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At almost ten o'clock, one would think it would be night time. But at the beach, there was no such thing as night; there was only partying, and even though there was a lights-out at the campsites, the beach was afire with, well, fire. Tiki-style torches, ground fires, and even a few fireworks, which were probably not allowed.

The impromptu fireworks show could be seen from the leisure of their campsite, and so Ket and Emeral and their moms sat out at the table to watch it. The greens and yellows and reds and whites were a nice treat for the eyes, and made them feel like it was summer. Especially since it was so hot and muggy out.

As fur-prickly and steamy as it was during the day, night-time was almost worse. Usually at night it was much cooler, and the wind blew refreshingly against the body. But here, the wind was thick with the sea, and it was much more reprieving to have a still moment, which was a rarity.

Nonetheless they enjoyed the show, and then when it was over, they all headed for the showers. Ket decided to take a longer shower than usual, even before he walked into the all-purpose changing-, shower- and bathroom.

As he passed through the doorframe, the benches were occupied by a few people, none his age. A father and young son, a teenager, and an old man. He passed themto the back of the room with only a slight glance at them. This was where the bathrooms were, and behind the far stall was the row of showers in their own partition.

There were ten showers, five on each side, all of them fairly close together. Some were taken, but it was hard to tell which ones, so Ket had to stand outside one for a little while in order to determine it wasn't the source of the trickling water. He pushed through the curtain, and realized that the showers had two parts to them: a small vestibule for supplies, and the shower proper behind another curtain.

The vestibule was vacant, and so he stepped in, setting his things on the plastic shelves protruding from the plastic walls. He slid the curtain aside the shower to check it, and while it was fairly clean, standing in the middle of the drain was a very brown scorpion. Its tail raised, and Ket quickly shut the curtain, opting for the next shower over.

It was a little dirtier, but lacked poisonous insects. He would take a hot shower, make sure to get all the sea-grime and sand out of his fur, even if it used a whole bottle of shampoo to do so.

But when he stepped out he was shivering. The water was anything but hot. It was just as cold as the water in the ocean; it even mimicked the ocean by starting off luke-warm, before turning his whiskers into icicles.

It made the air easier to tolerate though. An aura of freshness abated the grimy atmosphere. It took forever to dry himself off, and in the end he gave up while he was still a little damp. He put on gym shorts and a sleeveless shirt, one of the few he had for those particularly humid nights. It felt appropriate to wear tonight.

He brushed his teeth, ignoring the little flies that buzzed around the sink-area, and at last he was all clean and ready to head back to camp. When he came out of the door, his mom was patiently waiting for him.

She snorted like she was asleep. "Oh hi, you're finally out, it's time to go home."

"Ha ha," he said sarcastically, while she tousled his hair. "I had to clean real good, I swam in fish-poop all day."

"Oh but you're a pile of fish-poop every day, dear," she teased. "Come on, Emmy and her mom are already at camp, probably even asleep."

They walked back to camp, using the flashlight that Ket had used to walk Emeral to school in the winter time. It came in real handy because it had a really dim setting on it, which was a polite thing to do to keep their light from blazing into people's tents. That was the original use the light was for anyway.

When they got back to camp, the light was handed to him and his mom said her goodnight. He stood outside his tent, a dwarf compared to the tent that was at least ten feet away, but probably more. He didn't know what to make of it, sleeping with his girlfriend again. She was obviously excited, but he was nervous.

He took a breath, and opened up the tent.

"Hey," Emeral greeted almost before he was even inside. "Took you long enough, were you doing your nails or what?"

"I was cleaning out all the fish-poop," he stated, tugging his sandals off to leave at the foot of the door. "You better've done the same, otherwise you're sleeping outside."

"Of course I did," she rolled her eyes, "I even washed my hair." She brushed it as she spoke, flicking the brush as if to emphasize the statement. "You have no idea how annoying that is."

"I washed my hair too," he said, "It's not that bad."

"Yeah, but yours is short," she tossed her hair back, getting a look at him for the first time since before the shower, "Girls have long hai--ha-hahaha!" She stifled her giggling, covering her mouth.

He put on a sour face. "What?" He muttered.

"You...what are you wearing?" She snickered again. "You look like a punk but the shorts..." She snorted, giggling again.

He looked himself over. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" He questioned.

"N-nothing," she replied, "I think you need a bigger size though," she stated.

He rolled his eyes. Sure, the shorts he was wearing were a little small, but they were still wearable. He clicked off the light, eager to not have her laugh at him any more.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I think it actually looks kinda cute."

"It's muggy," he said, "These clothes are breathable."

"I'll say," she snickered again. "Okay okay, I'm done."

He sighed. "I never thought you ever looked silly," he stated, a little coldly as he sat upon his sleeping spot.

"Hm?" She asked, sidling up beside him.

"What you wear," he said. "I never laughed at it. I always think you look beautiful."

She hugged him as he lied down, raising her eyebrow in the dark. "What?" She asked, severely confused.

He huffed. "I'm saying you look beautiful," he stated, with great effort and with great suppression; he didn't know how far their sound could travel, and whether or not this could be overheard.

She shook her head, nuzzling him. "Not everything I wear looks that good." She retorted.

Her nuzzling felt good; her whiskers tickled against him. He scooted closer to her also, slinking an arm beneath her head so she could rest on him. "I think you do. You looked gorgeous today."

"It's okay, Ket," she stated, and her words hung in the air.

He was confused. Was she thinking he was trying to make up for lacking what he meant earlier? Sure...he kind of was, but he also was being honest. He really did think she looked pretty no matter what, he just never thought he needed to say it.

"I like this," her voice spoke up softly.

"I do too," he said, a little distantly, still a little lost in thought.

