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Apr. 19th, 2025 at 7:28 PM
[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.]
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.]
Comments
[It's easy now to be into the idea of trying new drugs she hasn't heard of. There's nothing to be afraid of. If they do it together, they'll keep each other safe. What she is afraid of is him continuing to try and drive with his eyes closed. Whether he wants to believe it or not, her arms just aren't long enough to drive from behind him.]
Just don't close your eyes again for a little while, okay? I can't reach very well and we could crash or something.
[But they're in one piece and everything's fine. He keeps driving, and she sings a little as they keep going. There's no real need to try and force a specific time jump here. As long as they keep the pavement, everything's fine.
And they do keep the pavement for a while, at least another hour. The pavement doesn't go away completely, but becomes bumpy and worn down. She isn't sure how far ahead they are here, but it's definitely the future. Wherever they're at is still lots of open spaces and little hick towns with nothing worth stopping for in them. It's as they pass a tattered billboard advertising something called Boot Heel Whiskey that she thinks of something. ]
Hey Johnnie, do you think that place the Ender brought us to is the answer to what we can do? Like...that stuff that went inside us there. It made us really powerful. What do you think that was?
Yeah, I was just thinkin' about that a little while back. Kinda felt like vide noir, but different. Maybe it's where it came from though. I mean, you've tried it, didn't it seem kinda familiar?
[Their experiences with vide noir have thankfully been very different. He wouldn't wish on her what was done to him. But that kind of tie to the dark things that stretch their arms through the universe itself is undeniably addictive, and definitely holds some real power in it.]
[And that's good enough.
But does that mean vide noir is something they need to get their hands on? After what happened to Johnnie, she has a really hard time wanting to help him ever be near the stuff again. She remembers their journey to try and get the cosmic ash, remembers how terribly it impacted him when it didn't work. She wants to protect him from ever needing to go through that again. More than that, she wants to protect him from what addiction to vide noir can do to him. She's terrified it will take him away from her.]
We can talk to the Ender about it when we get back. But we just have to be careful with that stuff. I don't want to lose you.
[And yeah, maybe the Ender has some ability to pull him back out if he had to, but the question is, even if he does, would he bother? Johnnie has been done a favor by the deep roots of that force, the thing well beyond the man. For whatever reason, it decided to allow him to beg for his continued existence in exchange for promises about what he can do to hasten the end of all things. But, well - how much does that matter? Maybe he's not the only one those things toy with. Maybe he only has this second shot and no more. He's not counting on having more.
Well, whatever. It's all wondering and guesswork about the future and he can't dwell on that too hard, not worth it. If they wind up with more vide noir on hand then he'll figure it out when the time comes.
The exit he wanted hasn't shown its face, and it feels like it's been way too long. How much have the roads changed in this time?]
I feel like we're kinda way past the exit I meant to take... Did you see a sign anywhere back there for San Jose? Or San Francisco? I didn't miss it when I had my eyes closed, did I?
[Well, it's no big deal. If they continue straight ahead they'll end up in the east bay instead and there are bridges. There's no real need to avoid the east bay explicitly. His Papa lives around here now, somewhere, but it's a big place. And fuck it, if this really is the future, asshole's long dead anyway. At least a bright glow on the horizon suggests there's civilization still out there somewhere.]
[She admits with a nervous laugh, because she feels so stupid not to notice. He doesn't seem to mind though, so she takes her mistake in stride. She'll just have to pay better attention.]
But I mean, it's San Francisco. Maybe it's all those lights over that way? What would be cool is if we knew someone there and I could focus on how they feel and pick up on them and we could just drive through a tear and end up right there where they are!
[She makes a motion like they're driving straight through something, and laughs as she loosens her hold on him. They've been driving for a few hours now, and definitely have a few more left before they can stop.]
There's a sign up ahead that says we're five miles away from the next gas station. Let's stop there and see if we can figure out where we are.
[Ugh.
No fucking way. He can figure this out himself. The last thing he needs is for Chrissy to somehow magnetically direct them to his useless father. It's not that hard, they'll just... Go west until they have to go some other direction. State's not that complicated.
She'll have to forgive his lack of enthusiasm at her suggestion, but at this speed at least five miles passes quickly. They pull off at the gas station - he is starting to run low though the tank has a few more hours in it, it wouldn't hurt to fill up - but the lights are off, the pumps are dead, the concrete has weeds growing through it. A few run down homes and buildings are clustered around here, the last straggling survivors before they too succumbed to the lack of traffic. Farther past, the rest of the town this once was is fully overgrown and crumbled to rock.
Johnnie looks at it all a little bewildered, then kills the engine and hops off to stretch his legs anyway.]
Damn. Reminds me of some a' those ghost towns in the middle of the desert, where they used to have the railroad. This one used to have the freeway. Where'd all the cars go? No one lives out here anymore?
[They all live in the big city to the north? It would sure be fucked up if that wasn't city lights causing all that.]
