Surfing

(Disclaimer! I do not own Red vs. Blue or anything affiliated with it. This is set in Valhalla before Donut gave Caboose the message from Tucker.)

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Valhalla. It was a warm, sunny day with a strong breeze that was just the perfect temperature. There were clouds in the sky, but not a whole lot. And the beach by Red base had strong waves hitting perfectly against the shore.

Grif was in complete awe with how great this weather was. It reminded him so much of his favorite beach back in Hawaii, his true home. He smiled the biggest smile he could muster and tore his helmet off of his head to get a better feel of his surroundings. Days like this were very rare in Valhalla, and Grif was not going to waste a single bit of this day on "military duties and exercises". Sarge be damned!

Grif ran back into the base to his quarters, changed out of his armor and morph suit, and changed into orange swim trunks. Then he looked for his most prized possession from home. Now, most people would think that Grif's food stash would be his most prized possession. And they would be about half right. But this was his most favorite thing in the world, hell the galaxy. His surf board. Grif looked around for his treasure before remembering that he had been using it as a food table for however many years he'd been away from home. He grabbed it, checking to see if was still in good condition, and, satisfied that it was, ran back out to the beach. On his way he ran right past Sarge and Simmons, no doubt talking about some sort of plan to kill Caboose since he was the only Blue Team member left at Blue base.

"Grif! What in Sam's Hill are you doing Dirtbag?" Sarge yelled as Grif ran by. But Grif being Grif just ignored him and kept running. It was probably the fastest he'd ran in a long time. But he couldn't help it. The waves were calling him. Sarge was about to point his shotgun at Grif's back when Simmons interjected.

"Hey Sarge, maybe we should just let him be." Simmons said matter of factly.

"And why would I let him do that Simmons? He needs to be over here planning the demise of Blue Team with us. Even if he is useless." Sarge replied.

"Look Sarge. I know Grif is a lazy asshole. But maybe letting him have his fun will get him more likely to follow orders. Think about it. If he's happy he'll be less likely to whine and complain and he might just follow orders better." Simmons said. Sarge looked like he was thinking about what Simmons was saying. Maybe he could let his men have a day off. Just one.

"Alright Simmons. Tell you what. I'll let you guys have a "fun day", but tomorrow it's straight back to business. Is that understood?" Simmons nodded his head in response. He honestly didn't think it would be that easy to convince Sarge. But he was happy all the same.

"Thank you sir." Simmons said excitedly. He put his pistol down next to some other guns and ran for the beach. When he got there he looked out at the water. Simmons was just as excited for this day as Grif. Even though he would never outwardly admit it. He took off his armor but kept his morph suit on and went to sit down by the water. Finally, a day to just relax He looked back out to the water and he could see Grif clumsily surfing the waves. He knew Grif was way out of practice, but he was still extremely impressed that the bigger man could balance on a surf board so well. It made the cyborg just a tiny bit jealous.

Grif was having a blast. He was out of practice, but after a while he was able to balance on his board well enough to ride the smaller waves. Not long after that he was riding the bigger waves just like he used to. For Grif, surfing was just like riding a bike. It felt so natural to him. All he had to do was concentrate on his balance and the waves did the rest pushing him to and fro above the water. Grif hadn't been this happy in a very long time. After a while though he needed a break. He let himself fall off his surf board into the water. It was cold, but not too cold. Just perfect. Grif swam back up to the surface, grabbed his surf board and swam back to shore. When he got there he saw Simmons laying on his back, enjoying the sunshine with his human eye closed and a relaxed smile on his face. This kind of surprised Grif a little. Since when does Simmons ever relax? Grif shrugged and decided not to question it and layed down by his friend. He looked over at Simmons and noticed that he was still wearing his morph suit. That didn't sit well with Grif and he nudged Simmons in the ribs with his elbow.

"Dude, why are you still wearing your morph suit?" Grif asked puzzled. Simmons opened his eye and looked back at Grif.

"Because I don't have actual swimwear like you do." Simmons replied with a huff. "Besides, I don't want to get my mechanical parts wet."

"Sims, that's bull crap. I know Sarge just water proofed your cyborg ass not too long ago. And I know you own at least one pair of shorts. You can use those for swimming, dumb ass." Grif was annoyed. Why can't Simmons just let loose and have fun? God knows he needs it.

Simmons looked at Grif and sighed. He really was not up to arguing with Grif about this. Especially since Grif was right, which he would never admit. He just stood up and went back to base. Grif sat there waiting for Simmons to get back. After a short while Grif could hear Simmons' footsteps behind him. He was wearing knee length denim shorts and a red T-shirt. Grif laughed to himself. Leave it to Simmons to were a T-shirt to the beach.

They sat there in mutual silence. Listening to the waves and enjoying the sunshine. But it wasn't very long until Grif got the itch to get back in the water. All of a sudden and idea hit him. Hit him like a rock to his mind. Oh yeah, this was his best idea ever.

"Hey Simmons, wanna learn how to surf?'

