Cruising (Natalie)

[Natalie Blake]

When Will returned her kiddish gesture, she couldn't help but giggle a little. "Really?" she snorted, reaching over to ruffle his hair. He'd gotten a haircut since the last time she'd played with it. "I don't know, it depends what colour it is. There's a chance it could look really sweet on you," she teased.

It was then she realized she'd set her hand on his stomach. When had she decided to do that? Blushing, she pushed Will once to get him to stop smirking at her and took her hand back. It wasn't like he seemed to mind, but she didn't want to push her luck.

She groaned at his next joke, shaking her head. "Pincer Times?" she asked, grinning. "I honestly have no comeback to that." She could probably come up with something if she thought about it for a minute, but it was time that they let the joke down gently before it was dragged out even longer.

He joked half-heartedly about wishing for teeth when she popped the bottle open, clearly a little disturbed, and she couldn't stop her smirk. "I've been learning how to do that since I was eight, and my teeth are still in tact. No need to get squeamish."

All the same, she knew it wasn't exactly common to open your bottles that way, and so she couldn't really blame him for reacting as he had. She made a mental note to hold back on that the next time they drank together--assuming there was a next time. She hoped there was.

After her stomach's untimely grumble, Will teased her about it. Natalie rolled her eyes when he grinned at her and play-punched his arm. "Oh, bite me." She propped herself up again and reached into the bag, pulling out some of the bread and a couple slices of meat. Quickly she assembled them into a sandwich and then bit in, relishing in the taste of real food.

"This is amazing," she sighed, smiling. Then, so as not to be rude, she offered some to Will. "Want any?"

[William Blake]

"Maybe we should get out some swatches of material and colours and see which suits me best?" he suggested as a joke, shaking his head. He definitely wouldn't joke with guys about this sort of thing, it was ultimately too feminine for them, and they'd just pull a face and move on. But he knew he was only kidding about, men weren't all brutish idiots, they did understand some things about women.

He ducked out of the way of her hand, feeling her other hand push him for smirking. "What?" he said, looking innocent, a grin spreading across his face. Hell, he wasn't complaining about her hand being there, she was the one who seemed to be embarrassed about it - obviously, she hadn't meant to do it.

"That's probably a good thing," he nodded, glad that thread had wrapped itself up nicely, despite his terrible joke at the end. He couldn't help himself, it probably came from spending time with his friend's kids last Christmas, they found that sort of thing funny, adults didn't, unless they were laughing at how awful it was.

Will chuckled, "you make me sound like a girl," he said, rolling his eyes. He was one of those people who believed in taking good care of his body, including his teeth. Seeing people do that made him squirm, one of the only things that really made him squirm, and it made him feel like such a pansy, but he honestly didn't like it.

It was his stomach's turn to rumble. "Don't tempt me," Will said, probably earning himself another punch in the process, grinning again. He shook his head at her offer, "some of your half eaten sandwich? No thanks," he teased, tugging the bag towards where he was lying. He pulled out a bunch of grapes and began snacking on them - they were real ones, that he could tell instantly, they tasted so good.

"Real food," he said appreciatively, eating a good third of the bunch before putting it back in the bag. Propping himself up, he looked out to the ocean - it looked so inviting. Taking another long drink of his beer, he climbed to his feet. "Nope, can't resist that water any longer," he said, even if he just paddled his feet in it, "you coming?"

[Natalie Blake]

"I'm thinking some sort of blue, really make those eyes of yours pop," Natalie teased, snickering. She knew Will wasn't honestly considering this at all, and neither was she, really, but it was amusing to joke about. If she'd brought hats up around another woman, bets were they'd be going on for hours about it. She grimaced a little at the thought--she wasn't fashion-obsessed, and heedless gushing tended to annoy her.

She pursed her lips to stop from laughing when he smiled and played innocent. "Shut up," she said, a grin breaking across her face. It wasn't like he'd actually said anything, but he most definitely knew why she was blushing. The running crab joke was finally closed, thankfully, but Natalie smiled about it nonetheless. It had been funny while it lasted.

