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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
Wanna race?
[It's not a huge pool, but she swims over to the far end anyway.]
First one to swim back and forth twice wins!
[He hasn't said he wants to race, but she knows he won't turn down an opportunity to compete and show off.]
[Yeah, she knows him by now, there's no way he'll resist. Swimming fast is not exactly his forte or anything, but he can kick water hard and maybe that'll be enough to give him the edge.
Or maybe, just as he touches the wall she's on so they can get started, she'll spring right off it, leaving him to gulp air and then kick off to try and keep up.
But one thing she never did say is if there were rules against anything at all, including sabotage. He takes a breath of air and kicks under, losing some of his speed so that he can look from beneath, then grab at one of her ankles and tug backward sharply. A bubble of air escapes as he laughs underwater, then pushes off the bottom to get a breath once he surfaces.]
You big fat cheater! No fair!
[She's giggling though, no real hard feelings. Especially since she's now clinging to him like a barnacle. If he goes under, she's going with him. But it's a price she's willing to pay just so he doesn't beat her.]
[All this said amid sputtering as he tries to untangle her limbs and shove her away, but it's fully impossible. He resorts to tickling as a way to try to get her to loosen her grip, but it's hard to devote his hands to doing that when he's also trying to keep them from both sinking, and eventually he gives up with laughter as he splashes just to tread water.]
Okay fine, redo! Lemme go an' we'll start over! No grabbing this time!
[He doesn't like that rule but it's that or give up on the race entirely - also fine, come to think of it, since at this point they're both failing to do any swimming at all.]
[She laughs as she launches herself off of him and dives into the water to swim beneath it. She's not exactly a mermaid or anything, but it's fun to pretend to be one as she moves her legs like a tail fin. It makes her grin as she pops out from beneath the water right before the far end of the pool.
A glance back behind her says she's beating him, and she does a little victory dance that costs her time. He's close enough that he can recover and take the lead on the swim back to the other side.]
I'm gonna kick your butt, baby!
[He sputters water as he tries to turn and keep up. But she has a lead on him, and no amount of kicking and pushing his way through the water is enough to fully close the gap - at least, not until she does that victory dance and he pulls right in, making him grin wide as he splashes his way to her side.]
Don't celebrate too soon!
[He turns and kicks off the wall, trying to coast near the top of the water and get away from her fast. There's no reason she won't just grab him again if he can't get the hell on ahead of her as quickly as possible.]
[He's not cheating, he's doing things the nice way. So she won't either. There's no effort to grab at him, she just pushes off the wall of the pool as hard as she can to launch herself as far as possible. From there it's good old fashioned swimming. She may not amount to much (except destroying the universe probably) but she at least can swim like her life depends on it. It doesn't, thankfully, but she still hustles like it does.
Johnnie wins at so much when they race or compete. She wants to kick his butt at this. She's so determined to try and win that she doesn't pay much attention to him, at least not until she slaps a hand against the opposite end of the pool and glances over to see if he's already beaten her there.]
Did I win?
She gets an exhausted groan when he realizes it.]
Yeah, babe. Yeah, you won, fair an' square. Even after you fuckin' cheated at first! Man, I guess I gotta do more swimming!
[Or not. The only purpose would be for racing her in hotel pools. Well, unless shit gets real weird in their future.]
I think I just decided that my prize for winning is a kiss.
[It's something she's sure he won't mind giving her, and she's grinning as she claims a quick one. A second later she's falling back to float in the water, and sighs contently as she looks up at the sky. This is really, really nice.]
I'm gonna be tired enough now for a really good nap. How about you, huh?
[He grins. Easy to say that now before night comes, but he's sure of it. Sleep is overrated, especially in a fun new city.]
But if you want a nap, I guess I could go look around, see what we can get up to once the sun goes down. Maybe get us some snacks to bring with us when we blow outta town.
[Pop tarts.
He doesn't know shit about the local gangs here either. That's probably fine? What are the odds that twenty years in the future and this far to the north, anyone here would have an issue with a couple World Enders poking around? He just wants to know who's selling what kinds of fun street drugs in this time and place that they could test out, maybe bring some home just to blow people's minds.]
