Drabble 88: Song of Innocence

Jemma looked at Fitz to see his reaction to her suggestion. He raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You want to go to Disney?"

"You don't?" she asked incredulously. She found it hard to believe that the man who loved Toy Story and yes, Frozen, didn't want to go to the most magical place on Earth.

"Well of course I do!" he cried. "But we can't just pack our bags and leave, now can we?"

"Can't we?" she countered. She saw his eyes widen, and almost laughed at his expression: a skeptical, disbelieving, humorous mix in the cast of his features. "We have vacation days stacked up like dominoes, Fitz. We can cash them in and go enjoy ourselves!"

His expression settled itself on wonder. "We actually can. You're not getting me going?"

She sighed and sat down. "I would never joke about something like this, and you know it."

He smiled at her. "Jem, we've had this trip planned since freshman year, but I never thought we'd actually go through with it!"

"And more. There are new additions to the park, so we'll need to factor those in."

He whipped out his tablet and typed on it furiously, then flicked his hands out, making the Disney homepage appear projected in the air in front of them. He was still smiling as he glanced at her. "Let's look at those additions, shall we?"

Jemma stepped through the archway and shivered. She could feel Fitz's arm brushing against hers, and he was vibrating with energy. The wonderful landscape of Disney's Magic Kingdom stretched out before them, the castle in the distance, the stores on Main Street U.S.A. with the barbershop quartet in front of them… they had looked at pictures before, but neither of them had actually stepped foot in Disney.

Until now.

"I can't believe we're here." Fitz said.

Jemma slipped her hand into his and pulled him forward, at first walking, then transitioning to a jog, and then a run. She forgot the careful plans they had been going over almost nonstop the past few days. The plans they had talked about until they had fallen asleep over them the night before, arriving late at night at their hotel. She was too caught in the moment to care, connected to Fitz and this wonderful experience.

The day passed in a blur of rides, attractions, and finally, fireworks. They stood in line to meet some of their favorite characters (Peter Pan, Merida, Aladdin) and watched the parade at noon. They ate lunch in Fantasy Land, and walked through the future in Tomorrow Land (though they analyzed all of the technology and determined that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s had surpassed it years ago. Once they realized it they left that part of the park somewhat quickly, a bit of the magic lost. They remembered not to over-analyze things after that).

"Is there anything we didn't get to that you definitely want to do?" Fitz asked her as they rode the bus back to their hotel.

"I want to do all of it."

"So no." he said.

"I wouldn't mind doing Fantasy Land again."

"Of course you wouldn't."

She looked at his silhouette on the dark bus. "And what does that mean?" she asked playfully.

"That you love a good fantasy. The plot twists, rites of passage, rises and falls…"

"I'm not that big a fan of falling." She joked weakly. Though she was mostly joking, he placed his hand on her thigh, squeezing it gently. She closed her eyes, forcing away the memory of jumping out the plane. That was a long time ago. Though the first roller coaster she'd gone on that day had left her a bit unsteady, feeling the powerful drop.

"We'll go back to Magic Kingdom before we go home." Fitz said softly. "But tomorrow we have Hollywood Studios."

"Star Wars!" she said, smiling fully. "And all the old movie scenes they reenact and display, oh Fitz, it's going to be fantastic!"

He chuckled, and she leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing contentedly.

"Let's go!" Jemma cried, jumping onto the bed next to him and landing on her knees. It was seven in the morning. They had to start getting ready and catch the first bus to the park.

Fitz looked at her with a sleepy expression. "We've got time. Yesterday we were at the bus stop half an hour too early." He sat up, stretching his arms. "Besides, who are you to talk? You probably just got up."

She reached up to straighten out her sleep-messed hair, trying to make the action look casual (while knowing she needed to do it) to convince him she hadn't just woken up and immediately jumped onto his bed – which she had, of course. "When I got up isn't important."

"Mm-hmm." He stood from the bed, moving slowly. Jemma watched him in concern, thinking he was too tired. Maybe she should have let him sleep a little longer. Then he looked over his shoulder and grinned, grabbing his clothes and racing into the bathroom to change.

