With everyone all cleaned up and arguments put down to a minimum, they all walked into the dining room where dinner was all ready and served.
"Did you make all of this by yourself?" the Disciple looked at the banquet before them unbelievingly, "With no help what so ever?"
"Yup! I love cooking so it's no problem!" the long table that Cia had pushed together earlier had been set with many dishes of all sorts and types of foods, "The kitchen is really big so I got to cook a lot of things all at once."
"Miss Cia you are quite amazing to have made food for over thirty people," Rose complimented.
"It's nothing now eat up before it gets cold. I didn't really cook it all by myself. A few workers came and helped me near the end of the process."
Karkat looked over to the kitchen door where a human head was peeking out and the head quickly retreated once they made eye contact, "Didn't you say that you and Zylpha were the only ones here?"
Zylpha looked quite puzzled as well as she walked towards the kitchen.
"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you guys. You don't have to work anymore. I called in a bunch of the workers and they arrived as you were working. A lot more will be coming tomorrow so you can start your summer vacation right away."
"What but they aren't supposed to come until later," Zylpha attempted to go into the kitchen but the door would not budge. A few giggles were heard from behind the door, "Guys let me in."
A troll head peeked out this time and with a smile the female shook her head.
"Yes that means you too Zylph can start your vacation."
"But," the sea troll turned around with furrowed brows.
"No buts. You probably haven't had a decent summer vacation since then, so now that you actually have friends to spend it with, you should spend it well."
"But," since Zylpha had turned around from being distracted, two employees from the kitchen exited and pushed the sea troll towards the table.
"You can trust us Zylph and it's not like we're running the place without you here. Just have fun for once," once Zylpha was back to the table Cia sat her down.
"Let's go to the beach tomorrow!" Feferi suggested right away. "And everyone will go," she looked at Dualscar and the Grand Highblood as she said it. They both were looking away as usual.
Zylpha opened her mouth to say something again but Cia quickly interrupted her, "Right everyone, so eat up and rest! Tomorrow will begin your long awaited fun filled vacation. Enjoy~!"
And with that Cia followed the other two employees back into the kitchen to let everyone eat in peace. Zylpha just stared at her plate with a confused look on her face as if she didn't know what just happened. A fried cluckbeast wing was placed onto her place and she looked up to Vriska who had put it into her plate.
"Listen to the human and have fun with us. Don't think about it too much or else your think pan will explode. If you think too much about it and become upset you'll become just like Karkat," the Scorpio waved her fork in the air before grabbing some more food for herself.
"Hey I heard that!" Karkat cried from the other end of the table as Terezi chuckled in agreement.
The troll snarled a bit as he reached to grab some other food to try and his hand came into contact with a pink fleshy one half way through. Karkat instantly retracted his hand and looked beside him to see John had did the same. He didn't even remember sitting beside the boy.
"Um you can go ahead first," John offered while looking anywhere but at Karkat.
". . . Thanks."
Aside from him, John and the still lightly confused Zylpha, dinner was quite lively and for once was somehow a peaceful dinner with everyone together.
Well if you ignore the part where the Summoner flicked a grape at the Grand Highblood causing the large troll to flip over all the tables and tried to use the largest one to smack the fairy. Luckily the food did not all fall over thanks to the Psiionic and Sollux and the rest continued to eat after putting some of the tables back into place.
The Sun is too bright.
Why is it so fucking hot.
This is stupid.
Who's fucking idea was this anyway-
Lock on. Half naked kismesis and flush crush trying to drown each other . . . .
His mind betrayed him at the last minute once he realised everyone was in their swim outfits all around him. The Cancer was sitting under a beach umbrella with his legs pulled up close and his arms crossed over them. He felt tired and had larger bags around his eyes than usual. Even with the spoor slime he had a nightmare and it wasn't the horror terrors. It was worse. His nightmares relived the insane battle they fought before and he woke up screaming with a cold sweat and his mother's arms around him trying to calm him down.
Around him everyone was either in the water or playing in the sand.
"Karkles~ come play beach volleyball with us!" Terezi declared standing before him without her shades, in a teal bikini and volleyball tucked under her arm.
"I'm fine where I am, no need to drag me along."
"Oh come one we're on vacation. You gotta have some fun with us."
"Tez just leave him! He's just afraid to lose to us!" Vriska shouted out to them at the court.
"What was that Serket? I could beat you at anything, at anytime, anywhere!" Karkat stood up. A few female giggles erupted around him. They came from Rose and Kanaya cuddling with each other, his mother sunbathing, and the Dolorosa reading a book under the same beach umbrella he was under.
"Hehe perfect. I'm so glad you get provoked so easily," Terezi took his arm and pulled him towards the court.
