“Come on in, Zolf, the water’s lovely!”
He shook his head, a safe distance away on the jetty. At least the moon was mostly full, so Hamid, Cel, and Azu’s midnight swim wasn’t as dangerous as it could have been, even if it was still extremely ill-advised.
“Nah, I’m good,” Zolf called back to Hamid. “Someone’s got to get help if something happens.” Given how tipsy he was, he wasn’t entirely sure if he’d be able to make it back up the walkway regardless, but he could at least make an attempt and yell loud enough someone might hear. And besides, it was a good excuse that kept him out of the water.
“Wait, do you not want to because… Poseidon, and all that?” Hamid spoke the god’s name furtively, as if whispering a deep dark secret.
“No, sod him, I don’t care about that. We’re all drunk and it’s dark; we shouldn’t be out in the ocean at all.”
“Pfft,” Cel said, taking a break from making dolphin noises as they splashed around. “Zolf, you gotta swim with us.”
“I do not,” he insisted.
With that, Azu climbed out of the water and back onto the beach, marching straight toward Zolf.
“I’m going to pick you up now,” she said.
“No, no, no…”
“Just because I’m getting older doesn’t mean I’m not still strong enough to carry you into the sea with us.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Zolf cried as Azu lifted him out of his chair and gently carried him toward the water.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Hamid added as they crossed the sand. “We’re not going to force you.”
“I can put you back,” Azu offered, and Zolf shook his head.
“Eh, why not?” He said with a shrug. The whole idea of swimming at night while drunk was already a bad idea, but they’d survived worse. He might as well have some fun. “I’m not sure how well I can tread water or balance with only half my legs, though.”
“We won’t let you sink, don’t worry,” Cel said.
“I can give you a floating piggyback ride if you want,” Azu suggested as she stepped into the waves.
“Uh, yeah, let’s try that, if that’s okay.”
“Of course!”
Azu set Zolf down just at the edge of the water, then knelt down so that she could carry him on her back instead of in her arms like a baby as she had been. Once he was repositioned, she stood up and walked slowly into the sea, careful to make sure Zolf’s head was still safely above the waves. Cel and Hamid cheered as the whole crew entered the water.
“Yeah, alright, this isn’t so bad,” Zolf admitted, even cracking a smile. He had his arms on Azu’s shoulders so that he wouldn’t drift off, but he was managing to float on his own without too much trouble. The waves were much calmer than they were on their last visit to that beach.
“Told you!” Cel yelled. Then, their eyes went wide with an even more ill-advised idea. “Azu, put Zolf on your shoulders, and I’ll put Hamid on mine, and we’ll do a chicken fight!”
“Zolf?” Hamid asked, checking to make sure Zolf was alright with the plan before he agreed.
Zolf laughed, shaking his head with the ridiculousness of the situation, but then he narrowed his eyes. “You know what? You’re on. And you’re going down.”
