OOM: Travelling with Jemma.

[runningred]

Jay leans on the bar, dressed in his scruffy black leathers. His bike parked just inside the door, ready to go.

He grins to Jemma as she joins him. "Ready to go, Princess?"

Comments

[protect_and_survey]

There's a pause while she tries to remember from boarding-school forced-culture classes. The quote sounds familiar, but she can't quite place it.

She's deep into copying an interesting pattern carved into a lintel when suddenly she laughs.

"Van Gogh! I knew I had heard that somewhere."

[runningred]

"I got caught up in a stake out at the Gotham Museum of Art for... about a week and a half. I think I can give almost every tour they have."

[protect_and_survey]

"Oh, that sounds wonderful." She grins, then pauses and backpedals furiously. "Oh, not the stake-out bit, I'm sure it isn't wonderful waiting for someone who might be violent and it's terrible they were at a museum but... a week at an art museum."
That'd probably actually be her upper limit before she needed to do some hard science, stat, but it'd be a wonderful few days in the meantime.

[runningred]

"It wasn't that bad, even when the stake-out paid off. Turned out to be someone we knew and it wasn't hard to distract her from when she had in mind." Well, that's not exactly what happened but close enough. "On the upside I learnt a lot about art."

[protect_and_survey]

"It's a very good upside - I know just enough to get myself in trouble, and sound vaguely intelligent when someone talks about what they did on the weekend." Just enough that when someone mentions a name she can reply with 'oh, French Impressionism!' and then pray that they don't ask what she thinks about their use of color.

[runningred]

"I pretty much knew nothing before that week. It was impressively educational. The tour guides assumed I was hiding out from bullies or something and kinda took me under their wing. It made for a fantastic cover and I learnt a lot." He wonders through the ruins, stopping every now and then to take photos or admire the architecture.

[protect_and_survey]

She burns through half of a notebook before finding herself on a rocky outcropping on what was probably once a very important road, soaking in sunlight and watching the birds argue amongst themselves overhead.

Even workaholic diehard science geeks have a hard time resisting the lure of a nice sunny spot with a gorgeous view.

[runningred]

Jay pulls himself up a seat next to her, closing his eyes as he turns his face up to the sun. "Having fun?"

[protect_and_survey]

"Loads." Her smile has lost it's manic edge of 'Must Study All The Things' in the face of this place's tranquility. "I never could have imagined there are places in the world like this. It's so different than just pictures."

[runningred]

Jay shoulder bumps her warmly. "Some things can't be studied from afar. Sometimes you've got to throw yourself over the edge and just feel."

His phone rings and he excuses himself for a moment, chatting away in fluent French.

He comes back after a few minutes with a grin on his face. "Pulled a few stings. We have a dinner reservation and a place to crash tonight."

[protect_and_survey]

"Fantastic - in Tangiers, or...?" She trails off questioningly, tucking the bangs that have inevitably escaped her pony tail behind her ear.

[runningred]

"Talassemtane actually. It's a bit of a ride but I promise it'll be worth it."

[protect_and_survey]

"I'm looking forward to it then. I suppose that means we should be getting on?" She asks, dusting rock dust off her trousers as she stands. She's fully aware that she can happily get buried in the details of any interesting project, and as much as she could very easily spend days here, it would be a shame to miss everything else.

[runningred]

"We can take our time and stop along the way if you spot something you want to check out." He gets up and dusts himself off, wandering back towards the bike.

[protect_and_survey]

"Oh goodness, we may never get anywhere with that sort of leeway." She grins self-deprecatingly as she follows. "Don't you know everything is interesting?" But she settles back behind him without making any mad dashes for More Studying back amongst the ruins.

There are some agents who would be duly impressed. Or at least a bit surprised.

[runningred]

"I'll keep us on track, don't you worry." Jay laughs, kicking the bike into gear.

He takes them off the highway and onto some back streets. There is so much history here, so much time invested in the land. He finds interesting places to stop along the way - little villages and old ruins, outcrops of coloured stone and interesting plants.

