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Nyx took a sip of her smoothie, smacking her lips and examining the liquid in the cup. It was supposed to be a mango-pineapple smoothie, but whoever made it decided that copious amounts of ice to keep it cool was a good idea. The hybrid could barely see the orange liquid between cubes of frozen water and condensation. The first few sips were flavorful, but now it was becoming excessively watered down.

Nyx turned to look at Arc, who was sitting in a beach chair next to her. "This is garbage." She said, raising the cup.

Arc narrowed her eyes at the drink. "Too vatery?" She guessed.

Nyx nodded. "I don't get it. Yes, my drink is cold, thank you, but I feel like I'm getting cheated out of my money."

"Do you vant me to talk vith them?" Arc offered, already getting up out of her seat.

"Nah," Nyx said with a dismissive hand. "I'll get another one later. I did pay for this one, after all, might as well finish it."

Arc shrugged. "I vill get something for self, then."

With that, the vixen padded across the sandy beach, heading towards the concession shack/bar. Nyx watched her leave, becoming mesmerized by the way her tail flowed back and forth with every step. She pulled her attention away, focusing back on the ocean in front of her.

Their chairs were set up under an umbrella on what was supposedly called a 'spit.' A strip of beach that jutted out from the mainland. Nyx didn't bother learning how it was made. Admittedly, it was a little strange to have the ocean in front and behind her, but she was growing used to it.

She watched other beastmen along the beach, playing in the water or lounging on the sand. A young hyena off to her left was attempting to build a sand castle with his bare hands. It resembled an anthill more than a castle, but at least there was a moat around it.

Nyx's ear twitched at the sound of crunching sand and she turned her head to see Arc returning, a margarita in hand, complete with a cherry and tiny umbrella. She also had a hibiscus flower in her hair, right below her ear. It certainly wasn't there when she had left, but Nyx felt the orange flower was a nice touch. It made her look very beautiful.

Arc caught her staring as she sat back in her chair, taking a sip of her margarita before setting it down at her paws. "You like?" she asked, reaching up to gently touch the petals.

"I do," Nyx said. "It's very beautiful; compliments your eyes."

Arc smiled at the compliment, and Nyx felt her heart start to flutter in her chest. She turned away, taking a sip of her watery drink and absentmindedly twirled a finger through her hair to give her hands something to do.

Arc laughed cheerfully at Nyx's reaction, reaching over and taking hold of her hand. She wove her fingers into the hybrids, giving it an affectionate squeeze. Nyx squeezed back, setting the nearly empty drink on a small table beside her chair. She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and stroking Arc's hand with her thumb.

She enjoyed the moment for a while, listening to the waves crash against the shore all around her and the voices of other beastmen enjoying themselves.

But it was a cloudless sky, and the sun's relentless heat combined with Nyx's dark fur color was causing her to sweat.

She let go of Arcs hand, standing up and stretching to get blood pumping through her relaxed muscles. "Let's go swimming," She said, scanning the beach for a spot they could swim without getting in the way of others.

"It's alright, I don't feel like svimming." Arc said. "But you are velcome to go ahead vithout me."

Nyx turned to look at the albino. "C'mon, I want to spend time with you."

Arc took the hibiscus flower out of her hair and set it gently down on the ground next to her unfinished margarita. "Alright," She said, sounding hesitant.

"What's the matter?" Nyx asked as Arc stood up. "You're usually more willing to join me in some quality time."

They started walking towards the water in a spot vacant of other beastmen. "Am not fan of deep vater." Arc admitted. "I get uncomfortable not being able to see bottom."

"Afraid a shark might get you?" Nyx said, grinning wide to show her sharp teeth.

Arc gave a wry smile. "A reasonable fear, no?"

"Well, I don't want to swim out there alone." Nyx said. "I can stay by your side if it helps."

"I vouldn't vant to inhibit you. I can stay near shallow vater." Arc reasoned.

Nyx shook her head, scanning the beach. She spotted a tall rock a ways out in the water that looked easy enough to climb.

"See that?" She said, pointing towards the rock.

Arcs eyes grew wide. "You vant me to svim to that?"

"And then climb it." Nyx said with a nod. "I'll stay by you."

Arc took in a deep breath. "Alright."

They stepped into the water, letting the waves splash over their paws. Once the water reached her waist, Nyx dove forward, swimming below the surface before coming back up several feet away from Arc.

"Come on," Nyx said, treading water and wiping wet hair off her face.

Arc leaned forward and began to swim towards Nyx. Despite not liking deep water, at least she knew how to swim.

"Eyes on me." Nyx said.

Arc's eyes met hers as the hybrid began to swim backwards with her shark's tail, going slow so Arc could keep up. Nyx looked over her shoulder occasionally to see how far away from the rock they were, but otherwise faced Arc to make sure she wasn't having a hard time.

It took a while, but Nyx's hand eventually rested on the cold water-worn stone. She reached out with her other hand to pull Arc towards the rock, gripping a notch in the stone to stay afloat. She rested her paws on a flat surface below the water so the waves wouldn't jostle her around too much. The water was deep enough here that you couldn't see the bottom, but it couldn't be more than 10-15 feet.

"Alright, up you go," Nyx said.

Arc looked up at the rock. It wasn't terribly high up close, just several feet, but the rock was slick and pitted from years of water crashing against it.

"Are you sure?" Arc asked.

Nyx waved a dismissive hand. "You'll be fine, you're capable enough."

"And I assume you vant me to jump off it, yes?"

"I'll be at the bottom to catch you."

"How is this supposed to help vith fear?" Arc tilted her head to look at the water below them, but Nyx put her hand on Arcs chin to tilt it back up.

"It's more of a trust thing, really. Do you trust me enough to dive headfirst into your worst fear?"

"Is not vorst fear," Arc said.

Nyx rolled her eyes. "You're stalling. Climb."

Arc gave a sheepish smile, but dug her claws into the stone and began to climb slowly, taking her time to find the next safest place to grab. Water dripped off her matted fur.

Nyx kicked off the rock, swimming out in a backstroke, keeping an eye on Arc as the albino climbed. She stopped a reasonable distance away from the rock and treaded water again.

Arc reached the top, hoisting herself over the rocks edge and kneeling at the top. She peered over the edge at the water below, and then glanced at Nyx, a nervous smile on her muzzle.

"Jump!" Nyx called, holding her hands out.

Arc nodded, scooting back and slowly standing straight.

Nyx could see her taking deep breaths in to steel her nerves, shaking her arms to dispel some of the nervous energy. After a couple moments of rocking back and forth on her paws, Arc dashed forward and leaped off the edge in a dive.

Surprised, Nyx submerged herself, and with a few powerful flicks of her tail shot out of the water, reaching out to tightly grasp Arcs outstretched hands. The fox pushed Nyx back as the hybrid pulled her close, and the two came crashing down into the sea.

They broke the surface, still holding each other. Nyx spat to get the salty taste of sea water out of her muzzle. "I didn't mean literally dive!"

Arc laughed. "Sorry. Mind blanked vhen I jumped. Body acted on its own."

Nyx could feel Arcs body mildly shaking, probably from the adrenaline that was coursing through her system.

"Is your fear tamed?" Nyx asked.

Arc shook her head. "No, not even close," She smiled. "But trust in you is strong."

"That's good enough for now." Nyx said. She pulled away from Arc and began to swim to shore.

"Are ve going to shallow vaters?" Arc asked, swimming up beside Nyx.

"Sure," Nyx asked. "And then maybe we could get a smoothie with less ice."

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Thank you for reading! May your inner fire burn strong!