"I thtill don't thee why I had to come on thith trip." Sollux grumbled from the back of Eridan's car. He was currently squished up against the window since the trio's luggage was taking up most of the room. "I don't even like beacheth. They're too... thandy."
Feferi wrapped her head around the passenger seat so she was facing the grumpy boy. "Aw, cheer up Sollux, you're gonna love it! Trust me when I say that Derse Beach is absolutely the best there is!"
Sollux gave a sort of 'hmph' noise from the back, but he made no effort to say anything against the ocean lover in front of him. He had learned that arguing with Feferi never ends well for him. Fef is usually as cool as a sea cucumber, but she can be aggressive when she wants to be.
Fef turned back around and poked Eridan in the arm repeatedly. He tried, to no avail, to ignore her. "Wwhat, Fef?"
"Are we there yet?" Fef asked, with sparkly eyes.
"Yes, Feferi, wwe are totally at Derse Beach, evven though obvviously there are no signs a beaches anywwhere near our current location." Eridan's grip tightened on the wheel.
"Don't get an attitude with me, mister! If I recall correctly, you insisted on driving since it was your car!" Feferi snapped her head to look out the window, making her best attempt to ignore Eridan.
"Yeah, wwell-" Eridan was interrupted by Sollux snickering from the backseat. Eridan asked, "Wwhat's so funny, Sol?"
"You guyth are like an old married couple, with all your bickering over the thtupideth thingth." Sollux continued laughing, though he was cut short by a purple and blue suitcase toppling over onto him.
"Oh, put a sock in it." Eridan dismissed his comment like it was nothing. The car ride turned silent for a few minutes as no one had any idea how to keep the conversation going. Luckily the silence was cut through by the obnoxious dinging of something on the dashboard.
"Uh. Dammit." Eridan muttered as the car slowed to a stop. "This, this is not good."
Feferi turned back around and peered at the dashboard. "Empty?" She looked at Eridan quizzically. "But didn't we just stop for gas, like, less then 20 glubbin' minutes ago?"
"Yeah, wwell, I got kinda sidetracked." Eridan's royal purple eyes shied away from Feferi's as she narrowed her magenta eyes. "That's all there is to say on the matter."
Fef gave him another look, but she let the matter slide. "Hm. So, what do we do now?"
Sollux, who had been slowly drifting off to sleep, decided to speak up just then. "I thaw a thign that thaid Derthe wath about 5 mileth from here. Maybe we could walk there?"
Eridan gave him a dismayed look, but Feferi seemed okay with that idea. "Shore, why not?" she shrugged.
So after about 6 minutes of grumbling, falling suitcases, and yelling, the trio headed in the direction of the beach.
What should've been an hour long walk took almost twice that amount, due to Sollux's poor sense of direction, Feferi's insistence on not carrying her own luggage, and Eridan's griping about the smallest things. When they did finally arrive at Derse, and Eridan felt like ripping of Sollux's head for the umpteenth time, it was well past sundown.
They trekked over to the hotel that was on the complete opposite side of the beach, checked in, and got their room, Room 413. On the way up, Feferi had to smack Eridan twice for flirting with the bellboy, and Sollux, who has a thing about elevators, insisted on taking the stairs. He almost tripped down them.
Once they got into the room, they all flopped down onto whatever piece of non-table furniture they could find.
Feferi got up from the pale green couch she was laying on, skipped to the bathroom, and in no time she was donned in her magenta one-piece swimsuit. "I'm going down to the beach. Anyone wanna come?"
"No thankth." said Sollux. He had gotten up from his position on the bed and was now occupying the couch Fef was previously sitting on. He was tapping away on his laptop, muttering something about exploding viruses. He paused, and looked back up. "Wait. You're going to the beach at 8:30? ...Why? It'th, like, cold out there."
"You reelly should come, Sollux! Derse Beach is so pretty at night!" Feferi got that starry look in her eyes. "The moon reflects off the ocean just right, and the water is practically shimmering with life and excitement! Isn't that right, Eridan?"
"Wwhat?" asked Eridan. He was half-asleep on the bed closest to the window.
"I was just explaining to Sol about Derse at night. Remember we used to come here all the time as kids?"
Eridan sat up and gave a half smile. "Yeah, it sure wwas nice."
Feferi frowned a bit. "Why don't you come with me? It'll be just like old times!"
"I don't really feel like it..." he nervously scratched the side of his neck underneath his blue-striped scarf. "I'm kinda tired, y'knoww? Maybe tomorroww?" he turned his attention the the window.
Feferi pouted. "Fine, I guess this poor defenseless maiden will go out into the hard world all by herself." she fake swooned. She noticed no reaction from the boys. Time to turn this up a notch and pull one she learned from Vriska."With nobody to protect me from the studly men who would love to take advantage of a lone beach babe."
Sollux was the first to make a move. He nervously scrambled to his feet. "You know what, I think I'll go. Might ath well, huh? Heh heh..." He dashed into the bathroom, changed into his bee-striped swim trunks, and grabbed a towel. He was ready to go, though he noticed Eridan didn't move at all.
He walked over to Eridan and sat next to him. "You thure you don't want to come? I thought you loved beacheth and thit?"
Eridan shrugged him off. Sollux found this weird, as normally Eridan would do anything to get the better of Sollux. "Well, don't do anything thtupid while we're gone, 'kay?"
Eridan gave a barely audible mutter of agreement. Sollux gave one last look at Eridan, shrugged it off as his usual hipster-y shit, and soon he was out the door arm-in-arm with Feferi.