Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

[Poprockz]

Sabastian diligently helped Vin pack up things, rolling up their combined sleeping bags, thinking to himself how nice it had been to sleep cuddled up to Vin. He was starting to get hungry though, and he had eyed the coffee and scramble, wondering when they were going to eat. It was probably more important to get everything loaded up first though. He continued to grab things, loading it all up into his arms and carrying the load easily back to the car.

When he got back there, he spotted some blackberries nearby, setting the stuff down and muttering to himself that Cora was totally lying about the berries earlier. He started to pick them, using his shirt as a basket, knowing full well he'd probably have to change out of it soon enough. As he was picking, a thorn scratched his skin, a bit of purple blood coming from the wound. He let out a little tsk! and decided to look for a bandaid. It was still a bit odd to see his blood purple, so he didn't want to look at it for too long.

On his way back to the car, a little breeze came by and he took a deep breath, his brows furrowing for a moment. Sweat. Human sweat. Not Vin, not Damien, and not Cora. Was he imagining things? He looked in the direction of the smell and took a few steps forward, sniffing a bit before the smell suddenly disappeared. With a confused look, he headed back toward the car, thinking to himself that he must be a bit tired.

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Damien's mouth was curling into a smile from the joke she made until she sneezed, causing his face to turn into a more surprised expression. It was understandable if she was hung over, the woman having partaken in the alcohol with a lot of enthusiasm last night. The sneezing and puffy eyes were a bit worrying though, the man wondering to himself whether she may have caught some kind of bug or something.

"... Cora. Are you sick, or are you just hung over? Do you need anything? I think there are a pair of sunglasses in the car I could give you." The man's voice was concerned as he leaned over and slid his hand slightly under the covers, feeling her forehead with the backside of his hand. She didn't feel like she had a high temperature, but he had never really had to take anyone's temperature like this before.

His eyes glanced at Bowie, wondering when he had showed back up. He hadn't noticed the snake in their bag before, so maybe he joined Cora later or was simply too deep for Damien to have felt him earlier.

 

[Drobabes]

Vin was just reaching the car, having taken his time a bit. They probably wouldn't be able to stretch their legs for the next few hours, so he wanted to enjoy the great outdoors for just a moment longer.

His eyes hone in on the berry stains on the little blonds shirt, and he chuckles.

"Pickin wild berries, huh?"

Opening the back door, he sits the supplies down, then moves to the trunk to put his guitar away. While he could play it in the car, it was big and bulky and he wanted a little extra leg space if he could get it. He could always take it out later when they stopped again.
______

"What I need..." she says, grumbling slightly as she finally sits herself up and takes a cup of coffee.

"Is a swift kick to the ass for not making myself use a shot glass to keep track of how much I drank."

She takes a little sip of the coffee, her sleepy expression smiling at him over the cup as she drinks. Bowie starts to slide off of her shoulder and into Damien's lap, his little nose trying to bury itself into any warm crevice that it can find on the man. Which, at the moment, seems to be his armpit.

"I hope I didn't annoy you too bad last night," she says, knowing how she can get sometimes when she's drunk.

 

[Poprockz]

He had just popped a berry in his mouth, a handful of them in his other cupped hand. The blonde smiled and sidled up to Vin near the back of the car, picking up a berry and offering it to him. "I know you don't like sweet things all that much, but I thought I'd offer. They're pretty good, I'll tell you- super juicy."

Sabastian grinned before glancing in the trunk, his eyes going to the first-aid kit. "Oh! One sec." He put the remaining berries into a clean cup before reaching for the kit and opening it. The man's graceful fingers plucked out an antiseptic wipe and a band aid, opening the wipe and cleaning up the bit of blood on his arm before applying the bandaid. He wasn't sure if he could even get an infection at this point since his body was different now, but it never hurt to take precautions.

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The steely-eyed man chuckled at her response, watching her take a sip of the coffee and hoping she found it to be drinkable. It wasn't as sweet as he liked it, but it was plenty creamy which softened the taste of the bitter bean juice considerably. In his humble opinion, her bed-head hair was damn sexy tousled the way it was, the man moving his hand from her forehead to push a bit of hair out of her face.

"Hm... perhaps instead of a kick, I can just give you a couple good spanks," he winked, picking up his coffee and taking a sip as well.

As he did so, he hadn't paid Bowie much mind when he came into his lap, so he was a bit surprised to find the little noodle trying to burry into his armpit. Damien shifted slightly, finding the feeling of having a reptile tucked under his arm to be an odd one. He wondered if Bowie really did like him a lot like she had said, perhaps remembering the way Damien had talked to him intermittently in the apartment.

"Hm? Annoy me? Not at all. I thought you were fun to be around. Besides, you seem to be a bit more thirsty for something other than booze when you have the vodka in your veins..." He took another smug sip. "When I get drunk, I also get a bit horny, but in a more sloppy way. I also get a bit- well, more than a bit too clingy, so hopefully you'll never have to see me that intoxicated."

