#teasing friends

Working as a lifeguard at one of the most popular beaches is certainly an interesting job. Without fail something new happens every day, just when he thinks he can’t be surprised anymore something comes and defies that expectation and creates a new one.

It’s not a job he ever expected to do, it’s something he fell into after learning his love for surfing. One day he had been out catching waves and someone in the water shouted for help, being close by Kon helped them until a professional came by, after that something awoke in Kon and he looked into lifeguarding and followed the training until he qualified and got hired. He hasn’t looked back since.

Currently he’s sat with his colleague and friend in a buggy on the sand overlooking the crowd and keeping an eye on everyone just in case something happens, either in the water or on the sand. He and Roxy were chatting while observing to pass the time, the woman is like a sister to him and isn’t afraid to tell him her thoughts, they had just been discussing what Kon had planned to use as an excuse to get out of a meeting with the higher ups. The meeting isn’t anything bad, Kon simply doesn’t want to attend it and is trying to get out of it.

“Hey so next weekend what are your-”

Roxy is cut off from speaking when the radio of their buggy beeps. Answering the call Kon picks it up and listens intently as their colleague Cassie informs them of a situation.

“There's a group of guys east to you, one of them has fallen off the sand bank and into a rip. He’s struggling, one of you need to get out there.”

As soon as Cassie says east the two of them are looking that way and out into the water. Immediately they can see what she’s on about. Not wasting a second Roxy starts the buggy and is driving that way while Kon prepares to go in.

Kon speaks into the radio, “Roger that, I’ll be going be in,” before placing it back and taking his shirt and sunglasses off.

As they approach the area they could hear the aforementioned group arguing and upon further sight Kon could spot them pushing and shoving one another. They’re adult males, tall and muscled, and there’s one child amongst them but it’s the two oldest that are currently arguing.

Kon doesn’t pay them any attention, they’re not in danger, they’re not the concern right now. His current priority is the male struggling to stay afloat in the water, his hand occasionally coming up in the sign for help before it disappears again underneath the waves crashing over him.

Once Roxy’s parked the buggy Kon is moving, he’s off the vehicle in a second and in the next has the lifeguard board in his hands. Kon sprints over the sand and into the water, not letting the change in terrain stop him from moving and as soon as he's deep enough he jumps onto the board and begins paddling out towards the drowning male.

Kon reaches the guy in good time and reaches into the water to pull him up and onto the board. Once his head is out of the water he's coughing and spluttering, Kon manoeuvres him around until he's lying down facing the front. He gives the guy a minute to catch his breath before forcing the board to turn in the water and begins to make his way back to shore.

As he reaches the sand bank Kon climbs off the board and helps the guy off and steadies him when he stumbles, together they trudge out of the shallow water and back onto the dry sand where the others are standing.

Kon stops the guy he saved with a gentle hand on his arm, his other currently carrying the lifeguard board at his side.

“Hey you okay?” He asks concerned. Just because the guy was walking and appeared okay didn’t mean that there wasn’t anything amiss.

The male turns to him and for the first time Kon gets a real good look at his features. He’s young, maybe around Kon’s age if he had to guess. He’s got chin length black hair which is currently wet and swept back off his face, there’s pale skin that’s currently a little red from what Kon could guess is the start of sun burn, and light blue eyes which capture all of his attention within one blink. His frame his muscular in a lithe way, the guy works out but isn’t broad.

He coughs to clear his throat and answers Kon sounding a little croaky. “Yeah. Thank you. I lost my balance in the water then immediately got swept out. I’m a good swimmer but that was…” he waves his hand in a vague gesture but Kon knows what he means.

The water is an unpredictable place no matter how good of a swimmer you are.

Kon grins at him. “You’re welcome. After all that’s why we’re here. Are you sure you’re okay, you didn’t inhale any water or anything?” At the shake of his head Kon continues, “well if you need anything else let us know alright.”

The two of them reach the group waiting for the guy he saved. The two older men Kon spotted earlier immediately crowd the guy while the kid hangs at the back looking bored as ever. Choosing to leave them now no one is in danger Kon walks back to the buggy where Roxy watched the whole thing unfold. She smirks at him as he approaches.

