doku | VISIONS I HAD BURIED UNDERGROUND / RETURNING TO ABUSE US

[What the fuck, Nariko. You could totally just..do that in the trailer and have all the privacy in the world. He's out cold, it's not like he's gonna wonder where you wandered off to!

...not that it matters, he's not even wondering what she's up to. Because he's asleep like the dead. Just don't diddle and drive, okay?]

[What if something happened and she wasn't here!! His health is more important than her desires! But since she can figure out how to make it work there's no reason to not cater to both!

Also uh no the whole point is to drive with the thing inside of her! It'll be fine. Maybe by the end of it she'll even be relaxed enough to actually sleep! You never know. Besides, they're halfway there, or something along those lines, and if she stops and gets all involved in herself then she'll fall asleep and they'll lose time ...

This is the more efficient way to go about it! She'll tap out at six in the morning and then go to bed, so either way he can go undisturbed.]

[Krieg has no idea, but if he did, he'd be thankful he woke up the next morning. At least there's like, no one else on the roads at that hour, right?

He couldn't point fingers, either, because he has his own vices to address. Groggily, he wakes up shortly after Nariko calls it quits and watches the sunrise while sitting on top of the truck. After that, he heads inside of the trailer--quietly--to take his meds along with a protein shake, changing his clothes so he can go out for a short...two hour run.

He leaves a note stuck to the fridge, at least.]

Gone out for a run.
Breakfast in fridge.
Microwave 1:30.
Call if need.
- K

[She wakes up exhausted as fuck all and alone, on top of that. For a good, long moment Nariko just laid there, staring at the trailer before she dragged herself out of bed once and for all. She sees his note and manages to get some food in her, but it does occur to her that she has no idea how long he's been gone, when he might have gotten up.

Oh well.

She goes ahead and takes a shower, which is a long and involved affair unto itself since she's washing her hair. Chances are Krieg will come back to one of two sights: Nariko brushing her hair out in a towel while cursing, or laid out on top of the trailer in some shorts and a tank top.

She forgot to buy a damn blow dryer and hopefully this won't take as long as air drying.]

[She's all the way up there when he gets back! If she looks down at him as he approaches, decked out in one of those jogger sets they salvaged from his condo, he'll give her a little wave before hopping into the trailer to do a shower of his own!

When he comes out, he's in his pants from earlier, but now he's ditched the tank to bask in all of his shirtless glory! Someone's feeling better today. He'll join her up on the top of the trailer when he comes out, taking a seat next to her.]

Hey. How was the drive last night?

[When he comes back she waves in response but otherwise doesn't move. It's nice out and there are few things better than lying out in the sun, so if he's not in a hurry to get her to move then she isn't in a hurry to think about anything except the unfortunate tan lines she might end up with if she doesn't buy a new bikini.

Also, uh, how honest should she be with that answer ...]

It was fun! I kept myself very busy!

[There, uh, that's pretty honest! Although her grin might be a little too insinuating.] How was your run?

[She gets an arched brow for that. If he bothered thinking about it for a while, he might figure it out, but he doesn't care to dwell on it. He just hopes that she didn't leave a mess in the seat.]

It was good. I needed it. Kind of exciting to take a run in a place I don't know at all.

[She bought tons of lysol wipes for a reason, thank you very much.]

That sounds horrifying, personally, but I'm glad you had fun. [Granted, Krieg's probably far less likely to be harassed when he's alone and running than Nariko might be.] Did you sleep well?

[Y'know, he really does have good reason to be proud of his abs, though she keeps her gazing a little discreet.]

[Yeah, a little. But it's not like there were a ton of people that would've picked on her. It's nothing but desert out here, no people to speak of. Just lizards and birds.]

As usual.

[You gonna be alright to drive with his shirt off, Nariko?]

[Lizards are dangerous. And also creepy. But he might have a point all the same.]

You usually sleep cramped up in the back of a truck? I was worried you were gonna bump your head.

[Probably not, let's be honest. You know, there is a way to fix that - on her end, at least.]

[He shrugs.] It took a while to get comfortable, but I was fine when I did. Not a half-bad ride for sleeping--pretty quiet in that cabin.

[Yeah...

"Quiet."]

... Quiet, yeah. Good!

[She, uh, got a little emotive there towards the end. Someone who didn't sleep like a rock left by a pond probably would have woken up much sooner, though it wasn't as if she was screaming.]

Krieg. [Him and his stupid lack of a shirt and his kindness and she's stupidly impulsive anyway. So whatever, have a kiss. It's not anything complicated, she just leans forward and puts her lips on his, and that's it. It barely lasts more than a few seconds.] Thanks for breakfast.

[Her hair is mostly dry so she begins to tie it into a lazy braid.]

[Be more obvious, Nariko. He's having a hard enough time politely ignoring the elephant in the roo--

Oh.

Oh my God.

He's not really sure what to...do, so he ends up licking his lips in the pause that follows.]

Th--thanks. [WAIT, SHIT.] I mean--you're welcome.

[His lack of response isn't particularly hurtful, she had figured that if the guy was a version then he might not have ever been kissed or that if he had been it wasn't too often. Instead she finishes with her hair and smiles at him, as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred.]

Cool. I still have to finish with this mess [She points at her head.] but after that I'll be ready to go!

[The elephant in the room is now gone, right? Maybe it would have helped to actually talk it out but that just requires so much energy, and she's still kind of tired.]

[No! No, it's not! In fact, the elephant just kissed him!]

I'll--meet you in the truck.

