beyondtheline | I sure like the feeling of an endless road

I sure like the feeling of an endless road

[A few hours of open road makes for easygoing fun. It's great to be traveling again, and the feeling of Chrissy leaning up against his back, holding on tight while he whips ahead on a wide-open freeway through the pitch black of night is like nothing else. The last time they were racing up and down this freeway, they were on the way to go burn a bunch of people's lives down - but now that's hours back, back with the rest of the city. They've left the lights and have nothing to look at but the pavement in Johnnie's headlight, the glimpses of stars shining weakly through hazy clouds, and occasionally an oncoming car.

Johnnie hasn't exactly been trying to tune in to his senses or abilities or whatever it is he has - he's just been cruising, letting the night go by, enjoying their plunge northward without a care or a thought. So it is deeply irritating when the pavement quickly fades to a well-worn dirt track that almost tosses him and Chrissy to the ground, and it takes all of his skills to get the front wheel under control and to slow down before they hit a rock that really might launch them into the nearest alfalfa field. Or whatever it is that's here, whenever they've found themselves. Somewhere pre-freeway. Boo.

But there are a few lights ahead, and he did need a stop to pee, so, fuck it.]

Well, shit. Y'know, I dunno exactly where we are. Last sign said San Jose was still fuckin' hours off. You good? That was kinda shaky.

[As long as this dirt road stays packed, they can drive it, but it's going to be slow. Good thing they're almost to somewhere.]

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[He's tense as she trots off, and he keeps looking over his shoulder like there might be more of those guys coming now that they've split up - sneaking up behind him, or going for her while she's not looking. It's not unusual though, to be this vigilant - again, the problem was he wasn't expecting to have to be all the way up here.

Quickly digging through the bike's saddlebags and checking the tires and connections all suggest the bike is fine, and when she returns, he's sitting on it, ready and waiting.]

Yeah, I don't think they had time to fuck with anything. Did you find my knife? Or my gun?

[The latter he's not especially hopeful about. But maybe they'd left it, since they had their own on them. He's just not looking forward to having to replace all his weapons every couple months. It keeps happening.

He pulls on his jacket and stomps his feet down into his shoes, and backs out of the lot to get them on the road out of town. For the moment, that's the most important thing.]

Yeah. I've got them right here, hold on.

[His knife is passed over first, once she pulls it free from her shorts pockets. The gun is next, and she waits until they're on the road to slip it into his jacket pocket after tugging it free from her own. Her arms wrap tight around him, and she smiles a little as things feel safe.]

Are we coming back tonight to start the fire?

[That would require coming back to this place, which is unfortunate. But she really wants to see the place burn, and that's always better done at night. They wouldn't be able to see much right now while there's still daylight. They can go an hour or two north and find a motel to rest and check into. That will give them time to bandage his hand and her nerves time to calm, and they can regroup to come back for revenge.]

Yeah. I ain't fuckin' leaving this part of the state until this place is nothin' but ash.

[Who knows where they're going right now. North. Not here. But they'll be back for sure.

He definitely feels reassured that they'd left his weapons, though, that's a stroke of luck. Hopefully the next town up will be less fucking insane about things. He just wants to refill his canteen, get some snacks on the bike, make sure they have a comfortable place to sleep once they're ready for it.

The road is still narrow and full of little twists and turns as they make their way down a jagged river valley between mountain ridges. There's one particularly long wide hairpin turn where they go around a deep canyon, and that gets him feeling better.]

Holy shit, that's a long way down!

[By then it's been 15 minutes out of town, long enough for him to feel like he can sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

A few minutes after that canyon is another tiny town, and he gives that one a middle finger as he blows right through the main street, hardly looking for traffic, certainly not paying attention to the one street light. He's had it with these places.

But only a little way past that is a big wide green river valley, and a proper... almost-city, newly paved, some new buildings going up, all of it. A place still growing. And much as he hates to admit it, the fields to farm around here probably mean at least some of these people are at least used to seeing Mexican laborers around and maybe they'll be a little more prone to just ignoring him. Otherwise, there's going to be a hell of a lot of fire tonight.]

John Day. Weird fuckin' name. Who's John? Why's he get a whole day to himself?

I dunno. But it's Johnnie Day now!