"You don't snore do you?" She said, rather loudly, "If you snore and wake me up..."

It was obvious she was trying to throw a red herring to their moms.

"I'll be sure not to snore," he replied.

She draped her free arm over him, wanting to squeeze herself as close as possible, but she was shy to. He seemed a little hesitant. "Can I...?" She paused, and when she heard his head turn to her, she tried again. "Can I...put my head here?" She moved her head from resting on his shoulder, to resting more on his chest. She had to move her legs away to get the right angle.

"I guess," he said, not really minding it. Except that, somehow, a rock was now protruding into his back a little. But she nuzzled him again, and his blood started to rush everywhere, his body all confused.

She purred. "You're heart is beating really fast," she stated.

"You're on my right side," he replied.

"Yeah," she said, resting her hand over his heart, "But I can hear it. Are you...nervous, kinda?"

He shook his head. "No way," he replied. "Why would I be nervous?" Her palm went away and he felt his left hand being taken. It was drawn toward her, and rested against her. It took him a second to realize he was feeling her heart, partly because his own was beating so heavily that he couldn't feel hers beating at first.

"I'm kinda nervous," she admitted. "But I like it, especially since you are, too." She let his hand go, and pressed her cheek against his chest again. "It reminds me of the first time; except this time I'm not freezing."

He swallowed dryly. He couldn't really find any words to say, her words making him even more nervous. It was so weird, how casually their moms had decided they could sleep together. Like it was a usual thing for them to do. But he knew it wasn't necessarily proper...and yet it felt good. His right hand, that arm pinned down by her resting head, began to gently stroke her back.

She responded by stroking his tummy, more on the left side. She could feel it expand and retract with his breathing, and the ribs beneath his fur. It wasn't freezing this time, but it was a little too warm. She moved away just a nudge, with great reluctance, but she didn't want to make him too hot.

He noticed she moved away, and he used the chance to adjust. The rock was beginning to hurt, so he made it go to a different spot. It felt better. Her palm brushed across his belly, his across her back. Rhythmic motions, forward and back, like the ocean whispering in the distance. Pulling and tugging, then pushing and shoving, then pulling and tugging, then pushing and--

Suddenly he sat up, his hackles raised and his heart racing, an intense feeling of fear and anxiety and dread flowing down his spine all at once.

"Wh-what?" Emeral stammered, her fuzzy tummy-pillow gone.

He panted. "N..nothing," he said, lying back down. "I think I just got a shiver." He waited for her to rest her head on him again, and as he did he felt the world pitch and turn, rock and pull, shudder and quake. With a huff he sat up again, the feeling dissipating.

"Are you okay?" She asked with great concern, her hand gripping his arm as if to support him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, and groped the darkness for his water bottle. He found it, popping up the cap and sucking so loudly it made a squeaking noise. He snapped it back down. "Just thirsty," he explained, and then lied back down. "Okay."

She rested back on him, the moment passing. She eased back into her routine, rubbing his belly, and pretty soon he was back to rubbing her shoulders. She sighed with satisfaction. If every night was like this, she didn't know how she would ever get to sleep without him. She was in heaven, playing out one of her dreams in her mind once again, remembering how she had felt the night they became a couple.

And then her thoughts shattered as he gasped, sitting up again, shaking his head and slamming his arms on the tarp. "Ket," she said softly. "What is the matter?"

"It's nothing."

"Tell me."

"I'm fine, really."

She pursed her lips, and then made for his shoulders, missing the far one but correcting herself. She squeezed them, leaned in close to his cheek, her lips tickling the fuzz as she spoke; "Tell me."

He swallowed. "I dunno...how to say it." He stated.

"Just try."

"Like...the waves..." He tried.

"What about them?"

"I...I dunno...it's like...I feel them."

She blinked several times. "You...'feel'...the waves? Of the ocean?"

"I told you it was dumb," he grumbled, lying back down. "It's okay, I'm fine, it's nothing." He patted his chest. "C'mere."

"That's okay," she said, rubbing his peck, "We should get some sleep."

"No really, I'm fine, you can rest here. I won't move again, I promise." Even as he said that, he felt the pitching and churning and resisted the urge to sit back up. But he couldn't; he felt a great weight on him. She was resting on him, but not lying on him. He could see her gentle, green eyes gazing down on his.

"We're probably just exhausted," she suggested, deliberately using the word 'we' instead of 'you'; "Let's try to sleep and...maybe we can pick up where we left off tomorrow morning." She kneaded him with her knuckles. "We can even see each other, instead of it being all dark. Kay?"

He sighed. "...Kay,"

And then, his mind went haywire. He was bombarded with a kiss; her damp hair encircled his head, tickling his neck and ears. Her lips pressed against his with such force that he began to feel dizzy and energetic at the same time, electricity flowing through him and yet draining him. It lasted for a while too; she cupped his chin and grasped his other hand, and he closed his eyes, relishing in the emotional flood.

It was so startling that it disrupted the waves, quelling them for the moment.

Finally, after what seemed like the entire night, she lifted, a bit of spittle between them breaking, falling on his cheek. He made no effort to wipe it away, and couldn't when she rested her cheek against his, nuzzling him once more, before relieving him of her weight and whispering;

"Love you."

"Love you, too," he replied, a bit breathless.

After a bit of rustling, of shifting and adjusting of sleeping bags and pillows, they made their way down the path to slumberland, eager to wake as early as they could to press the 'play' button on their scene.

Ket began to feel the waves again, but they were not as intense as before, and so he did not feel that anxious. He felt more silly, and embarrassed, but eventually those feelings left too as he finally dipped into a dream where he was a skateboarder, going back and forth on a half-pipe and doing tricks for all the people watching, one in particle a white tigress that he had his eye on.