"Not like a girl," she disagreed, "Like you're sensible. If I hadn't grown up in a saloon even considering doing something like that would probably freak me out. But I've seen weirder ways to open bottles."

Will's stomach growled then, and Natalie smirked. "Tempt you?" she repeated, only partly amused. She was unsure exactly what the intent of that statement had been. Did he mean he was hungry, or...? Low blood-sugar! she screamed at herself internally, taking another, larger bite of her sandwich.

He got to his feet suddenly and told her he was going to hit the ocean, asking if she wanted to join him. "Definitely," she agreed, setting down her sandwich and pushing herself upright. After tugging her shirt over her head and stepping out of her shorts she followed him over to the water's edge. The sun kissing her now uncovered skin felt nice, and she smiled as the water lapped at her feet.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm going for a little swim," she threw at Will before slipping into the water until it reached her waist. She shivered a little at the sudden chill and turned back to see if he was going to join her or not.

[William Blake]

Will let out a laugh, "are you sure engineering is really career for you?" he said with a smirk, "maybe something along the lines of personal shopper would suit you better?" Of course it wouldn't, Natalie was a damn fine engineer (that could have been taken in more than one way) and he couldn't really imagine her doing anything else. Especially seeing as she'd pretty much grown up in a garage/saloon.

Will shrugged his shoulders, "what did I do?" he asked, continuing his innocent act. His big eyes made it easy for him to play this game, looking up at the sky with wide eyes, pretending he hadn't done anything in the first place. The colour helped as well. Most people believed that big brown eyes were cute, but hey, he could pull it off just as well.

He snorted with laughter, that being the first time anyone had ever called him sensible. "You've seen weirder ways to open bottles?" he repeated with a raised eyebrow. He couldn't even come up with a witty rejoinder or imagine any other ways of opening a beer bottle.

Will opened his mouth then closed it again. He could have meant various things, i.e. that she looked good enough to eat, or she was a tasty morsel, or things to that effect, but he decided to play it coy, "yeah, I was hungry, and if I didn't get anything inside of me quickly, I was going to become a cannibal." He hoped the crab joke didn't surface again because he'd said that.

He couldn't help but watch her as she pulled off her shirt and shorts, leaving her only in her swimsuit. He was male, so sue him. Besides, he was only really guilty of the looking that she'd been doing for most of the afternoon already. They were two peas in a pod in that respect.

As he found himself at the edge of the water, Will found himself suddenly feeling very self conscious. She was looking at him expectantly, and all he could think of was what her reaction might be if and when he finally took his shirt off. Would it really matter? With a slight sigh, he slipped out of the three-quarter cargo pants he'd been wearing, showing that he was wearing trunks, then removed his shirt, revealing two long scars across his ribs, and one across his shoulder, not to mention the dozens of smaller ones on his back which she could see yet. Swallowing, he submerged himself in the water, paddling closer to her, unsure of what she would say.

[Natalie Blake]

Grimacing, Natalie slapped Will's shoulder gently. "Ew, gross! Personal shoppers are... bleh," she wrinkled her nose and shook her head, laughing. "I'm happy working as an engineer, thanks. Unlike most females, I don't find particular joy in flouncing around in a mall."

She narrowed her eyes at him when he continued to play oblivious, letting it go. "Fine, act all innocent. I know you know," she said, wagging a finger at him. She felt like she was chastening a dog, and stopped, laughing at herself. Will's eyes seemed to spark a little when he realized how Natalie might have taken his statement and quickly clarified, and she grinned a little. "Well, it takes one to know one, so I suppose it's only fair," she replied with a chuckle.

When she stripped down to head into the water, she could sense his eyes on her, but she didn't mind. After all, she'd been ogling him before. She wasn't as gorgeous as some of the women on the Venia, and usually she wore frumpier clothing than them, too, but she wasn't completely unfortunate looking. At least, she didn't think she was.

