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Feb. 12th, 2023 at 9:15 PM
[An hour's drive outside of the flames of Virginia Beach finally returns them to solid pavement.]
Yes! Oh, fuck yes, finally.
[And Johnnie is sure glad to see it, as he cheers with a fist in the air. Now he can just sit back and let the bike carry them without having to dodge rocks and slide around in the occasional patch of mud. Those old roads are a fun challenge for a little while, no doubt, but they get old fast.
Relieved now, though, Johnnie leans back a little against Chrissy behind him, and looks around in the darkness at what he can make out of the countryside. Lights dot a lot more little plots of land now, the occasional car passes going north, and what was moments ago swamp and forest has definitely turned more toward farmland from what illumination he can get from the headlight of the bike. There's some song on the radio about a place called Margaritaville, which he sure doesn't recognize.]
You know this one?
[Might be more in her wheelhouse. He'll just keep watching for road signs or town names, anything to tell them if they're on a real highway or some shitty side road so he can work out how far they actually traveled in that last hour, and how much longer until they reach the coast.]
Yes! Oh, fuck yes, finally.
[And Johnnie is sure glad to see it, as he cheers with a fist in the air. Now he can just sit back and let the bike carry them without having to dodge rocks and slide around in the occasional patch of mud. Those old roads are a fun challenge for a little while, no doubt, but they get old fast.
Relieved now, though, Johnnie leans back a little against Chrissy behind him, and looks around in the darkness at what he can make out of the countryside. Lights dot a lot more little plots of land now, the occasional car passes going north, and what was moments ago swamp and forest has definitely turned more toward farmland from what illumination he can get from the headlight of the bike. There's some song on the radio about a place called Margaritaville, which he sure doesn't recognize.]
You know this one?
[Might be more in her wheelhouse. He'll just keep watching for road signs or town names, anything to tell them if they're on a real highway or some shitty side road so he can work out how far they actually traveled in that last hour, and how much longer until they reach the coast.]
Comments
Yeah? Could be. What happened to you's pretty different from what happened to me. Wouldn't call either one normal, though. Dunno what the rules are, exactly, other than the obvious ones.
[Some of which he definitely broke, and that's why he's so willing to take the blame, if it could be called that. Being seen and having something like life is pretty good, though. So far, it's working out. And for all the dumb choices he's made, he can't honestly say he regrets them. It's just how things go. Would be real cool not to have been murdered by a couple boneheads with their hands on too much black void-shit but he doesn't like to sit around and think about what could have been, because it won't change anything.]
Anyway, you know what? I'm glad you found me, if it's 'cause of me you get to have somethin' like all this. You deserve all the good shit in life, an' now you get to have it. Don't let death tell you otherwise.
She reaches up to adjust the hair clip he gave her, making sure it's still in place after that motorcycle ride.]
We'll make good things happen for one another.
[It's a promise, one that's sealed with a kiss as she leans in to kiss him. Right as she's getting into it, the band's guitar player tests his instrument. The sound startles her and makes her jump, and she nearly bumps her head into his. Laughing at her clumsiness, she leans back and rubs at her forehead.]
I guess I'm a little jumpy tonight. Maybe I should get a drink too.
[He's laughing, while also very thankful she didn't somehow collide with his nose, still awfully swollen and sore just like her poor ribs. They must be quite the sight, the two of them. Honestly a wonder they're being seated and served so readily here. But this town is different and maybe some of that winds up being in their favor.]
Yeah, get yourself a drink. You want a smoke?
[They do a good job of steadying his nerves when he needs them for that, so, maybe it'll help her, who knows. Meanwhile, he'd better have a look at this menu. The fish and chips had been a good idea but the more he looks this over the more his eyes are drawn to the steak. He hasn't had one in ages. But then again, he's never had a whole lobster stuffed with crab meat, and some of the other lobster dishes he's never even heard of. The fuck's a thermidor?]
[She gets the attention of the waitress and orders a beer for herself. The waitress looks her over, skeptical. Then looks to Johnnie and back to Chrissy, like she wants to say something. Chrissy ignores her in favor of taking a cigarette as he offers it, and leaning in so he can light it for her.
That seems to be enough to satisfy the waitress, who shakes her head as she heads back toward the bar.]
What are you thinking about ordering? I think I might get lobster. And definitely some kind of fish.
[She's stabbing and eating the hell out of that fish as payback to the monsters.]
Luckily he doesn't have to make his point verbally, and so once Chrissy has her cigarette he gives her knee another squeeze below the table.]
