Splashing and laughter rang out in the campground, and were accentuated by the sounds of an acoustic guitar. Once upon a time... these sounds were normal for the area.
However, the sight of about a dozen heavily armed people, and a circle of heavily modified vehicles was NOT normal for the area.
Katie, having been under Umbrella's control for over four years, was extremely excited to actually swim... for fun! Not to infiltrate a stronghold, not for a stamina experiment... fun!
The one upside to Umbrella's constant experiments on her left her with very little personal shame. She was always being examined, and all her time being dormant in a capsule was nothing to sneeze at. She, and almost everyone, had discarded their clothes inside their respective vehicles, save for Ryan and the dozen or so survivors that had been put on guard duty, plus Otto, who was playing the guitar.
However, much to everyone's amusement, the moment that she'd entered the water, it began to steam, bubble and heat up around her. She blushed vividly, and hurriedly jumped back out and rush to Alice's side in embarassment.
"Hey, c'mon Katie! There's nothing to worry about. It's just water. You're just too hot for it to handle." Alice reassured her. She too was unashamed of being naked, from her time with Umbrella, it had left a mark on her... Literally. She had dozens of scars on her arms and legs, which were normally hidden by her clothes.
Katie blushed even more at her words, but she gave a nod before stepping back into the water once again. This time, she did so with much more confidence... and a billowing cloud of steam.
Ryan was carefully watching their surroundings for any signs of movement, and kept a constant check on his T-Virus sonar. So far, only Alice and Katie were catching his attention in that regard, so that meant they were all safe... for now, at least.
Claire had allowed K-Mart to join her in the water, but since she'd been shot, she only allowed her in up to her waist, to prevent further damage to her wounds. They were splashing around, having fun beside Alice and Katie.
About twenty minutes later, Alice came out of the water and boldly walked right up to Ryan, whispering into his ear. "Give me a minute to get dressed, then come with me. I have something for you."
Ryan remembered the conditions he had agreed upon for Alice to teach him martial arts, so he nodded once and continued to wander around the edge of the treeline while he waited.
Alice returned to his side about two minutes later, and together they snuck several yards into the trees, out of sight of anyone that could be watching.
The moment that they were hidden, she spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately. Without even thinking, Ryan returned it with equal vigor, linking his hands around her waist and pulling her closer to his chest.
However, Ryan realized a moment too late that she had just clasped something around his neck. He broke apart from her, and glanced down at the object around his neck...
It was a silver chain.
"What is this for?" Ryan asked, confused by the metal chain. Why would Alice give him this?
"Same reason I have this." Alice smiled, speaking vocally to him in a low voice. She held up her hand, which had a ring on her ring finger that matched his new necklace. "Ryan..."
Alice faltered after saying his name. She blushed - very unlike her - and averted her gaze for a second. After taking a deep breath, she returned her eyes back to his golden gaze and said the words she wanted to finally say. "Will you marry me?"
...What?
Ryan was in utter shock. He had not expected Alice to ask him to marry her, and he couldn't even form a response for almost an entire minute. By the end of that minute, he gave up trying to tell her, and simply nodded.
Alice felt tears welling up in her eyes as she watched him nodding his head. She flung her arms around his neck again, her knees giving out beneath her and causing her to fall backwards with him on top of her.
They landed in the grass with huge sheepish smiles on their faces, and they just stared at each other for a long time, savouring the moment for as long as they possibly could.
Alice gently kissed him, placing her palms under his jawline and pulling his face closer towards her own. She lightly nipped his lower lip, enjoying this rare oppurtunity to truly be alone with him.
Suddenly taking her by surprise, Ryan rolled over onto his back, bringing Alice up onto her knees over top of him. She gasped with the sudden reversal, but smiled immensly. She had to admit, she'd always loved to be the dominant one.
"Ryan... I love you." Alice smiled, swooping down to kiss him again. This time pressing her tongue through his lips, requesting entry past his teeth. He immediately obliged, dancing his tongue with hers for control.
"Daisuki, Itoshii." Ryan replied, which made her stop and raise an eyebrow at even more Japanese words she would learn. Did Ryan speak Japanese as fluently as he did in English?
"Daisuki? What does that mean?" Alice asked, staring into his yellow eyes lovingly.
"It means, 'I love you.' but together with Itoshii, it means 'I love you too, my darling'." Ryan translated, smiling widely.
"Well, maybe you could teach me Japanese. It's something I've actually wanted to learn, even when I was still working for Umbrella."
"I can do that... But how about something in return?" Ryan taunted. "I can't guarentee that your plan..."
"If you teach me Japanese, then I'll teach you martial arts. Deal?" Alice cut him off. She didn't need him to remind her that her little plan had an almost slim to none success rate. They'd climb that hill once they got there.
"It would have been nice to travel to Japan before the outbreak. But sadly, it cannot be done. Boats are out of the question, and no air travel is possible without something like an aircraft carrier to refuel from." Ryan smiled widely. "But even that isn't possible. Not enough people to crew a ship of that magnitude."
"I'm actually a licensed pilot. I could fly us there, given a long ranged plane and sufficient fuel. Mind you, we wouldn't be returning to North America for quite a long time." Alice placed her hands on either side of his head, palms flat on the grass, which caused her damp hair to form a hanging curtain around their faces. "Are you sure you want to do that?" She teased him with a sly smile.
