Chapter Text
The trio were at Colt's last regularly scheduled physiotherapy appointment. Every appointment from this point onward, wouldn't be twice a week, but every few months. Colt is much more confident walking with his cane, not even needing the thing at times. The physiotherapist is quite pleased with the stuntman's progress, and Colt is equally excited to not be seeing so much of the stale white hospital.
Upon exiting the place after being officially told Colt wouldn't have to come back for three months, and could likely handle living on his own again. Colt being freed from needing assistance anymore has him happy he won't have to rely on his twin so much, but it does make him a little sad that this means Ryland will have to return to work. Ryland finds himself mutually a little sad that at the end of summer he'll have to return to his work on the Hail Mary project. Ken is a little disappointed he just got to see his older brothers again, and will have to go back to school the following week, but he's just happy to know his family is safe now.
Ken suggests they spend the day at the beach since Colt's back is officially okay enough he's cleared to do some casual physical activity. The twins are both happy to agree, however, it doesn't go unnoticed by Ryland, and Ken that Colt seems a bit shy in comparison to usual. They don't pick at him for answers, they know why. The man's not been able to maintain his previously toned physique due to his injury, and he seems to be insecure with the subsequent changes to his body. It's likely also the scars that now cover the back half of his body. They're large, and recent enough to still be quite pink.
Despite his insecurities, Colt still expresses excitement at going to the beach, jokingly stating he'll just wear a t-shirt for the time being. His brothers attempt to convince him it's okay that he looks different, and no one will judge him for it, but Colt just brushes them off, telling them he can't be convinced. The two just sigh with mild trepidation, acknowledging it’s unhelpful to keep pushing.
Colt returns to his apartment alone for the first time in the past few months. Ryland, of course, dropped him off. However the scientist hadn't brought swimwear to Colt's apartment with him when he'd shown up, having assumed there's no way they'd end up anywhere with more water than a bathtub. Thus, after he dropped Colt off at his apartment complex, he immediately left, heading to his own place of residence to find something to wear. Ken had also parted ways with the twins, heading off excitedly to the hotel he'd been staying at to find something to wear to the beach too.
The stuntman makes his way through his apartment, and over to his bedroom. On the way there he takes a look around at the things Ryland had left at his place, having not packed up yet in the interest of staying with Colt just a little longer before he'd be forced to leave for work again. Ryland hadn't left much of a mess outside of his own room–which Colt was polite enough to not snoop around in–but there were a few items of his around.
There was a single sock left near the arm of the couch from when he'd fallen asleep on the couch, and somehow got his foot stuck between the cushens. A spare pair of his wire-rimmed glasses, these ones in a light shade of blue. They're sitting on the coffee table, slightly deformed, no doubt due to Ryland's creative ways of wearing his glasses. It makes sense why the man has so many back-up pairs when you see it. These ones had been dented when Ryland was wearing them around his neck for some reason, and he'd laid down–Colt could hear the metal bend when it'd happened. There were a few other small trinkets, and empty glasses of Ryland's, however they lacked any noteworthy stories for Colt to recollect at the moment.
Finally he makes it to his room, it looks like Ryland had cleaned it up a little bit while Colt was in the shower that morning. He hadn't cleaned it up too much, but he did make Colt a clearer path around the otherwise clothe-covered floor to his bed, closet, and wheelchair–if he were to need it of course.
The stuntman walks over to his closet with the help of his cane, the item still covered in stickers from Ryland, and a few new glittery additions from Ken. He looks around slowly for his swim trunks, and a button up beach shirt. Colt finds himself in no rush, knowing Ryland wouldn't be back for at least 20 minutes. He had no need to be concerned about Ken showing up either, as the youngest brother had agreed to just meet them at the beach. He'd told the twins to look for a pink Convertible when they get there. How very on-brand of their younger sibling.
