Trick or Treat fill...
...for kiss_me_cassie. This has probably been done many times already, and far better, but I couldn't help taking a shot at it.
******
Donna Temple-Noble's shin was aching like mad when she woke up in the morning. No idea why, no rhyme or reason. Well, she wasn't getting any younger, she told herself ruefully, sitting up in bed and rubbing it absently through the blanket. Probably bumped it against the bedstead last night in her hurry to cross the chilly tiled floor. These antique four-posters were flash, but they weren't half bulky.
Next to her Shaun was still asleep, mouth half-open, bless him. At least he didn't snore. And he was being a good sport, following her to Dalmatia for a beach holiday, even though he clearly didn't understand why she'd wanted to go right *now*.
To be honest, she didn't know why she'd suddenly taken it into her head to go right *now* either. Maybe winning twenty million pounds did make you a little funny in the head.
But, well, she could afford it. She might've only been a temp in her previous life, but she'd always known the value of a good accountant, and she'd hired the best one she could find after the lottery win.
So she was set for life. A long, happy, healthy life, with the freedom to go wherever she wished, whenever she wished. And Shaun, the best husband in the world, her constant companion. She'd chosen well. Who'd ever said she had bad taste in men?
If only her shin didn't ache, life would be perfect. She rubbed it harder, then pulled back the bedclothes to look at it properly.
She grimaced. It wasn't a bruise at all, it was a long scratch, and it had clearly bled a bit before the scab had formed. It looked as though she'd been attacked by a rosebush.
She must have scraped it against the carved wood bedstead, perhaps during the night when she got up to pee.
Not that she remembered getting up to pee, but Shaun had told her that sometimes she would get up in the night--just to go to the bathroom or to the kitchen to get a glass of water, nothing weird, thank you very much--and it was as if she was sleepwalking.
Strange. Though it probably just meant that she was comfortable and secure, even asleep. No need to wake up completely if there were no dangers to face, she'd said.
Shaun had just nodded at that and told her that if she ever tried to pee while he was using the toilet, he'd wake her up bloody quickly.
Well, there was nothing for it. Slipping out of bed so as not to wake Shaun up, she strode across the cold tile to the bathroom, where she fished out some antiseptic and cleaned the scratch, then applied some antibiotic salve. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt for much longer.
In the kitchen of their suite the sun had warmed the floor tiles nicely, so she could pad about, making coffee, and then curl up on a lounge on her balcony, gazing out over the blue Adriatic sea.
Life was good, she decided, reclining back and shutting her eyes. Her dream from the night before came back to her as she dozed.
She'd been running through the woods, chasing...someone? Something? She wasn't sure. All she'd known was that she had to catch it, whatever it was.
Branches pulled at her clothes, and the wind whistled past her, sharp cold against her skin. Still, she kept running. Always running.
The thing was quite close now, but she knew she'd have to find a way to trap it, because touching it with her bare hands would be deadly. Thinking ahead, she remembered the pond she'd passed on the way in, and deliberately started steering her quarry in that direction.
When she'd chased it into the clearing and got a good look at it in the bright moonlight, she'd not been at all surprised at the appearance of the thing.
It was definitely alien. A small, gray, childlike biped, with a round, doughy face, no more than a metre tall.
"Come on," she said to it. "I know you. You're in clear violation of the treaty being on this planet at all. Give it to me."
The little gray being shrank away from the sound of her voice.
"Give it to me," she repeated sharply. "Now."
The being extended an arm, as if to hand something to her.
"Oi! Not a flipping chance, mate. Drop it." Reaching down, she picked up a fallen branch from the ground.
Whatever the being had been holding dropped to the ground with a small thump.
"Good," she said, using the end of the stick to crush the object. "Now teleport yourself back to your ship. You think I won't know if you come back? I'll know. Leave now, and I'll go easy on you."
There was a flash, and the being disappeared.
Donna blinked as she opened her eyes, and chuckled. "'Leave now, and I'll go easy on you.'" Delusions of grandeur, that's what it was. Twenty million pounds really did go to your head.
Shaun wandered out with his own cup of coffee and sat down on the other lounge. "Rough night?"
She shrugged. "Not particularly."
"You got up for a bit."
"Yeah, and I think I must have bumped against the bed on the way back. See?" She flipped back her robe to show him her leg.
He hissed in sympathy. "Looks bad."
"Yeah." She shrugged. "It'll heal."
"You wanted to go hiking today? I'd be up for it if your leg's okay."
"Hiking?"
"You brought in half a tree trunk, left it by the door. Thought it was a walking stick."
"What?" She craned her neck so that she could look inside, and saw a tree branch leaned up next to the door. "I didn't bring that in. Must have been the cleaners."
"Bit weird."
"Well, they all live in the Biokovo. They probably need to climb a mountain at a moment's notice."
"Probably," Shaun agreed, sipping his coffee. "So, hiking?"
"I'm a bit tuckered, to be honest," she said.
"You want to spend the day in bed?" He leered at her and she giggled.
Love a good giggle, she thought fondly, smiling back at him. Makes me feel like a girl again.
"We could do that," she said. "Or you could take me sailing..."
His eyes brightened. He'd been wanting to do that since they'd landed yesterday evening. "You trust me?"
"Just the two of us, out in a boat, on the big blue sea? What's not to trust?"
He laughed. "I'll ring the marina." Clearly eager, he hustled back inside.
Smiling, Donna settled back on her lounge again and closed her eyes. The sea, the sky, it was all waiting for her.
All that blue, just waiting for her.
