heliophilia.

Lux peeked her head out of her room to call out to Tessa. "All done! We should go out to the beach now!" A grin grew on her face. They weren't nearly halfway done with their parking, but they could use a break every now and then. They had moved to the beach, deciding to start completely over. They could do whatever they wanted, be whomever they wanted. It was going to be wonderful, Lux knew it. She had been dying to get to that beach and swim in that water ever since they arrived earlier that morning. Unfortunately, they both knew they needed to unpack some of their things.

Rowan had been at the beach most of the day. He started off most of his mornings slipping underneath of the pier and talking to the mermaids. They would bring him things every now and then; presents from the bottom of the ocean and he would tell them stories or bring them little tokens from up on the land. Today was lovely, the beginning of summer and beautiful temperatures. He had watched the people file in on the beach, scattering about, and he had watched them pack up and leave later on the day. The sun would be starting to go down soon, leading into his favourite time of the day.

Tessa had just slipped her suitcase for her clothing on the very top shelf of her closet when she heard Lux call out to her. "Alright! Let me put on my suit!" She called back, and she moved over to her dresser which had just previously been filled to the brim with her clothes. Tessa grabbed her blue bikini, slipping out of her clothes and into what she had chosen. She grabbed a large tshirt and slipped it on before leaving her room, running her hand through her hair. "C'mon babe!" Tessa called out as she grabbed their beach bag, shoving new towels into it as well as some snacks if they got hungry.

Jace left the house in search for Rowan to see if he wanted some dinner, and He went first to search for him near the pier. He knew that he loved speaking with the mermaids all day, and would often get caught up for hours. He leisurely made his way there, enjoying the feeling of his feet sinking into the sand and the feeling of the thick humid air turning cool on his skin. Jace saw Rowan before Rowan saw him, and he made his way to his side, giving him a smile as he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, Row, let's eat some dinner and then maybe we can come back out for a night swim," He suggested, looking over to him.

Lux grinned, sliding back further in her room to grab her new bikini, putting it on before putting an oversized t-shirt overtop of it. She grabbed her beach bag before heading out. "I'm here, I'm here!" she exclaimed with a giggle before linking their arms together and heading out of their new apartment. It was so close to the beach, they were so lucky.

Rowan noticed Jace out of the corner of his eye as the guy made his way up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Rowan nodded his head, "Dinner sounds good," he said, standing up. He waved goodbye to the mermaids that were playing a few yards out into the ocean. Rowan and Jace had lived out here as long as he could remember. They used to run around the beach in the early mornings and late evenings building little sandcastles for nymphs and trading with the mermaids, now they were so much older and still doing the same things, really.

Tessa giggled as Lux popped into view, quickly linking their arms and leading them out of their apartment. She followed her down to the little trail that led out to the beach, and all of the way until they found a good spot to settle. The beach was clearing out mostly because of all of the families leaving because of the time, while teens and young adults seemed to linger. There was a bonfire going on a little down the beach, Tessa noticed, as she laid out her towel before sitting down and pulling off her tshirt. "Are you going into the water straight away?" She asked, her eyes wandering and landing on the pier, where she saw two fair haired boys standing close, looking out over the water.

Jace put up a hand to say goodbye to the mermaids, his gaze wandering the beach as he watched their tails flicker away right underneath the murky surface of the water. He saw two girls arrive and set up a little spot, and he smiled despite himself. Jace always enjoyed seeing people enjoy the beach almost as much as he did. "Any mermaid news?" Jace asked Rowan instead of commenting on the girls, starting to walk towards the stairs that led back down to the beach from the pier.

"Yeah!" Lux chirped, laying out her own towel and slipping out of her flip flops and pulling off her t-shirt. She took a moment to put her hair back in a messy ponytail before heading off into the water. She let out a little squeal as a wave crashed into, the water a little colder than she had expected. "C'mon! The water's perfect!" she yelled to her best friend after a moment, heading back farther into the water, jumping waves so they wouldn't make her tumble over until she was far enough back where she didn't really have to worry about that anymore.

