51 - waxrose
Sorry for the wait! I'm really touched to see how many people are still following and enjoying this universe. It's been awhile, but I hope this part makes up for that a little bit.
The rest stop described is based on Miller's Rest Area, just northeast of Las Vegas - my assumption was that they would be coming into Nevada through Utah and then heading on through to California. (P-possibly I'm considering this just a little too much?)
In any case, sorry for the long wait - let's get back on the road again! This follows the events of Part 50.
When Nino wakes up, it's dark outside the car windows, and inside the car itself is lit only by the faint glow of the interior lights, and the passing stripes of brightness from highway lights as the car zooms quietly past.
He lies still for a minute, enjoying the floating, groggy state between sleep and wakefulness for a minute, watching the stars stretch their lights against the black sky through the car window above his head before hauling himself upright. It was hard to stretch out properly, even with the whole backseat to himself. Nino can almost feel his back tangling up like a ball of yarn.
"We're stopping off at a rest stop for the night," Jun's voice is softer than usual - a quick glance at the front seat showed Aiba leaning dozily across the front seat, his head pillowed against Jun's shoulder.
"You do know that he drools, right?"
Jun just smirks back at him in the rearview mirror. "At least he doesn't talk in his sleep." He pitches his voice a note higher than usual. "Oh, Satoshi."
"I aim to entertain." Nino carefully moves his guitar so he can stretch his legs out a little. "Rest stop? We're not getting into the city tonight?"
Jun shrugs, and Aiba's head bobs up with his shoulder. "He wants us to all be awake when it happens, I think. And together."
Nino's throat tightens. "He's such a - " He watches Aiba's shoulders curl up protectively as he breathes in and out slowly, nasal and low. He can't help but reach out to touch the ends of Aiba's chocolate-brown hair, winding a few strands around his fingers. Aiba whines a little in his sleep, sweet, snuffly noises.
"The campgrounds here are free," Jun says briskly. "And since someone had the foresight to pack a tent -"
"Matsumoto Jun's Mobile Orgy Den of Delight -"
" -You won't wake up to a seatbelt jammed up your nose, so I wouldn't complain if I were you. Here we are."
The rest area is like an oasis of green in the middle of a desert - literally. The rest stop consisted of a small field encircled by trees surrounded a picnic area and a stern great concrete building that probably contained washrooms. There was only one light in the entire area, aside from the lights streaming from the washroom buildings, but Nino can see that there was only one other car in the rest area lot as they pull in.
"Masaki, wake up." Jun shakes him lightly as he parked the Dart. "We're here, okay?"
"Mmmjun?" Aiba murmurs.
As Nino climbs out of the car, Ohno's pick-up pulls into the lot's entrance. He gives a vague wave in the truck's direction - it's too dark to see if anyone returned the wave, but he is greeted with Sho spilling out of the passenger side of the cab just seconds after Ohno swings into a parking spot next to the Dart.
Sho looks altogether too refreshed for someone who had just tumbled out of the back of Ohno's pick-up truck after a four-hour stretch down the highway.
Nino waves again and sidles up next to him as they headed for the rest stop's public toilets, the neon glare of the concrete building's lights standing out against the flat, black midnight sky. "Sleep well, Sakurai?"
"I had the best sleep I've had in months," Sho says, pushing the door open to the washroom and letting Nino go ahead of him. "No one tried to stick their hand down my pants the whole time. Three hours without being molested!"
"Well, Oh-chan can sometimes only concentrate on one thing at a time," Nino reasons. "Never fear, Shopuff. Jun is setting up the tent as we speak."
"The te -?" Sho hesitates with his hand on one of the stall doors. "Oh, no. No. Seriously, I will sleep in the car. I will lock myself in my car."
"Don't be such a prude." Nino has to check two stalls before he found one with toilet paper. "We're in the middle of the desert - we can be as loud as we want."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Sho mutters.
"You might scare away all the birds," agrees another voice, from the stall on Nino's other side.
Nino blinks. He knows that voice.
"Shun?" he asks, only to be drowned out by the sound of a toilet flushing. Nino quickly pulls his pants back on and kicks the flush pedal in his own stall, scrambling for the lock on the stall door as he hears the door next to his swing open.
