The Parking Lot at the End of the Causeway, Monday Evening

[glacial_queen]

Karla shouldn't have been so surprised that their anniversary had been as extravagant as it was. But Warren had exceeded even her expectations--set pretty damn high after her birthday in Hawaii swimming with dolphins--and pulled out all the stops. It had been a full day of exploring, sight-seeing, and general touristing in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, topped off with enough amazing food that even Karla was stuffed.

And then they'd finished out the evening dancing on a rooftop under the stars while a small band played countless love songs, just for them.

It had been a perfect day. Karla knew what it was like to be a Queen, but this was the first time she'd ever felt like a real princess.

Warren had been confused when she'd insisted they needed to head down to the Causeway after returning to the island, but had been willing to go along with it. Which was all for the best, because there was no way Karla would have been able to get his gift over to the dorms. His awesome gift, which Karla had picked out all by herself.

Luckily, Warren would be able to guess which one was his. The giant bright blue bow on top probably gave it away. "SURPRISE!" she said, as soon as he spotted it.

She was the best at surprises.

Comments

[wwiii]

That was definitely a surprise. She'd gotten him a...

Yellow...

Was that a minivan?

"That?" He was gaping at it. A little. He'd kind of always figured that his first car would be a Porsche, or a Corvette. Not a soccer-mom vehicle. "You got me that?"

After a year of dating Karla, he really should have known to expect something like this. He was totally biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

"You shouldn't have."

What else do you say?

[glacial_queen]

Karla was nodding happily, beaming at him. "I picked it out all by myself!" she said.

He could probably have guessed.

"I know you like fast cars, and this one goes up to seventy-five miles an hour! In faaaact..." she glanced around to make sure no one was listening and added, "...the speed-o-meter goes up to eighty."

[wwiii]

"Eighty whole miles, huh?" Later, Warren was going to lock himself in his room and laugh himself to tears. "I can tell you totally had speed in mind when picking this one out."

It was, so far as minivans went, at least not a hideous one.

But there wasn't going to be any drifting with this thing in Tokyo.

[glacial_queen]

AHAHAHAHA. Drifting. Yeahno.

"That's why it's yellow," Karla explained. "Yellow's a fast color, isn't it? Most of them were all silver or beige and that hardly seemed fast at all!"

She'd been going for a red minivan, but the salesmale had started laughing when she asked where the red ones were.

"And look how big it is! How spacious and roomy! I got it specifically because of that. There were some tiny ones that people tried to suggest, but I knew you wouldn't like those."

[wwiii]

"Yellow is a decently fast color," Warren replied, diplomatically, as he walked around the van, eyeing it thoughtfully. "It's perky, right?"

Much like a large portion of his wings. Still.

"And yeah, it's definitely roomy." He paused at the driver's door, peering inside while her words sank in. While the implications behind those words sank in. And his bemused smile softened a little.

This just went from the silliest gift in the world to possibly the sweetest, all in one sentence.

"It's not all cramped and closed-in, like most other vehicles are."

Except maybe convertibles.

[glacial_queen]

"Exactly!" Karla said, skipping over to his side, pausing to kick a tire. She'd seen another customer doing that and assumed it was a sign of a savvy car-buyer. "Barely enough room to turn around in. So I asked for a bigger one. Oh! Also, the driver's seat goes down really far back, so your wings won't get cramped. I checked."

The salesman had gotten a slightly cynical grin when the perky blonde teen had asked him how far back the driver's seat went, but hadn't explained why. Which was probably for the best for his sale. And his shin.

[wwiii]

She'd gotten him the van, and now she was kicking it. But she still seemed excited about it, so Warren was going to just chuckle a little more and shake his head as he turned to face her.

"You, Karla, are completely unbelievable."

He meant that lovingly. If brutally honestly.

[glacial_queen]

Just the tires! Tires were meant to be kicked!

She glanced up at him, the slightest hint of uncertainty in her eyes. "That's a good thing, right?"

[wwiii]

"It's an excellent thing," Warren clarified, reaching for her hand and leaning in for a quick kiss. "Who else is going to keep me on my toes?"

