The waves lapped languidly at the shore, dyeing the sand a dark shade of brown for a split second before fading back to an off-yellow. The sound and scent of the sea filled the air, while the sun shined down from above. A beautiful day to enjoy alone...
"Shadow! Come on, space cadet, the water's fantastic!"
...unfortunately for Shadow, he was rarely alone anymore.
"I don't care for looking like a drowned rat," he snarked, watching unamused as Rouge dipped her head underwater before resurfacing with another oyster. Like all the rest, she turned it over, nodded in approval, then tossed it over to Omega to pry open.
"ANOTHER NEGATIVE."
"Well shoot." Rouge drew her fingers through her wet hair, pushing it away from her face and eyes. It clung to her head like seaweed. "Still no pearls..."
"What a waste of my time," Shadow scoffed, turning away and preparing himself for a dash home.
"Come on, Shadow," Rouge wheedled. "You're a beast on a surfboard, surely you can handle finding some oysters."
Shadow bristled, turning back to face her. "Are you making fun of me?" he demanded. "Of course I can find a few measly oysters! In fact, I know that I can find one with a pearl faster than you could find your own legs."
"Are you sure about that?" Rouge's eyes flashed with a challenge and her smirk grew wide. "I can hold my breath underwater for ten minutes, you know."
"That's impossible."
"Then come here and prove it."
Shadow bristled even further before snarling. His hands were on the cuffs of his gloves before he knew what he was doing, and his gloves were on the sand in a heap before he could change his mind.
"Atta boy," Rouge praised as he took off his shoes.
She only got a nasty look in response, and only a couple of seconds before Shadow ran into the water, diving underneath to begin his part of the challenge. With a quick wink to Omega, and a quick response of "WINK." in return, Rouge took a deep breath and joined Shadow underwater.
The oyster hunt was on.