Hello! I'm back with two fresh new chapters after a twelve day vacation in Ireland and England, with another one to come shortly. Hopefully you guys enjoy these as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Also, considering I have actually been to London and gone through Heathrow now, there is a very real possibility that I may go back to earlier chapters and modify them accordingly to be more accurate. I will be sure to leave time-stamped edit logs in the headers of these chapters so that you guys know what I did (because really-the last thing I want to do is gaslight my readers and say "what do you mean? That content's always been there!")
When Lara awoke, it was to the smell of vanilla and amber as well as a foreign yet familiar warmth beside her. She opened her eyes to find herself laying on her back and turned her head to the right. There right beside her was Sam, snug as a bug, laying on her side with her back turned to Lara and snoozing away. Lara watched her for a while, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of Sam's chest.
How long were we asleep, anyhow? Lara wondered. She glanced over to the clock on Sam's nightstand to find that they'd only been asleep for two hours. She gave herself a small stretch and a yawn before returning her attention to Sam. Lara debated about whether or not she should rouse her roommate. Perhaps she might appreciate some more rest? She'd been put through quite the emotional ringer over the past couple of days, after all. Lara nodded to herself. Yes, letting the sleepy burrito rest was a good idea.
Lara yawned to herself again and closed her eyes. If Sam was going to get a bit more rest, she figured she'd rather get some more as well. Try as she did, however, she could not obtain rest for one simple reason. Normally when sleeping in her own bed, she would use one pillow for her head and one pillow for hugging. However, Sam's head was occupying the only other pillow on the bed they were both in. Lara had nothing to hug, thus she couldn't sleep.
She partially reopened her eyes once more and looked back over at Sam. Would it be appropriate for her to start spooning Sam? They were basically cuddling earlier, but that was also at Sam's behest when she was in a vulnerable place. Still, the sense of calm and peace that Lara experienced while holding Sam was not like anything she'd experienced before.
I'm definitely overthinking here, Lara thought while exhaling slowly, right? It didn't matter what she decided to do as Sam seemed to make the decision for her. She yawned and turned over to her other side, sending her arm clumsily flopping across Lara's midriff. Lara inhaled sharply through her teeth at the unexpected contact.
"Hm?" Sam lifted her head up and blinked slowly as she started to come to. "Oh," she said when she had finally registered Lara's presence in her mind, "good morning." Sam yawned and gave herself a stretch, pressing herself into the crook of Lara's shoulder.
"Early evening, actually. Or late afternoon. However you want to put it," Lara replied. Sam propped herself up on an elbow she had perched on Lara's chest to peer at her clock. Lara did her best to ignore the forearm between her breasts, or the fingers that tickled her collarbone just at the base of her neck.
"Oh yeah, look at that," Sam said before resting her head back down on Lara's shoulder, "I wonder if my mom abandoned the kitchen yet or not."
"Hungry?" Lara asked as she wrapped an arm around Sam, forgetting all of her previous bashfulness and discomfort. Sam absently fiddled with the collar of Lara's t-shirt.
"Starving."
"Want to go out together in case those two gits are still lurking about?"
"Maybe," Sam responded at length.
"Maybe?" Lara raised a brow.
"Well, to be completely honest my stomach is hungry, but mentally nothing sounds appealing to eat. It kind of just happens when I get stressed." Sam let out a small sigh, "Plus I don't have money anyways."
"I have money."
"Lara, you already paid for-"
"It's fine, really. I have a savings, and the reason I have a savings is because I'm normally frugal. It's not going to ruin me to buy us dinner."
"Are you sure?"
"I'll put it to you this way: I make a living wage at the Nine Bells. On top of that, I serve loads of American tourists who don't realize I make a living wage, so they leave me loads of tips."
"Alright," Sam relented, "can I just make sure Naomi will be okay on her own for a bit before we go?"
"Of course, see if she wants us to get her something too," Lara replied.
"You're such a godsend, you know that?" Sam yawned and drew herself up to an upright sit, "I'll be back."
"Alright." Lara contented herself with clasping her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling absently as Sam walked out of the room. A few moments later, she returned.
"She said to text her where we end up going for food and she'll decide. Otherwise she just wants some snacks to eat while she games. You ready to go?"
"Yeah," Lara swung her legs over the side of her bed and got to her feet, stooping over to retrieve her shoes and coat before putting them on. Sam slipped on a pair of moccasins and a coat as well. When they were both completely ready, they began to make their way out of the building.
"Any idea what you want to eat?" Sam asked as they entered the elevator once more.
"You're the one who was peckish, so you should decide."
"Yeah, but you're paying. Then again," Sam smirked, "for some reason, your people like your food bland and unseasoned, so maybe you shouldn't be in charge of picking food."
"Hey now!" Lara protested, "I'll have you know that…that is completely accurate. However, I at least like to think that I have good taste."
"Why do you guys hate seasoning though?" Sam asked as they emerged into the lobby and made for the exit.
"So that is actually a colonialistic holdover. Once spices became more available in the markets and more peasants were using them in their food, the rich decided to refine fine dining. Suddenly, cooking became more about bringing out the 'natural flavors' of 'higher quality' meats, vegetables, and other ingredients. It's absurd, really, because garlic and cayenne are bloody delicious."
