Chapter Text
Isla Nublar’s docks come into view just as Tina finishes throwing up for the third time. She is immensely relieved by this. If she stayed on this ship much longer she’d die here.
As Tina’s stomach jumps into her throat once again, she sourly thinks about all the revenge she is going to get on Queenie for this. She hates ships. They sway all the time, so she could never keep her footing. On top of that, the constant motion was nauseating. Tina couldn’t understand how people went on cruises on a regular basis. This was miserable.
Not for the first time, she wonders why she was even bothering with the trip. It wasn’t like Percy was going to be excited to see them. Queenie and Tina might be his adopted sisters, but he didn’t make a habit of being very brotherly. The man knew that the two were coming, but she was sure that he wasn’t going to want them to stay long. Tina wasn’t looking forward to an annoyed or grumpy brother.
Queenie, on the other hand, is terribly excited. This visit had been her idea after all. The blonde had been insistent that she and Tina were Percival’s only friends and since he had been made director of the park some months ago, that it was only proper to come congratulate him in person. Queenie always had been good at ignoring their brother’s serious nature.
It wasn’t that Percival didn’t love his sisters. In fact, Tina was sure that he would give the world to them if he had the opportunity. But he was very serious and even awkward at times. He could smooth talk anyone, but personal matters and emotions had him nervous and stoic. It was hard to engage in anything other than seriousness with the man. It didn’t stop Queenie from trying though.
Tina was pulled out of her thoughts by her sister bounding up to tug on her arm. She looked at Queenie and was unsurprised to see men and women sending longing stares after her. Tina glared at them until they glanced away, then looked back at her excited sister.
“We’re here, Tina, we’re here!” she exclaimed, “Oh, this is going to be so much fun.”
Tina was dubious, but said nothing, unwilling to ruin Queenie’s excitement. Her nausea also helped keep her mouth shut. There was a very real possibility that if she opened her mouth she would throw up again. Goodness, Tina needed off this boat yesterday.
Queenie didn’t seem bothered by her silence, chattering excitedly about what dinosaurs they were going to see and the shops that they were going to visit. She talked the entire time they got off the boat. Tina nodded occasionally to show she was listening, but most of her attention was focused on making sure nobody ‘accidentally’ touched her sister’s bum.
Today must have been her lucky day because she caught the few who attempted it and everyone else wisely steered clear. Sometimes she wondered if she gave off a visible aura of protectiveness. Tina supposed she could always ask her sister. Queenie was fantastic at reading others. That begged the question as to why she didn’t notice all her admirers. Tina was 95 percent sure that Queenie ignored them or was content to let her sister deal with it.
As they broke away from the people around them, Tina scanned the crowd of people ahead for Percival. With his tall and well-dressed body, he should have been easy to find. Unfortunately, it appeared that he was either incredibly talented at fitting in or he wasn’t there.
She could see Queenie on her tiptoes, trying to spot him, before dropping back down, disappointed. Could they have gotten the meeting place wrong? Tina could have sworn that Percy had said he would be waiting when they arrived. Maybe he had forgotten? No, he was too organized for that. What if he had changed his mind? Tina wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t going to stand around all day waiting for her brother to appear.
She grabbed Queenie by the arm and pulled her out of the way of the people around them. As the two of them reached a secluded area, Queenie spotted something and pulled out of Tina’s grip to point.
“Over there,” she said, “There’s somebody with a sign waiting for us.”
Tina looked over and sure enough there was a well-dressed young man standing with a sign that read ‘Goldstein.’ He continuously looked around and then at his feet whenever someone looked back at him. He looked nervous and a little frightened.
Tina felt her heart soften a little from the frustration that had been starting to grow. She took Queenie’s hand and pulled her over to the young man, who startled at their approach.
“Hi,” Queenie said kindly, “I think that we’re the people you’re looking for. I’m Queenie and this is my sister, Tina.”
The young man flushed under her smile and gave his own unsure one back.
“Hello,” he said softly, “I’m Credence, Mr. Graves’ assistant. He sent me to show you ladies around today.”
Tina sighed, “And where is he?”
Credence looked down, “Mr. Graves said to tell you that he is very sorry, but he is too busy to come down. He should be able to come down tomorrow.”
Queenie nudged her sister with a frown. Tina knew that she was unhappy that Tina had upset Credence, but Percival was supposed to be here, dammit. She supposed she could be a little nicer though.
“I’m sorry,” Tina told him, “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just frustrated with your boss.”
Credence looked back up and smiled hesitantly, “That’s okay, I understand. After you two get settled into your hotel, I could show you around if that’s okay with you.”
Queenie smile brightly, “That sounds wonderful, honey. I’m sure you know all the best sights to see.”
Credence flushed once again and nodded. He motioned for them to follow him and started making his way through the throngs of people. Tina let Queenie move ahead of her, knowing she would need to protect her sister’s honor once again.
The hotel they were staying at was incredibly fancy, in Tina’s opinion. In the very least, it was much nicer than her and Queenies little apartment. Neither of them made much unlike Percival. Without his resources, they would have never been able to afford the boat ride, much less the hotel and entrance fee.
Credence led them to a large hotel room which was no less stunning than the outside. Queenie tossed her bag on one of the large beds and flung herself right beside it. Tina put hers down much more carefully and began unpacking, not wanting to have to do so later. Queenie would make her sister help with her own bag later anyhow. Credence sat himself into one of the large soft chairs.
Once Tina had organized her belongings and strong armed Queenie into putting her things away, she turned to Credence.
“We’re all good to go,” she said, “Where are we going first?”
Credence smiled, “It’s a surprise. Follow me.”
And with that he was out the door. Queenie quickly followed, Tina right behind her. They made their way from the quiet hotel back into the noisy park.
Credence led them to an area with dozens of children. All of them were focused on dinosaurs who were grazing quietly, every single one seeming unfazed by the screaming and laughing children. Some were being petted, others ridden.
Credence led them up to one of the dinosaurs with horns.
“You can say hello,” he told them happily, “Just stick your hand out slowly and keep it flat while he sniffs it.”
Queenie squealed when the dinosaur sniffed her hand.
“I love it! What is it?”
Credence beamed and began talking happily about the creature’s species and breed. He moved quickly from topic to topic, telling them about its eating habits to its mating rituals. Tina was surprised that this shy and nervous boy was talking so fearlessly.
“Goodness,” she said, “You sure seem to know a lot about these guys. How did you learn all of this stuff?”
“Oh, I learned it from my friend Newt,” Credence said, “He’s an expert on them. Maybe I could introduce you to him later. You’ll love him.”
Tina smiled at the fondness and happiness on the young man’s face. This Newt character must be a good guy. She was interested in seeing just what kind of man could bring a smile to this kid’s face. He was sure to be interesting.