The Tomb Raider (lara) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-01-12 10:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, lara croft, sam nishimura |
I did some pretty crappy things to get into that boarding school
Who: Lara and Sam
What: Sam has a surprise for Lara, in a way only Sam would do
When: New Years
Where: Paris
Status: complete
Rating: PG for feels
Lara had spent most of the flight leaning against Sam while listening to some books. She hadn’t been allowed to look out the window until the plane had started to land. She recognized the major landmark almost immediately. Paris! She couldn’t believe that Sam had just managed to surprise her with this. She’d given her a deep kiss.
The hotel was incredibly swanky and she was a little uncomfortable until Sam had made them take a bath in the giant tub. Which really managed to relax her. It got her out of a funk. And Sam’s reaction to ‘we should sleep in different beds’ had been predictable. ‘lolno.’
She was in such a good mood that she even let Sam drag her out shopping.
The shopping trip was super important to Sam, though Lara had no idea why. In her blindfolded state she'd missed the text messages and board comments that had been sent back and forth in-flight, or the meticulous google research Sam had been up to.
At some point in the shopping trip, Sam had insisted that Lara take a relaxing break and get them a table at a local cafe. She'd darted off quickly after that, with her very best poker face on.
Which of course, meant that she looked like she was definitely up to something, but Lara was probably never going to guess what. She'd ended up at the cafe some twenty minutes later, looking incredibly smug. When Lara had asked her what she was up to, she'd just said 'Oh you know, making sure stuff is ready for our partying tonight.'
Which was kind of the truth. Mostly.
And Lara's suspicions had only grown the longer that Sam had been gone. Twenty minutes was a long time but she couldn't get Sam to reveal what she'd been up to. Party prep did alleviate her concerns, but since Sam had planned this whole trip that was to be expected.
"Between then and now what are our plans?" She put down her drink and looked a little earnest. "I was hoping to look at Notre Dame...And the catacombs, and..."
Sam lowered her menu a bit so that she could look Lara in the eye, then made a grumpy face and shook her head, "OH no. No. We aren't doing boring archaeological stuff on New Year's Eve. Nuh Uh. We have to get all sexed up so that we can party the night away all down the street to the tower!"
One of her hands let go of the menu and waved around, like she was trying to point towards the tower and had no real idea where it was, nor the sense of direction to find it.
"We're in Paris! Do you know how many historical things there are here? And the Cathedral is supposed to be beautiful. It's one of the things I've never really...gotten to see. Can we at least see that before we get all sexed up to party at the tower?" That's it Lara, negotiate. "I'll... I'll let you put me in anything you want. I'll even let you do make-up."
"You were going to let me do all of those things anyway, sweetie, and you know it," Sam pointed out, looking particularly smug. It was cute when Lara tried to negotiate with her like this, though, and she wondered what she could really get out of her girlfriend in exchange for visiting the Notre Dame today instead of tomorrow.
The hand that had been waving around in the various directions the Eiffel Tower might have been stopped waving so that Sam could check her watch. They probably did have plenty of time, depending on how much of it Lara wasted arguing with her over dresses and hairstyle choices, "I don't know, Lara, I don't know if we have enough time for everything I have planned."
"I'll have you know I'm not going to just give in to your demands without a little give and take..." Still, Lara knew she was already losing the argument and she also knew when it came to these things she usually didn't fight all that hard. It made Sam happy and she was only ever uncomfortable at first. When it came down to something she might have to dig her heels in about, she could really dig her heels in.
But with the dreams and everything, Lara just wanted to make Sam happy, and that required compromise.
"... Well I'd planned a whole day tomorrow to look at all the things here, like the Notre Dame and the Catacombs and all of that. It's just that you want to go today instead and we've got a lot of stuff planned today."
Including a proposal. Man, Lara sounded really kind of mad, but Sam just kept thinking that hopefully Lara would be less cranky once a ring was on her finger.