He had no rebuttal for that one because it was too true and he always hated himself for that. With a sigh he followed along without complaint and let himself get dragged along. His eyes wandered and found themselves looking at Terezi's bare back where a long scar stretched diagonally from her hip to a few inches below her shoulder blade. His eyes furrowed at the memory of his dream that relived everyone getting hurt and screaming.
"Hey, stop staring," Terezi said quietly. Karkat found himself blushing and looked up to the back of her head.
"I wasn't-"
"I thought you said you didn't have any flushed or pale feelings for me anymore," she chuckled.
"I don't! I just was . . ."
"Forget about it. Don't bring it up. Don't dwell on it. It's the past now."
"But because of me-" he was quickly interrupted by the volleyball being smacked into his face.
"I said enough geez. It's a battle scar, got nothing to do with you," she gave him one of her unusual fangless smiles. It reminded him again why he had a flush crush on her back in middle school.
"Tez hurry up! You can smack that ball against his face all you want in the game!" Vriska hollered over from the other side of the net. As they got closer, Karkat could see a bunch of small scars all over the Scorpio.
"Come on my pale bro let's get this game on and show them who's going to be smacking what in whose face," Gamzee gave him a gangly wave.
"That somehow actually made sense," Karkat blinked at his moirail.
"Alright boy trolls versus girl trolls! 6 per team! Nepeta go get your fussy fangs sister aunt whatever. Humans can be substitutes," Vriska ordered around. She had on a blue two piece with a cloth designed with black spiders wrapped around her waist like a skirt and her hair tied up into a high ponytail.
"But we have seven female trolls," Zylpha pointed out. She had on swim shorts that were shorter than her old orange ones and had a matching bikini top rather than a swim tang top. The design looked like pink and purple paint just randomly streaked on. A scar went from half her right forearm, past her elbow and up to her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, we can do a rotation on our side and switch in and out every time we get the serve."
"Oooo sounds fun! Think you buoys can beat us gills?" Feferi stood by Vriska with her arms crossed, eyebrow raised with a smirk. Her swimwear was very similar to what she used to wear in middle school all the time, with her one piece and bright coloured skirt. Three puncture like scars were on the inside and outside of her left arm.
"Don't wworry darlin' I'll go easy on ya," Eridan flaunted as he stood on the boys' side and took off his shirt revealing the large scar where the Condesce had impaled him. Karkat saw Feferi's smirk twitch before Vriska whispered into her ear and her smirk turned into a grin and a giggle.
"I will, try my best," Tavros stood ready with a determined look on his face. The long scar across his stomach a forgotten memory.
"Go get him boy! Show those girls no mercy!" the Summoner shouted out which made Tavros blush in embarrassment.
Mindfang huffed, "Hah your wimp kid can do nothing against my girls."
"Hey the teams are unfair, we have Sollux on our team," Karkat smirked at the boney troll.
"Wow KK way to be a dick."
"Do not worry, my strength should suffice for the both of us," Equius stood forward.
"More like for all of us. Wwhat if he breaks the ball?"
"If we are not going to play then I am going to go back under my shade and relax with Rose," Kanaya had walked over followed by Rose. She had on a one piece with holes on the side and a longer skirt wrap. Rose matched her but with a pink swimsuit. A long scar extended over the human's leg and stood out against her pale skin.
"Come on fussy don't you want to show off to your girl that you're not just some fancy know it all troll and let her see what a powerful girl you can really be?"
"Didn't Kanaya already do that when she was fighting with her chainsaw back then?" Nepeta pondered. She was wearing short jeans and a somewhat loose t-shirt. Her scars were much lighter compared to everyone else but there were still quite a bit scattered over her arms and legs.
"Ugh at least let us play one round before you start ranting! Aradia you're in too right?"
"I think AA would've preferred to be playing againth't you," Sollux snickered. Her caliginous crush had been a subject of tease for Sollux lately. The Aires playfully shoved at the Gemini and he almost fell over. She walked past him over to the girls' side and Karkat couldn't help but stare at the three stab scars on her leg from the Condesce's trident.
"What volleyball? Let us play too!" John bounded over enthusiastically. The scar on his head couldn't be seen easily but if his bangs were parted at a right angle a large scar mark could be seen creeping into his hair. Dave followed behind him. Karkat couldn't tell if the many scars on the blonde's back were from the battle before or from the constants strifes with his brother.
"Alright we'll all just rotate so let's get playing!" Vriska said impatiently.
"Oh this should be fun," Rose stood on the side ready to jump in when needed to.
Everyone quickly got into their position and Vriska served. The boys returned it after three mediocre hits and during that time Vriska suddenly ran up and put her hands together as if she was going to bump it, but Feferi ran up to her instead and jumped up. The Scorpio pushed one of the princess' feet up so that she jumped higher and Feferi spiked the ball down hard right into Eridan's face.
