I got a prompt to write a story about Maya and Carina going on a cruise and one of them getting motion sick. I kinda reinterpreted it, and came up with this! Enjoy!
"Why are we doing this again?" Carina asked as they stood in line for the whaling tour.
"Because it's something you have to do when you live in Seattle," Maya said, shrugging, "My mom brought Mas and I up here one day when Lane was out of town, visiting his parents or something. It was so fun, and like a breath of fresh air for all of us. A time we could just let loose and be kids. You get to see the whales up close."
"It's freezing," Carina said, shivering a little in the January air.
"Here," Maya said, taking a pack of hand warmers out of her purse, "These will help."
"Why do the whales have to migrate when it is so cold?" Carina said, pulling her coat tighter.
"We can stay inside on the boat until we get out there," Maya promised, "And we can get some hot chocolate when we buy the tickets. Come on, we're up next."
Maya bought two tickets along with two cups of hot chocolate, handing one to Carina as she paid.
"This is not good," Carina said as they walked away, "It tastes like hot water mixed with a hint of chocolate."
"I promise to get you some better hot chocolate or maybe even coffee from the Italian place you love when we are done," Maya said, taking Carina's hand, "Come on. Let's go see if we can see anything from the docks."
"Wait, we can just see them from here?" Carina asked in disbelief, "Then why the boat?"
"It gets us closer," Maya explained as they walked, "And we can see more."
Carina still wasn't sold that seeing whales was worth getting on a boat in the freezing January weather, but Maya seemed really excited about it, and seeing her girlfriend excited about anything not fire or running related was not something that happened often. Carina tried to focus on that instead of the fact that she was starting to lose feeling in her toes as they walked over to the boat.
"Come on," Maya said, guiding Carina into the enclosed area in the middle of the boat that was heated, the Italian immediately sighing as she felt the warm air on her cheeks, "Let's go sit down."
"Maybe this isn't so bad," Carina said as they found some seats, "At least it's warm here."
"If you hate this, I promise we will never do it again," Maya said, smiling at her, "And remember, you get to pick our next date day activity."
"I know," Carina smiled, leaning over and pressing a gentle kiss to Maya's lips, "I think this will be fun. I know I was being grumpy when we got here, but I am going to try to have a better attitude. I know you are very excited about this, and that makes me excited too. I have never seen whales up close. Andrea did this when he first moved here and he really enjoyed it."
They sat there for about half an hour, the boat gently rocking back and forth. Carina started feeling a little off, but she figured it was probably just the crappy hot chocolate.
Soon enough, the boat was moving, the waters rough as they got further out. Maya was looking out the window for a few minutes, just taking in the beauty of the water.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Maya said, looking at her girlfriend.
"Yeah," Carina said, smiling as she saw the joy on Maya's face, trying to ignore the increasingly icky feeling in her stomach.
"Want to go walk to the front?" Maya asked, "It's the best view."
"Sure," Carina nodded, swallowing hard as they stood, "Woah."
"Not quite have your sea legs yet Dr. Deluca," Maya smiled, holding tightly to her hand.
"I guess not," Carina said, shaking her head, realizing that wasn't the best move as her head spun.
"I've got you," Maya said, guiding Carina through the boat.
They got to the front of the boat, everything seeming even bumpier there, Carina starting to feel really bad.
"Maya," she said, pulling the blonde's attention.
"Woah," Maya said, seeing the palish green color on Carina's face, "Are you alright?"
"No," Carina said, swallowing thickly, "Do you know where the bathroom is?"
"Come on," Maya said, having seen the sign as they walked up.
Carina gagged as they walked in, barely making it to the toilet before she started throwing up.
"Ok," Maya said, holding her hair, "I'm right here."
"That hot chocolate tastes even worse coming back up," Carina groaned, wiping her mouth with toilet paper.
"Do you get motion sick?" Maya asked as Carina leaned back.
"I haven't before," Carina said as Maya put a cool, wet paper towel on the back of her neck, "But this ride is really wavy."
"Oh, Car, I'm so sorry," Maya said as the brunette leaned over the toilet again.
"How long is this ride?" Carina asked as she finished.
"Three and a half hours," Maya winced as Carina's face fell, "We are about forty minutes in."
"No," Carina said, tears filling her eyes.
"I'm so sorry," Maya said, "Why don't we get you up, and I will go talk to a crew member, see if they have anything you can take."
"Maya, I don't think I can leave the bathroom," Carina said, stomach still turning.
"I will get you a trash can or something," the blonde said, helping Carina up, "You can't stay here. The boat only has two bathrooms."
Carina nodded, washing her hands before Maya grabbed the trash can from under the sink.
"Come on," Maya said, guiding her to some chairs that no one was around, "Sit tight. I'll be right back, ok?"
Carina nodded, leaning against the window, eyes closed.
Maya found a crew member pretty quickly, explaining what was going on. The woman was very understanding and gave Maya some Dramamine and a ginger lozenge for Carina along with a bottle of water and some ginger ale.
"Thank you so much," Maya said, really appreciative as she headed back to her girlfriend.
As she walked up, she saw Carina hunched over, throwing up again. She ran over, rubbing her back.
"I have some Dramamine, ginger, and water," Maya said when Carina finished.
"Thanks," Carina said, taking the pills from Maya, swallowing them immediately.
"I'm sorry you are feeling so sick," Maya said as Carina leaned her head on her shoulder, "This was a stupid idea. We never have to do this again."
"It's not your fault," Carina mumbled, trying to keep her stomach calm, "I've been on boats before, and I've felt a little queasy, but never like this."
"Just relax," Maya said, "I will be right here."
Just then, Carina leaned over the trash can, throwing up again, the pills coming back up.
"Well, that was a waste," Carina said, wiping her mouth.
