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Mar. 16th, 2023 at 6:41 PM
[The night carries the two of them south. While Johnnie's original plan based on his map had been to travel down the coastline, he's still cautious about what lurks there, and opts for a quieter, inland route that bypasses most of the major cities in South Carolina. Whatever this state might hold, they'll miss it, aside for a brief pit stop near Lake Marion to refuel the tank, fill up on snacks, and get Chrissy a little more knife fighting practice (though with sticks found at the lakeside, no sharp edges here) before either of them are too low on energy for that.
There are long stretches where towns mostly vanish, where they're lucky to have pavement at all judging by the lack of civilization around them. The road material shifts at one point into something strange and glassy, and Johnnie has a hard time finding traction for the bike - and the explanation comes in the form of some strange electric vehicle with neon lights that zips rapidly past them, floating over the road rather than touching it. It's cool, but it also makes the hair rise on the back of his neck.
The orange-pink disc of the sun is just barely visible emerging on the horizon as they ride into Tifton. That last leg of the road had been so dark and quiet Johnnie had fallen into something of a trance, hypnotized by the black road and its yellow stripes, but a road sign for the Tifton Mine ("an unbelievable journey through time you don't dare miss!") and the lights of a fire station and golf club at the edge of town snap him out of his thoughts.
The mine is to the north, and part of him wants to just take that road and go straight there. But Chrissy needs a real bed to sleep in while she recovers from her injuries, still - dozing on the road probably doesn't count enough. And, okay, maybe he could use a couple hours' rest, too.
They pass a fucking taquerÃa and that blows his mind, and then as they get farther and farther into the city he continues to sit straight up and look a little bit startled by all the lights and signs and everything for what was marked as some tiny little dot on a map that he was expecting to have no more than maybe five hundred people. The music, too, keeping him awake this last part of the ride, is even more unfamiliar than it was in the 90s, and as he merges with traffic and looks around at dancing lights and animated billboards, he spots a bank with a time, date, and temperature reading for some absurd reason.
April 6, 2004.]
Hey, you seein' all this, Chrissy?
[Who knows if she's even awake right now, but maybe the slowing of his bike and the surprising amount of traffic at this hour have done the trick. Now they just need to find a motel, and the main drag up ahead looks like a good bet.]
There are long stretches where towns mostly vanish, where they're lucky to have pavement at all judging by the lack of civilization around them. The road material shifts at one point into something strange and glassy, and Johnnie has a hard time finding traction for the bike - and the explanation comes in the form of some strange electric vehicle with neon lights that zips rapidly past them, floating over the road rather than touching it. It's cool, but it also makes the hair rise on the back of his neck.
The orange-pink disc of the sun is just barely visible emerging on the horizon as they ride into Tifton. That last leg of the road had been so dark and quiet Johnnie had fallen into something of a trance, hypnotized by the black road and its yellow stripes, but a road sign for the Tifton Mine ("an unbelievable journey through time you don't dare miss!") and the lights of a fire station and golf club at the edge of town snap him out of his thoughts.
The mine is to the north, and part of him wants to just take that road and go straight there. But Chrissy needs a real bed to sleep in while she recovers from her injuries, still - dozing on the road probably doesn't count enough. And, okay, maybe he could use a couple hours' rest, too.
They pass a fucking taquerÃa and that blows his mind, and then as they get farther and farther into the city he continues to sit straight up and look a little bit startled by all the lights and signs and everything for what was marked as some tiny little dot on a map that he was expecting to have no more than maybe five hundred people. The music, too, keeping him awake this last part of the ride, is even more unfamiliar than it was in the 90s, and as he merges with traffic and looks around at dancing lights and animated billboards, he spots a bank with a time, date, and temperature reading for some absurd reason.
April 6, 2004.]
Hey, you seein' all this, Chrissy?
[Who knows if she's even awake right now, but maybe the slowing of his bike and the surprising amount of traffic at this hour have done the trick. Now they just need to find a motel, and the main drag up ahead looks like a good bet.]