“Good job,” she comments deviously. Kon pauses from where he had started to put away the board back on the buggy and peers at her.

“Why did you say it like that for?”

She shrugs acting nonchalant, “oh, no reason,” the giggle she lets out very much contradicts her words.

“Rox.”

“At least you checked him out once you were out of the water. He really caught your eye huh darling.”

Kon scowls at her. “I did not check him out! I was making sure he was okay after nearly drowning, because y’know, that’s what we do… we stop people from drowning.”

“Sure, love, whatever you say.” Kon glares at her but before he could protest further she carries on speaking. “If it helps I overheard the men he’s with. They’re brothers, apparently the playful shoving between siblings got out of hand which led to him falling in the water. I did hear though, that they are on vacation here for the week.”

Kon tries to not let his thoughts get ahead of himself upon hearing that. Pretending how that fact doesn't excite him, he shakes his head and climbs into the buggy. “And you’re telling me this because...”

“Because… you may get to see him again.”

Snorting at the idea Kon shakes his head. “Sure. As if we don’t see thousands of tourists every day and speak to over a hundred of them each day.”

Roxy starts up the buggy and they head back to the central part of the beach to continue with their shifts. Kon will deny it ever happened but he couldn’t help glance at the guy he saved again as they drive away, he blinks in surprise when he finds him already staring back at him. Unconsciously Kon grins at him and the other smiles shyly before ducking his head looking away.

===========

Kon would rather go to hell than tell Roxy how she was right. He doesn’t need that looming over him.

It turns out Kon will see the guy he saved for the following three days after that. He doesn’t know what it is but there’s a magnet attached to him because as Kon scans the crowds, keeping an eye out for anyone that may be in trouble, his gaze always somehow lands on the stranger. Different times of the day, at different parts of the beach. Kon always manages to sees him. Sometimes the stranger is looking back and other times not. He would be either with his brothers like the first day or with a couple females, sometimes a mixture of them all.

From a distance Kon couldn’t work out what his relationship with the girls are, whether they’re friends, siblings or more. And doesn’t that make him seem like a creep… he doesn’t mean anything by it but after four days Kon can’t deny and say there isn’t any attraction there. He wants to know more about this guy, he’s caught Kon’s attention like no one else ever has.

An elbow to his side jerks Kon out of his thoughts. Blinking he turns his attention to where Cassie is lounging on a chair. They’re in the central tower of the beach overlooking everything through the large windows and their binoculars, if anything happens they’ll alert the others in the buggy’s on the sand below them.

“What?” He snaps at his friend.

She grins menacingly at him. “Your man is here.”

Kon hates the way his heart picks up at her words and he desperately tries to hide his eagerness to the news. Instead he scowls at her and pointedly looks away. “What? I don’t have ‘a man’.”

“Uh huh, sure.” She drawls out, not even bothering to hide the amusement from her voice. “He's coming down the ramp on the west end, with one of his brothers and the hot blonde.”

Kon fights the urge with all his might to not look in that direction.

“Wonder how long they have left here?” Cassie questions out loud, clearly riling Kon up. She must have been speaking with Roxy. The two girls are always up for making his life miserable. “Perhaps around two or three days left?”

Just as Kon’s about to lose his patience their radios crackle with an incoming call. Cassie sits up and answers it. It turns out it’s Roxy and she’s not calling because there’s an emergency.

“Have you spotted what I’ve spotted on the west side of the beach?” She sounds too smug for her own good.

“We have!” Cassie cheerfully replies. “Kon’s denying his existence.”

“You do realise these radios are for work, such as when someone is dying.” Kon growls out, not appreciating the teasing he’s having to put up with.

“C’mon Kon, don’t be like that. When’s the last time you had fun outside of work?” Roxy asks, sounding more sober than moments ago. She clearly knows the teasing is starting to go too far.

“It’s none of your business.” Kon grumbles. Both Roxy and Cassie know the answer to that, and the implications. Kon hasn’t been in a relationship for years and as for getting laid, well it’s been a long time.

