Sal's Reality, Port aux Basques: The Official Road Trip Thread

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

"So." Sal leaned on the hood of the van, sneaking in one more cigarette before they left for Florida. It was quite the sight: the massive maroon vehicle was stuffed to the rafters with luggage, snack food, and had a full tank of gas.

"So?" Ven was staring at her from the other side of it, completely amused at his mentor's stressed outlook. In all the years he'd known the woman, he'd never seen her really lose her cool - but she was coming close.

"So we've got ourselves reservations for the eight o'clock boat. And it's ten after six and we needs to get goin else we misses our spot. An' Mu launches in exactly forty-eight hours and..."

Ven stooped down to pick up Shae, who had barrelled down the stairs with her still-yawning mother in tow. "And we'll get there just fine. Didn't you say she had a portal waiting for you in North Sydney, anyway?"

Sal extinguished her cigarette and blew the smoke away from Shae, watching Jav, Kurt, and Vic come down the stairs hauling the rest of the luggage. "Yes, yes, and yes, but still, b'y, I hates bein' late." She held out her arms in response to Shae's attempt to get closer to her grandmother. "Give her here, look..."

She was interrupted by a loud bang that sounded like it was coming from her kitchen. She looked at Shae, who was grinning.

"D'you know what all that noise is?" she asked the toddler.

"Nope," the little girl shook her head, brown curls bouncing around.

"Want t' go find out with me?"

"Yeah!"

They went up the stairs together, Sal maneuvering Shae into a piggy-back position. "I betcha it's Leeroy. It always is."

"Uncle 'Roy is funny," Shae declared. "He's always doin' somethin'." The girl had a slight Newfie twang and it amused Sal to no end.

"Yes, b'y."

They opened the front door and peered into the kitchen where Sam had Leeroy in a headlock.

"Do I want t' know?" Sal asked resignedly. "Or should I just yell at the load of ye to get yer butts downstairs 'fore I loses it?"

Comments

[random_xtras]

Josh was also poised, his eyes rivitted to the SMS engine as he waited for the people in the Launch Control Center to notice the misalignment and call off the launch.

Mykayla blinked and looked around as it suddenly became hard to breath and noticed that Sam was fervently praying in tongues under her breath. The lilac-haired woman looked upward, then added her voice to the warfare.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Right on time," someone breathed. It was Ramada - but nobody really noticed.

[random_xtras]

"I'll have to give it a little push so they're not short on fuel," he said, turning his eyes back to the shuttle. "Not yet, the camera angles are wrong."

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

Sal frowned slightly, the abject fear that the engine malfunction had instilled in her slowly dying away.

"Go fix it, then," she said quietly.

[random_xtras]

"I think you broke Jav's brain, my mother," said Scrat, still smiling broadly as he held his laughing wife.

"Sal?" Kurt looked slightly bewildered.

Jabez just looked totally freaked.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Sadri looked at the bird and grinned. Sal was definitely good at theatrics.

[random_xtras]

"It means that." She crawled over to the edge and looked down to watch Vic get shakily to his feet and gently gather Jav into his arms as Sam crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. "That Vic's here with us again."

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

Sal looked down and put a hand to her mouth as she started to cry.

[random_xtras]

"He fell off the roof and broke his leg," said Scrat absently.

"@#$&%@ DIED!" raved Jav.

"Suck it up," said Vic from where he had his head stuck in the fridge.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"One would think," Sadri said with a grunt as she put a knee on Jav's chest to keep him from sitting up and flailing about some more, "that you'd be used to it by now. Would you just hold still for fierfek's sake?"

She looked around for something to splint his broken leg with. "There's no need to take him to a hospital, since I can take care of this right now," she said to Scrat, "but we need something to hold it still with so I mend it properly."

[random_xtras]

"Frightens you?" The quiet clone paused to look at her in surprise.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sadri asked, walking to a nearby sink and washing her hands. "I'm not allowed to be afraid?"

[random_xtras]

He nodded, quashing the urge to throw up. "I... I'm sorry."

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"What are you sorry for?" She looked at her toes.

"Like I said before. I made you walk right into it. I should be apologizing to you."

[random_xtras]

He shook his head slightly, mouth twitching in his slight smile as he looked at his brother with challange in his dark eyes. "We had to infiltrate a corporate function for information, but at the same time, sabotage a factory. Sadri was going to go to the function all on her own, but we decided she should have some company at the last minute. Jav, Ven, and Leeroy all essentially cried 'Not it!' and left me with the job."

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

-For some reason that doesn't surprise me.-

"I don't get it, b'y," Sal said with a grin, finally speaking up. "How come that was such a problem fer ye?"

[random_xtras]

There's a soft sonic boom as Josh appears and scoops his wife off the roof, then grabs his little sister and settles to Earth.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Ye hear that?" Sal tilted her head.

-Even I heard that,- Jeimu sent. -Sounds like Superman has landed.- There was a pause. -You mean he did what? Gee, why didn't anyone tell me? Give him a thanks for me, because I'm going to bed soon.- Another pause. -And where is that guy I married? Is he dead?-

[random_xtras]

He took a deep breath and shook his head, then razzed her.

"I should get back," said Scrat meanwhile where he stood in the kitchen with his arms around Mykayla.

"I'll see you later." She smiled at him.

"Yes." He lowered his head.

"Woah, don't wanna see that." Rhea turned and ran into her mother in her attempt to go back out.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Sadri looked up suddenly and grinned at Scrat.