 

[Drobabes]

He shuts the trunk down with just a bit of force, then he looks over at Sabastian with an amused smile, watching him sidle up with that adorable look on his face. Holding his hand out for the berry, he pops it in his mouth, then picks up the cup when Sabastian goes to get a bandaid, munching on a few more as he watches him wipe the cut with curiosity. It had been pretty dark last night to his eyes, so he hadn't really seen the color of the blood. It was interesting to him to that it was purple though, and he wondered what exactly had changed in the mans body.

By the time that he's done with the bandaid, there's only one berry left in the cup, and with a grin, he starts to turn and walk away with it.
______

His little comment about her thirstiness makes her smile over the cup again, and she watches with amusement as Bowie tries his best to practically melt into his side. He stops trying to dig his little face under his arm and instead just pushes his whole body against the mans side, then he holds still, soaking up his warmth.

"Clingy?" she giggles.

"I call it snuggly."

She lets out a long yawn and then stretches under the blanket before finally coming out and snuggling up to Damien's other side, getting in on some of that hot action.

"I know what you mean, though. If I get too far into the bottle, I get all clingy and start bawling about it being too hot. It's not a pretty sight."

 

[Poprockz]

He had been surprised that Vin had accepted the berry, and made a mental note that Vin liked them. With the bandaid on his arm, he looked over to find the sneaky man walking away with his cup of berries, though as he came up on him, he noticed that the cup was remarkably empty, only one nestling in the bottom. The little man’s mouth dropped open a bit in shock and he reached for the cup.

“Viiiin! What are you doing with my berries, you scoundrel?! You ate them all!” He wasn’t really mad, being a bit secretly pleased that Vin had liked them enough to eat them. He could also always pick more of them. Still, he had wanted a few more of those for himself and he wasn’t afraid to snatch that cup back to steal that last berry.

—————————————

He smiled as Cora came over to his other side, the woman slowly being lured from the comfort of her sleeping bag to the comfort of his warmth.

Damien noticed Bowie giving up on being in his armpit, and he could tell that the little snake just wanted some toasty-warm goodness. Still, he imagined the still-cool morning air probably felt uncomfortable for him, so he set down his coffee, lifted up the bottom of his shirt, and detached the snake from his side. The snake seemed to be a bit confused and maybe even a little bit offended, his tongue flicking at Damien as if to ask why he would do such a thing.

However, he soon guided Bowie under his shirt and he gladly slithered up his chest and wrapped around him slightly, his little tongue being felt flicking against him near the collar of his shirt. He then let the shirt fall back into place.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I would probably describe myself as more clingy than snuggly, but someday I’ll let you be the judge of that. I think it would be cute to see you crying about how hot you were. It’s a shame that most places we go to won’t have ice cubes, because I imagine that would feel really good for you if you were ever in one of those moods.” He sighed wistfully, putting his arm loosely around her and rubbing her arm gently. His eyes went to her face and was reminded of the picture in the envelope. He had to keep her safe, no matter what the cost was.

 

[Drobabes]

He gave a hard laugh, handing the cup over but then quickly taking Sabastian in it's place. His arms wrap around him and he pulls him in close, his lips then dipping down to softly kiss his neck.

"Mm, well maybe I just wanted my breath to smell nice for you."

After that he stands up and gives him a grin, taking his hand as he leads them over to the berry bush and starts collecting his own handful.

"Let's take some of these back; we can add some blackberry pancakes to the scramble."
______

Her eyes go a bit wide and she looks up at him in shock.

"Cute?" she shakes her head, bringing the warm mug back up to her mouth.

"No. It is not cute."

A moment later she noticed Sabastian and Vin coming back with quite a load of blackberries in their hands, and Vin carrying the pancake batter and another pan. Seeing as breakfast was just about to be done, or almost done, she figured it was probably time to get up off her lazy bum and help out a little.

 

[Poprockz]

Sabastian looked rather pleased with himself that he had retrieved his cup until Vin wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. The next thing he knew, those soft lips were pressing against his neck, causing a little involuntary "Oh!" to leave his lips. It sounded like a mix between a moan and a gasp of surprise. When Vin straightened up, Sabastian's cheeks were a bit flushed.

"Okay. I suppose that's fine then..." he grumbled before following Vin over to gather more. He wondered if Vin's mouth tasted sweet now, like a juicy, tart blackberry. The little man really wanted to find out, but restrained himself for now. He was a bit hungry, so the idea of blackberry pancakes made him want to get that started sooner rather than later.

By the time they got back to camp, they had quite a few blackberries, and it looked as though the scramble had been taken off the fire- the perfect time to make the pancakes. His eyes went to Damien's chest and he chuckled to himself as he saw the Bowie-shaped bulge in his shirt. It was obvious that the little snake was feeling very relaxed and cozy.

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Damien thought to himself that she could deny it all she wanted, but he was positive that her drunk, crying self would be absolutely adorable. He simply had an amused smile on his face, not daring to question her out loud. Having watched Vin and Sabastian come back, he got up to help as well, moving forward toward the fire until he felt a tight squeeze around his chest.

It actually caused him to suck in a breath slightly, a hissing sound being heard from his shirt. "Oh, sorry Bowie," he murmured sheepishly, moving away from the fire once more.