Seeing Will hesitate at the edge of the water confused her slightly. He looked almost... nervous. She understood why once he'd taken his shirt off. There were scars marring his otherwise smooth skin, signs of all the beatings his father had given him growing up. Her breath caught in her throat and she bit her lip for a second, but she'd managed to collect herself by the time he'd swum over to her.

"Oh, Will..." she breathed, lifting a tentative hand and reaching towards him. For a moment she froze, glancing up and into his eyes, silently asking permission. When he didn't object overmuch, she timidly ran her fingers along one of the scars on his chest. Two emotions bubbled up inside her; sorrow and anger.

The sorrow was easy enough to understand. No one deserved to be beaten, and it was even worse when it happened to a child. But the anger surprised her. After a moment, she realized she was angry at Will's father, even though she'd never met the man and he was dead. She took a deep breath to steady herself, slowly pulling her hand back.

Not wanting her reaction to ruin the day, she shook her head a little to clear it and smiled up at Will apologetically. "Sorry about that," she said, knowing full-well that she could have responded far better than she had. "Come on, let's have some fun."

[William Blake]

"You make personal shoppers sound like an unfortunate piece of gum stuck to your shoe," he laughed. There was some great imagery to be had in women flouncing around a mall, but he couldn't see Natalie doing it. He hadn't really talked to a girl like Natalie before, one that enjoyed doing more guy stuff than girl stuff. It was refreshing.

"I know, you know, I know," he said with a smirk, watching her finger wag backwards and forwards in front of his face. She was taking on that school teacher role again, the dunce hat desperately needed in this situation. As long as she didn't put him in detention, he'd be fine.

It was possibly because of the frumpier clothing that Will hadn't realised what a body she had under there. Also, the act of undressing was going to attract any male, no matter how gentlemanly they were or pretended to be. They all had those desires deep down, just some were better at hiding them or controlling them than others were.

Natalie reacted along the sort of lines he'd been expecting, a whole mixture of conflicting emotions in her eyes and in her face; shock, horror, upset, anger. Not that she could do anything about it now, but he forever bore evidence of his unfortunate past. Part of him wondered whether he should look into having them removed, but another part saw them as a constant reminder to be strong.

When she apologised, Will shook his head gently. He hadn't warned her, and it wasn't her fault, but when she said about having some fun, he nodded instead. "You don't have to tell me twice," he said, a smile crossing his face in return. He was sure when they started messing around, they would get back to the laughing and the joking.

He used his arms and his legs to swim out into the deeper water, before taking a breath, dipping under the water, circling back towards Natalie. Once he was near, he smirked, tickling her foot a little before seizing her ankle with his thumb and forefinger, pulling her under the water.

[Natalie Blake]

Natalie snorted at Will's take on what she'd said, her lips curling upwards in amusement. "That's one way to look at it," she said, shrugging a little. If others wanted to become personal shoppers, they could, but not her. Definitely not her. Will seemed to understand that.

"I know, you know, I know, you know, and that's that," she said blithely, tempted to laugh. Pointless banter seemed to be their area of expertise. Natalie couldn't help it, though. To badinage with someone of equal wit was possibly the most fun you could have with a person, and Will certainly didn't lack for wit.

Even though she hadn't reacted well, Will accepted her apology and moved on easily. That helped her feel a little bit better about messing up in the first place. Without another word he turned and swam off, diving under the water. Natalie made to follow, but before she could something tickled her foot. With a shriek she was suddenly pulled under the water, coming face to face with Will.

She let out a burst of laughter, releasing a stream of bubbles. When the two of them bobbed to the surface, she made sure that Will had gotten in a good deep breath of air before placing her hands on his shoulders and dunking him under. "Payback!" she crowed merrily, laughing as he came back up.

[William Blake]

Her shriek made him laugh, oxygen gushing from his mouth, forcing him to emerge above the water line like she did where she started to giggle. She had an adorable laugh, and he enjoyed making her laugh, just so he could hear it. Having laughter around him eased the tension, and made him feel good, Natalie made him feel good, and certainly kept him amused with her antics.

