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Dec. 16th, 2023 at 5:56 PM
[Racing down the interstate as fast as they fucking can, Johnnie tugs Chrissy closer and ducks low over his bike. They're streamlined now, they'll pick up just a little bit more speed, and then they can outride this giant evil fucking wasp for sure -
His eyes blink slowly against the light in the room, and then he frowns and lifts his pillow from under his head and flings it at the alarm clock on the bedside table. That shouldn't work, except that it falls off the table and unplugs in the process, leaving the room blissfully silent.
And now he doesn't have a pillow. Shit.]
Ugh. Hey, you up?
[Like Chrissy could sleep through that.
Soon enough though, he rolls on out of bed, gets the water going, tugs fresh clean clothing out of his bag, then checks on that shower. Yep, nice and hot. Time to get clean and ready for the day.]
Whatcha think? Wanna check out the cafe for breakfast? Maybe we can make 'em do some eggs an' pancakes even though they're gonna say it's dinner only now. I hate when places do that, it's such fuckin' bullshit.
His eyes blink slowly against the light in the room, and then he frowns and lifts his pillow from under his head and flings it at the alarm clock on the bedside table. That shouldn't work, except that it falls off the table and unplugs in the process, leaving the room blissfully silent.
And now he doesn't have a pillow. Shit.]
Ugh. Hey, you up?
[Like Chrissy could sleep through that.
Soon enough though, he rolls on out of bed, gets the water going, tugs fresh clean clothing out of his bag, then checks on that shower. Yep, nice and hot. Time to get clean and ready for the day.]
Whatcha think? Wanna check out the cafe for breakfast? Maybe we can make 'em do some eggs an' pancakes even though they're gonna say it's dinner only now. I hate when places do that, it's such fuckin' bullshit.
Comments
[Squeezing into tiny spaces is her speciality. He gives her the boost she needs, and it's easy to pop out the screen. It takes a little work to actually hoist herself up and through the window, but she manages in the end. She ends up sitting in a little sink, and laughs at how weird it is to have a kitchen on wheels.
There's no time to appreciate the novelty of it though, because she hops down and jogs over to the door to unlock it and let Johnnie in. Once she does, she's able to look around and takes quick notice of all the toys that are all over the place.]
It looks like a family's staying here.
[Which makes her feel a little bad, she doesn't want to steal from kids. A really cool looking toy sitting discarded on the dining booth makes her change her mind though. It's neon green, so of course it catches her eye.]
A Skip It! I loved exercising with one of these last summer.
[It's tempting to steal it, but no, it would make some little girl sad. So she just touches it and resists the itch she has to grab it for herself. Maybe if she's still wanting it on the way out, she'll change her mind again.]
Let's check the bedroom back here. I bet the parents keep everything good in there.
Bedroom it is, then.]
Man, this is so fuckin' weird. I dunno what I thought would be in here but it's like a whole little house. Guess I thought people just slept in these. I mean fuck, there's even a shower?
[This thing must have a huge gas tank though. If nothing else, they could siphon gas off it, or a different one later. That's a thought to hold onto until the day they're planning to leave.
The bedroom has a surprisingly huge bed, but he turns his attention to the cubbies above. There's an extra lighter, some books, a flashlight - hell, that's useful, he'll take that - but the real score comes in the next search. Several bottles of pills, and a passport.]
Let's see, we got... Junk, junk... Bingo.
[He casually tosses medications onto the bed until the last one, which he rattles in victory and stuffs in his pocket. Maybe he'll keep them, maybe he'll resell them, but that's a nice find either way.]
Ritalin's good shit, sells all right on the street. An' this! Let's see here, Michael Bankman. What else you got hidin' in here?
[He opens it up, smirks, shrugs, and twirls it in his fingers as he goes back to looking around.]
Hidden up in the top drawer though, is a little case of jewelry. She gasps as she opens the case and admires the things inside.]
Who brings nice jewelry with them to go camping? Idiots.
[But now she has some nice new things, and she takes them all out of the case to tuck into her pocket. They'll pawn for some money or go into her collection, she isn't sure yet. What she is sure of is the fact that if they put jewelry in here...
Aha. There it is.]
Found their cash.
[It's neatly contained in a bank envelope, which Chrissy pulls out to hold up and fan herself with.]
What else did you find?
