Yao awoke first, blinking his amber eyes open and smiling fondly at the dozing man in his arms. His first thoughts were that he was proud of Ivan for having that bravery, and he was also especially impressed with him, seeing as it was his first time. "Rise and shine, Ivan," he cooed lovingly, pressing chaste kisses to the man's cheeks.

Ivan's eyes opened a few moments later, but he quickly shut them again to play as if he was sleeping. "Oh no," he said wearily, voice croaky as it usually was when he woke up. "I'm asleep. Looks like I need my loving boyfriend to kiss me awake, oh no," he uttered softly.

"Ivan," whined Yao, leaning in and touching their noses together. "Stop playing silly games."

"Zee, zee, zee," whined Ivan, who then continued to feign snoring.

Yao sighed and leant in to kiss him, but at the last moment, brashly hit Ivan's cheek. He jolted, eyes opening in shock. "Hey!" Ivan cried, rubbing his cheek and furrowing his brows. "What was that for?"

"Don't try to trick me," Yao huffed defensively.

"What? I wasn't trying to deceive you or anything," he mumbled, knowing that he was going to have a mark. As the pain kicked in, Ivan felt his lip quiver and tears brim in his eyes.

"Too bad," Yao said stubbornly.

After both pouting a while, the two of them lazily got up and gathered their things. They headed now to town, to buy breakfast out, and then they would return to the campsite. "It was a good night last night," commented Yao, fingers laced lazily with Ivan's as they walked through the town. They felt eyes on them, but both dismissed the feeling.

"It was," Ivan agreed with a small smile. "It made me very happy."

"So, you love me then?" Yao chuckled quietly, causing great alarm from Ivan.

"Y-yes!" he stammered quickly.

Yao laughed softly to himself, and took Ivan into a convenience store to buy shitty sandwiches for breakfast. They picked out aforementioned shitty sandwiches, and headed up to the counter. Ivan naturally cowered behind Yao, not having the courage to talk to anyone he didn't know.

"Hei," greeted the cashier, flashing a cheery smile. "How can I help you two today?"

"Just these, thanks," yawned Yao, pushing over the sandwiches and a small carton of orange juice.

"Can do," the cashier hummed, taking the items and scanning them. Yao handed over the money, and the cashier sorted out change.

"Oh, before you go," the bubbly cashier hummed, lifting a hand in protest. "An insane man came in and asked if I'd seen two men of your descriptions."

"Insane man?" murmured Yao, glancing up to Ivan as they shared a thought. Of course.

"He was crying and wailing about his friends dying or being abducted," the cashier murmured, blond brows knitting together. "But, he was smacked in the face by someone and he quietened up." He cooed, smiling like an angel.

"Was he looking for Ivan and Yao?" Yao queried, groaning.

"Yes, actually. Well, he said 'communist' and Yao."

"That's us," he sighed. "Thanks."

"Have a good day now, moimoi!"

Ivan and Yao ate as they walked, although Ivan was left carrying Yao's bag – Yao had curled his arms around one of Ivan's and was resting his head on Ivan's arm as they traveled. It didn't take too long to reach the campsite again, and once they did, they were both tackled to the ground.

"Guys!" wailed Alfred, hugging them both tightly against the ground. Ivan began to choke on the bit of sandwich he'd been eating, and gagged as Alfred's elbow dug into his stomach. "Dude!"

"Get off of him," huffed Yao, shoving Alfred and then petting Ivan's back. "You alright?"

Ivan's coughing came to its end, and he wiped his mouth sluggishly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Where the heck were you eggs last night?" Alfred whined, dragging the pair into the tent and sitting down lamely. "I was totally worried that you got abducted or something and we were never gonna get you back. I ran around town and told everyone that you guys were missing, and to tell you I was worried if they found you!"

"He started crying," supplied Arthur, who had been sitting in the corner of the tent. "Mainly because he wanted all of his 'beach buddies' to join him on his adventure today."

"Yeah, kesese," scoffed Gilbert, who was currently leaning all over Arthur in an attempt to annoy him. "We're all gonna go smash some volleyball and shit today. It's decided."

"We were just at the beach," yawned Yao. "Do we have to come?"

"Yes!" gasped Alfred, threatening to leap onto Yao again. "You have to. Or else I'll like kill you."

"You will not," responded Ivan, putting an arm in front of Yao to protect him and staring at Alfred with cold violet eyes. Alfred squeaked and threw his hands up in surrender.