"Sorry," Maya said, handing her the water to rinse her mouth, "Maybe the ginger will help?"
"Not right now," Carina said, riding another wave of nausea, trying to not throw up again.
"Just let me know if and when," Maya nodded, rubbing Carina's back as she put her head back on her shoulder.
About twenty minutes later, there was an announcement over the loud speaker that there were whales on the left side of the boat.
"You should go see them Bambina," Carina said, stomach rolling as she sat up, "Just because I am miserable doesn't mean you should miss it."
"I'm not going anywhere," Maya said, shaking her head, "I wanted to do this with you, and while this isn't quite what I imagined, I still want to be with you."
Carina started to smiled, but apparently her stomach didn't like her being happy and instead she started throwing up again.
Carina spent the next hour alternating between trying to sleep on Maya's shoulder and dry heaving over the trash can, her stomach empty.
"Can I have the ginger?" Carina asked after another painful round of dry heaves.
"Yeah," Maya said, unwrapping the lozenge and putting it into Carina's mouth, the brunette to shaky to do it herself.
Carina took a deep breath, rubbing her eyes.
"How much longer?" she asked, head still spinning.
"About an hour and a half," Maya said, heart breaking at the pitiful sound that escaped Carina's lips, "I'm so sorry."
"I will be ok," Carina said, trying really hard not to cry.
"Is there anything else I can do?" Maya asked, pressing a gently kiss to Carina's temple. "
You being here is helping," Carina said, breathing through another wave of nausea.
A few minutes later, Maya looked out the window, seeing a whale breeching right outside.
"Car," she said quietly, not wanting to wake her if she was sleeping.
"Hmm?" Carina said, not opening her eyes.
"There's a whale out the window," Maya said, still able to see it despite the people who were standing there.
Carina lifted her head, looking out and seeing the whale, smiling as it moved through the water.
"It's beautiful," Carina said, "If I didn't feel so terrible, I could see how this is amazing."
They both watched the whale for a few minutes before Carina got sick again.
The next hour and a half were rough, Carina still feeling incredibly sick and getting more and more exhausted from it.
Finally, they heard the announcement that they had docked.
"Ready?" Maya asked, about to help Carina up when the brunette started heaving again, "Ok, not yet. Just try to breathe."
Once Carina's stomach calmed again, Maya helped her up, the two of them walking slowly off the boat, Carina feeling completely drained.
"Ok," Maya said as they walked toward the car, "Let's get you home."
"I'm sorry I ruined our date," Carina mumbled as they both got in the car, Maya handing her a trash bag just in case.
"You didn't ruin anything," Maya said, shaking her head, "I'm sorry I picked an activity that made you feel so awful."
"We didn't know," Carina shrugged, leaning back, closing her eyes as Maya started the car.
"Are you feeling any better?" Maya asked, taking Carina's hand in her own as she started driving.
"Not really," Carina said, shaking her head, "I'm sure it will go away soon."
"We can go home, maybe take a quick shower, and then you can rest," Maya said, frowning. Carina just leaned over the trash bag, dry heaving again.
Maya was tempted to pull over and help her, but she knew the best thing for her girlfriend was to get them home and out of a moving vehicle.
Luckily, it only took about twenty minutes for them to get home, Maya helping Carina up to their place. They showered before Maya helped Carina into bed, grabbing her some water and a trash can, just in case the motion sickness stayed bad.
"Can you lay with me?" Carina asked sleepily, stomach still feeling icky, but better than before.
"I was planning to," Maya said, slipping into bed with her, "Just sleep. Hopefully, you will wake up feeling better."
Carina nodded, her eyes closing as Maya ran her fingers up and down her back, the Italian falling asleep quickly.
When Carina woke up, she was feeling a lot better, rolling over and seeing she was alone in bed. She heard noises coming from the kitchen, getting up and going to investigate after making a quick stop in the bathroom to brush her teeth.
She smiled when she walked into the kitchen, finding Maya standing at the stove, headphones in, dancing a little as she stirred something on the stove. Carina leaned against the wall, watching Maya for a minute before the blonde's sixth sense kicked in, and she turned around, smiling at Carina as she pulled her headphones out.
"How are you feeling?" Maya asked, walking over to her girlfriend, "You look better."
"I feel better," Carina nodded, leaning down and kissing Maya, "It smells good. What are you cooking?"
"Just some minestrone," Maya shrugged, having mastered this recipe early in their relationship, finding it easy to make at the station for her team, "I wasn't sure how hungry you would be, and I know you like this."
"Thank you," Carina smiled, grabbing a glass of water as Maya stirred the soup, "I am really hungry."
"Yeah, throwing up all morning and sleeping all afternoon will do that to you," Maya said, smiling, "Well, the soup is ready now if you are."
"Yes please," Carina nodded, grabbing some spoons as Maya dished up the soup.
They decided to eat on the couch, the two of them sitting with their feet tangled together under a blanket.
"This is very good, Bambina," Carina smiled as she took a bite.
"Well, I feel like it's the least I could do after the rough morning you had," Maya said, shrugging, "I had such nice ideas about what today was going to be, spending the morning being amazed by the whales and then going to the Italian coffee shop near there before coming home for a lazy afternoon in bed."
"That sounds amazing," Carina sighed, "Sorry my body didn't let it happen."
"Like you said earlier, it's no one's fault," Maya said, smiling at her.
"Well, I think we could maybe still do part of your plans," Carina said, looking at her girlfriend, "But instead of a lazy afternoon, how would you feel about a lazy evening in bed?"
"I think that sounds perfect," Maya said, abandoning her soup on the coffee table as Carina did the same, the two of them heading down the hall to finish their day together in the best way they knew how.
What did you think? If you have any prompts, let me know!