Will heard her muffled cry of 'payback' from beneath the water, having been submerged. He chuckled as he came back up for air, before fixing her with a glare. "War!" he cried in the same fashion that she'd screamed payback, going back beneath the water. He had an evil plan up his sleeve, and she wasn't going to see it coming.

He circled her, swimming down underneath her, before swimming back up again, pushing her up out of the water with his arms, tossing her in with a grin on his face. That was going to earn him a slap, a splash, or maybe something else. At least she couldn't do that same to him, he didn't have that to fear.

[Natalie Blake]

When Will popped back up, he gave a cry of "War!" and the next thing Natalie knew he'd gone under again. An oddly buoyant feeling had replaced the sullen awkwardness after her blunder, and for that she was glad. Shaking her head, she looked down at him warily as he circled her under the water, wondering what he had in mind.

Before she could dwell on that for too long, Will shot up again. She only had a moment to register that he'd collected her in his arms before she was tossed away into the water. She grinned broadly as she resurfaced, splashing him. "Jerk!" she laughed before dipping below the surface again.

She swam around him once or twice as she contemplated how to get back at him. There was no way she could toss him as he had her--she was strong, but not that strong. Finally a plan formed in her head. She made her way behind him and then launched herself upward, latching her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Then, very deliberately, she leaned backwards in the hopes of pulling him under.

It sort of worked. Natalie felt her back touch the water, but Will only bent a little. Laughing, she changed tactics and pushed forward, tumbling over his head when he went under. "Ha!" she said victoriously once they'd both come back up, a wide grin plastered across her face.

[William Blake]

Will was definitely feeling a lot better after that moment they'd had just before. He knew it wouldn't take them long to find the laughter again, especially when they both had such childish natures. The grin was already back on his face, feeling his normal confident self. Pushing everything to one side was something he was well practised in, but this time it was so he could be happy.

"Heard that one before," he commented, but not exactly in that context. This was more of a jokey insult, considering he'd just caught her completely by surprise. It would have been so much harder if he wasn't built like he was. Lifting Natalie up, especially under the water, was incredibly easy, she weighed hardly anything.

Now it was her move, like a game of chess. She swarmed like a shark, choosing to attack him from behind, but she didn't have the weight or strength behind her to pull him down, which just made him laugh. Her next tactic caught him unawares, and he ended up swallowing a mouthful of sea water. When he emerged, he spat it out, the salt stinging in his throat. "Bleh."

He swam over to her, messing up her wet her before pushing her under again, keeping a hold of her arm so she couldn't get away this time. "I win," he said with a grin.

[Natalie Blake]

Will spat out a stream of saltwater when he came back up, and Natalie bit back a snort. "Be sure to leave some water for the fish!" she teased, an apology caressing the edge of her words. She hadn't meant to give him a mouthful of water, but then again what else was going to happen when you get plunged face-first into water when you're not expecting it?

His fingers were suddenly in her hair, mussing it, and a brief grin flashed across her face. "Is this revenge for those times--" but her words were lost when he plunged her under the water again. She came up spluttering to find he'd kept a hold on her arm. "Sure, you win," she giggled, splashing him as hard as she could.

She managed to wriggle her arm loose, sliding it back until her hand was clasping his. After she squeezed it once she pulled her arm back completely and splashed him again, laughing. Falling backwards into the water--successfully this time, as she wasn't trying to pull Will with her--Natalie backstroked away from him for a moment before straightening up again.

"Come and get me--if you can!" she taunted, throwing yet another splash his way.

[William Blake]

Will let out a "ha!" at her fish comment. "Yeah, right," he said, rolling his eyes at her, "I'm sure they won't miss a mouthful or two if you continue to persist with the act of dunking me." He sunk into the water, so that just the top half of his face was showing, and knitted his brow into a mock frock, trying to look menacing, like a shark or some time of evil sea monster.

Another face full of water, and he opened his eyes, realising that being cocky would have earned him that. "Yes, revenge." He let out an evil cackle, and she wriggled, managing to free her arm, but not before squeezing his hand first. It was funny how comfortable they were around each other already, touching and messing, like there were no boundaries between them, stopping them from doing whatever they wanted to do.

