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Sarah tries to hold out as long as she can. She's determined to outlast Cosima in their unofficial competition, but five straight hours seems to be her limit.
"I can't do it anymore," Sarah tells Cosima.
"Seriously?" Cosima questions, looking surprised. "All that talk before and now you're done?"
Sarah's feeling too nauseous to be truly annoyed. "Yeah."
Sarah is currently learning against the middle support of an old metal merry go round. Cosima is sitting closer to the edge, so she use an old wooden paddle she found somewhere to keep it spinning. Sarah had started out near the edge, but as the hours passed, she found herself inching more and more towards the center, hoping it would keep the nausea away. It helped some, but not enough; she feels like she's just minutes away from puking.
Cosima, meanwhile, seems fine as she scoots closer to the edge, slides her leg out and lets the toe of her boot, as well as the paddle, drag on the ground, slowing them down.
Too impatient to wait—she'd like to stop feeling sick immediately and Sarah worries that she might have waited too long to speak up—Sarah inches herself to the edge, takes a deep breath and rolls off the merry go round.
She lands on the ground with a groan. But she's so glad to be done spinning that she doesn't really notice any pain from her fall.
"I think you were tough," Cosima mocks, smirking at her. "And that these things were for kids."
Cosima is still on the merry go round and it continues to spin—albeit much slower, because the moment Sarah rolled off, Cosima lifted her boot and the paddle—and so trying to follow her on the still moving metal disc is not helping Sarah's stomach. She closes her eyes. "We've been on this thing for five straight hours, Cos," Sarah points out.
"How is that any different than riding roller coasters all day?"
"We've been spinning for five hours straight," Sarah repeats. "Roller coasters stop. Even if you never get off, it still stops to let others off. It's totally not the same."
"Mmm, good point," Cosima agrees. "Still, I expected more."
"Explain to me again how this relates to science," Sarah asks, choosing to ignore the taunting she hears in Cosima's voice.
"Studies have shown that kids that spend more time on merry go rounds have better balance than those who don't," Cosima explains.
"We don't really qualify as kids anymore, Cosima," Sarah points out, eyes still closed.
"Depends who you ask," Cosima replies.
Though her eyes are still closed, Sarah can tell that Cosima's stopped spinning since her voice doesn't seem to be moving anymore. "Scientifically, speaking or whatever," Sarah retorts. "I'm pretty sure the whole development thing you're talking about means kids and not teenagers."
"Hmmm, you're probably right," Cosima agrees.
"Plus, what are you even trying to do?" Sarah mulls out loud. "Improve our balance? Prove that it works? Or that..." Sarah's next thought has her sitting up a bit too quickly. She ignores the sudden dizziness and glares at Cosima. "You tricked me."
"I did?"
"You told me this was a serious science experiment that you needed my help with," Sarah continues.
"I did," Cosima says. "And I appreciate your assistance."
"No way," Sarah interjects. "You've messing with me."
Cosima gasps dramatically. "I would never..."
"Cos," Sarah growls.
"I just wanted to see how much you love me," Cosima grins. "Apparently enough to sit on a spinning merry go round for over five hours."
"Yeah, well, I take it back," Sarah tells her, as she flops back onto the ground. "And when I'm feeling better, I'm going to kick your ass."
"That is no way to talk to your girlfriend, whom you love," Cosima teases. "I mean, look at what you were willing to do for me? No one's ever risked projectile vomiting for me. If that's not love..."
Sarah ignores her as she tries to come up with various ways to get back at Cosima. Because of this, it takes a long moment for Sarah to realize that her cell is ringing. She pulls it out of her pocket. "Yeah?"
"You... sound.... What have you and the girlfriend been up to?" Felix teases.
"Nothing close to what you're imagining," Sarah retorts, eyes closed again. Sitting up so quickly was a very bad idea.
"Please," Felix scoffs. "I don't need that image in my head."
"What's up?" Sarah prompts.
"Well, I was going to ask where the hell you are, but since you're with Cosima, I guess I already know the answer."
Sarah pulls her cell away from her ear and checks the time. "Bloody hell," she says, returning it to her ear. "Lost track of the time."
"I'd really prefer not hearing any details."
"Piss off," Sarah growls.
"So how long till you get here?" he asks.
Despite knowing it's a bad idea, Sarah attempts to sit up with a groan, disgusted with herself for still feeling sick. "Uh..."
"Oh god," Felix interrupts. "Maybe you should keep doing what you're doing."
"Laying on the ground unable to move?"
Felix groans. "I don't need any details, thank you."
"It's not what you're thinking, " Sarah protests, not sure why it matters. Planting unwanted images in Felix's brain is usually fun as hell.
"Don't worry about it," he tells her. " I am so over this conversation. Later."
Sarah falls back onto the ground with a huff as she hangs up. A moment later, she feels Cosima join her on the ground.
"What did Felix want?"
"We were supposed to hang out," Sarah explains.
"You could have gone," Cosima says. "We aren't joined at the hip or whatever. And now I know how much you love me. "
"Don't feel like moving, "Sarah replies. "And don't feel like dealing with all the mockery and sarcasm Fe would've been full of."
"About what?" Cosima questions. "Did you tell him what a wimp you're being?"
"No," Sarah huffs. "But he thought the reason I blew him off was because we were having sex."
"And when he realizes that we weren't and how whipped you are—"
"I am not." Sarah sits up slower than she'd like and tries to inch away from Cosima.
"Don't worry," Cosima tells her, shadowing Sarah's movements. "I won't tell anyone." Cosima takes Sarah's hand, which stops her from trying to escape. "Who'd believe it anyway? Everyone at school knows you're a total badass."
Cosima stands and Sarah lets herself be half tugged up by her. "Flattery will not stop my revenge, Niehaus," she mutters as Cosima takes her hand and begins pulling her towards her car.