, but became worried about his tomato red face. "Oh no! Sunburn! Burning!"
She snatched up the bottle and began to furiously rub the lotion on X-Ray's smoking cheeks. The geek sputtered and tried to reassure her that he was ok, but to no avail. In moments, every inch of exposed skin was smeared in creamy lotion.
Kilo rolled his brown eyes as he laid out a beach towel. The tall male sat on it just as Bravo began to make his way towards the ocean.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Kilo asked.
Bravo grinned. "I'm off to surf of course, dude! The waves are perfect right now."
With that the blonde took off into the ocean. Kilo lowered to his belly, supporting his head with his large hands as he watched Bravo. Kilo smiled as Bravo paddled into the ocean pushing the surfboard along with him.
A wave rose before Bravo. In one fluid motion, the blonde pushed himself onto the board and rose on the wave. It was as if had never missed a single day in the ocean, even while at STORM. Kilo could not take his eyes off the male during the whole process. The tough guy watched as Bravo rose and fell with the waves of the sea. He looked so majestic. The sea must have been the reason Bravo looked so fluid in a fight.
After a few hours the group took a lunch break. Bravo reluctantly returned, submitting to Alpha's lunch calls and the growling in his own stomach. He propped his board up against the rock Tango had been lying on. The STORM specialist shook cold, salty water from his blonde hair as he sat next to Kilo and picked up one of the sandwiches Tango had packed. As he bit into it he tasted salt and sea.
"A mackerel sandwich?" Bravo asked as he chewed and swallowed.
"I got tuna. That is sort of normal." Alpha grinned as he munched on his sandwich.
X-Ray's face was turning a slight green color as he munched on an octopus and squid sandwich. He swallowed it down with a sickened gulp. X-Ray did not want to hurt Tango's feelings.
"I think your girlfriend got sushi mixed up with sandwiches again, X-Ray." Kilo teased.
Tango's cheeks lit up. "He not boyfriend! Fish is good! Fish gives strength!"
The girl growled grumpily and tore into a shrimp and mackerel sandwich. Kilo sighed at the spectacle. He turned to Bravo.
"Hey Bravo, can you teach me to surf?" he asked.
Bravo raised an eyebrow. "Um sure, I can try. Why are you interested?"
Kilo smiled nervously. He did not want to be a total dork and fawn over Bravo's grace in the water. "It looks like fun and it seems to make you all excited so I want to take a shot at it."
"Alright, in thirty minutes we can begin."
Thirty minutes later and after grabbing a spare board from the cabin, Bravo was teaching Kilo how to stand on the board on the shoreline. Kilo found this boring. It was just him hopping up onto the board. Plus, the ocean spray kept getting into his eyes.
"How much longer do we have to do this, Bravo?" whined Kilo.
"Dude, this is important. You aren't going to catch any waves if you don't get comfortable with hopping on the board." The blonde crossed his arms, scowling at Kilo as if he had committed some sort of blasphemy. "Just do it a few more times."
Kilo's heart thudded in fear. "Fine, I'll keep going."
A few minutes later they were in the water. A few tries to catch a wave ended in falling off the board for Kilo. Bravo watched him the whole time. He'd encourage Kilo even as he fell.
"You were closer that time." Bravo said positively after Kilo fell off for the thirtieth time. Kilo rested against his board to gently float above the waves. His ears popped as water exited them.
"I don't think this working Bravo." The teen grumbled in slight disappointment. This was almost as embarrassing as the time the monk kid from Core-Tech had knocked him out with a flower. He hated being embarrassed, but for some reason it felt worse since it was Bravo.
Bravo cocked an eye brow and smirked. "Dude, I am not giving up on you. You're close. I've been surfing for years so I know. Now get up on the board. I'll show you something."
Kilo hopped up so that he was sitting on the surfboard. Bravo took a hold of Kilo's hips and turned them slightly.
"You need to turn your hips more. You'll gain better balance." Bravo instructed, but Kilo could barely hear him over the pounding of his heart as Bravo carefully caressed his large hips. The blonde's long, bony fingers poked the bone.
Kilo nodded at Bravo as another wave approached. The Strike Squad teen stood on his board and turned his hips the way he was instructed. The wave came under him and this time he stayed upright. Kilo could not believe it. He had ridden the wave!
Bravo cheered for Kilo as he landed and flopped off the board.
"Good job, dude." Bravo said with a grin. Kilo's heart warmed at his friend's praises.
For the rest of the day Kilo and Bravo surfed. Kilo was growing more confident on his board as he rode wave after wave. Bravo showed off a bit by doing a few fancy tricks. He told Kilo that he may show him how to do the easier ones the next day. What made Kilo the happiest was that he got to spend time with Bravo. They had nothing in common except their predetermined "enemy", but now that Core-Tech was considered an ally they had returned to square one.
As the sun set they lay belly down on their boards and watched the dolphins in the distance. They could hear Tango's excited cries back on shore when she had spotted the sea dwelling mammals. Bravo gave a tired grunt.
