Vale's Water Deluxe

"It's okay, I'm not mad..." Claire reassuringly scratched around her ears before setting her down on the ground and getting level with her, "Feel better? Let's go back to Agent and get some tissues for our own little mishaps. I'm..." she sighed and rubbed Fantasia's puffed up eyes a little, "I'm sorry on his behalf as well. I must've really scared him... so don't hold it against him."

Only now swapping spoon back into dart and placing it with the others on her thigh, she nods slowly, moving her head into Claire's side, "..Okay... I don't want Minty getting upset at me either, I like her too much for her to be angry..." Moving her head to nuzzle Claire, her tail going from side to side and her ear twitching almost compelling Claire to continue giving her ear rubs and scratches.

Claire giggled at Fantasia's actions and continued to scratch and rub her ears, Is that what I look like when he does that to me? "I'm sure Minty won't be upset, and I don't think she can even be angry." With that said, she led Fantasia up to Argent and whispered to her on the way, "Let's sandwich that meanie-buns~" moving as quietly as she could, she slowly detached Fantasia from herself and led her around Argent's right arm, she herself moving around his left arm and sitting by him, pushing him to clamp between the girls, "Hi there handsome, you got two girls to spend the day with~"

Aeden makes a big smile as Rory gets in between him and Lucina and holds their hands. "Sounds delicious. Let's go!" Aeden begins to walk with his 'family' to the ice cream stand and gives Lucina a warm look. When they arrive Aeden gives the old lady and her granddaughter a smile before raising his hand with three fingers up. "Good afternoon, I would like three ice creams. One of them will be pistachio flavored." Aeden turns to his 'wife' and 'daughter'. "What would you two like?"

Argent stares at the water, the area around his shins slightly pink, as the two girls sit down. His head in his hands, he sighs, unable to make eye contact with either of them. "I'm so sorry." He said under his breath. "To both of you. I can't... I'm so sorry. Fantasia, I snapped at you. Yelled even. Claire, you got hurt. Cause of me. I **** up again. I'm sorry." He said softly, one hand going on top of Claire's hand and squeezing it.

The small walk to the ice cream stand made Rory feel nothing but thrilled. Today was a perfect day with her Onii-chan and Onee-chan. Lucina, with her golden hair and lovely smile, made Rory feel welcomed even if she'd only known her now. And Aeden was looking rather dashing in his get up, it even made Rory blush a little to finally see some of his skin where a jacket and hood had always been.

But there was also a small pang. A small thread of pain that was stuck in Rory's heart. The minute she saw Lucina and Aeden together, she knew it very well. The two were in love and Aeden only had one real girl in his heart: Lucina. It would never be Rory. It could never be Rory. Rory was his little sister and that was that.

But if I'm worth that... Rory thought. I'm already the luckiest person in the world.

As Aeden asked for her order, she smiled brightly, her pain melting away as she did.

"I'll have the sea-salt caramel stick, please!" Rory beamed.

At first embaressed at the suggestion, after his apology Fantasia decides to rest her head on him, making sure to check her clothing before her chest goes to rest on his side as well, subtly trying to push him towards Claire's pair as well, "I-It's no problem, was entirely my fault... Sorry Argent, I acted like a child."

Hearing her apologize, Argent's mood drops, his shoulders slumping visibly. "Fantasia, why are you apologizing to me? I was the one who got mad. I was the one who yelled at you for just trying to help. Heck, I started the entire thing." He said, turning his face to the cat girl, not noticing how close she was to him again. "Please. Don't apologize. Not to me at least."

"I was only there for a couple weeks, possibly days, but i don't keep count." She said, as she looked up, and saw 4 big slides not so far away, "Wer'e almost there." She said, as she started running torwards the slides, and looked back at Celste, yelling "Race you there!" as she started accelerating torwards the slides, but kept looking back to see if Celeste was catchnig up to her.

Celeste was caught by surprise by Gena's sudden challenge and was dumbfounded when she started sprinting away. Not wanting to be a killjoy she picked up the pace and started running after Gena as well. Being a few feet behind she puts more power into her legs and starts to catch up shouting, "I'm not going to lose this one!". They were quit far from the slides so she had quite enough time to catch up and was only a about 2 feet from Gena now, laughing a bit while not even breaking a sweat.

Gena noticed that Celeste was quickly catching up to her, and so the race continued for another fifteen seconds before they had reach the pool, At that time, Gena quickly sped up and entered the pool with a diving corckscrew, making a big splash. As she got her head above water, she first thought she won, until she saw that Celeste was alredy next to her, and realised it was most likely a tie, "Let's call it a tie." She said to Cleste.

