Who: Adam and Daryl What: Swimming with dolphins Where: Cancun When: Last Sunday Warnings: Severe overdose of cute, robots swimming in water, Daryl shoving Adam's brain into the gutter
He didn’t tell her where they were going. It wasn’t hard to get her into a bathing suit and then a cover up, and it wasn’t hard to get her into the car. She whined, of course, because the idea of not being in control, of not knowing, bothered her. But she stopped whining about not knowing in favor of telling him how to drive. With a congenial smile on his face, Adam drove them from the Ritz to the cove where they would be having their afternoon adventure.
“Out,” he told her as they stopped in the parking lot. A large sign near by read “DOLPHIN DISCOVERY” in big blue letters. Adam stepped out of the car, moving to Daryl’s side of the car with a grin. “You ready for our adventure?” he asked, lifting his hand to point to the sign. Then he turned to watch her face, wanting to see her reaction. He was doing it wrong. Even when she stopped whining, she continued to remind Adam that he was failing at vacation. This was her gift to him. It was his birthday on Monday. This meant that she was supposed to give the surprises, not him. Surprises took planning and effort, and he wasn’t supposed to engage in either of those activities. She huffed as the car came to a stop, glaring at him as he got out. Just to be difficult, she waited a few seconds before obeying his command, sliding out of the car and looking up at the massive sign.
His question was met with wide eyes, surprise written across her face. “Why are we standing in a parking lot dedicated to discovering dolphins?” she asked, looking at him with utter disbelief. With a full-bodied laugh, he shook his head. “It’s the building, poppet,” he said, leading her inside. He told the receptionist their names, and they joined a small group waiting to go into the cove. A young boy with huge brown eyes looked from Adam to Daryl and then grabbed his mother’s hand, whispering in her ear while pointing at Daryl. His mother scolded him quietly, shooting the two an apologetic smile.
“Wonders never cease,” Adam said quietly into Daryl’s ear. “You have a young fan.” She almost reminded him that she knew that, clearly, but stayed quiet. Instead, she followed him into the building, falling into the waiting group at Adam’s side. She stood with her pinky wound around his, a very small hold that she didn’t want to break. As they waited, she watched the people around them, watching them either fidget or focus visibly on standing perfectly still. It wasn’t until Adam whispered in her ear that she looked to the boy, eyes wide.
He was still looking at her, as if fascinated, and Daryl felt mildly uncomfortable. She leaned against Adam’s side, tilting her head just slightly to whisper back. “At least he’s too young to follow our story,” she murmured, looking back to the boy. After a few seconds, she put an awkward expression on her face - it was almost a smile, but it seemed slightly warped. She waved her hand just slightly, looking like a malfunctioning robot doll. But it seemed to please the fan, who waved back enthusiastically before turning to his mother and whispering with excitement into her arm. Snickering quietly, Adam shifted his gaze over the crowd. “He probably does, poppet,” he said.
A young woman in a bathing suit stepped forward, a lifejacket over her bathing suit. She waved to get everyone’s attention, and then began speaking. She had a nice voice, Adam thought, as he curled his pinky around Daryl’s, and she explained the rules of swimming with the dolphins. Then, finished, she escorted the group to the cove.
The woman gave everyone permission to enter the water, and Adam, tugging Daryl after him, stepped in, up to his waist. A dolphin approached them a second later, rolling onto its side as it waved at them, chittered, and offered its fin. The girl leaned over Adam’s shoulder and introduced the dolphin as Chad. Adam turned to Daryl, one brow lifted. “Well, and hello to Chad, I suppose,” he said with a laugh. With four words, Adam disturbed her far more than any event from the last two weeks ever had. Eyes wide, she stared at the little boy - so young - before glancing back to him. “You can’t be serious.”
Before he could reply and further shatter her brain, the attendant began to explain the rules and procedures of the “Dolphin Exploration” exhibit. Holding Adam’s pinky with little thought, she absorbed the facts readily, sure that she would have to as Adam would likely not. She had to know all the caveats in case he tried to defy them.
She stepped hesitantly into the water, feeling it rise quickly to meet her ribcage. As the dolphin approached, she looked at it oddly, head tilted to the side. “Chad,” she repeated, watching the dolphin squeak at the mention of his name. She looked to Adam, brow raised. “I thought that dolphins had names like Flipper or Squeaker. Chad is...quite mundane.” Adam scoffed at her. “Chad is a fine name for a dolphin,” he said, reaching out to rub the top of Chad’s head.
