The Maiden's Dragon

Vacation

They decided to go to Hawaii over Christmas break.  Red was the only one who had been before and warm sandy beaches appealed to everyone as the winter rolled in.  Red rented a little house right on the beach and they eagerly headed out to the shore right after breakfast.

"I'm gonna build the biggest sand castle ever!" Tommy vowed.

Tommy impatiently let Red slather him in sunscreen before they gave him free reign to play.  Anson and Vivienne held still much more easily while Red helped with their backs.  Vivienne returned the favor for Red, and turned the exercise in sun protection into a slightly more lengthy process that silently promised a whole different experience in touch.

Red threw her over a shoulder and stalked down the beach to the water, tossing them both under the waves to cool off.  Vivienne came up sputtering and laughing, wrapping around Red to kiss him until Tommy yelled at them that they were supposed to be helping.  "Sorry kiddo," Vivienne laughed as they came to assist.  "I couldn't resist teasing your Dad."

"I think he won," Tommy soberly observed.

They had quite the pile of sand by the time the beach had filled up with people.  Red looked up when a woman came jogging towards them with intent.  She smiled and waved as she approached.

"Hey.  I'm Alex.  We're trying to get a volleyball game started but we need a couple more players.  Anybody interested?"

Vivienne shrugged.  "You'd have to give us a rundown of the rules."

"Not a problem."

Red waved Vivienne and Anson on and leaned back on his hands.  "Tommy and I aren't done with the castle.  But if we decide to go for ice cream we're leaving without you."

Anson heard the blatant lie and laughed.  Vivienne inhaled in mock horror, turning to Tommy.  "You wouldn't let him do that to us would you?"

Tommy grinned.  "Maybe."

They laughed and followed Alex over to the net that had been set up for the game.  Red half watched them as he took the bucket Tommy handed him and started packing it with sand.  Alex made a couple introductions and stopped off to talk to a man before getting the game started.  The man made a face as Alex left him, but turned and struck out for Red and Tommy.  He gingerly approached.

"Hi.  I'm Seb."

"I'm Harry, this is Tommy."

Seb reached up to scrub at the back of his neck, shuffling a step closer.  "If you want me to piss off you can just say.  Alex is the social butterfly.  I tend to be happier curled up with a book and my cat but Alex thinks I should try to make more friends."

Red smiled.  "I'm more of a dog person but I understand completely."  He made a gesture of invitation to sit.  "The things we do for love huh?"

Seb laughed, some of the nervous tension going out of him as he sat down.  "Yeah."  He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.  "I hope my girl didn't ruin your day by stealing yours away from you."

"Nah.  She looks pretty happy and I like looking after my kid."  He watched as the ball went sailing over the net and Vivienne dug for it.  She got it high enough to be set and Anson spiked it over.  There were whoops of victory and Vivienne brushed herself off with a grin.

"Which one is yours?"

"The girl is my fiancée.  The man is my housemate."

"Oh.  Oh!  Sorry.  I'm usually better at picking up on that."

Red shrugged.  "Anson's pretty cool about it.  He's sorta still getting used to it himself."

Seb nodded.  "That's good to hear."  He grinned as Red handed over the packed bucket of sand and Tommy carefully added it to his structure.  "This is an awesome castle little dude.  You did it all yourself?"