END
Notes: Dalmatia is now definitely on my list of gorgeous places to travel.
******
Donna Temple-Noble's shin was aching like mad when she woke up in the morning. No idea why, no rhyme or reason. Well, she wasn't getting any younger, she told herself ruefully, sitting up in bed and rubbing it absently through the blanket. Probably bumped it against the bedstead last night in her hurry to cross the chilly tiled floor. These antique four-posters were flash, but they weren't half bulky.
Next to her Shaun was still asleep, mouth half-open, bless him. At least he didn't snore. And he was being a good sport, following her to Dalmatia for a beach holiday, even though he clearly didn't understand why she'd wanted to go right *now*.
To be honest, she didn't know why she'd suddenly taken it into her head to go right *now* either. Maybe winning twenty million pounds did make you a little funny in the head.
But, well, she could afford it. She might've only been a temp in her previous life, but she'd always known the value of a good accountant, and she'd hired the best one she could find after the lottery win.
So she was set for life. A long, happy, healthy life, with the freedom to go wherever she wished, whenever she wished. And Shaun, the best husband in the world, her constant companion. She'd chosen well. Who'd ever said she had bad taste in men?
If only her shin didn't ache, life would be perfect. She rubbed it harder, then pulled back the bedclothes to look at it properly.
She grimaced. It wasn't a bruise at all, it was a long scratch, and it had clearly bled a bit before the scab had formed. It looked as though she'd been attacked by a rosebush.
She must have scraped it against the carved wood bedstead, perhaps during the night when she got up to pee.
Not that she remembered getting up to pee, but Shaun had told her that sometimes she would get up in the night--just to go to the bathroom or to the kitchen to get a glass of water, nothing weird, thank you very much--and it was as if she was sleepwalking.
Strange. Though it probably just meant that she was comfortable and secure, even asleep. No need to wake up completely if there were no dangers to face, she'd said.
Shaun had just nodded at that and told her that if she ever tried to pee while he was using the toilet, he'd wake her up bloody quickly.
Well, there was nothing for it. Slipping out of bed so as not to wake Shaun up, she strode across the cold tile to the bathroom, where she fished out some antiseptic and cleaned the scratch, then applied some antibiotic salve. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt for much longer.
In the kitchen of their suite the sun had warmed the floor tiles nicely, so she could pad about, making coffee, and then curl up on a lounge on her balcony, gazing out over the blue Adriatic sea.
Life was good, she decided, reclining back and shutting her eyes. Her dream from the night before came back to her as she dozed.
She'd been running through the woods, chasing...someone? Something? She wasn't sure. All she'd known was that she had to catch it, whatever it was.
Branches pulled at her clothes, and the wind whistled past her, sharp cold against her skin. Still, she kept running. Always running.
The thing was quite close now, but she knew she'd have to find a way to trap it, because touching it with her bare hands would be deadly. Thinking ahead, she remembered the pond she'd passed on the way in, and deliberately started steering her quarry in that direction.
When she'd chased it into the clearing and got a good look at it in the bright moonlight, she'd not been at all surprised at the appearance of the thing.
It was definitely alien. A small, gray, childlike biped, with a round, doughy face, no more than a metre tall.
"Come on," she said to it. "I know you. You're in clear violation of the treaty being on this planet at all. Give it to me."
The little gray being shrank away from the sound of her voice.
"Give it to me," she repeated sharply. "Now."
The being extended an arm, as if to hand something to her.
"Oi! Not a flipping chance, mate. Drop it." Reaching down, she picked up a fallen branch from the ground.
Whatever the being had been holding dropped to the ground with a small thump.
"Good," she said, using the end of the stick to crush the object. "Now teleport yourself back to your ship. You think I won't know if you come back? I'll know. Leave now, and I'll go easy on you."
There was a flash, and the being disappeared.
Donna blinked as she opened her eyes, and chuckled. "'Leave now, and I'll go easy on you.'" Delusions of grandeur, that's what it was. Twenty million pounds really did go to your head.
Shaun wandered out with his own cup of coffee and sat down on the other lounge. "Rough night?"
She shrugged. "Not particularly."
"You got up for a bit."
"Yeah, and I think I must have bumped against the bed on the way back. See?" She flipped back her robe to show him her leg.
He hissed in sympathy. "Looks bad."
"Yeah." She shrugged. "It'll heal."
"You wanted to go hiking today? I'd be up for it if your leg's okay."
"Hiking?"
"You brought in half a tree trunk, left it by the door. Thought it was a walking stick."
"What?" She craned her neck so that she could look inside, and saw a tree branch leaned up next to the door. "I didn't bring that in. Must have been the cleaners."
"Bit weird."
"Well, they all live in the Biokovo. They probably need to climb a mountain at a moment's notice."
"Probably," Shaun agreed, sipping his coffee. "So, hiking?"
"I'm a bit tuckered, to be honest," she said.
"You want to spend the day in bed?" He leered at her and she giggled.
Love a good giggle, she thought fondly, smiling back at him. Makes me feel like a girl again.
"We could do that," she said. "Or you could take me sailing..."
His eyes brightened. He'd been wanting to do that since they'd landed yesterday evening. "You trust me?"
"Just the two of us, out in a boat, on the big blue sea? What's not to trust?"
He laughed. "I'll ring the marina." Clearly eager, he hustled back inside.
Smiling, Donna settled back on her lounge again and closed her eyes. The sea, the sky, it was all waiting for her.
All that blue, just waiting for her.
END
Notes: Dalmatia is now definitely on my list of gorgeous places to travel.