#Willy should just have asked her to wear her swimsuit and it would have been enough

[randomnameless]

Adrestian: "Why would we follow someone who can't dye their hair properly?" Willy: "Show them the spin dive Seiros!" Adrestian: "The spin wha-" Now I'm imagining major crest people doing the most wild critical animations during the WoH or Rhea is an outlier who also surprised Nemesis by punching him in the opening. (Nemesis' thoughts: "Great... We're both disarmed‚ what's she gonna do punch me-")

Willy was the worst enabler ever, and encouraged her to do shit like the "spin drive" (since he didn't know what was a bullet) which is another reason why she's so fond of him!

I just find it funny how Seteth's seminar is all about proper and refined lance skills (hell is seminar is "A seminar on an ancient Fodlan fighting style utilizing lance skills"), like Cichol is a proper instructor... and then you have Seiros the Warrior doing random things like the "spin dive" and throwing her sword away to kick/punch people.

(also I just noticed but lol@Catherine's seminar's definition "A seminar on a fighting style in which practitioners dominate their opponent using improvised sword and melee techniques" -> it's just like Seiros the Warrior's technique, but given how Catherine mentions how Rhea only uses magic and sword when she fights, Archbishop Rhea dropped the "melee" techniques when she stopped being a fighter, maybe Catherine read some stuff about Saint Seiros and wanted to emulate her?)

HC Nabateans use the power of their crests in various ways when they fight, Rhea's spin dive has her kind of, jump and stand in midair before jumping, and given how she can jump 200 meters high, maybe her crest has some power to make her able to "walk/stand" on air, or something like that.

(Given how Cichol tried to teach humans, he used his crest less than his siblings, but the "Swift Strike" arte he invented is the way to mimick, for humans, the thing he does with his crest, when he hits someone and that someone is stunned, being open for a second blow.)

But in general, given how Nabateans can use their crests freely and at will (unlike humans) they can shape or use their powers in more creative ways that humans do.

[ladyvesuvia]

[Navigation] [Masterlist]

@firewhiskyss: 🎢 harry with either “That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?” or “I’m afraid I’ve been thinking…” “A dangerous pastime.” because my heart can’t handle angst rn 😋☝🏼|| for my 300 followers celebration

Pairing: Harry Potter x Fem!Muggle!Reader

Summary: Being stuck in the elevator is bad enough, but being with a stranger makes matters worse.

Words: 3.9k

Warnings: not proofread, light cursing, elevators, power outage + let me know if i missed anything

A/N: too bad u cant handle angst i could’ve found ways to sneak that into this hehe jk anywaaayy ok i felt uninspired sorry hydagjih

Harry held a bag he did not own in his hand. His shirt was a bit muddied and moist on one side, but he didn’t mind. He stood in front of the eighth door he’ll be knocking on in hopes it was the owner of the bag. It still wasn’t, though.

Instead, a woman his age greeted him with a smile. She was pretty, sure, but she wasn’t what he was looking for. He apologized for interrupting and went ahead to knock on the ninth door.

It swung open, and Harry let out a long sigh.

AN HOUR OR SO AGO

“Hold the door!” said a voice from the lobby. Harry pressed the open door button in haste, the doors doing as it was told to do. The figure rushed inside, hair dripping wet on the tiled floor of the elevator. He kept his eyes trained to floor as she moved his way to press the button to the eighth floor. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

The girl next to him began to dry her drenched hair with a purple towel, patting herself dry. Harry risked a brief glance in her direction — she was wearing a floral one-piece swimsuit which she layered with denim shorts. When she caught his eye, they both inched away from each other uncomfortably. To their relief, the elevator started to move up.

Nobody seemed to be coming in just yet. After all, it was six p.m. and most were probably outside biding their time for night swimming. Harry, on the other hand, just came down to get a box of doughnuts for Mr. Weasley, who he can only assume was changing into his swimming trunks in their hotel room. The rest were probably doing the same.

Harry was waiting for it to reach the ninth floor when the elevator lurched to a stop on the seventh. While Harry refused to meet eye contact with the girl next to him, she was busy trying to convince herself it was alright.

It’s okay, she thought to herself as she made a show of more aggressive patting of her hair in more of an attempt to calm her drumming heartbeat than to really dry it. Another passenger was probably just entering.

But she knew better, they both knew better. The lights above them began to blink in an inconsistent manner. To her dismay, the doors did not open nor did they continue to go up.

They both turned to each other with a bewildered look on their faces. Harry made to reach for his wand, but held himself back. Then the lights went out along with the tiny ones coming from the buttons. Harry froze. He heard the stranger next to him shift, probably wrapping the towel around herself. She had stopped pretending to pat herself now. Harry watched as her as she dropped her bag down on the wet tiled floor and pulled out a bulky gray block from it. Harry stood there awkwardly as if a statue while she kept on fumbling with the block thingy he now recognized was a flip phone. A light glowed from it, her face looking similar to that of a ghost.

She pressed it against her ear, but it seemed to not be working. She then raised her hand higher in hopes of getting better reception to no avail. Harry cleared his throat. The girl’s head whipped to his direction. “The emergency call button,” said Harry.

“I know,” she spat, reaching out for the buttons. But instead of clicking that particular button, she clicked the button for opening doors. Harry noticed she seemed to be shivering a bit even with the towel.

The girl was still dripping, albeit lesser now. She kept pressing the open door repetitively with her wrinkly fingers. Harry remained stiff, unsure if he should use his wand. “What floor are we currently?”

Taken aback, Harry didn’t respond for a couple of seconds until she reached out to his shoulder to check on him. “Oh, er — seventh, I think.”