[It's kind of warm in here so he switches to using the passport as a fan while rifling through one last collection of things but no, this is just maps. They can have them.
And also, he knows the answer to his own question. Yes, it would be pushing their luck. He's not afraid of pushing anything, obviously, but since they do have plans here at least for tomorrow, maybe they should wait.]
How about... We pick one a day. This one today, a different one tomorrow. Like before or after we go down to the bottom. Might be better that way than hittin' a bunch at once, 'cause that's how people notice. C'mon, let's get outta here.
[He grins as he hops on out the front door, then backtracks, grabs one of the spare keys, and locks the door behind them once he and Chrissy are both outside. That's funnier, actually, he thinks. Make them unlock the thing, see how much longer it takes for them to notice someone broke in.]
[In a last second decision, she runs to grab that green skip it, and clutches it close to her chest as she skips out of the camper after him. His antics with locking the door make her laugh, and she leans in to kiss his cheek before they make their way back toward the car to tuck away their haul in the trunk.
Except that skip it is left out, and she takes a second to put the ring end around her ankle. It's really gravelly and not a smooth surface out here, but that's okay. She's really good at making the skip it work. And so she hops and skips and has tons of fun in the area directly around their car, trying it out. Once she's sure it works just fine, she settles down and pops it in the trunk. She doesn't want anyone to notice her with it.
But now she's plenty energetic, so she moves her way right into his arms.]
Want to find somewhere out here to play guitar? Or walk around and see if there's a better spot?
Let's get outta the campground. We really don't wanna still be here if those people come back any time soon.
[All this has definitely cheered him now over the mess they went through earlier. He claps her on the shoulder affectionately as he pulls away, then holds a hand out for the keys, evidently having decided he's well enough to drive after all. He's still pleasantly high but not so loopy - a successful little theft seems to have cleared that fog right out of his head.]
The road keeps goin' down the canyon this way an' we haven't gone to the end, so let's just go see what it's got!
They've barely started driving as the wheels start turning in her head, and she grabs at his leg as something dawns on her. They left a lot of their things behind.]
You don't think people will steal our stuff, do you?
[All the most important things are here with them, but she admittedly will be really pissed if anyone has touched any of their things. It's okay when they steal from people, but no one better do it to them. Or else.
She tries to relax back against the seat and focus on the fun up ahead. They're driving down to a new part of the canyon, and he's going to play his guitar. She doesn't have time to worry about being stolen from.]
[Hold on a moment while he drives with his knees while lighting himself a cigarette. They're right up above a tremendously deep canyon and this is fine.
He grins as he blows out a trail of smoke that has no chance of lingering overhead. He's not driving fast though, really. He does like to be able to look around out here where the scenery is so absurdly striking.]
What I've found, though? Is most people play by the rules an' trust everyone else does too. Not to say nobody'd ever try to rob us, but especially out here away from the city? There's a lot less people, so a lot less of 'em who'd rather tell the rules to fuck right off.
Yeah, well, if someone does try to rob us? I'm beating them to death with my new skip it I just stole.
[She says it so menacingly and pouty that it instantly strikes her as hilarious. Which means she's soon cracking up and forgetting all about someone actually robbing them. Yeah, she'd love a chance to get practice for her future chain weapon by fighting with a skip it. That weighted ball at the end could really do some damage if she was determined enough.]
[Anyway, who cares if she took a kid's toy, what matters to him is she found something she likes. That's justification enough.
They pass several turnouts and a few informative signs marking something or other - views, trails, one definitely looks like ruins of some old building and maybe a train or minecart. But eventually he finds the perfect spot for them. It's not marked as a tourist destination and there's really only just enough room to pull over on the road, but there's a big old tree here and a wide open view of the canyon at its feet, and if there was a more perfect place to stop for a while, he hasn't seen it.]
Man. At every angle, it's just one hell of a crazy thing, isn't it? You see a big alien down there?
[He grins, then hops out to get his guitar case from the trunk and sling it over a shoulder.]
She goes to retrieve her camera to get a couple of pictures of the canyon itself, and leaves them in the car after shaking them for a few seconds. Johnnie's been waiting for her too long at that point, and she dashes off to run over to the tree. Her camera comes with her, ready to snap a few pictures of him playing the guitar for her. It gets set down at the base of the tree, because all that energy she has needs an outlet.