Yeah? I keep changin' my mind. Steak sounds real good. Lobster sounds good too, I guess, never had one but they look cool. But then there's this king crab, too, which better be the fuckin' size of the whole table at that price. Might even be, shit gets huge in Alaska, right?
[Actually he has no idea if that's true and has no reason to suspect it is, but if it's a crab the same price as a steak, it better be a massive crab.]
Maybe I gotta do that, just 'cause I've never had one. I can get steak anywhere. I wanna pull apart a huge fuckin' crab to whatever she's singin'.
[Because, well. He nods at the stage as the band starts up. Guitar, stand-up bass, drums, and a singer in a dress and cowgirl boots. She's got a pretty good voice, actually.]
[She sounds completely perplexed and amused by that, her mind blown that maybe a crab could be that big. Her jaw drops as her mouth forms a perfect o-shape, as she ponders all the possibilities of a crab that size. They could tear off the claws and use them as weapons. She could put the shell on Johnnie's head like a hat and they could laugh and laugh, and then she could tell him he has to shower because he'd smell like seafood.]
I'll get the crab! And you can get the steak. And then we'll share.
[A gesture back and forth between them signals that she's definitely in the mood for a steak and crab meal. And now that the idea is out in the open, she's finally able to actually appreciate the singer on stage. She turns in her chair as the song really gets going, and finds herself enjoying the music even if it's not really her thing.]
Yeah? Perfect. Best of both worlds.
[That settled, he passes their order on to the waitress when she comes back around, then slouches comfortably in his seat with his beer and enjoys the music. He has to admit gaining some appreciation for country in his time hanging around shitty desert bars. It's not all bad. Some of it's pretty soulful, actually. Even so, though,]
Might be like I'd said. We hang out here, have dinner, then go down the block an' see who else is playin' what tonight. Hope this town doesn't completely shut down at 10 pm.
[And probably the kind that doesn't involve setting the town on fire. Maybe. It is Johnnie's birthday, and she has no willpower to say no to him on a regular day. If he wants to set the town on fire, who is she to say no?
Her beer is brought by just as she's thinking that, and she gladly takes a drink as she watches the stage.]
Do you know what we should do sometime? [She looks back to him now, all eager about getting him to do something new.] We should go line dancing.
[Give him a second, as he drums his fingers on his glass... Nope. No, he's not quite sure what she's referring to. Maybe it's not called that in his time, maybe it's something new. Man, he hopes it's something new considering how she was saying nobody in her time likes to dance anymore. Let them have invented at least something of their own.]
What's that like?
Oh, it's just...a dance people like to do to country music in the 80's. It's not anything like we've danced to before.
[It's better because it's so funny, and yet somehow worse because there's absolutely no grinding against one another in line dancing. Or really all that much touching at all, really.]
You've heard of square dancing, right?
[He's not opposed, anything can become a good time if you want it to be. Square dancing involves a bunch of people though, right? At least, definitely more than two, so they'd have to find a group. Unless she's about to say it's like a square dance but done with only two people. His lips press into an uncertain line as he tries to picture this, but then raises an eyebrow and waits for her explanation rather than just assuming things.]
[Especially if they get all dressed up in their cowboy finest. She's already excited to find someplace they can do it.]
Usually there's places that are just for line dancing. So there's lots of people there and you all just stand in lines and dance together. I guess it's kind of like cheerleading or drill team if you think about it.
[He doesn't seem opposed to the idea, so she's optimistic they'll get to go and she can be the one to teach him something for a change.]
[Whatever he was about to say, he pauses, then just about loses it in a cascade of laughter as he puts his hand over his face. That slides to the table as he continues snickering. She's going to ask, so he might as well explain.]
Fuckin'... Dumb thought, tryin' to picture a bunch of my crew all standing in lines doin' the same steps together. Fuck. I can tell you right now, that ain't ever gonna happen, but sure, I'm in. You keep a watch for a line dancing place.
[He shakes his head, grinning at that extremely good mental image.]
They might! Maybe we'll get back home and they'll all think I'm cute and amazing and won't be able to say no when I ask them to do it with me.
[Her giggles are nearly uncontrollable now, and she winds up coughing on her beer as she takes a drink mid-laugh. Both hands cover her mouth as it happens, and her head shakes as she tries to shake it off.]
I bet we could get your brothers to do it, at least. You're the baby, right? They can't say no to you.
[So yeah, all right, it's not completely impossible to get at least a few of them in on it. Alex can definitely say no to him, counter to what Chrissy wants to believe, but even so. Totally possible somehow, it's gotta be.]
You really do know all kindsa dancing though, huh? Wait - fuck. Okay, hold on. You said it's a country dance, but what if it don't have to be? What's the rhythm to a line dance?
