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[under_his_skin]

Laura took great delight in getting ahead of Carson, occasionally turning around to hoot and holler and encourage (or sometimes rib) him into action. It was good to get out and explore a little, live a little

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[ata_beckett]

Carson was, of course, entitled to a little time away from the infirmary every once in a while. Everyone else took days off here and there, and even though he was technically the clinic head, he was really no exception.

However, in hindsight, using the day to go exploring in a bloody cave wasn't the best idea he'd ever had.

"Hold your horses, I'm movin' as fast as I can," Carson said, walking a bit faster to catch up with Laura.

He was beginning to think that he wasn't wearing the right shoes for this.

[under_his_skin]

"Oh, I think you can move a lot faster than that," she called back in a sing-song voice. In fact, Laura had seen him move faster than that back on Atlantis. But she was totally enjoying the show here; it wasn't like back 'home' she and Carson had done anything like this. It was brand-new territory all around.

Still, Laura stopped, waiting for him to catch up. While she waited, she dug out a bottle of water. When he got close enough, she tossed it to him.

[ata_beckett]

He hadn't been expecting her to toss it, and the bottle bounced from one hand to the other before he finally got control of it.

"Thank you," Carson said, and once he'd caught up, took a large gulp of water.

"And you're absolutely sure these caves are safe?"

Three years on the island, and he'd never thought of going any further into the caves than he absolutely needed to. Weren't these things supposed to have sudden drops?

[under_his_skin]

"I'm absolutely positive," Laura said with a decisive shake of her head. She paused for a moment, knacksack in the midst of being situated between her shoulder blades again. "Well, maybe not so much absolutely as more like 'kinda sorta'?"

She shrugged, then gave Carson a dazzling smile. "I won't let us do anything stupid, okay? I'm pretty good in situations like these; you're in good hands, Doc."

[ata_beckett]

"'Kinda sorta'?" Carson said, brow furrowing a bit, "Well, I suppose that's more reassuring than 'not at all'."

He adjusted his own backpack, noticing that something was poking uncomfortably into his back. Still, he didn't regret bringing a few things of his own, even if it was mostly a few emergency medical supplies. And a sweater just in case.

[under_his_skin]

"That's the spirit." Laughing a little, Laura then frowned as a gust of cold air hit her unexpectedly. The temperature had been dropping a little bit as they'd gone along, but that was just plain brutal, hitting her out of nowhere like that.

"Gee, nice and balmy, don'tcha think?" she deadpanned, flinging off her pack and crouching down. She unzipped her bag fully, digging around for the USMC sweatshirt she'd sweet-talked out of the clothes box over the weekend.

[ata_beckett]

"Aye, it has gotten a wee bit chilly, hasn't it?" Carson said, shivering a bit, but not going into his backpack just yet. "I honestly didn't think it'd be quite this dank."

Of course, Carson could count on one hand the number of caves he'd ventured into in his life, so it was entirely possible that most of them weren't.

[under_his_skin]

Locating the sweatshirt (and producing it from the bag with a triumphant, "Ah ha!"), Laura got down on her haunches and tugged it over the tank top she'd shrugged on that morning. "Aye," she said good-naturedly, holding up a hand to show a teensy tiny bit of space between thumb and forefinger. "Just a wee bit."

Zipping up the bag, Laura stood, only to be presented with a few snowflakes right in the eyes. "Ooof!" she exclaimed, and then did a double-take toward the sky.

"Was that just snow?"

[ata_beckett]

Carson looked up as well, eyebrows furrowing a bit as a snowflake landed on his nose.

"Oh lord," He said, "Not again."

Not that he didn't mind the winters on the island, but more often than not, they tended to happen closer to the end of the year. That would teach him to ever think the island could be even remotely predictable.

[under_his_skin]

Laura laughed, a loud, joyous sound, and stretched her arms out. The snow was coming down faster now, almost deliriously so. Tilting her head back, she spun around once, hair flying behind her, and grinned as the snow dissolved on her cheeks.

"This place is crazy!" she called over to Carson.

[ata_beckett]

"You're out of your bloody mind," Carson stated, as he watched Laura spin round. Sure, the people of the island had seen snow before, but Carson couldn't remember if he'd ever seen it happen quite so suddenly.

"Well, I suppose we'd better head back, or we're likely to end up with hypothermia."

[under_his_skin]

Stopping mid-spin, Laura gave Carson a big ole wink. "You don't know the half of it, buddy," she said, and then waggled her brows a bit.

Just about that moment, the snow began to pick up even more -- and Laura was starting to think Carson was right. "It's coming down really fast." Her mouth scrunched to one side as she looked all around them; the ground was already blanketed.