 

[Drobabes]

As soon as they were back at camp, Vin started mixing the batter, as he didn't trust himself to simply not eat all the berries before they had a change to even touch the light and fluffy cakes. It was true, he didn't like very sweet things like chocolates, candies, or even just dates, but berries and fruit were always a welcome treat. They had just the right amount of tartness to them without being overwhelmingly rich.

Cora was walking towards the fire with Damien when she heard him suck in a little breath, and she got confused until she heard the hiss. That's right, Bowie was just as susceptible to the fire now as Sabastian was.

"Here, why don't you give him to me and I'll start getting our gear put away. I don't know if my stomach is ready for breakfast just yet."

After he hands Bowie over, she lets the snake slide up under her shirt and she gives her steely eyed man a little kiss on the cheek before walking away with her coffee and cleaning up their stuff.

After they all sat and ate, Cora let out another long yawn and stretched her arms up to the sky. It was another gorgeous day, and although they were all just about ready to hop in the car and go, for the moment at least, she felt a lot better. The little relief of tension of relaxing at the lake had been just what she needed, and she hoped everyone else was feeling refreshed as well.

 

[Poprockz]

It could be said that they all had been revitalized by their fun time at the lake, though some of them more than others. Damien still felt the weight of that tape weighing on him, the man unable to confide in anyone regarding neither it nor the letter's contents.

The first person to take the wheel was Sabastian, the blonde man feeling a bit excited for the days ahead. Things seemed a bit brighter now that he and Vin were reunited and actually an item. He felt so satisfied that Vin had been the first man to hold him in the most intimate way. Though they camped out the next two days as well, there wasn't much more than cuddling to be had since there was no privacy and no viable reason to wander off in pairs. In addition, it was very hot, so most of the day was spent driving anyway.

Every now and then, Sabastian thought he smelled that same scent, but every time he would sniff, take a few steps in the direction the wind was coming from, the wind would die down, then pick back up and it would be gone. It was terribly confusing and he wondered if he was smelling something on one of them, their clothes, or maybe something on or in the car. He didn't mention it to Damien or Vin, thinking it was probably nothing, but it did weird him out a little.

They were about three miles from the next town when the car suddenly let out a grinding, sputtering noise, slowly coming to a stop. Damien had been driving at the time, so he tried to restart the car a few times to no avail. Sitting there for a minute, he sighed and looked at each of them in turn, lips pursing. On his leg, his finger started to tap in anxious irritation, the man feeling a bit put out that his car would just let them down like this.

"Well, I have no idea what's wrong with the car. It's fairly new and in great condition, so this really shouldn't be happening. Do any of you know anything about cars?" His voice was a bit strained, the man really not wanting to have to walk to the nearest town, nor push the car all the way there.

"Nope. I don't know a single thing about cars, but if you guys want, I can push us to the next town if we can't get it started. Three miles shouldn't be too bad."

 

[Drobabes]

Cora had been happily dozing in the back next to Sabastian, as Vin had wanted a bit of a break from the cramped space to stretch his legs. However, when the car came to a stop and they started talking, it jostled her awake and she sat up, rubbing her eyes blearily.

Vin had his arms crossed over his chest, a bit of a neutral expression on his face as he sat up and looked around outside the window. He unfortunately didn't know a whole lot about cars, and what he did know was on the older models-not something as new as Damien's.

"What's up?" Cora asked from the back, moving Bowie from her shoulder and down to her lap.

"Something wrong with the car?"

Vin cracked his knuckles and nodded, looking back at her briefly.

"Yea, it just died."

Cora frowned and then reached over to unplug her seatbelt.

"Well, let's look at it. Maybe a hose came unplugged or something."

 

[Poprockz]

"Cars have... cars have hoses?" Sabastian had a look in his eye as though he was picturing a garden hose before he shook his head. It was probably like a little rubber hose or something, but what would a car need a hose for? Oil, maybe? He also unbuckled his seatbelt and followed Cora out of the car. There weren't any zombies close as of yet, but they were still several miles outside of town. It was entirely possibly, likely even, that the town would have numerous zombies shuffling around.

To be honest, Damien had a similar thought, but he kept it to himself. He was surprised that Cora knew a thing or two about cars, not having pegged her as having mechanical experience. Perhaps her parents, or maybe even her guardian had given her some lessons or something. Or maybe she had an interest in cars that he hadn't been aware of. In any case, he wanted to see her in action.

The man unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car, immediately made aware of how hot it was. If Sabastian ended up pushing the car, he was going to be sweating buckets by the time they got there even if the car wasn't too hard to push for him. For that reason, he was hoping Cora might be able to figure out what was going on with their vehicle. They couldn't leave the car there, especially with all their supplies in it either.

"So um. You know a thing or two about cars?" he asked, glancing at the car. There didn't seem to be any smoking or leaking that he could see at least.

 

[Drobabes]

Vin got out as well, taking advantage of the chance to stretch his legs. He was hoping Cora was right, and that a hose might have just come unplugged. If that was the case, then it would just be a simply fix of plugging it back in and then finding a way to keep it plugged in at a later time.