I think they're 32 counts, or something like that? Anyway, I'll show you when we're back at the motel. Not here!
[Because people would be watching her and it would be weird. And besides that, it's not the kind of dancing she wants to do with him tonight.]
Maybe before we get high though, because I don't want to trip and fall and get hurt worse than I already am.
[Does his band have any songs that could have a dumb line dance made up for them? No, not that come easily to mind. But still, it would be really funny if they could figure something out. Would get the guys a lot more into making the attempt to dance, too, versus putting some country on the radio.
Anyway, probably none of this will actually happen, he's just enjoying thinking about it while they wait for their food. Which arrives shortly after, and smells absolutely incredible. He nods his thanks to the waitress, then eyes that steak hungrily - but it has nothing on that crab, so big that the legs are piled up on top of the shell so it all actually fits on a plate, and Chrissy's side salad has to come out on a separate plate entirely. The waitress unloads a basket of rolls and another of fries beside it, too, then takes her leave as Johnnie admires the mountain of food they have between them.]
All right, I get the prices now, this shit looks amazing!
[Time to immediately carve off a bite of this steak and just melt into a blissful pile of ghost.]
I think we probably could have shared. It's so much food!
[Said with a mouth full of shellfish, as she eyes his steak with hungry eyes. She waits until he's enjoyed a few bites before pointing toward it with her fork.]
Can I try a bite?
[He carves off a generous portion of steak, and... Well, that'll have to go on her salad plate, the crab is taking up the entire other one. Even with him taking a few of those legs off the top, it hardly makes a difference. He'll borrow that crab cracker too, while he's at it, so he can break those things open and get at the meat inside, then sets them down in the rolls basket, propped up between a couple of them, so either of them can grab them as needed.
He has a bite of the crab, after picking a chunk out with his fork, then once again just looks utterly content.]
Oh, shit. Yeah, crab's like butter, huh. Mighta only had it once and not a whole fuckin'... spider beast on a plate. Goddamn.
Eventually though, she does start to get full. And that's when she takes to cracking the legs off the crab just because she can.]
Do you know what else would be fun?
[She finally speaks, wiping her hands off well enough that she can reach over and rub at his thigh.]
We should go see a movie sometime. Not watch it or anything. But I think it'd be a lot of fun to see what we can get away with in a movie theater.
You're into that now, huh?
[She really is picking things up. Of course, she'd been down at that club, so no surprise she'd be willing to try again at something else like it, minus a lot of slippery foam.
It's pretty easy to get away with all kinds of things in a movie theater, but rather than telling her so, he nods as if he's considering it for the first time.]
Sounds like a good idea. You know what else is fun is a drive-in. 'Course, it's better to have an actual car for that. So, one a' these days we'd better find us one to borrow. Maybe a nice pretty convertible. But, any theater's gonna be dark. Just gotta keep from makin' too much noise.
[Which means that obviously they should find one, steal a car, and go. It would be so much fun. Of course, they'd probably only watch a little of the movie. A car backseat is too roomy and tempting for them to behave themselves for long.]
I bet we could keep quiet, if we really wanted to.
[They've never really had much of a need before, but it could be a game to see how quiet they could be. Which makes her think over that first question he's asked her, and she blushes a little as she shrugs.]
So I guess I am into that now, yeah.
It's that excitement that comes from doin' dumb little risky things. Grows on you, don't it?
[Like how she's really taken to small-time theft without question. It's fun, seeing what you can get away with. Fun to push that limit farther and farther and try not to get caught. Not being seen makes it easy, but the unpredictability of who will see them and when keeps him on his toes.]
Y'know, we oughta talk about what the plan is if one or both of us does get caught, though, sometime. I don't mean caught foolin' around in a theater, but, you know. Bigger shit. Maybe not right here, but, don't let me forget.
[Really hard to plan around that when they keep winding up in different times, let alone places, but they should probably at least talk about it once or twice, just in case.]
We can take some time to do that tomorrow.
[Because she doubts they'll need to have a plan in place for the rest of the night. They're not likely to get into too much trouble.
Or hopefully they won't, anyway.]
I think having a plan for a few things moving forward is a really good idea. There's still a lot of road between here and LA.
[Which means a lot of chance for other monsters to pop up. The idea is relatively terrifying, but his proximity and the band that's playing distract her from worrying too much.]
[He's sure he can entertain himself here for another day if he has to, that's fine, he's just eager to get going. He gives her a smile and a shrug as if that proves he really, truly isn't in a hurry, then grabs a couple of those fries while they're still hot.]