Rowan shook his head, "Nah, just some gossip about other mermaids and mermen and some about the nymphs," he answered, starting to walk with them until he saw the girls not too far away from them. He knew everyone that came around, but they were new, so either they were in a vacation, or living there. Rowan was betting on the former. He wondered if the mermaids would show the girls a glimpse of them tonight or not.

Tessa laughed at Lux's antics and jumped up, running after her into the water with a squeal when she first was hit by a wave. "It's just a little chilly!" She called out to her, following her and going to where they wouldn't really be affected by waves. She relaxed and moved to float on her back, letting out a contented sigh. "This was the best decision we've ever made," Tessa commented, letting her eyes flutter shut as she floated.

Jace shrugged his shoulders at how it was the usual news, movng his eyes away from the girls that had caught his attention. "Do you feel like pizza maybe?" Jace asked him as they reached the beach and began the journey back up to their little house.

Lux stayed comfortably where her feet could touch the bottom of the water easily. "This is amazing! I still can't believe we're here!" she said. They had been saving up since they were first able to get jobs just so they could do something like this. Sure, they'd still need jobs to pay rent and such, but at least they were by the beach and it was warm all year round and just amazing. She splashed a little bit of water on her friend as she floated on her back. There were going to be super cute boys everywhere, and gods, not to mention the girls.

"Pizza sounds great," Rowan answered, walking with them back up to their house. He hoped that by the time they finished, those girls would still be out, they were cute, and maybe he'd say something to them. Besides, they had to be here vacationing, so flirting wouldn't be too bad, hell, having a summer fling wouldn't be bad. Everyone would forget about it the day after they left.

Tessa had floated in the water for quite awhile, until the sun had long past set and the water turned even more chilly. "I think I'm going to go lay out on the sand a little bit and dry off, it's getting too cold for me," She told Lux, looking over at her. "You should probably come dry off as well, Luxy," Tessa added, holding out her hand for her best friend, and once she had it, returning them both back to land. She found their spot easily and collapsed upon her towel set out, laying on her back and observing the stars.

Once they were both done with dinner and leftovers were put away, Jace suggested they go back out. He went in search of swim shorts and found some clean ones, changing into them and a tshirt before meeting back up wih Rowan. "Did you see those pretty girls earlier? Hopefully they still might be out there," He mentioned in passing, grabbing a towel for himself before moving to the front door, opening it for Rowan and following behind him, the door smacking shut. Jace ran a hand through his messy hair, excited to go out for a night swim, and if they couldn't find the girls, Jace wouldn't mind playing around with a few of the mermaids.

Lux agreed, even though she really didn't want to get out of the water yet. She grabbed her friend's hand and headed out of the water, laying down on her towel when they made it back onto the sand. "This was the best idea ever," Lux signed, leaning off her towel to ring her hair out into the sand. Lux grabbed her camera and started taking some shots of the sky, Tessa, and distance photos the bonfire going on farther down on the beach.

"I bet their vacationers," Rowan grinned, heading out onto the beach. He hoped the girls were still there, if not, there was always the mermaids they could talk to. He wanted to know why Maddie was so mad at Marina. There definitely was going to be a good story behind that.

Tessa pulled some pretzels out of her beach bag, sitting Indian style and eating them. She smiled when Lux turned to take pictures of her, once even sticking out her tongue. "I'm glad we went through with it," She mentioned quietly, her eyes traveling over the beach. It was a little while later when she saw the two boys from earlier heading in their direction. "Hey Luxy, those cute boys from earlier are heading towards us," Tessa told her, as she seemed absorbed in her camera.

"We can only hope that they're not," Jace said, watching the one girl that seemed intent on taking pictures of her surrondings. She was beautiful, and he knew he wouldn't mind getting to know her, even if she was just there for the summer. When the boys finally got close enough to the girls, Jace gave a smile. "Hey! We would just thought we would welcome you to the beach, we live right over in that house," he pointed, still smiling, "Rowan and I didn't think we recognized you guys, so we thought we would introduce ourselves," Jace said, looking over to Rowan.