"So um. You know a thing or two about cars?"

She looked up at him as she comes around to the front of the car, but she shakes her head a little.

"Not enough to really fix anything, but me and Quint learned from Dad how to look for the basic stuff first. You know, the common sense stuff. Basically, if something looks like it's loose...then it's probably loose. All the hoses should be attached to something, but sometimes the air pressure pops one loose if it's not tightened on properly. So I just thought we should take a look first and see if it's anything obvious like that, before we go hiking in the heat."

As she made her way around the car, her eyes were looking along and under it as well, for any liquids that could be dripping. When her eyes caught sight of the small puddle of dark brown, almost black, oil, she frowned. She then got down on her hands and knees and tried to look up under the car, although without a jack, it was hard to see. Plus, she didn't know where she was supposed to be looking, or for what.

"Well, I definitely don't think it's supposed to do that..."

 

[Poprockz]

He nodded, "Mm. Yeah, I don't know anything about cars, but I know it's certainly not supposed to be leaking oil like that..." Damien frowned, wondering what had happened. During the drive, it was bumpy here and there, but there was never enough of a bump to do that kind of damage, nor did he ever hear any scraping noises as though something had caught on something on the road. The fact of the matter was that none of them knew what was going on with it, so they couldn't fix it immediately.

"Let's go into town and see if we can find an auto-shop. That would at least give us a better way to look under the car to see if we can pinpoint the problem. Then... we can go from there. Maybe they have a manual or something inside that might help, or maybe we'll have to switch to a different car." The man rubbed his hand over the stubble of his cheek, his steely eyes watching Cora on the ground and waiting for her to get out from under there. He wasn't sure why, but it made him nervous, the woman sticking her head under the car like that. It wasn't as though it would roll since it was currently in park, but it still made him just a bit anxious.

Sabastian crouched and looked at the oil before looking down the road the way they came. There was a trail of oil, clearly indicating a big leak. "If you guys get in, I'll push the car. It's still cool in there, so I think you should take advantage of that before the car heats back up again. Three miles is nothing, so we should be there pretty soon." He shrugged, knowing he could probably pick the car up and chuck it to town, but pushing it would be a good test of keeping his strength in check during a prolonged period of time.

 

[Drobabes]

Cora scooted herself back out and then dusted herself off, looking down the road a bit. She then looked at Damien with a little frown. It wasn't like something like this was completely unexpected, but she had really hoped since his car was new and probably had regular maintenance checks done to it, that it wouldn't break down so soon.

Vin looked down at Sabastian as he offered to simply push the car into town, and he gave a little grin before walking over to him.

"Well, looks like I'll have to 'help' you. We don't want anyone finding out how strong you actually are."

The situation sucked for sure, but Vin wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to have some private time between them. It wouldn't be completely private, of course, but he imagined Damien and Cora wouldn't be able to hear them clear as day if they were both in the car.

Cora looked over at the big man, cocking her brow just a little, and noticing that he totally ignored her. She then turns her attention back to Damien and gives him a little eye roll with a smile.

"Well, go ahead and put it in neutral then. Don't want to break the brakes on top of it."

 

[Poprockz]

"Oh shit, you're right. I should grab my eyepatch." The blonde dug around in the backseat of the car until he found it, concealing his amethyst eye in favor of the adorable black-heart patch. He sighed; regardless of the fact that it was embarrassing, it was annoying to have to hide his eye like this and keep it shut all the time. With his secret identity hidden, he shut the car door and went to the back of the car again.

Damien's eyes met Cora's as she made her eye-roll, and he gave her a little smirk. He could sense Vin's single-minded eagerness to flirt with his blonde companion, and he himself wouldn't mind having a little time to simply sit back and relax with Cora. It was a at least one positive aspect of the shitty situation they found themselves in.

The man nodded to Cora and hopped back into the driver's seat, waiting for Cora to get in to put it in neutral. He didn't want them rolling away as she tried to get in. As he saw it, that was a good way to get one's foot run over. When she was in the passenger's seat, he adjusted the car's status for Sabastian's pushing pleasure.

Outside, Sabastian took off his shirt and laid it down on the back of the car. It was fucking hot out, so he didn't want to burn his hands on the hot metal. When that was done, he started to push the car and stroll forward. The way he was going, it almost looked like the man was pushing a shopping cart, his eye going to Vin with a smile. "I figure once we get closer to town, I'll pretend it's hard to push, but for now I can just push it normally."

 

[Drobabes]

Vin was grinning again, not being able to contain it as Sabastian came back out with the eye patch on once again. He wasn't going to say anything out loud of course, but it probably wasn't that hard to read the look on his face.

"I figure once we get closer to town, I'll pretend it's hard to push, but for now I can just push it normally."

"Yea that's probably fine. We should still keep an eye out for any other cars between now and then though, just encase. Hey, Bastian, maybe you should put your shirt back on,"

His brown eyes looked down at the little man, and while Vin would have loved to walk with him and watch the way his slender body glistened with sweat under the sun, he couldn't help but get a bit protective of him.

