<div class="floatleft">(http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/daniellex28/alizee-011_zps1zstvina.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Julie Lancaster (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=250173.msg12381790er#msg12381790)<br/><strong>City | Date | Time:</strong>Animal rehabilitation centre near Kruger National Park | March 17 2015 | 10:20 PM<br/><strong>Tagging | Mentioning:</strong>Elena/Nicole<br/><strong>Content:</strong>Playtime<br/><hr/><br/>The ease with which Nicole adjusted to the general atmosphere within the confines of the care centre was astounding, and Julianne was starting to wonder just why it seemed that she was the one being bashful about sharing a shower with another, when surely it shouldn't have been particularly unusual. Perhaps it had more to do with the fact that for once, it was a<em>girl</em>who was parading her naked body as if it wasn't anything - and it probably shouldn't be. Still, Julie briefly grew a lot quieter, and the redness on her cheeks wasn't quite justified by the water's temperature. She doused herself in the steady stream, her shoulderlength brown hair covering most of her face as she dipped her head until she ultimately had to turn around again for fear of giving herself away.<br/><br/>There were some cheap bottles of liquid soap available, not even scented. Julie pointed it out as she started scrubbing herself clean with what few pieces of toiletries she had strewn about here. It wasn't to say that everyone was honest as gold around here but the area was far too remote for thieves to enter. Besides, the only things worth stealing were medicine and equipment used to nurse the animals back to health and those<em>were</em>securely locked away. "You can have some of my shampoo if you like," she added helpfully, then, after only a moment's hesitation and some quiet scolding at herself for being a prude, turned off the shower, stepped out of the stall and handed it over. There was little in the ways of separating each little cubicle from the next; nothing but a three foot door that started at knee height and ended near the shoulders... depending on how tall you were, anyway. "I want to say it's worth bringing all your soaps and lotions and conditioner and whatnot, but really you shouldn't bother. Out here you'll be dirty again within moments, it's a wasted effort." Julianne grinned as she cast a look at Nicole, putting in a somewhat strenuous effort to keep her eyes level with hers. Not that there was a particular reason for her<em>not</em>to, it just... seemed impolite?<br/><br/>"I uh..." she began, and for a while Julie lingered in the middle path, glancing to the side. "I've actually only come back a few months ago. It's not my first time on the continent, my first time near Kruger Park though. I actually graduated as a vet last July!" She smiled absently, looking a little apologetic, as if showing off her hard-earned degree was something she simply didn't feel right about. And truth be told, her accomplishments since still felt like they weighed far heavier than her years and years of medical training. Her ranger diploma, though far less prestigious, felt like something that held a far more profound meaning than anything she had done, earned or accomplished in her life before that point. "My family thinks my degree is wasted here in the Ranger program," she continued, and now Julie was fidgeting, her fingers plucking at a healing cut on the back of her hand. "But I don't care what they think. I've learned a long time ago that the only way to be happy in life is to do what<em>you</em>want to do, not what other people expect you to. I..."<br/><br/>A light frown creased her features then, and after a moment Julie shook her head, causing long wet strands of hair to streak along her forehead. "Sorry, it's a bit early for the heartfelt revelations, isn't it?" she said, her eyes glinting. "Besides, I have a pretty amazing life. So much freedom, so much adventure and with the feeling that what I do actually makes a difference in the world. And I get to meet the most interesting people!" Finally, Julie decided to grab one of the rough, worn towels that were stacked on a shelf at the far end. Just like everything else they were covered with fine sand, and she gave them a good shake, taking care to turn her head away before beginning to dry herself off. "Like the other day, I picked up this amazing stranger off the streets of Africa. Could tell right off the bat that she was something special, and you know what? I was right." Now Julianne was actually lighting up as she tried her best to seem nonchalant about it all. Or maybe playful was a better way to describe it, although it was blatantly obvious that she was trying to pay the girl a compliment while trying to be casual about it. Which probably would have been a lot easier had the two of them not been stark naked right now. Nicole was someone who really didn't need close to make her look any prettier; if anything, her absence of clothes seemed to fit her beautifully. She was petite, slim and yet soft in a really pleasant way that Julie was sure girls in the western world would be jealous of. She felt a little skinny by comparison, and inadvertently glanced down at herself before pressing the towel to her chest, the look of delight slowly fading. Julie hadn't thought to bring a spare outfit - she hadn't really been thinking much at all about this, apparently - and ultimately decided to wrap the towel around her torso. Waiting for Nicole to finish her shower, she ended up gathering the dirty clothes and took them with her to the cabin, happy to be home again.