I hate it when my pennies break and I have to replace them. Who: John Watson and Amy Pond When: Middle of June Where: Water Park What: Out playing Rating/Warnings: Low. Bathing Suits and water slides Status: Complete
It was still early in the day. Amy made sure they both had some time off, then decided to get their pasty bodies out into the sunshine. They were in the shade for now, towels spread out on lounge chairs. Amy was hot in her bathing suit. It was modest, not showing a whole lot of skin, red in color which made her eyes and hair pop. She couldn’t quite reach all of her back with the sunblock, so she turned to him. “Give a girl a hand would you?”
Watson had been making it a point to be looking in a completely different direction than where Amy was -- oh, look, he was thinking- that water slide looks like good fun. Of course, he was snapped backed into attention when she asked for help, and so he was forced to turn his eyes back to her.
Really, twist his arm, here.
“What?” He blinked. “Oh, right. Where then?”
“Shoulders and back,” Amy said, lifting her hair up and out of the way. The suit wasn’t that low cut, but most of her shoulder blades were exposed. Toned and sporty, model-like, but pale as a ghost she was. “Just where I can’t reach.”
Of course she had the cream lotion kind... not the spray-on stuff. So he had to touch her. And she’d insist upon doing his if he decided to go shirtless. (Though, a lot of blokes simply wore their shirts, didn’t they? Maybe John packed a spare.)
“Right, right.” He was a doctor, damnit. He could do this and it wouldn’t be weird, because he did doctor touching stuff all day. John made a vague motion for her to turn around and then remembered why he hated the feeling of sunblock when he squirted a healthy dollop into his hand. Such a strange texture, this lotion had.
John had no firm plan of taking his shirt off -- it really wouldn’t be fair to anyone else around if he were to blind them with his paleness, after all.
Amy turned with her back to him. Hopefully a few days at the water park, some at the beach, and she’d look a little less like a spotted piece of printer paper at the end of the summer. She just needed to make sure to wear proper sunblock. Some tan was okay, but she’d rather not become a lobster, or worse--get some sort of crazy skin cancer.
“Thanks.” She moved her hair out of the way. “You should use some of that, too. I’d hate for you to... I don’t know. Get a sunburn or something.” She was eyeing the big, scary, amazing, two-person water slide as he put the lotion on her shoulders.
“Yeah, I will.” He wasn’t silly, after all. It was a smart thing to use. “So why waterparks? Was it just the next step after Disneyland?” The slides did seem sort of fun, he supposed -- the pools seemed to be a bit infested with children though, and that wasn’t necessarily his favorite things in the world. So much splashing. No manners at all, really.
“I dunno. I wanted the fresh air and sunshine. And it’s hot. I don’t know how these locals survive this heat.” She added, then lifted her arms to toss her hair up into a loose ponytail. She adjusted her sunglasses, too, and let him finish putting the lotion on her shoulders. “I figured it’d be good to get a bit wet, y’know?”
Did she choose all those awkward wordings on purpose? Wet, really? John was sure that Amy Pond was going to be the death of him.
He finished with her shoulders and rubbed some of the excess lotion on the back of his own neck. “It is hot here,” he agreed. Of course, he’d seen hotter, having been in the military and all. But still. “Not a bad idea, then.”
She didn't really realize what she said could have been taken the wrong way. Not really. If he'd reacted in a strong way, she might have.
With a bright grin on her face, Amy turned around to face him a bit better. "I want to go on the biggest, scariest, most amazing ride ever. Twice."
He laughed at that, and then gave his trademark eyebrow raise. “I expect you’ve already decided which one that is?” He hoped terribly that it was one of the ones with the tube things. Those looked most fun, and also a safer kind of crazy.
"I think it's that one," Amy said, pointing to one with a two-person tube slide one. It was high, and she'd seen more than one or two people go flying off their tubes and pop up out of the water, laughing. "Don't worry, I'll hold your hand if you get scared."
“Who’s scared?” John asked, giving Amy a look that might very well have been cheeky. And then, because he’d been given some kind of poor advice from a friend recently, he kept going. “But you can hold my hand anyway.”
"Good," Amy grinned at his cheek. She climbed up from her chair just then and held a hand out to him. "Because you know I'm going to be screaming like a little girl all the way down." And then they were off toward the slide. They could pick up a double tube at the bottom of the stairs and carry it up with them to wait in line.