[She laughs, giving him a squeeze. It's easier now to be in a lighter mood. The more distance that's between them and that place, the less she even remembers it exists. Oh, they'll still get their fire. But for now, she's focusing on enjoying this weirdly named place.]

I think that's a motel up ahead. Let's stop there and get a room. I think those guys assumed we didn't have anything, so I bet the money's still there.

[Just in case though, she's going to rob every single place she can back in that shitty town. They might as well, since everything's going up in flames.

Once Johnnie pulls into the lot and gets the bike parked, she stays in the seat and very cautiously looks around. This area is a lot quieter. There's a few people out and about, but no one is looking at them strangely. That's a good sign.]

The first thing I'm doing is getting back in the shower and finishing up getting clean. Those jerks pulled me out before I could finish washing my hair.

Think we both deserve not just a shower but maybe a nice long bath. I gotta wrap up my hand or somethin' too. Really starting to hurt like hell.

[He had ignored it for as long as he could, eager as he was to get them out of that town, but man. Painkillers and some serious bandaging to keep his fingers in position are in order. He probably should see a doctor but then he has to explain the whole being dead thing and that doesn't seem like it's going to be very productive.

It's not hard to get a room. It's after the check-in time but nothing about this place is busy. The guy at the desk definitely gives him a long look, but Johnnie gets the sense that here it's a little more about that scar all over his face and his fucked up red swollen fingers, so he'll give the dude a break. He comes out jingling keys, then pulls his backpack back onto his shoulder.]

It's number five, down there, I'll go get the door.

[At one of their previous stops she put together a little first aid kit. It's not much, but she thinks there's stuff they can use to wrap and treat his hand in there. She's going to need to treat her fingertips too, just to make sure they don't get all sore and infected.

As he gets the key she gets the stuff they'll need out, so it's ready to carry. The sight of keys makes her smile, and she nods as she pulls on her own backpack and grabs the other little bag containing what they need. Her eagerness to get inside the room has her practically trotting along after him, and he has the door open by the time she gets there.

The room is far from nice, but it's the kind of motel that they've stayed in a few times on the road before and it's nostalgic in a way that makes her feel a little more at ease. All their bags are set on top of the tiny dresser, and she goes to fall back on the bed and stretch out.]

Do you know what? I think I'm already hungry again.

[She's turning into a pig. Her hands press against her belly as she laughs at herself.]

Maybe we're in a time that delivers pizza.

Ohh, fuck, yeah I want that. There's gotta be pizza delivery.

[He answers as he sets his backpack down, digs through it, then goes back out to the bike for a few things out of the saddlebags just for security - cash he couldn't fit in his wallet, a box of ammo to reload his gun. After stuffing the cash in his backpack, he sits down on the edge of the bed by her feet to load up the pistol.]

There. Man, I'm never goin' in a shower without an inside lock again, that was so fucked up. Like a fuckin' deathtrap. Makes me really wonder if that cook was in on it, like he was butterin' us all up an' playin' nice just because.

[And that's why he gets to burn with all the rest of them. Fuck that dude.]

Okay. Phonebook -

[He leans back to reach toward the phone on the table, and its drawer, but there's a loose page on top of the side table and he grabs that up first.]

Nah, here we go. Pizza delivery. And Chinese. But I'm thinkin' pizza sounds like the winner. Whatcha want?

Oh, I'm good with anything!

[She smiles as she rolls out of bed, and heads toward the bathroom to see what they're working with. A thought enters her head then, and she jogs back into the bedroom to let him hear it.]

Oh! But no anchovies. Anything but that.

[Satisfied, she gives a nod of her head and dusts her hands off and marches her way back into the bathroom. It's not big by any stretch of the imagination, but the tub is just the right size for two compact people. She gets the water going so it'll have time to get hot, and steps back out to find all her bath stuff.]

Hopefully it takes a little while to get here, because I gotta get that bath so I finally feel clean.

Well, I can tell 'em to deliver in half an hour.

[He's hungry, he doesn't want to wait any longer than that. If when the bell rings they're still in the tub he'll just have to jump out and get it. And then they can have bath pizza.

While she gets herself ready, Johnnie calls in the order, then strips back down and grabs his own stuff for afterward - mostly, hair supplies. Those get set on the counter by the sink, and then he comes on over and pulls Chrissy in one-handed for a kiss.]