He then heard her click a button he supposed was for the seventh, then a bunch of other buttons the next.

“We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die. . . .” Harry found that he preferred the constant clicking noises from the buttons over her constant reminder of their ‘impending doom.’ It was like fourth year all over again when their Divination teacher Professor Trelawney kept telling him he was going to die an early death. She kept chanting to herself in hysterics.

“Have you tried . . . the emergency call button? The one with the bell?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” said the girl. To his surprise, she picked up her bag again and aimed it at the elevator door before swinging it right in the middle. She then started banging her fist hard on the doors, pounding. “Help! I’m stuck! I mean, we’re stuck! Hello? I’m wi —”

“There’s a press to call thing here,” pointed Harry.

“Good,” she remarked as she practically run to it when the elevator made a creaking noise from above. The girl let out a shriek as she fell backwards and pulled Harry down with her. “Lie flat or we’re both gonna die!”

“Why — ?”

“JUST DO IT.” He did. Both of them sprawled their legs and he felt the damp floor wet his back a bit, but he was still weighing the pros and cons of pulling out his wand. Of course, if it were up to him, he’d pull it out in a heartbeat but the Weasleys’ vacation was on the line and he couldn’t jeopardize that by—

The elevator whined, and it felt as if it was moving a bit. “We’re gonna plummet to do our death!”

“Calm down,” said Harry, hardly knowing why he even bothered in the first place because he didn’t know what to say next especially with the girl’s expectant eyes on him. He thought of what Hermione had told them when they first came here, who then attempted to calm the others down about their feelings on Muggle Elevators. “Er — elevators are one of the safest ways of transportation with only the fatality rate of zero point zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-something-fifteen percent per trip.”

“Oh, shut up, stranger,” cried the girl. “There’s still a fifteen in that end. We’re gonna die, accept that!”

“You seem to be the one having troubles accepting that,” argued Harry back. She shot him a glare.

“I haven’t written my will and we’re gonna die. You see — you hear that rumble? We’re slowly falling down and we’re gonna die. I should have — should have taken the stairs. Please, please, please let me live! I swear I’ll start eating vegetables! This is it stranger, we’re gonna die.”

“That’s a bit melodramatic, don’t you think?”

“We’re about to die and you have time to think? Lie with your chunkiest bits on the floor to increase our chance of survival.”

He wanted to argue, but he resorted to inching further away from her and stretching his limbs awkwardly.

“Damn it, you shouldn’t have kept the door open!”

“How is that my fault? If anything, I was being nice,” said Harry.

“Being nice? You just sentenced me to my death and now I’m dying in this cramped space in a swimsuit and shorts that aren’t even for swimming!”

Surprisingly, the elevator whined to a stop. They remained on the floor for half a minute. Eventually, she was the first to stand up. Dusting herself and not meeting Harry’s eye, she smashed the bell button with her finger. It buzzed for a few seconds before a guy’s voice answered.

“Hello,” said the operator. The intercom seemed to be having troubles.

“Uh, hello, hi,” replied the girl.

“So are you currently stuck in the elevator?” Harry could hear the girl turn to him in the dark and call up the look of utter disbelief, as if wanting to reply, ‘No shit.’

“Yes, very much.”

“Okay, are you alone?” asked the operator.

“Unfortunately, no. I’m with . . .” she trailed off, turning to Harry with prolonged contemplation. “With stranger. I’m with stranger. A stranger. With a stranger, I mean.”

“May I know your names please?”

“Uh, sure? I’m . . . Papier Matchen and this is —”

“Har — Neville. Neville Longbottom, sir,” answered Harry. The operator did not respond. “Neville Longbottom.”

“Are you both guests?” asked the operator.

“Yes,” said [Y/N]. “Wait, are you a guest?”

“I am a guest,” said Harry stiffly.

“He’s a guest,” she added, as if in an attempt to keep whatever morale is left high. The operator didn’t respond again. “Hey, uh, operator? It would really help if you didn’t keep disappearing on us.” She chuckled nervously.

“What floor are you currently on?” said the voice with a bit more static.

“Uh, well,” she said, turning to Harry, “last time we checked, it was on the seventh but it moved down a bit and we might be in-between floors seven and six.”

“Alright, thank you. We’re currently experiencing a city wide power outage, and it appears that the back-up battery in Elevator Three has not yet been replaced since the last brownout. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

“Yeah, you should be sorry. So, uh, is any of your authorities gonna come and pick us up?”

No response. She pressed the button again. And again. And again. No sound came, not even static. “Hello? Hi?”

When no one responded again, she slumped to the floor once more, her hair still wet but no longer dripping. “Sit down,” she said, pointing at the spot right next to her. Harry obliged. “You can sit across, I don’t care. I know I smell like chlorine right now.”

Harry sat across from her, leaning back against the wall. She didn’t talk either. This went on for about five minutes until Harry had the urge to do something or at least say something.

“I’m afraid I’ve been thinking,” he started.

“A dangerous pastime, you should be afraid. Go ahead,” she said, gesturing a finger gun his way.

“Shouldn’t we try to get out of this?”

“Who are you, Bruce Willis? Need I remind you that you are Nev . . . Bottom?”

“That’s not actually my name,” said Harry.

“Same, I just said Papier Matchen off the top of my head. Like papier mache but witchy. My name’s actually pretty good, I think. I’m [Y/N] [Y/L/N]. Oh, wait, nope, don’t like it.”

“I think it’s good.” [Y/N] turned on her phone and shone it around until it landed on his face. Harry realized he had kept the box of doughnuts in the corner when she made them sit down. “I’m Harry,” he said when she finally turned off the phone.

