46 - ferinough
On the road again! :D Some more of the Sho, Aiba, Nino journey.
"Please, Sho, just look in the mirror of your choosing and face yourself," Nino quipped from the back, leaning forward and hugging the driver's seat, chin resting on a sloping shoulder as he continued, "No one taps their fingers on the steering wheel perfectly in time with a song unless they're in love with it. How long, exactly, have you been a Spice Girls fan?"
He was too used to Nino now to reply the way he'd intended to, honestly and with good sense. No, he wouldn't call himself a fan of the Spice Girls, as he wasn't well acquainted with their discography, maybe a few songs here and there during drunken evenings at sports bars - a rarity in and of itself. Nor would he say he disliked them entirely, because a catchy tune was a catchy tune and talent only sometimes had something to do with that. And the one with the abs showing all the time was kind of pretty in that 'might get to know her if she weren't friends with someone named Scary' way.
It was a great response for Aiba, who'd get distracted and drop the topic halfway through, but it wasn't just the two of them anymore. No, now Nino had come along, and Nino was clever.
"I have good rhythm," he gave his short answer instead, trying not to pout as Nino exploded with laughter next to his ear.
"Well it does say a lot about you," Aiba pointed out with a fond smirk.
"Nothing we don't already know from experience," Nino reminded with a raised eyebrow, one that never meant good things, but occasionally meant better-than-good things.
Sho noticed that sudden silences were frequent, but not as awkward as they maybe should have been. Driving on the open road, whether there was a destination or a goal of aimlessness (in this case the former, but then maybe the latter again), made it easy to get lost in one's thoughts - 'highway hypnosis' Nino had said one of the first days, 'I know a lot about hypnotism.' Sho could admit he was thinking about the Spice Girls now, but Nino was back to shuffling cards, Aiba's eyes fixed on him as he contemplated something. Knowing Aiba, Sho thought as he rolled his window down a bit further, it wouldn't stay internal for long.
"I've noticed something," he announced in a way that felt familiar and maybe a little dangerous. Sho could only hope it wasn't something about the car - death in a fiery explosion was unlikely, but Nino complaining about having to sit and suffer heat exhaustion while Sho trekked to the nearest town was slowly creeping into Sho's nightmares.
"Me too, but I don't want to hurt your feelings," Nino teased, pulling his knees to his chest and instantly appearing five years younger.
"Nino never takes off his shirt," Aiba finished, ignoring Nino completely, though Nino was glaring straight back at him now.
"You say that as if you've known him longer than you actually have. Maybe it isn't never, maybe he just doesn't feel the need recently," Sho wasn't really sure why he was defending Nino when it was far from a terrible thing to be accused of and was sort of true, but it probably had something to do with logic and 'oh shit, I really have let myself be walked all over by strangers' and numerous other untapped motives.
Sho knew that Nino would have approved of his statement had he been given the chance to appreciate it, but Aiba had climbed into the backseat before Sho had ever finished speaking, straddling Nino swiftly and sliding a hand up his shirt.
"Sho, I noticed that recently Nino doesn't like to take his shirt off, even though it's hot," he amended, tracing circles around Nino's belly button. "Why so shy?" He seemed genuinely interested. Nino seemed genuinely annoyed.
"How will anyone ever appreciate what I've got going on under here if I'm showing it off all the time? Keep it hidden, keep it powerful."
It sounded surprisingly rehearsed.
"I'm pretty sure we're coming up on a town soon. Think you can wait to get to the bottom of this matter until we've passed through?" Sho asked, eyes searching Aiba's through the rearview mirror.
Nino's whimper and Aiba's tongue suspiciously near a nipple was a clear enough 'no'.
---
It was the first bit of traffic he'd hit the entire time he'd been traveling with the two of them. Of course Nino was shirtless (though it had taken some time to get the shirt off, and once it had come off Aiba had "accidentally" tossed it out the window, making Nino repeatedly smack him upside the head before attacking his mouth in a way that seemed oddly more approving) and Aiba was disheveled, because that meant there was a good chance they were finally going to get arrested for public indecency or something.