Simmons shot straight into a sitting position. He did not just hear Grif ask him if he wanted to

learn how to surf, did he? He looked at Grif to see if he was joking, but saw that the Hawaiian was being totally serious. Simmons would be lying to himself if he said he didn't want to. It was actually something he's wanted to try since meeting Grif. But actually doing it was a different story.

"You're serious about this? You really want to teach me how to surf?" Simmons asked. Grif just nodded his head excitedly.

"Dude I could use a surfing buddy. And there's no one else here that would want to. So, you want to surf or what?"

"Y-yeah. Sounds like fun." Simmons said. Grif smiled again as he grabbed the surf board and motioned for Simmons to follow him. They walked to the edge of the water and Grif placed the board on the ground. Simmons was confused. What was Grif doing? Grif saw Simmons' expression and rolled his eyes.

"Stand on it." He instructed Simmons. Simmons was still confused, but did as Grif said. "Great, step one is done. Now for step two, lay down on your stomach lining up with the board."

…...

Grif was shocked. Simmons had followed every step of the instructions perfectly. Posture and everything. He was getting more and more excited. But Simmons, well, not so much. He was nervous, to say the least. And he was silently cursing himself because now they were moving to the water. He wasn't worried about his mechanical parts. Like Grif said, Sarge had water proofed them. What he was worried about was his balance. Simmons hated falling. He especially hated falling in front of his friends because they would always make fun of him for being clumsy. But he was determined. Whether it happened today or some other day, Simmons was going to learn to surf. However, Grif could sense his friend's apprehension. But then he was struck with another great idea. At least, he thought it was great.

"Okay Simmons, you're nowhere near ready to surf on your own. But why don't you come out on the board with me? You just have to sit down and I'll do the rest."

'Wouldn't that just weigh the board down?"

"It might. But we won't know unless we try. You in?"

"Heh, sure. Why not."

"That's the spirit!" Grif grabbed the surf board and waded out to the water until he was waist deep. "Come on Simmons. You need to get on before I do." Grif yelled to Simmons. He sighed, but waded out to where Grif was. He made sure Grif was holding on to the surf board at one end before he hopped onto the other end. Simmons totally almost fell right off the board, but luckily he caught himself before he did. As soon as he was on the surf board and balanced as well as he could, Grif hopped onto the other end. It took a bit of maneuvering between the two of the before they were balanced enough that they wouldn't tip. And, to Simmons' amazement, they didn't sink. Simmons was at the front of the surf board and Grif was near the back. It momentarily surprised him when Grif started paddling them into deeper water.

Simmons could hear Grif breathing heavily behind him. He knew Grif hardly ever worked this hard at something. He felt like he should be helping Grif, but then thought that he would just be in the way. Besides, Grif seemed to know what he was doing. They didn't go out much farther when Grif stopped them and turned the surf board sideways.

Grif was concentrating. He didn't know when it was coming, but he could feel a big wave coming. It was a strong one too. And it was going to be a good one. He decided that he should warn Simmons to hang on tight.

"Hey Sims, I really need you to hang on. This wave is going to be huge." He saw Simmons nod his head and tighten his grip on the board.

The wave was huge. Bigger than Grif thought. But that only made him more excited. He started paddling back towards the beach at just the right moment. And as soon as the wave hit, Grif was standing on the board. Balancing him and Simmons on the wave was almost a disaster, but he some how managed it. He could hear Simmons screaming bloody murder the whole time. It was hilarious.

"OH MY GOD GRIF! OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD! AAAAAAAHHH!"

"Come on Sims, this is awesome!"

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING DIE OUT HERE!"

"No you're not! I won't let you die! At least not on purpose!"

"I FUCKING HATE YOU!"

"I know buddy! WOOHOOO!" Grif was having the time of his life. Simmons was about to have a heart attack. But then the wave hit the shore a little too strongly, sending the two men crashing into the water.

The water was tumbling Simmons around, he thought he was going to drown. But then he felt a strong hand on his human shoulder dragging him up to the surface. The next thing Simmons knows, he's on the beach, coughing up water and sputtering insults at Grif.

"You fucking asshole -cough- what the -cough- hell was that? You douche bag! I almost fucking died!"

"Calm down asshole. You're being way too dramatic. I told you I wouldn't let you die. Besides, you can't fucking deny it. You had fun out there before we crashed." Simmons was about to object when he stopped himself mid- vowel.

He did have fun. In fact, that was the most fun he had ever had in his entire life. He couldn't deny it. After he was done coughing, he started to laugh. He laughed hysterically. And pretty soon Grif was laughing with him just as hard. The two were practically holding their sides and rolling on the ground they were laughing so hard. When they finally calmed down enough to breathe, they noticed the sun was setting. Grif noticed that Simmons was looking at the sunset with a bit of a sad expression.

"Hey dude. What's up? You look like someone just kicked your puppy." Grif said. Simmons shook his head.

"Sarge wants us back to our normal posts tomorrow. It sounds so stupid, but this has been the best day ever, of all time. I don't want tomorrow to come." Simmons was expecting Grif to say some sort of rude comment. He expected Grif to make fun of him. What he didn't expect was Grif to pat his human shoulder sympathetically.

"Me too Sims. Me too."