Everybody needs a friend

Once Remus was able to right himself and spot Ike out in the water in front of him while he laughed, he couldn’t help but smile even harder. She had been pretty and mysterious in their other meetings, but she had also seemed so weighed down and strained by her life which felt so incredibly unfair to someone as young as her. Their trip here gave him a glimpse of the sweet girl underneath and he really liked what he saw. "Oh yeah? Dang, I thought I might try to be a fish!” he called back to her sarcastically when she told him not to inhale the saltwater, making him grin and laugh again. He didn’t know the full scope of what was going on in her life and couldn’t really imagine the pressures she was under, but he was really glad he could at least give her a day to herself filled with laughter.

Now that he had his bearings again, Remus bounded out into the waves to join her and grinned as he leapt forward to tackle her. He wrapped his forelegs around her shoulders and pulled her down into the water, only letting her go as a wave rolled over them and submerged them both for a moment. He popped back over the surface of the water with her, laughing and blinking the water from his eyes. The water was cool but not too cold with the sun on them and it made for great swimming weather. He played around with her for a while, splashing water back and forth and doing little races through the waves. Ike was surprisingly a really good swimmer and seemed absolutely natural in the water—far more than himself at least.

Eventually, as the sun started to move past the high point in the sky, he nodded toward the shore and told her, "Come on, let’s go eat a snack and get dried off.” He wanted to make sure they got dried before it got too late since the night was sure to get colder than the day. He led the way out of the water, giving himself a good shake once he was back on the sand and getting as much water out of his fur as possible. The thicker mohawk of fur that ran down the back of his neck was still a little water logged, but that was just the way it went with the unusual way his fur grew. Walking over to the little picnic area he had prepared, he tipped over the rock that had been hiding the simple meal of dried meats and berries, pulling out the small bag and laying out its contents for her. "It’s not much, but hopefully it will at least hold you over,” he told her with a chuckle before he flopped down onto the fur he had laid down to start letting his coat dry.

"Remus Armada"