It's pretty weird that there's no sign of life around here. Maybe everyone moved where the lights are.
[Her head turns so she can glance back at the gas station, and decides she might as well see if there's anything inside. There's plenty of old bricks laying around, but the windows are boarded up and the door in is just...open. There's no need to break in at all.]
I'm gonna go in and see if I can find an idea of where we are! Maybe there's a newspaper or map or phone book or something still laying around. Are you gonna hang around out here?
[Time for a smoke break. She can search for a little bit on her own while he lights up and rolls his shoulders.
They have their own map too, of course, but it's too damn dark to read it out here and his lighter is going to run out of fuel if he keeps using it for this sort of thing. Did she pack a flashlight? She must have, she thought through this stuff well.
It takes him a few minutes more to dig through the bag she packed, but it's there, sunk to the bottom. He comes inside after her and unfolds the map over the old countertop by the front door, and looks it over.]
I feel like we oughta be somewhere around Los Banos? That's where I was gonna turn off the five an' head west. If we're north of that, maybe this is Santa Nella?
[Time is fucking with them, that's the only possible way they could have missed such an obvious turn off. Or the sign had fallen over and decayed over time. Totally possible.]
You were right the first time. Los Banos is the location of some of the places advertised in the phone book, so we have to be close.
[There's a pause as her head tips to the side, and then she giggles.]
Doesn't that mean bathroom or something in Spanish? This place must be crappy.
That's baños. I dunno what "banos" is supposed to be though. It is pretty fuckin' shitty. More like a Los Baños if you ask me.
[Damn, though. Maybe it's at least good to know he wasn't too far off? Annoying as shit to not have a better answer, but it's something.]
Okay, well, maybe we keep goin' a little while. But if in, say, fifteen minutes we don't see the turn that goes over the hills then I guess we gotta decide if we just keep north an' go a kinda different way, or if we try your idea. If we keep north, I bet we can at least get to Tracy by sunrise an' decide from there.
[He points it out on the map, just so she sees where it is.]
See, I do know someone in the east bay, though. If you wanted to try that kinda shortcut idea. Problem is, it's my Papa.
Her eyes widen and she just stares for a few seconds.]
Your dad? Really?
[She had such a distant relationship with her own father that it's hard to imagine Johnnie with his. He's told her all the terrible things his father did, and that makes her instantly not like the guy. But she knows that if she had a chance to at least see her dad again, she'd probably take it.]
I could try pinpointing him and seeing if we can get that shortcut. But would you be okay with potentially ending up right in his driveway?
[She probably wants to meet his Papa, doesn't she. Or she wants the practice with her skills.
Johnnie hasn't seen the guy in years now, though, and it's for the best, in his opinion. There's nothing that fuckup has to offer him. There's no nostalgia there, no affection. Nothing lost.]
[She does want to meet the guy, but knows that's not her choice. It took some work to get to meet his mother, and he loves his mom. But introducing her to someone he's not a fan of? It could get messy.]
The odds are likely if we keep going, we'll move through time and space again. If that's a giant bonfire up north, it could turn right back to lights in a couple dozen miles.
[That's the beauty of who they are and what they do. There's no real rhyme or reason to it yet. But she has faith he'll be able to figure it all out. She glance over his way with one of her adoring smiles, and takes a second to appreciate how hard he works to keep them both safe.]
Do you know what we can do here though, babe?
[She asks it as she approaches him to move in close, hands on his hips as she tips her head so he can see the grin on her face.]
Johnnie sighs and takes one last drag of his cigarette as she comes to put her hands on his hips, then flicks the remnant stub to the ground and gives her half a smile.]
Nah. You tell me.
[Obviously he can think of things, but he'll let her pretend she has some clever, surprising little idea. It's cute. She's damn cute and maybe she'll get his mind off the annoying idea that is having to pull them to his Papa to get out of the central valley. There's no way, he's deciding that now. They're driving their way out of here, she'll have to practice that shit on someone else.]
[It's really all his fault she loves fire as much as she does. She behaved back in the train town, but she really wants to start a tiny fire here. What will burning down one gas station that hasn't been operational in years do? There's no way it can make it so he doesn't exist.
Just in case she has to convince him though, she kisses him as slow and sweet as she can manage given her eagerness to burn things. As their lips part she keeps in close, so he can feel hers brushing against his as she speaks a little more.]
It's either that or you have to fuck me against the counter over there.
[Like that's the consolation prize here, or some kind of punishment.]
What's this one or the other bullshit, huh? We could have both.
[Fucking first, obviously. For several reasons, the least of which is safety concerns. This is a good distraction from the drive, the missing highway, all the dumb shit. So counter to that slow and sweet kiss, he leans in with something much more fiercely passionate, claiming her mouth while walking her toward the counter.]
That phone book's gonna be kindling.
[His map is still here, and it crinkles audibly as he presses her against the counter and grinds his hips against hers.]