"That suns beating down on us hard-you might get a bitch of a sunburn if you aren't careful. Why don't you use mine," he says, peeling it off before he really has a chance to say no, and revealing that glorious tattoo once more.

"I haven't gotten a sunburn in years."
______

When she got back in, Bowie climbed up between the seats and started looking out the front window, similar in the way a dog might, and it made her smile. She reached out and picked him up, then started petting the top of his head and along his neck. Her expression became a bit contemplating for a moment as she continued to pet him, her brows knitting slightly as she bit her lip. After a moment more, she makes a little "hmm" sound, before turning to Damien.

"You know, I'm wondering what we can do for Bowie if we come across any other people. Sabastian's got his eye patch, and Vin told me that Robert was using sunglasses to fake being blind. But there's no sunglasses for snakes,"

She looks down at her little danger noodle and smiles, letting him down so that he can go back to looking out the windows.

"As adorable as that would be."

 

[Poprockz]

Sabastian got a little grumpy look on his face as he saw Vin grinning at him. He knew why Vin was grinning, and he didn't appreciate the man thinking to himself that Sabastian was an adorable little pirate. In any case, he was distracted by what Vin said about the sun bearing down on them and the very likely possibility that the sun would be heating up that soft, milky skin. While it was true that he would probably get a sunburn this way, the heat was going to be unbearable with a shirt on. He wasn't able to voice this before Vin whipped off his own, the man's attractive chest being put on display.

The blonde didn't take the shirt, and instead gave Vin a slightly exasperated look, "but Vin, it's soooo fuckin' hot. I'm going to roast alive if I keep my shirt on. Besides, having a shirt on won't protect my arms or face either. If the situation were more ideal, we would have some sunscreen." He thought about it for a second and wondered if they actually had some of that stored in the trunk. Cora seemed like the sort who knew what she was doing as far as camping and survival went, so it stood to reason that she carried at least a little.

"Come to think of it, Cora might have some... I'm going to ask her real quick." Sabastian let the car stop and jogged over to Cora's window.

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Damien grinned at the idea of the little snake with a pair of cool sunglasses on. Now that would be a sight to see. "Hm. I would pay to see that though." He glanced at Bowie for a moment before looking back to Cora.

"Well, in all seriousness, I'm not sure what we're going to do about Bowie. We could try to hide him, though it might be difficult without air-conditioning. We could take a chance and assume they haven't seen any violet-eyed zombies and tell them that he was born like that, that he's a special breed. The only other option would be to tell them the truth, but assure them that he's not dangerous. That really is the most risky option though."

He shrugged and looked back at Bowie, reaching out and rubbing the snake's forehead with his index finger. "If they try to hurt him though, someone is going to end up in a world of hurt." His eyes took on a protective look, his brows furrowing slightly. He had grown quite attached to Bowie, and he wouldn't abide some ignorant asshole trying to kill the poor serpent just because he had violet eyes and was a bit smarter than the average noodle.

The man glanced up though as he heard Sabastian tapping on Cora's window, the blonde then mouthing the words, "do. You. Have. Sunscreen?" and miming squirting the stuff into his hand and rubbing it on his arms.

 

[Drobabes]

"Ya it's hot, but at least if you leave your shirt on you'll be able to sit down later" he said, ignoring the his grumpy protests. He had half a mind to just put his own shirt on him. It would be bigger and baggier probably, but he would have more protection. He was about to reach out and just do it, too, when Sabastian suddenly went jogging off.
______

Cora smiled with affection when she saw the way he got so protective. She didn't want him hurting anyone of course, but it made her feel good in an affectionate way to see how attached he was to the snake. She was just about to reply when she heard the tap on her window, and when she looked over, she couldn't help but laugh.

She reached down into the side of the door and pulled out a bottle of sunblock, then popped the door open to hand it to him.

"What are you doing you dork?" she laughed again.

"You're going to end up looking like a lobster if you leave your shirt off like that, even with the sunblock."

 

[Poprockz]

Sabastian opened his mouth to find some kind of counter-argument, but he could find none. "It'll be fine, thanks for the sunblock though," he ended up saying dismissively with an air of faux-confidence. With that, he left her and went back to Vin, looking at the bottle then back to the big man.

He held out the bottle and looked away from Vin for a moment, his eyebrows knit and his cheeks pink. "Can you... can you put it on me while I push the car? That way we won't lose time." The blonde paused as though conflicted, the little man not wanting to concede to both Cora and Vin's overprotective (in his opinion) comments. Finally he sighed, conceding a bit. "And... if you want me to wear your shirt afterwards, I guess it couldn't hurt..."

His hands went back to the tail end of the car and he added, "no funny business, though... the last thing I want is to be worked up in the middle of the day three miles-walk from town."

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Damien shook his head, "I feel like his mother should have actually put "stubborn" as the middle name on his birth certificate." He reached out and rubbed Cora's thigh gently, simply as an affectionate gesture.

"When we get into town, it might be night to stay the night if there aren't many zombies around. Perhaps you and I can ruin another bed." A smirk played on his lips, the man reaching under his seat and taking something out, popping the lid off, he took a small fingerfull of frosting and dabbed just a little on her nose before putting his finger in his mouth, sucking the frosting off his digit.