A tall, young-looking guy with dark, fluffy hair is washing his hands in one of the bathroom sinks. He looks up when Nino comes up behind him, grinning. "Hey, Nino. Long time no see."
Nino pumps sticky pink soap out of the dispenser above the sink, turning on the creaky taps until cold water rushes out. "Hey, yourself. I thought you were still in California."
"Doing some travelling." Shun turns off the taps on his sink, flicking his fingers deliberately in Nino's direction before going to grab some paper towels. "Thought I'd stop here for the night. Looks like it won't be as lonely as I thought."
Another flush echoes through the room, and Sho makes a beeline for the sinks, red-faced and avoiding everyone's eyes.
"Shun, this is Sho," Nino introduces them. "He picked me up in this seedy little motel down South."
"Ni-no," Sho hisses, managing to sound simultaneously embarrassed and murderous. He dried his hands quickly, before offering one to Shun to shake. "It's nice to meet you. How do you know Nino?"
"Oh, a little while back." Shun releases Sho's hand and smiles at Nino. Nino had almost forgotten how annoying Shun's smile was - cat-like and edging between a smile and a smirk. "He taught me a few tricks."
"And learned a few new ones." Nino can feel Sho's hand move to the small of his back, firm and protective.
"Nino, they're probably going to need some help putting up the tent," Sho says, and Nino nearly rolled his eyes. He was so subtle.
"Oh, go on," Shun says. "I need to splash some water on my face - this is about as close I've gotten to a shower all week."
"I can tell," Nino says, with a sharp smile.
Shun swipes at his head affectionately. "Come by my truck later, if you want. I've got some beer in the back. We can catch up." He nods to Sho. "You're welcome to come along, too."
"Thank you," Sho says politely, steering Nino out of the dingy washroom.
"You're being pretty possessive for a guy who tried to dump me and take off across the country on his own," Nino remarks, as they neared the trees lining the perimeter of the campground.
Sho's hand slides from his waist to his ass. "Do I really have to keep apologizing for that?"
"Depends on the kind of apology." Nino sucks in a breath as Sho pushes him back against a tree in the edge of the clearing, the bark scraping through Nino's shirt as Sho presses him back against the trunk.
Sho's eyes are bright in the darkness, his smile almost imperceptible in the faint light. "I'm sorry," he whispers, his lips hovering just above Nino's, so that they brushed against Nino's mouth with every word.
"Like that," Nino says, between breaths, as Sho's lips wandered onto his neck, their hips settling together. "Just like that."
It's electric; the cold sweetness of the night air, the flicker of the stars above and Sho's warm hands slipping beneath the hem of Nino's shirt, butterfly-light on heated skin. They kiss and kiss; Nino loses track, wrapping his arms around Sho's neck to pull him as close as possible.
"We'd better go find the others," Sho says breathlessly, pulling back when Nino starts to get bored of just kissing and lets his fingers test exactly how tight Sho's jeans are across his hips. "They'll probably need our help with the tent."
Nino laughs, palming the front of Sho's jeans. "Why? I've already found a tent that needs some help right here."
Sho makes a face, swatting Nino's hands away. "That was horrible."
Somehow, dirty one-liners are kind of wasted without Aiba around to appreciate them. Nino sighs. "Come on, then."
Sho slings his arm around Nino's waist as they head towards the camping field beyond the parking lot. "So, this Shun," he asks, in what he probably thinks is a casual tone. "Did you sleep with him?"
Nino barks out a laugh. "No, Sho-chan. We had tea and cookies, and then we went shopping for matching sundresses at an outlet mall."
There's a pause. Nino leans his head against Sho's shoulder as they walk.
"'I'm not jealous or anything," Sho says. "You know that."
"That's too bad. You're cute when you're all pissed-off and possessive." Nino ducks Sho's smack. "It wasn't anything serious. Just one for the road, back when I was in California. He's a surfer, you know."
Sho laughs. "Don't you get seasick?"
