2019-07-18 - Road Trip!

Astrid's beaten-up Honda is a comfortable, cozy little sedan that might have been blue, but has verged into the dirty slate territory with all the rain and muck lately. Her windshield wipers are splashing away rain off the windshield, and the heater long ago busted so it does little to actually aid in the condensation that blurs up the windows. Luckily, Astrid is young and confident, so she isn't actually worried as they blaze up I-5 toward Seattle. "Alright, we gotta find a new Spotify station. This is getting repetitive."

"I got it." Ash reaches for the phone so that she can pick it up and work on finding a new station, picking something trendy, poppish. The first song that comes on is a Rihanna song. "Thanks for making the drive with me, Ast. It'd have been a super boring drive all by myself."

Astrid can handle Rihanna. No more fuss. With cruise control on, the dark-haired girl tucks her knee up to her chest while her other foot stays down near the brakes and gas in case she needs to stop suddenly. She glances over toward Ash as they drive along, right now in open green and empty grasslands of this part of Western Washington. "Aw. You know I'd go with you anywhere." She grins broad toward her before she puts her eyes back on the road.

"You're my everything." Ash sighs out at Astrid, leaning across towards her, tilting her head to bat her eyes at her, then she sits up straighter once more, "So Marius and I sorted out the sleeping arrangements." She adjusts her seat back so that she can lean back a little more, then she stretches out her legs as much as she can, "So I suggested since the tent can be split into three rooms that Runa gets her own, and two more in each of the other rooms. Which he said was unfair to Runa, and that instead we should all just pile up in the center, and not divide the rooms."

"You're such a freak," Astrid says with a bright laugh that just lights up her face. "But, you're my everything, too." She winks before she looks back to the road. She's just happily driving along until Ash hits her with that tidbit. She blinks, and turns back to her with wide eyes. Something like a blush suddenly suffuses up her cheeks. "Oh, um. You did?" Then she is looking back at the road. A bit of laughter escapes her. "Oh. So, like a room for me and you, shove Jens and Marius together, and let Runa get some peace?" Then she snorts slightly at Marius's rumored counter. "Why is that unfair to Runa?"

"Uh. No." Ash replies, that smile plastered across her face, "See, he was saying that they were too tall and would have to have their very own beds. So I suggested that they can have a room each, and that Runa could have a room each....annnnd..." She probably shouldn't need to continues to share this idea, but she's waiting to see if Astrid has kept up with this logic or not.

Astrid squints over at her friend once before she stares at the road, obviously thinking. "Oh, 'kay... so. But where do we sleep?" Nope, she's not picking it up, Ash. In fact, her gears are moving pretty slow around this idea. Then something clicks, and she stares over at her friend with wide, suddenly surprised eyes. "Wait. Wait, wait."

"Wait what?" Ash wonders, sitting up straighter to reach down into the floorboard to pick up her purse, digging around in it to pull out a pack of gum. She then tugs the pack open to pull a piece of gum out, the first one being held out towards Astrid. She seems to be very patient, though, waiting to see of Astrid follows the logic of the thought.

"Okay. Runa gets her own room." Look at Astrid slowly piecing this together. "Then Jens and Marius get their own rooms." Okay, another piece. "So... we would... sleep..." Then she sighs out a breath and squints over at Ash. "How long have you known about Marius and me hooking up?" But then she blinks. "And are you and Jens hooking up?"

"How long? Like...forever. You guys are pretty good about hiding it, but those of us who know and love you? Well...duh." Ash takes the gum back, unwrapping it to put it in her mouth, then she tosses the pack of gum into her purse. "You guys can keep hiding it if you really want, but if you're hiding it because you're afraid of hurting my feelings, you can stop hiding it. I've long ago become okay with the idea that you don't looooooove me."

"Forever? Ash. Why didn't you tell me you figured it out?" We thought we were being so good! Then Astrid sighs out another breath as she just rests her forehead forward on the steering wheel, completely relying on the hope that no one jolts in front of her while driving. Then she looks back up, glancing aside to Ash briefly. "I love you. And really, Marius and I only have been hooking up after we're really, really drunk."

Jens snorts, from the back seat. He's totally sleeping there, one foot out the window with his shoelaces untied and fluttering in the wind. He has his arm over his eye and an open Slim Jim in his other hand, half-eaten.

