Participants:
| Scene Title | Prayer Stop |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | On the road to DC the travelers stop at a gas station for snacks (and one for prayer) |
| Date | January 30, 2011 |
On the Road to DC
"Naaaaa… Saben yaaaaa… Na beeee sanamooooo~"
It's the opening for Lion King. Or.. Brian's version of the call to prayer. Insensitive? Very much. But despite his teasing behind Amid's back, Brian did bring a giant bowl to fill with water for Amid's absolution. Along with a yoga mat.. that is doubling as Amid's prayer mat. Parking the car on the side of the gas station, Amid was allowed a small space in front of it for his morning prayer. The sun hasn't been up long, and it barely shines through the hanging clouds.
Just outside the gas station, Brian and his wife to be just finished buying snacks and are now standing outside rather than go back in the car and sit… Like Noah. Even though he is being… disabled or whatever. He's super boring.
Throwing up a corn nut, Brian catches it in his mouth. After his call to prayer, obviously. Standing up fully and splaying his hands out in a tah-dah gesture, he goes to sidle next to her by the side of the gas station. "So… all these stupid people in one car. And I was like, I will be a nice guy and buy some corn nuts. I go to buy a lot of corn nuts. Like four bags. Because.. Everyone likes corn nuts, right? Especially on road trips. Not one person ate a single god damn corn nut." He frowns deeply at the memory of his youthful road trip.
"Assholes."
The story actually has Sam pouting a little while she reaches a single arm around him to tug him closer. "Bastards," she murmurs quietly before entering into a solemn moment of silence for the clearly very sad story. With a near sigh, she rests her head against his shoulder while she stares at the gas station, if only to find something to look at that isn't the ground. Or random horizon.
"Man, I missed corn nuts! And road trip junk food of any kind!" she sighs again, very quietly while her hand reaches out to squeeze his but only momentarily. "Now you can be delighted you're with me instead~" She raises both hands in the air in a tah-dah motion. "I never did the road trip thing. I mean, without the parents. But there was this one time that Tyler Reid drove me home from school and I played with the cigarette lighter in the car without thinking it was hot— " her eyes track upwards, curious whether Brian will pick up where this story is heading.
"Yeah… my thumbprint will never be the same…" Her cheeks flush as she holds up her thumb, complete with it's perfectly circular, very man-made thumbprint.
"I did the same thing!" Brian exclaims a little excitedly, holding his thumb out as well. "ohmygod, we're in love." Brian practically gushes as her arm encircles him. Allowing himself to be pulled in, he grins broadly. Pulling his own thumb out to press against hers. Love. "And I'm always delighted I'm with you. Instead of anybody." Winters ensures her, bending some to press a kiss against the top of her head. "You're my favorite."
"After all this.." Whatever this is he's not sure, he's also not sure when it will 'end'. "We should go on a roadtrip. You and me." He smiles brightly. "To like, Hawaii."
There's a large dimpled grin from Sam when their thumbs meet, "Seriously?! That's amazing! My parents spazzed at me when I got the burn— " her chin lifts, allowing her doe-eyed hazel eyes to find his while her smile remains emphatically bright. "Me too. I mean— you're my favourite— I'm not my own favourite. That would just be silly." She beams again.
"Can a person road trip to Hawaii?" she asks with a lopsided grin. "I'd be happy to roadtrip to.. California. Or Texas. Or.. OR New Orleans! I once had a dream I lived along the bayou. And there were these mice who had to save me from this evil lady who was using me to find rubies— " she hmmms, "I'm pretty sure I dreamt that after I watched the Rescuers for the first time."
Her head tilts slightly as she stares up at him adoringly. "Did you ever watch that?" her teeth graze her bottom lip, "What did you do when you were a kid? Besides make awesome alien puppets that make it impossible to stay mad at you?"
"A person can't." Brian explains with a grin back down to her. "We can. And.. we could go to California. You could meet my fake family." He doesn't sound all that excited. "Or.. We could go to Disneyland! Aah!" Much more enthusiastic. Looking down at her bright smile, he can't help but be affected by it. His own lips crawling up. "When we get there.. I want you to hang back okay. Maybe you can get a hotel room, okay? I don't want you in the thick of it." He says sternly, furrowing his brows somewhat. But then he can change the subject becauuuse…
"I liked rescuers down under better. I like the eagle."
