Girly notes: so I received this idea for a Clora story from siacatgirl on Tumblr, and loved it! So I tried to write it. And it's a lot longer than I expected it to be originally...

Enjoy! -girlycathy

A Walk in the Park

All was more than forgiven between Clive and Flora, as he had apologised immediately upon release from the London prison, and they were now very good friends, being the only ones who truly understood each other. Clive had rented out a small flat nearby, so he came to visit Flora often, especially while the Professor and Luke went on their adventures.

Today, the Professor and Luke had left early in the morning, and this time Clive and Flora had been bored that morning with nothing left to do. It was the fifth time in a week that the two had left, off to solve a mystery, and Clive and Flora had run out of things to do after many games of chess and checkers, most of them Clive had won.

So they were at a nearby park, about a twenty minute walk away from the Professor's house. The couple were currently laying on a picnic blanket, Clive's arms wrapped around Flora.

"Oh! Clive, I want to show you something!" Flora said, sitting up.

"What is it?"

"It's this crystal-blue river, with tons of smooth rocks! It's really fun to skip stones in, or to jump from rock to rock to get across!"

"That sounds interesting."

"And it's so beautiful, too! Come on!" She stood up and dragged him through the park expertly, and within a couple minutes, they reached a river that was just as Flora had explained.

They sat down next to it for a while, skipping stones and talking and laughing, when Flora said, "Follow me, I want to cross the river!"

"The rocks are slippery, you'll fall."

"Oh, come on, Clive, it's so fun and I do it all the time."

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well, not since you've been here, but before that. I know how to do it safely."

"Fine, but I'm not carrying you home if you break something," he replied jokingly.

"I won't, Clive," she laughed.

"We'll see."

"Okay, but if I don't slip in the first fifteen minutes, then you have to join me!"

"I'll be counting the minutes!"

He watched as she jumped from rock to rock, going across the wide river and back a few times before she said, "It's got to have been fifteen minutes, Clive! Come join me!"

"Alright," he called back to her. He stood up and followed her across each rock carefully, to find that majority of the rocks that they used were dry.

They went across and back a few times without an issue.

Then Flora screamed as her shoe slid against a rock and quickly slipped off, and she fell into the river.

"Flora!" He quickly but carefully hopped from rock to rock to reach her, and helped her up from the water.

"Ow ow ow!" she cried, hopping on one foot. Clive noticed and slipped his arm under her knees and picked her up before carrying her back to their picnic and putting her on the grass.

"Clive, my a-ankle..." she said, tears welling up in her eyes. Clive kissed her gently, trying to help the pain. Then he looked at her ankle and saw it was already swollen.

"There's nothing I have here that'll help. I think you've sprained it."

"It hurts r-really badly, Clive," she cried. She had never been injured so badly, any more than a small cut or scrape. A sprained ankle was excrutiating pain. Clive lifted her to a sitting position and hugged her tightly, rubbing her back soothingly as she cried into his shoulder. "C-can you go back to the Professor's and g-get a first aid kit?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to leave you here. Not with a sprained ankle."

"I-it's only going to be an hour at most. I'll manage." Clive shook his head.

"It's only going to get worse, Flora. If you come with me, then you won't have to wait an hour."

"I can't walk home like this, I'll just slow you down."

"Not if I carry you."

"But w-won't your arms tire?" she asked, hoping he would say no.

"No. And anyways, I don't know where the kit is. You'll have to show me."

"I could just tell you."

"But then I wouldn't have a reason to carry you home, my dear," he said with a smirk, making Flora laugh slightly.

"What about the picnic basket and blanket?"

"It's nothing of extreme value. And we left it sitting here earlier when you showed me the river. I doubt it will be taken."

"Alright..."

Clive gently picked up Flora in his arms and stood up.

"I thought you said you wouldn't carry me if I injured myself," Flora noted as Clive began carrying her back.

"I said I wouldn't carry you if you broke something. And you didn't."

They talked and Clive told Flora jokes to make her laugh and forget her pain. Then he remembered something and stopped. "Flora, we do have a key, right?"

"Um...it must be in the basket."

"Well, looks like we're taking the long route," he replied, turning around.

"Clive, are you sure you'll be able to manage for the trip back to the park and then back to the house again?"

"I will, don't worry." He kissed her and she pulled him closer. "I'm not leaving you until I know you're perfectly fine."

