beyondtheline | I sure like the feeling of an endless road

Oh yeah, those things came out last summer.

[She pauses as she cracks open her cherry coke and gleefully takes a sip.]

In 1985, I mean. I haven't tried it, but I remember some kids from school used their family's camcorders to record themselves drinking it and talking about it. Like anyone would ever want to watch that junk.

[Now that she has soda though, she's more than happy to go sit on the bed with her piece of pizza in one hand and her cherry coke in the other. As she finishes off her first piece, she hops up to go grab a second.]

It's kinda weird we've never seen it in the future, but I guess we haven't looked that hard at their drinks. Do you like it?

[Picturing kids recording themselves doing drink reviews like anyone would watch it later is pretty funny. What, they think they're on TV or something? But hell, he'd be on TV if he could be so maybe that's universal. He'd rather be on there for music than talking about soda, though.

Chrissy getting up for another slice makes Johnnie decide to just bring the whole box with him to the bed. Fuck it. They'll try not to get too much grease where they're sleeping but he doesn't want to run around the room every time either. He braces his soda can on his knee, then, to pop it open before having a taste.

Hmm. He has another sip, then shrugs.]

It's not bad. But it's like... Parallel world coke. Kinda the same, but kinda different? Like if someone tried to copy coke from memory. It's fine. I don't really get it, but I'd drink it again. Maybe I gotta do a side by side.

You need to just drink cherry coke, baby. That's good no matter what.

[She grins, leaning over so she can kiss him. It tastes like pizza on his part, but more importantly, she thinks she tastes like cherry coke since she just took a drink. Even if not, it's just nice to sneak a kiss. It's not like she's trying to make out or anything, they have pizza to focus on.]

Mmm. You taste like pepperoni.

[That makes her giggle as she leans back to her own space, and works on finishing up her second piece.]

You know, it's a little weird they have that here. Like...I was pretty convinced this version of Earth isn't the same one I lived in. Not everything is the same here. But I guess Coke is the same no matter where we are.

Yeah? I dunno how you'd tell half the time anyway. The time difference fucks shit up enough already.

[Like yeah he's vaguely aware that her time and his time are probably not just separated by time - there's more to it than that. She knows music he's never heard of, and vice versa, even when one should have existed in the other, just in another decade. But also, they're pretty damn close so who cares about the details? Does it even matter? There must be hundreds of Earths just next to each other with coke and pop tarts.

He briefly mulls this over while working on a slice of pizza, then looks around for the remote and turns on the room's TV, flipping idly through the channels.]

This is all pretty fuckin' foreign to me no matter what. I guess if we wound up in another version of the 60s, maybe I'd be able to tell better. But I dunno how much it matters. I guess if it does matter, it'd be that you could blow up Papa in one world an' I'd still be okay though!

[He doesn't really want that, though. Dude's an asshole but he has plenty of ways to die that don't involve her tearing a hole in spacetime specifically to destroy him. He feels a little bit weird about that, that's all. Maybe he shouldn't.]

[She laughs a little and reaches over to wipe some grease off the side of his mouth.]

Do you really think you'd be able to forgive me if I did something like that?

[To his Papa, to someone else he knows and maybe even cares about. It's hard to believe their relationship would survive. In fact, she could easily see herself becoming some kind of threat that the Enders feel obligated to dispose of. Not through actual fault of her own, but not being able to control her emotions and what she does when she loses control is kinda her own fault. She never wants to hurt someone, but it definitely happens more and more often these days. Eventually, someone she cares about is going to be hurt.

She just hopes it isn't Johnnie or anyone he cares about.

Seeing him look at her like she's a monster or a dog that needs to be put down would destroy her.]

[He snorts, amused by the question, or maybe the way she asks it, like it's almost a normal thing to ask given their circumstances. And maybe it is.]

Prob'ly shouldn't find out. Anyway, it's not like we're ever gonna need to run into him again. Better not.

[And best not to even waste time thinking about it, it's making his pizza less delicious. He does his best to shrug off the whole topic as he enjoys some long stretchy cheese that didn't quite want to separate from the slice, before the whole thing winds up in his mouth ultimately anyway.

Once he's finished, he has a long chug of his new! coke, decides it's pretty good after all, and then tosses the empty can in the direction of the trash and flops backward on the bed.]

Pizza was the best fuckin' idea.

[She finishes a minute or so later, and takes a second to grab that box of pizza to put over on the table so she can hop into bed and flop backward beside him. She rolls over onto her side so she can admire how nice he looks laying there, and takes the opportunity for some light kissing.]

Pizza really was a good idea.

[That's easy to agree with, and words trail off into more kissing as she enjoys casual making out for a few minutes. Or maybe it's a little longer, she doesn't really keep track.]

