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foxxhoecourt · 6 years ago

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Let’s Go to the Beach!

Fandom: Mech-X4

Relationship: Ryan Walker/ Veracity Campbell

Tags: Pre-Slash, Fluff and Angst, Post Canon, Scars

Summary: The evil may be gone, but the scars remain.

Text: Read on AO3

“Woohoo! Beach time!” Spyder yelled as he threw himself out of the car, ducking his head just in time to avoid hitting the doorframe. A concussion would be a bummer, especially now that Traeger was gone and the team was finally getting their well deserved vacation.

The beach house they pulled up to was big enough to fit the team (and Grace, who had agreed to chaperone) comfortably, walking distance from the beach, and relatively low tech. The point of going to beach was to unplug, anyway, as well as spend time as a team in a non-life threatening situation, so it was time to ditch the science fiction for a week and live low-key.

“Ohh sweet!” Ryan followed, slapping Spyder on the back as he ran into the house. The rest followed, woops of excitement erupting from the younger boys as they all pushed each other in hopes of getting the best bedroom. Veracity and Mark approached the house calmer, shouts and the telltale sounds of someone getting pushed to the ground audible from upstairs.

“Not worried about getting the suite?” Mark asked Veracity, wincing as another shriek filled the house.

“Nah,” she shrugged. “I get my own room no matter what. That’s enough for me.”

Veracity rounded the stairs to the second floor and almost tripped over Harris, who was currently in Spyder’s headlock. Stepping over the wrestling boys and ignoring the quiet “Not the time, not the time!” coming from Harris, Veracity entered one of the bedrooms and looked around. It was nothing special but it had a great view to the ocean, so she flopped down onto the bed. Sadly, her moment of peace was broken by a shout of triumph from Ryan as he claimed the suite.

“You know!” Veracity called through her open door, “Since the suite only has one bed you and Mark are gonna have to share.”

Twin groans erupted before Mark announced, “Guess you’re on the couch, bro.”

“What the hell! I got here first!” Ryan quipped back before the brothers devolved into more fighting. As much as Veracity loved her team, sharing a living space with them for a week was going to be a challenge.

“Everyone come down and help unpack the car!” Mrs. Walker called from downstairs. Veracity picked herself up and scurried downstairs with the boys.

“This isn’t over,” Ryan gritted out, angrily picking up a cooler from the car trunk. Most of what needed to be unpacked was food they had brought, so the team congregated in the kitchen to discuss what the plans were.

“It’s what, four o'clock now?” Harris said, “So why don’t we get dinner and then hit up the beach?”

Veracity agreed, leaning over the kitchen island, “Sounds good to me. There's probably some good restaurants on the boardwalk.”

“Mmmm, I’m thinking crab. It reminds me of this time I-” Spyder was cut of by Ryan’s hand over his mouth, saving the group from a story that would have probably put them off from crab forever.

---

With full stomachs, the teens returned to the house to gather everything they needed for a few hours at the beach.

“Towels?” Grace asked as they got their bags together.

“Check.”

“Water?”

“Check,” Veracity said as she loaded up the cooler with bottles of water and snacks.

“And I’ve got the boogie boards!” Mark lifted two boards which looked well loved and worn, flames decorating both.

“Yes!’ Spyder said, grabbing one from mark and putting it on the floor to surf, flailing arms and all.

Mark jokingly pushed Spyder of the board, “Get off dufus.”

“Hey! I’m the king of surf!” he retorted.

“Well you can show us when we’re actually at the beach, c’mon people let's get this show on the road!” Harris started out the door, towel around his shoulder.

“Where’s Ryan?” Grace asked, not seeing her son in the common room.

“He was getting his swimsuit on last time I saw him,” Mark said. “I’ll grab him and tell him to hurry up.”

The older brother went to the stairs. Before he could get halfway up, though, Ryan himself almost ran Mark over, flying down the stairs.

“Alright, let's get our beach on!” Ryan said in his typical cheerful fashion. Veracity sensed something was off but the other boys just whooped in agreement and ran out of the house. Ryan had a football in hand and tossed it to Mark, who had to drop the boogie boards to catch it.

“Hey, no football in the house!” Grace called, picking up her beach bag.

“C’mon bro, last one to the water is sleeping on the couch!” Mark yelled as he ran out the door behind Harris and Spyder.

“Not cool, Mark!” Ryan followed.

Grace sighed and picked up the boogie boards, struggling to find a grip for a second, before Veracity grabbed one and put it under her arm.

“Thank you, Veracity,” Grace said with a smile.

“It’s no problem, Mrs. Walker. We girls gotta stick together, don’t we?” Veracity answered, doing a slow arm punch like she would do to any of the guys.

Grace didn’t know to respond exactly, nor did she have a free hand, so with an awkward chuckle, she responded, “Let’s just make sure none of them drown out there.”

Veracity nodded, “Sounds good!”

She grabbed the cooler, and walked with Grace out the door, who shut it firmly. Eventually the two met up with the boys, who had all dropped their shirts and supplies in a pile and jumped into the ocean. All except Ryan, who was sitting on towel, smiling out at his friends. While Grace set up an umbrella a little bit away from the boys’ pile and started to read a book, Veracity sad down beside Ryan.

“I guess you’re sleeping on the couch?” she asked, genuinely curious why he wasn’t out with the others.