At least he assumed that was what the cop had stepped up to his window about, but he might have just been concerned about the bit of swerving he'd done when his scream of 'BE NORMAL FOR TWO SECONDS, PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU' was responded to with Nino in a top hat and fake mustache, his bowtie between Aiba's teeth. It was distracting, though to be fair, somewhat on the normal side for them.
He just wished they could be the everyone type of normal until they had left signs of life behind them again.
"Are you supposed to be some kind of magician?" the officer stared at Nino expectantly.
"Am I supposed to be?" Nino repeated, as if it were the strangest question he'd ever been asked, suddenly adding, "Is there something funny about this hat?"
The officer focused on it intently, thinking it was part of a trick. Nino stared back.
Sho thought that just maybe, if he clicked his heels three times...
"All right, go on through," the now red-faced officer waved them down the road when he realized he'd been staring for no reason, allowing Sho to pass through some kind of police blockade. It wasn't a drug bust or a sobriety zone, the cop hadn't been concerned that Sho was the only one wearing a seatbelt, and it couldn't have possibly been a detour when they were being directed down the main stretch of road, at least the main road Sho could identify.
Aiba's giggles in the backseat were giving Sho just the tiniest of headaches, not helped by Nino's whines and accusations of the driver being a peeping tom that was jealous of their passionate make-out sessions, car inching forward the tiny motions at a time.
There wasn't a sign, like for duck crossings or deer, but he had stopped for them anyway - an entire marching band. Suddenly the hold up made sense.
"I think," he spoke quietly, eyes wide with disbelief, "I think we're about to be in a parade."
"I'm sure we'll find some way to make it a disaster," Nino replied with an odd sense of calm, lazily pulling on the undershirt Aiba had handed him, "let me drive and go pop the balloons of small children. It'll be theraputic for you, Sho-chan."
Sho wondered briefly if Nino was offering advice from experience, but quickly changed his mind. Nino was mostly talk, not that much of a monster. He looked even less threatening than usual (which seemed impossible, as Nino was all puppy-dog eyes and cute smiles in Sho's mind - a dangerous thing, considering those were the rare moments) in his polka dot bow tie, twirling a wand into flowers and back again.
"I wouldn't want to disappoint the children," Sho smirked, turning around to fix Nino with his gaze as the car slowed to another stop behind a float with a girl in a bikini and someone in a cow costume.
"And?"
Nino raised an eyebrow.
"I think it's a heritage festival! Or something about a cash crop. Or the heritage of their cash crop!" Aiba informed them, pulling his body back in from out the window, "Oh, and Sho's suggesting you do your magic tricks."
"Not for free," Nino responded, though Sho knew he'd end up doing it anyway.
"Your satisfaction is your reward," he said complete with cheesy grin, laughing loudly as Nino got out and slammed the door.
It was quiet for a moment, aside from the sounds of the band practicing their fanfare, but Sho hardly noticed, his eyes glued to the rearview mirror while Nino cursed and rummaged through the trunk for some of his things. He'd never been in a parade before, had only been to see one or two in his lifetime. It was hard to be a part of a celebration when you had no talent to contribute. Maybe if he'd studied baton twirling and made his father cry. Maybe if he'd joined a rock band and let his mother disown him. It was either those things or walking alone, waving a text book over his head and throwing sugar-free candies to the sides of the road.
"Where do you think we'll be in the line up?" Aiba asked curiously, freeing Sho from his thoughts with his soft smile.
---
"Who brings llamas to a parade!?" Sho nearly squeaked, hands gripping the steering wheel hard enough to paint his knuckles white.
"Llama farmers," Aiba stated solemnly beside him.
"Maybe they worship the llama!" Nino's voice sounded from outside the car somewhere, and for once Sho wished he were a whole lot closer.
