CHAPTER 17
~*~ TWO AND A HALF WEEKS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER~*~
"Lara! Come see this!" Riley called out as he sat at her laptop in the room they had quickly turned into the research room. Here was no response, so he quickly hit Ctrl and P, and the printer sprang to life. He grabbed the sheet of paper when it was finished and hunted for the small black book with the sketch of the Ocular Token in it. He located it quickly and ran out of the room.
"Lara?" He called again as he reached the closed door to her room. He knocked lightly, but there was no reply. He opened the door slowly speaking her name again to alert her of his presence. The room was empty. He closed the door again, wondering where she could have gone. *maybe she went for a climb, she mentioned wanting to do that yesterday*
He walked across the landing reading the information he had just printed. He opened the bathroom door, and lowered the paper back to his side. He froze. Lara was in the tub, eyes closed with headphones over her ears. Luckily the thick white bubbles covered most of her, only revealing what he had already seen when she had been at his home with the towel wrapped around her.
He turned his back and cleared his throat loudly, but she didn't hear him. Scanning the floor, he spotted the T-shirt she had been wearing. Quickly he picked it up and tossed it in the direction of the bath. It missed totally but the draft the movement made caught Lara's attention. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Riley, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Riley?" she asked as she slowly sank a little further under the bubbles. "Is everything ok?"
"Erm, I'm really sorry Lara, I didn't know you were in here. I called you but you didn't answer! I found something very interesting"
"Ah," Lara tossed her headphones at him. "Hand me that towel would you?" Riley grabbed the large towel and took a step backwards holding it out in her direction. She took it and wrapped it around her body without drying herself.
"ok, show me"
He turned slowly and handed the paper to her. As she read it, he flipped through the black book and held it open at the sketch.
"What am I looking at?" she asked as she moved closer to Riley's side so he too could see the page.
"This right here!" he pointed to a selection of symbols on the printout.
"Do you know what they mean?" she asked as she glanced up to see that Riley was gazing down at her wet legs. She nudged him with her knee and he snapped his attention back to her face.
"sorry." He had turned pink as he proceeded to explain what the symbols were. "I was doing some research on the net and I found this. These symbols were found on a wall painting in Greece. It said that the painting seemed to be a huge map of Greece, and these symbols were similar to the symbols we have on map today. Like this one,"
He pointed to a spiky symbol with a rounded base
"that was supposed to represent Mount Olympus." Then he held up the sketch and pointed to the exact same symbol at the base of the design. "There it is again."
Lara compared the two symbols and started to smile as Riley continued to point out symbols from the wall map that matched those on the Token.
"Riley" her voice was quiet and very serious, and for a second Riley felt like he had made a fool of himself. "I think you have just decoded the Token. Follow me"
Lara patted Riley's arm with her damp hand and walked from the room, leaving footprints behind her. He followed her down the stairs and into their 'study' where she picked up a book and laid it on the desk. Opening it and flicking through the pages until she found the one she was looking for.
"Right" she smiled warmly and Riley as he came and stood next to her. "The token shows these locations, correct?" she indicated the six places on the map she had opened the book to.
"yeah if that translation was right." He sighed "but there was no meaning for this symbol." He pointed to one symbol in the middle of the design.
"Hmm," Lara looked deep in thought. "Maybe..." she said after a moment, as she reached for a pencil. Riley watched with fascination over her shoulder and she drew circles around the six locations then grabbed a ruler and drew straight lines from one circled location to the one directly opposite to it. Resulting in a criss-cross of lines that all joined at one, very precise point on the map.
Lara straightened and looked at it. She smiled and looked at Riley. He looked back at her with great respect in his eyes as she pointed to the point on the map.
"There!" she smiled even wider "that is where the key is"
"So I guess we're going to Greece then are we?" "Absolutely!"
Lara smiled brightly as Riley let his eyes slowly drift from her face, over her towel, to her bare legs again.
"Riley!" she sounded deadly serious so he automatically stepped back and snapped his eyes back her hers. "Well done" she said as she moved closer to him.
He was frozen to the spot, as she slid her arms around his neck and smiled softly before bringing her lips to his. It didn't take long for Riley to react by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her even closer. Before he realised what Lara was doing, his shirt was on the floor and his jeans were almost around his ankles.
"Lara," his voice was weak as he spoke between heated kisses "are you sure?" Lara took a step back, looking at him as he stood there with his trousers around his ankles, wearing only his boxer shorts. She smiled as she noted the desire in his eyes.
Riley's question was answered as he watched Lara discard her towel and move back to him for another series of passionate kisses. His mind raced, he couldn't believe this was happening to him after wanting her for the month he'd known her. And then, his mind stopped thinking as he lost himself in the passionate woman that was Lara Croft.