[Y/N] turned it on again and directed it to the box of doughnuts. “Are those doughnuts to make us super tiny like Alice in Wonderland or something?”

“Oh, those are for my friend’s father.”

“Let’s eat it, I’m hungry,” said [Y/N].

“It’s for my friend’s father.”

“You have to realize that that is so not a good enough point. We’re trapped in an elevator with no means of communication with that musty man and eating that is the only thing we can do. Unless you want to do something else?”

“Er — What?” choked Harry, clearing his throat. “Okay, fine, uh, doughnuts.”

She made a triumphant sound Harry couldn’t explain, but paid it no mind as she reached out to grab the box of doughnuts from the corner. She set it in front of her.

“Hey, these are from my aunt’s bakery.”

“They are?” asked Harry.

“Yeah! The one across the street from here?” asked [Y/N], to which Harry nodded. “Ooh, you got the one with Oreos? Nice! I helped design those.”

“Okay, uh, can I have some?”

“I thought it was against your will to take some of these from your ’friend’s dad?’” teased [Y/N], but she handed him a doughnut anyway. Harry began to eat just like she did. “Sorry I forced you to lie down here. . . .”

She looked at him, waiting for something. What? Harry furrowed his brows, confused.

“Sorry, I mean, what’s your name again?” asked [Y/N], hints of the chocolate stuck between her teeth and some on her lips.

“Harry Potter,” replied Harry, who debated against himself whether or not he should point it out. After all, she seemed to be having a good time and they just started to lose the tension. “You’ve got uh, something on your, you know.”

“I know,” said [Y/N], but she didn’t do anything about it. “Anyway, can you believe six and seven are lucky numbers yet here we are, stuck in the wretched elevator between them?”

“No, that’s why I don’t really believe in those . . . things.”

“I’d say that’s insulting, but I’m dripping in my swimwear while I’m stuck in the elevator with a total stranger, so fair enough.”

Harry didn’t know how long they were talking, but it just went on. He was pretty sure there were times he even laughed. Harry reached out to grab another doughnut when he realized she was holding it as well. They both let it drop back to the box.

“Oh, no, it’s yours,” said [Y/N].

“It’s okay, you can have it,” said Harry.

“I ate more than you did, you can have it. Just go,” said [Y/N].

“You can —”

“You know what? Let’s just split it.”

[Y/N] ripped it in half, handing him the bigger slice. Just when Harry was going to offer to exchange, she swallowed it whole.

“Too late, I ate my half already.”

“I can see that,” said Harry. He began to eat his own half, savoring it with three more bites.

“Sorry I smell like chlorine again.”

“Eh, I don’t know, it’s kind of growing on me,” said Harry. “I shouldn’t have said that, sorry.”

“On a good day, that would sound like an insult but it’s anything but a good day, so, thank you, I guess.”

The two shared a laugh (and most definitely three) the entire time when the lights turned on. They could see each other clearly now. There was no denying they felt quite vulnerable — like finally meeting an friend you only send letters and emails to for the first time, but she smiled to make it feel lighter.

Suddenly, it started to move up again, [Y/N] kept them seated just in case it started plummeting again. It didn’t, though. It opened on the seventh, as the indicator told them so.

The intercom buzzed once more and different operator spoke. None of them stood up.

“Hi, power’s slowly being restored. How’s everyone?”

“We’re good,” said Harry. [Y/N] smiled in the shadows, tossing the towel in the corner. “Wait, you’re — er — good, right?”

“Yeah, surprisingly so,” she said.

“Good to hear, we’re currently doing the best we can to cater everyone’s needs. Has your, uh, elevator moved yet? Sorry, I’m new here. Anyway, has it?” asked the operator.

“Currently open on the seventh floor, but we’re both going up, all’s good now, don’t worry,” answered [Y/N]. She stood up, taking the towel with her.

“Okay, great, thank you and take care!” said the operator before the intercom buzzed off. Harry and [Y/N] stood there as the elevator door closed shut and began to move up and open again to the eighth.

“So,” started [Y/N], “this is me. My floor, I mean.”

“Right,” said Harry

“Well, I still don’t like elevators and I may or may not ride one ever again so I can’t believe I’d ever say this because it’s hella cheesy but thanks for making it bearable.”

“I feel like I should say, ‘you’re welcome?’” said Harry.

“Oh yeah, you should.”

The door began to close, but Harry pressed the open door button.

“Okay, you’re welcome.” The two shared lighthearted laughter. “Anyway, er — thank you, too. See you around?”

“Yeah, yeah, see you around. Bye.” [Y/N] waved as the doors closed between them and Harry was once again all alone in the elevator.

He noticed what a mess the floor was, and went to pick up the empty box of donuts. His hand went to where he kept his wand to clean up and looked around for cameras and found one tucked in the upper corner. Harry let his hand down and dusted his shirt with his hands when something caught his eye. A beach bag in the corner, resting carelessly.

The door finally opened to the ninth floor. Harry was frozen, looking directly at a long hallway of doors. It took a few seconds until it whirred and shut close. Not knowing what to do, Harry picked up the bag and swung it over his shoulder.

He tapped his foot as he waited for the elevator to go up to the twelfth floor until it began going down again. He pressed the button to the ninth floor again.

Ten.

Eleven. A couple his age entered, probably about to go down. Narrowed eyes landed on him and his dirty shirt and pants, but he paid them no mind.

Twelve. The couple started to talk about their plans on the honeymoon tomorrow. Harry busied himself by playing with the straps of the beach bag. He realized just now it had her name inside one of the straps lazily written with a sharpie. [Y/N], it stated.

Eleven again.

Ten again.