"It's not like he ever dragged me out into the ocean. And for the record, fucking on the beach is for idiots who enjoy getting sand in weird places." Nino can see the faint shadow of the tent being raised in a corner of the field, the clatter of poles now evident. "I didn't stay that long."
"You don't seem to have stayed anywhere long." Sho leaves the except for with us unspoken, and Nino is strangely grateful. Every day, every time he wakes up furry-tongued and sleepy in the cab of Ohno's truck with Ohno's smile beaming down at him like the morning sunrise, Nino finds it harder and harder to tell himself that this journey has an end.
"Where the hell have you been?" Jun says sharply, as they arrive at a pile of orange canvas with Ohno sitting peaceably beside it, fingers running through the grass beneath a large tree that hung over the spot they had chosen. "I need the spare keys to the Dart so we can check the backseat, that birdbrain lost the other ones when he fell out of a tree. We're missing a pole."
"Did you check his ass?" Nino mutters to Aiba, who is rubbing his thigh sheepishly.
"He'll hit me if I try," Aiba sighs. "And he's got all of his rings on."
"The keys," Ohno says suddenly, the keys clinking as he holds them up triumphantly. "Found them."
Jun arrives back from the Dart, pole in hand. "Let's get this finished." He looks tired, Nino realizes. Of course he is. They spent almost the full day driving, getting through the dusty heat of the desert.
"Here," Nino takes the pipe from Jun, and grabs another from the ground. They've done this a few times already, and it's usually easier for Jun and Nino to take care of it. Ohno is methodical, but slow, Aiba can't tell one end of a pipe from the other, and Sho is a disaster with anything more complicated that propping a stake upright. "If we hurry up, we can go grab a beer. Ran into an old friend who's invited us over."
"A friend?" Aiba says, "Here? Oh, the green car?"
"Nino's old surfer boyfriend." Sho says, squatting down next to Nino and handing him one of the tent stakes. "Shun, or whatever his name is. We ran into him in the washrooms."
"Shun?" Jun says, and Nino is concentrating so hard on getting the stakes hammered in straight that he doesn't answer.
By the time Nino looks up, Jun is walking briskly towards the green car on the far edge of the parking lot, speeding up with each step.
The rest stop described is based on Miller's Rest Area, just northeast of Las Vegas - my assumption was that they would be coming into Nevada through Utah and then heading on through to California. (P-possibly I'm considering this just a little too much?)
In any case, sorry for the long wait - let's get back on the road again! This follows the events of Part 50.
When Nino wakes up, it's dark outside the car windows, and inside the car itself is lit only by the faint glow of the interior lights, and the passing stripes of brightness from highway lights as the car zooms quietly past.
He lies still for a minute, enjoying the floating, groggy state between sleep and wakefulness for a minute, watching the stars stretch their lights against the black sky through the car window above his head before hauling himself upright. It was hard to stretch out properly, even with the whole backseat to himself. Nino can almost feel his back tangling up like a ball of yarn.
"We're stopping off at a rest stop for the night," Jun's voice is softer than usual - a quick glance at the front seat showed Aiba leaning dozily across the front seat, his head pillowed against Jun's shoulder.
"You do know that he drools, right?"
Jun just smirks back at him in the rearview mirror. "At least he doesn't talk in his sleep." He pitches his voice a note higher than usual. "Oh, Satoshi."
"I aim to entertain." Nino carefully moves his guitar so he can stretch his legs out a little. "Rest stop? We're not getting into the city tonight?"
Jun shrugs, and Aiba's head bobs up with his shoulder. "He wants us to all be awake when it happens, I think. And together."
Nino's throat tightens. "He's such a - " He watches Aiba's shoulders curl up protectively as he breathes in and out slowly, nasal and low. He can't help but reach out to touch the ends of Aiba's chocolate-brown hair, winding a few strands around his fingers. Aiba whines a little in his sleep, sweet, snuffly noises.
"The campgrounds here are free," Jun says briskly. "And since someone had the foresight to pack a tent -"
"Matsumoto Jun's Mobile Orgy Den of Delight -"
" -You won't wake up to a seatbelt jammed up your nose, so I wouldn't complain if I were you. Here we are."
