Occupation nineteen: What can be better than this? The sun, sand, sea, and of course, Fai in speedos.

Is this my quickest update? Probably not. Thanks to everyone who explained about livejournal and to those who gave me suggestions.


Lifeguard

XX

Kurogane waited in a small, raised hut protected from the harshness of the sun. The view overlooked a long strip of golden sand and a light blue sea that stretched far into the horizon. Reclining against the wooden chair, he propped his feet up on a small table and took in the view. People were idiots if they would actually pay him for this.

The people below wore outrageously little despite being in public. Little children screamed and shouted, running along the stretch of sand to collect shells or make small castles whilst their parents lay back in the sun under brightly coloured umbrellas. People in swimsuits clamoured by the water, watching others on long boards ride the waves.

Despite the noise, his job had been easy, allowing him to relax and lie back in the sun. He did not have to be too near the people noisily playing in the water or too close to the smell of oil and sizzling, low-grade meat being turned over on the grills.

Taking in the circumstances, and that he was actually being paid to sit back and relax, he was feeling quite content.

Of course, the view greatly contributed to his good mood. The nearest coast to where he had lived was made of craggy cliff faces and hard, stony beaches looking out to a dark blue sea. Whilst not unpleasant, it was far different from the soft golden sand and translucent waters of this world's coast.

Fai was standing closer to the crowds. Not that he was more vigilant than Kurogane, just that he liked to be where all the noise was. Kurogane could see just fine where he sat and he was more than capable of making it to the water in a few seconds.

Thankfully, the man was not bothering him at the moment, allowing him to enjoy the unusual peace whilst he had the chance. The beach would keep Fai preoccupied and probably far enough from him so that he did not have to hear that loud voice. He did hope that the man would not wander too far though, especially since his eyes had a tendency to latch on to the figure of the blond man.

Fai stood at quite a distance away from him, his back turned and facing the sea. Under the sun, his hair seemed even brighter than before, a ring of white gold around the very top of his head.

Kurogane leaned forward in the shadowy hut. It was purely for look-out purposes. There was an old fan circulating the air and an old hotdog wrapper in the corner.

That damn man seemed to be occupying Kurogane's entire view. This, of course, was entirely Fai's fault since Kurogane could not see how his eyes could keep trailing back to him unless the man had used some sort of trick to fool him.

Yet he stood there, pretending to be innocent, pretending to be oblivious to the scowl Kurogane was shooting at his back. He stood there in black swimming trunks, a thin red waterproof jacket with the word 'Lifeguard' covering his back. Kurogane could tell that it was unzipped. Even Fai was not crazy enough to zip it up in the hot weather. It was definitely unzipped, giving all those in front of him a perfect view of his chest and stomach.

Kurogane scowled.

A group of young woman passed behind Fai, turning and giggling as they made their way across the beach and he felt the immense need to roll his eyes.

This exercise he was in the middle of before an ear-piercing shriek made him jump to his feet

Kurogane leaned forward. He could see people stopping and pointing out to sea. He could see someone flailing in the water, waving their hands helplessly as they fought the current. He could see Fai making his way to the water, throwing off his jacket in one, single, careless gesture before diving into the blue water.

There was little time to appreciate an almost-naked Fai. Kurogane was out of the hut and ono the beach, making his way to the water as well, in a matter of seconds. He stopped at the edge of the beach as he saw Fai reach the drowning victim. A small crowd had gathered around him, all watching with him as Fai swam back to shore.

It was a woman in his arms. The crowd parted to let him through and he laid her down on the beach, carefully, as if she were a porcelain doll. He eyes were closed and her body motionless. Fai barely glanced at her before beginning CPR.

Fai drew a breath and pressed his lips against the woman's. Kurogane quickly looked away as though he was watching a private kiss instead of someone performing CPR.

His eyes wandered to the small group of young woman that the other woman had been with. They had to be in their twenties, revealing bikinis and swim suits covering only the necessary parts of their confidant figures. They stood slightly apart from the crowd, whispering to each other behind their hands and…giggling.

He glanced back at the woman lying on the beach, motionless and…

Kurogane's expression darkened.

The damn bitch was breathing.

Suppressing the need to hit something, he took a hold of Fai's shoulder and pulled him away from the young woman.

The crowd looked at him as if he were mad. The group of woman stopped whispering and was looking at him with dark blushes across their cheeks, a mixture of wicked glee and anticipation.

"Kuro - " Fai was cut short as Kurogane applied a swift kick into the side of the 'unconscious' woman.