Colt eventually comes across some blue, and yellow swim trunks with a hibiscus pattern on them, and a matching, opposite colour pallet button up shirt. He must have bought them as a pair whenever he'd gotten them. He doesn't exactly remember buying them, so he just assumes it's something Jody got for him at some point without telling him. It was something the woman did sometimes, just buying him things, then putting them in with his clothes. If she wanted to make sure he wears her gifts, all she had to do was tell him they're gifts from her. He would have worn them just to see her smile.
Ryland had quickly made his way to his own apartment. He knew there was no real reason to rush, but he didn't quite like the idea of leaving Colt alone yet, so he made sure to make it quick. He walked swiftly into the apartment complex, nearly forgetting to lock his car on the way in. He just barely hears the beep signifying the vehicle actually is locked as he enters the elevator.
Upon entering his apartment, the scientist wastes no time making a bee-line straight to the small wardrobe in his room. He digs through the shorts drawer, looking for suitable swim trunks, and a regular t-shirt. Ryland often finds himself getting cold easily, especially when outside, so he grabs the shirt as an extra layer in case he feels a bit of a chill. He mentioned this to Carl once, and Carl suggested Ryland might have an iron deficiency. Ryland brushed the idea off back then, however, since taking care of Colt, he's beginning to seriously consider it.
The man finds some flat orange swim trunks, the only design on them being double white stripes on either side. He decides to pair one of his science pun t-shirts with it, this one saying “the element of surprise" with “Ah" pictured above it. He chuckles to himself about his own shirt for a moment, before moving to put it on along with the shorts.
Unlike his eldest brother, Ken is in no rush at all. The man takes a leisurely drive past the city waterfront, viewing the beautiful Golden sand beach in the distance. Ken drinks in the views from around the city the whole way back to the hotel. He knows there's no point in rushing, Ryland lives enough of a distance away Ken will without a doubt make it to the beach before either of them, and he doesn't want to have to wait around there when he could be taking in the city his older brothers call home.
Eventually Ken parks himself in the hotel's underground parking, and makes his way up to his room. The hotel was quite sleek, and fancy. It has a red, and black theme, and the architecture choices remind him of a vampire if they were into a more modern style. He strolls down the hall of the 5th floor where his suite is located at the far end. If it were up to Ken, he'd be on the top floor, with the best view of everything, but this was the room Eva had graciously given him, and he wasn't about to complain.
He enters his room with a relaxed stride, kicking his shoes off near the entrance. He never did understand why people wore their outdoor shoes inside, he'd always found it so gross. It's also extra cleaning work, and who actually wants to do that?
Ken makes his way over to the bedroom in the large hotel suite. There were two bedrooms, and he'd gone for the smaller one. One may expect him to go for the larger room, but then there's more risk of him forgetting something, so he didn't bother. He also hadn't bothered to unpack any of his bags, opting instead to just dig through them if he needed something from them.
Right now he's digging through a dark red bag for swimwear. He'd brought plenty, having previously expected himself to be at the beach rather than running from some actor's goons in a shitty rental car. He wonders how Eva explained the damage to the guy Ken had rented the car from, or if maybe she just had him threatened instead. Maybe she paid him off? Eh, Ken doesn't really care either way.
The man finds the exact trunks he'd been looking for. They're various shades of pink, and orange, and they're covered in funk 80's themed patterns. They remind him of an old arcade carpet. He smiles at the sight of the gaudy things, tossing them onto the bed while he looks for his sunglasses. He finds them easily off to the side of the bag. He probably could have just put them in one of the smaller storage compartments the bag had, but why do that when he can just shove everything into the main area, and pray to whoever that it all fits? The sunglasses are large, round, glittery, and pink. Just the ones Ken was looking for.
Finally the three brothers find themselves at the beach together for the first time in years. Getting there hadn't been too bad, all the regular people were at work at the moment, so the parking lot, and subsequently the beach were pretty empty. Ken had parked his pink 1956 Corvette Convertible down at the far end of the parking lot, closest to the ramp leading out onto the beach, in hopes Ryland would park beside him so getting out onto the sand would be easier for Colt.
