Road trip

[roughcutgem]

Who: Beryl, Nat
When: Not long after her kidnapping.
What: Heading off to kill people.

She tossed her bag in the trunk then stroked a hand along the cool metal as she closed it. This was clean car, no way to trace it to anyone, compliments of their little captive spook. "Ready babe?" she called.

Honestly she'd have done this alone but well...her love wouldn't let her. He was a little (understandably) paranoid after the last week? But it meant a road trip now! "It's going to be a long haul..." mainly because she didn't intend to show up tired. Which meant several stops to rest between St. Louis and upstate New York.

Plus, well, there were a few weather warnings this time of year. It would be kind of useful if they got snowed in while dealing with some of her family...

...dealing. Yeah.

She'd have to remember things were different now. People were older, she wouldn't be putting down kids.

Sibling.

Yeeeaaaah.

Cold metal was nice to focus on instead.

Comments

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel came from around the car with a duffel bag. "Is this gonna be enough, you think?" At least he only had to worry about clothes in the duffel: he'd filled a backpack already as a "toiletry bag".

He still had some of that nervous energy dancing along his skin. He stepped closer, unconsciously looking for comfort in the closeness of her body. Getting married to each other was a huge help in distracting him from wanting to stiffen and snarl at every strange sound or look from a passer-by. He was happier than he could have ever imagined having a legal document saying they belonged to each other, but what her family had tried to do had shaken him to his core.

[roughcutgem]

"It's enough babe. We won't drive straight through, I know you aren't comfortable on highways." So a lot of the driving would fall on her. "We can take our time, and worst case we hit a laundromat for a few hours."

[nathanielgrayson]

He smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks, babe."

She always thought of him, considering what he wanted or needed. He had to make sure he did everything he could to help her while she drove.

"Wait, the cooler!" he yelped. He dashed back inside and came back moments later carrying a large cooler in his arms. Carrying, which was easy for him, looked damn impressive, even with his lean muscle hidden under a sweater. "Can you open the door to the back, babe?" He would have to try to find space back there with the pillows he brought, and the blankets, and the bags and bags and bags of snacks.

[roughcutgem]

"You... Are building us a honeymoon nest," she teased, eyeing the pillows and dutifully opening the door. "Ever been to a theme park babe?"

She might be plotting.

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel peered innocently in the back of the car. "But what if you want to rest in the car? And plus do you really trust the pillows and blankets at hotels?"

Granted, he hadn't really been in an nice hotels, so from his experience he had an excellent point.

He blinked in confusion once the cooler was stuffed into the back. "What, like Disneyland?" He shook his head. "No?"

[roughcutgem]

"Well I'd rather anything that smells like you," she admitted, kissing him. "It's still adorable." And cozy!

"Not quite but same idea yes. Way I see it people might expect a retaliation, a beeline from here to there, so we take our time. Let them relax. Spend a few days having fun?"

[nathanielgrayson]

His body folded contently against hers at that kiss and beamed at her. "And it has snacks," he added eagerly.

He cocked his head, considering. "Well, yeah...but we knew it would take a long time to get there. If we don't go straight there, where are we going?"

[roughcutgem]

He was a delightful addition to her angles wasn't he? And she wasn't shy about roaming hands!

"Well about fifteen hours as a straight shot but...anywhere that catches your eye, a three day pass and hotel for six flags...you pack your bathing suit?"

[nathanielgrayson]

He certainly wasn't shy. And they had a legal document so he was more than happy for her hands to be wherever she wanted them on him. He was hers now, completely.

He paused, not stopping her hands but frowning slightly. "No? I can run up and get it if you want? Wait, six flags...like the commercial on TV?"

[roughcutgem]

Well everywhere he allowed at the time! He had a say here!

"Mmmhmmm. Rollercoasters, shows, a waterpark..."

[nathanielgrayson]

He might have a say, but he had zero inclination to use it. Not with his Beryl.

His eyes widened. "I...I've never ridden a rollercoaster," he admitted, cautious excitement creeping into his soft voice.

[roughcutgem]

He would always have a say with her! It was just a bonus they enjoyed the same things usually!

"Well, good idea to find out if you'll enjoy one," she grinned. "And all the pictures."

[nathanielgrayson]

"Ok," he agreed brightly. "Where is it? Is it far?" He still had no real concept of what a theme park was like; when they finally arrived at one he would very likely explode from excitement.

[roughcutgem]

"It's on the way, Maryland," she chuckled, pulling out the road atlas to show him. "And there's a very nice hotel nearby, I'm going to call and reserve the honeymoon suite now before we leave."

[nathanielgrayson]

His face lit up at that. "It really is a honeymoon, isn't it?"

A magical honeymoon full of new experiences for him shared with his Beryl.

And also killing her family.

[roughcutgem]

"Yeah, our first weeks married shouldn't only be about those bastards," she admitted, kissing him again. "Get your swimsuit. At least one of the day for the waterpark and there's always the hotel pool and hot tub..." She smirked.

[nathanielgrayson]

He lingered, smiling against her lips before dashing back into their home. He must have had to dig around, but he eventually came back out triumphantly holding up a pair of swim trunks. "Found it!"

He practically flitted to the back of the car to shove the swim trunks into his bag. "Ok. We...we ready to go?" The buzzing excitement was starting to arc off of him.

[roughcutgem]

She already had a hot little number in barely there copper fabric for him to see...later. Khem had flushed all shades of red when they'd found it shopping! "Yeah babe. We're checking in every night of course but otherwise we're good to go "

She also maaaaybe got the buffet passes for their theme park days. Because she was smart yes.

[nathanielgrayson]

Wait until he encountered theme park snacks: he wasn't going to know how to even start to consume that much sugar.

"I hope Looney decides to be nice to Eric," he mused as he hopped into the passenger seat.

[roughcutgem]

"You know Looney, he does what he wants," she chuckled. "Likely he'll convince our union that he needs double the snacks he gets and only cuddle him after Eric is asleep..." She buckled in, glanced back once, then got them moving.