"Hey Aefia!" Helio shouted from behind her, causing her to jolt before turning around.
Before she knew it, he leaned down to kiss her cheek and then ran away, kicking up sand as he did. She smiled at his back as he got chased by a very mad Felix.
"Stop touching my sister like that! Get your filthy lips off her beautiful skin! Yuck!" He shouted while throwing a ball of sand at his back. Helio teased him by throwing one before he could receive it.
The sight made her giggle before she moved her gaze away, in time for Felix to ask why she was laughing. She immediately turned away as if she was staring at the shoreline.
Then, Helio ran up to her again. "What is a kid like you going to do if your sister protects me huh?!" A laugh shook his shoulders as he looked over Aefia's shoulder from left to right before running towards direction opposite to which she was walking.
As he did, Felix yelled while throwing three more sandballs at him. His gaze suddenly fell on his older sister who held the brim of her straw hat, pulling it off to hide his face with it. She held it down until he started squirming.
"Aefia! I can't see a single thing!" He shouted while trying to yank it away. But she had quite the strength and stamina to hold it down.
Finally, Helio came running while scooping Felix up to throw him into the water beside Aefia. Taking off the straw hat to put it on his own head.
"Apparently, you haven't packed a hat for me. Have you, hm?" He looked down at Aefia with a pleasant smile.
"Isn't it your responsibility?" She asked while folding her arms.
"Well yes. But I didn't know you went shopping for a simple beach walk." He asked while pinching the sleeve of her pastel blue dress which hung just until below her knees. It has buttons along the center that begun from her collar that was impeccably soft for movement but thick for a more formal look. Aefia liked being modest, so it was alright for her in all ways. Besides that, a long stretch of elastic wrapped around her waist to make the skirt look more flowy while a big bow rested at the back. It has a short sleeve that ended above her elbow.
At least it was noticable that it definetly wasn't her choice, but someone who is rather more familiar between them.
"Umm... Nada did. So you should go deal with her then." Aefia answered while dusting the front of her dress for any sand.
"For once I really like her choice." He smiled while stepping in to bump his forehead with hers. "It is giving Nada but the style suits you more."
"Although she is saying she wants to live a solidary life where she isn't completely dependant on me. I actually miss her quite a lot. How about you?" She asked while turning her gaze to him. Meanwhile, Felix came marching up to them and snatched the towel from Aefia's arm before going to rest underneath the shade where Helio had layed out a beach mat—where their items were too.
"I don't miss her. I already have enough to deal with having your brother here." He whispered while pointing at the kid who was now aggresively looking for his sunglasses. "But if you ask about the cluelessness she carries around with her, I do miss her. She has that missing humor you don't."
"Ah! So that means you would rather be with her then me?" She asked while nudging his ribs while continuing to walk barefoot on the sand.
"Well of course not! You are only one person who no one else can recreate, so I rest her secure this Aefia before even looking for another one in someone else. Even if it is your cousin." He whispered while walking alongside her. His shoulder brushing with hers.
"You know you are quite intriguing as a person. You act childish sometimes then you act like an adult on other times, then suddenly you are just a normal teenager. It is hard to tell which version of Helio is running currently."
"I am aware of it. I think I am just this way to match the exact times your mood swings. Like how you are suddenly gone and come back with some seriously fatal injuries, I need to turn into a doctor for you."
"True enough. And then there is a version of you I can't really explain."
"What version is that?"
"Like how you suddenly get infuritated if I tell you about how exactly I got my injuries—if they were caused by humans. And if I were a fairy who took the shape of Aefia and I suddenly called myself 'bad-looking'... I am starting to think you are just jealous of anything related to me." She shifted her gaze to his face while coming to a stop.
He flushed at the thought, hiding his face under the brim of the hat and looking away.
"No wait! You are actually jealous, huh?!" She laughed while teasing him as he walked forward in total embarrassment. "Hey hey! You know Cedric thought about marrying once?"
"What?!" He spun on his heels while looking at her, terrified.
"And I might have accepted his proposal if it could make me the Princess of the Mides Kingdom." She joked while looking straight at his pale face.
"Oh I will kill him! I helped that guy a very long time ago?!"
"Aw! Don't get so frustrated that someone else had fallen for me! You will start whining like a kid in this sand in no time." She reached up to pat his covered head before walking away.
"Aefia! Stop I need more detail." He shouted while chasing after her.
"That was a long time ago you idiot!" She laughed while taking off in a limping run. "I am just so smart that now he is just a friend!"
"Yeah well I caught a fish unlike you!" He stopped to watch until she slowed down while panting, then stepped up in concern.
"Well that was because I was completely exhausted!" She spoke between breathes while staring up at him with a frustrated gaze. Then, she let out a melodic laugh which caught him off-guard.
"How are you so easily swayed?!"
"About what?"
"You can be quite jealous at times." She replied while spinning around to take the hat off his hat and disspear it into her inventory. Her eyes then darted to his disheavled hair. With a click if her tongue, she stepped forward and ran his fingers through it. "And quite messy. It ticks me off that you don't care about this pretty hair of yours."
He smiled while bending down to let her do whatever she wanted with his head. "I thought you said a relationship is where partners care for each other and doesn't use them? What happened to your part of caring?"
"Haha! Stop guilt-trapping me." She laughed while leaned up on her toes to press her lips against his hair before stepping back. "I remember you asked me a question three days ago," she said, while hooking her arm around his whole continuing to walk at the edge of shore.
