February Writing Challenge: Bad Dates

[Sean *]

It's writing challenge time! To enter, just post a ficlet (300-4000 words suggested) in this thread. When the voting for this month's OTM winners comes around, a voting poll will go up for this as well.

The Challenge: We've all had bad dates, and the pressures of Valentine's Day not to be single tends to add to that. Write a story about a bad date your character has had. The date doesn't have to happen on Valentine's Day; it can be on any date of the year. Let your imaginations run wild.

The rules:

• Characters must be in Hammel canon, but the ficlets are not canon unless explicitly stated.
  
• Entries must be more than 300 words.
  
• You can enter no more than three ficlets. Any ficlets posted after the original 3 will not be considered for voting. If you want to post more, however, have fun.
  
• Story entries must be titled.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Bernadette

I got time on my hands tonight.
You’re the girl of my dreams.
When I’m near you, my future seems bright.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Erin asked him, as she straightened out her hair, ready to leave for her evening film class. Sean had finished with his classes for the day, but he had plans to meet Greg and Daphne for supper in twenty minutes. Erin’s class typically went long, and the telepath had an early class the next morning, which made sneaking off for an hour here and there all the more important.

“Homework, mostly.” They had no protests planned for this weekend, and he hadn’t heard any rumbles, neither through telepathy nor through more traditional channels of anything that he might want to investigate.

“Do you want to come up to my parents’ cabin?” Finished with her hair, she turned around just in time to see her boyfriend tilt his head in surprise.

“With your parents?”

“Definitely not.” Despite her emphatic tone, she didn’t shake her head, for fear of having to redo her hair. “They use it in the summer, but it’s clean. They said I can take friends up there as long as I replace whatever we use and clean up before we leave.”

“They won’t mind that I’m your boyfriend?”

“What they don’t know can’t hurt them.”

Sean could hardly argue with that logic. While he didn’t believe in the so-called principle that it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission, he did believe in selective reporting on the basis of ensuring privacy and peace of mind. Just as his parents had no idea that he was sexually active, or that he used birth control to facilitate that, or that he smoked pot with his friends, he could understand why Erin wouldn’t want to tell her parents that she and her boyfriend would be alone overnight in their cabin.

“It sounds like a blast. Should I bring anything?”

“We can stop at the store on the way there.”

“Sure thing.”

Erin crossed back to the telepath’s bed and leaned in; Sean met her halfway for a quick kiss. Then she wished him a good evening, grabbed her books, and left.

******************************

The cabin was only about two hours away, nestled safely in the Poconos. He and Erin had made great time, considering that the telepath never drove over the speed limit. His big blue van got decent gas mileage, and so they only had to stop once for gas, and they grabbed food at the nearby market. Nothing too complicated, but enough to get them through two days: chips, iced tea, juice, crackers (mostly for Sean’s glucose intake), some salad fixings, grapes and oranges, rice, a loaf of bread, two chicken breasts, some salmon, and an entire box of pastry. They’d taken beer with them before leaving.

Erin navigated while Sean drove, although that was largely unnecessary. She knew exactly where they were going, having made the drive herself so many times before, and, as a result, the telepath knew what she knew. The clear skies aided the driving conditions, and provided them with a gorgeous view.

The telepath’s parents didn’t have a vacation cabin in the Poconos or in the Hamptons, which worked out fine for their summer plans. Still, as they winded down the roads towards the wooded area where the cabin was located, Sean could appreciate what led people to take these cabins. It was peaceful here, and, with a proper building, they weren’t at the mercy of the elements, exposed to snow, rain, and wind, or to scorching heat in the dead of summer.

When they parked, Erin grabbed her bag and the beer, and Sean grabbed the assorted food bags after slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He followed behind his girlfriend as she led him to the front. After unlocking with the spare key, she threw open the door and stepped inside.

“Ta da!” Erin dropped her bag to the floor and set the beer down on the coffee table. Then she gestured around them, arms thrown wide to encompass the entire living room. “What do you think?”

“It’s nice.” Sean meant that, even though his general politeness and innate respect would prevent him from saying otherwise, even if he thought it was a dump or that the decorations were tacky.

The cabin was tastefully appointed, although the furniture was simpler than one might find in a year-round permanent home. Rather than hunting trophies adorning the walls, instead her parents hung reprints of Van Gogh’s irises and Seurat’s Grand Jatte.

“I’ll unpack and you can start cooking, or I can cook while you unpack. Your choice,” she told him.