He grins down at her tilting his head. "I made a fort. Like the most intricate kid fort you will ever see. We made our own swing, barricades, it was deep in this little forest thing. It was badass. We had a little watch tower.." He smiles brightly. "Apparently when I was little little, with my real parents I threw spaghetti at the ceiling." He leans down, resting his chin on the top of her head. "What did you do?"
"Depends on how little I was~" Sam virtually sings. "I used to ask either of my siblings to put me in impossible situations just to practice getting out. So like… my mom had this cedar chest and I actually asked Adisa to lock me in it. Being the kid she was, she did. And then I proceeded to spend the next five hours trying to get out of it. Unfortunately I wasn't a particularly skill Houdini— " she actually cringes now. "And Adisa had lost the key. Dad had to cut me out." Her lips hitch up on one side, "Big trouble for that one." She cringes again.
"I had an imaginary friend when I was younger than that. Except he wasn't a person. He was a goblin, which some kids at daycare thought was like really weird. I had few friends other than Rue." She smiles a little tighter. "But then I found dance. And everything changed." She sticks a single finger in the air, "I remember my first recital. Red tutus Minnie Mouse ears, black makeup on my nose~ and a wooden spoon. We were pretending to cook or something. I loved it." She blushes now, she's shared way more than she'd intended.
But as for when they get in, she's painfully quiet, almost like she didn't hear his request. She eventually slides away, letting her arm drop from around him with its full weight. "I.. I think you could use me," she says quietly. "I'm strong. And I'm getting better."
Brian grins a little at the houdini game. Trying to think of his own childhood stories. "I.." He grins broadly. "I used to play Willow a lot. My friends locked themselves in my fakesisters room. And locked it. And so I was going to use a battering ram to get in. My battering ram was a broom. And it didn't open the door." He lets out a quiet laugh. "It blew a whole right through it. My sister tried to cover it with a What Would Jesus Do bumper sticker." He grins broadly. "I think it was her way of making fun of me."
He laughs quietly at her first recital. "Sounds cute." He turns some to place his hand on her hip. "Maybe we could get you in a minnie mouse tutu again." He smirks as he leans down to press a kiss against her lips but pauses—
He brings his head back and then she's pulling back. He shakes his head. "No Sam. Let's not argue about this, okay? It's just.. No."
There's a small crinkle of Sam's nose as she slides a little further away. "Why?" she asks quietly while her eyes trail to the ground. "I want to help. I want to do more— to feel like I'm being useful." Of course she doesn't want the opposite either, not that she'll say as much. "I really am strong," she insists. "And I walk through walls without thinking now— " she frowns.
"Sam. You've been alive for just like.. No. Okay? Can we please not talk about this? It's just no." Brian holds his hands up, letting a sigh draw out. Winters tilts his head back, eyes closing as he takes a deep breath. Looking back down his eyes open again. "I don't want to argue. But I'm not going to let you come, okay? What if you get caught in negation gas.. I know you want to help. And I know you can. But you've been doing this for like two months. You're not ready." He peers down at her, furrowing his brows. "Please? I love you. Just.. No."
There's a narrowing of her eyes and a furrowing of her brow now. For a moment, only one, Sami actually seems resigned, oddly quiet, until she picks up on one point, "I'm sorry, you're not going to let me?" her tone itself isn't sarcastic as it might be expected, but the question is skeptical at the very least. Her eyebrows tighten further together now while her lips fall into a frown. "And how can we not talk about this? I… I know I'm… easy going but I don't really just take blind orders either." The frown deepens.
"Really Sameye? Really??" It's clearly irritated as he takes a step away from the gas station. "Like seriously. You should have stayed at the apartment with Koshka anyways. I don't think she likes me." He shakes his head rapidly. "But I mean.. We're going into a deal with a terrorist who.. Who Sylar is after. With the same power that blew up the city…" Winters folds his arms over his chest.
"Are you really going to be like that?" He lets out a long sigh. "Yes. I am not going to let you go. No matter how many times you repeat it to make me feel bad it's going to be true. I'm not letting you go. I know you're stronger. I know you're good. But… This is too much too fast. Can we please talk about childhoods again?"