"Would be quite the trip." Ryan replied as he lifted his head and began to kiss her again, pulling her down on top of him. "But I'd rather stay here with you."
Alice decided against any more teasing. Right now, she and Ryan had a moment together, and she wanted it to last as long as possible. She had an idea for the next oppurtunity this happened, but it would take some convincing for Ryan to agree to it.
"Well, Itoshii, maybe we should head back to the water, in case we've been noticed." Alice said aloud as she - most unwillingly - rose to her feet and offered her hand for him to stand. When he took it, she pulled him upright and once again pulled his face to hers, giving him one final passionate kiss.
Ryan gave a nod, then tugged his mask back in place. He followed her back to the spring, where everyone was still having fun in the water. Katie was easily spotted, due to her steam clouds.
"You know..." Alice began. "You can have a quick dip after everyone else has finished. Claire might not mind, if it was just for a couple of minutes..."
"Alice... That would mean I'd be dangerously charged, and even I don't want to test that theory anytime soon." Ryan shook his head solemnly. "Besides, It'd take too long for me to get all my gear off."
"That can easily be arranged." Alice purred into his ear. "Which reminds me... Why DO you wear that vest... and this armour too?" She asked, the question had been strangely nagging in the back of her mind. Why did he wear them?
"Well, the body armour is mine from before the outbreak, and it helps me to carry most of my gear. The metal armour though... It's kinda hard to explain..." Ryan replied sheepishly.
"Try to explain it." Alice encouraged him. "It can't be that difficult."
"I use it as a battery." Ryan said after a few seconds of thought. "If I electrify the metal, then I can actually temporarily feed from the stored electricity whenever I need it."
"But I thought you naturally generated your electricity? Like how Katie creates her fireballs from nothing. And my Telekinesis." Alice pointed out, remembering the very first time that Ryan had used his Electrokinesis during their fight against Issacs. He didn't have anything metal at the time except for his vambrace.
"True. But I'm constantly radiating static electricity, and even though I can't sleep anymore, I still lose energy throughout the day." Ryan explained with a shrug.
"That reminds me... Why the hell can't you sleep anymore? I forgot to ask you that night you came back." Alice demanded. It was not all that unusual to have strange traits from the T-Virus. Alice herself had sharpened teeth and a highly accelerated heartbeat from the T-Virus, on top of her other abilities. Maybe Ryan's insomnia was due to the electrified state he was now forever in.
"Because I regenerate my electricity through muscle movement. If I were stationary for long periodds of time, then I would..." Ryan paused to choose his words. "I would... drain my internal battery and likely have a seizure, which thankfully, causes quite a bit of muscle movements, thus recharging my body back into life."
"That's it?" Alice began to chuckle. "If you sleep, you have a seizure? But that doesn't seem all that bad to me."
"Well, according to the White Queen... that's the most common reaction that I'd have..." Ryan replied seriously.
"Wait... there are other reactions to sleeping?" Alice stopped laughing and stared at him curiously. "And from what was she basing this information from?"
"A new Electrokinetic B.O.W codenamed 'Salamanders.' They resemble headless salamanders, and when fully grown, generate electricity like I do." Ryan explained. "But from birth to their actual death, they are constantly moving around to generate their charge. If they stop for long enough, they either have a seizure and revive themself... or..."
"Or what?" Alice asked, sensing a more fatal reaction to losing their charge.
"They die. The White Queen's database contained fifty files that had tested Salamander reactions to long periods of stationary restraint. Forty two of them had the seizures, five of them somehow managed to escape their restraints - which voided their tests - and the last three died after losing their charges."
"So that means, unless you are a restless sleeper and constantly rolling over, you have roughly a ninety percent chance to have a seizure, but ten percent chance to die." Alice concluded, which made Ryan vocally chuckle. "You sleep like a log... don't you?" She asked, realizing that if he was laughing, that little idea was out the window.
"Yup. Still as a stone." Ryan replied flatly. "That's the reason why I charge up my arm. If I can use that as an external power source - temporarily, mind you - then that means I can safely sleep. Otherwise, it's go! go! go! for the rest of my life."
"I have an idea... A really strange one, but I think it will work for sure." Alice had a sudden inspiration. "Did you ever have a dog?"
"Nope. Katie is allergic to cat and dog hair. We had a tarantula named Steve." Ryan replied, shaking his head.
"Well, if a dog is particularily loud or barks constantly, sometimes an owner would put this specialty disciplinary training collar onto the dog. What it did... whenever the dog barked, it would shock the dog. It's a cruel way of training them to be silent, but these shock collars are actually really common in most pet stores I've scavenged from. You'd be surprised what a dog's chew toy can be used for nowadays, or even a shock collar..."
"Let me get this straight..." Ryan glanced at her. "You're saying that I should wear a dog's shock collar while I sleep, so that the thing will give me enough of an electrical charge to actually sleep... but doing this without charging my arm. am I far off from your idea, Itoshii?"
"That's exactly the idea. And I can guess we'll be passing through a town at some point soon, so I can go with you on a scavenging run to try and find a shock collar for you." Alice nodded. "And maybe..." She stepped closer to him, speaking in a husky voice. "Maybe we can actually sleep together..."
Ryan smiled behind his mask. He knew exactly what she meant.
'Well, I am your big guard puppy, 'Sparky' after all." Ryan replied teasingly, pulling her close. "What's the harm in me wearing a collar?" He smiled wider as he jokingly added. "Woof woof."