[She sighs sadly, because she just doesn't have the same stamina he does. There's a lot of credit she gives herself, because she's gotten him to at least sleep every day. When they first met he didn't always do that.]
Let's swim a little more and I can go up and rest.
[Floating turns into flipping so she can tread water over toward him, so she's pressed in close once again.]
You can wake me up later once you get back with a hot shower. It'll be fun. Then we can go out dancing and end the night by taking whatever we want from wherever we want.
[He loops an arm around her while the other holds on to the edge of the pool to keep him steady. He wants to sway with her like they're dancing to inaudible music, but the water makes that too tricky. Best to just float and let her huddle close, pressed against him.]
Maybe I'll look around, see what clubs are gonna have live music tonight. You guys got some crazy music here in the future, I wanna hear more of it!
[And then he lets go and pushes off the wall, but settles into a casual float on his back. That's enough like swimming for his tastes for now.]
You'll have to find all the Pop Tarts you can carry and bring them back with you. Oh! And cherry coke! I know we can go out for dinner somewhere later, but junk food sounds so good after swimming. It always makes me hungry.
[And on cue, her stomach growls and she laughs as she presses her palm against it like it'll actually make it be quiet.
Whenever it seems like he's ready to get out too, she heads over to the pool to hold out his towel for him.]
[Though what she'll see, who knows, he's just excited about future junk food. Because yeah, definitely it's the good stuff. The perfect stuff after swimming and the perfect stuff to keep him going all day while she has a rest.
He dries off and tugs his shirt back on, and leads the way back to the hotel room once they're both good and ready. And once inside, it's time to ditch the wet trunks in the sink so he can get dry clothes on again - the usual jeans and t-shirt and jacket. It's cooler here than it was back at home, and for a moment he contemplates long sleeves instead.]
You hungry now? We could always order us some room service, if they have it. This place ain't that fancy but I bet they got somethin'.
[That's a definite yes to her being hungry now. It would be nice to order something to the room and enjoy it naked in bed. Because there's absolutely no way she's getting dressed. Her bikini goes right into the sink alongside his trunks, and she hurries to hop into bed and sprawl out.]
We could order a pizza if there's not room service. There's pizza places everywhere in the 80s, and they all deliver.
[Actually, she bets there's probably some kind of book or something near the phone that has a list of places to call. She rolls over onto her side to fish around on the bedside table and grabs a small hardcover book that has a room service menu and then some local restaurants on the pages after. This place isn't fancy, but they at least have common staple items that make her even hungrier just thinking about eating them.]
[He just wants to stay up, and doesn't want to be cooped up in a hotel room bored while she sleeps, that's all. Food always sounds good, and especially right now.
His vote for pizza is backed up by seeing the room service menu. It's fine and all, but pizza is for sure the right call, so he hops over to the phone to dial the first pizza place he sees in the guide book. While it rings, he looks over at her.]
Hey, whatcha wanna get, anyway? Pepperoni? Hamburger?
[Or both? Just as long as it's not something gross like mushroom - which she wouldn't pick, surely, she's not the type. But it's true that this isn't exactly something they've sprung for much and he's not totally sure what her favorite toppings are.
Just not mushrooms, surely.]
[Her nose wrinkles up as she laughs at the idea of it, imagining hamburgers sitting on top of a pizza. It sinks in a second later that he means ground hamburger meat, and she grins as she eagerly nods.]
Oh yeah, hamburger sounds good! We could do hamburger and pepperoni?
[Might as well pile up all the meat they can. Except anchovies. If he asks for those, she's not kissing him for at least a week. Or maybe only a day, but the point is she just really can't handle the thought of anchovies on her pizza.]
Just don't get anything weird. Like fish. Or mushrooms. Or those green peppers. They're too healthy to be on pizza.
[Great minds think alike, obviously.
He orders them a large pepperoni and hamburger - well, sausage is the actual option he's given but same thing - and grimaces a little at the price. He'll never get used to that. But he hangs up and bounces down onto the bed next to her.]
On its way! Can't fuckin' believe what they want us to pay for pizza though, fuckin' ten times as much as it should be. The future's too damn expensive. Anyway we got twenty minutes, they're real close.
