Title: The Most Magical Place on Earth ~ Day 4
By: blaineandsamevanderson (SageK here , kaitlia777 on LJ and AO3)
Paring: Blaine/Sam
Rating: PG (so far)
Summary: Prompt: Sam is called to a meeting by Blaine's parents. They sit him down and say that of all of Blaine's friends, Sam is the most reliable, the most trustworthy and the nicest. So they have chosen (maybe even hire) him to keep an eye on Blaine because Blaine tends to go crazy when he takes this annual trip. Cooper couldn't handle him. Kurt couldn't take it. But they think Sam can. When Blaine does his annual week-long trip to Disney World, Sam goes with him. Oh what could possibly happen?
Notes: Sorry for any typos. My transcription software doesn't always understand what I say and I don't always catch the mistakes. I have trouble typing things by hand since I suffered an injury last year to my right hand and it seizes up if I try to do too much.
Note #2: I know the Waldorf Astoria Orlando isn't actually one of the Disney hotels, but for purposes of this fic, just pretend it is!
Note #3: LOL, I feel like I'm writing a Disney advertisement, but I'm trying to describe what they're doing in the park, so I kinda have to talk about the rides and attractions!
When Blaine dragged himself into wakefulness, the first thing he noticed was that he was alone in bed. He pouted into his pillow and flailed about a bit, noting that there wasn't even a lingering warm spot, so Sam must've been gone for a while. The only occupants of his side of the bed Eeyore and Blaine smiled, patting the plushie affectionately.
He loved that he had been able to make Sam smile the way he had last night (well, after the initial burst of happy tears had dried up).
Checking his phone, he saw that it was 6:03 AM, still quite early, so he rolled out of bed, used the bathroom and then made coffee and tea. He glanced down at himself, at the blue and white striped sleep pants and white T-shirt he'd slept in (both he and Sam had actually been awake enough to put on their pajamas last night), and decided he looked okay. He slipped on flip-flops, poured the drinks into travel mugs and wandered down towards the gym.
To his great surprise, he didn't find Sam there, attacking one of the weight training machines, but the polite young attendant pointed him out to the pool.
Sam was swimming laps, long, tan body cutting cleanly through the water. Due to the early hour, the normally busy pool area was nearly abandoned…save for one young woman in a barely there bikini who was trying to pretend like she wasn't ogling Sam.
Rolling his eyes, Blaine settled down in a chair and sipped his coffee. The morning air was warm, but there was a light breeze and the lush flower beds produce dissent that countered the chlorine from the pool. It was a lovely morning and he relaxed, watching Sam swim and occasionally looking around at the lovely manicured hotel grounds.
As he was gazing out toward the golf course, looking past the woman, she caught his eye and grinned a little. "You're cute, honey, but not my type. No offense," she said with a coy smile and Blaine bit back a chuckle.
"None taken," he replied, cocking his head to the side slightly. "You're not my type either."
With a throaty laugh, she quipped, "Oh, I'm everyone's type."
Before Blaine could respond to that, he heard a splash and turned toward the pool. Sam was hoisting himself up out of the water easily, dripping onto the concrete as he made his way toward Blaine. "Hey," he said with a smile. "You're up! I thought you'd probably sleep in until I got back to the room."
Blaine shrugged. "I woke up with only Eeyore for company, so I brought you some tea."
Wiping his face and chest with a towel, Sam grinned and took a seat on the chair across from Blaine. "Awesome. You're the best," he replied, accepting the mug and sipping it.
Beyond Sam's shoulder, Blaine saw the woman offer him a smile and a salute as though to say 'Good Catch'.
Blaine didn't feel like correcting her. Besides, Sam hadn't actually corrected anyone who assumed they were a couple since shortly after Regionals.
They finished their coffee and tea by the pool before heading back upstairs, to clean up and dress for the day. When Sam had gone to the fridge to grab some breakfast, Blaine waved him off, knowing they could eat at the park they were headed to.
Instead of taking the shuttle, they drove to the Animal Kingdom. The parking lot already had a few cars, but nothing like the melee that would happen later. They joined the small cluster of people outside the Rainforest Café minutes before it opened. Many of the children seemed enraptured by the waterfall that seemed to flow over the side of the building and Blaine admitted it was a pretty enchanting sight.
The huge saltwater fish tank caught Sam's attention as they were led to their seats and Blaine took his arm, leading Sam along so the taller boy could take in the scenery. Waterfalls, lush plantings and sound effects add surrounded them and occasionally the animatronic animals sprang to life. A giant butterfly by their table flapped its wings while the mother and baby elephant waved their ears and trumpeted. Blaine's favorite was the watchful cheetah, perched on a branch swinging his tail and he smiled when he heard children shriek happily as a crocodile opened its massive jaws to show its teeth.
