The Tomb Raider (lara) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-24 20:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, beth cassidy, lara croft |
I think I’m afraid of change. But.
Who: Lara Croft and Beth Cassidy
What: Random conversations and unsolicited advice
When: 9/23
Where: A park
Status: complete
When she had some free time, Lara tended to withdraw into herself. Books, personal research, hiking - generally any time she could have some alone time she took it. It was what made Sam such a good influence - her friend could drag her out and make her socialize.
Today was no different, and she was walking through a park, head down as she flipped through and notebook and scribbled notes into it. She sat down on a swing and snapped the notebook shut while she contemplated some of her options.
Beth was jogging through the park, blinking when she saw a woman about her age on the swings. “You sure you’re not supposed to be at work?” She liked teasing people.
“Oh. I’m sort of doing work, actually.” She grinned back at Beth and waggled her notebook. “Well, research anyway. Planning. I wanted some fresh air.”
“What kind of research?” Beth walked over to the swing next to the other girl, standing on it and swinging herself back and forth carefully. Beth was comfortable with new people.
“Archaeological.” She flipped the note book open and swung closer to show Beth. “I’m planning some expeditions. Originally I was going to Costa Rica or Malaysia, but i’ve been considering trying to find the lost island of Yamatai.”
“Why?” Beth figured there had to be a reason to want to find something that was lost; there had to be some knowledge there that she wanted.
“Because no one has ever found it. It was ruled by an ancient shaman queen, and even the Emperor couldn’t conquer the island,” Lara explained. “She had to have some charisma, it would be fantastic to find some old scroll or archive, or some other artifact that could teach us more about her.”
That made Beth smile. “I’m all for matriarchies,” she laughed as she started to swing higher. “Seems like they tend to run better in general, wouldn’t you say?”
“Oh, they do seem to run more smoothly.” Lara smiled at her, watching her swing up, and up. The girl was pretty. Lara was surprised that she didn’t feel any trepidation for noticing. She was doing better!
Smirking, Beth looked down at the other girl. “Do you do archeology for a job, or do you do it for school?”
“Profession. My father worked at the British Museum so it’s pretty much in the blood - I just prefer to get my hands dirtier. Since I like to hike and rock climb already, it’s not much of a bother, working in the sun.”
Wrinkling her nose, Beth shook her head. “Ugh, all that outdoors time, no thank you. I’m looking forward to spending time in the lab.” She knew that she’d barely see sunlight once she was in med school, and she was just fine with that.
“What branch of science?” Lara asked, watching the other girl move and swing back and forth.
“Biomedical engineering. I want to cure cancer.” Beth waited until the right time, then launched herself from her swing. She flipped twice into the air and landed on her feet with a whoop. “God, I forgot how fun that is.”
Lara looked impressed. “Oh, that’s not bad! Did you do gymnastics? And that’s really commendable.” It could have a huge effect on a lot of peoples’ lives. Lara knew her own interests were less obvious as to their effect on the world, but she knew there still would be one. You couldn’t look forward if you forgot your past. But curing cancer? That was something else entirely.
“I’m a cheerleader.” Beth smiled, shrugging a little. “So it’s kind of six on one, half a dozen on the other.” In cheer she did a lot of gymnastic things, but she also did a lot of things that gymnasts wouldn’t ever do.
Lara’s mind went there for a second, but she covered nicely. “What do you cheer for? I mean. College or University?”
“University of California at Irvine. I’m the only freshman they’ve ever had as a flyer,” she said proudly. Beth did lazy backflips, easy things designed to show off. She’d caught Lara looking, so why not tease? That made Beth laugh.
“I’m not sure I know what a flyer is? I do a little bit of Yoga to keep flexible. It really helps with those rougher climbs.” She wondered if she could move like that. Maybe if she had to, she doubted she’d make a career out of it.
“Ever seen cheerleading?” Beth was doing a handstand then moved to a one armed position. “I’m the girl that they throw into the air.”
“You’ve got the build for it, and the grace. You seem light enough, I suppose you wouldn’t want someone bigger.” Saying grave seemed important to her.
“I’ve seen taller, but yeah, we have to make weight.” Beth wrinkled her nose. “I don’t starve myself or anything, though. If I eat a burger, I just run more.” She was vaguely addicted to working out, but that wasn’t bad, right?
“Running is good! I do some of that, and I have a punching bag in my house. Sometimes a nice run along the beach is nice. It would be a lot harder to keep up when I get going on these digs if I wasn’t fit. Probably drives Sam insane, except I’m pretty sure she could sprint in heels…”
“Ooooh, who’s Sam?” Flipping back onto her feet, Beth smirked.
“My best mate. We met in boarding school and went to Uni together.” Lara answered easily. “She’s the one that keeps me from turning into a book, really. She’s back in London right now.” She looked at the watch on her right wrist. It was a sports type watch, seriously water proof and a bit nicked and scratched. She was nominally left handed. “Probably knee deep in a party or club, actually.”
Lara didn’t sound judgemental. She’d gotten over that phase a long time ago. As long as Sam was safe, she wasn’t going to tell her to not have fun. Except the thought of her snogging people had gone from ‘ffs keep it down I’m studying’ to ‘why can’t that be me?!’
And yes, shouting for Sam to keep it down with her boy of the night had happened more than once.
“It sucks she doesn’t live here,” Beth commented.