Lux had been so absorbed with her camera that she hadn't even comprehended what Tessa had said until the boys had walked up and started talking to them. It had frightened her enough to where she had spun around to face them, finger pressing down on the button to capture a picture, making the flash go off. "Sorry," she stated quickly before actually understanding what the tall blonde boy had said. "That's awfully nice of you. I'm Lux, and this is my best friend Tessa. We just moved here, actually," she said, sending them a smile.

Rowan only nodded his head in agreement, walking with him up to the girls and just staying quiet for the moment as he spoke. He grinned when the blonde girl spun around, snapping a picture then apologising. "You guys just moved here, eh? I hope you two are liking it here so far," he said, looking to the darker haired girl. She was beautiful. The other fae girls had nothing on her. "If you would like anyone to show you around, let you in on the secret local spots, we'd be happy to show you around."

Tessa set down her pretzels as the boys talked, revealing that they lived right down the beach themselves. "We absolutely love it here. We've both always been drawn to the beach, so it made sense to move close to it. And if you're willing to give a tour, we'd love it. Lux and I are always up for an adventure," Tessa said, talking right after Jace was done,looking up to the boys and smiling. She couldn't keep her eyes off of the one she thinks is Rowan, her eyes mostly meeting his the whole time she spoke.

Jace laughed when the girl startled and accidentally took a picture of them both. She was adorable. "M'Jace, and this is Rowan," He offered after Lux had given both their names, gesturing beside him when he mentioned Rowan. He nodded along at Rowan's offer of a tour, and grinned when Tessa agreed. "There's actually cool places along the beach, if you'd like to come hang out with us, we can show you a few," Jace said, running a hand through his hair out of habit.

"Yeah, that would be amazing," Lux agreed, eyes brightening with her smile as she looked to Jace. He was swoon-worthy, that was for sure. "D'ya just want to leave our stuff here or go put it away in the house real quick, darling?" she asked her friend, finally looking away from Jace to her friend. Her camera still hung around her neck; it was something she always took with her. She never knew when there would be a moment she would have to photograph to remember all the vivid details or emotions that came with that experience. Photographs captured that moment in time; they captured the permanence of that moment and she thought that was beautiful.

Hearing the excitement in their voices made Rowan happy to know they wanted the tour. They didn't ask questions. They didn't want to know if they were murderers, or have any alternative motives. They were so mundane, such mortals. The girls had no worries, which were nice, but it was also so dangerous. "If you want to take your things to your house, we can wait. We have all the time in the world," he spoke up, smiling to the girls.

"Yeah, c'mon babes, let's go drop it off since it's just a minute away and then we'll go," Tessa said to Lux, and she smiled back as Rowan. "We'll be right back," She said, slipping on her tshirt and grabbing their one bag of stuff. She went with Lux back to the apartment, dropping off their stuff quickly. Tessa went to her room and found a pair of shorts, pulling them on and sliding her phone into her back pocket. She went out to the door and met Lux, smiling. "C'mon, Luxy, let's go back," Tessa said, linking her arm with hers as they went back out and back down to the beach. Jace and Rowan were down by the water, waiting for them, and she walked down to the waters edge. "Hi boys! Let's go!" She said, smiling as water ran over her toes.

Jace watched as the girls went, and turned to Rowan after a moment. "Let's go down to the water while we wait," He suggested, walking down until his feet was under water. "I feel like they would be really easy to use magic on," Jace commented, watching the water shine a few yards out, occupied by mermaids swimming about.

Lux waved to the boys before going off with Tessa, back to their house with their things. Inside, she set her bag down in her room and pulled on a flowy, strappy burgundy dress, deciding to ditch the shoes and shoved her phone in one of the pockets the dress thankfully had. She met up with Tessa by the door and linked arms before going to meet up with the boys. "They're super cute," she said softly to her friend as they walked, glancing over to Tessa.

Rowan followed Jace down to the water, standing until his shins were covered. "They would. They don't have a single worry about anything and wouldn't notice a thing," he agreed with a hum as he pushed his hair away from his face. He didn't even know if he would feel bad if they did use a bit of their fae magic on them - entrance them.