Breakfast was amazing (Baked cinnamon French toast with warm maple syrup surrounded by fresh strawberries and bananas and topped with walnuts and a double espresso for Blaine and a hot bowl of oatmeal accompanied by brown sugar, pineapple, strawberries and red seedless grapes and iced tea for Sam). Bellies full, they were ready to take on the park and followed a small group through the turnstiles.
"This part of the park is called Oasis," Blaine told Sam as they strolled through the lush tropical foliage that lined the paths of the Oasis. They followed the canopy covered path, peering into the viewing areas to observe flamingos, a giant anteater, a two-toed sloth, wallabies, tree kangaroos and exotic birds. Unlike the animals in the restaurant and in the Magic Kingdom, these were live creatures.
Most people were eager to rush on and missed the quieter exhibits in the Oasis, but Blaine knew there would be plenty of time to see everything. Sam seemed to feel the same and grinned, pointing toward an enclosure that contained Mandarin Ducks. "I've never seen ducks like that," he said, snapping a picture of the birds, intrigued by their colorful markings.
Emerging from the heavily vegetated Oasis, they made their way across the bridge to Discovery Island. The towering Tree of Life stood before them, impressive as always and Blaine grinned as Sam breathed, "Dude, that tree has got to be hundreds of years old! Did they build the whole park around it?"
"It's man made," Blaine told him, leading him toward the trails that would let them wander through the intricately carved root system. As expected, Sam liked the detailed carvings of animals that decorated the tree and they spent over an hour meandering around the tree and through the island trails. There were plenty of real animals to see in addition to the carvings. They saw kangaroos, an otter and even a Galapagos Turtle.
When they crossed the bridge to Camp Minnie-Mickey, they were just in time for The Festival of The Lion King. They were ushered into the warthog section of the air conditioned (Thank God, it was getting warm out) theatre and settled back to watch the Broadway style performance of the Lion King. Blaine had seen it before, but it always took his breath away and Sam really seemed to get into it too. During the amazing aerial ballet of Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Sam's hand slid beside Blaine's on the armrest, their pinkie and ring fingers overlapping.
After the show they took a few pictures with Mickey and Minnie (both dressed in their safari gear) and then bought an enormous funnel cake and a couple of sodas to snack on as they crossed back to Discovery Island and then circled around toward the bridge that would lead them to 'Africa'.
They entered the village of Harambe, which Blaine knew to be inspired by a variety of villages seen by Imagineers on a scouting trip. There was an old fortress, faux old buildings and homes, thatched roof huts, a 'hotel', a restaurant and a marketplace, all designed to give the area the feel of being a bustling port town. As neither of them was interested in shopping and they were still trying to finish their funnel cake, they headed toward the Kilimanjaro Safari Tour.
Piling into the long, covered jeep, Blaine grabbed a seat by the side and Sam pressed close to him, eagerly on the look out for wildlife. Proximity had not been Blaine's intent when he chose the seating arrangement (he figured that Sam could simply see past him far more easily than Blaine could see past Sam due to their size difference), but it was a nice bonus, especially when Sam laid his arm along the back of the seat behind Blaine.
When they passed a waterfall and saw hippos at the base of it, Sam leaned even closer, letting his chin rest on Blaine's shoulder. As the tour jeep bounced along, they saw giraffe, antelope, ostriches and baboons. Among the baobab trees were Big Red and Little Red, two elephants and then, after they turned a bend, they saw several lions sunning themselves on the rocks.
The tour concluded shortly after that as they returned to the Ranger's Station. They then followed the signs to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Under the lush tropical canopy, they moved at their own pace, faster than some of the other guests, slower than others.
The first animal exhibit they encountered was that of the Black and White Colobus Monkeys. They watched the thumbless little animals frolic for a bit before moving on to the first observation post. A chestnut brown Okapi (a relative of the giraffe) was sedately munching on some leaves while several Stanley Cranes stood in a pond, seemingly asleep.
Next they made their way into a research building and peered into the glass habitats to see the Naked Mole Rats burrowing like insects and then proceeded into the aviary to see varieties of African birds. "Dude, is it weird that I keep thinking of that scene in Jurassic Park III, where the pteradons attack?" Sam breathed into Blaine's ear, making him laugh.
"Luckily, there are no giant prehistoric creatures here to dive bomb us," Blaine mused, trying not to giggle as Sam continued to cast wary eyes toward the sky.
Exiting the aviary, they saw some more hippos swimming in a pool that was held back by thick glass. It was pretty cool, watching the huge animals move through the water, far more graceful than when they were on land.
After seeing the dik-diks and Gerenuks, they joined a crowd of eager children my the Meerkat enclosure. Several of the little guys were standing on their hind legs, clearly not startled by the nearby spectators. They spent a good while at the Gorilla Research Camp, observing the gorilla family through the glass.
