Chapter Text
"You sure you won't teach me how to surf?"
Herc fought a smile at Raleigh's plaintive question, but didn't move his eyes away from the book he was reading. "I'm sure. You want to learn, there are plenty of professionals around who'd be thrilled to give you a lesson. They might even give you a freebie if you name drop."
"Not the point. Come on, Herc. It's a beautiful day; do you really want to spend it hiding under an umbrella, reading a book?"
Herc glanced from his book to find Raleigh smiling good-naturedly at him, despite his petulant tone. "I haven't surfed in over twenty years, Raleigh. Trust me: you're better off with a pro." He slid the scrap paper that served as his bookmark between pages, then set the book aside. "Tell you what: come over here and I'll help you with your sunscreen, then you can do whatever you want."
Raleigh quirked an eyebrow, but obligingly fished the sunscreen bottle from his satchel and settled on the sand next to Herc. "You know, if all you'd wanted to do was lie around, we could have done that at the hotel—with fewer clothes." Raleigh grinned suggestively over his shoulder as he offered the bottle to Herc. "Just us. Imagine what we could get up to."
Herc shook his head. "You'd be climbing the walls before noon." He took the bottle and squeezed a generous amount of sunscreen over his fingers, smoothed it over the broad expanse of Raleigh's back before his fingers followed the sharply-angled scars down Raleigh's left side. "You don't want to go back already, do you?"
"Tempting." Raleigh shifted under Herc's hands. "But, no. I'm good if you are." He dropped his head, back arched as he stretched. "Finish up with that stuff and I'll go get us ice cream."
Herc chuckled and dropped a kiss on Raleigh's shoulder. "Deal." He finished applying the sunscreen with military efficiency despite the urge to linger over the warmth of Raleigh's skin, then patted Raleigh's hip. "You should be good. Go on, and get me—"
"Strawberry, I know." Raleigh twisted to steal a quick kiss, then stood with a smile and headed toward the concession stands littering the edge of the beach. Herc watched him until he was lost in the crowd, then opened his book again and resumed his interrupted reading.
It was two chapters later before Herc realized that he was still alone, and he closed the book to scan the beach for Raleigh. It took a while, but Herc did eventually spot him as Raleigh crossed the sand with a cone in each hand. He was so goddamned beautiful, so relaxed and comfortable in his own skin, that Herc's chest tightened. Even weaving through half-dressed strangers, Raleigh wore a soft expression that left an impression as warm as a smile.
Herc didn't know how he'd gotten so lucky.
Raleigh stopped, and Herc watched as he crouched next to a little girl. It was too far to see clearly, but the way she swiped at her cheeks hinted at upset. Raleigh tilted his head in what Herc had come to recognize as his attentive listening pose, then pressed one of the cones he held into the little girl's hand, took her other in his, and headed back the way he'd come with her beside him. As he opened his book again, Herc couldn't help the fond smile; Raleigh was a helper, whether it was helping a probably-lost child or saving the world as they knew it.
It wasn't long before a foot nudged his hip, and Herc looked up to find Raleigh standing over him, offering him a dripping ice cream cone. Herc raised an eyebrow as a few drops of ice cream lost to gravity and fell on his chest, then took the cone and wrapped his tongue around it to chase more of the melting ice cream before he wore that, too. It was bright and sweet and cold on his tongue, absolutely perfect.
"You're making a mess there," Raleigh teased as he sat beside Herc and ran his finger over the ice cream spotting Herc's skin to wipe it away. He sucked his finger clean, then seized Herc's wrist and dragged it to his mouth to lick some ice cream from Herc's cone. "You're already edible; you don't need to go adding to it."
Herc raised an eyebrow. "You don't really want to play that game now, Raleigh, do you?" He eyed Raleigh as he ran his tongue around the top of the cone, watched as Raleigh's eyes focused on the motion. "I know your tricks." He offered the cone to Raleigh and smiled when Raleigh wasted no time leaning in for another taste. "You could've gotten yourself another, you know?"
Raleigh flushed, a splash of color across his cheeks that Herc wanted to kiss; he distracted himself with another lick of ice cream until the urge passed. "You saw that, huh? She needed it more than I did—I hate it when kids cry." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The lines were long enough that yours would've been completely melted before I was halfway back to the counter. I didn't think you'd mind sharing."
