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Athena couldn’t have chosen a better day to drag Apollo out of the office for a trip to the beach. The sky was a pure blue, without a single cloud to be seen, and the temperature was just warm enough to justify swimming without being uncomfortably hot. It took some hemming and hawing, but she finally got him to play hooky and set the paperwork Phoenix had dumped on him aside. Athena did want to bring Phoenix and Trucy with, but Trucy had a performance at the Wonder Bar and Phoenix was prepping for a case. Maybe she could rope them into it next time.
With beach blankets and other supplies in tow, the two picked a spot on the beach near an umbrella and set a space up for themselves. After patting her beach blanket down, Athena stood up and grabbed the bottom of her sundress, a brown and yellow number that looked a bit like a sunflower in design. Apollo wondered if Juniper had picked that one out for her. With one fluid motion, Athena yanked her dress off over her head, revealing a blue and yellow bikini with a skirt that made Apollo’s eyes go wide. But why? It wasn’t even a particularly sexy or revealing bikini.
It was then that Athena dropped a bombshell. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, but I invited Simon, too. I figured he could use some sun and some fresh air.”
“You what?” Apollo said, goggling from the double-whammy of both reveals.
“Don’t worry! It’ll be fun!” Athena said as she sat down and started putting on suntan lotion. “I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.”
A few minutes later, Simon arrived on the beach with Taka riding on his shoulder. Apollo wasn’t really sure what to expect; for all he knew, Simon would show up in his usual attire and sweat himself to death. However, he was indeed wearing swim trunks. They were rather plain: black with a white stripe down each side (though Apollo had no business complaining about plain swim trunks, given that his were simply a solid red). Apollo registered relief at the fact that Simon wasn’t wearing a speedo.
.”Hi, Simon! Glad you made it!” Athena said, waving Simon over.
Simon dropped off his beach blanket and supplies and greeted the two attorneys back. “Greetings, Justice-dono and Cykes-dono. I have to say, this was something of a surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting to be invited to a beach gathering.” Apollo just sort of smiled and waved awkwardly at Simon, not really sure what to say at the moment.
“Why wouldn’t I invite you? You need a break just as much, if not more, than we do. Some sun would do you good.” Athena sat down on her beach blanket.
“Perhaps you’re right. It has been a while since I truly got to enjoy the outdoors,” Simon said. Apollo was slightly relieved to see that Simon actually seemed prepared to relax, as opposed to giving everyone a face full of sword.
One thing Apollo and Simon had in common was that they were both still wearing their shirts. Apollo's was a pale red (no, that doesn’t mean pink), while Simon's was white (go figure) and a bit loose. Athena said, "What're you guys waiting for? Are you going to swim with your shirts on? And don't you need to put lotion on, too? C’mon, take ‘em off!"
Apollo and Simon looked at Athena. For Simon, she was just kind of cute, but for Apollo, she was the kind of cute that made a man blush and stutter. He made sure not to look at her for too long at any given time. Simon broke the silence. "I suppose she's right. I'd rather not burn out here, and I would like to swim eventually." However, he made no motion to indicate he was going to take his shirt off.
"So... uh... are you gonna take your shirt off?" Apollo had a feeling that, if he could somehow use the perceive system on himself, his bracelet would be going off like crazy.
Simon just smirked and looked off to the side. "No, you first."
Oh, great, he gets here and the first thing he does is screw with me, Apollo thought. He refused to be (completely) intimidated, however. "How about we just do it at the same time?" Simon nodded and grunted an assent.
Athena was quite pleased by this turn of events. "That's a good idea! On the count of three... one, two, three!"
The two men took their shirts off, and when Apollo's vision was no longer obscured by his shirt, his jaw dropped. To put it simply, under all those layers, Simon Blackquill was a sexy (if somewhat pale) beast. He was broadly built and quite muscular, with well-defined abs and rippling arm muscles that must have come from swinging an actual sword (or so Apollo supposed). Apollo crossed his arms over his chest, feeling very much like a skinny, pasty nebbish. Then, to add insult to injury, Simon reached up and pulled out his ponytail holder, sending his voluminous black hair cascading all over his back. A sea breeze blew, and Simon's hair blew elegantly with it. And as if that wasn't enough, Simon dealt the coup de grace to whatever was left of Apollo's self esteem as he said:
"It seems that your swords could be sharpened a bit more, Justice-dono."
Apollo just opened and closed his mouth like a gasping fish. Well, shit, he thought. I doubt Athena wanted my skinny ass in the first place, but this just makes me feel totally inadequate.
No one needed to look at Widget's green-lit face to know how delighted Athena was. "Perfect! Now come over here so I can put lotion on your backs."
"Do know what I can reach the rest myself," Simon said as he took his seat by Athena.
Apollo sat by Athena as well, shooting shifty glances at both her and Simon when he wasn't staring off into the distance and lamenting the fact that he was certainly not what one would call buff. He nearly jumped when Athena touched his back with the lotion; the fact that she was touching him at all sent tingles down his spine. That and the lotion was cold.
Simon was also enjoying the contact; Athena's touch was soft and reassuring for him. He found himself inadvertently leaning back into Athena's hand, wanting more pleasant touches. He hadn't even been hugged in years; who could blame him for enjoying the feeling?
When Athena finished, she handed the tube of lotion to Simon first. "Did you bring only one bottle of lotion?" Apollo said.
"Yeah, oops," Athena said as she rubbed some leftover lotion on her legs. "I thought maybe you'd bring one, too."
Apollo just went "Mmph" and looked away. He had exceeded his allowance of gazing-at-Athena time and thus needed to look somewhere else. Unfortunately, that somewhere else happened to be at Simon. "What are you looking at?" Simon said.
