WHAT: Thruple Goes Adventuring WHEN: Sunday, March 8 WHERE: Some ... random lake in the forest. RATING/WARNINGS: Vague refrences to skinny dipping, nothing graphically described. STATUS: Complete
In her element, Blue Sargent was unstoppable. And most of Vallo was a good, solid element. So maybe the big city was a little noisy, and the Barns were a little cramped, but the forest that lay around them held that magic pull of desire that she often found herself drawn to. She had been excited by the prospect of a forest adventure—multiple ones if Gansey wanted, because it had become really hard to say no to him when he got excited about something. Plus being close to nature, even magical nature, gave Blue a fuzzy sense of nostalgia. The road trip both close in her memory and so, so far away.
This was just a hiccup, a brief stop in the freedom they had allowed themselves by getting the hell out of Henrietta. Indecision had plagued Blue after graduation, but the one thing she knew was that feeding her wanderlust with Gansey and Henry held certainty in ways the rest of her life didn’t. Both of them being here in this new, unexplainable journey kept her from falling apart.
She woke that morning, tugging Henry and Gansey with an overexaggerated enthusiasm out of bed or downstairs for a quick breakfast. It was easy to fall into a familiar routine in an unfamiliar kitchen: kiss Henry, hold Gansey in lieu of kissing, eat a yogurt, take a moment to live in domestic happiness. Then shake it off because domesticity was not something Blue wanted to think about.
Then it was out the door, with pre-packed bags, a very large walking stick she had wrestled from a barn, and determination. They looped around the security system in that small, secret spot. Where it got a little sideways that when they were far enough out, it was not the winding road of Singer Falls, but just another copse of trees, heavily leadened with magic.
“So I was thinking,” Blue said, pushing a wayward branch out of their path. “We don’t have to go far into the woods here, but see if anything comes to us?”
The fact that they both had enthusiasm for adventure as much as Gansey did was his main driving force out of the bed that morning - he’d had a late night, but between the two of them, had actually been sleeping. That meant he was harder to wake, though, and to drag out of a comfortable bed. Once they’d had breakfast and their bags, it was much easier to follow after her.
It was harder to try and direct her, though, as the forest seemed to be every changing, and as soon as they were off of the Barns property, Gansey looked lost. He had both his phone and paper - for traditional mapping - but a slightly confused expression on his face.
“That may be the smart thing to do. I have been this way a half dozen times now, and this looks completely different. I know the forest moves, but that makes it very difficult to map.” He ended the mini rant with a sigh, and Gansey’s shoulders slumped. He glanced between them both, “Do you have anything in particular you’re hoping to see?”
Henry was pretty adaptable. Mostly. The last six months had helped him go with the flow. Where days without school used to involve video games and excessive Instagram usage, they now involved things like learning how to sew and hiking to historical locations. Both would not have been things he thought to care about two years ago. Now he had a many varied interests! And calluses!
Alright so maybe he was still a little pampered and would have stayed in bed another hour or two, but that didn’t stop him from rolling up and out the door in record time. He was excited to explore. And hopefully see something incredible. He pulled Robobee out of his pocket and balance walked across a fallen log while Gansey did his cute nerd sigh.
“Are there centaurs? Ooh or maybe a rock troll.” Tossing Robobee up into the air, he thought a general keep an eye out at it and the little robot buzzed off. “Okay okay no. I don’t want to avoid getting eaten this early in the morning.”
"I also do not want to be eaten this early. At least give us until the afternoon!" Blue said, then paused. "But I would be okay with a centaur. Or maybe even nature nymphs. Then we could ask them for information about this place."
Blue focused on picking her way through some low shrubs, knocking branches and brush away with gentle taps of her walking stick. It was an unconscious thing, wanting to catch any surprise insects first rather than Gansey. It wasn't foolproof but it was the only protection she could offer in the vastness of their outdoor exploration.
"Do you think maybe the forest doesn't want to be mapped?" Blue asked, as she took a dramatic step up onto a large root. She was only incrementally taller, but the change in perspective made her closer to Gansey's height. It made all the difference. Only then Blue realized she couldn't keep the smile off her face watching Gansey and Henry in the woods with her. This was the alone time she wanted.