"I'm sorry, Brian, how do you plan to stop me? I'd really like to know. Like actually." Her cheeks flush even while her tone stays even. The lack of sarcasm or real argumentativeness in Sam's tone almost make it seem like she's not fighting, but her face, as usual, reads like a book. "I was there in the city when it blew up. I was there. I lived through it." Kind of. "And if there is negation gas… doesn't that minimize the overall danger anyways?" She's not easily dissuaded, not that she expects Brian to be.
"And Koshka likes you just fine. She's just… a teenaged girl. Fickle."
"Are you serious? Sam. I'm protecting you. And you're going to…" He claps his lips shut. "You're not ready." He brings up his hands to rub at his face. "You're not being reasonable." He practically groans through his hands. "I know you were there when the city blew up." He drones. Letting out a long sigh. "And you spent four years of your life thinking you were dead because of it. Did you forget about that part? Did you forget that you could not get yourself un-stuck? You want that again? The guy who got you out went crazy and is trying to kill the guy we're hanging out with. And he has your power, Sami." Winters groans. His hands drop as he turns his back to her some. "I should have listened to Amid."
Sam's cheeks flush further. She sucks in a quick breath and she blinks hard as she shoves her hands into her pockets. She takes a few shuffling steps away with a groan of her own. She turns away from him, secretly longing for a less expressive face and silently cursing her ability to keep her voice even rather than her expression; she could have made a really great telemarketer in another lifetime.
She sighs while her eyes close tightly; she paces away from him creating a little space for their mini-fight in the middle of nowhere. "I'm not being reasonable?" she virtually whispers. "You didn't even want to talk about it— " She frowns. "I'm not just one of the kids in your charge. I'm not. I'm not a kid. And I might be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but I thought that's one of the things you like about me— "
Brian makes a noise that sounds like ghghgbbbughada. He turns to face her again. "Because we were having like a nice moment. And I wanted to have more of that." He groans. He tilts his head back, "I don't think of you as one of the kids.. Sam." He explains as if that's obvious. "I do like that about you, Sameye. But I want to keep liking that about you, okay? Seriously. I don't want you to get hurt, and I don't want you to get stuck." He takes a few steps toward her, one hand coming up as if waiting for her to take his. "Come here."
"I'm not one of those guys.. I do what I do and I'm going to keep doing what I do. And I know you want to help. And I'm not going to expect you to sit on the sidelines every time. But.. Can you just trust me on this one that you aren't yet ready? And please respect that I'm really not comfortable with you joining Amid? Please?"
Eyes still clamped shut, Sam listens. She doesn't bend easily, not really. In fact, she doesn't even move until Brian is finished. With a slow breath of air, she peeks over her shoulder to see the offered hand. Letting everything bear appropriate weight, she twists around to face him, the hand considered as carefully as the words.
With a heavy sigh, she nods, taking his hand in her own. Despite her presumed agreement, she certainly doesn't seem happy about it, but the fight seems to have drained from her, especially as she allows her chin to drop to her chest to watch the ground.
When she takes his hand, he pulls her in towards him. Arms slinking around her waist he goes to set his chin back on her head. "I love you Sami. Please? Like.. I won't be able to focus if you go. I'll be too worried. I swear I want you to help. Just please.. Trust me. You're not ready yet." Winters murmurs quietly, tilting his head down to kiss the top of her head lightly. Brian then leans back to arch one brow. "Please?"
Sam is a little like dead weight in his arms, not as responsive as normal to the coax of Brian's touch, but compliant just the same. Her eyes remain low. She sighs again her eyes finally trailing up to find his gaze. "You worry?" Those hazel eyes fix heavier upon him. "I… I.." With another deep breath, she exhales the word, "Fine." She forces a weak smile, lacking its usual sheen, "Only because I love you."
Smiling down at her weakly, his arms give her a tight squeeze. "Ohemgee. We're going to have sooo much fun without you. It's a trick~. Amid, Noah and I are going to have a naked alcohol underwear party." Brian practically sings before looking down at her. "Yes I worry. Sam. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Of course I'm going to worry about you. Please don't be mad at me, baby. I love you."