You're so smart, baby. We deserve to have both.
[Of course, her goal was to tempt him into having both. She would've been content for a while with just a fire. But it's so nice to get to be greedy and have everything she's craving.
Her fingers work at his belt and his jeans, cursing under her breath as her excitement has her unable to work fine motor skills as well as she wants. She's able to laugh it off though, because sex can be silly even when it's really good. ]
Sure is a damn good thing he did. This is definitely what he needed to get him out of that mental slump.]
Aw, baby girl, you need me real bad, huh? Get a little wet back there with all that vibrating between your legs for hours?
[He snickers as she paws at his pants, and then leans in to work his lips and teeth along her neck. He'll let her fumble, she'll figure it out - his hands, meanwhile, would much rather do as they're doing right now and work up under her shirt to pull it off over her head. He wants to feel all that warm, soft skin under his palms.]
More like I got a little wet just now because I need you that much.
[But if he wants to believe it's because of the bike ride, she'll let him. She's too busy making a quiet sound of triumph as she gets his belt undone and his zipper open right after. Take that, dexterity. Her hand goes right inside and starts palming at his cock through his underwear.]
I just can't decide if I need you to bend me over the counter here, or if I need you to help me sit up on it. It's such a hard choice, and I'm so greedy and need you so bad, maybe I wanna ask for both.
[That would require either of them having enough self-control for him to pull out mid fucking to adjust the position, and she's not sure they have it in them.]
Such a hard choice.
[He whips his belt free from his jeans to use it to bind her wrists together, which leaves his own hands free to unbutton her shorts and tug them and her underwear down off her hips.]
Mm, an' greedy is right. You're lucky it's too dark in here for me to wanna go get your camera. I'll just have to remember how good you look waitin' for my cock.
[She'll have to wait a moment longer for him to get his jeans and underwear down and quickly stroke himself to full hardness, but it sure gives him a nice long look before he takes her by the hips and thrusts in deep.]
Does she say all that out loud? She thinks she does.
This is good. This is really, really good. Who knew that she'd be so turned on getting fucked in the middle of an abandoned gas station? All he had to do was bind her wrists and bend her over, and that really gets her excited for leaning over the counter. Who needs to sit on it when you can have this instead?
Her shorts and underwear rest at her knees, further keeping her bound. She could step out of them if she really wanted to, but she sure doesn't. Instead she just parts her legs enough for him to press into her, and oh gosh. It makes her shiver from head to toe as she throatily groans.
She's not helpless. Far from it. If she asks him to stop, she knows he will. She won't be doing that, obviously. She's way too into this. He thrusts in deep and she shudders as she rocks back against him, and moves her arms like she's trying to get her wrists free.]
[Mostly. It's the illusion of it, anyway, that's the important part.]
I gotta use my belt more often, I think. You feel real damn good around me every time you pull against it.
[Every time she gets that reminder that her wrists are bound in leather. Hell, a belt is just a built in sex toy. If she starts thinking that way, she'll get turned on every time she sees him walking around - then again, she already does. Heh.
He keeps at it, driving hard into her, making her hips grind against the dull edge of the counter with every thrust. He keeps one hand on her waist, feeling her skin, keeping her where he wants her, and with the other he reaches up into her hair and tangles his fingers there, keeping just enough pressure as he gives her hair one tug, then another in time with his movements.
Fuck. Man, they can make any place fucking hot.]
That tug to her hair makes her cry out, and goosebumps rise up over her skin as she slams back against him. The pinpricks of pain on her scalp are more than welcome, and she tries roughly rocking forward to force a tug to her hair. That makes her hips hit the edge of the counter in a way that hurts, but it's fine. She can deal with some bruises. Each one is worth how good this feels.]
Please, please baby.
[It may seem like she's begging him for more, but that's only because she has to pause in order to moan for him.]
You gotta -
[Another shiver courses through her, this one going from head to toe. It steals her breath away, but she's quick to recover.]
Gotta use your belt more often. I love it.
[At this rate, she's going to come before he does. She's dancing right on the edge, so close but unable to do anything about it since she can't touch herself. And that helplessness seems to do it for her, because she comes hard and winds up draped over the counter and unable to move a muscle unless its at his hands.]
Pants zipped back up, hair smoothed back into place, he reaches for the belt but doesn't take it off her wrists right away. Instead, he holds onto it as he leans over her and kisses the back of her neck.]
Guess you've earned your fire.
[Several times over. Snickering, he finally unbuckles the belt and unwinds it from around her wrists, and slides it back into place around his waist.]
Prob'ly the best thing that ever happened in this gas station, wanna bet?
Oh, that's the best thing that's ever happened in at least a hundred miles around this stupid gas station. And the fire's gonna be the the second best. We're basically doing charity work here tonight.
[Laughing, she steals a quick kiss, and reaches into his pockets to try and find his lighter. She produces it and does a quick victory dance, and goes straight to the phone book with it to light it up and use as kindling.]