Tessa grinned when she saw Lux's attire. "Don't you look beautiful. Are you looking to entrance them, lovey? Jace already had eyes for you," Tessa said, nodding when Lux said they were cute. "They are super super cute. Especially Rowan," Tessa commented, and bit on her lower lip as she looked at her friends dress. "Maybe I should've dressed up a bit. Oh well," She said, as they were already on the beach.

"I can't decide if I would feel bad about using magic or not," Jace said, looking up to see them making their way down the beach. His eyes caught on Lux, and how she had changed into a beautiful burgundy dress, and he almost couldn't believe that this girl wasn't made of magic because of how gorgeous she was. "Hey girls. Well, let's go to the pier first," Jace said, and waved them in the direction the pier was as he began walking.

Lux's cheeks heated at Tessa's comment. Sure, he was cute, like, really, really cute and she would admit that, but Lux liked to think that she dressed for no one. Still, the thought did come to her mind as she dressed that he would hopefully find her pretty in that dress. "You look beautiful, Tess! Really," Lux told her, after her cheeks started to fade. Luckily, it was night, so it wasn't like someone could really tell she was still blushing at the thought of that cute boy Jace. Right? "Sounds good," she chirped in reply, fingers playing with her camera out of habit. Her heart fluttered and she could feel her cheeks heat up slightly again. Lux had no idea why she felt so nervous - there was no reason to be but still she did.

"Dare you to do it," Rowan said quickly with a smirk on his lips. His eyes followed Jace's as he looked away and spotted the girls coming back down. He still couldn't fathom how trusting mundanes could be. Still, he couldn't help to find it a cute kind of innocence - especially on Tessa with her bright eyes and simple attire. It didn't look like she was trying to impress anyone, she was just living in the moment. "This way," Rowan grinned to them, as they walked towards the pier. He hoped the mermaids would make a little appearance, nothing to over the top to overwhelm the girls and not want to continue on.

"You're so adorable when you go all pink, Luxy, and thank you," She commented, her smile knowing as she looked to her. When they finally got back to the boys, Tessa felt small butterflies when she saw Rowan, and she let herself looking into his warm eyes and melting. What was it about him? When he started walking toward the pier, she followed, a smile playing on her lips. Tessa was excited to see what this night would hold.

Jace smirked back at Rowan, raising his eyebrows. "Right back at you, mate," He said, just as the girls arrived. His eyes lingered on Lux, and how beautiful she looked in her wardrobe change, and how the setting sun set her alight. He looked back at her a few times, giving her a quick grin, before they made it to the pier. "This is one of our favorite spots to come to on the beach. It's the best place for sunsets," He said, which was highlighted by the sun that was clearly in view, setting over the horizon. "When Rowan and I first moved here, it was the first place we found. A bit fitting for it to be yours too," He finished, giving Lux a smirk when he noticed her eyes on him.

Lux groaned at Tessa's comment before they met up with the boys, hoping she wasn't still obviously blushing. They followed the boys along towards the pier. She would catch Jace looking at her every now and then, and it would just make her smile like a dork. That didn't stop her from looking at him often. "This is beautiful," Lux said in awe, staring out into the sunset. She had almost forgotten about her own camera until she felt the weight around her neck once again. She brought it up and snapped a few pictures of the sunset, engulfed in it. There were still butterflies in her stomach and that feeling of nervousness that she couldn't really explain as to why she felt this way. When she was able to pull her eyes from the sunset and her camera, she looked to Jace as he spoke, cheeks heating up again when he smirked to her, catching her staring.

Rowan winked at Jace before heading off to the pier with everyone. He didn't walk too fast, able to see Tessa out of the corner of his eyes because he liked being able to keep her in his sight. "We come here all the time, and sometimes if you look close enough you can see dolphins," he added onto what Jace said, grinning. Of course, there might be dolphins out there, but the tails would mostly be the mermaids playing and taunting the mundanes.