~~Sally's Pov~~
"Swimming time! Swimming time!" Sally cheers as she skips down the stairs.
"Slow down so you don't trip!" You call after her.
"But I'm so excited to swim! I love going to the ocean!" Sally tells you. "It's so much fun! You learned how to swim right?"
You freeze at her words as your cheeks flush bright red, a few of the pastas looking up from what they're doing to look at you. Sally turns around when you go silent, a huff leaving her. In all the places by the ocean she sent you you never learned how to swim?!
"I learned the basics?" You tell her.
She shakes her head and marches off to go find daddy. Someone needs to teach you! You never went in the water without a life jacket when she was growing up. Sally knows you know how to swim you just don't do it. She never really asked you why now that she thinks about it. The only time she's seen you in the water without a life jacket is when you've saved people. Sally remembers when she was littler and she fell into the deep end of a pool before she knew how to swim. People said you threw off the life jacket so fast people thought you just tore the whole thing in half at first.
"Daddy! Mommy doesn't know how to swim!" She says, loud and clear for everyone one to hear.
"You never learned how to swim?" Daddy asks, poking his head out of the kitchen to look at you.
"I learned! I just.....don't do it," You mumble with pink cheeks. "I don't like going into the water without a life jacket."
"Which is perfectly understandable. That's why I got you one," Uncle Trendy says, handing you the (f/c) life jacket.
"I'm fine in an emergency," You mumble softly.
"The ocean isn't really the place to learn but I can help you," Daddy offers.
Sally frowns when you go quiet, feeling bad for having announced your swimming issue to everybody. You've been here for six months now but she knows how you are. You don't like talking about yourself. If it wasn't for the fact she's your daughter she wonders if you would have kept your feelings to yourself your whole life. You know plenty about everyone else, plus daddy did need to know you have a hard time swimming so he can keep an eye on you.
"I don't really need to learn. I know how, it's just.....," You trail off.
"What happened?" Daddy asks, Sally tilting her head to the side.
"I....I've almost drowned a few times," You mumble softly. "And.....I lost a friend to drowning."
Everyone goes quiet at your words but work together to cheer you back up. Sally can swim but she'll gladly stay closer to the shore with you!
~~Your Pov~~
"I was just offering. Please don't feel pressured," Slender says when it's just you and him in the mansion after he teleports everyone to the vacation spot, having hung back with you to make sure things are okay.
"It's not that. I know how I just.....panic when my head goes under water. That's why I have to wear a life jacket or else I never come up," You explains. "I have a hard time righting myself."
"You still want to go?" Slender presses gently.
"Of course I do! I can still have other fun, just no swimming in the deep ocean unless I have a life jacket," You tell him.
"Want me to wear a life jacket too?" He asks and you let out a snort of laughter.
"Okay, get on the make fun of me train," You huff out at him.
"No, I'm serious. If it would make you feel better I'll wear one too. I have a custom made one for boating and things along those lines," Slender explains. "How about I bring it with just in case?"
"I'm scared of the water. I never lost a friend to it I'm just scared of the water. You don't know what's out there lurking beneath the depths and if you're not careful it'll make you disappear forever." You admit to Slender.
~~Slender's POV~~
"Why are you telling me?" He presses gently, wanting to know why you're willingly sharing information.
Sure, you've been here a total of six months but he still knows so little about you. You don't like talking about yourself and you only got really animated whenever Sally asked about things. It's the only way any of them have been able to get any information out of you.
"Sorry," Is what you reply, and he hates himself for even asking in the first place. He should have just let it be.
"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just, you have every right to hate me," He explains quickly, resting a gentle hand on your shoulder. "Thank you for trusting me with this."
Slender can easily read the amusement in your eyes when you look at him. What's so funny? He shakes away the thought and looks down at you, feeling you actually relax against his touch.
"Shall we?" You ask, finally snapping him back to reality.
He nods his head and grabs your hand, teleporting both of you to the beach you would all have fun on. You're amazed as you look around at the little retreat that surrounds you. There were cabins for everyone to stay in, a bath house, spa, and everything else you'd expect from a luxurious vacation.
"Slender! My man!" The familiar man in a burgundy suit and flaming red eyes asks Slender.
You immediately hide behind Slender slightly out of nervousness and cling to his arm. He won't lie, he likes you relying on him.
"Lucifer, don't scare the poor girl. Why are you even here?" Slender asks as your hold tightens on him. "Relax, he means no harm," Slender says, turning around and kneeling to your height. "He's a friend and is the one that'll help us defeat Zalgo. Everyone needs a break from duties."
"I do apologize. If there was something I could do I would but unless it's Heaven against Hell I allow free rein to the demons. My fault it got out of hand," Lucifer says with an embarrassed chuckle. "You're made in my father's image and yet, everyone blames me for how the world turned out. You humans are meant to think like him. Pretty horrid thoughts if you ask me."