Ryan seemed to have not heard her but, after a moment, noticed her presents with a double take, “Oh! Hey V, did you say something?”

“I asked why you weren’t swimming with everyone else.”

He chuckled half-heartedly, looking down at his crossed legs, “I mean, I could ask you the same thing.”

“Well, I,” Veracity answered, looking at Ryan even if he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Wanted to check in on you. You seemed a little quiet during the drive and you took a while getting ready so-”

“I’m ok, V. Just don’t feel like swimming today,” he finally looked up.

Veracity squinted, “Hmmm-- You’re lying. But it’s ok, you can keep me company.” She pulled out a book and layed back.

“Wuthering Heights? Isn’t that an old romance book?”

She looked up, unimpressed, from her position lying down, “What? Should I be reading a textbook on particle physics?”

Ryan laughed, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“If you must know, it’s part of my required reading for next year,” her gaze returned to the book, but her attention remained on her friend.

His face twisted up, “You actually do the required reading?”

“Uh huh. Though I’m mostly reading this book to hate the characters,” Veracity shrugged.

“They’re that bad?” Ryan asked, twisting to lie on his side, facing her.

She nodded, “Totally. They’re all terrible people, but I guess that’s what makes it a good romance- they deserve each other.”

“Do you read a lot of romance books?” his eyebrows furrowed a little.

“Nah,” she challenged. “I’m too busy reading about particle physics.”

The two chatted for a little bit longer, the sounds of the waves and their friends in the distance. Gentle reminders that they were safe, that they had made it through everything the past year had thrown at them. Silence eventually fell over the pair and Veracity finally started reading her book. But the quiet was short lasting before a dripping wet Spyder interrupted, shaking his head like a dog and getting both the teens and V’s book wet.

“What the hell, Spyder?” Veracity said harshly, using her towel to dry the novel.

The boy grimaced, “Oof, sorry. I just wanted to know if you had a hair tie I could borrow? My hair keeps getting in my eyes.”

Still a little startled, Veracity dug into her bag and pulled out a black hair tie, holding it out to him.

“Cool! Thanks V!” Spyder yelled over his shoulder as he ran and tied up his hair at the same time.

Ryan watched the ordeal with amusement before noticing V’s still damp book.

“Oh shoot is your book gonna be ok?” he winced.

She sighed, assessing the damage, “Yeah this isn’t a library book, I own it, so that’s not an issue. It’s just gonna be all wavy.” She clicked her tongue and inspected the novel before putting it down. “It’s fine, I was done reading for the time being anyway.”

“You barely got to read at all,” Ryan pointed out.

Veracity jumped up, “That’s just how it is going to the beach with four boys! C’mon, the water’s warm.”

The confidence Ryan seemed to have been regaining over the course of their conversation instantly left him. He bit his lip.

“V? I’m gonna show you something and if it’s too gross just tell me-”

“Oh my god Ryan I don’t want to see your-” Veracity quickly interjected.

“It's not my-!” Ryan cut her off, both of them blushing profusely.

“It’s this.” Ryan lifted his tee shirt, reveling an X scared into the entirety of his chest.

Veracity crouched down to his level, examining the scar with mouth slightly agape. “Is that? From the-”

“X- weapon? Yeah. Harris thought it would heal right up like most of the times I get hurt but I’ve never gotten burned before- and it’s been like this ever since it started to heal,” Ryan talked fast, like he needed to explain his situation.

“And you think it’s gross?” Veracity asked, confused as to why Ryan was letting this of all things affect him. He never seem to be one of those vain guys who worried about his appearance.

“Isn’t it?” Ryan looked at her, scared.

She hummed for a second before reaching out and running her fingers across one section of it, “No. It’s not gross. And I think I know your problem with it.”

Ryan shuddered a little at her feather light touch but rolled his eyes to mask his feelings, “Enlighten me?”

“Well, we know that you hate when us, or your mom, see you hurt. You think it makes you look weak. Right?” Veracity looked knowingly at the boy.

“Fine. But-”

“And a scar is a permanent reminder of you getting hurt.”

“I don’t see how this is supposed to make me feel better.”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to make you feel better? I was just answering your question. With a /hint/ of psychoanalyzing.”

Ryan rolled his eyes again as Veracity continued, “Well anyway, what I was gonna say is that getting hurt, needing help, doesn’t make you weak, Ryan, it makes you strong. This scar,” she gestured to Ryan’s once again covered chest. “Proves that. You take the hits like a champ, and you know what I think?”

“Aren’t you already telling me?” Ryan cocked his head.

It was her turn to roll her eyes, “I think that a scar doesn’t show that you got hurt, it shows that you healed.”

Ryan licked his lips and looked away, unable to deal with the intensity of her gaze. “Uh, thanks, V. That, uh, did make me feel better, actually.”

Veracity stood up and smiled, holding her hand out, “Cool. Ready to swim now?”

Ryan took her outstretched hand and used it to get up, “Yeah. I think so.”

He took of his shirt and she took off her cover-up and glasses.“Race ya,” Ryan challenged.

“You’re on, labrat.”

#mech x4 #ryan walker #veracity campbell #mech x4 fanfiction #ryan mech x4 #sypder mech x4 #harris mech x 4 #mark mech x4

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