"It could be like Cabeswater, less dream and more alive. This place has personality."
“Rock trolls?” Gansey asked them both with a laugh and shake of his head. He was eternally thankful for them both, and the humor they brought to any adventure in the middle of nowhere. It was a good distraction from the buzzing of Robobee. He knew it was coming, he’d braced himself the moment Henry had pulled it out. He steadied his breathing, watched where it went. It couldn’t hurt him, but he’d still had a month of being without it, and had to remind his brain that it was okay. This was Henry.
He had to forcefully shift his attention back to his companions, and grinned as soon as he spotted them both a little taller, near him. He paused near Blue to lean in and bump his nose to her neck, lips not kissing, but just a light brush against skin. A risky move, but he didn’t die as he climbed over a branch to give Henry a follow-up kiss on the corner of his mouth, before taking the “lead”.
“We aren’t guaranteed that centaurs won’t kill us outright, you know.” He tossed a look at them a look over his shoulder. “I like the sound of nature nymphs-- Do you hear water?”
“Such positive thoughts, GanseyMan!” Despite the teasing, Henry smiled brightly at the affection and was all too happy to hop over and surprise Blue with a kiss to complete the loop. So what if he tripped and stumbled into Gansey’s back right after. Steadying himself with a hand fisted into the back of Gansey’s shirt and a hand behind him to keep connected to Blue, he perked his head up and around to listen for the water.
“I think so.” He pulled out his phone to check the screen. “No messages from Bee. If there are nature nymphs, he hasn’t spotted them. Let’s just hope they aren’t sirens, okay? I would be very much no help against sirens, sorry.”
Three was a good number. Blue mused about this, while being sweetly affectionate with Gansey and just as sweetly kissed by Henry. It was strange to think of doing anything without either of them. Two would be okay, two could make things work, but it required three to make things happen. There was a difference, noted by the way Gansey took the lead, and Henry followed behind, reaching for Blue who eagerly accepted his hand. Things were happening.
"I would reason with the sirens to keep you from doing anything rash," Blue assured Henry with a squeeze. Blue had never negotiated with something supernatural that didn't already listen to her a little bit, so a small thread of doubt wound its way around her chest.
—which was promptly swept away at the sound of the water, fierce running water, growing louder. It felt like the forest was parting for them, with no discernable movement. But the path was clearer, more visible, its own siren's call that peaked Blue's curiosity.
Her voice was awed, her eyes full of wonder as the waterfall appeared between the trees, pouring into a crystal blue-green shallow lake. "Wow," was all Blue said, sucking in a deep breath. "Do you ever remember seeing this?"
Gansey didn’t want to ruin Blue’s expression by bringing up Orla in a bikini as his reasoning for being useless against sirens as well, but he did flash Henry an agreeable, knowing grin. He had faith in Blue being able to pull them about anything, which left his grin on his face as he turned back to the parting trees and clear water.
“This is new to me.” He immediately walked forward, no hesitation aside from the second it took to take it all in. “The Barns has the swimming hole but-- wow.” He dropped his bag down on a nearby flat rock, and started climbing around the edge of the lake, heading in closer to the waterfall and appreciating the unseasonably warm breeze that came with the water falling.
He had to raise his voice a little, the closer he got, but he was still grinning as he looked over at them. “You know, we may never find this place again, with the way the forest works.” It was a smooth lie, as Gansey knew full well he had a stone compass in his bag that could probably lead them back here. But it was warm for winter, and he knew they needed a break from life after blurting out things they’d rather keep quiet.
“Blue Sargent, knight in multicolored armor,” Henry smiled. He was ready to lovingly throw Gansey under the siren bus with him so it was probably for the best that the waterfall got everyone distracted. Robobee buzzed around near the top and Henry’s anxiety spiked a little. Be careful of the water, he thought at the bee. He’d never actually seen what a mass amount of water would do to a dream robot insect. And he was very much okay with that.