Hey, you seen those bandages anywhere? I wonder if I should splint this shit or what.

Yeah, I have a first aid kit over here.

[He might think it's nerdy to have one, but she's glad she stole everything and made it. It's just a zipper pouch, nothing fancy. But she's crammed in all kinds of things.]

There's pain killers in here. You'll want those.

[The small bottle is taken out and set on the bathroom counter.]

And I don't know what hard thing we have to use for a splint but I have gauze and medical tape to wrap it with. Do you want me to do that for you after the bath?

[She's really hoping his hand will heal quickly. Tears will definitely be shed if he's unable to play the guitar for too long.]

I do want painkillers.

[Badly. He can tough out a lot of pain, but if he doesn't have to? Awesome. Great. He wastes no time gulping a couple of them down with one of the motel water glasses.]

Hard thing, hard thing - well, there's gonna be a cardboard pizza box. Better than nothin', right? Yeah, after the bath, 'cause otherwise it's just gonna get all wet an' fall apart.

[For now he's not really allowing himself to think about what happens if his hand doesn't heal right. It's just his right hand, as long as he can hold a pick he's fine. But he has to have it healed enough to hold a pick. That's the important part. His thumb got missed by that fucker's boot so he'll probably be okay, he has to figure, but - well. Again, not worth worrying about right now.]

Or we could run out an' get, I dunno. Popsicle sticks? Break some ballpoint pens apart? Lotsa stuff we can use.

[Said truly like someone used to improvising medicine.]

[She knows he's definitely used to home medicine, and so it's charming that he's so confident that a pen or popsicle sticks will work. There's an admiring smile on her face, and she steps in close enough that she can lean in for a kiss.]

Let's try the pizza box first. Go ahead and get in the tub, I'll grab your shower stuff so you don't have to smell like strawberries.

[That puts a smirk on her face as she leans back a little to look up at him.]

Unless you want to smell like me.

[He gives a sigh of a laugh as he gets in. Mmm, hot water. Feels real damn good on all those aching bruises he just got from what went down, that's for sure.]

I'm gonna end up smellin' like you anyway if you're using all that stuff in the same tub. Get in here.

[It's fine. It's even sort of funny. Besides, they'll both wind up smelling like smoke before the night is done. He can handle some strawberries for now.

He holds out his good hand to her as she steps in, then pulls her to his chest and blows a big raspberry on the back of her neck just to get them both laughing. Been way too tense of a day.]

Strawberry me up, princesa de las fresas.

[That attention to her neck makes her loudly laugh, and it draws out at the adorable nickname. She will be his Strawberry Princess any day, any time. As long as it gets them to smile. Her hand rests on his arm, and she hums a little as she relaxes back against him.

The bottle of Strawberry shampoo is picked up, but she doesn't do anything with it yet. Washing his hair would require her turning around to face him, and she's very comfortable where she's at. ]

I'll be sure to wear pink tonight so I'll be the strawberry princess even when we're wiping a whole town off the map.

[Her leg slowly stretches out and extends toward the faucet, and she slides it up a little further to turn off the water with her foot.]

Does your hand hurt a lot?

Hell yeah, little pink arson princess. 'S even better. I hope they see you lookin' all pretty while it all goes up in flames.

[What can he say, he just loves the apparent contradiction of it. The people in that town need things to be shaken up real hard in a whole lot of ways, and one definitely gets to be that pretty girls can burn down everything they want.

At her question, he experimentally flexes his fingers, then winces. Yeah okay that was dumb, he knew that was going to happen. Didn't stop himself from doing it, though.]

Yeah, but my everything hurts. Just tryin' not to complain about it. Something broke for sure, got my middle an' fourth fingers all swollen. I bet it'll heal up okay though once you wrap it up. Better my fingers than my arm, anyway. You doin' okay?

[After all... That. Ugh.]

[She doesn't answer right away. Instead she opens the shampoo bottle and hands it back to him.]

Not really. I'm not hurt like you are. I mean, my ankle has rope burn. And I tore up my fingers trying to claw my way away from that guy. But I've been hurt a lot worse before. It feels like it's always my mind that gets hurt the worst when things happen. Like more of me slips away each time.