~*~ TWO AND A HALF WEEKS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER~*~
"Lara! Come see this!" Riley called out as he sat at her laptop in the room they had quickly turned into the research room. Here was no response, so he quickly hit Ctrl and P, and the printer sprang to life. He grabbed the sheet of paper when it was finished and hunted for the small black book with the sketch of the Ocular Token in it. He located it quickly and ran out of the room.
"Lara?" He called again as he reached the closed door to her room. He knocked lightly, but there was no reply. He opened the door slowly speaking her name again to alert her of his presence. The room was empty. He closed the door again, wondering where she could have gone. *maybe she went for a climb, she mentioned wanting to do that yesterday*
He walked across the landing reading the information he had just printed. He opened the bathroom door, and lowered the paper back to his side. He froze. Lara was in the tub, eyes closed with headphones over her ears. Luckily the thick white bubbles covered most of her, only revealing what he had already seen when she had been at his home with the towel wrapped around her.
He turned his back and cleared his throat loudly, but she didn't hear him. Scanning the floor, he spotted the T-shirt she had been wearing. Quickly he picked it up and tossed it in the direction of the bath. It missed totally but the draft the movement made caught Lara's attention. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Riley, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Riley?" she asked as she slowly sank a little further under the bubbles. "Is everything ok?"
"Erm, I'm really sorry Lara, I didn't know you were in here. I called you but you didn't answer! I found something very interesting"
"Ah," Lara tossed her headphones at him. "Hand me that towel would you?" Riley grabbed the large towel and took a step backwards holding it out in her direction. She took it and wrapped it around her body without drying herself.
"ok, show me"
He turned slowly and handed the paper to her. As she read it, he flipped through the black book and held it open at the sketch.
"What am I looking at?" she asked as she moved closer to Riley's side so he too could see the page.
"This right here!" he pointed to a selection of symbols on the printout.
"Do you know what they mean?" she asked as she glanced up to see that Riley was gazing down at her wet legs. She nudged him with her knee and he snapped his attention back to her face.
"sorry." He had turned pink as he proceeded to explain what the symbols were. "I was doing some research on the net and I found this. These symbols were found on a wall painting in Greece. It said that the painting seemed to be a huge map of Greece, and these symbols were similar to the symbols we have on map today. Like this one,"
He pointed to a spiky symbol with a rounded base
"that was supposed to represent Mount Olympus." Then he held up the sketch and pointed to the exact same symbol at the base of the design. "There it is again."
Lara compared the two symbols and started to smile as Riley continued to point out symbols from the wall map that matched those on the Token.
"Riley" her voice was quiet and very serious, and for a second Riley felt like he had made a fool of himself. "I think you have just decoded the Token. Follow me"
Lara patted Riley's arm with her damp hand and walked from the room, leaving footprints behind her. He followed her down the stairs and into their 'study' where she picked up a book and laid it on the desk. Opening it and flicking through the pages until she found the one she was looking for.
"Right" she smiled warmly and Riley as he came and stood next to her. "The token shows these locations, correct?" she indicated the six places on the map she had opened the book to.
"yeah if that translation was right." He sighed "but there was no meaning for this symbol." He pointed to one symbol in the middle of the design.
"Hmm," Lara looked deep in thought. "Maybe..." she said after a moment, as she reached for a pencil. Riley watched with fascination over her shoulder and she drew circles around the six locations then grabbed a ruler and drew straight lines from one circled location to the one directly opposite to it. Resulting in a criss-cross of lines that all joined at one, very precise point on the map.
Lara straightened and looked at it. She smiled and looked at Riley. He looked back at her with great respect in his eyes as she pointed to the point on the map.
"There!" she smiled even wider "that is where the key is"
"So I guess we're going to Greece then are we?" "Absolutely!"
Lara smiled brightly as Riley let his eyes slowly drift from her face, over her towel, to her bare legs again.
"Riley!" she sounded deadly serious so he automatically stepped back and snapped his eyes back her hers. "Well done" she said as she moved closer to him.
He was frozen to the spot, as she slid her arms around his neck and smiled softly before bringing her lips to his. It didn't take long for Riley to react by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her even closer. Before he realised what Lara was doing, his shirt was on the floor and his jeans were almost around his ankles.
"Lara," his voice was weak as he spoke between heated kisses "are you sure?" Lara took a step back, looking at him as he stood there with his trousers around his ankles, wearing only his boxer shorts. She smiled as she noted the desire in his eyes.
Riley's question was answered as he watched Lara discard her towel and move back to him for another series of passionate kisses. His mind raced, he couldn't believe this was happening to him after wanting her for the month he'd known her. And then, his mind stopped thinking as he lost himself in the passionate woman that was Lara Croft.