i wrote this fast so it might not be very fleshed out...? it was a quick request ahaa. oh and for people who liked "ebb and flow" thank you, thank you so much! if you wanna check it out there's a fanmix for it here: /beagleware/still-waters anyhoo, enjoy.
"How exactly did you convince me of this?" Steven asked, face contorted in a scowl as he batted the sand from his ankles.
Wallace had simply looked back at him with a smirk playing on his lips. "You remember."
He did. But it still seemed extremely unfair, and Steven had tried to cough up as many excuses as he could in order to avoid coming. Of course the little cove had been nice enough, secluded from the main islands on the route and glittering with fine granules of sand. It was a private spot that Wallace found ages ago while on one of his many excursions, and as far as he knew, no one else had discovered it. This, however, made it all the more frightening.
As Steven looked out at the waves swaying and tossing onto the shore, he found himself oscillating in time, shifting his weight from side to side precariously. It had not been motion sickness. That he knew, for he had flown and sailed without an issue before. Closing his eyes for a moment, Steven lowered himself onto the ground and sighed.
"Just get it over with and I won't bully you. Promise." Wallace pulled his shirt off and tossed it onto the sand beside Steven. "I'll be here the whole time. You know I wouldn't let anything happen."
Of course Wallace had been aware of Steven's apprehension and discomfort. It wasn't his intention to scare Steven or force him to dive in head first. The reason he had been so eager was because Wallace wanted him notice and appreciate the ocean just as he did, perhaps even gain a liking for it. The only problem was that he hadn't considered the unlikelihood of such a thing. Or perhaps he simply ignored it.
"I have my doubts." The words dropped heavily from Steven's lips and he regretted saying it immediately. He shouldn't have. He didn't have the right to criticize Wallace because of his own irrationality, his own…fear? Had that been it? At the time he didn't want to think so.
"Don't you trust me?" Wallace asked, adding a smile.
Steven gave him an amused look and rose from the sand.
"I'll let you hold my hand, if you want," Wallace reached out towards Steven, who merely smacked it away.
"Don't be an idiot."
"Indeed."
What had surprised Steven the most was how much power the waves had, even when the water was barely halfway up his calves. He kept stumbling, trying to find his balance in the sloshing sand. Wallace had been more patient than either had predicted as the two gradually made their way out into deeper waters.
And the water rose to his knees, thighs, hips, Steven worked harder to keep the rest of his body from succumbing to the currents and waves. His ears were filled with the whitish chorus of the ocean's waves, deaf to Wallace's encouraging words from a few feet away. Keep steady. Balance. Right, left, right. Keep steady. Breathe. Equilibrium. Steady.
Wallace watched with his back to the horizon, observing as Steven lunged his way through the water. He pressed his lips together, slightly entertained by how unnatural his movements seemed to be. Of course, traveling through the ocean was nothing like spelunking. But something in the back of his mind had made him apprehensive. It was only a bit of fun, an experience, right? There was no reason to be worried, especially not with himself being around.
Certainly that was what he had planned, but Wallace had forgotten one of the oldest characteristics and rules of the ocean, and it would be months before he would forgive himself for overlooking it.
Neither of them had been really paying attention to the water—Steven concentrated on pressing himself through the currents and keeping his balance while Wallace was kept busy watching him as the water reached his shoulders. And so the ocean reeled back, curling in on itself in a rising vigor without an audience and spilled over the shore. Wallace remembered the immense pressure on the back of his neck, pounding him down into surface and smashing his ears as he gulped down sea water trying to find air. Steven remembered suffocating.
He remembered his spine cracking under the sudden bulk of the wave that knocked his body into murky darkness. He felt the vacuum yank the air from his throat. The salt water poisoned his eyes, nose and ears, everything. Once or twice he brushed against sand or rocks but the surge kept him from finding his footing, instead sending him tumbling along the thrust of the ocean.
Who knew that the sea could be so arrogant? That if you let you eyes stray it would turn on you, punish you for ever denying it of your gaze.
Steven trusted the thick swirling in his chest and stomach more than the hard sand against his back and for a few moments still believed that he was underwater. He felt a bubbling against his throat and immediately sat upright, choking and coughing deeply.
"Thank goodness!" Wallace let himself fall onto the sand beside Steven, who was breathing laboriously in an effort to stay conscious. Hand shaking, Steven rubbed his eyes aggressively and then turned them over to Wallace, who he believed, looked to be on the unsteady border of sobbing and bursting into relived laughter. Steven kept his weary, stinging eyes on Wallace as he smiled with quivering lips.
"For a bit I thought—well, no I hoped that you wer—ahh…" He paused. "I'm…sorry."
Steven pulled his eyes away and hung his head down, still getting his lungs accustomed to air again. The two sat for a few silent moments as they caught their breath.
"You owe me." Steven said weakly, a half-playful look creeping back onto his face.
Wallace chuckled and raised his hand to brush sand off his partner's shoulders. "Of course."
As payment Wallace had prepared a wonderful dinner the following day and promised not to complain when Steven went on his excursions. Even afterward, he still felt incredibly indebted and blamed the entire incident on himself and his lack of vigilance. Every now and then he remembers seeing Steven's limb body as he hauled him back from the ocean, re-experiencing the strange combination of adrenaline and heavy fear. Wallace carried this dead weight deep in his stomach for ages. It only lightened when he saw Steven standing at the bathroom counter or sitting at his desk scribbling away, and Wallace convinced himself that everything was alright.