Are you still gonna head out for a few hours? I'm pretty tired now that I'm full.

Mmm. Yeah.

[He may not be riding on that energetic high as much as he was earlier, but he's still excited to be in a new city and wants to give it plenty of exploration. New city, new road trip, and who knows what he'll find.

One more kiss, as he brushes his fingers through her hair, and then he sits up and stretches. He does need to get up and get going or the pizza will make him lazy.]

Yeah, I wanna go look around. But you rest up, okay? I'll come getcha when it gets dark out.

Okay. Love you.

[That last part is murmured, and she scoots up so she's resting against the pillows and is able to get under the blankets. Typically she might ask him to tuck her in, but she's actually pretty tired and it's easy for her to let her eyes drift closed. She's asleep before he ever leaves the room, and rests soundly for a long while.

He's still not back when she wakes up, and that's okay. It gives her time to get up and moving, to get in her yellow dress and to put on her makeup. She's in the middle of styling her hair when she hears the door open, and peeks out to see Johnnie walking in. He's given a bright smile and a wave before she pops back into the bathroom to finish up. If they're going out, she has to look good.

And that means dark red lipstick and lots of eyeliner.]

Did you find any trouble out there?

[It's called out as she works another layer of mascara on her eyelashes, her face pressed in close to the bathroom mirror.]

[San Francisco two decades in his future is the strangest blend of the California he knows and a world utterly alien to him. If it wasn't for the hints of the Spanish colonial past and the occasional palm tree, he could have believed he was somewhere else entirely.

By the time he comes back, his curiosity isn't fully satisfied, but the wandering felt good anyway. He barely understands the city any better, but it felt good to get out. Feels good to walk in the door with a bag full of treasures, too, mostly shoplifted or snatched when he could get away with it, bought only when he had to. The eighties are just too damn expensive.

He grins as he looks her up and down.]

Damn, babe. You're gonna be the hottest thing in the dance club tonight. Those chicks out there on the streets got nothin' on you right now.

[As for her question though, he goes to upend the bag on the bed. Boxes of pop tarts only make up a small part of it - mostly it's goodies from glove boxes, and things utterly mysterious to him too. More than a few cassette tapes are in there mixed in with a modest amount of cash, jewelry, and pills he's never heard of but that might be wanted by the right people.]

Not nearly enough trouble goin' on during the day, but I guess there's still plenty of people in your time who leave shit wide open for the taking. You know any of these?

[He grabs a few of the tapes and brings them over. Madonna, Sting, and a group called Wham!, punctuation included, which makes him grin.]

Oh my gosh, Wham! I love them. Thanks, baby. You're so sweet to think to grab these!

[She's grinning as she looks through the tapes, but holds up Madonna.]

I hum her songs all the time. We'll have to listen to this one together later.

[The fact that he got her something at all makes her want to snuggle in close and kiss him, but she's even wearing lipliner tonight and doesn't want to mess it up. She doubts he wants to get red on him either, so she'll just save kissing him for later.]

I want to stop somewhere before we go out dancing. I know there's skintight and short dresses in some store around here, and I have to find one to wear out.

[If they're going to be in the 1980s, she wants to look her absolute skankiest without it being trashy.]

I think I'll head out for a few minutes to find one while you're getting ready, so you have the bathroom to yourself. But I won't go far, and I'll have my knife on me.

[In case he's worried about her getting lost or hurt or something.]

[Skintight and short?

It is not the first time that it has hit him just how much she's changed since he met her, but shit, this is a fun reminder. He grins as he pulls her in for a kiss - to the forehead, where he can't see any easily smudgeable makeup, so it's probably safe.]

Sure, baby girl, you have fun. Hey, wait, but whatcha think, am I gonna stand out too much dressin' like usual?

[Not that he cares if he does, but he's not opposed to finding something to wear, just this once. Every now and then the mood strikes him. But out on the street, jeans and a leather jacket didn't really stand out all that much so he's probably fine. Maybe if anything he should just tweak the way he styles his hair somehow.]

No? I mean, white boys dress differently. But I think your look goes good no matter what decade we're in. You're timeless, baby. You could always try something different with your hair if you wanted to though.

[It's so hard to not kiss him, but she blows him a kiss on her way to get her knife and tuck it into her bra.]

If I'm not back in an hour though, maybe come look for me?

[There's always a chance she could wind up arrested or something stupid. She can break herself out, but she doesn't want to ruin their trip by accidentally blowing a hole in California or something.]

Come look for you where? The nearest pretty dresses store?

[He means that in a teasing way but actually, that's probably realistic. She's going to look for dresses until she finds one she likes, after all, right?]

An hour though, got it. Hey, there's some nicer kinda stuff if you turn left out the front door an' go that way, toward downtown. Gets kinda shitty the other direction sooner. You have fun, all right?