"Boom headshot!" Feferi shouted and high fived Vriska.
Eridan was spread out on his back staring at the sky. The volleyball marks were imprinted onto his face and his face just said 'what the fuck just happened'.
The Grand Highblood burst into laughter and Dualscar snarled, "Come on Eridan! Get your head in the game! You can do better than that!"
A few giggles around him erupted and he attempted to ignore them.
"Wow ED way to thuck right off the bat," Sollux commented as he helped the sea troll up, "Guyth we theriouthly need a plan if we want to win. Either that or we get defeated in the moth't embarrathing way ever."
"Alright time out for a minute," Karkat called and the guys huddled up.
"Hah pathetic, we don't need any stupid huddle up to beat you guys. You're going to need aaaallll the luck to beat us," Vriska laughed and Kanaya rolled her eyes.
After a minute the guys went back into position and Vriska served once more. The boys returned it after three mediocre hits once again. Terezi cackled as she received the ball and hit it up towards the setter that the net. Aradia was there and ready and set the ball high up right at the net. This time Nepeta ran up and got ready to spike it over but someone beat her to it. Equius had jumped up and reached over the net right above Aradia and hit the ball down just before Nepeta could reach it and the ball sped past all the other girls right into the ground. It barely missed the line but the ball managed to stay in the field. The ball didn't even bounce, it just created a small crater in the sand and the ball appeared to let out smoke.
"What was that Vriska? Maybe we just needed the right amount of strength. If you're talking about luck then you should probably just worry about yourself," Karkat smirked at Vriska who just glared at him back,
"ooooo buuuuuuuurn," Dave mocked on the sidelines.
"Oh it is so on," Nepeta declared after shaking away her stare of awe at Equius from his last hit.
Vriska picked up the ball and fixed the sand to get rid of the mini crater as the boys rotated. John switched with Sollux and the ball was tossed to the Heir to start the game once again. With an easy serve the girls received it easily. After three hits the ball flew up and was headed towards Equius.
"Nepeta quick take off your shirt!" Vriska called as the ball was still in the air
"What?"
"You're just going to get hot in it so take it off now."
Nepeta shrugged and quickly took off her t-shirt and tossed it to the side, revealing her green bikini top before standing ready once again. The ball flew towards the Sagittarius but he stood completely still as the ball bounced off the side of his head.
"You idiot!" Karkat cried as he attempted to slide for the ball.
"Whoops," John waved his hand a bit and a tiny breeze held the ball up for a second or two. It was just enough time for Karkat to arrive and hit the ball before it made it to the ground.
"Hey that's cheating!" Vriska called.
"You started cheating first using Nepeta against Equius like that!" Karkat snapped back as Gamzee hit the ball over the net. Nepeta tilted her head to the side completely clueless about what happened. Zylpha hit the return with a bump and Terezi set it.
"Both sides can play that way," Aradia hit it over the net and just before Eridan could hit it, the ball froze in midair. A faint red clock could be seen on it.
Eridan had expected to go a little further so his swing missed and he stumbled forward as the ball continued to move. The Gemini on the sidelines quickly used his psionics to smack the ball back over the net. Unfortunately that did nothing because Vriska instantly smacked the ball down near the net. Her god tier wings only appeared in a flash to boost her up and disappeared just as quickly.
"Hah what an interesting game," Redglare commented with great amusement.
"Equius do not be fazed by such tactics! Be focused!" surprisingly even Darkleer was cheering them on.
"Come on girls show them what you're made of!" the Disciple cheered.
With a score of 2-1 for the girls Kanaya switched with Zylpha and John served the ball again.
"Looks like your eye candy is finally getting some action," Dave teased.
"Yes much better than that stick candy you look at," Rose retorted.
"Thankth guyth not like I'm here or anything," Sollux stated standing right beside them.
Kanaya gave Rose a wink, earning a devious smile, before over hand serving. Vriska put her hands near her head just as the ball flew over the net. Karkat appeared to be the only one who noticed since everyone else had their eye on the ball. He quickly looked to his teammates and found Tavros looking a little odd with his eyes a little wide and unfocused. The ball just had to be heading towards the Taurus, but Gamzee was behind him and it looked like the Capricorn was going to go for the ball. Tavros suddenly stood straight and swung his head around smacking his left horn into Gamzee's face. The team was surprised by the action which made them take their eyes off the ball.
"Karkat!" Dave called out. A red clock appeared on the ball.
"I got it!" the troll ran up to the ball and bumped it just as the clock disappeared.
"Ah I'm sorry, Gamzee, are you alright?" Tavros who had snapped out of it was freaking out over Gamzee's nose bleed.
