OOM - out in the open

[onceaviking]

The rented car is a Range Rover this time. Without a driver.

The destination is a hot spring somewhere within sensible driving distance and Eric has assured Pam that yes, they will be back in time for sunrise and if they are not there is vampire friendly accommodation available close by.

The landscape is craggy and black, devoid of trees, as they drive through the night. Eric has been giving Pam an abbreviated synopsis of the history of Island, trying to be mindful of her interests.

".. so apparently, most of the recipes for dye came from the Hebrides or maybe Scotland, not Norway. Probably because they stocked up on women there."
As you do.

Comments

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam stares out through the tinted window at the eerily desolate landscape, wondering why people actually wanted to settle here.

She still wonders how Eric convinced her to just even come here.

But the near complete darkness, apart from the starlight, is nice.

She's still bored, though. Even with Eric talking about stuff.

"Well, you know Scots like their colors," she murmurs, mostly to the window. "Plaids and all."

Plaid. Ugh.

[onceaviking]

"Yeah," he says.

Plaid.

He likes that.
He knows better than mentioning it though.

He pulls into a small space between the road and the uneven ground rising besides it, presumably turning into a majestic cliff of some sort somewhere in the darkness.

"We're here," he tells her. "It's just a short walk from here. Oh, and there isn't a place to change so you might want to take care of that here."

The place had sounding amazing but now that they're here, looking at the darkness that does seem to solidify into rock a little ways away, he's beginning to reconsider.

Oh, he still thinks it'll be amazing, seeing as how it's a secluded lava cave being filled with water almost too hot for humans, but he suddenly feel a little reluctant in regards to telling Pam about it.

[lazy_but_loyal]

This is when Pam really wonders how Eric got her to come out here.

"No place to change?" she asks, a bit incredulous, her hand resting with some reluctance on the door handle. She's not moving just yet. "I thought it would be, like, you know, at the spa or Haldur's place but...well, in nature."

This is obviously not how nature works.

[onceaviking]

"Well," he says, slowly, "some places are like that. But -"

A pause.

"This one's a bit more - exclusive?"
As in secluded. And hard to access. And too hot for most humans.

"It's really warm."

It'll just be the two of them.
He almost says that - and then he doesn't.

[lazy_but_loyal]

"Exclusive," she repeats flatly.

Skeptical Pam is skeptical, but she supposes exclusive is a good thing.

After a moment or two, she finally opens the car door and steps out.

Her boots crunch on rocks.

She's not wearing actual hiking boots, of course. She wouldn't be caught dead (so to speak) in those ugly things. No, she's wearing boots that are fashionably impractical, with wedge-heels no less.

The air is crisp and clean and cold. With a hint of...something like...sulfur?

Pam opens the back seat door to get to her bag.

"I hope you know where you're going because I am not getting lost in the wilderness while wearing a bikini."

[onceaviking]

"Of course I know where it is," Eric says as he pulls off his shirt. "It's right over there."
Ish.

They'll just follow the smell.

"The water is close to 50 degrees Celcious, so humans are advised against bathing here. And yes, I've arranged for dinner when we get back home."

So she won't have to complain about that.

He toes off his boots and gets out of his jeans.
"Ready? Oh, right."

Swim wear.
Did he pack it?

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam pauses as she's unbuttoning her blouse and just...stares at Eric for a moment.

Because these are things that he should have told her before they left, so that she could say no. The look she gives him pretty much makes this clear.

She huffs a sigh and undoes the rest of the buttons on her blouse and takes it off, along with her boots and jeans. She's wearing her bikini under her clothes.

And then Eric is standing there, his pale skin almost luminescent in the starlight.

"I didn't quite envision spending the night getting back to nature with a naked Viking, but I guess it could be worse."

She digs into her bag and pulls out a pair of black swim briefs, which happens to match her bikini.

"Do you want this? You can- I dunno, hang it on a rock or something if you take it off later."

[onceaviking]

He takes the offered item of clothing and pulls them on.
Not because he thinks he needs it but because they match and sometimes, Pam gets a little - intense about that.

Then he offers her his arm.

"It's this way. The ground is a little uneven."

Or, you know, made entirely of something that was once molten lava.

[lazy_but_loyal]

She slips on a pair of sandals and ties a sarong (a completely different pattern from the previous one) around her waist because sometimes she's more conservative than people give her credit for.

"Uneven. Okay."

Goddamn, what is she doing.

She's taking Eric's arm and trudging through the Icelandic wilderness is what she's doing.