Nine again. The door opened, but he did not step out. Of course, the couple began to eye him with suspicion now as he reached out to press the button to the eighth floor.

Eight. When he stepped out, he heard the hushed but relieved sighs from both of the other two behind him as the elevator proceeded to close shut and go down.

Harry knocked on the first door. A man in his pajamas answered. Harry muttered an apology as he walked away to try the second door. He heard the first door swing shut.

The second door was equipped with a sign on the doorknob saying, ‘Do not Disturb.’ So, of course, Harry moved on to the third. He heard loud sounds of children playing inside. When he knocked, a tired woman carrying a toddler in her arms answered. Harry apologized once more and moved on.

Harry’s shoulder was aching, so he let the bag down and simply held it in his hands.

The fourth door was answered by a middle-aged man holding a glass of wine.

The fifth door’s knob held the same message as the the second — ‘Do not Disturb.’

As you may recall, Harry held a bag he did not own in his hand. His shirt was a bit muddied and moist on one side, but he didn’t mind. He stood in front of the eighth door he’ll be knocking on in hopes it was the owner of the bag. It still wasn’t, though.

Instead, a woman his age greeted him with a smile. She was pretty, sure, but she wasn’t what he was looking for. He apologized for interrupting and went ahead to knock on the ninth door.

It swung open, and Harry let out a long sigh.

An older woman greeted him with a pleasant smile. “Hello, dear,” she said. He took a shot and asked if she knew anyone by the name of [Y/N] [Y/L/N]. Unfortunately though, she did not.

Harry finally made it to the last door. He knocked once more, holding the bag tighter now. A little kid answered, with her parents and siblings in the background, eating pancakes. They did not know of someone named [Y/N] [Y/L/N], either.

Shoulders slumping, Harry made his way back to the elevator. He pressed the up button.

“Excuse me?” called out a voice from behind him. His heart skipped a beat. Wait, don’t skip, he thought to himself.

It still wasn’t her. It was the same girl from the ninth door. “Yes?”

“You’re looking for [Y/N]?” she asked. “[Y/N] [Y/L/N]?”

“Er — yes. Do you know her?” asked Harry.

“Yeah, she’s in the shower. Is that her bag?”

“Oh!” He almost forgot that he was holding it. “Yes, yes it is.”

“I can give it to her,” called out the woman. She closed the door behind her, making her way towards him. When she was close enough, she extended her hand.

The elevator dinged open. Harry was about to hand it over to her, when he decided something else.

“Er — no, uh, I was actually hoping if I could see her.”

She let her hand down, grinning. “You must be Elevadork.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s an inside joke,” said Harry.

“You can wait inside,” said the girl. “I’m Karolina, by the way. She’s just showering because she’s, and I quote, ‘will be too unlovable if smelling like chlorine.’”

Harry chuckled as Karolina led him to their hotel room. It was just like every other room he had seen, then he saw the same towel she had with her just a while ago when they were stuck with only each other’s company.

“He was nice, though. I wouldn’t mind seeing him again. By the way, we’re out of hair conditioner. My hair badly nee — Harry!” [Y/N] tumbled backwards to the bathroom with a different towel wrapped around herself. Harry’s eyes widened, and he turned around.

“He wanted to return your bag and ask you out,” said Karolina.

“That’s not what I actually said,” whispered Harry, turning crimson.

“Honey, trust me, it was definitely what you said,” laughed Karolina, patting him in the back. “You might want to change first.”

“I guess,” added Harry.

[Y/N] rushed to the get her clothes from one of the two beds and ran back to the shower, where she hastily pulled on her shirt and checkered pajama pants.

“She’s done changing, by the way,” said Karolina, patting Harry on the shoulder again as she left to pour iced tea for herself.

[Y/N] led Harry out, earning two thumbs up from Karolina, who was beaming up at the two of them. “How’d you find me?”

“Fate,” said Harry mockingly, as if from a show. She giggled. “I knocked on all the doors in this hallway.”

“To return a bag?”

“Sure, that, too. But mainly to ask if you’d like to get some — er — doughnuts with, uh, me. I really want to bring some up to —”

“Your friend’s dad, right,” [Y/N] cut out. “Are we still taking the elevator?”

“Yeah,” said Harry.

They finally reached the elevator, where they stood side by side.

“Aren’t you going to change first?” asked [Y/N].

“Nope,” said Harry, pressing the down button. He turned to [Y/N], looking at her shirt. “Does that say ‘Treacle Treat?’”

“Yeah, like as in Trick or Treat. See the pumpkin?” She pointed at the bottom part of her shirt.

“Oh, there it is.” The two were laughing even when they stepped into the elevator. They exchanged a knowing glance at the sight of scattered crumbs of doughnuts on the floor, not daring to talk about it in front of one another guest.

As the elevator began to go down, Harry realized he might as well believe in the lucky numbers. After all, if it weren’t for six, seven, and nine, he wouldn’t be here right now standing shoulder up to shoulder with the girl wearing a funky shirt.

Taglist: @gingerale2017 @maybanksslut @hey-there-angels @mrzweasley @gwlvr @booksarealwaysbettersworlds-blog @greenlyblue @henqtic @meiitanoia @catching-the-train-to-hogwarts

[ryukogo]

day out

Summary: The girls discover that Charlotte has never experienced being at the beach with just friends, and decide to remedy that.

Prompt: Beach - If there’s anything media has taught me, it’s that a beach episode is inevitable. Ironically, I don’t think there’s been a South Park beach episode. Let’s change that. The beach can evoke a lot of experiences that your muses are sure to treasure. Shell hunting, long walks a la romantic stereotypes, sandcastles, boating, surfing, and the list goes on- whatever you choose, there’s sure to be something to do in a setting so iconic as this!

