Amity and Luz stayed there kissing for so long that their lips ended up atrophying, but despite this neither of them seemed willing to stop. Only when the pangs of hunger began to torture their stomachs did they finally decide to stop, although as soon as they separated their mouths seemed to be deprived of a very sweet taste that they immediately missed, and both could almost hear their tongues begging to be able to be twisted again. However, hunger was definitely an implacable enemy, and they both had to agree that if they didn't give something to their growling stomachs soon they would curl in on themselves.
So they returned to the others, who in the meantime had also gathered on the beach and were starting to open their bags and baskets to take some sandwiches and some fruit. "Oh, there you are!" Gus greeted them. "Where did you go?"
"Well..." Amity wasn't sure how to explain it, but Luz did it without even saying a word: she simply raised her arm and showed that the two of them were now holding hands.
Their friends were silent for a moment, and looked at them with wide eyes; then everyone started clapping, even Boscha and Matt. "Finally!" Emira exclaimed with a big laugh.
Luz and Amity felt a little embarrassed, but still smiled and sat down next to their friends, and grabbed a sandwich and started eating too, all without taking their hands off each other of course. "Wow, did you guys stick together by any chance?" King asked seeing this.
"Oh, get it over with! They have to make up for lost time" Skara exclaimed upon seeing them. "And they're adorable, they deserve all the happiness!"
Despite appreciating their friends' words, both Luz and Amity felt their faces on fire. Amity finally decided to say something: "Well... thanks guys. We're happy to know that... well, you support us"
"Why shouldn't we? Instead, get ready, because now we can make fun of you for a while!" Emira laughed. "Right, Edric?"
But her brother didn't answer her; he was too busy wiping away the tears of emotion that fell from his eyes. "Mittens has grown up... it happened so quickly! I feel like not even three days ago we were still playing pillow fights together..."
"Edric, we actually did that three days ago" Amity reminded him.
"Uh... really? It seems like an eternity to me" Edric murmured in a confused and surprised voice, an instant before receiving a slap from Emira.
Amity put a hand on her face, trying in every way to refrain from commenting on the behavior of her older siblings, but fortunately Luz came to her aid by changing the subject: "Um... where are Hunter and Willow? They also have...?"
"No, we hoped for a moment but nothing happened yet. I mean, they were very close to each other, and something was actually about to happen, you could see the sparks in the air... but unfortunately a third wheel is presented" Gus replied, then pointed to the sea. "Now they're over there explaining to said third wheel what they think"
Luz and Amity turned their gaze towards the sea and they saw that a short distance from the shore there were Willow and Hunter, the first with her arms crossed and a stern look, and the second intent on squeezing a shark at least three meters long by holding it by the back and squeezing him so hard it threatened to break his cartilaginous bones. "You wanted to eat us, huh!?" Hunter was ranting. "Did you want to have lunch with us, you bastard? Now I'll teach you some manners, asshole!"
"Ugh... what's your problem!? You're supposed to be the prey!" the shark was protesting, and despite the somewhat risky position it found itself in, it didn't seem willing to abandon its pride. "You're going against the food chain!"
"And so should I let you eat me?" Hunter snapped.
"Yes! That's how it works, you freak!" the shark replied back.
Hunter was about to shout some more insults at him, but Willow said: "Hunter, calm down now. I'm sure this gentle fish was just passing by, and it just didn't see us and bump at us. Now it'll go away and we'll all be happy and content. I'm sure that now that it has realized this mistake it will no longer be so foolish as to come and hunt near the beach". And having said that she stared at the shark with a smile, but her eyes looked like those of a reaper, and when she spoke her voice seemed to come straight from the underworld: "You are going to do this, right?"
The shark remained silent for the first time and seemed to shiver despite not having warm blood, and it quickly nodded: "Yes, yes! You can rest assured, I won't even come for a peaceful swim in this area anymore!"
Willow looked at him for a moment longer, then she nodded to Hunter: "See? All settled, there was no need to use violence. Come on, Hunter, let it go". The blond boy was undecided for a moment, then he complied and released the shark, which swam away as fast as it could.
Once the problem was solved, the two returned to shore where they found their friends waiting for them. "Damn, I thought we were going to have fish soup for dinner tonight" King commented a little displeased.
"Come on, guys, don't be so mean! Rather, what did we miss?" Willow asked.
"Luz and Amity are officially a couple" Gus replied.
"WHAT!?" Willow's eyes seemed to shine. "Tell me everything!"
"Well, there's not much to say..." Luz replied scratching her head. "We took a walk, and then we sat on a rock and talked for a while, and then we cooled our feet in the water, and then..."
Willow's face immediately changed expression. "Wait, wait, wait! Did you go into the water? You mean... into the sea?" she exclaimed worriedly, and all their friends completely shared her feeling, especially Skara and Boscha who still had the moment in which they had seen the puppet fall into the sea clearly present in their memories.
But Luz didn't give them any bad news; on the contrary, she smiled more than ever and replied in an almost emotional voice: "Yes... Yes, that's right! I did it, guys!" she answered. "I... it was scary, but... I managed to do it! I got into the water and held on until my body relaxed! It was thanks to Amity, she gave me comfort!"