[There's no way she's going to get into what killing multiple people at once does to her, because she's fully intending on trying to explode every living thing in an entire town later tonight. She doesn't want him to feel like she can't do that. Or like maybe she shouldn't.]

You apologized to me earlier. But I should've stopped them back when we were in the showers. I'm really sorry, Johnnie. Every time it feels like I'm getting stronger I hesitate or something and you always get hurt.

[And there the tears are. She had been holding them for a while, but it feels like as good of a time as any to let them fall. She sniffles and wipes them away.]

And I really thought that I had exploded you on accident too.

[That's actually not at all the stuff he expected to have bothered her. He was pissed off that they were treating her like property, like they probably wanted to torture them both with everything they probably thought they were about to get away with. That's what he's still pissed off about, and what he had assumed would be on her mind.

But no, instead it's her worrying about the effects of that power she has. And yeah, if she feels like she's losing herself somehow, then that's terrifying. He only has one other example he can think of, of someone who probably lost most of who they are. The Ender's a great dude but Johnnie doesn't have to have met him before he died to know he probably changed one hell of a lot. Lost most of himself to gain his revenge.

He lets her cry, just keeping his good arm tucked around her waist while the other one soaks in the warm water.]

Well, first thing's first. Good news is you didn't blow me up, so nothin' to worry about there, right? Second thing, maybe it's nobody's fault what happened, 'cause it's your fault and my fault both, so that evens out. Don't blame yourself, an' I won't blame me. Deal?

[The rest, well. He's not quite so immediately sure what to say, but he'll try his best.]

If that cool shit you do makes you worried it's gonna make you someone you're not, you don't gotta do it. I don't want you to do somethin' you don't want to. But it's gotta be your choice. Besides, people change all the time. For good, for bad, or just 'cause. That's part of living.

[There's no way she enjoys crying, but this time it helps that he just lets her get it all out. She waits a minute before trying to talk again, and she's reluctant to pull away from him but she does so she can turn around in the tub and face him.]

That's the thing though, Johnnie. I wanted to do that to them. The only reason I didn't right away was because I didn't want to hurt you.

[She motions for him to lean back, and scoops up water in her hands to get his hair as wet as she can. It's time to get him all clean.]

But they deserved it, you know? They tied me up naked by my leg and tied you up naked to a chair. I know what men like that are like, they were going to kill you. And they were going to make me watch. And then they were going to do awful things to me before they killed me too. They might've made you watch some of those things and -

[Oh gosh, she's starting to shake with anger. Her teeth bite at her lip as she counts in her head and calms down. Shampoo is squirted in her hands, and then they go into his hair, sudsing it up.]

Well, they deserved what they got. But I wish it had been slower and a lot more painful. And I was thinking earlier as we drove through some other towns. Maybe we could burn those ones too. Because I know the people in those places are like that too.

[She pauses, working his hair up into a whole bunch of strawberry scented suds. It puts a half smile on her face.]

Anyway, I'm used to men treating me like that. I was really afraid that I was naked and that one was touching me. I think I thought I might pee myself at one point. That's pretty gross, huh?

[Satisfied with how clean his hair must be after all her scrubbing, she tries to figure out how to rinse it without getting soap in his eyes.]

[Kind of shitty to be laughing while she says all this, but her enthusiastic strawberry scrubbing definitely makes him grin and snicker here and there. She's having so much fun subjecting him to the fruity scents and she knows it, and he's all for it. He didn't give her the go-ahead just to cheer her up, but he's glad it seems to be having at least a little bit of that effect.]

Aw, babe. That's gross in a real normal way. Glad you didn't though.

[She didn't exactly need more humiliation on top of everything else.]

Here, lemme go to the tap side, bet that'll work.

[If he looks down, while she runs the tap and rinses all those suds out with fresh water, it'll... probably only get some of the soap in his eyes. He'll survive. They'll sting but whatever. He scoots on down anyway, and squeezes his eyes shut while she rinses.]

How 'bout this. We'll burn all those places down, all those shitty little towns - the one we were in, the ones we passed through. Just all in a line. But you don't gotta use powers for that, we'll do it the old fashioned way! We'll spread fire the first time through town, then you can finish 'em off with my gun while we round up the stragglers.

