[oom] April Fool's Day

[hell_in_highheels]

Oh, River is not a morning person, but this prank requires some dedication and preparation.  She has her sonic screwdriver set to wake her an hour before the alarm, and she'd packed the blanket and the picnic basket the afternoon before while he was out running.

The matter of the prank itself is a simple few moments with the screwdriver on the red setting.  Quick.  Harmless.  And best of all, reversible. 

She still expects to get a bit of a hiding for it, but he did throw down the gauntlet.  Her cheeks ache from grinning at the very thought of the look on his face when he figures out just what she'd done.

Prank accomplished, she slips into her boots and shushes Damocles, swearing him to silence.  Rather, bribing him with future promises of bacon.  She leaves the note on the pillow and catches herself just before she kisses him on the cheek.  If he wakes, the surprise will be ruined before she can make her escape. 

Dear Richard~

Have been kidnapped by rabbits.  They said something about their pelts being used for "unseemly" purposes. Their leader says, if you ever want to see me again, come alone.

(crudely drawn map of the lake side and the meadow with an X)

Love,
~River

Comments

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"That's the one," Richard answers, growing sober again himself.

"I don't believe I've said, but that was the creature kidnapping everyone. Dam was just a pup at the time."

[hell_in_highheels]

"So you weren't the only one who was taken. And I gather, from the way bar time moves, they were gone for far longer than they were missed here?"

She remembers he spent six months in New York.

And then she remembers the height of his fear just a half hour before. "They took a pack mate, didn't they?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's face shuts down.

"Suzi and Deitmar both," he reports, watching their footing.

"She nearly died."

[hell_in_highheels]

River holds tight to him, her arm looped through his as they walk. "I'm sorry."

Both for Suzi's misfortune and again, for frightening him this morning.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"She was lucky she landed on the world she did," he says, sounding a little tired. He almost mentions Deitmar being with her, but then he suspects that would lead to how he ripped a dragon apart and that's not his story to tell.

[hell_in_highheels]

She lets that weighty sentiment settle for a moment, still holding him.

"All's well that ends well, yes?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Yes."

He leans over to nuzzle her, reassuring.

[hell_in_highheels]

She returns the nuzzle, breathing him in. Love you.

That bit of canine was flawless and possibly completely unconscious.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Love you he answers with a kiss and a snug.

You're getting very good at that phrase, he notes with a bit of amusement.

[hell_in_highheels]

She hums her contentment against his cheek. Good? Means... She has to think for a moment. Not rabbits?

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Right. 'Good' means "good."

Canine can be insanely complex at times. Perhaps surprisingly, simple words had the most variations. Depending on the way it was said, 'good' could mean 'a nice warm blanket on a cold night' or 'you're quite accomplished at what you're doing' or 'seeing your mate after a long night's hunt'. Richard has instincts to help him decipher which was which.

River can only memorize.

[hell_in_highheels]

Good, she repeats, cementing the word.

"So you said, 'Getting very good at' and I don't recognise," phrase. "Something like --" She shakes her head, searching for the words in the context he used them. "Sequence?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Phrase," he corrects. Phrase.

Then he grins a bit because now she knows the whole thing.

[hell_in_highheels]

She leans back a bit, a serious look on her face. Very good getting at phrase.

No, not right. Her brow furrows.

Getting very good at that phrase.

And then she actually head tilts.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

There you go! He grins and reaches up to ruffle her hair.

Well done.

[hell_in_highheels]

"Oy!" River gives a little growl and pulls her head away, looking at him like he's just stepped over a line.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He hadn't expected that reaction.

"What?"

[hell_in_highheels]

"Not actually a dog, you know."

She's quick to add, "No offence intended to Damocles."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He frowns. "Of course not." There's a disapproving look on his face.

"How is that any different from when you pet me?"

Besides that they're both in bed then.

[hell_in_highheels]

That gets a perplexed look.

"One is an expression of physical intimacy. A desire to increase skin to skin contact towards the end of heightened, mutual pleasure.

"The other felt like a pat you might give a small child."

She's not sure he meant it that way now and he can smell that indecision now.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

That is not at all how he meant it and she can see it in his face.

"Well, I suppose I won't be doing that again," he says dryly.

[hell_in_highheels]

Okay, full stop.

Back up.

"If you didn't mean it that way, how did you mean it?"

She hasn't let go of his arm, and doesn't intend to.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He scowls. "Affectionately, how else?"

He's more upset with himself than her. No wonder Deitmar was always so annoyed with him.

[hell_in_highheels]

"No, no. No scowling."

She takes a step, turning to walk backward a pace before pressing her hands to his chest, halting his forward progress. A little nudge makes him set the blanket down.

That accomplished, she takes his hands and brings them to her face, nuzzling first his left and then his right palm.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Well, he's not quite scowling any more.

The look on his face says 'what are you doing?'