Amity blushed. "It wasn't… thanks to me" she said. "I just provided some emotional support… Luz did it all"
But none of their friends seemed to be very interested in who got the credit. "So… so you made it, Luz?" Willow whispered. "Have you... gotten over the trauma?"
Luz didn't know what to answer. "Well... I'm not sure. I just dipped my feet in the water, I didn't try to go any further... but for the little bit that..."
She didn't have time to say anything else because both Willow and Gus lunged at her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh, Luz, we are so proud of you!" they exclaimed.
"Hey... hey, guys, let's go! You're making me blush" Luz said, hugging them back. "It was nothing special..."
But despite those words, neither Willow nor Gus bothered to shower her with compliments for at least ten minutes. They weren't the only ones: the others also complimented her, especially Matt, Skara and Boscha, who, having seen firsthand the effects that the sea water had on Luz's psyche, knew with absolute certainty how much the puppet must have tried and how much willpower she must have had to be able to face such a trauma.
In any case, after Willow and Gus finally let Luz go (and a somewhat jealous Amity dragged the puppet back to her and held her in her arms like she was a cat), they all demanded to know every detail about what she and Amity had done... and they asked so many questions that it was impossible for the two girls to hide even the smallest piece of information. In the end Luz, tired of it, exclaimed: "We're a couple now, okay!? There's nothing else to say!" and having said that she had passionately kissed Amity in front of everyone... only to then realize what she had just done and turn redder than a pepper amidst general laughter, and judging by the way she had dipped her head in the sand just after she seemed seriously intending to bury herself alive, but before she could do so Amity had grabbed her and pulled her up, and immediately their lips and tongues were intertwined again.
"Wow, Mittens, you've become really enterprising!" Emira laughed, although she too couldn't hide a little emotion at seeing her little sister kiss someone like that. "At least go and hide somewhere!"
"There are a couple of rocks over there that offer great cover, if you're interested" Boscha said, barely keeping from laughing.
The two girls separated with a giggle, but neither of them was as embarrassed as before. For a moment they both seemed to take Boscha's suggestion into consideration, but Luz then said: "Actually... I'd like to try taking a bath now"
Everyone looked at her surprised and partly a little worried. "Luz... are you sure?" Amity asked her hesitantly. It was one thing to put her feet in the water, it was another to immerse her entire body.
But Luz nodded with a lot of confidence in her eyes: "Yes... yes, I want to do it. If you're with me, Amity... I'm not afraid"
Amity looked reluctant for a moment longer, then got up and walked with her towards the sea; their friends didn't follow them, but they still remained very attentive, ready to intervene if Luz panicked in a very serious way. The puppet shook her new girlfriend's hand tightly, and then she entered the water: until she immersed only her feet in it she felt nothing, but as soon as the water began to rise up to her legs she felt her heart speed up again and her breathing become labored ; but still he didn't give up. Amity's presence was enough to give her courage, her touch made her hallucinations go away, and the words she kept whispering in her ears far drowned out Belos' cruel voice. With Amity, she felt like she could do anything; and despite the monstrous blue eyes that continued to appear in her field of vision, she continued forward until the water was up to her waist. Once there she stopped and lowered herself to sit on the shallow water, and Amity did the same and hugged her again; they remained there, attached to each other, for a long time. Amity didn't let go of her once and continued to encourage her with her touch, her look, her words; and slowly Luz's body relaxed, just like it had the first time, and all the hallucinations faded. At that point Luz summoned all her courage and took a deep breath, and dipped her head under the water; when she did it it felt like her heart was exploding with fear and she saw monstrous tentacles all around her trying to grab her, but then Amity dove in too and she regained her courage; and when the girls emerged for air, all of Luz's hallucinations were gone again, and even though her heartbeat was still slightly stronger than normal, she still felt safe and protected. "I-I think I made it. Amity… I feel good"
"Oh, Luz" Amity almost had tears in her eyes seeing her new girlfriend finally overcome her trauma. "I am so proud of you"
Luz blushed when she heard that compliment. She too was proud of herself more than ever: sure, she still hadn't taken a bath without Amity or even in high water, but she could already consider that a huge victory. The two girls looked into each other's eyes to say something, but their minds immediately went blank when they made eye contact; and both, seeing the other with wet, falling hair and her face illuminated by the sunlight reflecting in the water, thought they were looking at a celestial vision. Needless to say, their faces closed the distance in a few moments and their mouths were once again immersed in a dance, and judging by how much they were dancing they must not have expected anything else until that moment.
On the beach, their friends had observed everything, and seeing that conclusion they could not help but overflow with joy. "She... She did it!" Gus exclaimed while crying with emotion. "She's... she's bathing! Even after what happened... she's bathing in the sea! Oh, Luz... she really can do anything if she wants to"
Willow tried to hold back for a few moments, but it didn't take long before her glasses became damp from the cascade of water emerging from her eyes. "Yeah... Luz is truly miraculous. Only she can do things like that" she commented with immense happiness and pride in her voice.