You touching yourself, Apollo thought, but he said, "Nothing."
Athena's attention went somewhere else after Simon handed the lotion to Apollo. "How about we work up a sweat before we swim? Let's play some volleyball!"
"I suppose I wouldn't mind a little sport," Simon said, then whistled for Taka, who had flown off to go bother some seagulls. On cue, Taka swooped at an abandoned volleyball and began to scoot it over to the attorneys.
While she waited for Taka to finish, Athena played with her earring. "Hey, what are we going to do for teams? No matter how we divide it up, someone is outnumbered."
Apollo was starting to feel a little stressed, and it bubbled over. He shoved the suntan lotion into Athena's beach bag and said, "Wait! I have an idea!"
"What is it, Apollo?" Athena asked.
"I... I challenge Prosecutor Blackquill to a duel!" Apollo blurted out, aiming his objection pointer finger right at Simon's chest.
"You what?" Simon deadpanned.
Shit, good job, Apollo. Now you're going to look like a total idiot. But it was too late to take it back. It was do or die time. "Y-you heard me! I challenge you to a duel! The winner gets to challenge Athena!"
Simon stroked his chin. "I didn't bring any practice swords, but perhaps some sturdy sticks will do." He nodded to Taka, who proceeded to follow him as he headed off to find some sticks.
"Wait! I meant in a volleyball duel! A volleyball duel! Come back, Prosecutor Blackquill!" Apollo's frantic shouting was in vain. Simon was already on a mission.
Athena laughed out loud at Apollo's increasingly dire situation. "Oh boy, Apollo! You're in for it now!"
Apollo gave Athena the most exasperated look he could muster. "You're just loving this, aren't you."
"Yeah! This is gonna be great!" Athena clasped her hands and beamed. "Oh, look! He's back!"
Simon returned with a bundle of thick sticks and dropped them in front of Apollo. "I brought backups in case our swords shattered during the fight. At any rate..." Simon pulled the biggest stick out of the pile, then tossed a slightly smaller one to Apollo. "It makes sense that I would have a bigger sword, doesn't it?"
Subtle, Blackquill, real subtle, Apollo thought as he examined his stick.
"Well, Simon is bigger than you, so he should have a bigger stick," Athena said.
"Et tu, Athena?" Apollo said.
Simon cut Apollo off before he could say anything more. "What is at stake in this duel, aside from the right to duel Cykes-dono? A bowl of noodles on Wright-dono's tab, perhaps?"
"Uh." What the hell was Apollo going to wager? He couldn't just say something like "Athena's respect." Instead, a stupider, cheesier option flew out of his mouth. "My honor! My honor as an attorney is at stake! If I lose... you can do whatever you want with me!" Shit.
"Is that so?" Simon said, assuming a perfect iaijutsu stance. "If you back out, I will slice you to ribbons and leave the remains to Taka."
"Hell no! I can't back out now!" Especially because I'd like to stay intact, thank you very much! Apollo assumed a different fighting stance, holding his stick like a bat. "Alright, bring it!"
The downward slash came significantly faster than Apollo expected, but he barely managed to block it. He pulled his stick away and thrust it like a rapier, but Simon blocked it with ease. Apollo caught Simon's following horizontal slash, but the force nearly took the stick with it. He tried an overhead slash, but Simon caught that one too. "Perhaps you should consider the rank of the samurai you are challenging before you stake your honor and life on a duel," Simon said.
Apollo just growled back at him. "Who needs swords when you have guns?!" he shouted, breaking the sword lock and slashing at Simon once again.
"Don't get me started," Simon said, blocking the slash like it was nothing. Faster than Apollo could register it coming, Simon thrust the stick towards his chest and struck straight over his heart. "Blade through the heart. The duel is over, with a decisive victory for me, Justice-dono."
Apollo clutched his chest, reeling a bit from the impact. Good job, Apollo. You've officially made yourself look like a complete loser. "Don't rub it in. So, what do you want to do with me?"
"Hm." Apollo could feel Simon's cold, appraising gaze on him. Simon's request came as a complete surprise to him, however. "You're coming to the gym with me. Not once, not twice, but regularly. Let's see if we can't sharpen your blades."
Apollo just stared at Simon in awe. "I-I'm what? And I prefer the term 'guns.'"
Simon tapped his stick on the ground. "To be fair, you did last for longer than I expected. I thought I would run you through on the very first hit. Your technique does need work, however."
"Uh... thanks?" Apollo reflexively rubbed the back of his head.
"That's a great idea!" Athena said, finally piping up after staying silent for the duel. "How about we all go to the gym together?"
"I've got no objections to that," Simon said.
"Well, it's not like I've got much of a choice. As you'd say, 'let's do it!'" Apollo said, finally smiling for the first time since Simon arrived.
Athena did her characteristic fist pound. “Alright! Now that we’ve got that worked out… how about we go for a swim?”
“What about the duel?” Simon asked, dragging the end of his stick along the ground.
“We can do it later! Come on, let’s get in the water before it gets dark and cold out!” Already, Athena was dragging Simon (who refused to relinquish his stick) towards the water.
“Guys, wait for me!” Apollo tossed his stick aside and headed towards the water, only to be stopped by Athena saying “Apollo, catch!” and nearly getting smacked in the face by a flying Widget, who said “Wheeeeeee!” as it flew through the air. Taking the cue, Apollo went to put Widget in Athena’s bag. Before he put the device away, he asked it a question: “So, Widget… what’s Athena thinking right now?”
“Reply hazy, ask again later,” Widget said before turning off.
“Fair enough.” With that, Apollo put Widget away and followed Simon and Athena to the water.