“That is a sad truth.” Henry pulled out his phone to snap a picture of the waterfall and then a goofy peace sign selfie with Gansey and Blue in the background. Only then did he start trailing after Gansey, sending a squint at Blue for solidarity in the process. “Think he’s trying to hint at something? Maybe the President wants to skinny dip!”
Blue did not miss that squint. She had turned to Henry with a conspiratorial smile, then back to Gansey, looking overly pleased with the prospect of taking advantage of the waterfall. There was very little that needed to be said when a consensus was reached. Blue slipped past Henry, running her hand affectionately down his arm before, sliding up beside Gansey.
"You know, Henry is right. This feels like a low-key suggestion, and I am highly susceptible," Blue said, reaching to squeeze at Gansey's side, before laying down her walking stick. It seemed unnecessary for what she was about to do.
Blue dropped down, not in a crouch, but to her stomach and reached her arm over the small ledge into the water. It was warmer than she expected, and didn't seem to have any immediate adverse side effects. Maybe the forest did want them to do something about the picturesque scene in front of them while blissfully alone.
Mesmerized, she floated her hands back and forth across the surface. "If any nymph, centaur, siren, rock troll, or other supernatural creature were going to make themselves known," Blue yelled toward the sky, over the crash of the waterfall. "I hope they do it soon before I climb into this water!" Over her shoulder, she added to both of them, "I can compromise by keeping clothes on."
Always - sometimes - the practical one, Gansey dropped down onto his butt next to where Blue started playing in the water. He started fiddling with his bootlaces (his boat shoes weren’t practical for hiking through the woods) and glanced over at the two of them. “On one hand, if we’re caught by any number of beings while not wearing our clothes while swimming, it could be embarrassing. Or worse.”
He started taking off his boots, slowly, despite his words. “On the other hand, it would be very uncomfortable to continue a hike through the woods in wet clothing.” He was already blushing saying it, hoping they would just pick up the slack and go for it, even as Gansey waffled. It was one of his very favorite things about being surrounded by people with strong desires and even stronger opinions, he was spared making choices that he might otherwise struggle with.
Gansey cleared his throat and removed a boot. “Swimming in cargo pants sounds horrendous.”
In some cases, Henry was considerate and patient. Aware of the people around him. He’d tried to carefully cultivate a friendship with Gansey and his little unit of friends. But when that had failed, he’d eventually jumped in, head first. Well, feet first, when he pulled Gansey down underground, shown him Robobee, and told him why he was at their school in the first place.
He was very much about to jump in feet first now, too.
“You make a good point. Very good. I don’t even like walking in wet socks.” Henry promptly pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it aside with a grin. “Last one in has to sing the song they hate most in this world?” With that, he hurried to strip off the rest of his clothes and cannonball into the water.
Blue's excitement had started to grow when Gansey unlaced his boots, because she knew in some way they had won. Not that there had to be a winner, but it made the guilt about doing things like jumping into possibly-magical pools with little-to-no clothes on, less.
But then Henry was tearing off his shirt and jumping into the water, and Blue was not going to be last in. There was bravery in the move, and she refused to be a coward. She scrambled to her feet, and was tugging one shoe off, then the other. There was nothing sensual about stripping in front of either of them—Blue gave up propriety around Gansey and Henry once they were out of Virginia and wrapped together in close quarters—but Blue made a show of it anyway. Socks, pants, then shirt.
She grinned, wild and unashamed. "I think..." Blue said, tossing her clothes at Gansey, as a distraction, obviously, "you're going to need to warm up those vocal chords!" Then she mirrored Henry's leap in, her head popping up a moment later, spitting a stream of water playfully in Henry's direction.
They were always going to win, from the very start. Gansey was the sort to get distracted easily, and first a flash of skin from Henry did it, then followed by Blue? He was a goner. A blushing, distracted, goner. Once he knew he was last, he took a moment to fold Blue’s clothes tossed his direction, and set them on a neat pile on the rocks, before going to his own. They got folded as well, in proper order.