Aside from Bobby. And Tony. And Wesley. And...

Look, Karla was just very good at it.

[glacial_queen]

Things always seemed so much better when accompanied by a kiss.

"Then I did well?" she asked. "And you're surprised?"

[wwiii]

"I'm very surprised," Warren assured her. Because there was no way in heck that he could have predicted this. "And this..."

He nodded back toward the van. The big, yellow van. The big, yellow van that was purchased with good intentions and the knowledge that he was prone to some pretty spectacular fits of claustrophobia, so he really couldn't think ill of it. Especially when it came from Karla.

"This is something else."

Really.

"Thank you."

[glacial_queen]

And a highly-maneuverable seat so his wings didn't cramp. Karla had thought of everything.

Except, you know, male pride. Details.

"Now if you want to, we can drive places instead of taking portals!" Hawaii wasn't too far, right? "And...do...other car things!"

Karla had no idea what those other car things were, but there had to be some, right?

[wwiii]

"Pick up our dry-cleaning on the mainland," Warren suggested, stifling a cackle. "And this would be great for packing up camping supplies."

Really, if they could get fuel for one of these things to Kaeleer, getting their Black Widow refugees through the mountains, if there were proper roadways, would be a piece of cake. Not nearly so easy to track down as people riding the Winds, right?

Maybe a touch conspicuous all the same, though.

[glacial_queen]

"You can fit all sorts of things in there!" Karla said, nodding. "The salesmale kept telling me how big and comfy the back seats are." He'd seemed to think that was a selling point. Go figure. They couldn't drive from back there. "Lots of people, too!"

[wwiii]

"Oh, yeah. As many people as there are seatbelts, unless we try to sneak extras on-board," Warren allowed, biting his lip hard to keep from laughing aloud at the salesman's idea of upselling. "If the island does any more moving around before settling... wherever it wants to settle... we might have to take the opportunity to go road-tripping."

[glacial_queen]

"We can go visit our friends at college!" Karla suggested. "And do other things that people do on road trips!"

Karla didn't really know what those entailed, except driving, but there were movies about doing just that and movies were about fun things, right?

[wwiii]

"What, like check out all the really bad tourist traps along the way?"

Warren wasn't sure where the world's largest ball of twine actually was, but that wouldn't stop him from suggesting they check it out.

[glacial_queen]

"...There are traps?!" Karla sounded appalled.

[wwiii]

"Yeah, but they only really spring on your wallet," Warren laughed, shaking his head a bit. "Big, stupid attractions that get people to pull over and spend money. They're ridiculous. Wax museums and stuffed groundhog exhibits, that sort of thing. But they work."

[glacial_queen]

"Like...candle wax?" No, seriously, Karla had no idea what Warren was talking about. "And taxidermy?"

This world was insane.

[wwiii]

"Close with the taxidemy, but you'd probably have to see a wax museum to really believe what can be done with it," said the guy who had only ever seen that sort of thing in photos on the internet in the first place. "It would be... a lot of silly pit-stops to do things that nobody ever needs to do, and everyone does mostly because otherwise you're just driving for hours and hours without doing anything."

Flying made so much more sense.

[glacial_queen]

"Oh." Karla hadn't spent much time in cars before; they had always been quick trips from Point A to Point B. "I thought you liked to drive?"

Wasn't it supposed to be fun, or something? Dean Winchester had always seemed to enjoy it.

"But if they're a part of road-trips, I don't see why we wouldn't go to them." As long as they weren't really traps.

[wwiii]

"I do like to drive," Warren clarified hastily. "But it's like... like walking. You can do it because you feel like enjoying a walk, or you can do it because you need to do it in order to get from one place to the next."

He refused to say it was like flying in that sense. Flying never got tedious.

[glacial_queen]

Karla thought of all the times Warren had to walk instead of fly--you know, every day before coming to Fandom--and leaned over to give him a fierce hug. "You only have to drive--or walk--when you want to. Promise."

[wwiii]

Well, Warren hadn't been thinking of those times, himself, but he certainly wasn't about to turn down a hug when it was given to him. Especially not one from Karla.

"You always make the best promises," he decided, giving her a squeeze.