Not too long later Ryland, and Colt in Ryland's blue 1970's style Chevy Malibu show up, parking right beside Ken. Ken stood by the ramp out to the beach, waiting for the twins to catch up. Soon the two older brothers exit the well-maintained car, and begin walking over to their younger brother.
Colt is pretty happy to see that there's a ramp so he doesn't have to rely on Ryland, or Ken to help him get out there. Ryland is carrying a basket with towels, and some snacks, and drinks for everyone. Always the one to think ahead, he is. Ken had brought a few hats, and sunscreen for everyone, so it wasn't as if he were entirely unprepared either. Ken jokes that Colt is the only one not contributing to their supplies, and Ryland quickly follows along with the playful needling of the younger of the twins. Colt groans at the two's tragic sense of humour, but finds himself unwittingly laughing along.
Finally the three are able to relax on towels on the warm golden sand together. They just sit together like that for a while, talking about life, and their plans for the future. Colt jokes that he's going to use the future payout from Ryder to buy himself a new antique car to match with his brothers, garnering slightly suspicious sounding laughter from the other two. Colt notices the off tone in their reactions, but decides not to comment on it for the time being. The man continuing on to tell them he also wants to adopt Ryder's dog, Jean Claude, and hopefully repair his relationship with Jody, and be able to work with her again.
Ryland doesn't provide many details of what he'll be doing in the following months. However, he does assure his brothers he's made friends, and will be spending non-work time with them. He also promises per the two's requests to at least try to keep a reasonable sleep schedule while away at work, and to actually keep in contact with them this time. It's said like a joke, but Ryland can feel the heat of truth burning underneath the playful tone used.
Lastly, Ken provides his plans for the following year. He tells the twins how he'll be continuing to pursue his music career, and continue his professional musical arts schooling to ensure his work is perfect. The man also adds in that he'll be attempting to speak with Barbie again in the interest of keeping a friendship with her, no romantic strings attached. He also expresses an interest in starting botany, and attempting to take care of some exotic flowers, such as Venus fly traps. The older siblings find their brother's choice in plants a bit odd, however, they feel it matches Ken's overall vibes relatively well, and encourage him to follow through with the idea.
Not long after their riveting chat about the future, Ryland suggests they have a little competition. Something not too physically demanding so they can all participate. A sand castle building competition! Whoever has the coolest looking sandcastle wins! His brothers easily agree to this, the whole family having quite the competitive streak.
They'd used to have sandcastle building competitions all the time as kids. Their mother would, as to be expected, always win. It used to annoy the boys so much as kids, but later in life they've found appreciation for her finding such a fun way to force the boys to learn how to do detailing work. It made the boys much better at arts, and crafts in school, and later in life helped them when they needed to be delicate with things while at work, or school. As for the two boys who do like to date, it's also helped them a lot in their relationships. Ryland doesn't ask for the details on that topic when it's brought up.
Ryland focuses on making his sandcastle structurally sound. It's small, and tightly packed. It has some detailing work, and a small moat. Shells, and small rocks decorate the exterior of the miniature castle, as the tiny thing stands strong against the incoming tide.
Colt's sandcastle is slightly sloppier than Ryland's, the man not having focused on making his particularly structurally sound, and just going straight in for the design instead. His is slightly larger, and has multiple turrets. His castle, rather than having a fortress type design, it has more of a princess castle design.
Ken easily has both twins beat however. His castle is large, and structurally sound. It closely resembles the castle from “The Princess & The Pauper”, a movie his now ex-girlfriend had starred in back around the time they'd first gotten together. He'd thought the real castle was beyond stunning when she'd brought him on set to see it, so of course he replicated the beautiful palace. There's lots of little detailing work Ken had done with the help of a small twig, and shells to add colour to the otherwise all beige structure. The man had also added a large mote around his castle, one large enough a small dog might fall in it.