[So he should probably finish getting dressed, he decides, and hops back up to his feet. Someone has to answer the door when the pizza shows up.]
The door is left open and she hops right in, using the little provided toiletries to get clean as quick as she can. There's no attempt to put on clothes after, she just wraps up in a towel and goes to hop back in bed.]
If the pizza actually gets here in the next ten minutes, and I sleep right after...I think I'd be ready to head out probably at about eight? Maybe nine. That would still give us time to go out dancing and go shopping around for things we want, right?
[Not that they're actually going to go shopping for real. But it feels better to call it shopping instead of stealing.]
Yeah! Plenty of time. Could even do later if you needed. If this city closes all its dance clubs an' bars at ten PM then it's fucking awful an' we better move on as soon as possible.
[He snickers to himself as he goes to sit next to her, and then gets his arms around her and pulls her into his lap.]
I want to bring something really nice home for your mom and brothers. It doesn't have to be here, but just somewhere along the way.
[She knows that it's probably a lot for him when his family has become her family. But she genuinely does care about them and wants to bring them something back to show she's thinking of them.]
And I gotta get something for Moonbeam and Rigo too.
[There's an edge of wishing she could give Rigo a call here to tell him that they made it somewhere safely. But if she tried calling right now, Rigo would be basically an old man.]
[Harder than explaining that they're dead but alive? She took that well enough, as far as he can tell, though he doesn't know what she really privately thinks. It just seems like she's glad to have him back in any form and maybe that's good enough.
As for Moonbeam, well, maybe she won't fully understand or believe either but at least she's used to them saying weird shit all the time already, she'll just have to accept it. In fact, thinking about that, he grins.]
We gotta get Loonie somethin' that has a date on it, actually. From here or sometime else, but just somethin' to prove we're not fuckin' bonkers. She still won't believe we died.
I think she just isn't ready to admit she believes all of it.
[That has to be right.
Why would they both be lying about something like dying, or all the things they've seen and done?]
I'm gonna get you something too, though. I mean, it's not exactly a present. Your birthday is already over. But I want to find you something fun. Like a surprise.
[Which gives her an excuse to strike out on her own in one of the towns they end up in. He'll probably love that for her, because it means he gets to have his own space for a while. He's not getting that now though, because she wants him right where he is.]
[He grins as he says it, presses a kiss to her forehead, then another to her lips. She's too damn cute. And maybe he'll think of something to get her, too - it's been a minute since he gifted her some little trinket. She does always love those little bits of jewelry and things he finds for her now and then.
Those couple kisses quickly turn to slow and easy making out, as he just can't resist the taste of her, and for a moment he forgets they're in a hotel waiting for pizza until there's a loud knock at the door. It makes him jolt in his seat, and he laughs as he nudges Chrissy off his lap.]
Must be dinner time.
[Or lunch? For everyone else, lunch. Must be why there wasn't much of a wait. He grabs his wallet and goes to get the door, and turns around a few seconds later with that hot box of food smelling of salt and grease. Perfect.]
Damn, I miss when people didn't see us sometimes. I hope we get to a time where they can't believe in ghosts so hard we're invisible, I coulda fucked with this guy enough to get him to run off an' leave this for free.
It's opened as soon as she sets it down, and she contently sighs as the delicious smell hits her right in the face.]
Oh my gosh, it looks so good. It's worth every penny.
[Her head turns so she can glance over at him in gratitude, but of course she sympathizes with his desire for free pizza.]
Next time we order something, we'll have to try and be ghosts again. Then we can eat for free.
[She's pretty sure he did that back when they first met actually, and laughs a little at the memory as she grabs a piece and digs right in. Her cheeks puff up a little as she tries to devour half the slice in a single bite, and then spends a minute solid trying to chew it all without burning herself.]
Hey, I'm gonna go find some change and get us some sodas. There's gotta be a vending machine somewhere.
[The focus on getting something cold to drink is so strong that she forgets she's entirely naked and goes over to their bags to try and find some coins. She almost makes it to the door before she pauses and realizes, and then turns around to hold the coins out to him with a pleading look on her face. It's not like he'd want her to have to get dressed, right? Not when she's so comfortable and so nice to look at.]