"You better come visit," she said, "and I won't take no for an answer, either."

[i_salted_dean]

Sam chuckled and turned on her heel to go and get her jacket from the van, only to disapear as she went through the door.

"Whoops," said Josh, who was coming in.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

-Well, that sucks. And here I was all ready to send the lot of you back to Port aux Basques for the post launch party.-

[random_xtras]

"Why d'ye think they calls 'im Mu's cat?" asks Jav, slumping wearily onto the couch and putting his feet up, only to groan as all three children present dogpile on top of him.

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

"'Cause... oh, I don't know." Sal walked into the living room and flopped into the big green armchair, letting loose a large yawn.

"You know in the grand scheme of things, that was a pretty short trip."

[random_xtras]

"I've asked that question too," said Mykayla, settling onto her back on the braided rug. "Remember, Mady? Back when we first met?"

"What the heck else've we gotta feed 'em? The runt was so tied up 'bout Mu that 'e never brung no groceries home."

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

"That's when you say: 'Hey Sal, we need some groceries' and I go get them," Sal said, an amused look on her face. "C'mon, I'm sure you can do it if you really tried, b'y..."

[random_xtras]

Vic paused and looked at him, but for once had nothing sarcastic to say as he returned to his food preperation.

Mykayla looked around at the others, then gestured that Leeroy should come sit by her on the rug.

Jav, meanwhile, was trying to escape Zipporah and Rhea, who had taken it into their heads to tickle him as Josh and Jenny watched from their perch on the arm of the couch.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He sat down, looking exceptionally meek.

"Ye looks like ye've got somethin' t' say t' me," he said to Mykayla.

Meanwhile, Sal grabbed her jacket and went on her way to the grocery store, inadvertently slamming the front door as she left.

[random_xtras]

She bit her lip, but nodded, her concern very apparent.

"Hey, we got moose." Vic looked in the fridge after putting the bannock-wrapped sausages in the oven.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Ven got up and walked over to the kitchen to peer in the fridge himself. "Moose?"

[random_xtras]

Mykayla sighed and relaxed, then looked down at Leeroy and dimpled before giving him a hug and dropping down to sit again.

Josh turned to say something to his wife, only to yelp as she poked him gently in the ribs.

"Watch the loud noises, bub," growled Vic.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

-Good evening.-

Jeimu was poking at Jav's brain again.

[random_xtras]

She chuckled. -I thought so. Hi.-

Vic grinned at the roast and got some kitchen twine to bind it up for the spit.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

There was a few seconds' knocking at the door and then a wild-haired woman with a multitude of facial piercings came through the door.

"Geez, Vic, ans'r the door, b'y."

Sadri grinned and got to her feet to greet the guest. "Hey, Ro, more vegetables for us?"

Ro grinned. "Yes, b'y. A couple o' them are yellow but ye might find yerself a use fer 'em. And a bottle of wine. Today was Jeimu's launch, right? We watched that on the TV. Some excitin', huh?"

"You bet," Sadri said with a smile. "We're having a barbecue later on. Interested in bringing some of your caribou sausage and having a few cold ones?"

"I suppose..."

[random_xtras]

-What's wrong with Sam?- asked Mykayla softly, scrambling over the back of the couch to sit by Jav's feet as Vic peered through the window with a concerned growl.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

-I'm not entirely sure,- Jeimu said, choosing her words carefully. -All I know is that her line of work is dangerous, she has a... rather turbulent family situation, and she died once before.-

[random_xtras]

-Can't you sense Him?- She bit her lip to hold in the laughter.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

The smile was audible in her voice. -Although I know Who you're speaking about, no, I can't. It comes with the territory, I'm afraid.-

[i_salted_dean]

"I don't know. I saw the Spirit moving, and then she vanished." Sam shivered and leaned against him, hugging her kitten and seeking with her mind. -Jeimu? Jeimu, answer me.-

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

She came back just long enough to send a clear message. -Not now.- And then she grew silent again.

She was clearly upset - she had sent that much along. Jeimu provided Sam with a viewport into the true extent and the limitations of her powers. This intrepid woman was bound to the will of an island full of people who weren't even aware of it. There was no time for anything else to occupy her soul. And up until now, she'd accepted it as her lot and just got on with her life.

And then they heard Sal cursing up a storm.

[random_xtras]

He made a choked sound and grabbed her up in a crushing hug at the same time as Jav glomped onto her from the other side.

"Jeimu?" said Mykayla, looking over the back of the couch.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Yes?" She turned around to look at the other woman.

[random_xtras]

"Actually, b'y, I'm fer after talkin' to ye." Jav lowered his face to her hair. "We kin go out, or upstairs."

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Why don't we just go upstairs," Jeimu said, her voice flat and her face clearly betraying the fact that she was extremely nervous.

[random_xtras]

He reached down gently, cupping her cheek with his large hand. "I hopes so. Dunno what I'd do without ye."

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

She blushed. "Because I'd be so a-okay if I left you," she said, her voice smacking of sarcasm.

[random_xtras]

"Give 'er less ammunition?" He opned the door, wincing at the sounds of mock battle from the deck.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"That might be a good idea. Although I was planning upon showing up with my shirt on backwards just to give everyone another heart attack."

His eyes widened, and she grinned. "I'm just kidding."

She opened the door and the two of them went downstairs to enjoy what was shaping up to be quite the party. Jeimu still had another eleven hours of sleep shift left; it was her intent to enjoy it and all others for the next six months right here.