 

[Drobabes]

Tommy had a little paper bag of fresh baked cookies as he walked across the compound, making his way over to where Dave had set up a bar for everyone. He didn't plan on going fully in-suspecting he would get an earful for trying to steal a beer, but instead just planned to poke his head in and look for Randy.

He had waited until he knew Jesse was going to be busy, and then he had volunteered some of his own time in the kitchen so that he could make some cookies, which he was keeping a very close eye on in his hand. He had formed the cookies to be long and square, and then carefully carved out a message on the first two that were sitting directly on top. The best kind of evidence was the evidence that could easily be gotten rid of, but unfortunately he had ran out of notepaper, and he didn't feel comfortable pulling the same trick twice.
________

He took the bottle from him and started squeezing some out into his hand, his grin turning toothy when Sabastian told him no funny business. Of course he wouldn't pull any funny business. He was just going to make sure that Sabastian had proper and adequate protection over every inch of his exposed skin.

Once he had a good amount in his hand, he capped the bottle and stuffed it in his pants. He started at the small of his back, working the cool lotion up his spine and then spanning it out across towards his sides, then back up to his shoulders and spreading it down over his arms. He took his time, enjoying having an excuse to run his fingers over that smooth skin and massaging the lotion into his tight little muscles, trying to relax him as well as. Vin didn't try to do anything sexual, as much as he would have loved to tease the little blond, as Cora and Damien could easily see them if they looked back. When he was done, he simply rubbed the extra lotion on his hands out across his own arms, then handed Sabastian his shirt with an expecting smile.
______

She giggled at the 'stubborn' comment, then added, "or should have named him Captain Stubborn Pants".

When he mentioned ruining another bed, she simply gave him a coy look of amusement but didn't deign to answer. The tub of frosting was conveniently placed, she had to admit, although she found it a bit funny that he had found a good hiding spot. She wouldn't have even thought to look under there.

Her finger reaches up to wipe the small dab off her nose, then she pops it in her mouth. Reaching out, she got herself another another dab of it and then acted as if she was going to bring it back to her own mouth before she suddenly switched the direction of her hand and swiftly wiped some on his cheek, giggling a little at the sugary smudge.

 

[Poprockz]

Randy was sitting in one of the corners, drinking some beer with Bernard. They seemed in good spirits, but weren't necessarily being boisterous or drawing attention to themselves.

"Tommy... you wouldn't be thinking of sneaking in and stealing beer, now would you?" A shadow loomed over Tommy's back as Dave came upon him from behind. He had stepped out of the building for a moment to take out the trash, and now he stood there with his arms crossed as he looked down at the young man with a furrowed brow. He had already shooed Jesse out of his bar (with great difficulty), and did not want to waste his time having to keep an eye out for a sneaky underage soldier as well.

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A little gasp left Sabastian's mouth at the first cool touch of lotion, a shiver going up his spine. He relaxed when Vin started spreading it around though, the lotion soon becoming warmer with Vin's and his own body heat. It felt really good, almost like some kind of massage, and he couldn't help but sigh with satisfaction when those large hands passed over his shoulders. He had to remind Vin to get his neck and face too, but once it was done he almost wished Vin would have kept going. Having him rub and slide those fingers around his chest and back was heaven. Perhaps he would have to convince Vin to give him another massage sometime.

Sabastian took the shirt with a satisfied look, like the kind of look you might expect to find on a cat basking in the sun. "Thanks, that felt really nice." He then hid his face momentarily by pulling Vin's shirt up over his head and down his body. It was big on him for sure, but he really liked the idea of wearing one of Vin's shirts- it had his favorite smell.

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"Mm. I think he might almost like the captain part. Not so much with the eyepatch now though." He chuckled softly. It was true that Sabastian was amazingly stubborn, but he was also strong-willed when it came to a lot of things. He wasn't one to bend just to satisfy other people. Though he was still kind, he wasn't a pushover either.

Damien gave her a look of surprise as she wiped it on his cheek, the look turning into a mischievous smirk. "How dare you, Cora. Now you're going to have to lick it off. Come on, right here." He tapped his cheek and leaned over to her, waiting for her to lean in and clean that creamy goodness. The man didn't necessarily expect her to do it, but it would be a pleasant surprise if she did. Though... now that he thought about it, his rough scruff might not feel so good against her soft little tongue.

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They all continued on the road, no other cars having passed as they made their way. by the time they got there, both Sabastian and Vin were sweating from the heat, and it was starting to get somewhat muggy in the car itself. Damien and Cora had to roll down the windows in order to make it bearable for themselves.

When they neared the town, there weren't a lot of cars around, most of them parked on the side of the street. The people there either got the hell out of there, or stayed, so there wasn't quite the same chaos as there was in the city. Sabastian pretended to have trouble pushing the car while Vin "pushed" it beside him. He had let Vin know that there were zombies in town, so they needed to be careful. Damien already assumed as such, as Cora and Vin probably did.

