Severa had gone back in the room to change. She saw Lucina fiddling with the hem of her skirt, looking nervously in the mirror. Severa asked her what was up.
"Well, I've noticed I look…ill," Lucina mumbled, embarrassed. Severa took a closer look and noticed Lucina's face looked a little pale, at least paler than normal, and she had light circles under her eyes.
"Do you want some concealer?" Severa asked. "Makeup is the best way to look not ill."
"Would that bother you?" Lucina nervously asked.
"Not at all. I live to help girls be girls." Severa dug through her things and found the necessary item. "Just stay still. I want this to look natural, in case your parents flip."
"It's just my mother. Father left last night."
"Oh." And Severa secretly thanked the gods.
She applied a light amount of concealer under Lucina's eyes, and she noticed how the blue haired girl instantly looked better. "There you go."
Lucina examined herself. "Wow. That really made a difference." She thanked Severa, and told her she'd be downstairs getting lunch.
"Did the talk with my mother help?"
Severa shrugged. "It made some things clearer." She didn't want to get into the heritage talk. "Your mom is cool. I like her."
"Thank you. At times, I worried she didn't love us enough, but I see now how much she does in fact care." Lucina sighed. "It's just a shame she's going through all this. Her whole life hasn't been easy."
Severa really didn't want to hear the same story twice. "Well, go meet her for lunch and be the best daughter you can be. I've got a pool to swim in apparently."
Lucina said her goodbyes and left.
Severa pulled on her bathing suit quickly, and applied some sunscreen. She tucked her hair into her swimming cap, and looked for her phone. It was right where she left it, under her pillow, and she sent a quick text to Owain, telling him she was ready. He sent back that he was on his way, and she exited the room to go to the pool.
The pool was an interesting place. Severa had never seen one quite like it. The tiki theme was very obvious, with torches and pseudo-wooden benches and chairs surrounding the space. The concrete itself was made to look like sand, and there was a bar with a straw roof that was half submerged into the pool so guests could drink their alcohol in the cool water. The slide was farther down, and there were tropical plants around it, giving it the illusion of being a water wall. There were the typical tiki carvings and masks around the area and even a fake volcano that once per hour would shoot water out. Severa thought it was an interesting touch, and the children seemed to love it.
She saw Owain approach, in his yellow swim shorts and she smiled cheekily at him. They found a spot near the slide and put their things down to claim the space.
They walked up the steps to the top of the slide. Owain laughed nervously.
"I haven't been on one of these things since I was a kid."
Severa turned to him, rolling her eyes. "Don't tell me you're scared."
"I'm not!" He quickly defended. "I'm just excited."
"Whatever." They reached the top.
The slide was a lot longer than they thought. She noticed a rules sign, saying things like 'don't go down headfirst' and 'one person at a time.' She was waiting for her turn, Owain letting her go first like a gentleman, when she felt Owain being pushed into her.
"What's going o-" She turned enough to see two kids had gotten into a scuffle and had pushed Owain. They didn't seem to notice the ruckus they were causing, and another kid went to get help, when the bigger boy pushed the smaller one so hard that he crashed into Owain again, who in turn collided into Severa. Severa lost her footing, falling face first, and down the slide, Owain on top of her back. They went zooming down, and Severa's last thoughts were she didn't say goodbye to her mother properly, thinking she was going to die, when she felt her face hit the water hard and her whole body was submerged. Owain was still on top, but she felt him swim against her, trying to reach the surface. His arm was around Severa, pulling her with him, when she opened her eyes and saw her top floating in front of her. She pulled free of Owain's grasp and covered her chest, kicking to the surface.
"Severa, are you okay…" His eyes went down to her chest, bare, and covered by her skinny arms. His face turned a bright shade of red and he turned away.
"Ah, fair maiden, I wish not to gaze at thine bare flesh. Let me assist you in finding your garment so you may preserve your modesty…"
"It's right there, Owain." She made him look at her and moved her head to point out the golden garment floating on top of the water. Owain grabbed it, looking at it with confusion, dropping his act.
"How are we supposed to…"
She sunk herself down into the water so only her head was above the water. "Hand it to me." She commanded.
