The water surged lazily up and down his body. It was early in the day but already warm. He had woken with the dawn and left Peter sleeping. He wanted to do this while the sun was still low, because the higher it was the stronger it would get. He had left his clothes on the beach and was only wearing his shorts. He could feel his shoulders already growing warm. Much longer and he would get burned. He could have just kept his shirt on, but it would only get in the way while he was swimming. The wet fabric would be heavy and slow him down. If he found what he was looking for, he wouldn’t need to worry about sunburn while he was in the water. And no one liked wearing wet clothes if they could help it. Beck always smiled at those movies where the hero dives into water and can see perfectly beneath the surface. He can also stay down for minutes at a time on one breath. Beck knew from experience that if you didn’t prepare and train, your lungs felt like they would burst after just a few seconds.