“Why don’t you ask him out? What’s stopping you?” Cassie asks genuinely seeming curious to what his reply will be.

Kon rolls his eyes and finally gives into the urge to look at the man he’s developed a crush on despite knowing absolutely nothing about him. He and his group have made camp on the west side of the beach not too far from the ramp. They’ve laid out their towels and have put up an umbrella to provide shade from the hot sun. The stranger is currently dressed in a loose t-shirt and swim shorts, he’s sat up hunched over his phone, his companions are currently running a photoshoot. The girl striking different poses with the beach and ocean as her backdrop and the brother taking said photos on a phone.

He watches the group for a moment before turning back to Cassie glaring lightly at her. “For starters, he may not be single - ”

Cassie immediately cuts him off. “Oh he is.”

She says it with confidence that leaves Kon blinking at her puzzled. Apparently the question is written over his face because she explains.

“I spoke to the blonde the other day, she’s called Stephanie. They’re here on a family vacation. She told me he’s most definitely single. And before you say anything he’s bisexual. And, he has also been eyeing you up too since you rescued him at the start of the week.”

Kon gapes at her trying to absorb what she’s telling him. Questions fill his mind but his brain to mouth filter is currently offline making it difficult to speak. On the radio he hears Roxy cackling in the background.

After several beats Kon shuts his mouth and leans back in his chair. Cassie very effectively just shut down his other points at the same. He glances at his colleague before looking away again feeling somewhat apprehensive about the situation.

“Pray tell, what do I do then? I can’t just go strolling up to him, plaster on a flirtatious grin and ask him out.”

Cassie raises her eyebrows and spreads her hands out, silently saying why not?

“I’m not doing that!” Kon exclaims. He huffs, “isn’t there like a rule or something about dating someone you recused?”

There’s a pause before three voices speak out. “No.”

Kon startles and turns around at the third and unexpected voice. Another colleague and friend is in the tower with him and Cassie, Kon has no idea how long Bart has been there but he stares at the guy bewildered.

“Have you been listening this entire time?”

With a mouth full of food Bart nods and hums, he swallows and jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “I’ve been in the kitchen for the last twenty minutes. You’re currently talk of the entire team Kon. You need to go and ask this guy out, if you get rejected then at least you tried.”

Roxy’s voice comes over the radio again. “You have a break soon, do it then.”

“I’m not-” Kon starts protesting but cuts himself off, “why are you all ganging up on me? What have I done to deserve this?”

“You really want an answer to that?” Roxy replies with heavy sarcasm.

After that silence settles in the tower until a situation calls them in for action and it becomes a hectic half hour of rushing around and saving people in the water, thankfully all of whom make it and they have no casualties that day so far. Both Kon and Cassie got called into action while Bart directed from the central tower. When they get a chance to breathe Kon feels drained and he takes the quiet opportunity to cash in his break.

Roxy, who he’s at the buggy with on the sand, nudges him towards the tower. “Go grab your phone and then go get your man.”

Kon opens his mouth to protest but decides against it. Sighing in defeat Kon begins to trudge up the sand towards the tower. It seemed like Bart was still involved with the whole ordeal because he’s there at the bottom of the stairs to the tower when Kon arrives with Kon’s phone and towel in his hands.

Bart grins as he hands his stuff over. “Go get ‘em tiger.”

Kon shoves him hard in retaliation. Bracing himself for what he’s about to do he takes a breath and starts wondering over to the west side of the beach, towards the stranger he’s all but gravitated too this week.

It’s only when he’s several feet away from him that Kon realises he’s not wearing a shirt, having come straight from a rescue he didn’t even think about it until now. Oh well, he’ll have to make do, at least he knows he’s got a great physique and isn’t conscious at all. Constantly being shirtless to do ninety percent of his job will help with that.

As he nears the stranger Kon’s relieved to find he’s on his own, his siblings having disappeared somewhere. The guy is on his phone and not paying attention at all to anything around him. Kon shuffles awkwardly nearby debating on how to approach him, he curses himself because this has never been a problem before, in bars he finds it super easy to walk up to someone and show his interest but for some reason that same level of confidence isn’t making an appearance right now. In the end he tells himself to stop being pathetic and marches forward, choosing to approach the guy from the front in hopes to not startle him and Kon waits for his presence to be noticed before doing anything.