The rest area is like an oasis of green in the middle of a desert - literally. The rest stop consisted of a small field encircled by trees surrounded a picnic area and a stern great concrete building that probably contained washrooms. There was only one light in the entire area, aside from the lights streaming from the washroom buildings, but Nino can see that there was only one other car in the rest area lot as they pull in.
"Masaki, wake up." Jun shakes him lightly as he parked the Dart. "We're here, okay?"
"Mmmjun?" Aiba murmurs.
As Nino climbs out of the car, Ohno's pick-up pulls into the lot's entrance. He gives a vague wave in the truck's direction - it's too dark to see if anyone returned the wave, but he is greeted with Sho spilling out of the passenger side of the cab just seconds after Ohno swings into a parking spot next to the Dart.
Sho looks altogether too refreshed for someone who had just tumbled out of the back of Ohno's pick-up truck after a four-hour stretch down the highway.
Nino waves again and sidles up next to him as they headed for the rest stop's public toilets, the neon glare of the concrete building's lights standing out against the flat, black midnight sky. "Sleep well, Sakurai?"
"I had the best sleep I've had in months," Sho says, pushing the door open to the washroom and letting Nino go ahead of him. "No one tried to stick their hand down my pants the whole time. Three hours without being molested!"
"Well, Oh-chan can sometimes only concentrate on one thing at a time," Nino reasons. "Never fear, Shopuff. Jun is setting up the tent as we speak."
"The te -?" Sho hesitates with his hand on one of the stall doors. "Oh, no. No. Seriously, I will sleep in the car. I will lock myself in my car."
"Don't be such a prude." Nino has to check two stalls before he found one with toilet paper. "We're in the middle of the desert - we can be as loud as we want."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Sho mutters.
"You might scare away all the birds," agrees another voice, from the stall on Nino's other side.
Nino blinks. He knows that voice.
"Shun?" he asks, only to be drowned out by the sound of a toilet flushing. Nino quickly pulls his pants back on and kicks the flush pedal in his own stall, scrambling for the lock on the stall door as he hears the door next to his swing open.
A tall, young-looking guy with dark, fluffy hair is washing his hands in one of the bathroom sinks. He looks up when Nino comes up behind him, grinning. "Hey, Nino. Long time no see."
Nino pumps sticky pink soap out of the dispenser above the sink, turning on the creaky taps until cold water rushes out. "Hey, yourself. I thought you were still in California."
"Doing some travelling." Shun turns off the taps on his sink, flicking his fingers deliberately in Nino's direction before going to grab some paper towels. "Thought I'd stop here for the night. Looks like it won't be as lonely as I thought."
Another flush echoes through the room, and Sho makes a beeline for the sinks, red-faced and avoiding everyone's eyes.
"Shun, this is Sho," Nino introduces them. "He picked me up in this seedy little motel down South."
"Ni-no," Sho hisses, managing to sound simultaneously embarrassed and murderous. He dried his hands quickly, before offering one to Shun to shake. "It's nice to meet you. How do you know Nino?"
"Oh, a little while back." Shun releases Sho's hand and smiles at Nino. Nino had almost forgotten how annoying Shun's smile was - cat-like and edging between a smile and a smirk. "He taught me a few tricks."
"And learned a few new ones." Nino can feel Sho's hand move to the small of his back, firm and protective.
"Nino, they're probably going to need some help putting up the tent," Sho says, and Nino nearly rolled his eyes. He was so subtle.
"Oh, go on," Shun says. "I need to splash some water on my face - this is about as close I've gotten to a shower all week."
"I can tell," Nino says, with a sharp smile.
Shun swipes at his head affectionately. "Come by my truck later, if you want. I've got some beer in the back. We can catch up." He nods to Sho. "You're welcome to come along, too."
"Thank you," Sho says politely, steering Nino out of the dingy washroom.
"You're being pretty possessive for a guy who tried to dump me and take off across the country on his own," Nino remarks, as they neared the trees lining the perimeter of the campground.
Sho's hand slides from his waist to his ass. "Do I really have to keep apologizing for that?"
