[Role Play] handysparehand, Parallel Earth

[his_sarah_jane]

Sarah had to admit: Brittany, France was a change of scenery for them. The seaside town she and John had found themselves sent to was awfully quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of London. It was, in fact, a little too quiet for Sarah Evans' taste. A little too slow. Certainly not the holiday she would have chosen.

But, then again, they weren't exactly here on holiday, were they? It was something much more than that. Rumors of mermaids and sea monsters from off the coast. Something, it seemed, that Torchwood and the French government both wanted to hide.

Which meant, of course, that Mr Chapman wanted to know everything.

So here she was, groaning as the early morning sun trickled in through the window of the inn room they were sharing. The alarm clock by the bed was going off loudly. Only 4:00 a.m. but screaming at the pair to awake.

Bloody fish and their bloody dawn feedings.

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[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

That wasn't fair. Now there was far too much sun in the room, the annoying alarm was still going off, and to top it all off, there was a bulk in the bed where it had been emptied only moments ago.

His voice was too loud, too.

"Mermaids ought to come out later, then. 's time to be sleeping, not searching for a scoop."

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you can sleep anytime. This is mermaids. Mermaids!" He was about ready to burst with excitement.

He began to poke and prod her and try to pull the blankets off in an attempt to get her out of bed.

"All fishy and human and mermaidy," he said as he bounced on his knees. He didn't know how she could even think about sleeping at a time like this.

"Mermaids, Sarah!" he said into the pillow as he tried to pull it away. In case she didn't get the point, he repeated it again as he pulled on the pillow. "Mermaids!"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

He won the pillow easily. Sarah sighed, closing her eyes tightly and wishing that he would just stop bouncing. She flung a hand out to knock the alarm clock to the ground. At the very least, the action did silence that. Now to tackle with the other noise.

"Five more minutes, John?"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

He quickly tossed the pillow aside and started pulling off the blankets.

"Five more minutes," he whined, like a little boy waiting to open his Christmas presents, "Oh come on Sarah."

He gave the blankets a harsh pull and bounced roughly for good measure. "Ple-ee-ease!"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

The breeze blew cold against her bare skin, her short nightgown haven ridden up on her thigh during the night. Sarah bit her lip, trying not to give in.

Sleep would be lovely. No one in their right mind woke up this early. Of course, John was never in his right mind, was he?

"Oh. Fine." She sighed and rolled over, hair musing across the pillows as she looked up at him. "I'm awake."

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

John jumped up, beaming at Sarah as he ran to her suitcase sitting on the floor.

"Right," he said, grabbing her clothes out of the suitcase. "Time to get dressed."

He handed Sarah a pile of mismatched clothes, as he began to ramble, pacing around the room "Do you think they'll be able to talk? We're in France, does that mean they speak French? Are there French mermaids? What if they speak some language we don't know? Mermese or something? That won't do us any good, will it?"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"You are assuming, of course, that this isn't all a hoax," she answered, turning her back to him as she slipped out of the nightgown.

She reached for the bra on the top of the pile and shrugged. "It could be, you know. I know the Yeti wasn't, but honestly? A mermaid, John?"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"Oh come on," he smiled, as he stopped pacing and lounged against the door for a second, watching her get ready, "tell me you aren't the least bit excited."

Of course, he is so full of energy he couldn't stay in one spot for too long. He bounced over to the chair in the middle of the room, as he sat down, waiting for Sarah to finish getting dressed so they could go find their mermaid.

"Don't think you can fool me with that cynical act. I've got your number, Miss Evans. Oh yes."

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

She rolled her eyes as she finished getting dressed. Now all she needed were her boots, which she had to find before John dragged her out of the inn. She'd rather not walk around the town barefoot.

With a small sigh, Sarah turned around to face him. She dug underneath the bed to find the shoes (how had they gotten there?) and slowly began to lace up.

"Do you now?"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"Oh yes."

He watches her toss things aside looking for something. He has no idea what. He just wishes she would grab her boots in the corner and put them on so they could get down to the beach.

"I know deep down, you are just as excited as I am. You can try to hide it all you want, but I've got you all figured out."

