for Karen

[formerfratboy]

Nick was pretty proud of himself for managing to pull this off. It had taken him a while, but he managed to find a nice little spot on the island that was still relatively isolated, but not within dinosaur territory. In other words, nice and secluded, but not a place where he and Karen would get eaten. (It said a lot about his life now that this was actually a routine, legitimate concern.)

He'd spent some time over the past few days cleaning the area out and made it presentable for their little getaway: a picnic area here, a little lean-to there, some strategically arranged island flowers to make the place look pretty. The spot he'd found was a good walk away from the rest of civilization, which made it even less likely that there would be any interruptions. It was as close to a private, romantic vacation as they'd get.

He and Karen had been walking for a little while, but a quick look ahead told him that they were nearing the spot he'd picked out. "Come on," he said, grabbing Karen's hand to lead her up the trail, "we're almost there, now."

Comments

[callofkaren]

"Finally," Karen said, more with excitement than impatience. She'd worked on being incredibly patient as Nick did whatever he'd done, and that was finally paying off. "I've been dying to see what you've been up to since you started sneaking away to put it together."

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

Well, now Nick just hoped it would live up to expectations. "Just remember, I had limited materials to work with," Nick reminded her. Sure, maybe if he wanted to take months, he could have actually built a real little get-away hut and all sorts of things, but, well, he was only one man. "Just up through here." He reached ahead of him to push aside a group of low hanging branches blocking the entrance to the area he'd cleared. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing for Karen to go through.

[callofkaren]

"I'll keep it in mind," Karen said, giving Nick a quick kiss on the cheek as she passed by him, trying to contain her excitement.

It was harder to do so once she stepped into the little clearing, however. A suite in a four star hotel it was not, but Nick had done all of this for the two of them, and that was more than enough.

She walked ahead a few steps then spun around, a bright grin on her face as she looked back at Nick. "You are beyond amazing," she said, walking back and throwing her arms around his neck. "I love it."

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

Nick hugged her back, allowing himself to exhale in relief. It was a little silly, to be worried that she somehow wouldn't like it. It was a deserted fantasy island, though, and he worked with what he had available, which was, well, not much.

"Good," he said, leaning in to kiss her briefly, "I'm glad. It's as close as I could get to some swanky five-star stuff." The Bellagio, it was not, but they could both use their imaginations.

[callofkaren]

"Five star stuff is overrated," Karen said easily, moving back in the clearing, one hand gripping Nick's to pull him along. "Come on, show me around."

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

"Of course, the grand tour." Nick grinned broadly, and began to lead Karen around the clearing. He'd had one too many hoteliers give him grand schpiels about their luxury hotels; this would be the best Island Resort Tour that Karen ever had. "On your left, you have the world class restaurant and lounge," he said, walking them past the picnic area, complete with checkered blanket and picnic basket. (Alright, the blanket was less your traditional red checked one than some sort of pink and black monstrosity, and the basket was actually a box he'd swiped from the kitchen, but still.) "Meals are served twenty-four hours a day, and the bartenders, I'm told, are very good at mixing tropical drinks."

"If relaxation is what you're after, well, there's a private beach mere steps away from the resort, and with the weather always being nothing but beautiful -- except for things like hurricanes and occasional snowstorms -- you should feel content to do nothing more than lay around and soak up the sun for hours on end." He led Karen through one of the flower-strewn paths he'd created, leading up to the lean-to he'd put together. "And, after your long, tiring day, you'll want to retire to your world-class, all amenities room, including a handmade bed and, of course, some candles for, shall we say, mood lighting? I will, of course, be at your service throughout your stay, if there's anything you need."

[callofkaren]

"I love it," Karen enthused, feeling it needed to be said again, and probably would be said a few hundred more times in the next few days. The island had long since become less a tropical getaway and more a home, which made something like this all the better. "I really love it. Thank you, Nick."

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

"You're welcome," he said, squeezing her hand. "You deserve it, I figured. We deserve it," he added. It was tough, forging a real relationship in the first place -- at least, it had always been tough for Nick. Add to that the whole island factor and all the weirdness inherent in that, and it was like a whole universe designed to make normal life as difficult as humanly possible. They'd managed it, somehow, and Nick wasn't going to ask questions; he was just going to be thankful. "So," he said, gesturing his free hand in a sweeping motion, at the clearing in front of them. "the place is yours, to relax, or sleep, or, you know, whatever."

[callofkaren]

"I am going to relax my ass off," Karen declared, turning around once again to get another look at everything. She absolutely loved it all. "Seriously, I'm going to reach peak levels of relaxation nobody has ever reached before."

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

"That is the best plan I've heard in a long time," Nick agreed. "You, me, some mangoes and some island flowers of indeterminate origin. Relaxing." It seemed almost silly, if he thought too hard about it. After all, they lived on a tropical island where they didn't need to hold down real jobs or worry about where their next meals would come from. But it was always nice just to get away from it all, especially now, when it seemed like everyone else was just getting away from the island.