She smiled. It was a warm smile - Lara couldn’t help it. “That’s changing. She’s coming out here because I’m apparently hopeless and I need her to keep me in line.”
“And you’re in love with her.” Beth did another backflip.
“Of course I love her, she’s my best mate,” Lara answered, almost automatically. She exhaled a curse. “Shit. Wait. It’s not.. like that. We’re just really close. She’s more like my evil, opposite twin.” And I’m just trying to convince myself of that. “And...and I don’t want to...sully our friendship by bringing romance and lust into it.”
“Romance and lust aren’t bad things,” Beth shrugged. “My ex and I brought ... jealousy and suspicion and mistrust into it. If you have friendship first, I think it’ll last. But don’t listen to me, I’m only eighteen.” She moved back into the swing.
“I’m only twenty-one,” Lara pointed out. She rubbed at her neck. “I’ve had exactly one boyfriend, but it lasted a week before I bored him one time too many. I’ve snogged exactly twice, both drunk and one of those was Sam.” She laughed. “I pretty much swore off the idea of dating. Too much I want to do.”
“How was it kissing Sam?” Beth crossed her legs. “Is she cute?” When in doubt of someone wanting someone else, inspire jealousy. It was almost too easy.
“God, this was..a couple years ago, and I’m not actually sure she remembers,” Lara replied. She blinked and looked over at Beth. “She’s adorable, and incredibly hot. She likes to point out how long my legs are but hers are just..” Shit, she really should have been clued in about herself before now.
“How long have you been denying you like her?” Beth twirled herself in the swing, giggling when it got all tangled.
“Probably since the first time she took a book out of my hands and made me change into a dress and go out,” Lara replied, sighing. “So what, seven years? I just was never interested. Well I was interested but I never had time to think about it.”
“Have you told her yet?” Beth stopped spinning in the swing and stood up on it, reaching out to one of the bars holding the swingset up and started to shimmy upward. For all of her dislike of the outdoors, she was a bit of a natural monkey.
“We sort of had a conversation about it but I didn’t tell her outright, or anything. She..knows I’m… you know.” She waved a hand, her skin flushing. She watched Beth, feeling a bit challenged, like, hey, she could do that too. So she pocketed her notebook and stood on the swing. “She was naturally accepting, I really didn’t expect any less but there’s still that irrational terror.”
“Does she want to kiss you too?” Beth shimmied out to the main bar, the one that the swings dangled from, and flipped so she was dangling upside down from it.
Lara glowered slightly, then pulled herself up. She didn’t answer until she was balancing precariously on the bar. “I don’t know. She’s one of those girls who has one face she shows the world, the face she shows her best friend, and the face only her best friend sees but she doesn’t realize I can. Apparently she had a bet going on when I’d realize I liked girls. Can you believe that?”
“That had to hurt,” Beth murmured. She moved back up until she was sitting, sighing a little. “We shouldn’t suffer betrayal idly. Not when we love with our whole hearts.” Her blue eyes closed. “Do you want her still? Even though she sounds flighty?”
“She’s loyal,” Lara protested. “She’s flighty with boys, she likes to party and have fun, but she’s also brilliant. Hand her a camcorder and she can put together art.” She looked down at the ground. “I think I’m afraid of change. But.” She jumped off the swing, hitting the ground and rolling. “But I like to explore. There’s probably a tomb raiding joke in there somewhere.”
“So what are you going to do?” Beth watched Lara jump off, cocking her head.
“Pick her up at the airport, fill her full of our roommate’s fajitas, and then let her recover from jetlag, most likely.” She turned and smiled up at Beth. “And after that...Well I know she’s been with women before. I just don’t know if she wants to be with this woman.” She pointed at her chest. Lara wasn’t the kind of girl who thought she was ugly, she was the kind of girl who put her effort into other things.
Beth just nodded. “For your sake, I hope she understands that love and loyalty like yours aren’t something one finds every day.” Beth couldn’t help but stare at the sunset, thinking about Addy and her dreams.
“I’m pretty sure I’d tear apart a city to get to her if I had to,” Lara said. She felt a chill, unsure where it had come from. Or just how many bodies she’d leave behind her.
That made the younger girl smile. “See that she knows.”
The Brit looked at her quizzically. “And how do I do that?”
Moving so she was standing up on the top bar, Beth held her hands out at her sides. “Use your mouthwords, Lara. You’re a big girl.”
“Oh yes. ‘Sam, you’re the world to me. Stop laughing, I mean it. And put that camera down.’” Lara laughed.
“Write a letter or an email. Maybe she’ll take it more seriously,” Beth offered. She jumped down off of the swingset, rolling at the end to avoid spraining her ankle.
"A letter would arrive in London after she flies out. But I'll ... Text her or something."
“You can say what you want to in 140 characters? You’re very succinct.” Beth folded her arms.
“We kind of have a…” She sighed. In some ways in person would be easier because they just read body language. “Maybe I’ll use skype. Just to tell her she’s special.”
“You’re pussing out already,” Beth sing-songed.
Lara stared at her, “I am not!”
“You’re just telling her she’s special? She knows that if she’s anything like how you describe her. Tell her that you love her.” Beth narrowed her eyes. “Or risk losing her to something.”
Easier said than done. She’d used the love word around Sam, just never in the..romantic sense. She eyed Beth, narrowing her own eyes. “...Or someone?”
“Exactly.” Beth didn’t mean herself, but if Lara thought that Beth had, well - it might spurr her to action.