Words: 4215

Link is in the title if you wish to read it on AO3!

“You whaaaaat?!”

Charlotte Harrison - formerly Schulz - fidgeted uncomfortably, feeling the shocked stares of all the girls on her. Well, most of the girls, anyway - Nichole was looking just as uncomfortable as her, as if she knew something she didn’t, while Red had her head in her hands. “Um, I’ve never... gone to the beach with friends before, guy.”

“You can’t be serious. Tell me you’re not serious,” Heidi looked desperate. “You’re joking, right?”

“She isn’t,” Sally Turner - or Powder, as she was so affectionately called, to tell her apart from Sally Darson - informed her sister cheerfully.

Heidi gave her sister a look. “It was a rhetorical question.”

“Why haven’t you gone to the beach with just friends, Charlotte?” Lola asked politely, lacing her fingers together. “Not to be rude or anything, but I know you. We all know you. You’re one of the friendliest, most boisterous people we know. Surely you had friends to go with in Canada?”

Charlotte nodded slightly. “Lani and Rinka. They were always with me when we, um... first moved to South Park and transferred to South Park Elementary.”

“Which one was the one that looked like Alanis Morissette?” Jenny Simon asked, curious.

The brunette Canadian blinked, and laughed. “You must be talking about Lani. She’s been asked about it ever since we temporarily moved to South Park.”

“Well, to be fair she does look like her,” Milly pointed out. “Like, have you seen Alanis Morissette’s music video for Ironic? They’re literally wearing the same outfit.”

“Lani threw a fit when she found out, buddy,” Charlotte smiled before sighing. “Anyway... I did have friends, but we were always supervised by a parent back then. Usually my dad, but sometimes my mom.”

A short moment of silence passed between all of them - an unspoken condolence for Charlotte’s Canadian parents, who were now in a better place. After a few minutes, however, the topic was resumed.

“So you’ve gone to the beach before, but never with friends and unsupervised?” The look in Wendy’s eyes was unreadable - it made Charlotte unsettled just looking at the overall leader of the girls, so she averted her gaze as she nodded. Wendy’s lips pursed in thought, and the majority of the girls looked at her, awaiting her final decision.

“That settles it, girls. We’re going to have a beach party.”

Red groaned and sank lower into her seat. “I fucking knew it. They pulled this on me years ago, and on Nichole some time ago, and now they’re doing it to you.”

“A beach party?” Charlotte eyed Wendy with interest. That didn’t seem too bad. “Sounds like fun, guy. Whose parent is supervising?”

Bebe laughed. “Supervision? Oh, honey, you have much to learn. We don’t do parental supervision.”

“Well, we do,” Nichole amended at the horrified look on Charlotte’s face. “But, um... just this once again, I guess... we could go without parental supervision. Just so you can experience it, right? A beach outing with just friends. We all got to experience zero parental supervision at least once - it’s only fair you do too. You don’t have to go to another unsupervised event ever if you really don’t like it after this one.”

“How are we going to-”

“Bebe can drive us,” Jenny said decisively.

“When are we going to-”

“Next week, probably?” Milly checked the calendar before nodding. “Yup, next week Wednesday, two days after the next list making session. We have time to squeeze this in.”

“But-” Charlotte looked helpless. “Aw, fiddlehumpers, guy.”

“This’ll be fun, I promise!” Annie reassured, smiling sweetly at the brunette. “We always have beach parties without supervision from parents and honestly it couldn’t be a much safer environment!”

“Mainly because we have mother dearest over here,” Nelly jerked a thumb at Nichole, who only rolled her eyes ever so slightly, smiling before nodding. “She won’t let us have the good stuff. She’s just like her dumb boyfriend.”

“Her hot and rich boyfriend,” Wendy and Red both corrected almost instantaneously before both of them looked at each other and shrugged. Nichole snickered just a little at their simultaneous correction.

“I’m not sure my parents will let me go without an adult to supervise though, friend...” Charlotte attempted uncertainly.

The girls looked at each other before Wendy waved her hand. “I can ask Shelly to watch us. She’s an adult now, and she can just sleep on the beach while we have fun. She won’t give a single damn.”

“She’d do that, guy?”

“Girl solidarity,” Wendy winked. “I’ll talk to her. She’ll listen to me - I’m practically the Marshs’ second daughter by this point.”

“Was this before or after you broke up with Stan for the zillionth time?” Sally Darson asked coyly before immediately ducking as Wendy’s beret was chucked in her direction.

-=-=-=-

“Going somewhere?”

“Yeah,” Charlotte grunted, trying to sit on her suitcase to fit in everything she was going to bring. “Girls’ day out, guy.”

Gary raised an eyebrow. “Where are you going to go in temperatures like these?”

“Beach,” was the Canadian’s only reply before she yelled and body slammed the suitcase shut, zipping it up to keep the contents from tumbling out. She breathed a sigh of relief before standing up to face her adoptive brother again. “Wait a minute, didn’t I already tell you I was going to the beach with the girls, Gary?”

Gary nodded slightly. “You vaguely mentioned it over dinner while asking permission from Mom and Dad. I just wanted to make sure since the guys are having a boys’ day out as well.”

“The guys?”

“Stan’s gang and Craig’s gang,” Gary clarified. “Along with a few others. Thomas invited me along, but nobody’s going to be watching the little ones while they’re out and Kyle really doesn’t trust Ike alone with his crew anymore after everyone somehow managed to drop off everyone in their age group alone with Tweek to do gosh-knows-what.”

Charlotte donned her sunhat. “Babysitting duty, guy? Knew you were a big softie.”

