"That would be cool." Dar agreed. "I'm up for that."
"That's what I'd like to do for my birthday this year. Go to Scotland and have a blast with you. Climb some mountains, see some castles, and just hang out. I hadn't really thought about it before, when we were talking about the Alps and everything. That would have been fun too."
"But?"
Kerry gazed up at the glass ceiling, the smoked surface barely showing the fuzzy outline of the moon overhead. "But I don't know. It would be so easy to go to all those ritzy places. We could afford it."
"We could afford damn near anything we want." Dar agreed. "You'd look good in a Swiss chalet."
Kerry smiled. "That's the point, I think. I want to be touched by the places we go to, not just by a nice vacation. I think that'll happen in Scotland." She turned her head to look at Dar. "I'd like to see Antarctica, and maybe the Sahara desert."
"How about climbing Everest?"
Kerry's brow twitched. "Ahhhh--no." She grinned briefly. "That idea doesn't thrill me. I don't mind working for my fun but that's way too much work, hon."
"Phew." Dar chuckled. "For me too. I'd like to see the Mayan ruins in Central America though." She paused, thoughtfully. "It's hard for me to think about going somewhere for a month. There are so many places I'd like to go."
Kerry rolled over and swam back. "You know what the truth is,Paladar?" She went nose to nose with her partner, stretching her hands out and bracing them on either side of Dar's head. "Just going with you anywhere for a month is something I very badly want to do."
Dar released the wall and settled her arms around Kerry instead. "Me too. We need to do this," she added, in a softer tone. "I wonder how many of those people in those towers were telling themselves someday I'll do that."
Kerry remained still and quiet, listening.
"Someday I'll see that." Dar went on. "Someday. Bob wanted to buy a sailboat someday, he told me."
"No more somedays." Kerry let her forehead rest against Dar's. "We so easily could have been in harm's way in this, Dar. I want to savor every minute living my life with you from now on."
Dar kissed her. "Scotland it is." She promised. "That's going to be a blast. Maybe I'll get a suit of armor there to match that old sword I've got"
"Maybe we'll try haggis." Kerry suggested.
"Maybe we won't." Dar smiled anyway, and then paused. "Or what the hell. If Alastair can try sushi, I can try oatmeal in sheep innards." She kissed Kerry again, and then she nipped her nose and surged forward, taking them both underwater.
"Bwwflhh--" Kerry spluttered, as they surfaced. "Dar!"
"Tag." Dar pinched her in a sensitive spot. "You're it."
"Yowch!" Kerry yelped, grabbing for her partner who was no longer there. "You pissant!"
Dar took off, diving under the water to escape, barely eluding Kerry's outstretched fingers. "Slowpoke!"
"Oh, I don't think so, madam." Kerry plunged after her. "This ain't no forty foot piece of ocean." She dove under the water and swam after her elusive tormentor, reaching for skin or any bit of bathing suit.
The moon slid behind the clouds overhead, wisely hiding its eyes.
"I'VE GOT WATER in my ears thanks to you." Kerry hopped on one foot, as they waited for the elevator to deposit them on their floor. "That was fun though."
"It was." Dar felt very pleasantly tired after two hours of water horseplay. She put a hand on Kerry's back to steady her, as the elevator slowed to a halt and the doors opened. "We're here."
Cheers echoed through the hall as they exited, and they could see the doors to the lounge still open. "Sounds like a good game," Kerry said, as she removed the room key from the pocket of her robe. "Glade everyone's enjoying it. They needed a mind break."
"Yeah." Dar agreed. "Tomorrow's probably going to be rough. I'm glad Alastair thought of it." She glanced down the hall. "Speaking of."
Alastair had just come out of the lounge, and was heading toward his room. He saw them and paused, then continued past his door and approached them instead. "Well, what have you two been up to?"
"Really want to know?" Dar asked, folding her arms over her terrycloth-covered chest and leaning against the wall.
He paused and considered. "Am I going to have to speak to the hotel manager tomorrow because of it?" he asked cautiously.
"Probably not." Kerry ran her fingers through her wet hair somewhat self-consciously. "We were swimming in the pool."
"Ah." Alastair nodded. "That sounds pretty innocuous." He leaned against the wall himself. "Game's about done. I'm going to let all these kids finish the night out. I'm bushed." He stifled a yawn. "Good bunch there."
"Glad they had a chance to relax," Dar said. "I think tomorrow is going to be a little different."
Alastair eyed her shrewdly. "Even with our challenges?"
Dar shrugged. "Who the hell knows? Maybe we'll get lucky." She straightened up and started for their hotel room door. "Anyway, good night, Alastair. See you in the morning."
"Bye." Alastair waggled his fingers and turned to head back to his own room.
Kerry opened the door and held it for Dar to enter, and then followed her inside. The room was dimly lit, and she caught the scent of chocolate wafting in the space, along with something a little spicier. "Did you send a telepathic message to room service again?"
Dar was by the desk, investigating the tray resting there. "Sorry to disappoint you, babe. I used the phone by the pool while you were doing that last set of laps. Hot chocolate, Thai chicken soup, and baked Brie with some crackers and fruit. Sound all right to you?"
Kerry detoured to the desk and liberated a grape from the bowl, popping it into her mouth and biting down. It was juicy and sweet, ands gave her partner a one armed hug for it. "Yum," she agreed. "I'm going to go change out of my suit."
"Me too." Dar untied her robe and eased it off. "Last thing I need is to catch a damn cold at this point." She draped the robe over a chair and wandered into the bathroom.
Kerry stole another grape and followed suit, shivering a little as the draft from the air conditioner hit her damp skin. "Dar, could you--thanks." She caught the towel coming at her face one handed, and then she got undressed and rubbed herself dry.
Dar came around behind her and draped a shirt over her shoulder, then kissed the back of her bare neck, making her shiver for a completely different reason. "Thanks." Kerry ruffled her hair into some sort of dryness.
"For the shirt?"
"That too." She put the cotton garment on, and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it. "You know, that really was a great idea to go to the pool. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really miss our gym time."
Dar paused and peered over her shoulder, one eyebrow lightly raised.
"When we're there, we focus on something other than whatever problems we're dealing with that day." Kerry clarified. "You get out of that mind space."
"Ahhh."
"You know what it is? I'm not physically tired." Kerry sat down and pulled over one of the bowls of soup. "My brain is exhausted." She took a spoonful of the spicy broth. "It's like those people downstairs at the bar. You can't keep watching those pictures."
Dar sat down opposite her picking up her cup of hot chocolate and sipping from it as she considered what Kerry had said. It was an odd feeling. In her, unlike Kerry, it manifested in a sense of intolerant impatience that made it difficult for her to concentrate on what she was doing.
The swim break had been a relief. Being silly and chasing Kerry around the pool had let her buzzing brain relax and now that they were back in the room, she was content to concentrate on what was on the tray and leave worrying about work until tomorrow.
She pulled her soup over and fished out a chunk of chicken. It tasted of coconut and lime and both she and Kerry were quiet as the chewed. The silence was comfortable though. Dar put some of the Brie on a cracker and put it on Kerry's plate, then assembled one for herself taking a bite as Kerry reciprocated by putting a handful of grapes in front of her.