"Garlic is fantastic," Sam agreed, "much like Frank's Red Hot, I put that shit on everything."
"But back on topic, what are you in the mood for? What is something specific to New York that you guys eat?"
"Outside of street dogs, pizza, and bagels, we don't really have anything unique to us here. We do, however, have a lot of food unique to other cultures here. Sushi?"
"Works for me, though I am trying to process the bagel remark seeing as bagels were invented in Austria."
"It's not that we invented bagels," Sam said as she began to lead the way along the sidewalk, "it's just that the bagels here are absurdly good. People swear up and down that the reason for that is whatever is in the water here."
"How good can a bagel be?"
"How good can tea be?"
"Fair point." Lara waited as Sam looked both ways down the street before leading the way across, "So we have, what, five days before we fly back?"
"Yeah, was there anything else you wanted to do here besides helping me babysit my family and make sure they behave?" Sam asked.
"Possibly. I suppose I need to make a point of trying one of those world class bagels now," the corners of Lara's mouth twitched upwards.
"Well that's easy, there's a shop down the street from where I live. Anything else you wanna do or explore that we may need to plan out?"
"I'd very much like to take your Uncle up on that lunch offer, actually. He seems like an interesting man."
"Well, lunch is a given."
"Outside of that, I'd like to go to Lady Liberty, Federal Hall, Carnegie Hall, and I suppose we should stop by Times Square as well. I am interested in seeing a show on Broadway, too, but we'll see if that's in the cards or not."
"You know I've never been to a show even though I live here?"
"Really? We'll have to rectify that then if we have the time."
"Well, before you plan too far ahead don't forget it's Christmas time," Sam said as they reached their destination and entered the building, "so you'll have to see Macy's and Rockefeller Center."
"Macy's?"
"You know how you guys have Harrod's? Think of that, but sixteen stories instead of seven. I'm pretty sure it's the largest department store in the world, and they usually do cool displays for Christmas."
"How American."
"Right?"
"And Rockefeller Center?"
"They have a giant Christmas tree display and an ice skating rink. In fact," Sam continued as they took a seat, "wanna go after sushi?"
Lara could feel a lifetime of regrets welling up within her. She had grossly underestimated the difficulty of ice skating, as evidenced by the way she confidently took to the rink initially before falling all over herself. Every time she tried to move even the slightest bit, she was sent tumbling flailing-limbed onto her rump. As she stared up at the sky, wishing to melt away into the ice beneath her, she could hear Sam howling with laughter overhead.
"I thought you said you knew what you were doing!" Sam exclaimed.
"I can do it, just give me a moment to figure it out!" Red faced, Lara tried to clamber to her feet again. Before she could even find her center of balance and get a secure footing, however, her feet started sliding out from under her again. She looked like the world's most uncoordinated tap dancer with the way she tried to fight the ice for balance, but ultimately the ice emerged victorious as her world was upended once more. She glared up at Sam, who was completely doubled over in laughter at that point.
"Lara Croft, the top-of-her-class collegiate gymnast, can't even stand in a pair of ice skates."
"Shut up," Lara spat, blowing her disheveled bangs out of her face with her venom-filled words. Beside them, a young girl danced by on her skates. Lara scowled.
"Well, it's honestly relieving to know you aren't good at everything you do. Just try holding onto the wall until you get a feel for it." In spite of herself, Lara listened and clasped onto the wall of the rink to help herself back to her feet. Her feet slipped a few times, but by using the wall as her anchor, she managed to draw herself to a wobbly stand. "There you go! Now try standing without the wall."
"Sam-"
"You can do it!" Sam clapped to cheer Lara on. Lara let out an exasperated huff but complied all the same. Much to her surprise, she was able to stand all on her own now that her legs were used to stabilizing themselves. "Yay! Okay, now watch how I move and try to copy what I do." Lara watched as Sam seemed to push her feet out at an angle to gain momentum, drifting along in a straight line once the desired speed was achieved, "Come on! I believe in you!" Maintaining balance seemed to be most of the battle as Lara found herself gliding effortlessly after Sam. She let out a small laugh of childish glee and threw her arms up in triumph. "YES! There you go!"
"I'm doing it, I'm actually doing it!" Lara gave herself a few more pushes to gain speed, but as she drew closer to the edge of the rink, it dawned on her that she didn't know how to stop or turn, "Wait, Sam! I can't stop, Sam, I don't know how to- Sam! Ah!" Lara crossed her arms in front of her to brace for impact just moments before she smacked into the wall at the edge of the rink and came crashing down onto the ice once more. She heard the scraping of skates on ice draw near before skidding to an abrupt halt.
"Are you okay?!" Sam asked in a frantic tone, "Are you hurt?!"
"I'm not," Lara grunted, "but my pride is."
"Oh, well, you can live without that," Sam let out a sigh of relief, "you need help up?
"I got it." Lara drew herself back up to her feet before turning to look Sam in the eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Sam burst into laughter once more, "Of course."
"I'm sorry," Sam squeaked as she gasped for breath, "but you should've heard your scream." She continued to whoop with glee.
"You're such a git," Lara gave Sam a light, playful shove into the wall as she continued laughing, "come on, catch me if you can!"
She wound up crashing again in the heat of her enthusiasm.
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