They kept an eye out for an auto-shop and finally found one, Sabastian sighing in relief as they finally pushed the car up to one of the garage doors. Now they just had to get inside and get the door open. Personally, Sabastian figured that it would be safer for himself to go in first, considering zombies would ignore him and he could dispatch them before the rest of the party went inside. What they didn't know was that three pairs of eyes had begun to watch them from one of the auto-shop windows.

 

[Drobabes]

Dave's shadow coming to loom over him all but made the boy piss himself in nervous fear, thinking it was perhaps General Kuznet or Officer Niles catching him in the act of some shady backstabbing. He literally flinches and let's out a little "shit!", before turning around and giving Dave a bit of a grumpy glare.

"Damnit man, do you have to sneak up on me like that? No I'm not trying to steal a beer, I just...was trying to talk to Randy. About something."

He looks at the bag in his hands, and then looks back up, a bit of a blush coming to his cheeks.
______

Cora had laughed and squealed as he had come closer trying to get her to take back her offense. However, she had remained stubborn, leaning back away from him and firmly shaking her head 'no', but she had also gone so far as to quickly reach back into the tub of frosting and paint his other cheek to match. Once she got a good look at his now smudged up face, she had laughed and giggled like a little girl, immensely enjoying their little play session and thinking to herself how much she was looking forward to him 'getting her back' later for it.

The heat sapped her energy as they continued on, however, and soon enough she was just content to simply sit and watch, trying to keep her limbs out of the direct sunlight.
________

Vin had enjoyed it immensely when Sabastian had put his shirt on, and he made sure to let the little man know. The rest of the walk was pretty uneventful, and it wasn't until they finally came to a stop that he wiped his brow and said something.

"Fuckin hell it's hot. What I wouldn't give for something cold and we-"

Suddenly a rolled up ball of soaking wet fabric hit him smack dab in the face, making him flinch and take a step back, then look down at it. It looked like a dirty rag, soaked with just water. At least, he hoped it was just water.

"What the hell?"

"Delvin!" a high pitched voice called out, followed by a girlish giggle. He head shot up towards the direction he had heard it, and just as he saw her running out the door towards him, a huge grin lit up his face.

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"Lizz?! What the hell are you doing her-"

And for the second time he was interrupted, as the young women practically flew into his arms, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist and hug him tightly around the neck. For a full two seconds, Vin hugged her back, momentarily overcome with happiness at seeing an old friend. However, that feeling was quickly pushed to the side with awkwardness as he realized how this probably looked to Sabastian, so he quickly reached up and peeled the young women's arms off of him and sat her down on her feet.

Tears of joy were pouring over her eyes, and she was wiping them away quickly as she smiled and laughed through a sob, seemingly not even phased that he had forced her to get down. She was also practically blind to his companions, as her eyes were only glued on him.

"God I'm so happy to see you! I was so scared you were one of the people that might not have made it!"

She kept trying to wipe her eyes, to clear her vision so she could see, but the tears just wouldn't stop coming.

"I'm happy to see you too Lizz. How did you get here? The last I heard from Jake, you were down in Sacra...Sacramento..."

He stopped talking, having picked up on the way she had flinched and the terrible way that her face twisted up with pain when he mentioned her father's name.

"He didn't make it, did he?"

Lizz looked up from the ground, her tears now taking on a new meaning as her lips started to tremble and she shook her head.

"Shit. Shit, I'm so sorry. Come here sweety."

He stepped forward and wrapped her up in a tight hug, the weather not even bothering him in that moment. The heat had nothing on losing a friend, and although he knew it was going to come sooner or later, he hadn't thought the news would be so soon, and especially not with such a close friend.

 

[Poprockz]

Dave's eyebrow goes up and his eyes follow Tommy's to the little bag and back to his face. The smell of cookies is now apparent, the man straightening up and tapping his chin. "Usually, I would think that you were trying to bullshit me, but those cookies reek of trying to butter up Jesse's dad. You know the man already likes you, right? Ever since your stunt back at the other base where you saved him and his girl, he only talks highly of you. Unless..."

The man got a little smirk on his face and leaned forward a little bit, "unless these are forgiveness cookies for a guilty conscience. Did you and Jesse... do the dirty? Dance the midnight dance? Knock boots? Feed the kitty? Do the horizontal hula? Open the gates of-" It was obvious that Dave had no intention of stopping, the look on his face positively devilish as he kept listing off different euphemisms for having had sex with Jesse. He didn't know that Tommy was a virgin, but he did enjoy the fact that he was easily flustered.

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In response to her own little shenanigans, Damien had simply smirked and cleaned his face, knowing that at some point he was going to spread that frosting in more places than her face at some point.

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Sabastian jumped as the rag suddenly hit Vin in the face, his head snapping in the direction it had been thrown in. The next thing he knew, a woman had launched herself at Vin, hugging him tightly like they were good friends or... very good friends. Vin seemed to be really happy to see her as well, grinning and laughing as though his heart was just a bit lighter for having the opportunity to hug her again. The little blonde didn't know why, but he felt his heart drop a bit, the man not knowing how to handle watching Vin hug her like that.