A few seconds later the stranger looks up and while he’s wearing sunglasses Kon can tell he’s got his full attention. With his cheeks goring red, and not because of the sun, the stranger smiles at Kon in recognition. “Hey.”

Kon grins back and feels his uneasiness fade away. “Hey. Not to sound creepy but I saw you here and I happen to be on my break, would you mind I joined you for a bit?”

The stranger shakes his head, his smile still prominent. “Uh, no, I don’t mind. By all means…” he waves to the free patch of sand next to him and Kon takes the invitation and expertly lays out his towel before settling down on it.

He leans over holding out a hand. “I’m Kon.”

“Pleasure.” The stranger replies, he takes Kon’s hand and shakes it, “I’m Tim.”

Kon does his hardest to ignore the thoughts that filter through his mind as they clasped hands. Tim’s hands are soft but there’s hints of roughness from callouses.

Before an awkward silence can fall between them Kon speaks up, glancing at Tim beside him. “So where are you from Tim? You sound American.”

There’s a beat before Tim replies back to him, at first Kon thought Tim hadn’t heard him but then Tim clears his throat in a way that makes him grin. Maybe ‘hadn’t heard’ was the wrong assumption but rather distracted would be more accurate.

“I, uh – I um.” He clears his throat again. “Yes I’m American, I’m from Gotham.”

Kon blinks having not expected that. “How long have you been marvelling at the blue sky for then?” He teases. “It’s not something you get to see every day.”

Tim snorts and shakes his head. “Okay, okay, Gotham may be dark and dreary, but there are good things about the city. I’m here on vacation with my family. In fact the assholes I call brothers is the reason you rescued me the other day.”

The blush on Tim’s cheeks deepens. Kon laughs at his comment and is glad Tim brought up the rescue himself, Kon had been tempted to comment about it but in case Tim felt too embarrassed by ordeal he opted to stay quiet about it. The fact Tim freely made the comment himself means it’s an open topic conversation.

“Brothers are assholes, big ones and little ones. Anyway that’s what I do here, I save people who find themselves in trouble.”

“Credit to you, you all do amazing jobs.” Tim says looking at him through his sunglasses. Smiling softly Kon shrugs at the compliment, it’s always nice to hear genuine gratitude.

Switching his gaze between Tim and the crowd on the beach he takes a deep breath and finally asks the question that’s lead him here. “Hey, I wanted to ask, and by all means you can say no, would you like to go out for drinks sometime?”

He refuses to look at Tim, nervous of what his answer is going to be. Kon’s surprised when all Tim does is laugh, he turns back to the guy gawking at him.

“No, no, I don’t mean it like that!” Tim quickly says between breaths. He giggles for a moment – which Kon finds absolutely adorable – and then takes a deep breath to calm himself down. He wipes his eyes underneath the glasses and speaks up again, this time more in control of himself. “I’m laughing because I was about to ask you the same question, and I viciously hoped that’s why you came here.”

Putting a hand on his chest over his pounding heart Kon breathes out. “Jesus man don’t do that. I genuinely felt my stomach drop.”

Tim snickers. “Sure. But yes, I would love to. However I’m only here for a few more nights, you free tonight?”

Kon sobers up at hearing the news but it’s not like he didn’t already know. “Well I guess we better make the most of it,” he grins at Tim and holds out his phone with the contacts app open, “I can message you later when I finish at seven. Then, as a local resident, I can show you the best spots on a night out.”

Tim takes his phone and enters his details. “Sounds good, I’m sure I can escape my hoard of siblings for the night.”

They grin at one another and Kon is more than surprised, and thankful, about how easy it seemed to be between them. They chat even further about all kinds of topics until Kon gets called off his break and with a reluctant goodbye they part ways as Kon heads back to work. However, he walks away beaming because there’s a new number in his contacts and he’s got a date that night.