"Oh, you think you can escape, do you?" he said in a dark voice, using a powerful front crawl to reach her, splashing her in the process. "I'll throw you in again," he warned, "or," he glanced back at the boat, wondering if he'd be able to hang onto her long enough to toss her off the side. Probably not, as she was slippery and wet - she'd probably end up pushing him off instead. Didn't mean he couldn't do it of his own accord.

He completely changed direction, swimming towards the ship until it got too shallow, rising up out of the water, drops of it dripping from his body. He climbed up onto the ladder, making sure he didn't slip, before coming back to the front of the boat near where Natalie was. Before she had the chance to really pass comment, he climbed up onto the front railing, and dived off the top, plunging into the water.

[Natalie Blake]

"You started it," Natalie pointed out childishly, snickering. She felt extremely at ease with Will, like she'd known him forever. It was an odd sense of companionship, seeing as they'd only known each other for a few months--and only really gotten to know each other a couple weeks ago.

After their little water tirade, Will followed her, delivering a wave of water to her face. He threatened to throw her in again, but then trailed off with an "or..." She watched as he swam over to the boat, climbing up onto the sand before clambering up the ladder. Before she could ask him what he was doing, he'd raced to the front of the boat and jumped.

A laugh erupted from Natalie's throat as he plunged into the water next to her, and expression of amusement and bewilderment on her face. "What was that?!" she howled, beaming. She hadn't even thought of using the boat as a diving board. It worked. After a second of pause she snorted and made for the boat herself.

"My turn!" she laughed, grinning ear-to-ear as she quickly scaled the side of the boat. Racing to the front, she stepped up onto the railing and lifted her arms high above her head once before ducking into a a graceful dive. She barely made a ripple as she broke the surface, and that made her smirk a little. No doubt Will would make some sort of jibe about that.

Rocketing back to the surface, she smiled sweetly over at Will. "And that, my good man, is how it's done."

[William Blake]

They sounded like such five year olds, making jibes at one another, making lots of noise and splashing. It was probably a good thing that no one else was around to see them acting like this. They might get the wrong impression. Think that they were big children instead of two officers on shore leave just kicking back and having some fun.

Obviously, after his dive, she was going to want to have a go as well. It was the insult of his dive which made him go "harumph." He shook his head, "I'll tell you what, next time, I'll just dive bomb in instead and drown you in a tidal wave of water, how would you like that, huh?" he said, being petty about it now, before poking out his tongue at her again.

Will watched her as she made her way over to the boat, taking her dive, barely leaving a mark behind to show that she had entered the water in the first place. And now she was rubbing it in! "Pfffffft," Will said, "I'm, like, three times your weight in muscle, that's my excuse," he smirked lightly, "and I'm sticking to it."

Pulling her into him, he held her in a bear hug with a 'rawr' before plunging them both under the surface. That was as good as his come back got this time.

[Natalie Blake]

At Will's quip about drowning her in a tidal wave, Natalie grinned and shook her head at him. "You wouldn't and you know it!" she said laughingly. She knew that he was annoyed with her for poking fun at his dive, but she went to jump herself all the same.

When she came back up and jested him again, and his reply made her giggle. "Sure, sure. Stand by that if you will," she said coyly, splashing him lightly. No doubt to get back at her for all her poking-fun, Will suddenly pulled her into a bear-hug, and before she could blink she'd been pulled under the water.

They re-emerged from the water, laughing. It could have felt awkward in Will's arms, like Natalie was somewhere she shouldn't be, but it didn't. It felt like... the word made the smile on her face waver a little bit, but hopefully not enough to be noticeable. She hadn't meant to think it, in fact, that she had came as a complete surprise to her. But it was one-hundred percent true. Being in Will's arms felt like home.

Suddenly nervous, Natalie opened her mouth but closed it again. What could she say? Pushing herself out of his arms would raise questions, but staying there... she swallowed, her heart now pounding frantically in her chest. "U-um..." she stammered, looking down at her hands where they sat, fingers splayed, on his chest. She was at a loss for words.