Standing, John took her hand and let her lead the way to their watery doom. Or the slide, whichever. “Scream all you like,” he said with a laugh, even as they got into the line, and he was forced to take over carrying the tube. “I hear it’s quite therapeutic.”
“That’s one reason people like roller coasters, right? I hear this is just as good.” It was such a big tube, she took hold of one side, too, standing in front of him as they waited in line. “...You’re just not allowed to make fun when you hear me crying out for my Mum on the downward.” She motioned with her hand, as if going down a slide.
John was staring up at the slide even as they slowly worked their way up the stairs. “Not allowed?” He asked, amused. “There’s no way I won’t now. Sorry, but I’m afraid you can’t off limits something like that.”
"Uh, too late, I just did." Amy said, then stuck her tongue out at him. They reached the front of the line, set the tube down, and climbed on.
Amy reached out for his hand. "C'mon, Old Man, don't let me down now!"
He climbed on too, and then grasped her hand tightly. “I wouldn’t! And anyway, this doesn’t seem that --- holy shit!” Somewhere in that sentence, one of the employees had sent them on their merry way. Can you guess where?
Turns out Amy didn't actually cry out for her mother. It was just an "Ahhhhhh" that never really stopped. Well, until they reached the bottom. Her hand was still clenched tightly around his until the end. At the bottom there was this pool, and she went tumbling off the tube into it. She popped up a moment later with a laugh.
Ahhhhh was pretty good -- but since John was doing it too, he couldn’t really make fun of her for it later.
He popped up from the water a second after her, still clutching her hand tightly. He spit water out and squinted happily even as he brought up a hand away to wipe some of the wet from his face. “Blimey,” he said, and he never said things like that so it was funny. “That was fast.”
"Blimey!" She repeated after him in a playfully mocking way. She had to reach her hand out and grab her sunglasses that'd flown off of her head. But she was still holding his in the other. "It was." Amy gave him a bright grin. "Wanna do it again??"
He did, in fact, want to do it again. So they did. Twice.
After that, it was a bit more wandering -- there were normal pools, as well as tamer looking slides of all sorts. John was more than happy to go about pretending to be oblivious about all the hand holding that was going on.
“That was has a loop in it. Could be fun.”
“A loop? Are you sure we’re ready for something like that?” Amy asked, grinning. She’d long since left her sunglasses back at their towels, and was now simply wandering around hand-in-hand with him without worrying about the brightness or heat of the sun. Oh, she wasn’t oblivious in the slightest about all the hand holding. It was making her heart thunder every time skin met skin.
He wasn’t oblivious either. He was just good at pretending he was. Really, it was a talent. One that went well with blank expressions and raised eyebrows. Clearly he’d been made for this role.
“I think so,” he said. “The first one kind of built us up for the sterner, tougher stuff. Loopy loop water slides.” Obviously.
Amy nearly laughed. “I’m not sure I feel sterner or tougher,” she said, giving his hand a little squeeze. She didn’t do it often--unless they were careening down a two-person slide--so it felt a little naughty. A little exciting. Like a secret between them. Like something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. A reminder of how hand-holding was normally reserved for people who were far more intimate than they were.
“But so long as we get lunch afterward. I'm thinking something deep fried and thoroughly calorie heavy. All that screaming burns fat, right?"
“Mm, yes. I think we learned that in med school, anyway.” Although, he supposed technically adrenaline did make your heart beat faster. It was sort of like cardio. Sort of. “Seems like a decent plan though.”
It was a little bit exciting, a little wrong. Less than before, when he wouldn’t have dared reach for her hand unless she requested it first -- but. Still. Wrong as it was, Watson hoped very much for it to be right, too.
The more they did it, the more right it felt. Amy motioned with her free hand for him to lead the way. She was a little nervous about the loop slide, but if he was down, then she was, too. It had a much longer line than the other slides they’d been on all morning.
“I think you might need a reapplication of sunscreen,” Amy said once they were standing in line. She lifted her free hand and tapped the tip of his nose. “You might be going a little pink.”
It was a rare thing to have to resist the urge to nip at someone’s finger. Watson might have gone a little extra pink at the touch. He scratched the back of his neck, nearly awkward. “I’ll keep that in mind when we get back to our towels and things. Luckily, I don’t have to stay pretty for a living, yeah?”
Amy beamed. He’d just called her pretty. Had he just called her pretty?? Funny how that made her own nose and cheekbones go pink. “Luckily.” She agreed. “Hopefully I can cover it all with make-up.”