[Until he runs out of ammo. But this feels like a damn good way to use it.]

[The simple act of helping him rinse his hair makes her so happy. It's hard not to smile. The fact that they're so casually discussing murdering towns of people doesn't even register with her. There's just a gasp of excitement and an eager nod, and she pulls her soapy hands away from his head to make them look like a gun. She pretends to pull the trigger and laughs as she does, before reaching over to help him sit back up. All clean now.

The soap is grabbed next, and she works it to a lather before she brings her hands to his body to get him all nice and clean. Great care is taken not to touch any bruises or areas that look tender too hard.]

I think that sounds like a good idea, baby. We can do things the old fashioned way. And save any powers for emergencies only.

[But there won't be one, because they're going to be the ones in control. A toothy grin slowly stretches across her face as she imagines what the news will be like the next morning.]

Yeah. 'Specially 'cause I got nothin' but being all natural cool, so it's time for some of that to shine!

[He is not mad about her outdoing him or anything, no, absolutely not. He'd love to discover some cool ghost abilities other than sucking at controlling time while they travel, but it's honestly not his biggest priority. He's just happy to still be alive, or whatever this is. And given the danger she seems to think she's putting herself in, using those powers, he's fine with not having to worry about that kind of stuff.

While she works away with the soap, he closes his eyes and just enjoys the touch. Eventually it's time to sink low enough to get some of that soap off, and then it's her turn to get scrubbed with strawberry. He reaches his hand out to her, palm up.]

All right, I only got one good hand so you're gonna have to help me. Put some shampoo in that palm there an' I'll get you all good an' clean.

[Both hands are used to get some shampoo in his palm, and she turns so he can get her hair all clean. It's nice that they can always have each other to rely on, that they can take care of each other like this. No matter where they are, they always make their own world of safety.]

I bet it's a week or two tops before you can use both hands to scrub again.

[And hopefully he'll be able to play his guitar no problem.]

I'll bandage them so good and take such good care of you that you'll heal faster than anybody.

[That makes her laugh, as her eyes close. His fingers in her hair feel too good to keep prattling off silly optimism.]

You better! Nah, I know you'll do great. I might have you do some a' the driving just so I can rest it more. Not tonight though, 'cause I'm in no shape to pull a trigger with my right hand, an' I'll miss every shot with my left.

[Nah, he can manage to drive well enough tonight, just like he did to get here. They'll be all right. The fire will do most of the work for them anyway.]

An' then maybe when we get to Portland we can rest up for a little while, make sure we're all still in one piece. I guess we'll have to think about what time we wanna turn around, once we get there. I know we still got some time but I can't be late, I wanna run through with the guys a couple times before the tour.

[But they still have like, what. A week? He hasn't exactly been keeping close track. A week is more than enough to at least get into Washington, then just cruse on south. They can do some long days on the road on the way back, it's fine. Won't take that long.]

Edited 2025-08-21 02:24 (UTC)

[She laughs a little, but finds herself biting at her lip to hold in a content sigh. This isn't a sexy bath and she doesn't need to do anything that might turn it into one. As it turns out, most little noises she makes are pretty attractive to him.]

Oh, I don't mind driving when you need me to. I'm not as good as you are but I could use the experience.

[At least she's not turning the opportunity down like maybe she would have when they first met. She thinks that shows a lot of growth on her part.

As he finishes lathering up her hair, they have to switch spots so she can lean down and get her hair rinsed. It takes her longer just due to having a lot more hair, but eventually it all gets out and she's able to sit up so she can get him the soap in his hand and he can scrub her body all clean.]

Tonight, I'm...wait. What's the name of that famous cowgirl?

[One-handed scrubbing he can do. Especially when he just gets his hand all soapy and uses it as an excuse to feel her up a little. He just can't resist, all right? She has all that perfect, pretty skin and it feels so good on his palm as he runs it up her back and down - and her sides, her breasts, her hips under the water.

This could be a sexy bath. Maybe better to wait until after the pizza guy gets here, though, he decides before pushing for more. That would be a pretty lame interruption.]

What, which one? Sally Starr?

[That's a TV cowgirl, but definitely the most famous one who comes to mind. If she's talking real people, his US history has mostly been learned by driving around the country in the last year, so he's coming up short.]

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