<br/><br/>The interior was simple and sparse, but the reddish wood and the oil lamp inside added such a warmth to it that it felt inviting and like a place you could easily unwind, even if it consisted of little more than two beds, a couple of shelves, a wardrobe and a tiny sitting area near the window. There was a small bathroom, but it was clear that this was a place mostly reserved for sleeping and really, who would want to spend much time inside when they had such a world of beauty around them?<br/><br/>Julie looked around for a moment, scratching the back of her neck as she made a not too startling discovery. "I guess your bags didn't make it here yet," she observed. "But then I guess it was a bit too much to ask for Roy and the lot to act like our personal bellhops. If you want any favours done you need to make sure you got something to bribe them with. Scotch and cigarettes, although they're absolute suckers for Cadbury, too." Julie rolled her eyes. "Trying to keep them from melting is a bit of a challenge, admittedly."  The distraction couldn't keep her occupied for long though, and soon she turned to Nicole, finding that the girl had already settled. A look of confusion took hold of her then; had she explained herself wrong? She was fairly sure that she'd pointed out which bed was which correctly, and if her words weren't enough, then surely the fact that that one was covered in an abundance of old pillows and a teddy bear wearing a Union Jack outfit would make it pretty obvious that the bed was in use. And yet Nicole sat there without a care in the world, and although she appeared pretty innocent, Julie had an inkling that she wasn't quite as blissfully oblivious as you would be inclined to believe.<br/><br/>"Uhm..." she began somewhat haphazardly, and Julie shifted her balance from her toes to her heels and back, looking strangely lost in her own lodge. "I'm sure they left it in the big hut though, we'll just have to pick up your stuff tomorrow. Here," she added, and quickly Julie paced to the wardrobe, yanking the door open and retrieving one of the shirts she owned. The amount of clothes she owned was laughable, not to mention very similar and surely the fact that she'd grabbed two identical sand coloured t-shirts only added to that fact. "Here, you can wear this tonight," she told Nicole, tossing her the item of clothing. Another brief moment of hesitation ensued; there really was little room for prudishness and yet it took Julie a moment to decide to unwrap the towel and let it slip to the floor before tugging the tee over her upper body.<br/><br/>By the time she returned to her bed, Nicole had not stirred in the slightest, and rather than lingering on the forwardness - or how unusual it was - Julie decided to just roll with it. Pacing to the foot end of the bed, she more fell than sat down, crouching somewhat haphazardly across to the stack of cushions. She began to rearrange them until they offered a lovely pile to lean up against, then pulled the blankets away. Even in the warm climate of South Africa Julie could not bear sleeping without one, and she crawled under the sheets, pulling them halfway up her midriff before invitingly patting on the empty spot beside her. It wasn't so much her being too forward as Julie doing the one thing that made sense in this moment, and so it wasn't at all surprising that Nicole would comply. It was a little surreal to feel a warm body next to her in bed; Julianne hadn't come to Africa to start a relationship - the life here hardly allowed for such a thing - and it had been a long time since she had shared her sleeping place with someone else. You know, unless you counted falling asleep on top of Khara in the muddy enclosure from sheer exhaustion.<br/><br/>"Hey Nicole?" Julie, who had crossed her arms loosely on top of the sheets, glanced up at the ceiling. The lantern was still burning on the little side table that stood between the beds, but she had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon. After a few moments of silence, her gaze deviated to the girl beside her, and Julie wiggled her shoulders, pushing herself further into the pillows until she was perfectly comfortable. She could feel Nicole's shoulder warmly against hers, the sensation comforting in a way that surpassed rational sense. It reminded her of when they had been propped up next to one another in the jeep, and Julie wondered if she was the real reason she had nodded off so easily on the return trip. "It's weird, right? I mean, of course it's weird. Me inviting you to leave everything behind and come here, and you being crazy enough to accept." Julie sighed wistfully. "It's definitely weird," she decided, and to this the girl turned onto her side, properly facing the girl. Her hand, without thinking, found its way to Nicole's upper arm, fingers gently taking hold just to satisfy that need for physical contact, to establish that connection that, really, was there regardless. "But you know what's even weirder?" she continued, gently smiling.<br/><br/>"It doesn't feel weird at all."