Herc chuckled and shook his head. "I don't mind—but I know you don't like strawberry." He shifted to bump his shoulder against Raleigh's. "Want me to get you your own?"
"I'm good." Raleigh's fingers caught Herc's chin long enough to turn his head for a light kiss, then dropped to pat Herc's thigh. "I'm going to take a walk, I think. Want to come?"
"Yeah, nah. There's not enough sunscreen in the world to keep me from burning. You go, have fun."
"You gingers and your delicate complexions." Raleigh's smile gave lie to his mocking words, and he rose after another pat to Herc's thigh. "I'll be back."
Herc grunted his acknowledgment and Raleigh turned, rolled his shoulders and ambled off with no apparent destination in mind. Herc retrieved his book again and read as he finished his ice cream, but the words weren't holding his attention now, and he soon set it aside in favor of people-watching.
Looking for Raleigh was inevitable, and Herc found him quickly. He was no more than fifty feet away, busily following the directions of a little girl—she looked like the same one he'd rescued earlier—to construct a sand castle. Raleigh scooped and packed and dumped, and Herc wasn't above admiring the flex of Raleigh's back as Raleigh worked with the pail he'd been given. Together, he and the girl constructed an impressive... well, it looked like a haphazard pile of sand to Herc, but the girl seemed happy enough with it, and Raleigh didn't look to be arguing.
It was only a short while before a man appeared to collect the girl; he stood and spoke with Raleigh as the girl gathered up her construction tools, shook Raleigh's hand before he led the girl away. One they'd left, Raleigh rubbed the back of his neck and skirted the pile of sand to continue down the beach.
Herc dragged his eyes away from Raleigh to study the other beachgoers, watched children and adults alike as they played in the surf. The beach wasn't as packed as he remembered from his youth, but he could understand people's skepticism and paranoia after over a decade of dreading what could emerge from the depths at any time. It was still good to see people reclaiming what had been taken from them.
It was hard to believe, there, relaxed on warm sand as the people enjoying themselves surrounded him, that the kaiju had ever existed.
It took effort to drag himself away from the maudlin thoughts that dogged him, but it helped when he spotted Raleigh again. Raleigh appeared to be deep in conversation with a group of men, all of whom gestured sharply as they spoke. A frisson of worry slid through Herc's chest, only to dissipate a moment later when one of the men offered a cricket bat to Raleigh. Both men laughed, but Raleigh took the proffered bat before the group turned and headed farther down the beach to claim a stretch of wet sand.
It was apparent within minutes that Raleigh knew nothing of cricket, but there seemed to be no hard feelings about his fumbles and misdirections. Herc couldn't help his smile at Raleigh's first hit, bit back a chuckle when his teammates pointed their directions, many conflicting; Raleigh was not going to be any more educated in cricket than he had been when he started, but at least he seemed to be enjoying himself.
God knew he'd earned it.
Herc watched the game until it wound down and their shadows stretched across the sand as the men traded handshakes and backslaps, then scattered across the beach. Raleigh ambled toward him with a few men from the game, waved and split from them a few yards from where Herc lounged, and came to a stop inches from Herc's feet. "Did you relax?"
Herc chuckled and levered himself from the sand. "Enough. It looked like you were having fun."
"I was." Raleigh smiled and brushed his lips over Herc's chin. "Still suck at sports, though—I guess some things never change." He ran his fingers over the curve of Herc's ribs, dragged his short nails over Herc's skin.. "Want to get out of here?"
Herc nodded, caught Raleigh's hand and tugged it to his lips to press a kiss against his palm, then released him to collect their things. He offered Raleigh the T-shirt and sandals he'd discarded as soon as they'd hit the beach, then tugged on his own. "Glad we came?"
"Very much so." Raleigh took his satchel from Herc and slung it across his chest as Herc tucked the umbrella under his arm and shouldered his own bag. "Maybe we could come back tomorrow."
"Mm." Herc took a step to bump his shoulder against Raleigh's, then headed for the edge of the beach. "I was thinking of something involving the hotel room and fewer clothes."
Raleigh blinked, then laughed. "Even if I climb the walls by noon?" He shook his head and moved in close enough to catch Herc's hand and lace their fingers together. "Sounds like a plan."