Sean considered that briefly. “I’ll cook.” He didn’t qualify as a chef by any stretch of the imagination, but he could grill salmon, cook, rice, and put together a salad easily enough.

She crossed to room for a kiss, and he bent over to accommodate her. “I’ll be back in ten minutes,” she promised, before disappearing down the hall into what he assumed was one of the bedrooms.

He took the food bags in search of the kitchen to start on their supper.

************************************

Once they had unpacked, eaten, and washed dishes, Erin twinkled at him from across the kitchen table. “I didn’t tell you about the best part of going here.”

Intrigued, he asked, “And what’s the best part?”

“There’s a hot spring,” she said with a mischievous grin.

“You should have told me; I didn’t bring my swim trunks.”

“We don’t need them.” Still smiling, she explained, “There are barely any neighbors, and the hot spring is technically on our property line.

Although she didn’t say so aloud, Sean could read her loud and clear. We can go skinny-dipping.

Sean had never gone skinny-dipping before. He wasn’t much of an exhibitionist, and there weren’t many opportunities to do so in the middle of Manhattan. But he and Erin had been sleeping together for a while, and so he wasn’t worried about being naked around her, or about seeing her nude. Moreover, he liked swimming, hot springs felt wonderful, and, if they were as secluded as Erin said they would be, then he thought it was worth trying.

Mirroring her smile, he replied, “All right. Let’s go swimming.”

They took two bottles of beer and walked out to the hot spring in their clothes. Erin led the way, taking the time to point out places where she had particularly fond, or strong, memories from past family vacations. When they arrive, she kicked off her shoes and began to undress. Sean took longer, even though her enthusiasm was infectious. Once undressed, they dropped their clothing into a pile and stepped into the spring.

The water felt heavenly. Hot and soothing, Sean adapted almost immediately and began to swim around. Erin swam up beside him. “This goes all the way around. Follow me.” With that, she ducked down and began a butterfly stroke to a point he couldn’t see due to the darkness of the night. However, he could keep up with her easily enough and swam after her.

On the other side of the spring, Erin showed him where they could use rocks for support. One thing led to another, and they spent the next twenty minutes kissing.

Pulling back, she suggested, “Let’s-”

“Of course.” He knew what she meant. “But not out here. My condoms are back at the cabin.”

Although the telepath had only started having sex last year, he had already developed a reputation as a generous and courteous lover who never argued about birth control. Neither of them wanted to be parents, not yet.

“Okay.” She kissed him once more and then pushed off from the rocks to swim back around the spring. As with their journey to this side, Sean followed behind her until they reached the bank where they’d first stepped in. Climbing out, he sensed something was wrong. Erin hadn’t begun to get dressed.

“They’re not here,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Our clothes. They’re gone!”

Gone?

Frowning, Sean bent down and squinted, trying to see in the darkness. Walking carefully, he tried to feel about with his feet, but his toes only touched silt and grass.

This was a problem.

“Where did they go?”

“I don’t know!” He heard her take a deep breath. “Someone must have taken them.”

“I thought you said that this was on your property line.” And that she had barely any neighbors.

“It is, but we don’t have a fence.”

That was true; Sean hadn’t seen a fence when they drove onto the property. Now he wished he had, because he was standing by the side of the hot spring, hunched over a bit, trying to will his clothing back into existence because he didn’t want to think about having to walk back to the cabin in the buff.

“If I find mine, you can wear them,” he promised her, ever the gentleman. He didn’t relish the thought of this walk of shame, but he would rather do it alone if it meant that his girlfriend could cover herself.

No such luck. The closest he found to clothes was grass (in terms of texture) and the beer bottles (in terms of being unnatural, manmade products).

After what felt like an hour of looking, but had been closer to ten minutes in real time, Erin sighed again. “Let’s just make a run for it.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“I know.” She looked sympathetic, and her thoughts certainly echoed that. “Just cover yourself.”

Out of options, he did.

They both sprinted back towards the cabin. Erin, lighter and fleeter of foot, almost lost him as he ran, but the telepathy allowed him to find his way back. He all but slammed the door shut when he burst inside, and then he leaned against the wall to catch his breath, although mindful of rubbing his bare (and wet) backside against the décor.

Neither said anything for a bit.

Then, finally, Erin declared, “I’m going to take a shower and put on my nightgown.” Shooting him a meaningful look, she asked, “Want to join me?”

“Yes.” However, he took the time to make sure they locked the door before disappearing down the hall. He didn’t need anyone to break in and steal the rest of their clothing.

He couldn’t drive back on Sunday in his birthday suit.