Quote from Indy on January 7, 2020, 8:21 pm

"I'm thinking... two quarter pounders, a sausage biscuit,  a sprite... and fries"

A copper-haired demon leaned across the driver's seat, her other elbow brushing against her passenger; the touch languid enough as she squinted at the menu, but there was a deception to it wasn't there?  They'd never touched before unless she'd been unconscious and bleeding out over the floor. Physical proximity, by no control of their own, did little for the continents between them.  And here they were, unlikely brunch partners in an even less likely getaway vehicle.

Jackie frowned thoughtfully at the menu, the car ahead of them moving up only a few inches.  Who knew the middle of a Tuesday would be such a popular time?  It was agonizing.  The window on the driver's side had fallen a few inches, enough to let the tantalizing meat-juices soak in through her eyeballs.  She wanted to bathe in it.  Drown in it.  And here she had to sit still and be a good girl, like some half starved dog.  Because something told her shaking down some hapless employee would not bring her any closer to "a part of this balanced breakfast".

She glanced over the menu for the thousandth time, by this point every entry memorized.  She sighed impatiently, her fingertips thrumming against her thigh, "Actually, scratch that. Make that a large coffee. And an apple pie".

She glanced to Sabrina with casual interest, "And what about you?  Not enough salads on the menu?"

 

Quote from Kaqurei on January 15, 2020, 4:43 pm

Sabrina raised an eyebrow in her companion's direction. She eyed the drive through menu suspiciously, and wrinkled her nose slightly. Whereas Jackie may have been bathing in a mental sauna of juicy hamburger, Sabrina's senses were retching in the odors of human sweat, overused oils, and sizzling meat of cattle that possibly had been deceased and frozen for a perhaps a month prior to meeting this unfortunate fate.

"I'll have a quarter pounder, with cheese," she said after a minute. "And those... dino fries."

Her eyes switched lazily from the menu to the driver, curious to see if she had any reaction.

Quote from Indy on January 18, 2020, 3:37 pm

Half a snort caught in her throat, but as a credit to her limited self-control, that was the end to it.  Her lips were drawn tightly together, as if she were attempting to trap something inside, and her eyes remained steeled ahead.  She didn’t dare comment on the obvious, even if her eyes were watering to try.  As far as partners-in-crime went, Sabrina had been among her best. She hadn’t objected when she’d dug around in Ulric’s desk for the keys. She hadn’t objected when she’d used said keys to liberate the sky-blue-and-rust Beetle from the edge of the field.  Nor had she objected when she’d taken her seat in the driver’s side.

Maybe she should have.

“Right. A quarter pounder. With cheese. Dino Fries,” she nodded diplomatically, “Anything else?”

She glared at the car ahead, as if shear will-power would persuade it. Sitting still was the best kind of torture. It was hard not to feel trapped in the matchbox-sized confines and the sagging ceiling.  It was easier when she was moving forward.  Her fingers thrummed impatiently against the steering wheel as she fidgeting uncomfortably. Just how long could a person take to decide on their selection of heart-attack-in-a-sac, anyways?

Her right palm slammed into the horn at viper-speed!... but… the car was obtusely silent.

She groaned, “Seriously? How old IS this thing?”

Quote from Kaqurei on January 19, 2020, 10:40 pm

Sabrina knitted her brows and glanced up at the top of the car, her expression one of almost humorous skepticism. But ultimately she did not hazard a guess at Jackie's question. Either of them. Instead she merely pointed out passively, "Perhaps it's just as well," and motioned on to the other car as it finally inched towards the next window. And it was exactly that. An inch.

Quote from Indy on January 23, 2020, 7:13 pm

Jackie's eyes narrowed reproachfully at the car ahead, the metaphorical steam billowing from her nostrils as she exhaled harshly.  The longer she sat still doing nothing, the more the tension grew in her. It was like a rising storm, electric charge growing with each passing moment -- and Mr. Slow Pokey Suburban contemplating his life choices on a fast food menu wouldn't like what he saw if he didn't hurry it up.

"That's it!" she snapped like some feral dog, shifting the gear to park.

She unbuckled her seatbelt, her hand moving to the passenger's side.  Sabrina should stop her.  She should, shouldn't she?  That's why she'd been so relieved when she'd agreed to help  her -- as long as there was someone to stop her before it got out of hand.  But she hadn't stopped her... maybe that meant she hadn't toed over the line. Or maybe it meant if she set the fire, Sabrina would just watch it burn from a safe distance as she made disapproving, judgemental looks onwards.

The car door clicked open.  And she moved to get out.

Quote from Indy on February 9, 2020, 5:37 pm

She would have been at the door of the slow pokey driver by now.  She would have had her fists clenched, her jaw resolute, and her eyes set aflame as she knocked on the window.  She would have, except she didn't, because with paralyzing certainty the entire world seemed intent to smother her.

From the safety of the glass, the greasy fast food joint hadn't seemed so terrible.  She'd smelled the meat and engine grease, but her stolen steed has still smelled of the field and the forest.  It had been more than a comfort, but a kind of security blanket.  And now....

Now a thousand notes clashed for attention.  The grease, the engine oil -- the was just one layer of the dimension to be had.  There was a faint trace of ozone from the fluorescent lights, the cracked and dampened asphalt, human sweat, cigarette, molded green, dark candy wrappers, fermented sweetness, grey haze.... Her pupils narrowed to a tiny dot on her bright eyes as her breathing grew faster, her right fist clenched still on the car door.  For all the time she'd spent on the mountains, she'd learned how to tune her senses to a fine instrument.  But now it was too much in this world, and her fingers couldn't find the knob to turn it down again.

Quote from Kaqurei on February 15, 2020, 7:06 pm

Sabrina waited patiently, watching with a feigned cool disinterest to see if Jackie would actually step out of the car to enact her road rage. An eyebrow raised ever so slightly as she noticed the increase of Jackie's breathing, the faint quiver of her hand.

"Rage always makes it harder to control," she said softly. "The environment is different; the animal is not. Find your center. Your purpose. Remember what you were doing and why."

Quote from Indy on February 15, 2020, 9:44 pm

The cigarette-butt-asphalt-apple-pie screamed so loudly, it was difficult to hear anything else.  At first she’d thought sorting and categorizing the dissonance of smells would quell the overload; but instead with each known offender it was as if the vortex spun faster and faster.  She remained poised as she was, her breath coming up quickly, as dismally the human in her was left with a pervading thought -- "Whaaaaat?"

Find your center. Your Purpose, a voice seemed to say.

It was easy for the disembodied voice to say.  She wasn’t even sure she came with a center.  Just rough pointy edges and deep dark crevices.

But maybe she did have a purpose.

“Dino…. fries…” she mumbled under her breath, and like a secret spell that broke the witch’s curse, she sank back down into the carseat.

Quote from Kaqurei on February 15, 2020, 10:23 pm

Sabrina gave a tilt of the chin, some gesture of approval, perhaps.

"Yes, that," she said, referring to the comment about fries. "It will do at present. But, let's try to focus, shall we? We didn't just come out here for lunch. Since we clearly have a minute, perhaps you can elucidate a bit more on the subject of our mission...?"