Piling in

It took only a few moments longer than it had taken me to find my keys and wallet before we were all tromping down the main steps to the cabin. The chill air of the morning was interesting, especially considering the fog. Of all the days to have to drive, this morning would not be the one I would have gleefully volunteered to. Unfortunately, I also knew that Kaila was high. Not that I was particularly concerned about her driving while stoned, but rather I was more concerned about some overzealous policeman wondering why we were doing twenty five in the fog on the Pacific Coast Highway and not taking a wordless gesture towards the fog as a sufficient explanation.

"SHOTGUN!" Suddenly shouted Helen at the sight of the bus.

"Really?" I laughed, pulling open the sliding door and accepting a quick kiss from Kaila as Charlotte entered.

"I really don't want to tell this to the back of your head... but might be better, anyway..." Kaila shrugged. "Mind if I distract myself by stealing your girlfriend after you've stolen my seat?" The last was directed to Helen, who had propped her feet up on the dash and was looking back at us with a bright grin.

"And I'm stealing your husband, blah blah, round and round it goes, which scene are you trying to set up, Kay?" Charlotte groaned to a chuckle from both Helen and myself.

The door slid shut easily, and I kicked the small rock from behind the... Dammit, looks like I'd forgotten to put it there. Course, I had been naked the last time I parked this thing, so wasn't like I had been thinking much other than, "I'm about to get laid..."

I settled into the seat, noting the slight chill of the fabric. Playfully I slapped at Helen's feet, which completely blocked my view.

"Move your feet, please?" I asked.

"Not until you get the heater on." Helen smirked as I cranked the ignition, happy to hear the sound of the engine smoothly turning over. The condensation on the windshield slowly began to clear in two small triangles, but it was slow going.

"Oh yeah, that's nice..." Helen remarked as the warm air started to permeate the cabin. She stretched and I allowed my gaze to roam over her taut body, and the lovely curve of her form as she leaned back in near yawn. "Fuck, you get cooped up in one place for so long, and you just... need to stretch a bit."

"Well can you stretch your feet out of where I need to see? Or do you prefer me to just drive on a map and a stopwatch?"

"Well, let's see... glove compartment, do we have a map..." Helen leaned forward and popped the small box at the front of the car, which proceeded to spill a confused mess of cassette tapes, papers, and the occasional map.

"You never clean that thing, do you?" Charlotte laughed.

"Hey, I can absolutely go for a best of Queen right now," I grabbed up one of the cassettes and shoved it into dashboard. Or rather tried to, because apparently we had a tape in there, Or rather the converter, because I couldn't for the life of me remember when I'd last used this thing. Most of the time Kaila and I just fired up the phone and used the ancient CD to tape converter that I kept around. I kept meaning to eventually get around to getting a new stereo in this thing, but never had. I quickly ejected the plastic device and replaced it with a tape I hadn't bothered looking at the label on.

"Is that another inside joke?" Charlotte asked.

"Brent has this thing where he keeps joking that any tape left in a car..."

"Oh fuck you've been pulling THAT one on her?" Helen snickered loudly. She leaned down and began picking up the scattered tapes. "Wait... you're kidding right? Best of Queen, Best of Queen, Best of Queen... That's pretty far to go for a joke."

"No, I have ONE copy of Best of Queen. Seriously, that joke NEVER works. " I glanced at the cassettes and they indeed were a veritable cornucopia of artists. Helen shook her head, glancing again at the tapes as she picked them up.

"Ok, well, looks like you had Three copies, not One..." She checked the cassettes again. "OOOH, you've got my favorite Bon Jovi album."

"What's the joke?" Charlotte asked quietly.

"It's... from Good Omens. Any tape left in a car for more than a fortnight..."

I grew suddenly quiet as the sound of Freddy Mercury began to emanate from the speakers.