“We’ve established this already, I think,” Gary laughed before reminding her, “Anyway. You’ll be at the beach with just the girls and Stan’s big sister, but that doesn’t mean you can goof around willy nilly.”

“No drinking, no drugs, no streaking, gotcha,” were Charlotte’s words before she turned around and screamed in frustration. Gary peered around her to see what had caused her to yell.

She had forgotten to pack her swimsuit in.

-=-=-=-

“Oh, nuh-uh are you going out in that,” Bebe immediately declared the moment Charlotte stepped out of the dressing room.

Charlotte looked down at her swimsuit. It was her favorite backless fuchsia one piece with a blue stripe going around the stomach area and a pretty skirt as coverup. “... What’s wrong with it, buddy?”

“It’s so... old fashioned, hun,��� Bebe immediately turned around to fish in her suitcase before thrusting something at Charlotte. “Here, try these. We should be around the same size save for the chest area, but this’ll fit all chest sizes.”

Charlotte glanced down at what she had given her, and visibly balked. “This isn’t a swimsuit.”

“It’s high fashion in Paris, Char,” Bebe waved her hand as if to dismiss the whole thing.

The Canadian lifted up the clothing on the hanger - if it could even be considered clothing. “Bebe, this barely covers my... my everything!”

“Why would you hide your everything? You’re beautiful, dear.”

“This is a beach, not a fashion show, guy!”

“Well, I’m certainly not letting you go out in that,” Bebe sniffed in distaste at Charlotte’s one piece swimsuit.

Charlotte curled her lip before shaking the hanger. “Well, I’m not going out in this.”

“A compromise, ladies?” The two girls turned to see Nichole, who pulled out another swimsuit. It was also technically a bikini, which made Charlotte look displeased, but it certainly covered up more than the one Bebe had thrown at her. It was a dark blue, which was unusual given that Nichole preferred her pinks and yellows, but it certainly screamed ‘Nichole’, what with both the straps and the underwear being lined with lighter blue frills.

Bebe crossed her arms. “Well, it’s... decent.”

“Bebe, you have no right to say that when you told me this was perfect for me around a month or so ago.”

“Perfect for you,” Bebe reaffirmed. “Not for Charlotte. Honestly, I really should’ve taken her out shopping the day we arranged this whole thing.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Charlotte reminded.

“Bebe, it’s just a swimsuit. It’s just one day.”

“And we gotta make it worth it, Nichole.”

“And sacrifice her own comfortableness for fashion?”

“We all do it once in our lives-”

“OKAY, WHAT’S GOIN’ ON HERE?!”

The three girls in the dressing room all turned as Red kicked the door open, a donut designed floatie around her waist and goggles on her face. Behind her, Annie timidly waved at all of them as Red demanded, “You guys have been in here for literally an hour, what the hell?”

“Charlotte won’t wear the bikini I’m generously lending her,” Bebe explained with a huff.

Nichole frowned. “She’s not comfortable with it, so I suggested one of my own.”

“But it’s only good on Nichole, you see? The one I’m lending Charlotte fits all, and will definitely fit her.”

“How will we know if we won’t even let her try both?”

“She is not going out in that-”

“She already left,” Red deadpanned.

Bebe and Nichole looked around wildly, seeing that Red was, indeed, correct - Charlotte had disappeared from the dressing room, both the swimsuits they had suggested to her neatly folded on the nearest table. With a sigh, both girls put their respective swimsuits into their own bags before taking leave with Red and Annie as well.

-=-=-=-

“You look great, Char,” Wendy praised before shooting a look at Bebe, who only rolled her eyes before continuing to sun herself.

Charlotte’s cheeks tinted a little pink as she drew her knees up to her chin. Both girls were currently under the shade of a beach umbrella as the other girls played volleyball and swam in the ocean. Bebe and Heidi were both sunning themselves nearby, while Powder was busy constructing a rather grand sand castle, complete with a moat and toy crocodiles - which she had brought along just for the occasion.

“Thanks, Wendy, that’s real nice of you to say,” She murmured, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “... I know Nichole and Bebe only meant the best, guy, but...”

Wendy laughed. “I know. Bebe’s pretty intense, but she really does do mostly everything out of concern - well, except for that one incident with a list...” Wendy frowned and looked off into the distance for a while, her gaze growing wistful before she turned back to Charlotte. “And Nichole was only trying to help both of you.”

The Canadian girl smiled. “It’s really nice to be here... even without adult supervision. I never knew how fun it could be to be able to curse on the beach with just friends around.”

“Don’t get used to it like Red did, or you’ll end up cursing during family outings too,” Wendy warned before both girls laughed.

“AY! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN’ HERE?!”

Wendy’s pupils immediately shrank. “Oh no, what’s he doing here?”

“Oh no...” Charlotte palmed her face. “Gary told me the boys were going somewhere, but he didn’t say they were going to the beach too...!”

As the girls all stopped in what they were doing to gaze in the direction of where the voice had come from, they witnessed a gaggle of very familiar boys approaching, all decked out in swimwear as well. Stan’s gang was in the lead while Craig’s gang took up the rear, and all the other boys who weren’t in any particular group filled out the middle.

“Shelly?!” Stan yelped at the sight of his older sister, who only lowered her sunglasses at the sight of her younger brother. “I thought- you said you were in Minnesota!”

Shelly grunted. “I lied.”

“Bebe!” Clyde greeted, waving wildly at his girlfriend and running towards her, only to trip face first in the sand as his foot connected with a shell. The blonde immediately ran to his side as Token and Nichole had their own much more quiet reunion, smiling tenderly at each other as Clyde reassured Bebe that he was a big boy, no shell would take him down just like that.