"A question?" He asked back, confused.
"Yeah. You confessed that you were 'utterly in love with me'. Then that pause at the end felt like you were asking me a question. So I would like to give you an answer." She whispered while leaning her head against his shoulder.
"Well you don't have to force yourself just in case." He lifted his free hand to scratch the back if his head. She slid her fingers between his, her palm resting flat against his.
"If I were faking I would be sarcastic about it. Maybe an entire character dialogue from a video game." She laughed while pushing towards the water a bit as a punishment. "But really. I think I would like to say a few things about it."
She took a deep breathe just like he did during his confession. A blush almost the same colour as her eyes coating her cheeks. For a long moment, he was captivated.
"As of recently, I happened to realize, I only get close to people I trust or know will never hurt me. Even when I was leaping down the bridge, I didn't think twice and only felt happiness when I saw you waiting with a concerned face. I don't like seeing you concerned of course, but that time it made me feel proud about it." She stopped walking.
He froze in shock as she suddenly stepped forward to block his path. She pulled her hands back to clasp them behind her back as a nervous breathe escaped her mouth. The wind fluttered against her hair, causing dancing shadows across her face. The loose silver parts of her waist-length hair flowed around her, making the moment feel more personal.
"I have learnt to protect the people around me, but I never thought about protecting myself. I knew I didn't really have the time because I dedicated all of them to the people around me. Then suddenly I started thinking about protecting myself, but I only lost more. I didn't have the idea if what it meant to look after myself. But that was when I realized someone else did. You were the complete opposite to how I was." She let out a laugh while taking a step closer.
"It has been quite sometime that I know you. You do seem quite smart with the situations you are faced with, that reminds me more about myself. But you are an idiot who gets jealous over everything about me, who gives me rabies shots with trembling fingers, and who lets a twelve-year-old threaten him with a pocket dagger just to keep me safe. You make me feel... human. Even when I think I am far from it.
"That human parts of you makes me wonder what sort of a person I would be if I were someone with your personality. Of course I won't be me if I tried imitating you, so I kept picturing myself how I would be if it could interact with your mentally so I would know how to be a human like you. Until... I came across a fact that I too... Liked you.
"Apparently... I know it is a bit late for saying this, but I have got to say... I love you too Helio.
"Even if you didn't actually ask it, my answer is yes. I don't know how to be a normal teenager, and I don't know how to be a regular girlfriend. And it is not like I am not trying to be one. But if you are willing to handle the curses, the situations where I am dragging you along with me in a trap, and the mess... Then I am yours. That includes... Receiving death theats from my brother and Nada if course. But a partner supports one another ina relationship right? I will play my part of course."
Aefia let out a laugh before lifting her gaze back at his face—who just so happens to be blushing to the point that his skin might have melted of it were one degree higher.
"Stop... Flattering me Aefia." He finally responded while covering his face.
"Really? I didn't know you could be flattered that easily." She smiled while reaching out to remove his hands from his face.
Then without a single word, he lunged forward.
"I am not just flattered. I am the happiest guy in the world." His pulled Aefia into a tight hug while burying her head below his chin. He leaned his lips forward to kiss the crown of her head, immediately getting shocked at something. He pulled back enough to see her face.
"You keep saying my hair is soft, but yours feels better than mine." He whispered while seeing her smile at his face.
"Really? I think otherwise."
"You have got to be joking."
He spun around while looking at her brother minding his own business. Then a mischievous idea came to his mind.
"Hey Felix!" He shouted while looking towards the mat.
Felix immediately looked annoyingly at him. Within that moment, Helio bent down to scoop Aefia up onto his arms. Funny as he tried to be, he carried her in a bridal carry even when she wasn't injured.
"Helio—!" She whisper-shouted at him as he stepped backwards towards the water. She wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling. "Stop getting him angry you idiot!"
"Wait. Trust me with his." He winked while averting his gaze back at her little brother who stared with a rather very shocked face. "What are you going to do now that I have your sister?!"
Felix on the other hand, took a beach towel out of the bundle and walked out of a sunny spot. Waving his hand in a dismissive way.
"What are you doing?" She asked while looking down at him curiously.
"I am tanning."
"You are what?" She furrowed her brows as Helio followed gaze in question.
"Its not just a beach activity Aegis! It is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that a pale person like you don't know about of course. But I would suggest you do it too since you need like skin tone to avoid looking like a ghost." He answered while shutting his eyes under his sunglasses.
She shared a glance with Helio. As someone who grew up by the Greek shores, he was terrified about how Felix was seeing this tanning thing as. "Yeah yeah. And that is not how you do it, little bro."
"Shut up Shady Guy!"
"You can't tan if you have your shirt on. Only your arms are—"
"Just go mind your own business and be a circus clown! My sister laughed with all her free will in a long time. That satisfies me enough. Now let me get some sleep." He spoke while looking away.
"See. He doesn't care." Helio whispered to Aefia as the water lapped around his ankle. He turned around and walked deeper.
"Hold on. What are doing?" Aefia asked curiously.
"People come to the beach for a reason." He answered as the water climbed to his knees. When the water climbed to his waist, he turned around while gripping Aefia, and tipped backwards into the water.
Splash!
"Lio! What was that for!" She shifted as soon as she managed to break to the surface.
"Well it's pointless if you come to the beach and don't swim!" He laughed while splashing the water at her.
"I have wounds on my arm!" She snapped back while throwing a handful of sand at him. A smile fell on her face as she did.