(Untitled)

[246th]

Growing up in Bolton and then in Manchester, moving to London to practise and only ever snatching the time for city-breaks meant that Martha had never spent a lot of time by the sea. These days, she spends a lot of time on the beach, sitting in the shade of one of the palm trees, or bobbing in the warm water. She doesn't really sunbathe - she's

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[wildlyconflictd]

Pepper still follows Niko's training regimen faithfully, despite the fact that Caliban has proved a less than ideal mentor in his brother's stead. She's always been a runner, but Niko wanted her to do more of it, and with as much free time as she finds herself with on the island, she could never really argue. She's out today, red hair pulled back into a ponytail, sweat beading on her brow, when she notices the pregnant woman capsize. Alarmed, she diverts her course to the water, but by the time she gets there, the blond has surfaced again, looking irritated.

"Are you okay?" Pepper calls, a hand held up to her forehead to shade her eyes.

[246th]

"More or less," says Martha, finally managing to get her feet under her, soaked from head to foot as she manages to rise. "Not as aerodynamic as I used to be."

She squeezes water out of her hair.

"Little bit embarrassed. I'll be fine."

[wildlyconflictd]

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, could happen to anyone," Pepper replies, her posture relaxing now that she's confirmed the only thing bruised here is ego. "How far along are you?"

[246th]

"Six months, more or less?" says Martha, plucking at the fabric of her dress which is now clinging across her bump in a really unpleasant way. "The change in location makes it...sort of difficult to judge, but the doctor seems to think I'm due in October."

[number_unlucky]

For the first time in a while, I'd felt ready and able to try surfing again. Or at least the little bits and pieces I'd picked up from Brad. I was, in all honesty, probably going to fall on my ass and look like an idiot, but today...I was remarkably okay with that.

I'd thought that I'd be alone until I saw someone wandering in the water from a distance. My irritation disappeared, however, when I saw the figure knocked over by a large wave. Jogging down the sand, I dropped the board and felt relieved when I saw the person floating and splashing, then recognised her.

I wouldn't tell her it was because of the belly, initially.

"Martha--are you all right?"

[246th]

"Remy," says Martha, bedraggled and bobbing in the shallows, hair palmed back from her face. "I'm pretty sure I haven't damaged anything but my dignity. It's difficult to feel good about yourself when you look like you're half made of bloody cork."

[number_unlucky]

"Probably better for you that you are," I pointed out, wading in with my water socks on. "Helps you stay up in situations like this one. Do you need a hand to get up?"

Her dress was clinging, which made her pregnancy considerably more obvious than it might have been with the loose attire usually.

[246th]

"Please," says Martha, because she hasn't quite worked out how to get her feet underneath her yet. She pulled a face.

"I used to be more aerodynamic than this."

[thatwasanorder]

There's a part of Russell that's tempted to just wait and see how things play out. (Up until she'd been bowled over, she'd looked practically picturesque.) But, even with how ridiculously content with everything the inhabitants of the island seems to be, he's pretty sure such inaction would be taken as callous.

- He doesn't end up taking much action, but he does call out: "Need a hand?"

[246th]

"Yes," says Martha, after a moment's hesitation where she wonders whether it would be possible to just...pretend that nothing's happened. "Please. I'm not sure I can actually get my bloody feet underneath me."

[thatwasanorder]

With a slight hint of amusement (he can't really help it): "Fair enough." Russell wades out into the water with little hesitation, water creeping up his ankles and then his legs, holding out his hands once he's within Martha's reach.

[246th]

She reaches out and takes his hand, somehow managing to lever herself to her feet.

"I'm sure I remember being less unwieldy," she says, by way of apology.

[dumbassbastards]

"I'm pretty sure," says Rollie, wading out into the water and offering her his hand for balance, "that at some point I said something to you about not wanting to see you in my examining room again. I'm pretty sure drowning would violate that."

He doesn't mention how buoyant she currently seems to be.

[246th]

"I'm pretty sure I'm not going to drown," says Martha, dryly, even though it's difficult to be superior from the position that she finds herself in. "But, if i do, you can hold it against me."

[dumbassbastards]

"Well, there's always the possibility of a giant squid," says Rollie, "but apart from that...well, if you drown, it's going to be because you couldn't roll yourself back over again, and that's just not a way you want to go."

[246th]

"...Great. Now I'm never going in the sea again." Martha fixes him with a particularly hard look. "I go back and forth on whether to actually like you or not, Rollie Saunders."