"She's really amazing" even Hunter admitted. "To be able to overcome what she has been through requires enormous strength of mind"
"Hey, speaking of strength…" Edric suddenly asked turning to Hunter, "… sorry to ask, but how did you get yours? I mean… what training do you do to get that body?"
"Huh? Why do you care?" Hunter asked him.
"Well, after last night, I decided that I wanted to build some muscles too, so that I can better defend myself and my sisters in case a situation like this arises again" Edric answered him. "So… tell me, what do I have to do to become like you?"
"Like him? Pff!" Emira burst out laughing, and even if their friends held back out of pure decency they would have liked to do so too. "Don't dream, Edric! You have to eat a lot of protein before you have that magnificent body!"
"Well, I can at least try!" Edric exclaimed. "Come on, man, give me a hand! I don't know... why don't you start by explaining your morning routine to me?"
"My morning routine? Oh oh oh, very willingly" Hunter said rubbing his hands together as if it amused him greatly. "So, my day always starts at exactly half past five in the morning. My first thought: violence, expressed with a beastly scream. At that point I do maintenance on all my weapons, and then I jump onto my stirrup and do the first reconnaissance tour; I check the entire perimeter of the city to make sure there are no threats, at least the imminent ones. When I'm done it's around six o'clock, so I go back to the inn and eat a hearty breakfast to get all the energy I can; after that I start my morning workout. I do a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats and a hundred push-ups, and then I run fifteen laps around the whole town; when I'm done, it's about nine o'clock, and at that point..."
"Hey, hey, sorry to ask, but what drug do you take to make you want to do all these things?" Emira asked him. "Before noon I don't even want to live!"
"That's because you're lazy as a sloth and have never played sports in your life" Edric teased her. "It's no surprise your thighs are getting wider"
"Hey! What are you implying!? I am careful about my weight!" Emira exclaimed.
"Yeah, so careful that you had to go up your pant size three times in… MMMPH!" Edric found himself with his head stuck in the sand by his sister, who seemed to have flames instead of pupils. Their friends laughed out loud, and laughed even more when Edric broke free and ran away, and Emira of course went after him trying to grab him in any way, and soon they both disappeared over the horizon.
"Well, they're definitely going to do some sport now" Willow said through laughter, then she fell silent. She looked at Amity and Luz again, and then she gathered courage and asked Hunter: "Do you want to go for a walk?"
"Uh... sure. Anyone want to join...?" the boy asked.
"No one wants to join!" Gus exclaimed as if telling him to go away. "Come on, go ahead! See you later!"
Hunter was a little confused, but ultimately he chose to follow the advice and walked away with Willow as well. "I hope they finally do something" Skara said as she watched them go. "Today is a good day for couples, I can feel it!"
"If they don't do anything this time, then they're both hopeless" Boscha commented, and then she winked quite explicitly at Skara: "By the way... apparently Luz and Amity didn't take up my suggestion, and the place between the rocks remained free. Do you want to continue what we were doing before?"
Skara blushed a little, but she didn't even think for a moment about backing down. "Oh, very willingly!" she said, then she tried to regain some composure: "Well... I meant... yes, if you really insist..."
"Oh, don't be tough on me, darling" Boscha said, slowly running a finger down her neck, which made the black girl feel a shiver. "You know I can make you melt in an instant, and make you beg to put my mouth on yours". She ran a hand through her hair and brought her face closer to his, blowing lightly on her face. "And I know you like it, so don't play strong"
Skara's cheeks were so hot they could set something on fire if he got too close, and her heart and insides seemed to be in the midst of a celebration. "P-Please, let's go now!" she whispered in a small voice full of desire.
"See? I made you beg right away. Good, I like you like that, darling" Boscha answered her, and then she took her by the hand and they both ran towards the rocks she had pointed out shortly before; before they even got there they had already jumped on each other to taste each other's mouths, so suddenly that they almost fell to the ground.
"Wow, they really couldn't contain themselves anymore" Matt commented. "Of course Boscha really has a dominant character in everything"
"I guess it's part of her nature. And Skara seems to like it quite a bit, so let's keep it that way" Gus replied. He glanced at King, thinking that perhaps it wasn't really suitable for the young Titan to see such scenes even if there was nothing too explicit, but the problem didn't arise since he had fallen asleep while sunbathing. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me left, Matt, the two bachelors of the group. How about we make out too?"
"Fuck you, Gus" was the only response the ex-crab gave him.
Gus shrugged. "Well, I tried" he said with an amused tone, then he took another sandwich from the supply basket and began to enjoy it.
"Boss, is it just me, or are those girls a little too active?"
"What's wrong? They're just having fun. You're not becoming homophobic, I hope"
"What? Of course not! It's just that it seems strange to me that they practically throw themselves at each other"
"Oh, come on. Who are we to judge passion? They like it and the audience likes it, so let them do it"
"... boss, you didn't put estrogen in the actresses' food again, did you?"
"Tsk! Yours is a defamatory accusation! Shut your mouth or I'll halve your salary and holidays!"
"Ah, so you put them on it... wait, do I have holidays?"
"Shut your mouth I said!"