"Forever...and because you guys didn't want anyone knowing. It was a respect thing." Ash was probably not doing it out of respect, honestly. Either way she gives Astrid this look when she mentions that they only hook up after being really, really drunk. "Yeah, why is that? The hooking up only after being really, really drunk thing. Seems pretty sketchy to me." When Jens snorts she glances over her shoulder at him, then reaches for the Slim Jim in his hand to try and steal it from him.

Then Jens snorts, and Astrid jumps slightly; the steering wheel jolts a bit in her hands. She had forgotten he was back there. Goddamnit. She narrows her eyes over her shoulder before she glances back to Ash. "Because... I don't know. We got drunk-drunk, and we just, like, woke up in bed together. It wasn't exactly a conscious decision!" Well, it was, just a drunk conscious decision. Then she sighs, shoulders slumped. "Did you know about Halloween?" Her throat bobs. "You know, back when he was with Cathy?" She looks at Ash almost nervously.

Jens really is asleep. So he's not gonna know any of this. But when Ash starts tugging on his Slim Jim, he furrows his brow and mumbles something akin to 'nuuuh' and then bites the thing, very near her hand, and then also murmurs something, with his mouth full, that sounds like, 'snap into a slim jim'. Rar.

"I mean...I knew she bailed because of being jealous and stuff. But...no." Ash shakes her head about the Halloween thing, "I didn't know about that." When Jens spoils her getting his Slim Jim by nearly biting her hand off she pulls it back. Then a moment later she smacks him on top of the head before she turns back around, "Did she figure out that you two were hooking up, or just....assume that shit was happening? Because...she was always super possessive, and totally outside the group..."

"We hooked up once, and honest, Ash... I don't even really remember it. We were so knock-out drunk." Astrid's guilt is easy to find, tightening up her throat and making her shoulders slump. "After that, I kinda-- like-- stopped hanging around them very much. I didn't want to cause any problems. Figured step out a bit, let Marius get his footing back with Cathy, it would all be okay." Then she glances aside to Ash again, and shakes her head. "No. I mean, I don't think so. Maybe like a gut instinct? But I don't think she liked either of us, so I don't know if it was just that... because we're Ash and Astrid."

Jens still doesn't wake up. remember: he grew up with Marius and Runa. Getting smacked while he sleeps is like his normal. He lifts his free hand and rubs his head, then says, "Todays a bad day to be my underpants, s'for sure."

"I know she didn't like me. But that probably had nothing to do with the fact I called her a bitch to her face." Ash glances at Jens, then laughs, "I wonder what's making it a bad day to be his underwear." It's more rhetorical than anything, she's not checking. In fact, she glances at Astrid, leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, "Don't sweat it. She wasn't going to last anyways, and if you two want to keep sneaking around, no one is going to really stop you. It's fine."

"Nothing at all," Astrid muses with amusement. Then she laughs lightly with a glance over her shoulder. "I really, really don't want to know." Her eyes continue to peer through the condensation on the windshield, and the quick peck to her cheek has her grinning over at Ash brightly. "I think we might start, maybe, not sneaking around. But just do that whole... look, it would be nice to have a steady person to hook up with is all I'm saying."

You know that thing where conversations seep into your dreams if you listen to them when you're sleeping? "Choo choo, all aboard the booty call train..." Jens murmurs.

"No judgment!" Ash lifts her hands up in protest, laughing at Astrid before she drops her hands once more, "But yeah, it's nice to have one steady person to hook up with. I'm just saying..." She pauses, blinking at the newest observations from Jens, one hand then being held up to Astrid before she twists around, leaning into the back seat so that she can whisper towards him, "Ash is the best...she is never wrong, always right. I should really show her how much I appreciate her by bringing home dinner for everyone one day."

Jens wiggles his nose. "The midget has a whip."

Astrid blinks back over her shoulder to Jens. "What the hell is he dreaming about?" The midget part has her choking back a deeper, more mirthful laugh before she shakes her head. "Oh my god. I don't want to know." That beaming smile soften a bit for Ash. "You are the best, and you are never wrong." Then she nods a bit. "You thinking about finding your own steady hook-up, or are you looking for The One?"

"Not sure what he's dreaming about, but whatever it is it is....wild. And potentially illegal in all states." Ash points out before she reaches for the phone to skip the next song. When Astrid gets back around to asking her about what she's thinking about finding she shakes her head, "Not thinking about finding anything right now."

"Definitely wild," Astrid says with amusement over her shoulder. That humor intermission done, her eyes are back on the road as they continue north. "Yeah-- that's about where I am. But damn, I get lonely sometimes. Or horny sometimes." Her lips quirk. "Sounds like Ree and I are on the same page, so we will see how it goes." She then smirks. "But I want to know why you want to room with Jens."