“W-what are you guys - FUCK! - doing here?” Thomas asked, holding the cooler full of drinks from Token’s house. Next to him, Kevin Stoley was carrying an assortment of pool floaties.

Red’s gaze flickered over both boys before looking away guiltily as Heidi explained, pecking Cartman’s cheek in greeting. “Charlotte’s never been on an outing without parental supervision, so we thought we’d take her on a girls’ day out.”

“Huh,” Kyle mused.

“What’s wrong, Kyle?” Annie asked, curious.

“It’s funny, because that’s almost exactly why we’re out here too,” Kyle turned his head a little to look at someone near the back. “It’s David’s first time out without parental supervision too.”

The girls all looked at each other, the gears in their head turning quickly. It was Wendy, however, who spoke for all of them when she asked, “So both Charlotte and David have never been out with just friends on an outing?”

Kenny nodded. “If he’s not lying, then yeah. Say, where is Charlotte?”

“Charlotte’s here?!” A voice from the back yelped, and immediately at least half of the boys yelled and dogpiled someone, startling the girls into backing away.

“Oh no, David, you are not leaving now, we just got here!” Kyle yelled, thumping on the other boy’s back.

“I agreed to this because I thought we were the only ones that we knew here!” David yelled, struggling under all of the other boys. “You didn’t tell me Charlotte was going to be here!”

“What’s wrong with Char bein’ here?” Butters asked, a smidgen offended on behalf of his ex-girlfriend. “She’s a real sweet gal! I thought you two were buddies!”

At Butters’s words, the tips of David’s ears turned red, and then and there, the girls all ‘ooh’ed in realization, smirking. “Yeah... we’re buddies...”

“Holy shit,” Cartman wheezed, seeing his red ears. “You- do you like Charlotte, Day-vid?!’

“It’s Dah-veed, and of course I do, she’s one of my best friends!” David defended, eventually managing to succeed in pushing Kenny and Kyle off of him. His ears were still red as he sat up, however.

“He meant ‘like-like’, silly!” Powder corrected, pushing through the boys to crouch in front of David. “So, do you like-like Charlotte? Be honest!”

“I’m not telling you anything,” David replied petulantly.

Before Powder could pull off one of her signature pouts, Kyle blocked the way, requesting, “Look, if he doesn’t want to say anything, he doesn’t have to. Leave him alone and let’s just have fun, guys.”

“Can we join the girls then?!” Clyde asked excitedly, jumping up and down. “Please, please, please, please, pleaaaaaase?!”

“Just don’t get yourself killed,” Craig sighed, taking hold of Tweek's hand. "C'mon, Tweek. Let's go build a sandcastle."

-=-=-=-

An hour or so later, the beach soon had both the boys and the girls running around, laughing and playing around. Bebe had gone back to sunning herself, but this time she was near Clyde, who was busy burying himself in the sand next to her. Nichole and Token had, unsurprisingly, taken up the equivalent of parental supervision, seeing as that Shelly had immediately gone back to sleep under her own beach umbrella, undisturbed.

David, on his part, was sitting morosely by the water, watching as the ocean’s gray waves lapped at his feet every now and then, Every now and then a small hermit crab would pass by him and look up at him before scuttling away, and he’d only sigh and look past the water into the horizon.

He wanted to have fun like the rest of them, he really did. But he hadn’t expected having the girls around. A day out was just... different with girls around. Well, he amended to himself, not so much different-different, more like it felt different. Just a little. He prided himself on being friends with a lot of people, the girls included, but honestly? He felt pretty naked around the girls right now, being completely unprepared for the possibility of them being on the beach with them.

And then there was Charlotte.

David groaned, lying down in the sand and closing his eyes. He shouldn’t even be making so much of a fuss about it, really, but Gary had made it extremely clear that while he was against violence, he was not above using David as the next Harrison door mat should he try anything on his adopted sister.

Not my fault Char and I are best mates, David grumbled mentally to himself. Also not my fault that I like her.

“David?”

His heart skipped a beat as a shadow crossed his face. He opened his eyes, and found Charlotte peering down at him curiously. In her hand was a rather large bucket with exactly three very pretty shells in it. “Char.”

“What are you doin’ here all alone, guy?” She asked. “Everyone’s over at the other side of the beach.”

“I just...” He sighed, sitting up. Charlotte backed away and then proceeded to take a seat next to him. “I just wanted some time to think.”

“They told me it was your first time out, buddy,” Charlotte murmured softly, watching as a shell washed itself up by her feet. She picked it up and traced it with a finger as she asked, “Is that true?”

“First time out without parental supervision, yeah,” David admitted. “They... said the same for you too. Is that true?”

“Mhm.”

The two turned to look at the ocean. The waves continued to roll gently as David chuckled, making Charlotte look at him curiously. “Funny how our families landed us in the exact same situations, huh?”

“I dunno, I mean, the others don’t seem to have the same problem, right?” Charlotte pointed out. “Or maybe that’s just because they’re Americans, guy.”

“I mean, I’m Latino-American, but I guess my situation’s just a little different from theirs because my mother would die before letting me out without supervision,” David shrugged. “She’s overprotective like that.”

“How’d you end up getting permission for this one, then?”

“Token was very persuasive,” David admitted. “And he’s also technically older than the majority of us, and also has a driver’s license. I think his responsibility won my mother over.”

Charlotte giggled before looking back towards the water. “So you’ve gone to the beach with family before, then?”

“Family reunion, once, somewhere in Rio de Janeiro, courtesy of an uncle,” David leaned back, supporting himself with his arms.

“So you know how to swim, then?”

