“C’mon, you have to put sunscreen on or you’re going to get burnt again,” Ava called out, patting the blankets she had carefully laid out on the sand.
“You’ve only been here for a month, I can’t believe you’re a stickler for this already,” Sasha huffed with no real annoyance. She sat down in front of her girlfriend–because that’s what she was now, and Sasha still wasn’t used to it–and squeezed out some sunscreen before passing the bottle back so Ava could get her shoulders and neck. “You’re lucky you got finn’s impossible-to-burn genes and just get more freckles in the sun.”
“And yet I still put sunscreen on because I’ve seen how you get bright red and I never want to experience that.” The well intentioned jab was met with a light literal one in her side, and Sasha bent away from the touch.
“Okay, okay, fair. Do you want to get in the water with me?” Sasha twisted back to look at Ava, just a hint of pleading in her eyes. Hesitation was written all over Ava’s face and Sasha knew the answer before she said it.
“Later… It’s still weird to even consider that’s something I can just do. I have to work myself up to it, you know?”
“Yeah, definitely,” Sasha chuckled. “Remember how long it took for me to get the hang of turning into a squid? I still have no idea how that could become second nature.” She fidgeted for a minute before adding on “Do you mind if I go in? I don't want to like, leave you here alone, but…”
She didn’t have to explain further, because Ava immediately nodded her approval. “Go ahead, I know how much you’ve been wanting to. I'll be fine here, it’s not like I don’t know how to have a good time at the beach on the sandy side.”
“Thank you, baby.” Sasha pressed a kiss to Ava’s cheek. “I promise I won’t go far, just yell if you need me.”
Ava hummed her agreement and Sasha took off, trying to not seem too excited about finally being able to get back underwater.
Sasha was expecting the water to be cold, but it still came at a shock. She waded in inches at a time, slowly acclimatizing herself, until she was waist deep. They were at a bay, rather than the actual ocean, and Sasha knew the water wouldn’t get very deep. When the tide went out in a couple hours, the spot where Sasha was standing would be dry–damp–ground. When the water was about waist high, she knew it wasn’t going to get any deeper. Before she could think better of it, Sasha took a deep breath and dropped, plunging underwater. The surprise of the cold water on her stomach and torso set her teeth to chattering, but she held herself under long enough to get used to the sensation. When the temperature was no longer an affront to her senses she surfaced, crouching so just her head was above water, and raked her hair out of her face the best she could. Futilely shaking her hands to clear them of water, she wiped what she could from her face too, and finally opened her eyes.
On the shoreline stood Ava, and even through her still bleary gaze Sasha could clearly see she was concerned. She laughed and made a show of swimming back, not wanting to stand up now that she was used to the water. Once she got close enough, she sat on the sandy floor, gentle waves from her prior movements lapping at her shoulders. Ava was a couple yards away, and now Sasha could see that she was at least ankle deep in the water.
“Are you okay?! I blinked and you disappeared, I thought there was something in the water or you were hurt or..!”
“I'm completely fine,” Sasha laughed. “It's not deep at all, just a little cold and I wanted to get used to it. But you can tell that, can’t you?” Sasha nodded at her feet, a little smug.
Ava jumped back as if she was burnt, out of the water, then immediately looked sheepish as she realized what she’d done.
“I take it you still don’t want to come in?”
“I’m good for now,” Ava chuckled nervously.
“Here, here, sit and dip your toes in. There's two ways to get used to the water, slowly or all at once. I don't think I'm strong enough to pick you up and dunk you, so… we can just go slow. A little bit at a time. I’ll stay right here.”
Ava shuffled forward to where the gentle ebb and flow would occasionally hit her and crouched down. “I’m going to get covered in sand,” she frowned.
“We’re at the beach, of course you’re gonna get covered in sand, it’s fine.” Sasha dragged the last word out and she floated a little closer. “C’mon, look at all the colorful rocks here. We should find some to take back and decorate the plants at home with.”
Hesitantly, Ava lowered herself fully and started poking around at the pebbles around her. Sasha did the same underwater, each taking turns showing each other ones with a cool shape or vibrant color. Ava cleared an area on the sand, and the two of them amassed a small pile of rocks and shells to bring home with them. Eventually, Ava’s movements slowed and Sasha sensed Ava staring at her a couple times, meeting her gaze the first time but ignoring the rest. That was her goal with this, really, to let Ava see her comfortable in the water until she felt comfortable too. She didn’t want to call attention to it and make Ava self-conscious, so Sasha let her stare even though it mentally made her squirm. She simply kept her eyes on the water, focusing on seeing past the distortion of the gentle waves.