"Lucifer," Slender growls softly.
"I'm sorry," You say, taking a hesitant towards Lucifer and offering your hand. "I'm Y/N, nice to officially meet you. We didn't really get much of a chance to introduce ourselves."
"And I'm Lucifer," He says, gladly accepting your hand. "Sorry, went off on a tangent there BUT! It's my resort, so I can come and go as I please."
"More like you wanted to crash the vacation and throw a massive party instead," Slender complains with a groan.
"What?! You guys are a lot of fun!" Lucifer barks with laughter. "Shall we join the others?"
Slender sets both of your bags down and motions you to follow him and Lucifer. He keeps a close eye on you as the king of Hell fills the silence with whatever complaint or happiness he's feeling.
"Y/N!" Mary calls, a smile coming to your lips as you run over and hug her.
"Hey, watch that hand," Jane's voice scolds, earning snickers from you and her wife. "I see you trying to touch her butt. That's my butt."
"Darling!" Mary laughs, pulling away and hugging Jane instead.
Slender wants it so bad. He wants to be able to talk to you without anything between the both of you. He wants so badly for you to forgive him for everything he did when you first came here. He was a major asshole.
"Mommy! Daddy! Come build a sand castle with me!" Sally calls from her place on the beach.
You take off your life jacket and Slender sets it with the stuff before following you to Sally. She runs back and forth to collect water as you and him use the buckets to make a castle. Slender winds up taking control of construction.
"Wow, that's amazing," You remark as the three of you admire the work.
"Now a monster comes to destroy the castle!" Jeff announces, giving a roar and stomping towards the sand castle.
"No! Be gone foul beast!" Sally gasps, grabbing a stick at waving it at Jeff.
Slender enjoys your laughter and your smiles throughout the day, pretty much staying rooted right by your side. When everyone goes out to swim Slender settles on the beach beside you. He tenses at first when you lean against him but does end up relaxing after a moment. It's winter back at the mansion and the snow was coming down non-stop. So, Slender figured a vacation is in order. After calling up a favor, Lucifer is letting all of you use his own private resort.
"This is so nice," He hears you say softly as you lean against him.
"It is. Do you want to go into the water?" He asks you.
"Not right now. I just.....want to stay like this. Unless you wanted to go in," You mumble.
"No, I like this better," He admits, just enjoying your company as the rest of the group plays in the ocean.
After a while he heads into the ocean while you stay on shore and just let the waves lap at your feet. He keeps a close eye on you as he enjoys the water, frowning when he suddenly sees you go alert. He looks around but doesn't find anyone in danger, slowly making his way towards the beach as you jerk your head around. He can practically feel your panic from here. He teleports in front of you just as you jerk out of your beach chair, Slender blocking you and teleporting you to his bedroom in the cabin.
"Calm down. What did you see?" He asks, his hands on your shoulders to steady you.
He pulls you into a gentle hug when all you can do is cry and tremble, gently shushing you as he rubs your back. He pauses a moment before taking a breath, singing softly to you.
"Rising high beyond the morn, laying shadows on the floor Long is the day when the moon obscures the sun 'Tis the darkness they become, till the dawn upon the fjord," He sings gently, feeling you begin to relax in his hold.
"I saw him. I swear I saw Zalgo," You breathe out. "He was right there and I didn't know what to do."
"If it happens again you find me, understand? If I'm not around Lucifer is a safe bet. Okay?" He asks, 'looking' down at you as you look up at him. "I'm going to protect you. I swear it."
He gives you a gentle squeeze, letting you rest against him for a little while. When you feel calm enough you and Slender head back to the beach. He 'glares' at Offender when he shoots Slender a grin like he knows something. His brother really needs to get his mind out of the damn gutter. It's made even when Lucifer wiggles his eyebrows at him, glad you're distracted enough to not notice.
"Let's go swimming," You pull him out of his distraction.
"Sure," He says, helping you into your life vest before you both head into the water.
"Mommy!" Sally grins, swimming over to you when you get deep enough. "Look how long I can hold my breath!"
"Alright. Ready. Set. Go!" You smile, counting out the seconds as Sally dives underwater. "Twenty seconds!"
"That's a new record!" Sally grins at you.
Slender chuckles softly and gently splashes you and Sally. An all out splash fight breaks out as everyone works to keep their balance. He watches you laugh and have fun with everyone, happy you weren't letting your worries get the better of you. He turns away to splash his brothers who launch an assault on him, everyone laughing as they swim or walk away in the water to avoid the onslaught.
"Ha! I win!" Slender declares after a satisfying splash, his brothers having gotten completely drenched. "That is how a master works."
"Wasn't that so much fun mommy?!" Sally grins, everyone pausing when they don't even see you. "Mommy?"