Chad squeaked at him and then dove under the water, circling around him and Daryl, forcing Adam to move closer to her. With a laugh, he stumbled into Daryl’s side, catching himself on her shoulder. “And I think he’s a fan, too.” Adam leaned toward Chad when he surfaced, smiling. “Do you like Ms. Hockney and read her blog?” Chad chittered in return. As the dolphin dove and circled them, pushing them closer, she watched in absolute awe. She shouldered his stumble, mildly disgruntled, and looked down at the dolphin as he surfaced. “Dolphins can’t be “fans” of anything,” she said stiffly, watching their exchange skeptically. “And they do not read blogs, that’s nonsense.” “Of course they can. They have underwater internet,” Adam replied, dropping into the water and leaning back to float just off the bottom of the shallow cover. Chad chittered happily and slipped under one of Adam’s arms, buoying him up. “They read underwater internet blogs.”
Something soft bumped his back, and a second dolphin slipped under him before moving to Daryl’s side and brushing against her leg. The attendant came by, introducing the new dolphin as Tina, who was pregnant. “Well, that’s impressive,” Adam said, stroking Tina’s nose as she leaned against Daryl. Watching him speak nonsense while floating about with the help of a dolphin was quite surreal. Daryl idly wondered if she had once had a dream like this, though she dismissed the notion as he mentioned underwater internet blogs. With a huff, she folded her arms, eyes narrow. She was about to comment on how absolutely ridiculous he was being when something brushed against her leg.
She looked down at the newly introduced “Tina,” raising a brow as Adam commented on her current condition. “Is it?” she asked, glancing skeptically to Chad. “I believe it would be more impressive if she remained celibate,” she finally said, watching as Chad splashed at the water and zipped out from beneath Adam to circle them all tightly. He loved that petulant look on her face. He knew what she was thinking: he was being ridiculous. He was being preposterous. He loved putting that look on her face. He sunk when Chad darted out from under him, but floated back up a moment later. Plastering the cheekiest grin on his face that he could muster, he said, “You know, dolphins are the only species other than humans that have sex for pleasure.”
That would get a reaction, and a funny face. He could hardly wait. The way he emerged from the water, putting a grin on his face, tipped her off that something horrible was coming. He always did these kinds of things. He always had to create a small, dramatic lead-in for whatever terrible thing he was about to say. Ready, she watched him with a small frown, ready for his worst.
She got more than that.
Expression horrified, she stared at him in silence for a few seconds before slicing her fingers through the water in a quick splash aimed for his face. The two dolphins chattered, following her lead and splashing him as the little boy nearby laughed and clapped. “That is ridiculous!” she hissed. “Highly inappropriate for this situation, perverse, and worst of all, completely wrong.” Salty water hit him in the face, and he laughed, wiping it from his eyes before it could sting. She was adorable when she was horrified and furious, absolutely adorable. One day, she would probably figure out he said half of what he did just to get a rise out of her. She always figured things out. But until that point, he would continue to tease her mercilessly, dropping comments that were specifically designed to make her eyes cross.
“It’s true!” he protested, floating across the water and around her in a circle, following Chad and Tina. Chad ducked under him again, pulling him along happily. “How can you say it’s wrong when it’s not? Ask the lady in charge.” As he circled her, she followed him, turning with a tight scowl on her face. “It’s only partially true, which means you’re wrong,” she repeated firmly. “Dolphins are one of two documented non-human species to engage in sexual activity for the sole purpose of pleasure aside from the production of young.” Letting out a small, snitty huff, she raised her chin slightly, looking down on him as she continued.
“The bonobo, an African ape, has also been known to engage in such activities. You said that the dolphin was the only, and it isn’t. You were wrong.” That was what she was arguing with him over? That there were two non-human species that enjoyed sex for fun? He laughed and let Chad drop him next to Daryl. He wrapped an arm loosely around her hips, floating amiably beside her. “I was half-wrong. A third wrong. My modifier was wrong, but everything else was right.” He stuck his tongue out at her. “So there.”
