[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.

Comments

[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?"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"Good idea," he says, following Sarah's lead and pulling off his trainers.

"All the sightings I found were out by the rocks."

He stood on his tip toes, trying to get a look at how far the beach stretched.

"I think it's this way."

He turned on his bare heels, pointing down the beach and began to walk.

"Allons-y!"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Sarah laughed, picking up her discarded boots and carrying them in one arm. She looked up at the early morning sun, shaking her head at how dismally early it was.

Bloody fish.

"Then let's go. If we see anything remarkable, I'll get the camera out."

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

"If we see anything. Don't you mean when we see something?"

He slowed his pace so that he and Sarah were walking side by side. He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eyes.

"Hold on!" He stopped in his tracks, and looked to a point ahead.

He watched the spot for a moment, and caught a glimpse. Water splashing, a flash of what looked like yellow hair, and a tail sending water into the air.

"Right there," he shouted, as he began to run at full speed.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Sarah dropped her boots on to the ground, kicking in to full reporter mode (as she called it) as she ran after him. She slung her rucksack to her front, digging in there for her digital camera.

She pulled it out quickly enough, grabbing the recorder and letting the rest of the bag fall to the sand as well.

"Where?" she shouted after him, never fully able to keep up. "What, John?"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

He didn't stop to answer Sarah. He was intent on finding that fish.

He stopped as he reached the edge and was looking into the water.

"Where are you, fishy," he said, getting onto his knees so he could get a better look into the water.

He reached his hand in, skimming the water, and jumped in suprise when a hand reached out and grabbed his arm. A girl emerged from the water, with long strawberry blonde hair.

She looked into his eyes, and offered a huge smile that spread from ear to ear.

"Hello!" she said. His eyes traveled down her body until he spotted the tail. He quickly looked back up at the mermaid.

"Oh, you are brilliant!"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Sarah caught up with him in time to hear him call the fish brilliant, using the same sort of tone he usually reserved for Bigfoot and talking gargoyles.

She laughed in triumph, taking a picture that seemed to startle the mermaid back under the waves, pulling on John's arm as she did.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry!"

[handysparehand.livejournal.com]

It happened so quickly he didn't have time to react. One second he was on the rocks, the next he was in the water.

He tried to hold his breath, but he panicked as he remembered his biology completely off. Only one heart. Oxygen pumping all wrong.

He opened his eyes, panic written all over his features. The mermaid was staring at him, a beatific look on her face. He inadvertently stopped holding his breath and watched as air bubbles began to escape. She gave him a toothy grin, before she began to pull him up to the surface.

As soon as his head was out of the water he began gasping for air. The mermaid calmly pulled him to a rock and laid him out on top of it. He laid flat on his back staring at the sky, as he tried to collect himself and remember how to breath.

He didn't notice that the mermaid dropped him off about 15 meters from where Sarah was waiting.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Sarah gasped when they surfaced, having spent the last few seconds more worried than she had ever felt before. If something had happened to him, if it was her fault...

"Oh! Oh, John!"

This was absolutely horrible. But he looked alive. She hoped he was alive.

Quickly, she stripped out of her shirt and skirt. The camera and microphone fell to the ground as she ran towards the waves. Sarah dived in head first, ignoring the cold as she swam towards the rock John washed up upon.