A/n: Grell would absolutely be an LDR Stan and you cannot convince me otherwise. Also gender ambiguous reader for this one and TW for suicide and SH. We explore reapers deaths in this one.

The sweltering heat was starting to drive you mad, your work uniform that consisted of a blazer and long pants was starting to make you drown in sweat. So before you left to reap the afternoons souls you disobeyed the dress code and changed into much cooler clothes, no one bothered to reprimand you either. They were all also too hot to care.

You really didn't want to be carrying around a heavy scythe in the heat either, but alas work needed to be done. There were only a few souls assigned to you today, and you managed to get them done rather quickly. As the sun started to set, you were practically dying of heat exhaustion so you decided to stop by a bar for a cold drink before heading back.

Down by the harbour there where plenty of bars, they banked on the sailors coming in from a days work and getting some food and a drink before heading home. So unsurprisingly many of the people around the area were all in their sailing uniforms or fishing gear, a few tourists as well. It was hotter inside thanks to the crowds of people, so once you had your drink you headed out to the jetty to try and catch a sea breeze.

Looking out over the water you sighed and sipped your drink.

"Man working in this heat should be a workplace health and safety violation or something..." you muttered to yourself.

The sounds of the waves crashing on the shore in the distance as well as seagulls flying by combined with the chatter from inside the bar was reminiscent of every summer night you had trying to cool down after work. This wasn't the first time you'd broken rules about drinking on the clock to try and cool off. Not like you were getting hammered or anything, just a glass or two with some ice to avoid heat exhaustion.

Below the upper layer of the jetty where you stood leaning against the railing, was a row of docks and boats all anchored to the cleats to make sure none of the boats drifted away. The whole row of docks and boats were empty, everyone being inside the bars. But you did spot one figure sitting at the end of one of the jetties.

How could you not spot it? It was the only red thing in a sea of blue. At first you weren't sure if you were mistaken, but upon a second look your suspicions were confirmed. You knew that red, you knew it anywhere.

Grell.

What was she doing out here? Was she reaping in the same area and the higher ups forgot to mention it? You jumped over the railing and down to the lower layer of docks, managing to not spill your drink all over your clothes in the process. Approaching her she seemed dazed, her long hair had been tied back into two plays and looped to keep it off her neck and stay cool. Each one fastened in place with bows. She'd folded her jacket and put it aside, too hot to wear it. She'd rolled up her sleeves and seemed to have left her waistcoat back in the office. You didn't blame her in this heat, too many layers would suck.

"Oi, redhead" you said.

She snapped out of her daze, turned and looked up at you.

"What the- what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Just finished reaping. It's too damn hot I needed a drink" you replied.

You sat beside her, dangling your feet off the end of the jetty. The sea breeze in this spot was nice, it carried the smell of sea salt and cooled you down a bit.

"Were you reaping here too? Did the higher ups forget to tell us we'd be in the same zone?" You asked.

"No I was the next zone over, but quite frankly I can't be bothered to go back yet. Don't wanna deal with the higher ups" she replied.

She seemed... gloomy. Usually she was so hyper and flirtatious, but her tone was saddened and she'd dropped the good posture and ladylike crossed legs.

"You seem less energetic, it's freaking me out. What's up?" You asked.

She sighed, leaning back on her hands and looking out at the ocean.

"Everything. I always loose my energy this time of year. Sucks too, summer is fun. Swimming, flowy dresses, longer days... but I can't seem to enjoy it for long" she said.

"Seasonal depression?" You asked.

"Yep..."

"Usually people get that in winter, when it's all rainy and gloomy. What's stopping you from enjoying summer?"

"Don't know. Never have, it's been like that ever since I became a reaper. If I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with my death, I did die around this time of year..."

Despite working with Grell for quite a while, you didn't know anything about her human life. Well, you knew she died by her own hand. All reapers did. But you never learnt how or why, which was totally fine since it's a deeply personal thing. But word gets around among reapers, everyone's death gets figured out eventually. It was surprising Grell had managed to keep her death so under wraps for so long.

"I was the opposite, I died in winter. None of that is really a secret anymore most people have figured out how I died" you replied.

"It's hard to hide it with your voice" she replied.

Your method of death was hanging, so your throat was permanently damaged. The medial reapers were able to restore your speech and ability to eat and breathe, but you had a bit of an audible rasp to your voice.

There was a moment of silence, the topic of death wasn't that uncommon for reapers. But the topic of one's OWN death, it was a bit more touchy. You looked over at her, admiring her in the rare state of calmness she was in. This was probably the first and last time you'd see her not bouncing off the walls. It was then you noticed, you'd never noticed it before since she was always wearing her jacket. But her arms were covered in scars, very old ones. Clearly she hadn't done it in years, and this was from before she died. It was easy to figure out her method of death just from the long, prominent scar right along her vein.

You didn't mention them, she probably didn't want to talk about it.

"It's a shame to be so sad during summer, you should try and replace the memories with nicer ones so whenever summer comes the fun stuff is the first thing that comes to mind" you suggested.

"How? We're never given days off. That's like a once in a blue moon thing" she replied.

"Come on, since when do we follow the rules?"

"...true"

You downed the last of your drink and stood up, determined to pick her mood back up.

"I say we start now" you said.

She looked up at you with a quizzical look.

"Oh yeah? How?" She replied.

You leaned down and took her glasses off and picked her up. Quickly enough she couldn't protest.

"Wha- hey! Oh- OH WAIT-" she stammered, realising what was happening.

"Hope you like mermaids" you replied, tossing her into the ocean.

She yelped, landing with a splash and immediately breaking back to the surface with a smile.

"YOU BASTARD!" She laughed.

"Hey I took your glasses off didn't I?" You snickered.

"I'm still fully clothed!"

"You're cooler though"

She playfully rolled her eyes, swimming to the ladder and climbing out. A mischievous grin on her face. She snatched your glasses off and shoved you into the water, laughing at the way you stumbled. You landed with a splash and shook the hair away from your face.

"Ok I deserve that" you replied.

"Cooler?" She teased.

"Much, it's actually quite nice in here"

"It is, I might just jump back in"

Both your glasses sat atop her folded coat and by your empty cup, out of the way of any water that could splash onto it. Your reaping tools also sat away from the water, definitely not a good idea to soak them. You spent the rest of the evening doing flips off the docks, swimming around and trying to splash each other. Eventually your clothes became heavy and the sun was almost fully set, and you both climbed out.

Taking off your outer clothes, you squeezed all the water from them and shook the drips from your hair.

"We didn't think about having to walk back to work like this" Grell said, squeezing her hair out.

"Yeah, my bad. Worth it though it was fun" you replied.

"It was, we should have a proper beach day"

"We should! After work sometime on a shorter work day"

Grells plat loops were flattened by the water now, and her fluffy bits of hair at the top of her head had gone down with the moisture. It wasn't often you saw her hair completely flattened out, it was always so fluffy and flowy.

"Your hair even manages to look good wet" you complimented, gathering your your things.

"I take extra good care of it" she replied.

You both began to head back, carrying your stuff and completely soaked. By the time you got back you'd have air dried a bit, so luckily you wouldn't be dripping all over the office floors.

"Hey... thanks for that. It was fun, I needed it" Grell said.

"I don't like seeing you sad, if you ever want to be tossed in the ocean again you know where to find me" you replied.

"Hey, it killed my summertime sadness. Worth getting soaked"

As you walked, you felt warmth on your free hand and when you looked down, you saw that Grell had grabbed it and laced her fingers with yours. She seemed much happier, and that sight made you happy.

And fuck, she was so pretty even when she was soaked