"I guess I could have said Runa and I could share a room, but then it'd have been super obvious what I was hinting around about the Marius, and I'm not sure he'd have taken it as well." Ash slouches, drawing her knees up before she props her feet up on the dashboard in front of her, peeking over her shoulder at the currently silent Jens. Then she glances back at Astrid, nose wrinkling up befre she lifts a hand, holding up a finger. Just one single finger that she very, very clearly assumes that Astrid is suddenly going to be telepathic and read.

Astrid narrows her eyes thoughtfully as she looks over at Ash. It's a long look interrupted only by the occasional glance to the road. When the finger lifts, she glances behind her toward the sleeping Jens, and she then sighs out a breath. "Well, I guess that makes sense." It doesn't. "I mean, it would make that all painfully obvious." Eyes narrow. She really wishes she could become telepathic.

"I'm glad it makes sense." Ash replies as she drops her hand, "Either way, I guess we're just sort of all sleeping where ever we fall instead. Just so no one blushes, or feels like they are being cut out. Because, that's not cool, and not exactly the point of this trip. So if you and Marius want to fuck you've got to go somewhere else, like...find a tree or something, I guess."

Astrid bursts out into a giggle, and she looks over at Ash. "Oh, Ash. Pretty sure Marius and I are not outright planning to just fuck our way through our beach trip. We can go do our own campout if that's our plan. Besides, I want to cuddle up with you." She gives Ash a wink, and then sobers. "No. But, really. I don't want anyone to feel left out."

Ash's brows waggle a bit before she lifts her hands up to blow kisses, then she nods, "Me either. This is about all of us getting to enjoy what little we have of the summer left before fall semester. Which....ugh." She shakes her head a bit, leaning forward to rest her forehead on her knees, "Right, if anyone wants to fuck around they can do it on their own time."

"I can't believe I took classes this summer. What the hell was I thinking? We could have spent a whole month on the beach." Except they couldn't. She glances at the time. "Lunch? Or do we just keep going and beg your parents to feed us?" She then smiles over toward Ash before she ruffles up her hair a bit. "We should have left Jens at home."

"Lunch. I know the best place." Ash reaches for her phone, glancing into the back seat before she shakes her head, "Just leave the windows cracked, he'll be fine. If we remember we can even bring him leftovers." Clearly waking him up is not on the agenda. "Ast, question." She looks up, thinking about the question before she asks, "Would that be so weird? I mean.." She gestures back towards the sleeping giant.

"Let's do it." Astrid is waiting for directions, but that waiting silence is interrupted when Ash prompts, and she glances toward her friend with a tilt of her head. "What would be weird?" Then her brain does an auto-reverse, and she blinks. "What? You and Jens?" She hesitates a moment, thinking. Then she shakes her head. "No. Actually, I don't think it would be weird at all."

The address for Dough Zone is rattled off, and Ash even goes so far as to plug it into Google maps in case Astrid needs actual directions. Then she leans her head back against the headrest of her seat, "Good. I mean...." She makes a face, "It's not a big deal? Like...we're not exactly going to go out to a movie and a dinner like a date. Or anything."

"The Dough Zone?" It's all she asks before Astrid is committed to the route. She starts moving over, checking her blindspot diligently. Her eyes flick toward Ash briefly, and then back to the road. "Honey, you do you. Whatever makes you feel good, as long as Jens is onboard, is fine by me and not weird at all."

"The Dough Zone." Ash agrees with a laugh, turning her phone off and tucking it into her pocket once more, "Then good. No one is awkward, we're all going to have a blast at the beach. We're going to eat all the dumplings and not share them, and then we go get this tent...and hopefully make it back before the weather gets shitty."

Astrid just grins at the repeated name, and then she's zooming along toward the exit. She grins quick toward Ash and nods. "Right. Jens has to eat his Slim Jim and be happy about it." Then she's turning off the highway to head to the DOUGH ZONE.

"Hopefully he doesn't eat the wrapper, or his hand." Ash glances over at him again, checking to make sure that the threat of him eating the wrapper is fairly low. "Did you ever get around to asking Marius about all the weird shit Jens wasn't willing to talk about?"

"I hope he eats the wrapper." As she follows the directions down the next street, Astrid glances back to Ash with a shrug. "No. He doesn't seem all that eager to talk about it either. But I found this guy, Cole... apparently he was in that house where that girl went missing. I guess there were like shadow monsters or something in there." Beat. "Easton was in there, too."