Catching up at the last second she jumps up at about the same time Gena did and she does a cannonball into the pool. Seeing Gena right next to her she realized that they probably got there at roughly the same time. Accepting the tie she says, "I have no complaints. That was quite a race."

Floating on her back Celeste spots a large diving board near the deeper side of the pool and it instantly catches her interest. Multiple ideas rush through her mind such as different diving patterns and techniques and how big a splash she could make. "If you'll excuse me I'll be heading for the diving board over there." she says, as she starts swimming for the tallest diving board which was roughly a couple of stories high.

Claire sighed, hopelessly, and reached over to hug both of them to the best of her ability, "Time to stop being so debbie downer! Come on, it's in the past, let's just have fun, you'll make it up to each other that way. It'd be a waste if we only came here to sulk and apologize to each other."

Lucina smiled brightly as Rory got in between the two and shot a warm look back at Aeden. As they approached the stand she looked at the small menu and said, "So many choices...I'll just take a 'Vanilla' swirl." She smiled as she was handed her treat and began to taste it. She almost fainted from the pure flavor of the ice cream and shot Rory another heartwarming smile, "Wow Rory, you were right about this place! It's so yummy!" She looked at Aeden saying, "I dedicate this ice cream to your friend Vanille!" She giggles at her own joke and awaits responses.

Nodding, at the hug she tries to return it, pressing against Argent even more, "S-Sure! I mean, as long as Argent and you are fine with keeping me around..." Looking from Claire's chest to her own, she realises how much smaller she is compared to her, smiling only from the fact Minty is larger than both of them, a small purring coming out of her involuntarily.

Argent manages a faint smile as he's pressed between the two. "You two are way too forgiving for your own good." He joked, laughing softly as he put an arm around Claire's waist and ruffle Fantasia's hair. "Ok. I'm sorry, and before you say anything," He said to Claire, hints of his normal attitude returning, "That's the last apology.

Thanks, you two.

"Alright, i'm going to the icecream stand, i'll meet you here, ok?" Gena asked, waiting for confirmation before walking out of the pool, and shortly realising she had no money, she was just going to have to wing it. She walked over to the stand where a couple other people were stnading and picked up a menu, looking at all the different flavors and kinds, she decided to keep it simple, "Dark chooclate please" She said and waited a couple seconds for her icecream, and when she was asked to pay, she became nervous, she had no money and had never paid for anything as far as she can remember in her life, she started stuttering, "I..Ummm...."

"It better stays that way." Claire stuck her tongue out at Argent only to taste her own blood, remembering that her nose was bleeding plenty. Gently removing their hands, she turned to Argent, "Okay, we can go swimming together, but I'll need tissues to clean myself up. Got them?"

"I'm glad you like it, Onee-chan!" Rory said. "Laura and I would come over here when shifts were over. Best part of it? It's actually yogurt, so the calories are way low."

She gave Lucina a small girlish wink.

"I'm glad I could spend time with you two," Rory said. "Once we finish our ice creams, we can go on a stroll and then the rides. We could try--"

"Rory!" a voice came from the distance. As Rory looked she realized it was none other than Laura, already changed from her lifeguard suit into a pink bikini with white lines. She was hiding by one of the nearby changing stalls. She motioned for Rory to go over to her.

"Oh, excuse me a minute," Rory said perkily as she tossed her ice cream stick. There was no WINNER mark on it, so there was no use keeping it. Rory rushed over to Laura.

"Hey," Laura said. "You look like you're enjoying so far."

Rory beamed.

"I am," Rory said. "Aeden's as awesome as ever and Lucina's just so nice. I actually feel like on a family trip."

Laura raised an eyebrow.

"Family trip, eh?" Laura said as she eyed Aeden. "You are not going to refer to someone with that bod as family, dear. So take off your lifeguard suit and change into this."

Laura raised up Rory's swimsuit. Rory blushed furiously and began twitching, flustered.

"Wha-what the heck are you talking about!?" Rena said. "I can't go in th-that with Aeden! That'd be so embarrassing!"

Laura's usually sincere smile turned into a devilish grin. She continued waving it in front of her.

"You give up too easily! Just because his girlfriend's got a chest doesn't mean you can't look nice in a bikini. After all, chest size only a portion of how good a girl looks and you've got great legs!"

Rory's face went from red to violet in embarrassment. She could actually feel steam coming out of her ears.

"B-b-but that's not that point!" Rory argued.

"Oh, just come here!" Laura said.

"WAIT, NO!"

After a hard wrestling match, Rory eventually lost to Laura and was changed into her swimsuit. She was flustered and shaking and trembling in all places, but Laura let out a low whistle.