“You know, I’m not singing Murder Squash.” He was firm on that, even if he hated the dreadful tune that accompanied it, it was still part of Ronan, and he couldn’t bring himself to making it number one on his list. But he gave himself a few extra minutes to think about what he was going to sing now that they’d both thoroughly gotten him. They could get got right back.
Gansey grinned as he folded his last piece of clothing and stood on the edge. He couldn’t sing, not one single bit, but still mimicked a high-pitched voice. “It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears, and a world of hopes, a world of fears--” He cut himself in by jumping in the water smoothly, staying under for a good minute before resurfacing behind Blue. “There’s so much that we share that it’s time we’re aware--”
Getting into the water so fast had two benefits: Henry had all the time in the world to watch Blue and Gansey strip down and he had all the time in the world to get ready to pounce. Of course, Gansey surprised him, and okay maybe he’d gotten a little distracted watching water trickle from Blue’s hair down her neck. The next thing he knew, Gansey’s charmingly terrible voice was cut off and he was underwater way too long.
“Has he completely forgotten the whole worried about supernatural creatures thing?” Henry frowned, swimming closer to Blue. Thankfully, that meant he was close by when Gansey popped back up and he interrupted the song by splashing at him. “Okay okay,” he laughed. “It is a small world and I have medium-sized regrets. I should’ve said loser does laundry.”
Blue's face had a range of emotions—elation at watching Gansey strip, fond exasperation when he folded her clothes, kind annoyance when he started singing It's a Small World. Coming from anyone else would have caused her to drown them in this very lovely pool, but from Gansey it was different. A playfulness she tried often to pull out of Gansey when things got too serious.
But also like Henry, her annoyance dropped into concern when he didn't come up for awhile. Were they too hasty in their desire to swim sans clothes? Did they unintentionally sacrifice Gansey to some unnamed water god who occupied this waterfall? But then he surprised her, and she yelped. As she spun around, her face twisted up into some kind of irritated relief.
"Regret not, there is still time to change the rules of this game," Blue said to Henry, while keeping her eyes on Gansey. Blue was up to something. Her hand smoothed a long line across and down Gansey's chest before pushing away to float over to Henry.
"Double or nothing, race to the waterfall and loser has to do laundry." She kissed Henry quick, then dove under the water toward the waterfall.
“That’s cheating,” Gansey called after her, but was grinning too much for it to sound serious. He turned that grin to Henry, and while it was tempting to dunk him while Gansey took off after Blue, he allowed himself a still moment to reach out.
He curled a hand around Henry’s bicep and floated in a little closer. “I should suggest we not give into her terrorist ways and make her regret taking off, but I think it’s a fair bet that she’ll just make both of us do laundry, don’t you?” Worth it? He wasn’t brave enough to ask if it was, even as he floated a little closer to Henry, putting himself at risk of being left in the calm wake of the water. But also confident enough he could catch up if Henry took off after Gansey leaned in for a gentle kiss.
Henry smiled dopily into Blue’s kiss. He might’ve been quicker to follow her if she hadn’t kissed him, but that was probably the point. It didn’t matter anyway because Gansey was there, throwing a handsome, well-spoken wrench into things before he could kick off through the water. Henry hummed. He hated laundry. He missed having a laundry service almost as much as he missed his playstation. Of course, he’d never admit that where Blue Sargent could hear.
“Maybe,” he admitted grumpily. “She has the potential to be a very pretty tyrant.” This could be a set-up, but he was weak. He pressed his hands to Gansey’s stomach under the waterline and claimed the kiss on offer.
When Blue came up for air, several obvious yards away, it was impossible to be mad that they didn't follow her. She couldn't hear what they were saying over the sound of the waterfall, but she saw them kiss sweetly and that was good enough for her. If she couldn't kiss Gansey, he deserved to be kissed by Henry. Blue sighed happily, slipped below the surface, and swore she would make them both do her laundry.
Blue came up again but this time past the waterfall, dipping past the aggressive spray. But instead of solid stone, there was a sizable crevice cutting through the rockwall. A cave, or maybe just a dead end into the side of the cliff. Curiosity caused her to paddle closer, but experience told her she shouldn't do it alone. And she was sans clothes. Blue was already in the negatives for vulnerability, she didn't want to risk herself in somewhat hidden, magical forest caverns.