Reaching out, he grabbed her wrist. Smiling, he brought her hand to his mouth, like he was about to kiss her. At the last moment, he shifted his hold and blew a loud, wet raspberry against her skin. The dolphins nearby squealed with delight. She looked down as he wrapped an arm around her hips, looking up at her lethargically. “You were wrong,” she repeated smugly. “Any degree of wrong is still wrong.” She could go on at length about how terribly wrong he was, but restrained herself. Instead, she watched as he took her hand, smirking as he brought it to her lips. She was about to inform him that a kiss to the back of her hand wasn’t going to change the fact that he was wrong, when he did something she didn’t expect.
Letting out a squeal, she pulled her hand back quickly, expression scandalized. Amidst the playful barking of the dolphins, she reached down, planting both hands on Adam’s shoulders to shove him down into the water. Chad darted under the water with him, cutting a tight circle around them with bubbles streaming behind him to the surface. He hadn’t expected her to shove him under the water, so when he went under, he took a mouthful of water with him. Flailing, he scrambled to the surface, aided by Tina, and leaned over, wheezing, as he tried to get his breath once more. Shooting her a wry look, one brow arched, he shook his head. “You are a terrible creature sometimes,” he told her. Finally catching his breath, he laughed and flopped back into the water.
Tina swam between them, nudging Daryl’s legs. Adam reached out for her hand again, linking their pinkies. “Why don’t you go for a ride with Tina? She looks like she wants to swim with you.” Seeing him flounder was the tiniest bit rewarding, and she smirked with both hands on her hips as he surfaced. “You deserved it,” she replied flatly, glancing down only when the dolphin began to nudge at her legs.
She looked to him, expression mildly puzzled as she wrapped her pinky around his. “How?” she finally asked, seemingly baffled by the concept of going on a swim with a dolphin. After all, she wasn’t a dog, like Toby - she couldn’t walk her the way she did him. What else was there to do? Her confusion made him smile, and he rose from the water, running his hand down Tina’s side. She shifted closer to him, but her eyes were on Daryl. “Like this,” he said, curling his arms around her dorsal fin. “You’re small enough, this will be fine.” Releasing Tina, he floated away. “Go on.”
He felt Chad behind him, and Adam turned. Chad rolled onto his back and clapped his fins together, and Adam took the invitation. He grabbed both of Chad’s fins, and Chad took off, swimming on his back across the cove while Adam laughed, loving the speed. She watched him with the dolphin, expression neutral. Head tilted slightly to the side, she gave a nod as the demonstration ended. “Very well,” she said with mild hesitation, sinking in the water beside the dolphin. Before she had the chance to say anything, he had latched onto Chad, taking off across the cove.
With a sharp breath, she curled both arms around Tina’s dorsal fin, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t as hesitant as she truly was. The dolphin tensed until she settled, taut muscle sliding beneath rubbery skin. Daryl held on tightly as the animal lurched forward, skimming through the water fast enough to leave a long wake behind them. Daryl fought to keep her head above water, mouth held shut and neck extended. But the longer they traveled, the more she was able to relax just slightly, growing used to the sensation of the dolphin shifting and moving beneath her.
By the time they returned to where they had started, she was able to let go and glide to a comfortable stop, extending her arms in the water to slow herself. She stayed crouched in the water, watching as Tina rolled playfully just feet ahead of her. As soon as Tina and Daryl were off, Chad came to a stop. Adam released him and slid to the side, treading water as he watched the two girls. He could see Daryl relaxing, which was the point of swimming with the dolphins, and a soft smile turned up his lips. At his side, Chad chirped happily. They returned to the shallows together, Adam sculling his way on his back while Chad occasionally pushed him, his head on Adam’s feet.
They reached the shallows at the same time Daryl and Tina did, and Adam turned to her, still floating on his back. “Have fun?” he inquired, linking his pinky around hers at the earliest possible moment. Though her first impulse was to stand, Adam’s pinky around hers kept her floating in the shallows alongside him. She turned her head to look at him, staying suspended over the bottom of the cove. The water embracing her was wonderfully silent, only the whispers from her bathing suit filling her mind. “It was certainly a novel experience,” she said, lips forming a foreign expression. “I suppose that the enjoyment I gleaned from it could be classified as fun.” Whether or not she was serious about this assessment was anyone’s guess - her expression was enigmatic enough to hide the truth. He was almost sure that was a smile on her face, and it brought him no small amount of satisfaction. In all the time he’d known her and known of her, Adam didn’t think she had smiled, not really smiled, even once. She smirked often enough, and gave him those strange half-smiles that looked like they hurt her face. It was as though she was trying too hard to make an expression that should have come naturally, and so it came out garish and ugly. But that expression. He was almost certain it was supposed to be a smile.