"Please, Sho, just look in the mirror of your choosing and face yourself," Nino quipped from the back, leaning forward and hugging the driver's seat, chin resting on a sloping shoulder as he continued, "No one taps their fingers on the steering wheel perfectly in time with a song unless they're in love with it. How long, exactly, have you been a Spice Girls fan?"
He was too used to Nino now to reply the way he'd intended to, honestly and with good sense. No, he wouldn't call himself a fan of the Spice Girls, as he wasn't well acquainted with their discography, maybe a few songs here and there during drunken evenings at sports bars - a rarity in and of itself. Nor would he say he disliked them entirely, because a catchy tune was a catchy tune and talent only sometimes had something to do with that. And the one with the abs showing all the time was kind of pretty in that 'might get to know her if she weren't friends with someone named Scary' way.
It was a great response for Aiba, who'd get distracted and drop the topic halfway through, but it wasn't just the two of them anymore. No, now Nino had come along, and Nino was clever.
"I have good rhythm," he gave his short answer instead, trying not to pout as Nino exploded with laughter next to his ear.
"Well it does say a lot about you," Aiba pointed out with a fond smirk.
"Nothing we don't already know from experience," Nino reminded with a raised eyebrow, one that never meant good things, but occasionally meant better-than-good things.
Sho noticed that sudden silences were frequent, but not as awkward as they maybe should have been. Driving on the open road, whether there was a destination or a goal of aimlessness (in this case the former, but then maybe the latter again), made it easy to get lost in one's thoughts - 'highway hypnosis' Nino had said one of the first days, 'I know a lot about hypnotism.' Sho could admit he was thinking about the Spice Girls now, but Nino was back to shuffling cards, Aiba's eyes fixed on him as he contemplated something. Knowing Aiba, Sho thought as he rolled his window down a bit further, it wouldn't stay internal for long.
"I've noticed something," he announced in a way that felt familiar and maybe a little dangerous. Sho could only hope it wasn't something about the car - death in a fiery explosion was unlikely, but Nino complaining about having to sit and suffer heat exhaustion while Sho trekked to the nearest town was slowly creeping into Sho's nightmares.
"Me too, but I don't want to hurt your feelings," Nino teased, pulling his knees to his chest and instantly appearing five years younger.
"Nino never takes off his shirt," Aiba finished, ignoring Nino completely, though Nino was glaring straight back at him now.
"You say that as if you've known him longer than you actually have. Maybe it isn't never, maybe he just doesn't feel the need recently," Sho wasn't really sure why he was defending Nino when it was far from a terrible thing to be accused of and was sort of true, but it probably had something to do with logic and 'oh shit, I really have let myself be walked all over by strangers' and numerous other untapped motives.
Sho knew that Nino would have approved of his statement had he been given the chance to appreciate it, but Aiba had climbed into the backseat before Sho had ever finished speaking, straddling Nino swiftly and sliding a hand up his shirt.
"Sho, I noticed that recently Nino doesn't like to take his shirt off, even though it's hot," he amended, tracing circles around Nino's belly button. "Why so shy?" He seemed genuinely interested. Nino seemed genuinely annoyed.
"How will anyone ever appreciate what I've got going on under here if I'm showing it off all the time? Keep it hidden, keep it powerful."
It sounded surprisingly rehearsed.
"I'm pretty sure we're coming up on a town soon. Think you can wait to get to the bottom of this matter until we've passed through?" Sho asked, eyes searching Aiba's through the rearview mirror.
Nino's whimper and Aiba's tongue suspiciously near a nipple was a clear enough 'no'.
---
It was the first bit of traffic he'd hit the entire time he'd been traveling with the two of them. Of course Nino was shirtless (though it had taken some time to get the shirt off, and once it had come off Aiba had "accidentally" tossed it out the window, making Nino repeatedly smack him upside the head before attacking his mouth in a way that seemed oddly more approving) and Aiba was disheveled, because that meant there was a good chance they were finally going to get arrested for public indecency or something.