If she was being honest, Sasha didn’t really need to be encouraging Ava, and the whole premise was a bit selfish. She wanted to go to the beach, and wanted to go with Ava, so she might as well work towards easing the uneasiness Inklings had around water. Not that either of them were Inklings at the moment, but because Ava had been one her whole life, it was rather ingrained in her. When Sasha had brought it up, Ava was on board and they planned a day to come to this secluded beach, but Sasha was still worried she was pushing Ava too much.
After a while, Ava stood up and braced herself. “Okay,” she breathed out. Sasha stood up too, grimacing slightly at the light breeze against her wet skin, as Ava took her first step into the water, once again ankle deep.
Sasha’s heart swelled with pride, but she fought to keep it off her face. She still wanted Ava to be able to go further, she knew she was capable. Sasha reached out, offering her hand. “One step at a time, okay? I’ll be right here, and we can turn back whenever.” Sasha caught Ava’s gaze and held it, trying to reassure her as much as possible.
Ava took the offered hand and Sasha immediately squeezed it. Ava squeezed back, let out a shaky breath, and stepped closer. Calf deep. Ava’s eyes dropped to the water, watching it lap against her legs while Sasha cautiously watched her face. She took another step. Knee deep, beside Sasha.
“It’s a bit cold, huh?” Sasha asked.
“It’s not too bad,” Ava replied, staring intensely at the water. “A bit hard to walk through though, there’s a lot of resistance…”
“It’s a lot easier to move with the waves. Being fully submerged helps too.” A momentary pause. “Do you want to keep going?”
Ava nodded in response, and the two took another step. And second, and a third. They were waist deep again at this point, and Ava curled her free hand around her stomach to protect from the simultaneously freezing and ticklish waves.
“Okay, what now?” Ava asked, trying to keep the chatter out of her teeth.
Sasha grinned. “Now… we go under.” Once again, she dropped, this time only to her shoulders, folding her legs beneath. She had spent long enough out of the water that the transition was harsh again, and she grit her teeth against the cold.
Ava raised an eyebrow. “That didn’t seem pleasant.”
“It gets better.” Sasha waved a hand underwater, before rubbing her hands over her forearms in an attempt to get rid of the goosebumps that had risen there. “Better than standing half wet in the wind.”
Ava considered for a moment, just long enough that Sasha thought she was going to have to splash her so she would do something, before wincing and plunging underwater. She surfaced a second later, spluttering and trying to squeeze water out of her nose, her hair plastered to her face.
Sasha combed the hair out of Ava’s face, slicking it back and smoothing it out. “I didn’t think you’d go completely under,” she laughed.
“Figured it’d be better to go all the way,” Ava grimaced. “Lesson learned I guess.”
“You’ve gotta hold your breath, dummy. Plugging your nose helps too. You can’t breathe underwater.”
“I know that much, geez.” Ava swatted at her, which devolved into them splashing each other for a minute.
“C’mon, let’s go further out,” Sasha laughed. “I’ll teach you how to swim.”
The two waded deeper into the water until they could barely touch the sand beneath their feet. Sasha coached Ava first how to tread water, then to float on her back. Ava, although still a little hesitant, proved to be a fast learner and picked up everything Sasha taught her within a couple attempts. Sasha’s actual swimming instructions were a bit lackluster, barely remembered from her swimming lessons as a kid and mostly based on her just-good-enough current level, but Ava was able to garner enough between Sasha’s verbal instructions and example strokes.
They stayed out in the water for a while, Ava practicing while Sasha floated in lazy circles, enjoying the weightless feeling and the sun on her face. This is what she loved most about the water, being able to completely let herself go, doing nothing but breathing. Despite everything, she didn’t get the chance to do this much, and she was going to relish every second of it.
After a while, Ava caught Sasha’s attention, and once she had shaken the water out of her ears, Ava deadpanned “You got burnt.”
Sasha scrunched her nose in annoyance, which told she had indeed gotten a sunburn. “Yay. Lovely.”
“We should go back to shore,” Ava suggested, to which Sasha readily agreed. They swam back together, Ava noticeably faster than Sasha, which she chalked up to Ava simply being more fit than her overall. Maybe she should take Ava’s offers to go on runs more often.
“I think I want to take swimming lessons,” Ava said, once they were back on land.
“You calling me a bad teacher?” Sasha pouted.
“No, of course not darling. Thank you, it means a lot,” she said seriously. “I just feel like there’s a lot more I can learn here and professional lessons would probably get me further than I could on my own.”
“Yeah?” Sasha grinned. “Maybe I’ll join you, I’m clearly a bit rusty.”