Oh god, she was going to put a ring on Lara's finger. Sam took a deep breath and let it out, then ordered something to drink that had liquor in it.
Lara puckered her lips and then sighed. "God, I really can't say no to you can I. All right. As long as I get to see some of these things tomorrow, today is your day. Whatever you want, hon." She took Sam's hand and kissed her knuckles, a little romantic like. "It isn't as though I don't enjoy the things you drag me out to."
Her drink was less alcoholic by a small degree, but carefully selected to loosen her up enough to not rain on Sam’s parade. She was a considerate girlfriend.
Sam liked to think she was considerate, too, which is why she'd already set aside their entire second day in Paris to do 'Lara things'. If there had been a printed itinerary of their trip, the day would have been blocked out with those words in big letters, but there wasn't. Lara was just going to have to trust her.
That was hard, and Sam knew it. She was her, after all. Sam things were far different in scope and nature than Lara things. It was easy to believe that Sam wouldn't even think to plan for that stuff.
"I know I'm going to enjoy you dragging me around tomorrow, too, sweetie. I totally thought of you, too, I promise. No shopping or anything, except maybe gift shops or something. Near things that you want to go see."
Lara's gesture made her cheeks pink, and she didn't let her hand go until the waiter came back around with their food.
Sam things often seemed frivolous and random, especially when Lara was first getting to know her. She'd seemed shallow and ditzy and hadn't taken anything seriously, yet something had made Lara stick around and give her a chance. There was this loneliness inside her that called out to the younger girl, from the moment she'd met Sam.
She'd discovered someone who was considerate and kind, and who brought out a wilder side in Lara. Lara's first birthday after they'd been friends, Sam had somehow managed to wrangle in a gigantic cake in the shape of a pyramid. The present she'd gotten had been a really simple gesture but one that had touched Lara deeply. She still carried that in her wallet.
She smiled happily at her best friend and girlfriend. "I'd hug you but then I'd get food all over us."
"And we definitely can't have that." Sam nodded.
She let go of Lara's hand and dug into her food and drink, eager to get the rest of the night started. There was still a lot to do between now and then, at least where Sam was concerned. She had things to video tape and flowers to get and the entire idea still made her nervous.
Mostly, she was just nervous that it wouldn't all go right, though, which was kind of a relief.
They finished their lunch, and Sam dragged Lara back to the hotel for more pampering. There were massages and manicures, and then a woman came to do Lara's hair for the evening. Sam showed the woman the dress she'd picked out for her girlfriend to wear, and then had left them both to it, disappearing off somewhere for almost forty-five minutes before returning to see the final result.
Lara stood in the salon, wearing flats and a white dress that showed off her shoulders and her back. It also plunged dangerously low. Her hair had been done up sexy, and she had spent twenty minutes fighting over make-up before she’d reached a compromise with the lady.
Her fingers and hands hurt, but she felt incredibly relaxed so she didn’t mind. They couldn’t scrub away the scars and a lot of the roughness of her hands, but she knew Sam prefered her that way and she was starting to think that maybe she could live with herself that way too.
She looked at Sam and blushed. “I feel weird. But if you’re going to look at me like that it’s worth it.”
"I'm going to look at you like this all night."
It was hard for Sam to even turn her eyes away from Lara long enough to get her own hair done. The stylist kept having to gently push Sam's head back to a straighter position so that she could style her hair evenly. Sam's shorter locks were curled and pinned up with blue shimmering pins, and the makeup lady dragged her off to put some dramatic eye makeup on her.
It looked like the usual classy smokey eye, but also glittered blue when the light hit it in certain places. But that wasn't the last of it! Sam was still in her street clothes and they were both completely lacking in accessories. She energetically paid the staff and dragged Lara back to their hotel room, smirking at all the looks Lara got on the way there.
"They totally know you're the hottest thing in this hotel, and they totally know you're mine, too. I love this!"