The limbs are low enough she can hop and drape over one, spinning around it like a bar so she can dangle upside down by her legs. Her tank top falls down over her face, making her sputter and laugh. After getting it back in place a second later, she rocks and does a backflip off the branch, stumbling a little as she lands on her feet.]
Do you know what?
[She's dusting her hands off on her backside as she approaches him, climbing up into the tree to sit on a limb. Her legs dangle and she lets her feet kick a little, just enjoying the scenery.]
I'm really glad we're awake during the day today.
Yeah? Well, you know what?
[He pauses to take a drag from his cigarette. This late afternoon really has shaped up to make for a great day, and the big wide-open sky means that the sun will have to set all the way down below the horizon before they lose it completely.]
I'm real glad too. It's worth seein' in all those colors. It's pretty fuckin' amazing. Y'know, imagine you were the first people ever, walkin' across all this flat desert, an' suddenly you come across this big fuckin' thing you didn't even know was possible. What the fuck would someone think about that? I think it's nuts an' I already knew it was here!
[She hops down so she's able to go sit next to him at the base of the tree, making sure not to get in the way of his guitar.]
We could name it Ender Canyon.
[Oh gosh, that would be so cool. That thought leaves her grinning, and she starts tapping the beat to a song that fills her head. Soon enough she's humming it, then singing the words to The Yawning Grave. This time around, it doesn't sound sad or serious, but light and airy. It doesn't fully match all the lyrics, but that's fine. It's her own spin on things, and he's able to join in and sing along.]
[The thought gets him cackling cheerfully as he picks up the notes to her chosen song and plays and sings along. It's fun to remake this ancient song of warning into something fun, something that suits them and their real and personal appreciation for those dark forces that they've gladly thrown their lot in with. The darkness isn't a bad thing anyway, it's just one more part of nature, and the people who don't get that deserve whatever's coming to them.
In fact, as he carries on, it seems like singing this song like it's all just more of their fun is another way to celebrate their own existence beyond death, and especially their victory over fucking Zippo. Talk about a guy who had shit coming for him.
He brings the song to its natural end but then carries on right into another song, a similarly upbeat and faster-paced version of We Belong Together, because while it's nice and sweet as a slow dance, it may as well get remade too.]
In fact, she feels the need to hop up and shake her rear to the song as she dances. It's silly and absolutely not serious dancing. But it's fun, and that's all that matters to her.
By the time the song comes to an end, she's ready to swoop in close while she's still standing, both hands cupping his cheeks as she leans down to kiss him. He gets two more kisses, one to the tip of his nose and the other to his forehead.]
Hey, let's try writing our voodoo song. What's a tune that sounds like dark magic?
[Or dark magic, or whatever. He doesn't know but that doesn't matter, his fingers can pluck something out and develop it. Especially right now, on a nice easy high where everything sounds like a good idea. He doesn't always lean on drugs for creativity, obviously, but he won't say no to the free flow of melody and an openness to things he might not normally come up with.
Anyway, he obviously needs a minor key, those always sound serious. They tend toward sad, but he angles toward mystery instead. A few chords string together, things he won't necessarily use but one of them sounds great and he can build off of that.]
I dunno, I need a cool riff. Like we start here, most of it's around this sound, right, an' then it's gotta turn big an' victorious. Like you start off thinkin' this is gonna be sad an' lonely but no, it's fuckin' cool shit.
[She pauses, humming the riff he's just played and trying to put her own sad spin on it. After trying a few times, she makes a big gesture with both arms and gets louder, now humming something that sounds strong and powerful.]
That's pretty victorious sounding. Kinda.
[It doesn't help with chords on a guitar, but at least she's able to confidently help out now. She wouldn't have felt like she could do that a couple of months ago.]
Maybe if we come up with a couple of lines, the tune will just come to us.
[He can easily translate humming into guitar chords, that's no problem. It's a start, but it's a solid one, and it's fine if it changes as they go. At least they have something to work with.
He idly strums those chords as he thinks, but honestly, looking out at the canyon it's hard to think of anything other than big, vast, grand spaces and the wonder that is their enormous universe of which they're a tiny part. What is it about the voodoo magic that lets them be a part that's linked?]
So we're like... tied together, right? Like if you took two separate bits of twine an' unraveled 'em, then braided them together to make one piece. Twine's not cool an' dark, though. Thread's easier to rhyme with, especially 'cause it goes with "red", like blood. Or dread. Somethin' somethin' fills you with dread, somethin' tied together with thread... I dunno.