She promptly swam backward, breaking through the crash of the falls, her voice breathless with excitement. "I found something!"
Gansey may have been blushing, like he usually did when kissing or a lack of clothes were involved, but he melted into the kiss. Any thoughts of betrayal slipped away and he was grinning against Henry’s mouth right up to the point where Blue burst back out. Gansey jerked away, but kept a steady hand on Henry just so neither of them fell.
He had been worried instantly, that something had happened when they were too wrapped up in each other. But then he was caught stupidly staring as Blue emerged from the water looking like her own brand of siren, and he sucked in a breath before going into action.
“You found something?” He reached out and linked Henry’s hand with his own and started forward to her. “What is it? Is it something to document? My phone is--” Up on the rocks, dry, where it should be. It made Gansey frown, but he still worked through the water to Blue. “I can document things later. Where?”
As easily distracted as Henry was, he was equally present as soon as something was amiss. He supposed that’s what happened when you were kidnapped young and your mother made quiet paranoia feel like a perfectly reasonable lifestyle after that. Suspicion wasn’t a natural fit for him, though, so when he broke off from the kiss to turn sharply towards Blue, it was less with worry and more with anticipation.
“Is it shiny?” he called back. He lowered into the water to swim towards Blue. “We should find Gansey a way to take notes even if he is wet and naked too, I think. We’re in a place full of magic, that must be a thing, yes? Not that we can do anything about it right now, but still!”
Blue rolled her eyes, but not unkindly. Naturally, she expected Gansey's desire to document everything to come into play. And while she couldn't deny him the small pleasures in life, being here in this place, where the forest quietly beckoned them to, required living in the moment. She was pleased when he didn't push the issue further.
She floated closer, meeting them halfway. Her grin was wild, bright. "It's not shiny, but I am on board to find a waterproof journal that is compact enough to fit around... oh, his wrist." Blue side-eyed Henry for a let's discuss excellent idea this later, before turning to Gansey. "Until then dictate out loud, three minds compiling notes is better than one."
Lacing her fingers between one of Gansey's hands and one of Henry's, she pulled them along toward her sweet, sweet find. "It's behind the waterfall," Blue said. "It's a cave. Maybe a cave. I didn't get too close, I wanted—" Blue made a tiny hum, as if her brain was trying to quiet her heart from saying something senselessly romantic. She was not used to sharing her feelings so openly, but she cared about both of them too much to shy away. "I wanted to wait for both of you. It didn't feel right to go alone."
“A cave?” Well, caves weren’t their favorite place, that was for sure, but at least they had the opportunity to turn back from this one if horrible things happened. This time, it was all for fun and adventure. Learning. Gansey was already looking too pleased with the pair of them puzzling out a way for him to take notes even like this, even if he wasn’t so keen on being naked while searching a cave.
That wasn’t to say he wasn’t keen on being naked on an adventure, but at least with his bout of honesty gone, he was free from actually saying that part out loud.
Blue being honest made him give her too long of a fond stare, smile creeping at his lips as they followed her up to the waterfall. “I’m glad you didn’t go alone, you never know what might be in there. Which-- I probably shouldn’t say as we approach it to find out.” Gansey squared his shoulders and looked at them with light in his eyes. “Excelsior. Shall we?”
While Henry wasn’t particularly brave, he somehow felt it with the two of them leading the charge. It might’ve been all the nakedness making him dumb though. He was aware enough to direct Robobee down from the waterfall and into the cave ahead of them. At least this way they’d get a warning if there was a bear or something. Did bears live behind waterfalls?
He glanced behind them at his pile of clothes where his trusty phone was and the wonders of google could answer this oh-so-important question, but ultimately turned back to follow their lead with a shrug.
“Let’s do this!” he said, cheerfully squeezing their linked hands. “Let’s just agree that if there is something in there, we collectively moon it and then make a run for it.”