Waving his free hand through the water, he shifted his body closer to hers. “You had fun,” he told her, squeezing her pinky lightly. He was pleased with himself, so very pleased. “This was a lovely birthday present, sweetheart, thank you.” As he drifted closer, she turned just slightly towards him, their hands sinking low in the water to allow them just a hint more proximity. The affirmation of her “fun” was met with the slightest blush, which only intensified when he thanked her. “It’s your birthday tomorrow,” she corrected him, as if he weren’t sure of when his birthday was. “You can thank me then, when the timing is more appropriate.”
Her tone was, if possible, more enigmatic than usual. Smirking, she released him, pushing away to drift closer to the dolphins once again. “Fine, fine,” he said with a laugh, drifting away from her only to be assaulted, in the kindest sense of the word, by Chad, who proceeded to drag him all over the cove.
When the swim finally ended, Adam made his way to Daryl, taking her hand as they exited the water together. He slung a towel around her shoulders and took the chance to steal a quick kiss. Behind them, the young boy from earlier made a noise of disgust and muttered something about cooties. Adam grinned. “Enjoy yourself, sweetheart?” Throughout the rest of the swim, Daryl found her mind wandering in the strangest ways. It was Adam’s birthday tomorrow, and if Tim was to be believed, some form of physical intimacy was an acceptable gift for such an occasion. But what would be most appropriate? She imagined the most obvious choice would be sexual intercourse, but even in the interest of rewarding him, she couldn’t convince herself to go through with it. It was too personal, too revealing. She’d be opening herself up as well, and that wasn’t proper for a gift. Gifts weren’t supposed to be messy, they were supposed to be simple. What was a simple gift of intimacy that he would enjoy?
As she waded out of the water, taking the towel he draped over her shoulders, her gaze fell on his waistline. The stolen kiss seemed to reinforce her idea, a small spark in the back of her mind that brought a smirk to her lips. “Indeed I did,” she said, looking up to his face briefly before she glanced down to his waist again with a knowing look as she pulled the towel tightly around herself. She was plotting something.
Her looks were small, barely noticeable, but he noticed them. He was adept at noticing those looks, because they always preceded something... well, dangerous wasn’t the right term for it. Neither was idiotic. But they always preceded something, and that something was just as likely to be exciting as it was to make his brain leak out his ears and splash onto the ground.
“What are you thinking?” he asked her, trying to sound casual. It was hard to be casual when he was almost certain that her eyes were dropping to his groin. Repeatedly. Not fair. Being a man was not fair when one stood opposite Daryl Hockney. His question caught her attention, and she looked up to his face once again with perfectly expressed aloofness. For a moment, she was quiet, just looking at him. She glanced around them, as if trying to see if anyone were in earshot. Once satisfied, she took a step closer, keeping her voice low while still speaking matter-of-factly.
“I’m considering performing fellatio on you,” she said, bringing the towel up to gently dry her hair. “If you must know.” “Oh.”
It was really all he could manage at the moment. His brain was too busy conjuring images of her on top of him. Of her mouth around him. Her fingers on his thighs. Her hair brushing across his abdomen. His jaw worked as he tried to come up with something witty to say, something to throw her off guard. But he gave up after a minute. It was only fair, he realized with a rueful smile, considering how often he said things like that to her. “Well.” He coughed. “That would make a lovely present, too. Let’s discuss details over dinner.” It was pathetic how something like this managed to completely sweep his feet out from under him. Daryl continued to pat her hair dry with the towel as he stood in silence, the gears in his head visibly turning. Once he replied, clearly compromised by her admission, she looked to him with a spirited smirk. “Very well. We can make reservations when we return to the room.”
With that decided, she continued to towel herself off, strangely amused by how easy it was to derail his thoughts this way. If he would continue to react in such an entertaining way, perhaps it would be in her best interest to do these things fairly often in the future.