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?"

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[random_xtras]

Jav led his wife into their room and closed the door, then lifted her off her feet and tried, by means of an earnest kiss, to quiet the unsettledness he'd seen on her face and felt from their link.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" She broke the kiss and stared at him. "What was that for?"

[random_xtras]

"I wasn' likin' the look on yer face," he said softly, looking down at her with love in his eyes.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

She frowned. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Shutting off like that was a &$*#@ thing to do, I know... but I thought it was best to leave things that... that I couldn't partake in."

[random_xtras]

"That ye can't partake in?" He leaned his arm on the wall above her head, concern coming into his expression.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Someone with my responsibilities," Jeimu began carefully, "can't have any sort of spiritual conflicts. I must do what the Burgites need me to do when they need me, above and beyond all other things. My soul just can't handle two different things like that... As a result, I'm stuck without knowing much of anything beyond what I can see and do."

She frowned. "It's something I've always been curious about," she said earnestly. "I've always wanted to experience the comfort of being sheltered by something larger than myself, as opposed to being the guardian of everyone else." She folded her arms around her. "Maybe that's why right now, a piece of me is hurtling around the planet at seventeen thousand miles an hour."

[random_xtras]

"Yer too little fer all that, b'y." Jav's voice shook slightly as he thought of the implications of what she'd said.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

She laughed. "A lot of people think so," she said. "But I guess I prove that size matters not."

Looking into his eyes, she smiled. "And don't worry. I've cheated death once. I'm sure that if a giant cataclysmic event were to occur again, I'd get out of it alright."