Easily Ken is declared the winner, meaning he gets to pick his reward for his success. He tells the twins he wishes to go to the small ice cream shop he'd seen over by the parking lot. The man was sure it was still open despite the sun beginning to set over the ocean by now, but insisted they make a point of hurting up just in case. It's not like he'd checked the closing time, so for all he knew they were under a time crunch for his prize.
The boys begin making their way back towards the parking lot, leaving their things in the sand on the beach, knowing they'd return. The three weren't worried about their things being taken, not with the absurd mote Ken had dug out around it all. Even then they wouldn't be overly convened, they hadn't seen anyone else near them on the beach when they started their walk to the ice cream shop.
Once at the shop, the trio silently celebrate seeing it's still open. The open sign still glowing brightly on the outside of the small building. Colt glances at the sign with the hours written on it, seeing the place closes in an hour. This place stays open pretty late then, seeing as sunset begins around 11pm where they're at. The three walk over to the shop, giving slightly pitying looks to the sunburnt employee stationed inside. The teen–they assume by the unfortunate cluster of acne on their otherwise soft looking cheeks–appears to be exhausted. They've likely been here since 4pm, as that seems to be the regular start time for evening shifts in the area.
With an air of tiredness, the teen attempts to politely ask the three men what they'd like. The three, interested in taking it easy on this poor employee, all ask for simple things. Just things already packaged, the employee would just have to pull out for them. The teen seems to be relieved at the easy requests. Ryland had asked for a fudgesicle, Ken a freezy, and Colt a Spongebob popsicle, in the interest of seeing the funky way the face would look when he takes it out of the package.
They pay the teenager with Colt's card so they aren't forced to count cash, and thank them, turning away, and beginning their walk back to their earlier spot in the sand. Colt opens his popsicle first, laughing wholeheartedly at the horrendous looking face he's greeted by. His brothers look back at him questioningly, before seeing the state of his poor popsicle’s face, and begin laughing along with him.
Ryland unpackages his fidgesicle as the trio calm themselves. Luckily, it's hard to get a strange looking fudgesicle, so he can just go straight to unsettlingly chewing on it. Neither of his siblings can understand how Ryland can just bite into frozen treats like that. He's always done it, and they've always found it strange.
Ken rips the top of his freezy open, pushing the flavoured frozen liquid up the tube so he can lick it. It wasn't a regular small one, he'd gotten a jumbo freezy, and was enjoying the hell out of it too. It's a simple watermelon flavoured one. The twins aren't sure if Ken picked it because he likes watermelon, or if it's because it's pink. Either way, the man seems happy with his choice.
At the end of the walkway out to the beach, the brothers toss their garbage into the nearby bin. Their mother had taught them never to litter, as it could hurt the local animals, and none of them wanted to be the reason an animal had to suffer before its death. Ken's wrapper almost blows away when he tries to stick it in the bin, but luckily Ryland manages to catch it, and get it in the bin for him. Ken nods at his older brother in thanks. Colt lightly hits them both on the back, as if silently letting them know they both did good.
The three brothers make their way back to their spot on the beach, all settling down on their towels, huddled close together to watch the remainder of the sunset. The glowing orb is already low in the sky, the clouds around it reflecting oranges, pinks, and reds into their view. They sit together silently, enjoying their frozen snacks, watching as the sun slowly sinks below the waterline the ocean and curvature of the planet provide. They enjoy as the cool evening air blows lightly against them, and the small insects, and peepers begin chirping in place of the birds for the night.
It's truly a lovely evening. They could stay like this forever. If only forever were possible. However, just as the sun must set, and the moon must rise, so must the future come without slowing.
The Grace siblings enjoy the sounds of the early night, as the streetlights flick on in the parking lot. Their cars are the only ones left now, and they know it's time to part ways once again. They promise to meet again tomorrow, and continue to keep in contact even once everyone has to return to their regular lives.
They won't risk losing each other again.
They promise it.