[He's not that worried. Only slightly. She can mostly take care of herself, just that sometimes things go real weird when she does. He chuckles at the thought of her turning a city block into a black hole, and lights himself a cigarette meanwhile.]

I'll save some fun for when we go out.

[She winks, and blows him one more kiss before she heads out the door. Of course she listens to his suggestion and heads toward downtown. It takes her a couple of attempts to get going the right way, but eventually she finds the nearest pretty dress store and heads right on in.

It's a little harder to steal a whole bunch of things when the store's about to close and she's the only one inside, but she definitely tries. All she ends up able to grab are some new hoop earrings. It's the next clothing store down that's already closed, and she breaks in through the back to enjoy the store that's aglow with ambient lighting.

She takes her time in there, being quiet as she grabs things that catch her eye. If she wants to bring some 80s clothes back home with her, she wants to pick out the best ones. Grabbing everything just for the sake of doing it doesn't feel right, so she fills up two bags with what she views as essentials. It's on her way out that she finds the perfect sequin minidress on a mannequin, and she pulls it off to head back into the fitting rooms to change into it. Her beloved yellow dress is folded and put in the bag, and she puts on her stolen hoop earrings. A pair of heels tops off her new look, and she puts her sandals in the bag to make it back to the hotel.

It's dark when she gets back, and since she didn't grab a room key she has to knock lightly at the door so Johnnie will let her in. As soon as he opens the door she gives a spin, and heads inside so she can set her bags down.]

See? I look better now than I did in that other dress. And I got all the stuff I'll need to bring back home with me, so you don't have to go to any girl stores!

[Both arms raise up into the air, which makes that minidress rise up far enough that there's little left to the imagination.]

[That hour passes way too quickly when he has his hair to fuss with. Thing is, he's mostly either seen guys on the street with hair that still looks mostly pretty normal to him, or guys with hair he hates - Eddie and the like, too long or too curly or both, and it's not like he can suddenly make his hair longer and curlier anyway even if he wanted to.

So after trying a few styles, he decides it's just not fucking worth it and slicks it back like normal, and enjoys himself some TV and another smoke until she's there at the door in dazzling glittery blue. It's just about enough to get him hard then and there - shame she spent so long on that makeup, since that's all that's stopping him from shoving her against the wall.]

Oh, goddamn. 'Bout takes my breath away. I mean that. I dunno how I'm gonna make it dancin' with you all night.

[He'll never get his hands off her. Even now, his palms go to her hips and guide her in close. Fuck.]

[This is the exact reaction she was hoping for. She's grinning ear to ear as she leans in close, just barely letting her lips graze against his. It's so tempting to press for more, but that can come later. After dancing and grinding on one another for a while.]

We're gonna have such a fun night. We'll dance until you can't keep your hands off of me anymore, and then we'll find somewhere you can show me how irresistible I am.

[She's never had much of an ego, but she's feeling confident and attractive tonight and wants to let it show. It's nice to finally accept how much she's changed the past handful of months, and really wants to celebrate the woman she's becoming by going out and having a hedonistic night of indulgence.]

Are you ready to head out?

Ready as can be. We're gonna show all these San Francisco fools their place on the dance floor.

[He smirks and takes a step back so he can take her hand and pull her into a little spin, but then lets go so he can triple check that he has what he needs. Knife, wallet, smokes and lighter, pistol not because he thinks he'll need it but because he doesn't want to leave it somewhere it could get stolen. Better if it's safely tucked away in his belt.

The hotel key is one last thing to grab, and he goes to hold the door for her on the way out to the bike.]

That little dress is gonna ride all the way up with you sittin' behind me, y'know.

[He snickers as he leads the way and hops onto his bike, then offers her a hand up.]

But I found some real fun-looking spots when I was out earlier, so let's go see if some a' these bands playin' shows tonight live up to all the praise on the posters.

Oh, it's not like anyone will see much.

[Maybe her butt hanging out, but they'll be driving so fast it's not like anyone will really get a peek. And even if they do, who cares? She looks good and everyone should get to see that. She's still grinning as she settles in behind him on the bike, and her arms wrap around him nice and tight.

He seems to have an idea of where he wants to take her, so she just enjoys the short ride. It's no time at all before he's parking and helping her off the bike, and she takes hold of his hand and leans in for a kiss before he leads her inside.]

Club DV8? Oh! I get it! We're about to deviate, huh babe?

[She does a silly little dance as they reach the doors, where they're promptly stoped by a giant bouncer who asks to see Johnnie's ID. He notably doesn't bother mentioning that he'd like to see hers.]

[It's a perfect club with a perfect name - until this motherfucker. Johnnie glowers as he reaches for his wallet, but doesn't yet withdraw his ID - he knows how absurdly fake both of them will look.]