"'Kay, maybe not that!"

After some nagging and whining, Alfred finally got everyone to pack up their things and throw on their swimmers (or at least put them on underneath regular clothes) and then dragged them all to the beach. He had decided that, as they had six people (ergo three to each volleyball team), they needed a seventh to coach. Gilbert was more than happy when Alfred suggested inviting Elizaveta. She was to meet them on the beach later.

The previously empty beach was quite populated now, and as the six boys charged down to it, the sun beat heavily down on their backs. Arthur, who couldn't swim, had brought a novel and an umbrella to rest under, and set it up quite far away from the shore. Yao and Ivan held hands and stood close to one another, with Yao certainly noticing how timid Ivan seemed to be now. Gilbert was already in the waves, flopping about and being rather childish. No-one even cared where Matthew was. Do you care? I didn't think so. Who are we talking about again?

"Hey, Communist, I challenge you to a race!" shouted Alfred confidently. Ivan went to turn his head, but Yao squeezed his hand to alert him not to.

"Sorry, who are you talking to?" Yao quipped, turning and glaring at their American companion. "I don't know any communists here."

"Shit, I forgot his name," muttered Alfred to himself.

Ivan was admittedly a little hurt that Alfred couldn't even remember his name, but pouted and tried to put it out of his mind. "My name is Ivan," he murmured quietly.

"Right! Ivan! Let's go swimming 'cos I can totally beat your ass!" he exclaimed, throwing his fists up in the air excitedly. Alfred was already down to swim trunks, and Ivan wondered if he was trying to show off his flab.

"I don't really want to swim," Ivan admitted softly, fiddling with his scarf and jacket that he still wore. It had been hard enough to have the courage to show his body to Yao; he very much doubted that Alfred would be at all accepting. "Although I would love to prove that I am better than you," he murmured, frowning, "I'm afraid I'll have to turn you down this time."

"Aw, dude," huffed Alfred, putting on a kicked puppy act. He contorted his face in an way that gave the impression of a child watching its old house burn down. "I really thought this could be some serious like bonding time yo," he whined, slumping where he stood. Ivan, alarmed, raised his hands in defense.

"I-I'm sorry," he mumbled worriedly. "Please don't get upset-.."

"But I guess no-one wants to be my friend.." Alfred sighed, wiping tears that weren't actually there. "It's okay. I'm used to it."

"I suppose I could race with you.." Ivan sighed, reaching over to gently pet Alfred's shoulder. The American burst back into life, smiling very suddenly and laughing triumphantly.

"Sweet! Hey, Yao, wanna race too?"

Yao grit his teeth, having seen Ivan be fooled by Alfred's trick. "I will pass." He had seen the trick be pulled before, after all; it was that one time when Alfred sneakily coerced Yao's brother into paying for his groceries for a month. Actually, now that Yao thought about, he realised that Alfred probably owed everyone money. "Ivan, are you sure that this'll be okay?" he queried, glaring once again at the American.

"You're in it now!" Alfred huffed to Ivan. "You can't pull out!" Ivan let out a weak wheeze and sighed.

He frowned. "I think I have to."

Slowly, Ivan removed his jacket and trousers, leaving himself in his scarf, shirt, and swim trunks. With Alfred's narrowed blue eyes upon him, it was hard for him to try and concentrate properly on the task at hand. The shirt went next, and Ivan hesitated greatly with the scarf. He just hoped Alfred wouldn't ask. He handed his scarf to Yao, trusting him to take care of it, and nervously waited. "There. Let's.. Let's go swim, right?"

"Oh, dude, are those UV tattoos?" Alfred gawked, staring up at Ivan's neck in amazement. Great. He asked. Ivan was about to murmur 'no', but Yao cut in first.

"Yes. They're amazing. Now go swim, kids," Yao huffed rather defensively, gently shoving the two of them towards the lapping waves. As they trundled forward along the sand, Ivan took a minute to turn and give Yao a look of 'thank you'.

Yao retreated up the beach to sit with Arthur, even though the two of them had a disagreeable relationship. They could get along sometimes, Yao supposed. "You're not really reading, are you?" asked Yao, raising a brow as he sat down beside the Brit.

"Am I that transparent?" scoffed Arthur, who closed his copy of The Fault In Our Stars and put it down. He had totally not just been looking over the top of it and silently ogling Alfred.

"I can't scold you, though," Yao mused, resting his hands on his knees. "Alfred does have a nice body."

