Arthur leaned back on his elbows. The air was too hot, but the sand underneath his beach towel was cool, and the tree arched over him blocked out the worst of the sun. Arthur could hear the voices of Digitalis, his boyfriend of just under a year, and Digit's two daughters over the waves out on the beach. Digitalis's two-year-old daughter Hydrangea had arrived in the City of Rain to stay with him for the week only three days ago, and Arthur was staying over to help out around the house. Digit had needed it: Hydrangea was almost exactly like him - she had Digitalis's wavy blue pair, rounded face, pale skin tone, and seemingly boundless energy - except her personality was dialed up to thirteen and she didn't seem to have a volume switch. Digitalis's elder daughter Chrysanthemum at least didn't have that problem; she didn't live with him. Chrysanthemum's mother Milly had brought her to meet the three of them at the beach, and was currently sitting on the towel next to Arthur's, reading a dog-eared novel with the word "Greenbird" emblazoned on the spine.
Out in the slowly-receding waves, Arthur spotted Digitalis's large bluejay-like wings. Hydrangea sat on his shoulders; her fluffy baby wings flapped happily as Digitalis waded in the shallows for sand dollars. Even against the blinding reflection on the water, Arthur could see the purple stain on Digitalis's swim shirt; Arthur had a similar stain on the front of his wrap top from a grape juice spill on the way there.
Arthur's curly dark waist-length hair was out of his usual warrior ponytail, pulled back into a messy braid, and his normally sleek black-feathered wings were noticeably disheveled and less glossy than usual, tucked politely at his sides on his beach towel.
"How are things with Digit's Mini-me?" asked Milly. She was a small, slight, and slightly odd Haman woman with pale olive skin, long pointed ears, and straight brown hair cut into a Vulcan-looking bowl cut. Despite the heat, she wore a full-body wet suit and a wide-brimmed hat with a large pair of sunglasses obscuring most of her face. In addition to being Digitalis's former partner, she was also a longtime friend and coworker of Arthur's.
"Fine, for the most part," Arthur sighed and lay back on his towel. His bladder throbbed; he hadn't used the bathroom since the afternoon of the day before. Going that long without peeing wasn't unusual at all for an andyne, but he'd had a lot of grape juice: it was the only thing Hydrangea would drink, so Digitalis had bought two industrial-sized crates of it. "Between Digit and I, we've got about ten hours of sleep since she got here. She cries all the time over everything, pulls my hair to get my attention and calls me 'mommy.'"
Milly stared at Arthur for a moment behind her big sunglasses, her long pointed ears twitching thoughtfully under her hat.
"Why are you wearing all that anyway?" yawned Arthur. "It's roasting out here."
"I'll tell you what I'm not wearing," Milly snorted, earning a surprised look from Arthur.
Arthur's eyes darted toward Digitalis and the two girls. "Milly! The kids are right there, what are you-"
"Sunscreen," finished Milly. "You can't miss a spot and lobster burn if you're already covered. And I'm keeping pretty cool in this suit, thanks for asking." Milly retracted her legs, marking her place in her book with her thumb, and stood up in a single fluid motion.
"That's..." Arthur rubbed his eyes. "Just like you actually. You're so weird. Practical, but weird."
"That's why we're friends," said Milly in a singsong voice. "You stay here and relax, I have to go talk to Digit about something."
"No problem there," yawned Arthur. He closed his eyes, listening to the waves for the next few minutes, wondering every so often what Milly was saying to Digitalis to be taking so long. He didn't notice that he'd been dozing off until a nudge at his shoulder jolted him awake.
"Hey there," said Digitalis's voice. Arthur opened his eyes, immediately glancing around for Hydrangea. Milly's towel was gone, and the beach was quiet. Arthur sat up, almost knocking his head into Digitalis's.
"What time is it? Where's Hydi?"
"Almost noon. She left ten minutes ago with Milly," said Digitalis. "Milly's taking the girls on some errands and then they're having dinner."
"You mean we're cooking for-"
Digitalis laughed. "No, no, Hydi's having dinner with Milly and Mums. It means we can go home and take a nap."
Arthur flopped back, bumping Digitalis's wing and pulling his own back in. "What's wrong with napping here? It's kind of nice in the shade. It's a 20-minute drive back to town, half of that on a bumpy dirt road, and I'll need a good pee before we go." He glanced over his shoulder toward the dunes. Aside from Digitalis's van about fifty meters away, the beach was deserted.
Digitalis looked like he was about to say something, but started fidgeting instead.
"What's up?" yawned Arthur.
Digitalis's pupilless amber eyes darted around, and his cheeks turned a little pink. He took a deep breath and said slowly: "Well, me, for starters, if you know what I mean...and there's something I'd like to try at home..."
Arthur patiently sat up. It compressed his bladder a little against the waistband of his blue jeans, but he wasn't desperate just yet.
"In the shower," Digitalis added shyly.
Arthur yawned, "We have plenty of time-"
"Actually..." Digitalis dithered, fidgeting, and took a deep breath. "I read a few books on renoige culture the other day and I know it's important to you and I'd like to try um..." It was unusual to see Digitalis acting so shy. Arthur found himself wanting to giggle but held off.
Digitalis cleared his throat and glanced around at the empty beach before saying: "I...I've put a lot of thought into it, and I'd like to try marking you."