its the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine) // ian malcolm

iv. eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn

Man, Hammond wasn't kidding. This place was hot as balls.

The moment Ronnie stepped out into the Costa Rican sun, she wished she was wearing less clothing. She had opted for something she would have worn back in Australia, but apparently Costa Rica was hotter than Australia. Her camisole was already sticking to her skin beneath her light jacket and she had just stepped out of the helicopter. 

Everyone she had told at Harambe had been ecstatic when she broke the news. Of course it was worth it! The rhinos would be fine without her. Hell, everyone would be fine without her. She had had a moment of skepticism, wondering if this was really the best time to be away and if it was all a hoax, but Betty had told her to live a little.

As if she hadn't stopped a herd of stampeding rhinos that morning.

Anyway, here she was, stepping off a chopper to what was surely going to be the most profitable weekend of her life. 

"Dr. Aaker! Hello!" John Hammond called to her as he hobbled up to the helicopter. 

"Hello, Mr. Hammond." Ronnie said, wiping the loose strands of her ponytail out of her face as the helicopter's blades winded down. "Is this the island?"

"Oh, no my dear. We're all just gathering here before we fly over. You'll know the island when you see it," he said, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Mhmm." Ronnie pulled her luggage from the helicopter. Mr. Hammond had already started back down the path, waving her to him with his cane. 

"Come on, my dear. Let's get you a drink before we take off, shall we?"

Ronnie didn't think there was enough alcohol in the world to make her enjoy his presence. Tolerate it, maybe. "That sounds perfectly wonderful, Mr. Hammond." 

"Oh, please, call me John!"

He offered her his arm and Ronnie shifted her luggage so she could take it. "You know, I really am quite glad you could make it, Dr. Aaker. Top of your field! Imagine it! We will have four specialists in one place, five, if you count myself." 

Ronnie couldn't resist. "And what would you be an expert in, Mr. Hammond?"

"I like to think of myself as a bit of a practical joker," he said, grinning up at her. 

"Really," Ronnie said, dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, yes. I wanted to be a stand-up comedian for a time when I was a boy. That stunt I pulled with your personal relations assistant- what was his name? Leonardo? Lewis?"

"Lennard? Lennard Devon?"

"That's the one!" He laughed to himself and shook his head. "Ah, I told him I'd cut your expenses, as if I would ever do that..."

Ronnie let out a single burst of laughter, which quickly bubbled into a full-on attack. "That was a joke?" she wheezed.

"Well, yes it was, and a very good one, by the looks of it!"

The whole reason she was here was built on a lie- a fucking piece of nonsense made up by an old man. Maybe he was tolerable, after all. "It's a very good joke, John."

"Thank you, Dr. Aaker." 

She smiled and decided to give the man some ground. "Call me Veronica."

He seemed absolutely elated by that, and practically skipped his way down the rest of the dirt path. A little restaurant came into view, with cheap iron-wrought tables and decaying awnings. John Hammond waved a hand at the tables and checked his watch. "Make yourself at home Dr. Aak- I mean Veronica." He smiled at her like a child sharing a secret. "I need to collect our paleontologist and botanist, but I will be back shortly. We leave in 15 minutes!"

"Thank you, John," Ronnie said, settling into a chair. She pulled a book out from her bag and flipped to her spot. She also yanked her jacket off and tied it around her waist. She was as hot as she had been that first summer at the reserve, professionalism be damned.

A waiter came to take her order. If this was what the whole trip would be like, then Ronnie was very excited to spend some time on this island, even if Hammond seemed hellbent on keeping things moving. Nonetheless, she wasn't going to pass up 15 minutes to read her book. It was a mathematics book, something most people found boring, but Ronnie thought it was more just in how it was taught. Mathematics could explain how the world worked. And if it weren't for the public school system, maybe more people would see it as a tool instead of a hindrance.  She considered the menu for a moment and ordered something called a pineapple mojito.

"Pineapple?" 

Ronnie looked up to make out a figure standing directly in front of the sun, shrouded in sunlight. They leaned forward slightly, and Ronnie blocked the light as best she could with her hand to see a man dressed all in black, with thick curly hair and the cutest smile she had ever seen.

"I would've had you pegged as a coconut kind of girl."

・🦕✦・🦖・✦🦕・

this was kinda a filler, sorry about that. I have way to much fun writing hammond. he's like a caricature of himself. we've got malcolm in the next chapter!

❤︎