It was a hot day, and it was early afternoon, so the runoff from the snow capped on the higher mountains making the lake cold would be warmed slightly but still cool. Making sure all of their things that could be affected by the water were sealed up tightly, Pepper stood. "The sunblock is for you, Mr. Stark," she said, a smile in her voice, although she turned her face away under the pretense of making sure her pack was closed up tightly, so that he wouldn't see the pink in her cheeks. "After you spray my back," she added on second thought.
And while she was thinking about it, she made him turn around and sprayed his back, neck, and the back of his arms and legs. Waiting for him to finish, she stepped into the water, ignoring the temperature as she waded further in, and sliding the strings of the backpack over her arms. "Be careful when you pull up onto the rock," she told him. "It's only about fifteen feet wide."
Without waiting for him, sure that he'd follow, Pepper dove shallowly into the deeper water and stayed under until it grew warmer, then surfaced and headed toward the rocks. It wasn't a long swim, and when she stepped up onto the slate, she waited for Tony, squeezing the water from her braid. The rock was not completely even around the lake, and in places, the water ran up over the shore and the sound of it falling somewhere echoed back at them.
She took his hand again and led him the fifteen feet to where the rock ended in a sudden drop straight into a cavern. At the bottom was another lake, hidden within the cave, deep and warmed by the sun-heated rocks, which provided natural platforms to rest on, and stepping stones to climb back up to the top.
"The opening is only ten feet wide," she told him. "It's a forty foot drop from here, but the lake is deep enough for diving - we're just going to jump; as it is, we'll probably have bruises. When you just, go straight in, like a pencil, toes pointed, arms flat against your side." Pepper smiled. "And just let go, Tony."