"Now your Onii-chan CAN'T resist!" Laura said heartily with a grin. She pushed Rory out of the changing room. "Now get out there with him! Good luck!"

Rory didn't even have the time to rebuttal as Laura was gone with the blink of an eye. It almost made Rory hate the fact the Laura's rabbit-side made her so fast. Rory sighed. Stiffly, she made her way back to Lucina and Aeden in her swimsuit.

"S-s-sorry that took long," Rory said. "S-some kid spilled soda on my lifeguard uniform...I had to change. Any of you get WINNER sticks while I was gone?"

Without the slightest hint of embarrassment Aeden smiles at Rory and rubs her head. "It looks really cute Rory, but its too bad about your uniform I hope you can get it properly washed before your next shift." After petting Rory he returns his attention to his ice cream and finishes it off to find the word "Winner" on the stick. Aeden stares at his popsicle stick hardly believing he had won. "What a lucky day, I never win this kind of stuff." Aeden shows the old lady his popsicle stick. "I'll take a sea-salt caramel." Once the lady hands him the ice cream Aeden turns around and offers it to Rory. "Here you go Rory, hopefully it will make you feel a little better about your uniform getting dirty."

Rory blushed at Aeden's words, but she was actually a little disappointed by the lack of reaction. In the distance, she could hear Laura at the lifeguard post.

"You dense idiot!" she seemed to be saying to Aeden.

Rory smiled either way, glad she didn't need to feel too bashful.

"It's fine!" Rory said. "It's a swimsuit, so it'll wash off right away. I just can't wear it cause it's so sticky."

Upon receiving the ice cream stick, Rory smiled even brighter and couldn't resist the urge to hug Aeden.

"You're really the best, big brother!" Rory beamed.

Lucina finished off her ice cream and looked at the stick hesitantly. She sighed knowing she wasn't going to get another freebie. She looked to Aeden as he the only winner out of the group. She then watched as Rory walked over near the changing rooms, "I wonder what she's up to?" She smiled at Aeden and continued chewing on her stick as it was a habit she developed and then threw it away after a while. She watched as Rory walked back over in a bikini. She smiled brightly and couldn't resist. She blurted out, "Rory-chan! You look so cute I could hug you all day!" She hugged Rory tightly not letting go for a few seconds, then afterwards she said, "Sorry, I had to do that, I can't resist cute things...and you're one of the best by far!" She gives a wink and a bright smile to Rory.

Rory smiled sheepishly and scratched her head, though she did feel awkward stretching here and there and exposing so much skin.

"Thanks, Lucina," Rory said. "Though if I were to say, you're the bombshell today at the water park. Speaking of which, what rides do you want to go on first? The water slide's a bit crowded now."

Aeden turns his head toward the direction of the water slide and sees it is indeed crowded. "Hmm how about we walk around and see what catches our eyes. Maybe if we're lucky they have a wave machine here." Aeden reaches down and grabs Rory's hand, once again putting her in between Lucina and himself. "I could really get used to this set up, having you two here on such on a wonderful day really makes me happy."

Rory bobbed her head perkily.

"Sure we can stroll around," she beamed. "After all, you're not supposed to eat right before you swim!"

She caught Aeden's second remark and almost outwardly agreed, but she knew that'd be lying. Though, yes, she was enjoying Lucina's company, Rory's mind began to float and she could imagine what it'd be like to just hold hands with him. Her face went red and she let go of the two shaking your head.

"Gah, quit it!" she told herself. "Brain! What is wrong with you!?"

She turned back to Aeden and Lucina and realized she did something weird. She smiled sheepishly.

"Whoops, sorry!" she said. "Just forgot how long we're supposed to stay out of the water. I believe it's only thirty minutes and not an hour, hehe!"

Removing herself from Argent as well, she pulls up the top of her bikini slightly, "Yeah, I mean. Shall we take any slides or stuff like that? Or just go in the wave pool or something? I don't mind, though if we go in the slides, I would like to pair up with one of you..." Blushing slightly, she rubs the back of her head out of pure awkwardness.

"Huh? Oh my god, you're right." Argent exclaimed, surprised as he looked at Claire's face for the first time since she came back. True enough, there was a trickle of blood running down her cheek, dried blood still on some places. Plunging his hand in the water, he wipes off the blood, scrubbing firmly against her cheek till it was blood free, though more started to drip. Frowning, he watches it for a second before quickly kissing her on the bridge of the nose. "Better?" He said, smiling as he tried to bring the atmosphere back up. "C'mon, let's get some ice or something for that." Argent said, standing up and pulling Claire with him. "We'll look for something to do once Claire isn't covered in blood." He said to Fantasia, not realizing the state of his shoulders and back as he offered a hand to help her up.