"Our boss was?" Ash frowns, "I'm starting to really wonder what the big deal is, with all the dodgy answers." She drops her feet off the dashboard before raising her seatback again, "So is this guy, Cole, is he more willing to be up front and spill the beans?"

"Yeah. Easton didn't tell me that. I'm kinda steamed. Why didn't he tell me when I was there, asking him about all the weird shit in town?" Then Astrid is parking outside this place called The Dough House, and she turns off the car as she settles back into her seat. "Yeah. He is. I gave him my number, but he might not be totally in the know... but at least he's willing to share the deets." Then she's popping out of the car, but not before using the ADORABLE HAND CRANKS to crack the window.

"Everyone keeps wanting to keep that shit silent...like that has ever helped anyone." Ash gets out of the car, rolling her window down a little as well before she shuts the door. He might not die entirely of a heatstroke this way. "Like, hasn't fucking Hollywood movies taught us nothing? People keep silent, and that thing is exactly what comes up to kill everyone."

"It doesn't help, but people get all protective about this kinda shit," Astrid is leading Ash into the place once she's locked the doors, locking Jens inside with the windows cracked. "Yeah, but I also kinda get it... you know, a little bit. It could make some serious panic if we go around talking about this randomly."

"Sure, panic if we talked about it randomly. But, what if we weren't talking about it randomly?" Ash moves around the car to loop her arm through Astrid's, starting to drag her towards the dumpling place. "I mean, I think that considering...Well." She frowns faintly, looking thoughtful for a moment, "You remember when I said that he was painting a picture of me?"

"I don't know." Astrid is grumpy even while Ash drags her along. "I'm trying to be understanding, but I'm not doing a great job at it right now." Then she settles into a thoughtful silence when Ash mentions the painting, and she slowly nods. "Yeah..."

"Had a dream about it..but it was worse. Worse than your normal nightmare." Ash should probably keep this to herself, but not telling Astrid is somehow worse than sharing it. "I confronted Jens about it, he said this is why he doesn't show his paintings to people. Like there's some creepy shit happening with them."

"What?" Astrid stops just outside the door to the restaurant, staring at her with a deeper frown. She tightens her arm around Ash. "You had a dream? What... you dreamed you were the girl in the painting?" Her brows tighten with concern. "Ash, are you okay?"

"Yes, and I'm fine. Well. I'm not fine, but I'm okay. I freaked out, a whole bunch." Ash gives Astrid a tug before she reaches for the door to pull it open, "It was really scary, Ast. Like, I couldn't move, and I was burning alive...it was terrible."

Astrid pushes the door closed the moment Ash pulls it open. She stares at her friend with those serious hazel eyes. "Wait. Just... wait a second." She looks at the hostess who is eyeing them thoughtfully through the window of the door, and then she's looking back to Ash. "Did... did you tell Jens about this?"

"Yes I told Jens about it." Ash reaches for the door again, then thinks better of it at Astrid's expression, her hand dropping to her side, "I was alone, everyone was out...and I got the brilliant idea to try and get into his room to see the painting, see if...if it was the way I remembered. Either way, he caught me trying to pick his lock, and I told him about the dream." And there is a lot unsaid, and Ash is terrible at hiding things from Astrid for long.

Astrid stands there, frowning at her as she holds the door shut. "What... did he say that it was all okay?" She knows it isn't okay, but surely Jens had something to say. Her lips press together tighter. "You haven't had any more dreams?"

"No more dreams, and I wouldn't say he said anything about it that made it okay. He freaked out, said this is why he didn't show people his paintings...and then I got distracted." Ash shrugs her shoulders a bit, "I mean, I can ask further, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get any more information out of him."

Astrid sighs at that, and her insistent press on the door lessens and she nods. "No. Don't. They just all moved in and we shouldn't really... stir things up. We will figure it out." Then she curls her arm around Ash's shoulder and presses a warm kiss against the side of her head. "Cm'on. Let's go get some dumplings."

Ash wraps her arms back around Cara, giving her a squeeze in return, "It'll be alright, we'll figure out what the fuck this shit is. Even if we have to corner Easton at work on day...I bet if we tackle him together he won't be able to avoid fessing up to shit."

"Let's do it." Astrid smiles as she squeezes back. "He won't know what to do when we both turn our Ashtrid powers on him." Then she is holding open the door to let Ash go in first. As they enter, Astrid casts a glance back to the car and the sleeping Jens.