At the end of the trail, they found themselves at The Wildlife Express train depot, which took them to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Hot as they were from walking the trail, the air conditioned educational and research center was a relief. The saw the veterinary facilities, how the food for the animals was made and saw a lot of interactive displays with environmental information and tips for preserving natural resources. They both enjoyed the Affection Section, where they were allowed to interact with and pat animals like sheep, goats, deer, pigs, etc.
When they crossed the bridge from Africa into Asia, they soon found themselves on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Before they even hit the trail, they heard the Gibbons and it was fun watching the playful creatures frolic. The Komodo dragons were cool and the fruit bats encouraged Sam to do his Dracula impression, which made Blaine and several nearby children laugh. Seeing the beautiful Tigers sunning themselves was the best part of the trek though, totally worth sweating through their shirts.
Eager to cool off, they headed for the Kali River Rapids and happily climbed into one of the boats. Sam shucked his shirt entirely before they did so and Blaine couldn't help but note that there was a small stampede of young women and girls to join them. Rolling his eyes, Blaine leaned toward Sam and whispered, "Looks like you've got some admirers."
Sam grinned at him and shrugged. "I'm not looking to hook up with some stranger. This is our trip!"
The raft began to slowly float down the river, cutting through jasmine and ginger-scented mists. In the river's main channel, they encountered bumps and careened past a waterfall before a calmer stretch of river surrounded by thick, lush jungle. The churning waters by the bamboo thicket tossed them around as they began to hear chainsaws and smell smoke. Suddenly, the vivid greenery of the rainforest was gone, replaced by blackened stumps as they passed through an area showing the effects of logging and deforestation.
After one final watery plunge, the ride was over and Blaine shook his head, knowing his hair would be springing free of his gel but too happy for the cool relief of the water to care. Sam tried to wring out his saturated t-shirt, but, as it was white, it remained mostly translucent when he wrestled it back on as they approached Expedition Everest.
After passing through the entrance, they walked through an old tea warehouse that held an elaborate museum run by Professor Pumba Dorjay, a conservation biologist who was of the belief that the yeti myth was grounded in fact. The yeti museum displayed artifacts reflecting Nepalese culture, plus a history of the Himalayas and tales of the yeti. After touring the museum, they boarded the Anandapur Rail Service and began rolling toward 'Mount Everest', passing through thick bamboo forests and fern groves up the first hill through a fortress, and past a cluster of sacred yeti totems and a massive mural warning of dangers ahead.
The train continued across a teetering bridge into the mountain, through shimmering glacier valleys and then began to climb up through the snow-capped peaks. Shadows of the lurking yeti, coupled with startling special effects and climate variations enhanced the realism of the experience and Blaine shivered a bit as a gust of chilled air passed over his still damp skin.
Sam obviously noticed and wrapped an arm around Blaine's shoulders, sharing his body heat, which he always seemed to have a surplus of. He kept a hold of Blaine as the train halted, then began moving through dark caverns and canyons, taking sharp turns and, finally, they came face to face with a howling, claw brandishing 20ft tall yeti….before whipping through spiral curves and finally dropping down an 80ft plunge to escape the creature.
Giddy from the rush of the rollercoaster, they hurried across the bridge to DinoLand USA, immediately finding the nearest food vendor, as it was well past lunch and they were both starving. The each inhaled two hotdogs and some lemonade and shared an order of cinnamon glazed pecans from the Dino Diner, sating their hunger but not stuffing themselves in case a later ride might upset their stomachs.
In order to let themselves digest their meal, they made their way to the Theatre in the Wild and enjoyed the 30 minute Finding Nemo musical. Between the puppets, the acrobats and the dancers, the show was amazing and time flew by as they sat, entranced by Nemo's tale.
Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama was their next stop. It was like a mini-carnival within the park, filled with a dinosaur themed midway and rides. They played Comet Crasher (a ring toss game that Blaine, with his great aim, excelled at), Fossil Fueler, a water-squirt gun game and Bronto-Score, a basketball toss game (Sam shone there).
While the Triceratops Spin looked adorable, they decided to pass it (and it's queue of small children) by in favor of the more exciting Primeval Whirl, an old fashioned carnival roller coaster that sent them swirling and twirling downhill along it's twisting path with a final descent into the gaping jaws of a giant dinosaur fossil. That was really cool.
Approaching Dinosaur, they got to see Dino Sue (a name that made them giggle because Coach Sue would probably love to be a 13 foot tall T-Rex), an exact replica of the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found. Inside the Dinosaur Institute, they wound their way past fossils and photos in the large rotunda, peering at with large murals, fossils and dioramas of the early days when dinosaurs inhabited the earth. As they walked through the turnstiles into the Institute's Briefing Room, a monitor showed a video conference is in progress hosted by 'Dr'. Helen Marsh, who introduced them to the Time Rovers, their transportation vehicle to the past.
