Danger Is What You Taste Like | Sam Drake x Lara Croft

8. Sacrifice

"You kids are crazy. Just be careful out there."

The storm had died down sometime before dawn and while the likelihood of it starting up again -- if her weather charts were accurate, that is -- was relatively high, Lara had decided not to waste another moment and trudged out of the inn at dawn so they could go exploring before it got too hot out. Sam had agreed to come along and was quite happy when he realized he was going to be alone with Lara.

"Always am, Victor," Lara assured him. Sully's voice crackled over the radio one last time as he wished them good luck and then hooked her trusty walkie-talkie back onto her belt.

Sam's eyes trailed down her back to the battered yellow walkie talkie she carried around like it was a memento -- a very useful one, at that -- but then he quickly glanced away before they went any lower or worse, that she caught him admiring her, ahem, assets.

Lara still preferred trekking through mud over shuffling through a downpour, for it was one less hazard she had to worry about, but wasn't afraid of a little rain either and waved Sam along as she trudged deeper into the dense forest, ducking under low-hanging branches and slashing at bushes that happened to be in the way with her machete.

"So was it worth it staying up all night?"

They had barely gotten three hours of sleep before the sun rose and Lara had come knocking on his door, asking if he was willing to accompany her. Her eyes had glittered with excitement, a different kind from the sparkles that had filled her eyes when they played cards, and Sam hadn't been able to deny her despite being rather tired and in need of rest.

At this point, she could ask him to do just about anything and he would happily oblige.

"Of course it was! I bested you in cards, didn't I?"

"You just got lucky."

"Lucky?" Lara scoffed. "I swept the floor with you, admit it!"

"Okay, okay, you won... this time!" Sam conceded. "Say, uh... best two out of three?"

"Fair enough. We'll have our rematch later."

Sam flashed her an amused half-grin of sorts before opening his mouth to fire back with another playful retort but he was interrupted by someone shouting, "ah, Lara, just the person I was looking for!", killing the lighthearted mood between him and the tomb raider faster than any bullet ever could.

"What are you doing here?" she complained, making no secret of her disdain for the earl's son as he pranced towards her like he owned the place.

"I could ask you the same thing, old girl!"

"I'm working," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Not doing... whatever it is you're doing."

"All work and no play! That explains why you never respond to my letters! You know, you won't be able to avoid my proposal forever!"

"She's way out of your league, buddy," Sam scoffed, making no effort to hide his disdain for David. "She's too smart and too pretty for the likes of you."

He... thinks I'm pretty? Lara thought. She knew she shouldn't have been so surprised -- after all, even with the slight gaps in her memory, she could clearly recall the night at the Rossi Estate when Sam had indeed called her gorgeous -- but was flattered by his compliment nonetheless.

"I don't believe I asked you for your opinion," David sniffed. "What makes you think you're better than the likes of me?"

"We're not talking about me, though; we're talking about you," Sam countered coolly, though there was a noticeable bite to his words that concerned Lara, for she had never seen him -- or heard him -- so irritated.