It only made Lara brush more deeply, but she enjoyed watching Sam get pampered, even if her girlfriend liked it more than she did. She looped her arm around Sam as they walked through the hotel and tried to not look as nervous as she felt. She turned and kissed Sam's hair while they were in the elevator. "I don't think I'll get used to being looked at like that, but she did a good job with the coverup. My shoulders are a lot less noticeable." But not gone entirely. Really, Lara was mostly okay with that.
(lara's dress: http://www.harrypotterspells.co.uk/wp-c
"They aren't noticeable any day of the week. Most of the scars have faded off and what's left of them is sexy as hell. You can only ever see them up close, and no one's allowed that close to you but me, anyway," Sam replied, with a bit of a smirk.
Just to drive her point home, she leaned down and nibbled a bit on Lara's bare shoulder. The people in the elevator could stare if they wanted to. She winked back at the one person who bothered to.
Lara's ears burned. She shivered and looked up at the ceiling to hide her embarrassment but she didn't complain about it. Once they were in their hotel room she had to remind herself that Sam had plans and she couldn't derail them. So while Sam went to get ready, Lara sat carefully at the desk and pulled out her iPad to eagerly research the Paris Catacombs.
Yes, Sam had plans. She had to remind herself of that while she got into her gown, then spent give minutes psyching herself up in front of the mirror. "You can totally do this, Sam", she whispered to herself, "You are the awesome queen of marriage proposals. Oh god I'm making a marriage proposal. Shit, I should have called Roth to ask him first. Calm down calm down calm down, you know he'd say yes. Duh, Sam. He's only been asking you to do this since you were sixteen."
Which was totally wrong, putting that kind of weight on a sixteen-year-old's shoulders. Way to go, Mr. Roth. Way to go.
Having settled that, she tucked the ring box into her purse and hooked that over her arm, then headed back into the main bedroom, "Alright, sexy lady. We're going to dinner and then we're going to attack New Year's Eve like the awesome hotties we are!"
What are your intentions towards my Lara. Lara hadn't found out about that for years and she wondered why it had taken her so long to see that. For that matter if Roth in the dreams had asked Sam that.
She looked up from her iPad and smiled at Sam. "Just another minute, I want to finish this article." Her eyes returned to the device, but there was a naughty grin dancing on her lips, as though she were taunting Sam.
"That's seriously your reaction to me in this dress? 'Just a minute, let me continue to read my not nearly as sparkly iPad'!?" Sam put a hand on each hip and harummphed.
Lara tilted her head back and laughed. It was loud and clear and she stood, drinking Sam in with her eyes. Her look was intense and hungry and so very much in love. "You caught me. You look so bloody fantastic I can't stand it."
The look Lara gave Sam made Sam so breathless that she could barely speak. She already looked so gorgeous in the dress she was wearing, with that makeup and hair... Every nervous vibe Sam might have had in her body melted away, like a jar had instantly opened and let all the butterflies in her stomach free.
She wordlessly took Lara's hand and pulled the woman against her, kissing her just lightly enough not to smudge their lipstick, then let her go, "Let's get out of here before we never leave. I have plans!"
The plans left Lara out of breath and happy. Orange County faded away. Dreams and islands and sacrificial pyres became something hazy and distant. There was just Sam and the Parisian night. She danced and she drank and she let Sam be all over her because you only live once and maybe sometimes you had to give your lover as much as you took.
By the time they stood on the tower (and Lara wanted to know how Sam had arranged that on such short notice considering the crowd and the fireworks), she had had one of the best nights of her life. And it had only involved one attempt to sneak into a historic building!
It was pretty much the perfect night, as perfect as Sam could set up. Luckily for her, she'd set up their time on the Tower when she'd first been planning their trip, but getting the rings and everything else settled? She felt like she'd called in every favor she'd ever been owed.
It was worth it, though. Lara had completely loosened up as the night had gone on, and now all Sam had to do to make it one she'd never forget was... to pull her iPad out of her purse and hand it to Lara.
"Hey sweetie, why don't you confirm our tour for tomorrow while I get us something from this vendor over here."
