jem carstairs will be the light at your side (mizpah) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-08-09 21:43:00
Who: Jem Carstairs, Will Herondale and Tessa Gray When: Backdated: Mid July Where: The Beach What: Just a day at the beach Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly Status: Complete
It had been some time since Jem had spent a day on the beach so it was a welcome suggestion when the three of them were trying to think of something to do outside of the house, on one of Tessa’s rare days off.
Unlike the previous summer, Jem was neither sickly pale or weak so he was able to enjoy the day a little more. He was currently sitting on a beach chair, under an umbrella, reading a book. He had read so many books over the last year or so that he was surprised he hadn’t run out by now.
Will, being a somewhat pale Welsh boy, had been lathered in sunscreen by Tessa before they had left the house so was able to sit in the sun for a little while though he preferred the shade. He had sunglasses on and was lounging on a towel next to Jem also reading. Since finishing his finals he was now reading new books he’d liked the look of in Tessa’s shop, “Anybody up for a dip before lunch?” he asked, having gotten to the end of a chapter and decided he was restless.
Tessa had come to the beach with her swimsuit already on beneath her clothes. She was always self-conscious when it came to swimwear, but with Clary’s help (fueled by Izzy’s previous fashion advice), she had decided on a new swimsuit for the summer. While the boys had immersed themselves in their books, Tessa had taken the time to walk up the beach, grab them all some some ice cold bottles of drink and stopped by a bathroom to strip down to her swimsuit and sarong before making her way back down the beach to the boys.
Hearing Will’s question after she stood next to them, she put her bag with the drinks in down in the shade. “I’ll go for a swim,” she smiled at Will. She nervously cast her eyes around the people in the near area before moving to slowly remove the sarong covering her costume.
Unlike a year earlier or even a few years before that, Jem was less self conscience of his body these days as he had regained his natural coloring and wasn’t as skinny as he had been before he’d met and started training with Will so he had opted to not wear a shirt for the moment, but had certainly put on a layer of sunscreen. Perhaps not as much as Will, but a sufficient amount.
At Will’s question, he put his bookmark in to make his place and glanced over at his boyfriend only for his gaze to wander towards Tessa as she removed her sarong. “You look wonderful, Tessa.” He said, smiling at her as he placed his book down beside one of their bags.
Will meanwhile showed his appreciation of Tessa’s outfit by letting out a low whistle, “Amazing” he said with a nod, “You have the Herondale seal of approval” he told her with a wink and a smile. Standing he rested his hand on the visible skin on her side and pressed a kiss to her lips, “Beautiful” he told her softly before offering a hand to Jem, “Come on, let’s go get wet” he said lips only quirking a little as he said it.
Tessa blushed and looked down at herself, smoothing her palms down her stomach self-consciously. She looked back up at them with a little smile before Will kissed her. Rolling her eyes at his quip, she place her sarong over the bag and smiled demurely at Jem. “Thank you both. I’m not used to showing so much flesh,” she gave a little laugh. “Let’s get in the water before I put my sarong back on,” she joked.
Getting to his feet, Jem took one of Tessa’s hands and kissed the back of it before lacing their fingers together, “It’s been sometime since I’ve been to the beach.” He glanced over at Will, “It’s possible that it was the time we met up with Peter, Caspian and Lucy.” It was crazy to think that it had been that long ago especially since they hadn’t even been together yet, but the other three had assumed there was something between him and Will at the time. And really, when he thought about it, there had been, but he had been too afraid to see it.
Will frowned, “Wow, considering how close we live to it that’s pretty bad form on our part” he said, remembering it just as clearly as Jem. They had been a fun group to hang out with. “Well come on then, let’s get splashing around. We have lost time to make up for” he winked at them before running off to the water.
“Thank you,” Tessa smiled at Jem as he kissed her hand, squeezing it gently in return and keeping hold of it. “That really is pretty bad form,” Tessa grinned at them both, watching then as Will bounced off towards the water. Chuckling, she started to follow and gently pulled Jem by their still linked hands. “He’s like a schoolboy,” she shook her head in amusement. “What about you? Not wanting to run off into the surf with him?” she teased Jem gently as they made their way towards Will.