"Good," she smiled. Then Clive began walking back to the park again, holding Flora closer.

They arrived back at the park and Clive took the picnic basket and quickly found the keys. It was beginning to get late, so Clive took the picnic blanket and covered Flora with it, while still in his arms.

"Thanks, Clive," she replied with a smile.

He walked the two of them home and by the time he arrived, Flora had fallen asleep in his arms, her head leaned against his chest and the blanket across her torso and legs. Clive quietly opened the door to let them in, careful not to bump Flora's legs into the door frame, and used his foot to close the door. It was dark inside now, and he turned on the lightswitch, and carefully walked to the guest bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, he walked to the bed and gently placed her down, and made sure she was covered up with the blanket. He quietly slipped out of the room and was shutting her door when he heard her quietly mumble, "Clive..." Smiling to himself, he went around the house for the first aid kit, and wandered around for about twenty minutes before finding it.

Upon return to the room, Clive sat at the edge of the bed, and opened up the kit. He slowly took off her shoes and socks, and noticed her right ankle was still swollen and slightly purplish. He found an ice pack in the kit, the kind that you break for instant cold, and delicately pressed it against her ankle when it began cooling. When he was satisfied that the swelling had gone down, though it had not gone away, he took a bandage and wrapped it tightly yet gently around her ankle, to make sure that it couldn't be twisted in a painful way in her sleep. He hadn't quite decided what to do about the fact that her clothes were still wet from having slipped in the river, but he figured he'd let her sleep for now.

Then he remembered the picnic basket still sitting at the park. It was late, but he knew he should grab it. He left a short note by Flora's bed in case she woke up before he returned, and went back off to the park, wondering why they didn't decide to grab it before.

Flora woke up several hours later, shivering. Then she saw that she was only covered by a simple blanket, and that her clothes were still wet and cold. Standing up to change clothes, she remembered she had sprained her ankle and then Clive had carried her home...

She sat on the edge of the bed and felt down her leg to feel a cloth around her ankle. Pulling her leg up to her chest, she found a bandage wrapped around it tightly to keep the swelling down, and she smiled, knowing that Clive had managed to keep her sleeping soundly while still taking care of her, like always. That was why she liked him so much, more than anyone else. Of course, the Professor and Luke always tried to take care of her, but they were off on adventures most of the time when she wasn't well. Whereas Clive would always be there for her, always there to take care of her and make her feel better.

Speaking of, where is Clive? She hopped out of her bed and was walking to turn on her lightswitch when her knee bumped into something wooden. She walked around it and turned on the light to see that Clive had fallen asleep in a chair by the bed. She smiled brightly at seeing that Clive had wanted to make sure she would be okay, and stayed by her for when she woke up. After all, she had been in a lot of pain earlier that day. She went over to Clive and gently woke him up.

"Clive, wake up," she whispered. "Clive!"

"Huh?" he said, half awake. "Flora!" He stood up. "Are you alright? Aren't you freezing?" he asked, realising her clothes were still wet, and that the covers of the bed were, too.

"Yes, it is quite cold. Let me run and change into something warmer. What time is it, anyways?"

"Um..." He looked around for a clock as Flora ran off into her room to get dry clothes and the open door let him see her scurry into the bathroom with a change of clothes and a towel before the door closed and the water turned on.

He walked downstairs to the kitchen, knowing there was a clock. He heard the door open from there, and heard Flora call, "Clive?"

"I'm downstairs, in the kitchen," he called back up, before quick footsteps were heard down the stairs. She entered the kitchen with her hair all dried and dressed in a white nightgown, her typical sleeping clothes.

"Is your ankle okay?"

"Just fine, Clive, feeling better already! Thank you for taking care of it for me," she said.

"Oh, it was easy, like a walk in the park. And you do know that I'll always be there to take care of you, right, Flora?" he asked. Then Flora wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips gently, his arms wrapped around her waist to pull her closer.

"Yes," she whispered. "And I never want you to leave." He smiled before pulling her into another kiss, longer and more intimate than before.

I made Flora delicate in this story, I thought I could add in some more Clora moments that way. Kisses and hugs make anything better.

Plus, I probably went wayyyy past the simple prompt, but...I wanted to make it really good.

And it sorta just turned into fluff at the end...whoops.

But I hope you enjoyed it! And send me prompts!

Mwah! -girlycathy