C'mon, man, you got an invite list or somethin'? I'm twenty one, gimme a fuckin' break.

[Honestly, the guy will probably do something shitty like bend his card in half if he hands one over, once he reads the birth date. And these things are expensive and annoying to get, he doesn't really want to lose one. Benny Garcia is useful at home.

The bouncer is not swayed whatsoever by his attitude and holds out a hand as one last request.]

Prove it, then, bucko.

[Johnnie glances over at the door. There's probably a back way in, every club and bar has a kitchen door somewhere. The smart thing to do would be to step back, give up, and find that alternate entrance, or have Chrissy let him in from the back.

But he's not smart, he's annoyed, so the fleeting thought disappears as Johnnie stuffs his wallet back into his pocket instead.]

Fuck you, man. You don't wanna fuckin' mess with me. You lemme in there or you're gonna have some real fuckin' regrets in a few seconds here.

[To which the bouncer looks him up and down, grabs him by the jacket and shoves him away from the door to make room for a couple who have just come up behind him.]

[Her anger on Johnnie's behalf burns bright, and she instantly gets heated. It's only the fact that she wants to keep her dress pretty that she doesn't kill the guy right on the spot, and instead she rolls her eyes and tugs Johnnie along with her.]

Come on, we'll just go in the back. And if we can't do that, I'm killing that guy and we're going in the front.

[They stroll along to the back, where Chrissy gets distracted from actually finding a service entrance by pushing him against the brick wall to kiss him. It definitely gets a little red on his lips, and she laughs as she wipes it away.]

I think a band is going to the side door. Let's follow them in.

[Whoa shit, that kiss came outta nowhere, but he needed it. It's hard to let her go when she pulls away, too, that's for damn sure. But it does the trick of clearing his head of that remaining anger at the bouncer, and leaves him very eager to follow after her as she spots that side entrance.]

Cool, yeah, perfect. I thought about somethin' like this but then that guy fuckin' pissed me off. He's real lucky I didn't stab him.

[Not that he was going to. He'd like to hang out in this city just a little bit longer without having to run from the cops. But he sure felt like doing it.

It's a small club and the band is doing as he and his group do, managing all the instruments themselves without anything like roadies. So it's pretty easy for Johnnie to step up and make a reason for them to go in the side rather than just sneaking and being suspicious.]

Hey, you guys need a hand? Here -

[Without waiting for an answer, he gets his arms around part of the drum kit, and nods to Chrissy.]

Hey babe, hold the door for us, wouldya?

[The band has no reason to be suspicious, and quite clearly the guy next to him hauling around a bunch of cables is wearing gratitude on his face.]

Sure.

[She's all too happy to help, and even goes to grab one of the little amps to carry in once all the others make their way through the door. It's brought over to the little stage and the guy that takes it from her looks her over with a grin.]

Hey, thanks. Drinks are on us later.

[That makes Chrissy laugh, and she shakes her head.]

Oh, I'm only drinking what my boyfriend buys me.

[It's just safer that way.

The guy in the band glances over at Johnnie and shrugs, before going back out to grab more. That leaves her and Johnnie able to slip away somewhere else, and she takes in everything with a lopsided grin. This place isn't very big, but it's charming and loud and fun.]

[What a smart fucking response, damn. Johnnie grins and waves, though.]

Hey, I'll take you up on that after the show! Can't wait to hear you play!

[Seriously, it's not like these guys are going to try and roofie him. Probably. Right?

Anyway, who cares, he's happy to take the opportunity to vanish into the mix with Chrissy. The crowd is still building, but the music playing over the speakers is enough to get people dancing and drinking already anyway. Johnnie laughs as he pulls her in close for a quick little celebratory kiss before towing her toward the bar.]

This music is so fucking weird! Every time I hear shit from your time it blows my fuckin' mind. Do any of those tapes I grabbed sound like this? I wanna play this shit for the guys back home!

[It's so... much. So electronic, so futuristic. He doesn't have words for it and he's not sure if he loves it or not but he does love the novelty.]

No, this is definitely different. The music on the tapes is more pop, this is like...

[She hesitates, unsure how to best describe it.]

Well, it's just like dance club music! It has a really good beat, doesn't it? I bet we can stop by a music store and find something just like it to bring back home.

[It would be so much fun to grab a little boombox and bring it back with as many tapes as they can carry. Her goal tonight is to find one. The rest of the World Enders would absolutely get a thrill out of hearing future music.

But for now, she turns her attention to the bar. Her tongue grazes across her lips as she ponders what sounds good, and as they edge in to stand at the side of the bar she leans in to whisper so Johnnie can hear what she wants.]

I want to have something really strong so I can not have to drink a lot but still have a lot of fun.

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