"We should go back on shore, bro."
Kilo gave a slightly saddened groan. "Do we have to? I'm having a lot of fun."
"I'm getting tired. Being tired in the ocean isn't safe. The ocean gives and it takes."
The serious tone of that last sentence gave Kilo chills. Was this guy a poet too? He wasn't going to let Bravo discourage him. The dark skinned teen wanted to impress Bravo before the day was over.
"Just one more wave?" Kilo suggested with a sincere smile. He sounded like a little kid begging his dad to throw a baseball to him one more time.
"Well," Bravo mulled it over for a second. "You can go on one more, but be careful. The waves are getting bigger since the tide is coming in and the wind is picking up."
Kilo scanned the ocean. A wave was forming and it looked pretty big. It didn't look too big, but it was definitely bigger than the ones he had been surfing on all day. If he was able to ride this one he would definitely get Bravo's interest. With his mind set, Kilo began paddling towards it.
Bravo had noticed the wave Kilo had chosen. "Kilo! That one is way too big!"
Kilo couldn't hear Bravo's warning over the roar of the ocean. Was that wave getting bigger? No, it was probably just his fatigue messing with him. It looked as if Bravo was calling to him. Kilo wondered why he looked worried as he rose onto his surfboard.
The wave was not so hard to deal with at first. Kilo smiled as he felt the adrenaline rush and felt the ocean's mist hit his face. It was euphoric even. His happiness ended when the wave suddenly crashed on top of him. Kilo hit the water with a hard CRACK.
"KILO!"
Kilo could hear Bravo's panicked cries as he sunk into the water. He was too stunned to swim back up. After a few moments he had gained his bearings, but before he could attempt to rise to the surface he felt his body being yanked back in a powerful jerk that felt as if it had snapped his back in two. It was a riptide.
Kilo remembered Bravo talking about it once. He was supposed to swim diagonal from it, but his body wasted the last bit of energy he had left by trying to fight it in a panic. It was no use. Kilo hung limp in the water, sinking deeper by the minute. He watched bubbles rise slowly to the surface as his body tried to find oxygen. The little orbs caught the remaining light of the sun. They glittered beautifully like crystal orbs or Monsuno essence. Was this it?
As his eyes began to close, Kilo heard a large splash as if someone had dived into the water. Black tinged his vision, but he could make out Bravo's worried face inches from his own. If this really was the end, at least he got to see something pleasant before he died.
Bravo heaved Kilo onto the beach and with Alpha's help tugged him away from the ocean. The blond kneeled next to Kilo's unmoving body.
"You and Tango go to the cabin and grab blankets. X-Ray, start a fire. He's going to be cold and he'll go into shock." Bravo instructed. He did not want to think of the alternative if he could not revive Kilo.
Alpha and Tango sprinted towards the cabin at top speed while X-Ray began piling driftwood in a pile to light. Bravo focused back on Kilo. He didn't have much time. Thank god he knew first aid.
Bravo put an ear to Kilo's large chest. There was no heartbeat or breathing. The blonde began to do compressions on Kilo's large chest. His long, thin hands pressed hard against the dark skin and thick muscle. Bravo didn't care what Kilo would think after he performed the next part. He just had to get Kilo breathing again.
Bravo held Kilo's nose shut and placed his mouth over the other males. He began to give Kilo mouth to mouth. After a few cycles of this and compressions on the heart, Kilo shot upright, vomiting water intensely and passing out once again. Bravo placed a hand over Kilo's rising and falling chest.
Bravo sighed in relief. He pressed his head against Kilo's chest in exhaustion.
Kilo woke up to the smell of salt and burning wood. He tried to sit up but a blanket was wrapped around him and so was the arm of a person.
"Don't move," instructed a soft voice.
"Br-Bravo…?" rasped Kilo. He was alive.
"Yes, it's me. It's going to be ok. You're going to be ok." Kilo felt Bravo's face press in between his shoulder blades. He must have been keeping himself low on Kilo's body so that he could hear his heartbeat. Kilo could feel Bravo's hand against his chest as well.
"Y-you s-s-saved me." Kilo felt cold. He was shivering furiously all over.
"Yes I did. I couldn't let you drown out there." Bravo snuggled closer. Kilo could swear he felt the blond smirk against his back. "And I swear once your all better I'm going to smack you upside the head for pulling that stunt, you block head!"
Kilo swallowed nervously as Bravo's grip on him tightened. He knew Bravo was scared that he was going to lose him, even if the soldier wouldn't admit it. Kilo wrapped a large hand around Bravo's.
"You aren't leaving me right?" Kilo asked.
"I'm not moving until you're warmed up, Kilo." The blonde replied.
Kilo let out a tired breath. He closed his eyes and took in Bravo's warmth. Bravo was as warm as the sunny, gentle sea that he adored so much. The sea gives and takes away. Kilo thanked his stars that Bravo gave.