"He's a good catch," the Brit nodded proudly.

"You didn't let me finish," laughed Yao. "But my boyfriend has a nicer one.

"No way!" gawked Arthur, furrowing his brow in quarrel. "Alfred is the most gorgeous man I've ever seen! Your Ivan doesn't even compare!"

"Right." Yao just rolled his eyes. "But how big is he?" he smirked.

"Big!" Arthur huffed, starting to get infuriated.

"You only say that because your eyebrows are thicker than your dick."

"Bring it on, Ching Chang!"

And that, dear readers, is why, when Alfred and Ivan returned from their swim, they found Arthur buried neck-deep in the sand, and Yao sitting with his legs basket-style around Arthur's head.

"Yao?" asked Ivan, who was chuckling a little as Arthur thrashed his head about to try and free himself; it was of no use, of course. "What's going on here?"

"Artie!" cried Alfred, aggressively (making an attempt at) jump-kicking Yao in the face. Yao was quicker, grabbing his ankle and flipping him over.

"Yao!" Arthur grunted, watching out of the corner of his eye as Alfred was slammed down into the sand. "Can you not control yourself?!"

"Please stop this violence," Ivan said weakly, trying to help but having no idea how.

By now, Elizaveta had arrived, and approached the group with a charming smile. "Hello," she laughed, watching Yao as he hurriedly stood up so that he wouldn't be tempted to stab the bottoms of Alfred's feet or something. "You boys are quite rough and tumble, aren't you?" she chirped.

"Is that the pretty lady?" asked Alfred, who was rolling over and spitting out the sand that he had accidentally swallowed.

"Oh wow, Liz," cooed Gilbert, who was staggering up the beach to join the rest of the group. "You look super incredible." And that, she did. Elizaveta had tied her wavy brunette hair back, and was wearing a one-piece swimsuit that matched her perfectly. It was powder blue, with little ruffles at the hip and breast. And, well, it didn't leave much to the imagination. Gilbert wiped his mouth to make sure that he wasn't drooling.

"Aw, you think so?" she hummed, cheeks pinkened a bit. "Shall we all go swimming together before volleyball?"

The mutual agreement they came to was 'yes', and Alfred helped unbury his boyfriend. Everyone except Arthur scurried down to the shoreline and waded into the water. Everyone swam and splashed about for a while, before Alfred noticed something was wrong. "Hey, aren't we missing someone?" he asked, raising a brow.

"All you're missing is your swimming trunks!" a quiet voice huffed from the shoreline.

Matthew (oh, seems he was forgotten) stood with waves lapping at his ankles, and Alfred's board shorts held triumphantly in the air. "And I am not giving them back until you acknowledge me and stop ignoring me, eh!" he cried, voice faltering. "All of you!"

"Dude, you're so totally lame!" Alfred gawked, splashing some water in Matthew's general direction. It fell short by about five metres. "A lack of shorts isn't gonna stop me from being cool!"

"Do you all want to see Alfred's junk?!" threatened Matthew, pointing to everyone except his brother. Arthur raised his hand.

"I wouldn't mind," he stated bluntly.

"It's horrifying," exclaimed Yao, a touch scared. "You don't have to do this Matthew, just calm down, and give back the shorts." Ivan was crying at this point.

"I don't even care," cried Alfred, swimming forward to the point of beach where his feet could touch the ground. Then, he started walking forward. The group behind him were presented with his ass, and as toned as it may have been, everyone except Arthur was kind of horrified. If you could understand Ivan, you would've heard him whimpering for his mother. People on the beach began to notice, and covered either their own or their child's eyes. Incredibly embarrassed and unbelieving at his brother's stupidity, Matthew threw the trunks at Alfred, essentially giving up in his quest to be noticed.

After that little incident, everyone clambered out of the water, and with enthusiasm from Elizaveta, went about setting up a court in the sand for volleyball. The teams were split, Ivan, Yao, and Gilbert on one side, and Matthew, Alfred, and Arthur on the other. Elizaveta was playing referee for now.

Everyone seemed to wear them selves out rather quickly, tired from one escapade or another of the day. Gathering up their things, the group trudged back to their camps. As Matthew went to make dinner for everyone (even though they didn't deserve it), he silently noted that Gilbert had strayed off with Elizaveta tonight.


this is the last day of the camp :')

tomorrow, everyone will be going home uwuu

hang in there, matthew