NCIS. Abby/Kate. 015. Blue. *
Title: A Study in Cerulean
Fandom: NCIS
Characters: Abigail Sciuto, Caitlin Todd
Prompt: 015 Blue
Word Count: 531
Rating: G
Summary: Two women and the sea, as observed by a silent witness.
Author's Notes: The problem with this kind of story? No ending. But I wanted to use the picture of Sasha in the banner *points* and this popped into my head. Hope you enjoy this snapshot! ;-D (BTW: I may end up using that picture in another banner. It's too gorgeous not to.)
Little Damn Table
I went out onto the balcony to enjoy my morning coffee, to read the paper in relative silence. This is why I left the city, this is why I chose to spend my vacation on a little-known island an entire state away from my office. The ocean breeze, the ocean smells, it was a wake-up call to my soul, a way to recharge the batteries for another few months.
Every morning, I paused before sitting down to devour the current events, looking out over the water. This morning, I spotted a peculiar sight down below the hotel. A slender woman, her brown hair whipping about her head like a dervish. She was wearing the thinnest of blue gowns, the material of her underwear visible even from this distance.
I'm old, I'm married, but I am not dead. I watched the woman purely for safety reasons. Had a sudden wave deigned to crash nearby, she would be knocked into the water and swept out to sea. I watched as she walked along the breakwater, her bare foot curling against the rock before she put her weight upon it. She kept to careful movements, each switch of limb chosen and planned carefully before it was executed.
She was almost to the edge of the breakwater, at the very farthest tip before there was nothing before her but ocean, when the other woman appeared.
Also barefoot, also wearing a thin diaphanous gown, moved after the brunette. She was a study in absolute contrasts with the first lady; where the first woman wore blue, this new arrival was dressed in white. The first walker had darkly-tanned skin, while I wondered if the second had ever seen much sun in her life. Finally and most obvious, the second woman's arms, legs and back were darkened with several ornate tattoos.
Also differentiating them were their gaits. Where the first woman had tentatively traversed the rocks, the second moved with almost giddy randomness. She jumped from one rock to the next, switching feet at random. Several times, it seemed as if she had no landing place in mind when she took off, landing on a stone only by chance. Twice I gasped and closed my eyes, certain that she'd surely been dashed upon the rocks. But every time I looked again, she was farther ahead.
When she reached the other woman, they wrapped their arms around each other. Ah, I thought, adjusting my glasses. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment, smiling at myself because I knew there were far more numerous reasons why ladies such as that would be uninterested in one such as me.
They stood on the breakwater for a long moment, the tanned brunette in blue stepping back when the waves crashed at her bare feet. She put a hand in the small of the other woman's back, nodding towards the hotel. The other woman nodded and they walked back together, matching the inked woman's earlier pace. Apparently, the brunette felt safer with the quicker pace if she was with the other woman.
I watched until they were out of sight before taking a seat, turning my newspaper to the crossword puzzle.