He did, and she placed it on her chest. The water didn't reveal much skin surprisingly, so no one got a sneak peek at her breasts. Still holding the cups to her chest, she rose up, turning her back to him. "Tie it."
He tied both sets of strings, double knotting them even, and she turned to him, looking a bit disgusted.
"I'm going to find those two brats and beat them myself."
She swam to the poolside ladder and pulled herself out. Just then she saw one of the brats come sliding down the slide, colliding with Owain again.
"Oh, hell no!" Severa jumped back in, and pounded the kid's face. "No…" Punch. "More…" Punch. "Pool." Punch. "For…" Punch. "You!" The hardest punch yet, and the kid's face was red around his forehead and cheeks. Her aim wasn't the best, but at least he didn't have a bloody nose. She didn't want to cause that much pain.
"Why are you hitting me?!" The kid tried to swim away, but Severa pulled him to her, fingers grasping his hair roughly.
"You pushed my friend into me, and we went down the slide and almost died." Okay, she was exaggerating, but only a hyperbole would make this kid see the errors of his ways.
"I… I'm sorry, but that big bully…"
"No excuse! You should have gotten help, or gotten someone bigger to handle it." She punched him one last time and swam away.
Owain just stared at the kid in shock, then shrugged, and followed Severa. They saw the bigger boy being scolded by a life guard, and Severa grabbed her things, wrapping her towel tightly around her body, and left before someone could tattle on her.
Owain trotted behind her, as she was walking at a surprisingly fast pace, but he noticed how red her cheeks were and the slight teary look she was clearly fighting. She was embarrassed.
"Hey, Severa…"
"What?!" She turned abruptly, now in the lobby. A few vacationers stopped to look, but moved quickly away when they saw the murderous look in the girl's eye.
"I'm sorry about what happened back there…" He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed for her.
She quivered, holding in her anger, and let out a deep breath. "It's not your fault those kids were dumbasses." She tightened the towel around her, crossing her arms in front of her. "Let's just go back to the room and watch a movie. I'm tired of being in public."
"What about going to that theater again? Today they're playing a thriller. Psycho."
"You know what? After today, I could use a thriller. Let's get dressed, and then do that." They went up the elevator, entered their room to find it empty. Severa grabbed some shorts and a simple tank top and dressed herself in the bathroom. Owain shimmied into board shorts and a tank top as well, put on his flip flops and waited for Severa.
He heard her fuming in the bathroom, cursing her "bad luck" and after some rustling she exited. She looked peeved.
"Hey, is everything okay?"
She realized she never took her hair out of her cap and pulled it off, whipping her hair in his face. "Oh, sorry." She didn't sound very sincere but Owain knew that was just her. "Yeah, everything is okay. Except those stupid boys ruined this stupid day, and my stupid body just ruined everything, so like whatever."
They walked out of the room and headed towards the elevators. "My princess, do not let foul beasts keep a frown on your fair face! They are not worth the effort when the day has barely begun!"
"Owain, it's like three o'clock."
He waved that aside. "Just roll with it."
She scoffed, but motioned for him to continue.
"Alas, the day may have begun quite some time ago, but it is still light out, and there are things that we have yet to accomplish! Let us watch a cinematic masterpiece and have our very souls thrilled from our bodies." He dropped his act. "And, uh, your body isn't stupid."
The elevator rang and the doors opened to the lobby. They headed towards the cinema.
"You're not a girl. You don't understand." He saw her vulnerable side come out. He put two and two together and realized what she was implying.
"Severa, I'm sorry. I didn't know…"
She was on her period.
"Yeah, well, these stupid things happen, and luckily I came prepared." She shuddered and hid her face in her hands. "Why did it have to be on our vacation?"
He noticed her use of the pronoun and felt a little flattered. Severa thought of it as not only her vacation but his. Hers and his, together.
He blushed, but patted her shoulder in an effort to console her.
"If there's anything I can do to appease you, I shall do it."
She peeked between her fingers, mischief in her eyes. "Buy me chocolate?"
Thankfully, he brought his wallet.
"Anything to please my princess."
She thought it was weird he called her that, but she liked the idea of being a princess.
She immediately warmed up to him, buttering him up so he'd buy the most expensive thing. Only the best for Severa!