“We will certainly have to make up for wasted time,” Jem said, smiling as he watched Will run off towards the ocean. He couldn’t help but wonder what other people thought as they saw the Runes that adorned his body. In Jem’s case his Runes had faded somewhat since becoming a Silent Brother aside from the ones on his cheeks, but those were invisible to most people because of the glamour made for him by Magnus.
He glanced at Tessa as she spoke and he squeezed her hand, lightly, “It would be rude if we ran off and left you behind.” He said as they got closer to the water’s edge.
Will didn’t really care what people thought, tattoos weren’t unusual and that’s what the runes looked like to most mundanes. It hadn’t ever really caused a problem for him so far.
“Bloody hell, there’s a chill to this water I didn’t expect” Will said with a grin as he jogged back out of the water to where Tessa and Jem were dawdling. Taking a hand of theirs in each of his he tugged them forward, “Come on” he encouraged.
Laughing as she half-resisted Will dragging her towards the sea. “No! You just said it’s freezing Will!” she laughed as he pulled her forward.
“It can’t be that cold, William.” Jem said, shaking his head slightly as he watched their boyfriend try to drag Tessa into the water. As Will continued to pull, Jem decided to assist and began pushing Tessa along, gently. “However, the sooner we get in, the warmer it will feel.”
“I said there was a chill to it” Will said rolling his eyes as both his girlfriend and boyfriend exaggerated his words. Releasing Jem’s hand he focused on Tessa when Jem started pushing her too before grinning and deciding there was a much easier way. Releasing her hands he swept her up in his arms and started walking into the water, “Just like Jem said, the sooner we get in the warmer it’ll feel” he winked at Jem slowing enough for him to walk next to them.
Tessa squealed and clutched at Will’s neck as he swept her up in his arms, feeling the cold surf splash up and hit her sun-warmed skin. “William! I will never speak to you again if you drop me in this water!” she told him, trying to be firm but laughing at the same time.
Jem laughed as he watched Will and Tessa, glad that he wasn’t the one that Will had decided to pick up, “I feel that Will would eventually wear you down.” Jem followed them into the water, wading in up to his thighs and stopped to take a moment to adjust to the movement of the water as the waves went in and out.
“No dropping, I promise” he said though he grinned at Jem, he would definitely wear her down if she decided not to speak to him again. He was too charming for his own good sometimes. Once they were in up to Will’s waist he turned, gave Tessa a wink and then let himself fall back into the water, obviously taking Tessa with him.
Tessa squealed as she felt Will drop backwards, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and clinging to him as the water consumed them. Spluttering and flailing as she came up, Tessa swept her hair back from her face and wiped the water away as she found her feet. “William Herondale! You lying little snake, you!” she told him as she caught her breath.
Jem had suspected Will would do something like he just had and was not the least bit surprised. As Tessa got to her feet, he moved a little closer to her in case she needed any assistance in steadying herself in the water, but she appeared to have a handle on it so he simply stood there amused as he watched them both, wondering if they were as amusing for the others around them.
“I am affronted” Will exclaimed, dramatically with a hand on his heart, “I did not lie, I told you I wouldn’t drop you and I didn’t” He had her there, he hadn’t actually dropped her not even when they’d landed in the water. He knew he was amusing Jem and he liked that, making their boyfriend smile was something he tried to do often.
“Semantics Will, semantics,” Tessa groused, sweeping her hair back from her face. She glared at him, but couldn't sustain it as she saw the look on his face. Grinning, she splashed water at him and Jem and tried to wade back to shore before retribution came her way.
Jem laughed as Tessa splashed them then proceeded to follow her, his arms wrapping around her waist to prevent her from getting to shore, “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Tessa.” He brought her back to where Will was, “We’ve only just gotten into the water.”
“Exactly” Will agreed, happy that Jem had brought Tessa back, moving closer he dropped his arms around them both, “We’re all in now, might as well have a swim and enjoy ourselves right?” he gave them both his roguish grin.
Laughing as Jem wrapped her up and took her back to Will. She rested her head back against his shoulder and smiled at Will as she rested her hands on Jem’s arms. “Curse my attraction to you beautiful boys,” she grinned, relaxing in Will and Jem’s hold.