[Her fingers snap as she gives a little jump. All of those words are great.]
Barbed wire bound together by the darkest fire when things were dire. But that voodoo man was a liar and he had to be burned on a pyre.
[Okay, so that's a little too much rhyming. But it makes her grin and laugh, and she wiggles her butt before she plops down to sit next to him once again.]
Now we can take whatever we desire, riding higher, um...
[After a few seconds of thinking she shrugs.]
Okay, I can't think of anything else.
[Kind of a mouthful, too many syllables, but that just means writing the rest of the song around it. Not that they need to keep those lines intact either, but as he tries the rhythm out with some of those chords, he kind of likes it. The unexpected extra beat makes it kind of catchy. People like surprises in music, it's what keeps them coming back for more.
He snuffs the butt end of his cigarette out once he's drawn off the last of it, then starts building that melody again. He doesn't have all of the self-study Dale has done, doesn't really know the musical theory in how to build a song for what reasons and why, but he has pretty good intuition, he'd like to think.]
[It really does feel like she always has so much catching up to him to do. No matter how far she comes, he's always three giant leaps ahead. But he's patient with her, and includes her in everything. She isn't worried about always being behind, but wonders if it ever gets boring or tiresome to him.
He's not Dale, but he's really good at coming up with rhythms and chords and lyrics. Realizing that leaves her a little more smitten with him, biting at her lip as she observes him playing.]
I know you've been up on stage alone when we were on the road before, but have you ever thought about doing your own thing back home sometimes too?
[But he's still smiling at that compliment. Damn right, he's good at this, and he loves to hear it. He works at the melody another moment, since he thinks he's getting somewhere with it and doesn't want to lose his train of thought.]
I think it'd just feel kinda... Empty. I mean, I know I did it for fun an' spare cash on the road, but the whole atmosphere of playin' music with the whole group, it really gets the crowd goin', an' always comes with some kinda party afterward even if it's a small one. Ain't the same on my own. Guess that's why Dale an' Cid didn't really move on tryin' to find a drummer or anything until I came back. Losing Rigo was bad enough.
[And maybe some day, Nico will feel less like a temporary replacement. But it still feels wrong, being in Dale's apartment, knowing Rigo's room is just storage now. It's fucked up. It hurts, even if it hurts less. Rigo haunts the Riders like a ghost, and damn he wishes that guy actually was haunting them because then maybe he could still play but instead he's just the metaphorical kind, a shadow that smells like Pall Mall.
Back to the music, though, he can't dwell on that shit, not here and not now.]
I wish I could've met him. Rigo? You care about him so much. I wish I could've gotten to meet him.
[But they're both not completely dead yet, and maybe Rigo is out there the same way. They could run into him somewhere out there. Or she could use whatever the Ender teaches her to go and find him. She keeps that to herself for now, because maybe one day that will be a good surprise for Johnnie and everyone else.]
Nico will be fun to get to know though, right? It's kinda weird their names are so similar.
Eh, lotta nicknames in Spanish like that. I didn't even notice. Rodrigo, Nicolás. They don't sound so much like each other if you say it that way. Besides, we also got a Rico, Tico, Nito, Vito... Except I dunno if we'll see Vito again but you get the idea.
[That one hurts less, partly because Vito was mostly before his time and partly because the guy's a fucking asshole idiot, but whatever. Also, he's definitely still alive, last he heard.]
But you're right. Nico's a good guy. I don't mean to ignore him by always wishin' we had Rigo back. Dude's a real good drummer an' I know he's real eager for that first show. We'll make sure he gets a big welcome from the audience, he'll love that.
I'll be sure to get everyone hyped from the front of the crowd. We'll all be cheering Nico, Nicooooooooooo, Nico ahhhhhhh!
[Her hands cup against her mouth as she pretends to holler for him in a stage whisper, and winds up dropping her hands to clutch at her sides as she giggles. That would make Johnnie so jealous, she knows he loves the attention being on him.]
And while they're all busy with their eyes on him, I'll swoop in on stage and cup your cheeks and give you a big kiss right there in front of everyone!
[Of course, she has to demonstrate this with the most exaggerated lip smack of a kiss she's ever given him.]