At least he assumed that was what the cop had stepped up to his window about, but he might have just been concerned about the bit of swerving he'd done when his scream of 'BE NORMAL FOR TWO SECONDS, PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU' was responded to with Nino in a top hat and fake mustache, his bowtie between Aiba's teeth. It was distracting, though to be fair, somewhat on the normal side for them.
He just wished they could be the everyone type of normal until they had left signs of life behind them again.
"Are you supposed to be some kind of magician?" the officer stared at Nino expectantly.
"Am I supposed to be?" Nino repeated, as if it were the strangest question he'd ever been asked, suddenly adding, "Is there something funny about this hat?"
The officer focused on it intently, thinking it was part of a trick. Nino stared back.
Sho thought that just maybe, if he clicked his heels three times...
"All right, go on through," the now red-faced officer waved them down the road when he realized he'd been staring for no reason, allowing Sho to pass through some kind of police blockade. It wasn't a drug bust or a sobriety zone, the cop hadn't been concerned that Sho was the only one wearing a seatbelt, and it couldn't have possibly been a detour when they were being directed down the main stretch of road, at least the main road Sho could identify.
Aiba's giggles in the backseat were giving Sho just the tiniest of headaches, not helped by Nino's whines and accusations of the driver being a peeping tom that was jealous of their passionate make-out sessions, car inching forward the tiny motions at a time.
There wasn't a sign, like for duck crossings or deer, but he had stopped for them anyway - an entire marching band. Suddenly the hold up made sense.
"I think," he spoke quietly, eyes wide with disbelief, "I think we're about to be in a parade."
"I'm sure we'll find some way to make it a disaster," Nino replied with an odd sense of calm, lazily pulling on the undershirt Aiba had handed him, "let me drive and go pop the balloons of small children. It'll be theraputic for you, Sho-chan."
Sho wondered briefly if Nino was offering advice from experience, but quickly changed his mind. Nino was mostly talk, not that much of a monster. He looked even less threatening than usual (which seemed impossible, as Nino was all puppy-dog eyes and cute smiles in Sho's mind - a dangerous thing, considering those were the rare moments) in his polka dot bow tie, twirling a wand into flowers and back again.
"I wouldn't want to disappoint the children," Sho smirked, turning around to fix Nino with his gaze as the car slowed to another stop behind a float with a girl in a bikini and someone in a cow costume.
"And?"
Nino raised an eyebrow.
"I think it's a heritage festival! Or something about a cash crop. Or the heritage of their cash crop!" Aiba informed them, pulling his body back in from out the window, "Oh, and Sho's suggesting you do your magic tricks."
"Not for free," Nino responded, though Sho knew he'd end up doing it anyway.
"Your satisfaction is your reward," he said complete with cheesy grin, laughing loudly as Nino got out and slammed the door.
It was quiet for a moment, aside from the sounds of the band practicing their fanfare, but Sho hardly noticed, his eyes glued to the rearview mirror while Nino cursed and rummaged through the trunk for some of his things. He'd never been in a parade before, had only been to see one or two in his lifetime. It was hard to be a part of a celebration when you had no talent to contribute. Maybe if he'd studied baton twirling and made his father cry. Maybe if he'd joined a rock band and let his mother disown him. It was either those things or walking alone, waving a text book over his head and throwing sugar-free candies to the sides of the road.
"Where do you think we'll be in the line up?" Aiba asked curiously, freeing Sho from his thoughts with his soft smile.
---
"Who brings llamas to a parade!?" Sho nearly squeaked, hands gripping the steering wheel hard enough to paint his knuckles white.
"Llama farmers," Aiba stated solemnly beside him.
"Maybe they worship the llama!" Nino's voice sounded from outside the car somewhere, and for once Sho wished he were a whole lot closer.