man destroys god || i. malcolm

3

Aria stuck her tongue out at the camera, and she could just imagine the look on Hammond's face. She smiled at the thought of the old man getting annoyed.

They'd moved on from the Tyrannosaurus Rex paddock and been driving for barely a minute before the car abruptly stopped. Aria hardly had time to look out the window and see Grant running into the field before Tim opened the door.

"Timmy!" Aria reached for the boy, but narrowly missed his bandana and he was off. She sighed, following him out. Lex grabbed her hand as they all walked with Dr. Grant, completely oblivious to whatever he was heading towards. Tim was, already, talking his ear off and Lex had moved on to trick Grant into holding her hand. Ellie and Aria made eye contact, laughing at Dr. Grant's misfortune.

Aria hadn't noticed that Dr. Malcolm was right on her tail until he bumped into her lightly. She nearly jumped out of her skin. "Trouble with the kids earlier?"

Turning to look at him was a mistake. Fake-boyfriend Mark and Sunny the dog, who were waiting for her at home, instantly vanished from her mind as the chaotician held her gaze. He'd left his leather jacket in the car. The sleeves of his dark button-down shirt were rolled up to his elbows and the first few buttons were left open, revealing a patch of his tanned chest. Keeping his hands on his hips, he was clearly purposefully holding this ridiculous stance. It worked quite well for him, however embarrassing it may be for any other man.

Aria tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I heard Hammond over the radio. Talking about 'hands to yourself' and foul language?" He looked down at her through his dark glasses. She took a second to collect her thoughts. She was not usually so affected by men. Women flustered her much more.

But wow, was this man charismatic.

"Oh! No, the kids were fine. That, yeah, that was for me. I hit the lawyer and called him an asshole."

Dr. Malcolm let out a short laugh. "You hit him? What could he have done to deserve that?"

"He put his hands on me first, I'll let you fill in the gaps on that one."

Ian simply hummed in understanding and nodded. "You're free to join me in the other car." He winked and leaned closer.

"Don't start, Malcolm." Aria shot him a look. The man was handsome. Too handsome, there had to be something wrong with him. And Aria didn't want to find out what. She actually really did want to, she hadn't had any real fun in ages. If only she could do something spontaneous for once.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Whatever the lady wants."

They reached what Alan had fled the car for. A sick triceratops was lying on the ground, breathing shallowly. Tim was way up front, beating even Alan to it. Aria called out to the boy to keep back, but knew it wouldn't do anything. Once Tim Murphy sets a plan, he will not give it up.

Everyone got closer to the dinosaur, but Dr. Malcolm held back. Aria dug her camera out of her bag and started taking pictures from a distance. "What, Malcolm, afraid of dinosaurs?" She teased.

"No, no. Not exactly afraid, Miss Mayfield. Cautious. I think we both know the risks of this, uh, family fun theme park."

Aria simply gave him a smirk. "Whatever you say, scaredy-cat. I'm following the brave doctors, you stay here if you like."

Ian furrowed his brow and followed her closer to the triceratops. Alan was already leaning against the creature, observing everything about her. Ellie was working with the park doctor to figure out what was wrong with her. "Every six weeks, you say?"

The doctor nodded.

Aria spoke up for the first time. "Is she in heat or something? If it's regular?"

Ian chuckled behind her. Aria reached back to smack his arm without sparing him a glance.

The park doctor, Dr. Harding, considered it for a moment, before turning to Ellie for her opinion.

"No, it's gotta be pharmacological. From local plant life."

The woman ran off. The rest of the group followed her. "Is this West Indian Lilac?"

The park doctor looked closer. "Yes. We know they're toxic, but the animals don't eat 'em."

Ellie looked skeptical, before standing. "I'll have to see the dinosaur's droppings."

Dr. Malcolm looked absolutely appalled. He scratched his head. Aria followed Ellie before she could catch whatever Ian mumbled.

Ellie had already dug out a glove and was digging through the pile of, well, shit. She began recounting all the information they'd received.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Hey, uh, what do we think about getting back in those cars?" Aria called out. She glanced nervously up at the sky.

Ellie insisted on staying with the dinosaur and Dr. Harding, who promised to bring her back to the visitor center later. Everyone agreed to get back in the cars before the inevitable downpour.

Gennaro was all too excited to get Aria back in the car with him, and that's when Aria made the worst decision of her short life so far. She reached over to Tim and Lex, kissing the top of each of their heads.

"Be safe, kiddos, alright? I can't be in the car with that man again. Ignore him and don't fight with each other. We'll be back to the visitor center in no time and get dinner."

The kids nodded. For being so young, they were very able to pick up on social cues and understood exactly why Aria had no desire to stay with Gennarro.

Aria would never leave them if she didn't think they were absolutely safe. The lawyer may be an idiot, but he wouldn't hurt the kids in the short ride back. Her worry was that he'd hurt her.

So she made the grave mistake and climbed into the back seat of the second car.

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eep