Equius set the ball up and Eridan jumped onto the Sagittarius' back for leverage. He jumped up high and prepared to spike the ball down. Tavros turned around and with a slightly furious look towards the girl's team, he put his hands by his head. Feferi got ready to rebound Eridan's spike but some sort of sea dragon lusus suddenly emerged from the waters and sprayed water at the girls' team. With the girls disoriented by the sudden attack, Eridan's spike barely missed Feferi and hit the ground right beside her. The entire girls' side including the girls on the sidelines were drenched in water. Somehow with Rose standing right beside Dave, the sunglasses wearing boy did not get wet. Eridan blew Feferi a kiss as she just stood there and blinked.
"Atta boy Tavros!" the Summoner hollered.
"That's cheating!" Mindfang argued.
"Your girl started it first," Dualscar retorted, "At least my son knowws howw to play wwith the rules and still can manage to wwin."
"She's your girl too! And the score is tied! You would probably fail worse than him while playing."
"Oh you wwant to bet?" Dualscar stood up furiously.
"Bring it on fishlips," Mindfang stood up as well and the two headed towards the court.
"Woo our turn!" the Summoner followed excitedly.
"How childish," the Signless stated as he watched them with a smile.
"Darling let's go play as well. Let's show our children how to really play," the Disciple bounded up and pulled the Signless to the court. With a huff he complied.
"Well GH you going to play too?" Redglare asked as she stretched to get ready.
"I am not going to be playing with you motherfucking pansies playing your wriggler games."
"Afraid to lose to a couple of girls?"
" . . . you asked for it bitchtits."
"Equius pay attention to the methods that are the strongest to bring the team to victory," Darkleer shamelessly joined the rest.
"Are you sure you can play dear?" the Handmaid asked the Psiionic as he followed.
"I'm blind not dithabled or paralythed. Ith it too much for you if you get beaten by a handicap?" he smirked at his soon to be wife and ran ahead as she tried to catch up and hit him.
"Now children move along. It's time for the adults to play," the Dolorosa picked up the ball, "We'll show you how to really play. Miss Lalonde will you be joining us since we're short a player?"
"Hell yes this looks fun," Rose's mother appeared ready for action.
"Dude I didn't even get to play yet," Dave complained as his brother came by to pat him on the head.
"Kiddies go play with your sand castles. Things may get too intense over here," Dirk shooed them away.
The trolls and kids went over to the side as the parents gathered up at the court. The girls grabbed some towels to dry off.
"Wow pupa I'm impressed. That last move was crazy," Vriska complimented as she drained the water from her hair. The Taurus just glared at her before attending to Gamzee's nose. Zylpha elbowed Vriska in the side, "Ow okay geesh sorry for making you hurt him. I didn't mean to do that I just wanted to make him distract the others."
"Don't worry about my brothers and sisters. I'm all good. But man Tavros that was a miraculous move you made."
"Uh thanks, are you, sure you're, okay?"
The Capricorn nodded as a couple of giggles erupted from someone.
"What's so funny?" Vriska put her arm over her moirail that was trying to conceal her laughter.
"That was just . . . so fun . . . and so outrageous . . . hah all the faces . . . if only pictures were taken. Hah oh my god you guys are too much!" Zlypha held her stomach as she could no longer hold back her laughter.
"I took pictures!" Jade announced as a camera that appeared out of thin air rested in her hands, "Space powers are useful in these times."
The group crowded around her as she looked through the pictures she had taken. Eridan's volleyball print face, Vriska's dumbfounded face and Karkat's trying to hard face brought out a lot of laughs. Kanaya's over hands serve and some successful hits from the players looked really cool. A few of the provocative pictures of their parents made them a little awkward but they kept them because their parents would probably like them. Some sweet pictures of a few of them building sand castled together or cuddling on the beach brought teasing but overall everything was nice.
Beside them the adults were playing a quite intense game.
"Hey are you taking picth of thith too JD?" Sollux watched as the Dolorosa caught the rebound of a harsh spike from Darkleer.
"Yes of course," Jade beamed.
"Yes you have to send us all the pictures later! I'll add them to my scrapbook!" Feferi cried with joy, "It's only been like two days but this is the best summer ever!
With everyone laughing and having fun around him, Karkat couldn't help but smile. He was startled when he found John looking at him with his bright eyes and big grin.
"What?" Karkat's smile faltered.
"I don't think you'll have nightmares tonight," the boy stated before running off.
"What? Wait John!" how did he know?
"Last one in the water is a bucket!"
"Wow John culturally gross and rude much!" Terezi laughed as everyone ran towards the water anyways.
The summer would be long and the summer would have many ups and downs but it would definitely be one to remember.
Karkat didn't have any nightmares that night but he did dream of a certain Heir of Breath.