She watched him with her mouth open. All that acting, just so he could get to the bathroom first. She would have to get him back later.

She heard the shower turn on and grabbed her clothes for the day, bringing them to her bed to change. She only needed a minute. But as she shimmied out of her pajama shirt, the door opened behind her. She froze and peeked over her shoulder to see Fitz standing just behind her, staring with wide eyes. She pressed the shirt tight against her front and Fitz seemed to shake himself out of his stupor, stammering a low apology and ducking back into the bathroom. One of her hands reached over her shoulder to touch her bare back, and she blushed, thinking how embarrassing that had been. She rushed to finish changing and then perched on the bed, slowly dragging a brush through her hair.

Fitz's cheeks were pink when he came out of the shower, but that was probably just from the water temperature. His hair was already curling at his temples from the humidity. "All yours." He said, walking to his suitcase with his head down.

Jemma finished brushing through her hair and went to brush her teeth, and when Fitz didn't say anything after that Jemma decided to break the awkward silence. "You should put on sunblock."

"Now?"

"The sun is still harmful in the morning." She reminded him. "And you are a bit pasty."

"As if you're completely sun-kissed."

That broke the tension, as they both laughed and went to put the sunblock on. Jemma rubbed it onto the back of his neck, where he couldn't see, and he helped make sure her shoulders were covered. He was right that she was as likely to burn as he, and she did not want to get a sunburn today. Not at all, but especially not in the beginning of their trip.

They walked to the bus and arrived at Hollywood Studios, and spent the morning going through the attractions. As they were walking away from the Star Wars demonstration, Fitz couldn't stop shaking his head.

"They're just so precise!" he said. "All the Storm troopers move in exact formation all the time, perfect angles and suspension."

"Like arms to a machine. All directed by a central figure."

"I could have made Vader's suit so much better." He said.

"I know." She walked towards the center street, looking at what they hadn't done yet. "Fitz, the Frozen sing-along is this way. Do you want to go?"

He started walking towards it, which Jemma took as a yes. They went to stand in line. So far in the trip they hadn't run into any hecklers, but they found one in the line for Frozen.

"I thought this was just for kids." A snide voice said behind them. "You two are the biggest kids I've seen."

Fitz's jaw tensed, but he didn't respond. Jemma looked around. "Anyone can come to Disney. Please don't pick a fight."

The kid scoffed. "I can do what I want. I'm only watching this dumb show because my sister's obsessed. What's your excuse?"

Jemma turned away, annoyed. There was no point arguing with this boy. But she heard him whisper something to his friend. Something that riled her up to a breaking point, making her turn to face him again to retort. "Must be stupid to love crap like this." Stupid! She could tolerate someone calling her stupid, but Fitz was as brilliant as they came. She opened her mouth to tell the boy that. But Fitz beat her to it.

"I'm an engineer." He said. "She's a genius biochemist. Do you really think we're stupid now?"

The boy actually looked intimidated and backed off. Jemma looked at Fitz with pride, bumping affectionately against his arm. "You forgot to mention how brilliant you are." She told him.

He didn't seem to hear her. "There's a reason I like Frozen so much, aside from the great quality entertainment. There are some fantastic structural scenes. The part with the ice bridge and castle being built? The engineering behind that in an animated form is incredible, but if you imagine it actually being built… it's beautiful."

Jemma smiled and hugged his arm. "I love that you care so deeply."

"It's Disney." He said simply. "I've always cared."

"Me too." She said as they started walking into the show. "I'm glad we're here together, Fitz."

"We should make it an annual thing, yeah?"

She laughed. "Definitely."

A/N: Hey guys! So this drabble takes place before Fitz-Simmons start dating, if that clears things up. It's part one of a two part drabble, inspired by Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. This first part, innocence, focuses on a trip to Disney by two very close friends. The second part will have a very different feel to it... haha. The cool thing about the parts is the structure. In the poems by Blake, one topic is described in two very different points of view, one lighter and another darker/heavier, but similar descriptions and scenarios are used. You'll see what I mean with the next part, but I hope you liked part one! Look out for the parallel structure!