He nods at her as he rocks his chair back and forth on it's legs.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

One shoe laced, Sarah looked up at him and laughed. "Funny. You didn't seem all that excited about the mermaid last night when we were alone in this room."

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"Well..."

He rocked his chair forward and kept it there. He jumped to his feet and approached Sarah to offer her his hand after she was finished tying her boots.

"There are some things more exciting than mermaids. Not many, but there are a couple things that beat mermaids."

He arched an eyebrow, as he pulled her up to her feet.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Sarah accepted his hand with a giggle, kissing the corner of his mouth when she does stand.

"I'm glad that shagging me ranks above mermaids," she answered, letting go of his hand to look around the room for her toothbrush. "Get my rucksack ready for me, please? I need to go brush my teeth before we head out."

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

His eyes follow her until she is out of sight somewhere in the bathroom. He begins to put her rucksack together, peaking his head towards the bathroom every few seconds.

"Oh yes, I've got it all ranked out. "Shagging, mermaids, kittens, bananas...."

He continues to rattle off things he enjoys, as he puts Sarah's things together for her.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Finding the toothbrush wounded up being easy enough. As she scrubbed at her teeth, Sarah walked towards the door of the bathroom to watch John. She raised a skeptical eyebrow at his response.

"That so?" she asked, words muffled by her activities. "And where do I fit in?"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"Oh I couldn't put you on the list. You, my dear, demand an entire list all your own."

He walked over to Sarah and leaned in the door jam

"Currently it's a work in progress. You know how it is, each time I think it's finished I have to go back and make editorial changes."

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

She beamed up at him quickly and then turned her back to finish up her chore. Sarah reached for a nearby towel and wiped any spittle away from her mouth.

"My own list?" Sarah's eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. With her mouth now clean, she stole a proper kiss. "I really would like to see it, you know."

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"I'm afraid I just can't let you see it. My source would prefer the information be kept strictly confidential. Being the fine journalist I am, I have no choice but to follow his wishes."

He leaned down and stole another kiss, while handing her her rucksack. He jogged backwards to the door, watching Sarah put her bag over her shoulder.

"Now, let's find ourselves a mermaid," he said, reaching his hand out and waiting for her to grab it.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"You're a tabloid reporter," Sarah reminded him as she followed him to the door. She grabbed his hand and pushed it open, double checking on the 'do not disturb' sign as she pulled him out. "You're not any sort of properly journalist and you know it."

She laughed, ignoring the self deprecation in her joke. Being a tabloid reporter was no glamorous career in her opinion. But she still loved it.

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"I'm hurt." He pulled his hand away from Sarah and put it to his chest, in mock outrage and shock, "I'll let you know I take my journalistic responsibilities very seriously."

He grabbed her hand again as they continued walking. "Well, I say seriously, but maybe seriously is too strong a word. I don't know, do I take it seriously?"

He might make a joke of it as well, but he couldn't think of anything he would rather be doing then chasing aliens and mythical creatures. It was the most fun he could remember in a long time.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

She smiled politely at the receptionist as they walked out of the inn hand in hand and started to make their way to the beach. Sarah glanced up at him, almost looking doubtful.

"Do you honestly take anything seriously, John?"

Some days, Sarah highly doubted it. Today, it seemed, was one of those days.

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"I take loads of things seriously. I can't think of any at the moment, but trust me, there are loads. Add that to the list of lists. Yeah I've got a whole list of things I take seriously. A list!"

Finishing his speech, he looked at Sarah, his eyes twinkling, as he began to run for the beach, pulling Sarah along behind him.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

For a moment, she thought to protest. But he was off before she had a chance to and she began to run, laughing brightly as she did.

"You have lists for everything!" Sarah shouted, taking a deep breath and beaming at the smell of the salty sea air. "Everything, John!"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"You have no idea. If you saw the list of lists, your mind would be blown."

He gives her a wink as he takes in their surroundings, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that appear to be of the mermaid persuasion.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Sarah rolled her eyes again, letting go of his hand to wander away towards the surf. Now that they were on proper sand rather than concrete, she bent down to undo her boots.

Easier to investigate with them off, obviously.

"I think we should probably move a little further from town," Sarah said. "Unless you remember any sightings around here?"