Comments
Oh, I'm sure we will. That's the best thing about us. We have a good time no matter where we are an' what we get up to, right?
[They'd rescued their own downer of a day by setting fire to a chunk of that town, and now they're in a quiet place that's oddly comforting, like its age brings it peace its surroundings lack.
Calls for a drink, he decides, as he knocks back another chug of tequila, then frowns. That was a lot. Goes down easy, though, so, whatever.]
We always do. Even after the monsters, we had so much fun together on your birthday.
[It's almost baffling to her to realize that it wasn't very long ago at all. Only a couple of days. In some ways, it feels like it was months ago. Time has a way of bending and contorting into something else when they're together.]
And we'll have the best time ever in New Orleans. [There's a dreamy sigh as she imagines all the fun they'll have. ] I wonder what year we'll end up stopping in, though. I hope it's a good one.
[She's had just about enough of the decades past the 1980s. Terrible things always happen when they're in them.]
[Not that he doesn't wonder, but he's excited by the surprise of it. Every mile of road has that possibility of becoming something new, something he's never seen. Now, that's true of road trips in general, and he finds himself wishing he'd done more of them, but never before would they have been like this.
With the cigarette smoked down to the nub, he snuffs it out against a root protruding from the tree, making sure it's good and dead before tossing it aside. Look, fire is cool, but not where you're hoping to get some sleep.]
What do you know about New Orleans? 'Cause all I've ever heard is it's a hell of a party, all the time. Lotsa music. Blues an' jazz, I guess.
[No wonder her mom thought it was evil. It sounds like a place she could easily spend a week or two and just soak everything up. They don't have that kind of time right now, but maybe if they really enjoy it they could always come back on vacation or something.
Now that his hands and mouth are totally unoccupied, she plays with his fingers with one of her hands, while the other reaches up so she can press her hand to his cheek. She guides him in for a kiss, and finds it's really hard to stop smiling.
Their day was really stressful at the mine. But moments like this help ease the upset she had been feeling.]
Well, I guess I can live without parades an' beads. The rest sounds pretty damn good.
[Mostly because it sounds just exotic enough to be exciting. He's never heard of a beignet, but voodoo has him intrigued, and he still wants to see an alligator while they're out this way, because otherwise his only chances are at a zoo. And given how their last zoo encounter went... Actually, he could do that again sometime.
He chuckles to himself, then sits up and away from her a little to have one more swig of tequila. Feeling a satisfying buzz, he slumps against her lightly, a smile on his face.]
I wanna find a real good jazz band so we can dance. Hey, New Orleans sounds like a place where we'd find another cool ghost hangout. You know, like New York? But a better one. Jazz ghosts an' voodoo.
There have to be other people like us there. I bet we won't even really have to look that hard.
[Yawning, she rests her arm over her eyes.]
Maybe we can find more drugs and stuff there too. I know we're almost out.
[And that's exactly why she hasn't asked him for anything, despite how tempted she is.]
Maybe. Depends on what year it is. All this does. But I'm really lookin' forward to bein' back in a big city, either way about it. This small town rural shit's kinda a drag after a while, especially where we keep windin' up in bullshit years. Better not get another one where someone tries to kick me outta a restaurant or I might have to stab some asshole in the face.
[Tequila makes him talkative even as he's feeling like he might fall asleep soon, apparently.]
If anybody tries doing that, I'll stab them myself.
[If there's one thing her new knife makes her, it's abundantly confident. It would probably be cute, if she wasn't so stab happy. In fact, she's making stabbing motions right now, even as she tries to cuddle with him.]
They'd never see it coming.
My baby girl, always lookin' out for me. Thanks, babe. If it gets to that an' we gotta gouge out a few eyeballs or whatever, that's just how it's gonna be. Fuckers won't learn any other way.
[But hopefully that won't be needed. There have been times and places that weren't as bad as the rest. He just wants to escape having to deal with racist bullshit for a little while, is that so much to ask for? Especially after their failure at the mines, he doesn't want to have to do anything other than have a good time. Give him at least a few days.