After slipping and tripping a few times along the way (her sandals aren't made for this terrain, or any sort of terrain, really), she finally snaps,

"What the hell is this ground made of? It's like melted glass."

[onceaviking]

"It's lava," he answers, studying her with one large hand.

"It used to be a very active vulcano."
Now it's just occasionally active.

He decides not to mention that.

"The cave was likely created by one of the eruptions, so it's quite deep and rather impressive?"

He did mention the part about the cave, didn't he?
Or didn't he?

[lazy_but_loyal]

"Lava?"

The word nearly makes her loose her footing.

"Cave?"

She stops completely. And glares at him.

"We are going into a cave made of lava inside a volcano?! For fuck's sake, Eric!"

[onceaviking]

"It's really impressive."

That didn't sound quite as self assured as he would have liked.

"The water's really nice. And warm."

It'll be great!

"It's not a very active volcano."

Trailing off.

[lazy_but_loyal]

"And that's supposed to be reassuring? Not very active, my ass."

Thoroughly irritated, she turns with a flip of her hair to head back to the car, intending to make a grand and haughty exit, except that she stumbles.

"Goddammit!"

She catches herself before she falls, and she rips off her sandals. Her bare feet give better traction.

[onceaviking]

He knows better than to laugh.

"Come on, Pam. Just half an hour."

He really wants to. You can tell.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Facing away from him, she grits her teeth.

So he really wants to.

They came all the way here and she doesn't want to argue and besides she would do anything for him but jesus christ a lava cave--

"Fine."

She turns around and marches straight up to him.

"But you are taking me shopping tomorrow."

[onceaviking]

He nods.

"And we have reservations at a spa. A regular one."

Offering her his arm again, hoping to have weathered this particular storm.

It's a fairly short walk in the end.
The entrance to the cave is unassuming, and quite narrow. And it's really dark too. Good thing vampires have great eyesight.

[lazy_but_loyal]

And Pam takes his arm again, accepting the compromise.

She holds onto him even tighter once they reach the cave, because cave. Also, volcano.

Following his lead and carefully stepping where he steps, they make their way deeper inside. The air gradually becomes more damp and humid as the sound of dripping water echoes off the rocky walls.

"There are no bats in Iceland, are there?"

She glances up and around.

[onceaviking]

There's been an increase in bats in Iceland lately.

Not here probably.

"I can't hear any," Eric replies as the narrow passage widens.

The ceiling rises, obscured by the rising steam from the hot water. The sounds of the water moving echoes against the half hidden walls and the low light is reflected on the surface.

[lazy_but_loyal]

That's a comfort. She just doesn't want them swarming and getting in her hair.

Still clinging to Eric's arm, Pam takes in the view as they finally come upon the hot spring. Not much in impresses her as a general rule, but okay, this is pretty cool.

Still, though. Volcano. Why are they even in here.

"I can already feel why humans shouldn't come here to skinny dip. Unless they wanna be medium-rare."

[onceaviking]

Eric looks around.
"There's a shallow pool over there," he says, pointing.
" I was going to take a quick swim."

It's a cave . On top of a volcano .
How cool can it get?

[lazy_but_loyal]

After a moment she says with a barely-there sigh, "Well, we're here, we might as well find one of the deeper pools, if you want. ...How deep can they get?"

[onceaviking]

"Pretty deep, I should think," he says, as he leads her further into the cave.

That is, after all, how it manages to get so hot.

"How about here?"

The water moves gently at the surface. Beckoning.

[lazy_but_loyal]

"Okay. Let's do this."

At the pool's edge, she finally lets go of Eric's arm. She takes off her sarong and wraps her sandals in them, and leaves them on a rocky crag that's distinct enough so she can find them later.

She pauses.

"You go first."

This is volcano water.

[onceaviking]

He looks at her over his shoulder.
She means it.

So he dives in. Literally.
Breaking the water smoothly and disappearing under under. Into the warmth.

[lazy_but_loyal]

She peers into the rippling water after Eric dives in. There doesn't seem to be a bottom, pitch black as it is. But she can make out Eric's form, gliding through the water like a shark.

Pam...is more like a cat. She dips her toes into the water first, and finds it to be quite warmer than the springs at the hotel and at Haldur's house. It's a more intense heat that actually feels kind of nice. Sliding her whole foot in, she gingerly eases herself down to sit on the edge of the pool. Both legs in now, she feels around with her feet for a ledge of rock wide enough to sit on.

Don't rush her, Eric.

Finally, she sinks into the water up to her shoulders and perches on the ledge. She tries to relax (volcano water) as she waits for Eric to surface.