"Depends on the kind of apology." Nino sucks in a breath as Sho pushes him back against a tree in the edge of the clearing, the bark scraping through Nino's shirt as Sho presses him back against the trunk.
Sho's eyes are bright in the darkness, his smile almost imperceptible in the faint light. "I'm sorry," he whispers, his lips hovering just above Nino's, so that they brushed against Nino's mouth with every word.
"Like that," Nino says, between breaths, as Sho's lips wandered onto his neck, their hips settling together. "Just like that."
It's electric; the cold sweetness of the night air, the flicker of the stars above and Sho's warm hands slipping beneath the hem of Nino's shirt, butterfly-light on heated skin. They kiss and kiss; Nino loses track, wrapping his arms around Sho's neck to pull him as close as possible.
"We'd better go find the others," Sho says breathlessly, pulling back when Nino starts to get bored of just kissing and lets his fingers test exactly how tight Sho's jeans are across his hips. "They'll probably need our help with the tent."
Nino laughs, palming the front of Sho's jeans. "Why? I've already found a tent that needs some help right here."
Sho makes a face, swatting Nino's hands away. "That was horrible."
Somehow, dirty one-liners are kind of wasted without Aiba around to appreciate them. Nino sighs. "Come on, then."
Sho slings his arm around Nino's waist as they head towards the camping field beyond the parking lot. "So, this Shun," he asks, in what he probably thinks is a casual tone. "Did you sleep with him?"
Nino barks out a laugh. "No, Sho-chan. We had tea and cookies, and then we went shopping for matching sundresses at an outlet mall."
There's a pause. Nino leans his head against Sho's shoulder as they walk.
"'I'm not jealous or anything," Sho says. "You know that."
"That's too bad. You're cute when you're all pissed-off and possessive." Nino ducks Sho's smack. "It wasn't anything serious. Just one for the road, back when I was in California. He's a surfer, you know."
Sho laughs. "Don't you get seasick?"
"It's not like he ever dragged me out into the ocean. And for the record, fucking on the beach is for idiots who enjoy getting sand in weird places." Nino can see the faint shadow of the tent being raised in a corner of the field, the clatter of poles now evident. "I didn't stay that long."
"You don't seem to have stayed anywhere long." Sho leaves the except for with us unspoken, and Nino is strangely grateful. Every day, every time he wakes up furry-tongued and sleepy in the cab of Ohno's truck with Ohno's smile beaming down at him like the morning sunrise, Nino finds it harder and harder to tell himself that this journey has an end.
"Where the hell have you been?" Jun says sharply, as they arrive at a pile of orange canvas with Ohno sitting peaceably beside it, fingers running through the grass beneath a large tree that hung over the spot they had chosen. "I need the spare keys to the Dart so we can check the backseat, that birdbrain lost the other ones when he fell out of a tree. We're missing a pole."
"Did you check his ass?" Nino mutters to Aiba, who is rubbing his thigh sheepishly.
"He'll hit me if I try," Aiba sighs. "And he's got all of his rings on."
"The keys," Ohno says suddenly, the keys clinking as he holds them up triumphantly. "Found them."
Jun arrives back from the Dart, pole in hand. "Let's get this finished." He looks tired, Nino realizes. Of course he is. They spent almost the full day driving, getting through the dusty heat of the desert.
"Here," Nino takes the pipe from Jun, and grabs another from the ground. They've done this a few times already, and it's usually easier for Jun and Nino to take care of it. Ohno is methodical, but slow, Aiba can't tell one end of a pipe from the other, and Sho is a disaster with anything more complicated that propping a stake upright. "If we hurry up, we can go grab a beer. Ran into an old friend who's invited us over."
"A friend?" Aiba says, "Here? Oh, the green car?"
"Nino's old surfer boyfriend." Sho says, squatting down next to Nino and handing him one of the tent stakes. "Shun, or whatever his name is. We ran into him in the washrooms."
"Shun?" Jun says, and Nino is concentrating so hard on getting the stakes hammered in straight that he doesn't answer.
By the time Nino looks up, Jun is walking briskly towards the green car on the far edge of the parking lot, speeding up with each step.