I Spy
A/N) It's my day off today, so expect a few little one shots as the mood takes me! This is just something I thought of while writing another story and thought it would be adorable! Where Tom tries to teach Lexi 'I Spy'.
They're sitting on the park bench, underneath the beech tree. It's early afternoon and Tom suggested half an hour ago that they should go for a walk. Lexi agreed, having been working on her laptop all day and getting bored. Now they're watching the young children run around the park and play on the swings in the playground. Tom a few minutes ago had casually draped his arm over Lexi's shoulders and she hadn't protested or moved away. It feels nice there, Lexi muses sleepily. Like a warm blanket.
"Wanna play a game?" Tom asks cheerily. Lexi looks at him and shrugs.
"What type of game? If it involves moving I'm good here, thanks."
The twenty one year old man grins. "Are you implying you like me doing this?"
"Yes." Lexi sees no point to evade the answer. "Your arm is warm."
"Fair point." Tom falls silent for a few moment and they both look up at the sky. It is blue, cornflower blue with a few wispy clouds floating around. Just as Lexi is beginning to doze off, Tom surpises her by speaking again. "I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with - t."
"What?" Lexi is confused and gives Tom an odd look.
"I thought you wanted to play a game."
"That's a game?"
Tom nodded. "Yes. Hang on - you've never heard of I Spy?"
Lexi felt oddly defensive. "Er - no. What is this I Spy that you speak of?"
"What do you Nekross kids do to pass the time?" Tom asks instead.
"Hunt. Fight. Learn information about different worlds," Lexi told him. Tom raised his eyebrows.
"No games? Fun?"
"We had games. Just not of the frivolous sort like you Earth children seem to partake in."
"Right." Tom ponders this for a second, then brightens again. "Any guesses?"
"What?"
"Guesses. It's a guessing game. I say what letter the word starts with, and you guess what I'm thinking of. Except it has to be something you can see in this park. That's I Spy."
"Oh. Okay." Lexi would never stop being mystified by all these different rituals that humans seemed to do in their spare time.
"So I said a word beginning with t. Any guesses?"
Lexi looks around, thinking for a moment. "Trees."
"Nope."
Lexi flashes him a look. "But you can see trees here. Lots of them. And tree begins with 't'."
"Yes, but I'm not thinking of trees."
"Are you implying you cannot see the trees? They're right there. Look. Or maybe you can't spell." Lexi's voice has a slight hint of concern in it.
Tom blinks at her, trying to work out if it is an obscure form of Lexi humour. Her face, as usual, gives nothing away, and Tom assumes she is serious.
"No, it's not trees."
"Should I be concerned that you're not aware of the trees?" Lexi s voice is still deadly serious and Tom has to bite back a laugh at her confusion.
"I can see the trees, it's just not the word I was thinking of," Tom tells her.
"So you wish me to find a word beginning with t that isn't trees," Lexi confirms, scanning the horizon with a small frown on her face which Tom knows means she's thinking.
"Yes. Any guesses yet?"
"How am I supposed to get this? There must be lots of words, thousands in fact, that begin with 't'. It would take all day to find it."
"You just need to think of the word that I am thinking of," Tom tells her, slightly exasperated.
Lexi meets his eyes. "But I do not know what you're thinking Tom." The small frown was still on her face.
"Exactly! So you guess."
"I fail to see the point of this exercise." Lexi turns back to watch the playground.
"Oh c'mon Lexi. It's supposed to be fun."
Silence from Lexi. Tom remembers something.
"It's something we used to play on long car journeys. Dad always guessed very practical ones, from inside the car. Seatbelt, and wheel, and radio. Things like that. Mum always looked outside, looked at the views and said what she could see there. She always picked really difficult ones, ones that were hard to see. When Gran came with us she kept forgetting what letter she had picked and got really confused." Tom smiles at the memories. "I was only four or five."
"Tennis," Lexi interrupts. Tom looks at her, smiling at her small proud look and following her eye gaze to where some children were playing tennis over the grass.
"Correct! Well done, Lexi. Your turn."
"Me?" Lexi asks in confusion.
"Yes. Go on, it's fun!"
Lexi thinks hard, looking over the park again. "What do I say?"
"I spy, with my little eye -" Tom prompts her.
"I spy with my little eye," Lexi copies obediently.
"Something beginning with -"
"Something beginning with -"
"Now choose something," Tom tells her, grinning and sitting back on the seat.
Lexi takes a few seconds to look around, then says decisively: "Something beginning with g."
"Grass," Tom says immediately. Lexi nods.
"That was fast!"
"I'm a world master at this game. Plus,you'ree kinda predictable," he confesses. Lexi supposes he is right.
"Now what?"
"We do it again of course! Ok, I spy, something beginning with - s."
"Stones."
"Nope." Tom smiles his cocky smile.
"Sky."
"No again."
"Er - swings."
"Yes. Finally."
"Hey!" Lexi protests.
"Sorry, but it was easy. Your turn again."
Lexi looks around the park for inspiration. Despite herself she is beginning to enjoy the game, and just spending some time with Tom is quite fun.
"I spy something beginning with - b."
"Bench."
"No. Try again." At least he didn't guess it first time this time.
"Bikes."
"No."
"Er -" Tom is beginning to run out of ideas.
Lexi gives him a small smile. "Give up?"
"Oh go on then. I give up."
"Bird." Lexi gestures to a small sparrow hopping around the tree above them. Tom smiles. Ever since she came here Lexi was enchanted - so to speak - by the birds. There were no birds on Nekron apparently.
"Okay. I have a great idea next. The letters are t, m, b, g, i, t, and w."
"Oh c'mon Tom. How am I supposed to guess that?" Lexi asks, her face half annoyed and half amused.
"Do you want me to tell you? Do you give up?" Tom prompts with a growing grin on his face. Lexi sighs.
"Yes. Or we'll be here all night. And we need to get back soon. Benny will be back from school in half an hour."
Tom interrupts her with a kiss. Lexi relaxes as their lips meet and her worries are brushed to one side. The kiss lasts for a few moments, but when they pull apart Tom is still smiling.
"Do you want to know what it was now?"
"Okay," Lexi says.
Tom smiles tenderly, the cocky look quite gone from his features now. All was left was calm. He says nothing, but puts his arm back around Lexi's shoulders and they both look back over the park. They stay there for a while, just drinking in the surroundings and the presence of each other. When Tom finally speaks again, it's soft and quiet.
"I spy the most beautiful girl in the world."