[He'll wait for her to get down before he crawls down too, quietly...packing himself into the driver's seat.

...

And he wipes his brow with the back of his hand.]

[Krieg, she didn't even slip you the tongue! Or crawl on top of you! The elephant restrained itself quiet well!!]

M'kay! [She slowly works her way back down the trailer and inside of it to brush her hair and finally deal with it before she pulls on her shoes and gets back into the passenger side! Look, as far as she's concerned everything's dissolved, there's nothing to feel awkward about.]

How much longer according to the GPS? I don't remember looking at the time last night.

[She just listened when it told her to get onto a different interstate or whatever.]

[He's piddling away on his phone when she joins him, doing nothing particularly important, just passing the time. ~~Neko Atsume~~]

Just three more hours.

[He puts said phone away before starting the ignition and taking off.]

Almost there!!!

[So they'll make it by sort of by mid-afternoon time? Not bad! They'll have the opportunity to take him clothes shopping so he can look spiffy for meeting his sister! It'll work out perfectly.]

Are you excited?

Yeah.

[Not exactly jumping out of his seat excited, obviously. To be honest, his primary feeling right now is relief--relief to feel freedom again. Have his own schedule, make his own music, spend his time with who he wants.]

You want to park at Izzy's first before we take care of any of that shopping?

That's probably for the best, we won't get very far lugging the trailer around.

[But he's going to need a lot of clothes, so they might end up filling up the cabin pretty quickly. Still, Krieg might not be visibly excited but Nariko is, she's been pretty docile through the whole trip but now that there's a small, barely worthwhile distance in the way she's eager to get rid of it. Soon they're going to be in a big city, one that inevitably holds five thousand different things to do, places to see, people to meet, songs to write, and ... Well, they've got the other stuff planned, too.]

Vegas has some of the best places to eat for a bargain, too! There's a bacon cheeseburger I want to try that's just off the strip!

[He's muted and she might as well burst at the edges, go figure.]

Bacon cheeseburger?

[He doesn't really get it, because he could make a bacon cheeseburger for her if she really wanted! We're gonna go to Vegas just to get a burger? Why not prime rib?]

We'll be there in time for a late lunch. Hopefully the crowd won't be so bad.

[Nariko might just want to hang around where they park first, though. Turns out Izzy and her girlfriend live in the beautiful gated community of Summerlin and they have just enough driveway for the trailer, but the truck will have to be parked on the street.

The woman that comes out of the front door is tall and lean, as would be expected of a dancer and undeniably Krieg's sister. She has bright ginger hair that is definitely natural--so imagine that, Nariko, Krieg might've been a redhead before he fucked up his everything and turned his scant hair white.

There's a little bit of an awkward pause when Krieg and Izzy spot each other, but quickly enough they get over it to hug it out. Afterwords, she holds out her hand to Nariko to shake her hand.

"Hey, I'm Elizabeth," she says, putting on that showtime smile. "You can call me Lizzie or Izzy."]

[Uh, it was a bacon cheeseburger with short rib, a fried egg, and cheddar cheese from Fat Choy's. She's not that basic, Krieg!!!

Not when it comes to food, but people? That might be another story because the moment she sees Krieg's sister, holy shit. She's so pretty! And she's a redhead! There's a moment where she does nothing but stare, thankfully by the time they've had their moment she's mostly composed herself so she's prepared for hand shaking.]

Nice to meet you!

[Uh, had he mentioned her as his friend or ... What. Probably as a music buddy or something. Who knows.] Your home is beautiful! And thanks for having us, I know the trailer is kind of big and all that.

[What the hell with this family, man. Krieg's all nice and mature and attractive and his sister is hot and polite and seems nice enough. This is ridiculous.]

[Are you accusing his hamburgers to be basic!!

...don't tell him what Fat Choy does, he'll get jealous.

Izzy laughs. "It's nothing! No, me and Chroma aren't busy these days, so it's a good time to have..." She's clearly a hands-talker, and she waves vaguely. "...some kinda pseudo-family reunion. Chroma's practicing right now, but she's really excited to meet you two."

She looks at Nariko somewhat pointedly when she says that.]

How long is she going to be at it?

["Oh, a little less than two hours."

It's Krieg's turn to look at Nariko.]

You wanna get our shopping out of the way, then bring these two to lunch with us?

[Does this mean she isn't supposed to take him to Fat Choy's because what sort of visit to Vegas is this if they can't go?

That look isn't missed but since she has no idea what's behind it or why anyone would really want to meet her at the moment, Nariko just smiles through it! Wouldn't it make more sense for Lizzie's girlfriend to be really excited to meet Krieg? Whatever, man. She also wants to ask what Chroma's practicing, exactly, but that'd make for great lunch talk!]

Yep, that sounds perfect! Granted, we're going to have to work a little quickly, but that means I get to pick stuff out for you!

[Because good god Krieg you need to wear shirts and stop sexually frustrating her.] We could meet there where we're done, and then just drag everything back here?

[It's all neat and orderly.]

[No, you're supposed to take him! But make sure it doesn't make him feel inadequate.

"No, you should meet us here," she suggests. "Mostly because I don't know when exactly she'll be done."

Don't want their guests waiting who knows how long if she goes over her expected time.

"Oh, right, you wanted to know the best clothing shops." Izzy digs through the back pocket of her jeans and pulls out a folded up paper. "I wrote down the addresses of my favorite places on here. Should be able to find something your stride, Krieg."

He opens it, looks it over, then hands it to Nariko.]

Sounds like a plan.

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