She instantly rolled over, curling into a ball of pain as sharp gasp escaped her lips. The girls began giggling again.

"Son of a - " the woman glared at Kurogane. She took a moment to register that he was also a lifeguard. She had not seen him on the beach.

Kurogane's glare darkened. That damn woman had the nerve to fake a drowning in order to get attention and now she still had the audacity to ogle him like that!

The woman's face turned beetroot red. Muttering excuses under her breath, she gingerly picked herself up and hobbled away.

Eventually, the crowd parted too, though Kurogane could feel their looks lingering even as their bodies shifted away.

"That surprised me!" Fai fell back against the beach, wiping the water away from his eyes. Sand was sticking to his wet body. He tried brushing it off but all the grains seemed to cling onto his arms and legs.

Kurogane could not help feeling slightly exposed in swimming trunks. Not used to putting so much on public display, he felt a little strange that it was normal to wear so little in public. In his world, it would have been considered indecent.

He took off his own red jacket and dropped it on top of Fai's head. "Go back to the hut and grab a towel."

"I'll dry off in the sun," Fai pushed the jacket off and gave it back to Kurogane.

He frowned but did not make an attempt to take it. Fai was definitely too exposed. That skin of his would burn in the sun, not that he really cared about the state of Fai's skin, he just wished that he would cover up. He really, really did not want to spend the entire day looking at that.

That, of course, being Fai's only article of clothing. The tight black trunks would not have been a problem had it not been the only thing the man was currently wearing, the fact that he was also soaking wet not withstanding. It was a dangerous distraction, one that should be banned under health and safety regulations.

Yet Fai shrugged and carelessly flung Kurogane's jacket over his shoulder. "It's nice of you to have joined me. I'd feel bad if Kuro-tan spent all day locked up in that gloomy hut," his eyes gleamed delightfully.

"It's cool in that hut," he murmured under his breath. It also came with a great view of Fai's –

"Kuro-chi's just shy!" Fai laughed, poking him in the stomach.

Kurogane batted his hand away, scowling as the man laughed even louder.

"Anyway, it's a good thing that woman was only pretending. Your CPR sucks," he muttered, hoping to change the subject.

Fai swiftly turned his head away from him. "Well, Kuro-chi might be better at CPR but I'm the faster swimmer!" he pouted.

"So? If you can't perform proper CPR, you're practically dragging a corpse onto the beach," he snorted.

"But you can't perform CPR whilst someone's drowning so you need to be a fast swimmer."

"I am a fast swimmer!"

"Are you so sure?" Fai stared at him coyly. Before he could reply, Fai was on his feet again, calmly making his way to the clear waters. "Give me a minute to swim out and then come after me. I'll be timing you, Kuro-tan!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Kurogane waited for Fai to reach a reasonable distance before following after him with a sigh. He did not mind it if Fai was the one doing the swimming, getting soaked and then covered in sand, but he did not expect that he would actually have to do the same himself.

"Stupid, bothersome mage," he muttered and swam after him.

He current seemed intent on carrying him back to shore but Kurogane determinedly swam against the tide in long, powerful strokes. His mind was silently counting down the seconds, as he knew Fai was doing as well.

Twenty seconds and he had reached his goal. Hoisting the blond onto his back, and pointedly ignoring Fai's laughter in his ear, he made his steady way back to land.

Going back took longer with Fai's extra weight. He knew he was a little slower than the idiot on his back, but he was still faster than average. Besides, he wondered how fast the idiot could be if he had to haul an overweight holidaymaker out of the water.

He carried the blond all the way to the middle of the beach, ignoring the delighted looks of their largely female audience. He stopped near a clear spot and promptly dumped him onto the sand.

"Satisfied?" he asked.

Fai grabbed his hand and pulled him down. His face was washed with a look that Kurogane could not quite pin down, although he was suddenly strangely aware of a slightly wet and almost naked Fai pushing him to the ground.

"Not bad," he admitted. His shadow fell over him. Kurogane was still deciding whether it would be worth fighting back or not. "Now let me practice my skills," Fai smiled and Kurogane decided that he was too hot to bother with resisting.


As great as it would be to see Fai and Kurogane in speedos, I wouldn't want to be on the beach with them as lifeguards. I have a feeling that they would be busier doing other things than looking out for drowning people.

Lastly, to my dear pwner, who I am unable to send a PM to, I can't take my gay fic elsewhere because I have nowhere else to go but thank you for reminding me that I have to issue a health warning. People, please make sure that you are covered by your health insurance for large amounts of gayness, crack and fluff.