He tugs her against him, then, and slides a leg between hers like it will bring them even closer together to have every limb intertwined.]
I wanna look at the map when it's light out again. See how much farther it is to home.
I know I've said this before, but I'm really excited to get to California.
[Which is her way of saying that she's eager to get a look at the map. But that will happen later on, once the sun is up. Now though, it's dark and time for sleep. The fact he's so willing to cuddle with her before they pass out makes her blissfully happy.]
I'm ready to be home.
[It's funny how she can never have seen LA, but still thinks of it as her home too.]
[A stupid, alcohol-fueled idea comes to mind and he giggles, while he drags his nails up and down her back.]
Man, once we figure out the deal with Rigo or get a new drummer, you'll come to a show an' I'll jump off the stage at some point to spin you a few times before I get back up there. Goddamn. You're gonna make a lotta girls jealous, you know.
Damn right, I'll make all the girls jealous. They'll all want you, but all they can do is look. No touching my man.
[She can play at being possessive, but the truth is she'd probably be jealous if he ever had a wandering eye. Though she knows he has a stage persona and has to play to the crowd, she gets that. It was the same when she was cheerleading.]
I can't wait to see one of your shows. I still remember how great you were on stage back in Nashville.
He slides his hand up under her shirt at her back, meanwhile, and continues tracing the tips of his nails lightly against her skin. She's probably still plenty bruised and sore in spots, but up along her spine seems safe enough, and down at the small of her back. Thankfully, she didn't get badly hurt there.]
It's way better with all of us. Lot more sound. We get the whole floor movin'. There's this little bar out on Sunset, the Midnight Shack. They were bookin' us a couple times a month for a while, maybe we can get another show there once we get everything figured out. Fuckin' Rigo, man.
[Honestly, it probably isn't aliens, the asshole probably just got too high and forgot where he was and walked right out of the hotel room when nobody was looking and got arrested or something stupid. Who knows. He can only guess.]
Do you know what?
[Something dawns on her, and it makes her laugh as she rubs her fingernails against his skin.]
I think we've managed to behave ourselves for an entire day.
[She's not talking about general behaving well, obviously. They lit an entire town on fire and murdered Kip. But they've been downright chaste with one another for the first time ever.]
[Since behaving, one way or another, isn't exactly what he's all about. And certainly, part of him wants to correct the "problem" she's just identified. But he can't seem to gather up the energy, not right now, not with him all warm with tequila and worn out from the rest of the day's trials.
She, however, seems really into things. He can feel it, hear her whining against him. So, maybe he can meet her halfway, make sure she doesn't have to fall asleep all needy and neglected. As he kisses her once more, his hand withdraws from beneath her shirt and settles on her hip as instead he bends his knee to draw his leg closer against her, and rocks her hips with his hand, encouraging her to grind down against his thigh.]
I'm really kinda outta it, babe. Just so you know. Head's all funny from the booze an' everything else. But I wanna make you feel good, okay?
I'm good, Johnnie. [She reassures him, kissing at his jaw.] We can wait until we're both more awake and not so out of it.
[One more grind against his thigh is enough to tide her over, and this time she sighs as she does.]
But there's nothing that says we can't sleep tangled up like this, right?
[Besides, they're right next to a cemetery. Fooling around out here would feel disrespectful somehow.]
[What a funny idea. He smiles, and lets his arm drift from her hip to just flop around her waist loosely. If she's satisfied, then all right. Tomorrow, he'll make up for it. Maybe right when they wake up, with the warm Florida sun on their skin. Scare off any would-be alligator visitors with their moaning.
For now, he's content to give her one last kiss, then close his eyes and hope his dreams aren't haunted by the remains of dead stars, or whatever the fuck cosmic ash is supposed to be. He got enough of that shit in his system, all for it to do nothing. If it comes back to bite him, then fuck Zazo again, a hundred times over.]