“I consider myself quite the swimmer. Why do you ask?”

“Just asking,” Charlotte smiled before standing up. She held out a hand to him and pulled him up before asking, “Want to take a walk?”

“Sure.”

-=-=-=-

“Has anyone seen Charlotte?” Nichole asked in concern as both the boys and the girls settled down for lunch on the beach. Stan had gone off to wake up Shelly for lunch as Milly and Tweek began passing out sandwiches to the rest of them.

“David’s missing tuh-t-too,” Jimmy noted. The boy hadn’t been allowed to go to the beach due to his crutches, but, unable to bear with him not going with them, Craig’s gang had brought along a laptop and a router so they could Skype him while on the beach.

“Scandalous,” Jenny Simon giggled before whining as Lola cuffed her ear. “Owww, Lola, what was that for?”

“You’re the only one implying something lewd here, Jenny, stop that,” Lola told her sternly.

Kyle sighed. “Still. They’ve been gone for a while now. I know David went to sit somewhere on the other side of the beach alone but that’s it.”

“Charlotte was wandering around looking for pretty shells last I remember,” Esther recalled. “Maybe she ran across him and they took a walk.”

“To where? The only other interesting parts around here is the short walk back to civilization,” Milly pointed out.

Tweek took a sip from his apple juice. “W-well, that, and the rumored c-cave.”

“What cave?” Craig asked him curiously.

The blond pulled out his phone and Googled something before showing everyone. “I-It’s said that if you take a dive s-somewhere nearby you’ll find an underground entrance t-to a cave nearby, b-but so far nobody’s really found it, so they say it’s urban legend.”

“Maybe they went diving,” Clyde suggested despite the three sandwiches in his mouth.

-=-=-=-

It would be hours later, when the sun was setting, when both Charlotte and David made their way back to the group, and by that point, all of them were just about ready to call the police about their disappearance. At the sight of Charlotte, Butters shrieked and knocked her over with the force of his hug, while Kyle nearly decked David after checking to see if he was real by patting his face and shoulders.

“Where have you two been?!” Nichole’s voice rose an octave before she cleared her throat. Her voice was still up there as she asked, “We’ve been worried for hours!”

“Sorry, guy,” Charlotte’s cheeks tinted pink - something that made Jenny cackle before Lola kicked her in the shin. “We lost track of time, I guess.”

“You guys will not believe what we found while diving,” David tried to remedy. He nudged Charlotte, who let out a small ‘oh!’ before showing everyone else her bucket. When they peered in, they saw-

“Holy fucking shit,” Token swore loudly, making everyone look at him in surprise as he pulled out one of the stones in Charlotte’s bucket. “Charlotte, where did you guys find these?”

Charlotte’s face colored a little more as she smiled. “David was teaching me how to dive when he found this really neat path to a cave underwater, and when I finally learned how he led me to it, and we found these. Pretty, right, guy?”

“These are all different kinds of quartz,” Token identified. “This one in particular looks like a rose quartz. You stumbled upon quite the treasure trove, you two.”

David and Charlotte looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear, before Wendy asked, “Did you two break off these pieces from the cave you were in?”

“Oh, no!” David shook his head. “We just picked up the ones that were already broken off pieces. It was too pretty to destroy.”

“That’s good,” Wendy nodded in approval.

“Looks like it’s getting dark soon. We should all head back,” Shelly reminded. The younger kids all groaned, but they did begin the trek back to civilization, where their respective rides awaited.

-=-=-=-

“Did you have fun today, my dear?” Mrs. Harrison asked, tucking in her second oldest daughter.

Charlotte smiled. “Mhm. It was real fun today, buddy.”

“Well, I’m glad you had fun. I told your father it would be a good learning and adjustment experience for you here, and I’m just so pleased that he let you go,” Pressing a kiss to her temple, Mrs. Harrison turned off the lights before saying, “Good night, Charlotte, dear. I’ll be tucking in your brothers and sisters now.”

“Okay, Mom,” Charlotte smiled as her mother shut the door.

Her phone buzzed just then, and, curious, Charlotte sat up and picked it up from her dresser, opening it to see who messaged.

You have 1 new messages.

From: latinerd

you up?

Charlotte smiled.

To: latinerd

abt to sleep. u?

From: latinerd

oh shit sorry i’ll just tell you tomorrow then

To: latinerd

no way tell me now loser or ill deck u tmrw

From: latinerd

fiiiiine :P i just wanted to say that today turned out really great i thought it wouldn’t be really good since i didn’t expect you girls to be there but you made today better

To: latinerd

omg u nerd

From: latinerd

hey i’m just being honest here also um

A minute passed.

To: latinerd

u fell asleep or smth?????

From: latinerd

no i just don’t know how to tell you

To: latinerd

tell me what

From: latinerd

um i uh liked your swimsuit it was really cute and i dunno i guess i’m just not used to seeing you in cute things because you like wearing things people normally wouldn’t consider cute but you look cute in anything so idk

From: latinerd

FUCK THAT SENT

Charlotte couldn’t keep down the blush that erupted on her face at that moment, and, thankful that Gary wasn’t around, hurriedly texted a reply.

To: latinerd

thanks thats rly sweet of u david i gotta go 2 sleep now tho

From: latinerd

oh shit i’m really sorry for keeping you up this late it’s like what 10 already have a good night’s sleep dude

To: latinerd

thanks you too ok

From: latinerd

okay goodnight char

To: latinerd

goodnight david

Charlotte shut off her phone, and put it on the dresser, before going back under the covers and going to sleep.

One final message made its way to her inbox, but by that point, she was fast asleep.

From: latinerd

sweet dreams