There really was a vendor on the tower, selling commemorative things like hats, balloons, flowers, and sparklers. They were also handing out drinks to be enjoyed, which was the excuse Sam made to step away while Lara looked at the iPad.
Of course the iPad was actually set to a video, one that she'd hit play on right before handing it over. It was set in their hotel room. Sam was laying on the hotel room bed, the camera must have been set on the nearby table.
"Hi, Sweetie!" The Sam in the video says, and waves a hand at the camera. She's grinning, beaming in fact, and one of her hands is nervously plucking at the coverlet on their bed. It's clear there's more for her to say, "I've known you for pretty much the better half of my life. I did some pretty crappy things to get into that boarding school, and I thought for sure I was going to be all alone. Miserable and stuck in a place where... like... I never had any fun again."
"And then... there was this girl in the library, she'd just gotten there that day and it was the first place she checked out. Her luggage is sitting right next to her on the floor. I don't even know why I walked up to you except maybe because those three blonde bitches in the corner were snickering at you. I wanted to punch their little perfect faces in, but... I just..." She trails off and her hands flail in front of her a bit, as she realises she's getting off track.
"Okay. You know that story. The point is that you were a part of me then and you're a part of me now and I know you're going to be a part of me forever. And I'm not scared of messing it up. I'm not scared of us at all. So I figure..."
As Lara watched the video, music started to play in the background. All around them, New Year's Eve was getting ready to end the year on a bang. Fireworks were going off. Their shapes reflected off the iPad, but it looked like the movie wasn't quite finished.
The Sam in the movie has trailed off a little bit. She reaches one hand off to the side, tucking it under the pillow near her. When she pulls it out, it looks like a small box is in her hand.
She gets off the bed, and walks up to the table. It becomes clear that there really is a box in her hand: Navy blue and slightly fuzzy, like it's covered in velvet, "I figure, if I know I'm going to be with you forever, and I know that you complete me, there's no reason we shouldn't make it a thing. And I'm hoping that you agree with me, and that you'll say yes to the idea of being mine forever."
The box opens, showing a pair of rings. For a few seconds the rings in box are all that can be seen. Then Sam's face comes back into view. She grins, "And in case you think I'm just pranking you, you should turn around and look behind you."
It was unclear if Sam timed it like that or not, but people were counting down the end of the year around them right as the movie ended. And behind her, with a ring box in one hand, was Sam. As Lara turned to look over her shoulder, she even got down on one knee.
Lara had taken the iPad with a relaxed but curious smile. She didn't know what Sam was getting at but as her girlfriend talked in the video she felt herself growing warmer, her emotions threatening to consume her in public which was unusual in and of itself, but Sam's words were getting to her.
Sam had been...Sam had been like this ray of light entering her life. They'd both been so young and so lost and without Sam Lara didn't know who she would be. Colder, maybe. And here she was, pouring her heart out in the best way she knew how and Lara didn't think she'd ever been able to match this.
Then she really couldn't keep it back and her eyes watered as she pressed her fist against her mouth. She blinked her eyes to clear them before she really did cry. Sam was...those were rings and Lara had thought about it and even sketched out a plan on how she'd do it but Sam was...here was Sam and she was. She was going to kill Sam for making her have an emotion in public actually but not really.
She turned around, pulling her hand away from her mouth and then putting it right back when Sam got down on her knee. Lara was going lose it if she didn't do something. She didn't hear the countdown or the people around them, she only saw Sam. It was always Sam.
Lara waved her hand, flailing her wrist a little as she tried to say it. Finally she just nodded her head because it was midnight and it was after midnight and the first thing she was going to do in this new year was pull her fiance up and crash her lips into Sam's.
The kiss was wonderful and magical and extremely distracting, though not distracting enough to stop Sam from pulling the darker ring out of the box and sliding it onto Lara's finger.
All around them, the world was shouting, 'Happy New Year!'
She couldn't think of a better start to this one.