Then 'Dr.' Grant Seeker began telling them that they needed to travel to the end of the Cretaceous period to find the Iguanodon and, after a small pre-show, they descended into the loading area.
"So, Mrs. Huxtable and the lab guy from CSI are sending us on a mission," Sam laughed into Blaine's ear as they slipped into seats on the 12 passenger 'All Terrain Vehicle'.
With a grin, Blaine bumped his shoulder into Sam's arm as the ride began to move, jerking and bouncing until they emerged amidst a prehistoric scene, surrounded by dinosaurs. Then it got dark as meteors began to fall and they careened around, occasionally coming quite close to one of the dinosaurs. The found the Iguanadon just as a meteor impact occurred and the ride lurched…and they were back in the Institute, Dr. Seeker's Iguanadon in tow.
As they entered the Boneyard, Blaine led Sam over to a set of fossilized bones set into the side of the hill. He knock on the rib bones, tapping out a simple tune that made Sam laugh. "It's a xylobone," he told Sam before they moved on to allow some kids to play with the bones.
Though the Boneyard was geared more toward kids, the replica of a dig site, with its rope ladders, tunnels and slides was fun to explore. Blaine was tempted to scramble through some of the tunnels, but decided against it, as there was no way Sam and his broad shoulders would be able to fit in there with him. Instead, they poked around the interactive and easily accessible displays and smiled as they watched little kids digging for dinosaur bones in the big sandbox.
Hot, sweaty and worn out from being out in the scorching sun and heat all day, they stumbled back to the car. Sam stripped out of his shirt once again and Blaine wasn't about to complain. Instead, they just enjoyed feeling the air flow around them as they made their way back toward the hotel.
But that wasn't their first stop.
Finding a spot in Parking Lot A of Downtown Disney, Blaine led Sam through the throng of shoppers to Wolfgang Puck's Express and ordered a BBQ Chicken pizza and crispy chicken tenders to go. While they waited for the food, the wandered around the nearby shops.
"Are we gonna come back here at some point?" Sam asked, eyeing the Art of Disney Gallery with clear interest.
"Definitely," Blaine assured him, as he had it on the agenda for next week, saving shopping and such for the end of their vacation.
After grabbing their food, they made a quick stop at Ghiaradelli's Soda Fountain to pick desserts. Deciding that the ice cream would melt before they got back to the hotel, they ate their treats at the outdoor picnic table as the sun began to set. The Mint Bliss Sundae was a burst of flavor on Blaine's tongue and Sam seemed to enjoy his Warm Caramel Sundae just as much.
Blaine liked watching him eat it too….
A warm breeze rolled in off of the water as Sam looked across the picnic table at Blaine. Hair wind blown, sporting a natural, rich tan and grinning, Blaine looked like the best thing Sam had ever seen, even with a smudge of mint ice cream on his chin.
Especially with the ice cream.
It made him look wonderfully real.
"You've got a little…." Sam began, then reached over and swiped the melted ice cream away. Blaine moved a little into his touch as Sam retracted his hand and licked his thumb. "Minty…Want to try mine?"
He proffered a spoonful of melting vanilla bean ice cream and caramel sauce at Blaine, who stared for a moment, then parted his lips, allowing Sam to slip the spoon into his mouth. They both flushed a little as Sam pulled the spoon back and Blaine licked his bottom lip, murmuring, "Good."
Okay. Yeah. Sam was definitely going to try offering Blaine bites of his food from now on because wow…or maybe not. Boners in public places weren't the best idea.
Fortunately, pizza and chicken tenders weren't particularly sexy foods to eat (though they were so, so good). Between the two of them, they polished off the food and strolled back to the car at a nice, leisurely pace.
Blaine showered first when they got back to the hotel and, when it was Sam's turn, he sighed while scrubbing off layers of sweat from the long day.
When he emerged from the bathroom, Blaine was seated on the bed, propped up against the pillows. In his soft sleep pants and t-shirt, he looked warm and inviting, so Sam scrambled up onto the bed, grabbing Eeyore, and slouched to rest his head against Blaine's shoulder.
"What're we watching?" he asked with a yawn, sliding his legs under the top comforter and turning his eyes to the TV.
"Arsenic and Old Lace is playing on PBS," Blaine told him, then offered, "We can find something else if you…."
"No, I haven't seen it," Sam said, knowing he'd probably fall asleep soon anyhow. "Let's watch"."
Around the time Mortimer found the corpse hidden in the window seat, Sam closed his eyes and let himself curl closer to Blaine, inhaling his scent. An arm wrapped around him in a warm hug and, smiling, Sam drifted to sleep.
TBC….