He turned slightly away, feeling a bit uncomfortable and not wanting to stare. She was probably just a friend, right? Vin seemed like the sort of warm guy who could make friends wherever he went, like his relationship with Cora. He rationalized in his head as he tried to gather his thoughts. He was not going to be a jealous boyfriend. That sort of thing would only drive Vin away, so if he had any feelings like that, he needed to keep it to himself.

The little blonde had listened in to the conversation, and though he didn't know who Jake was, it was obvious that Vin and Lizz were close with him. They both looked sad, holding each other for support. He wanted to hug Vin too, to comfort him, but maybe he would wait until later to do so.

Damien watched from the window, his lips pursed as he watched the scene go from surprising, to joyful, to melancholy. He wasn't sure if he should get out of the car at this point, thinking that maybe he should let Vin comfort his friend for a moment before interrupting them.

"Lizz, and... you guys. You should come in. Staying out there isn't safe, and we don't want to attract any more zombies." Another woman stood in the door of the shop, a man standing behind her shoulder.

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[Drobabes]

"Alright alright! Stop! Jeez man...and no, we didn't. Not that that's any of your business."

His cheeks turned a bit darker, and he stood up a little straighter, looking around them as if at any moment he expected the little rocker to pop out from around some corner and come running up to him, embracing him in a hug.

"They're not guilt cookies, they're...uh, well Jesse made me some cookies a while back and I just wanted to...Look, if you're not going to let me in, can you at least ask go in and ask Randy to come out here, then?"
________

Cora had also been watching with mixed feelings, not really sure what to feel as she had gone through the same bit of an emotional roller coaster as Vin likely had. God it broke her heart to see that pretty little women just break down like that, knowing the pain behind it, but it hurt even more to see the expression on Vins face. Whoever Jake had been, it seemed like he had been more than just a casual friend.

Vin looked up at the other women standing in the door and nodded, momentarily pushing his own feelings down. They could talk about it once they were inside.

He let go of the tight embrace, but he kept an arm around Lizzy's shoulder. He also looked back and reached out to take Sabastian by the hand, needing a bit of comfort at the moment. Vin was a tough guy, but Sabastian was like a pillar of strength for him, and he found it immensely comforting that he didn't have to be so strong when he was around the little man.

"Cora, Damien, you guys should probably come in" he said as they were passing the car, Lizzy leaning into his other side and holding a hand up over her face while she cried.

"And you can bring Bowie if you want, Lizz loves snakes."

He tried to offer Cora a smile, but was finding it pretty difficult to keep it up for long. She got the point though-he was trying to say that the snake would be safe, at least around his friend.

 

[Poprockz]

"Sure, sure." Dave grinned and straightened up again. "Alright, I'll grab the man for you. I'm sure he'll appreciate your "not-guilt cookies."" The man winked at him and walked back inside with a cocky gait, as though he was personally very pleased about making Tommy play the sort of charades where the only answer was "tomato." He could be seen going up to Randy's table, leaning over, and pointing to the door while saying something.

Randy nodded and said something to Bernard, the other man nodding and raising his glass as if to say that he would see him later. He then chugged the rest of his beer, walked over to the door and smiled at Tommy, clapping him on the shoulder with one hand. "Tommy! It's good to see you. The army's been keeping you busy, hasn't it? It's a shame that a young man like you doesn't have more time on his hands for the finer things in life." He sighed.

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When Vin took his hand, he took it as permission to also comfort him. He held that hand and leaned into the man in a similar way as Lizz was. Although his purpose was to sooth the sadness rather than to be soothed. He loved that Vin was confident enough in himself to let himself show his feelings around Sabastian. A lot of men tried to hide it, much like Damien, but that only resulted in bottled-up feelings and a disconnect, the person in pain not getting what they need to heal.

He walked with Vin inside, the other two survivors standing aside to let them pass. Damien picked up Bowie and let him slither around his shoulders before waiting for Cora to get out as well. Once she did, he walked inside with her also. The auto-shop looked to be well stocked, he noticed, so it was likely that they would at least have the tools needed to fix the car.

Damien sighed; he could see that Vin was sad, and for some reason that was making him sad as well. He hadn't expected to feel such empathy for him since he was just a friend (and wasn't Cora), so he was a bit surprised by it. It was unclear what he should do about it though, so he simply stood nearby and took in the shop. The air conditioner was going, so it was likely that they had a back-up generator.

The other couple standing nearby was appraising each of them, their eyes taking them in as they watched. The woman seemed pleased when her eyes raked over Damien, a small smile on her lips. She walked up to him and gave him a sweet smile. "Hey there. My name is Tiffany, and this is Maverick. What's your name?"

Damien looked at her and have her a polite smile, "I'm Damien, this is my partner, Cora (he made a gesture toward her), and the little blonde with the eyepatch over there is Sabastian."

She blinked and looked at Cora, her eyes flicking down and up. For the briefest of seconds, it looked as though she wasn't impressed before she gave him another sweet smile. "That's nice. Is that a snake on your shoulders? I looove snakes. They're like my favorite."