They moved forward a few feet, then had to wait again.
Of course he’d just called her pretty. She was pretty. Prettier than pretty. That made sense. “You applied properly,” he said, squinting at her in a way that was not at all scrutinizing. “Not even a tinge of burn.”
“Well, that’s good for business.” Amy didn’t really feel pretty. She felt almost like a wet rat. Hair a mess, covered in chlorine, possibly blotchy sunburn--even though John said she didn’t have one--she was sure she’d looked better. But she was having fun. That was the most important part, right?
Their hands were still clasped, swinging very gently between them. Amy turned hers a bit and let her fingers lace with his. The small action caused her face to go pink and she cleared her throat as she turned to look over at the people going down the slide. “If we die on this slide, I’m blaming you.”
John went a bit more red too, and turned his head to focus on the ride instead of her for a moment. He had to, or else he’d likely just wreck it all by kissing her. “If we die,” he said, “you’re allowed to blame me.”
“Good. And if I die and you’re still alive, I’ll haunt you forever. You know that, right? And if you die and I’m still alive, I’ll Frankenstein your arse and bring you back to life so I can blame you.” Amy said, matter-of-factly.
They moved forward a few feet again, then had to stop once more. The screams coming from the people on the ride were getting closer, meaning they were almost to the front of the line.
Which was nice. But those screams were daunting. Which suited their conversation, anyway. “Duly noted, Pond. But it is nice to know you’ll learn a whole new angle of mostly untested and probably illegal science just to place proper blame.”
“Hey, if that weirdo claymation kid with the dog can do it, then so can I.” Amy said with a nod that sealed the deal. They went up some steps, following the line, then they were at the top and about to go on the loop. She really didn’t want to let go of his hand.
“That was fake, you know.” John teased, smiling a little before looking at the start of the slide. This one had no tubes. It was all just single person near-death. “Well,” he said. “Guess I’ll see you on the other side.” She could go first. They had to let go of each other first.
"Okay." She squeezed his hand before she let go. Of course they could have argued over who went down first, but there was a line. She took a deep breath, then shot down the slide, screaming with glee and terror the whole way.
He followed her scream. That loop part was actually kind of a fright. Of course, not enough of one to be a huge issue -- but John had been certain for a split second or two that he’d be stuck there forever. And then it was fast, and turns, and a giant pool to land in afterward. “Holy--” he said, once his head was over the water. Now, where was Amy?
Not far. The Life Guard at the end of the slide ushered her out of the pool where she’d landed pretty quick. She waved toward him from where she was standing on the cement walkway nearby.
“That was a blast! Can we do it again?” She’d completely forgotten about lunch.
He hadn’t. That crazy long wait had kind of pushed him over the edge hunger wise. “I was promised american fried food,” he pointed out, as he climbed out of the pool in order to drip properly on the cement.
“Oh! That’s right! Sustenance.” Amy said, breaking into a smile and turning to wander with him toward their towels which were in the same direction as the food shop. “That’s one thing I hate about bathing suits. No pockets to keep keys or credit cards or anything.” In the mid-day sunshine they’d be dry in no time.
“That’s what lockers are for,” John pointed out. “Hiding all of your valuables.” And now they were all electronic. You didn’t even need to worry about losing a key. Not that they’d brought much with them. “Swimming trunks have pockets, but what can you even afford to get wet these days?”
“A credit card. A driver’s license. Pocket change?” Amy suggested, moving with him toward the lockers. They’d stuffed cell phones and wallets into one locker together at the beginning of the day, so they wouldn’t have to worry about leaving their valuables out in the open for all the world to see.
Or steal.
“Yeah, I guess,” John stuck his tongue out even as he punched in the code for the locker. “But I’d feel weird if I had to replace any of that due to breakage or --whatever.” What? Credit cards broke all the time, man.
“Oh, yeah, I hate it when my pennies break and I have to replace them.” Amy said, grinning playfully and reaching right past him into the locker. She had to be pretty close to do so, her arm snaking right past his to collect up her phone first. She turned the screen on before even pulling it out of the locker, and he could see the picture of her with Timone there on her homescreen.
John smiled at that -- since he’d been the one to put it there. It seemed more innocent than anything else he might have managed at the time. “Who’d replace a penny, anyway? Rubbish excuse for change.” He stuck all the things back into his pockets, pleased for fast drying materials.