Among the Shadows of Death (a Jurassic Park fic)

Chapter 5

Note: Did anyone else notice Jeff patting his hands in a rhythm on his thighs during the movie?? I had to point that little detail out to everyone who watched the movie with me and they all saw it for the first time

~ Lixian

Ian drummed a rhythm on his upper legs and began to rattle on "You see? The tyrannosaur doesn't obey set patterns or park schedules. It's the essence of Chaos." "I'm still not clear on Chaos." Ellie answered. "It simply deals with unpredictability in complex systems. Its only principle is the Butterfly Effect. A butterfly can flap its wings in Peking and in Central Park you get rain instead of sunshine." Alex and Ellie, both looking very confused, answered with Ellie gesturing that it flew over her head and Alex saying "How though-" "I made a fly by, I go too fast."

Alex noticed Alan looking out of the window, as if seeing something move. "Here. Give me your glass of water" Ian continued dipping his fingers in the water and taking Alex' hand in his own, which made said man turn his attention back to Ian. "Make it like a hieroglyphic. Now watch the way the drop of water falls on his hand."he said, facing Ellie. The drop of water slides down, following a vein on Alex' hand. He wasn't paying attention at all, Ian was holding his hand so carefully and gentle he couldn't help but stare at his hands. They were firm but also soft and warm, comforting.

"Ready?" Ian then turned to Alex "Freeze your hand. Now I'm going to do the same thing from the exact same place. Which way is the drop going to roll off?" "Oh -, uh, I don't know. The same way, I guess?" The droplet rolled towards the same direction as before but turned at the end for another route. "Because and here is the principle of tiny variations, the orientations of the hairs-" "Alan listen to this" Ellie said "- on your hand, the amount of blood distending in your vessels, imperfections in the skin -" "Imperfections?" "Not that his hands are, you know what I mean. They're microscopic, never repeat, and vastly affect the outcome. That's what?" "Unpredictability" Ellie answered. "And even if we haven't seen it yet, I'm quite sure it's going on in this park right now." Alex nodded in agreement.

He noticed Alan looking very cautious out of the window again and checking the door of the vehicle. Ian lowered his voice "Life's a lot like that, isn't it? You meet someone by chance you'll never meet again, and the course of your whole future changes. It's dynamic, it's exciting, I think." As he said that he slowly faced Alex, who was staring at Alan in confusion.

Then all of the sudden Alan bolts out of the car. "What the-" "There, there see?! I'm right again!" "Alan?" Ellie shouted behind him. "No one could have predicted Dr. Grant would suddenly jump out of a moving vehicle!" "Alan??" Ellie stormed after him. "There's another example!" "Heh, real cool and all, but maybe we should follow them and check up on Alan." Alex quickly squeezed in the hand that Ian was holding his with and followed the other researchers. "Here I am now, by myself, talking to myself- that's Chaos Theory! What the hell am I doing here? I'm the only one who knows what's going on-?" 

-

She was incredible, as faulty as they are, it's still a beautiful sight. The reptile groaned as it laid on its side. They were all gazing at the triceratops and its jewels. Behind her was a guy talking to Ellie and Alan with a name card saying 'Dr. Harding' on his shirt. Caressing the horn on top of her snout the animal looked warrily over at him and then behind him. "Oh woah, she's bigger than I thought she'd be." Alex stood up and saw Ian standing beside him without his jacket. He checked his figure out, which was more noticeable without the black leather draped over it. "She alright?" "Not really, Ellie figures she's poisoned by surrounding growth." he nodded

"Want to pet her?" "Oh! No no, no thanks I'm good. Great even" "Alright, if you say so."

-

Alex could not get over the jacketless Ian. His walk to his gestures, everything; even his way of talking for some reason. On the other side, Ian was eyeing the other up and down a lot too so there really was no harm in the mutual feeling shared between the two. One thing was different though "Isn't it excruciatingly hot in that fit? I mean I-" "no I'm fine, thanks for the concern pretty boy, but I know when I'm suffering" Alex looked back at Ian, facing a flustered man, that being a result of his response. "Heh, I'm messing with you Ian. I know now it's hot and all that but look at the sky. That weather is not even 30 minutes away." "Ah, right."

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Note: Sorry, this one was a very short chapter and I apologise for that lol (it's needed for the next one to be a bit coherent)

~ Lixian