[protect_and_survey]

As the afternoon ticks away, Jemma's glad she managed to pack more than one notebook - even in her cramped shorthand, she's filling pages and pages with questions and comments and descriptions, sketches scattered throughout to break up the wall of text. She's also learned how to move with the bike (somewhat), and what fun it is to not have to worry about what time it might be now.

"Is that Talassemtane up ahead?"

[runningred]

"That's it. It's one of the larger national parks in Africa."

There's a rather large four-wheel drive waiting for them at the gate. The very tall, very dark African gentleman is sitting on the hood. "Mr Todd, I presume? We've been expecting you."

Jay brings the bike up next to him, flipping up his helmet with a smile. "Nice of you to meet us."

"Your donation was more than generous, the least we can do is drive you in." He greets Jemma with a very wide smile and holds a hand out to her. "I'm Chilogola but most people call me Chill."

[protect_and_survey]

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister Chill." Jemma replies warmly, shaking his offered hand with a friendly, professional air. "Your park is terribly lovely, thank you ever so much for offering your services."

At the very least, years of boarding school have drummed manners into her. Even if she's pretty sure at this point that there's no possible way she's going to be able to get off this bike gracefully, after a long day of riding.

[runningred]

"Just Chill," He smiles, "And I'm happy to be your guide. We've put a lot of work into this place, we're pretty proud."

Jay offers her an hand off the bike. "We're looking forward to seeing it. Mind if I put the bike on the back of the truck? I'm guessing it's a rough track in?"

"Sure, no worries." Chill opens the door of the truck for Jemma, offering her a hand up before helping Jay to manhandle the bike onto the back.

Given the truck only has a bench seat, Jay elects to ride in the tray, smiling happily as he grips the bar across the back. "You okay in there, Jem?"

[protect_and_survey]

Definitely not graceful, she decides, but thankfully no one seems to feel the need to comment on it.

(Fitz would have. And then she would have commented on his helmet hair, and then... well. That's usually the point the conversation devolves into them talking over each other anyway, with most other people backing away hurriedly. She does hope Fitz is doing alright. Even though he's not even going to have time to miss her, really.)

"Doing quite well - you will be careful back there?"

[runningred]

"Always!" Jay grin, letting the breeze make an even bigger mess of his hair. Jay managed to be scruffy at the best of times.

Chill drives them up into the mountains, navigating the almost invisible track with ease. "I know Mr Todd's been involved with us before but what brings a lovely lady like yourself to our reserve?" He asks, politely friendly than flirty.

[protect_and_survey]

Here, Jay. Have a prime example of the number one reason no SHIELD agent has yet given Simmons a job remotely resembling field work.

She can't come up with a story on the fly to save her life.

"Ah..." She can't say 'motorcycle' because that's daft and the elaborate story she thinks up involving three international murders and a case of ebola is just ridiculous and oh lord he's still waiting for an answer and she doesn't know what to say.

"Well..."

[runningred]

Jay still has his comm. in his ear and ducks down to call through the back window of the truck. "Jemma's a biologist. She wanted to meet the Barbary macaques."

"Ah!" Chill brightens. "A scientist! As long as you're more interested in protecting than dissecting, you're more than welcome here!" He jokes good-naturedly. "Our sanctuary has the second largest population of Barbary macaques on the continent and is by far the better protected."

The truck trundles between two very large rocks and through a squeeze in the cliff that looks like it should take paint of them as they slide through. Something clicks and a massive gate ahead of them slides open, allowing them to drive down into a forested valley. "Welcome to Eden."

The valley stretches out before them, so full of life that is echoes with the calls of birds as the sun sets against the rim of the mountains that protect it.

[protect_and_survey]

She beams back at Jay in thanks - she just never knows what to say in these sorts of situations. Jemma will never admit to clinging to the door handle like her life depends on it as they squeeze past the rocks, but forgets entirely about holding on when the view opens up.

"Oh, good heavens, that's gorgeous!"

She's so distracted by the view (and all of the bird calls - she's going to have her hands full categorizing them all - that she doesn't even mind that the ground drops off into the valley below beyond the road's edge.