Magnolia
Magnolia was in the truck's passenger’s seat, with Bo next to her on the driver’s side. Magnolia didn’t know what year seat warmers had been invented -- but she was really starting to wish that they’d all been sent there, instead. The car was unexpectedly chilly, to the point that, when Magnolia reached over and started to feel for the truck’s glove box, she jerked her hand away in surprise.
"You okay?"
"A little chilly," Magnolia reached back towards the glove box.
"I can roll down the windows a bit if you'd like. Just enough to let the warm air in."
"That'd be nice, thanks."
"Alright."
Magnolia could hear a creak as Bo cranked the window down a little. A faint breeze rushed in, but it wasn't too loud. They couldn't have been going that fast.
Magnolia muttered another "Thanks," and pulled open the glove box. She reached inside and. Yep. That was a gun. She didn't say anything just yet, trying to keep her expression neutral as she carefully felt to see if the safety was on. There was. No safety. But the revolver wasn't cocked, and didn't seem on the verge of exploding when she set the gun back down.
"Does it feel like there's any maps in there?" Bo asked.
"Um," Magnolia bluescreened for a second, before checking. "There's a folded up piece of paper, so probably?" She took it out of the glove box, held it where Bo could see.
"Oh! That's a map!"
"Gucci," Magnolia said. Bo chuckled quietly. She put the map on her lap for the time being. "Should probably do something about the gun, though."
There was a small pause. "Can you tell if it's loaded?"
"It's not cocked, but--" Magnolia felt the gun again. "Couldn't tell you anything else."
"When we stop, I can make sure it's empty," he said. "So there aren't any accidents. But for now let's not fuss with it too much."
"Sounds like a plan." She went back to fussing with the gun, carefully sliding it further into the glove box. Her hand brushed against something else. "Oh, there's--" Magnolia pulled out a pair of gloves. They were leather, and comfy.
"Yeah, I'm stealing these."
Magnolia could hear the smile in Bo's voice. "Are your hands that cold?"
Fake shivvering in 3...2...1...
"Totally." Magnolia said, as she put the gloves on.
"Uh huh." Bo's amused sarcasm was obvious. "Well it's good you found them then."
"Right? I don't know what I would've done without them." Magnolia was smiling. Somewhere, somehow, Levi felt a disturbance in the force.
There was a short lull in conversation, and Magnolia felt Bo grab the map off her lap, and the paper rustling as he unfolded it. He was quiet as he shifted gears, and the hum of the engine got a little louder.
"I can't really tell where we're at just by looking at the map," Bo admitted. "It's Oklahoma all right, but we're somewhere out in the farmlands. We'll have to wait until we hit a road sign." He hummed deep in his throat. "Hopefully we have enough gas to make it to a town. We have a little over 3/4 a tank, and I don't know the gas mileage on this piece of history, but that should be enough." He paused, again. "Should be."
"Let's hope."
Suddenly, the car hit a bump in the road. Bo's arm shot out in front of Magnolia to catch her, and he pushed her back in the seat, keeping her from flying forward.
"Ah! Sorry! Sorry. That pothole came out of nowhere."
Magnolia wasn't especially happy at suddenly being restrained, even if it did keep her from hitting the dashboard. She grabbed Bo's arm on reflex, and was entierly unsuccessful in concealing the fact that she was checking out his muscles. Magnolia seemed to realize what she was doing, and pulled her hand back. She didn't say anything for few seconds. Awkward.
Bo let out a small laugh and pulled his arm away and cleared his throat. "The breaks on this thing are touchy. Been a minute since I've driven stick."
"Sure felt like it."
Her face? Red. A glorified tomato.
Bo started looking at the map again, or so it sounded. The paper crinkled again.
The silence stretched on.
"So where are--"
Magnolia cut herself off when she realized Bo was talking too.
Bo laughed, but it sounded tense. "Sorry. You first."
"I was uh, gonna ask. Where are you from?"
"Oh! I'm from Los Angeles, California, originally. That's where I was born. Travelled a lot since then, but it's where I was before, well, this. What about you?"
"I'm from the mountains," Magnolia said.
"Oh, yes. THE mountains." She could hear him smiling. "I hear they're very mountainy in the mountain time."
Magnolia snorted.
"But really, mountains where?"
"Pennsylvania," Magnolia said. "A liiiitle bit past the Amish."
"Wow, so you're really out there, huh. You get wifi that far out?"
"Calling it wifi would be a stretch." Magnolia said, only partially sarcastic. "I'm sure it'd be too slow for your city-boy standards."
Bo laughed with a huff through his nose. "Maybe. You might be surprised. I've gone without wifi for a lot of my life. I think I could learn to live without it again. Or, just, you know, be patient for the minute or five that the webpage loads."
Laughter erupted from the back of the truck. It sounded like Levi. Not that they'd heard him laugh until this point.
"It's usually just faster to go to the closest McDonalds."
"Ha! You're right."
"Oh my gosh, there's no McDonald's now, is there?" Magnolia's voice was full of mock-horror. "Crap. How else am I gonna get McNuggets."
"I don't have enough money for chicken nuggets," Bo said in a fake-cry voice. He was referencing the iconic chicken nugget vine. Magnolia recognized it instantly. "And there's no more chicken nuggets to buy!"
Magnolia let out a howl of laughter. "Oh thank God. I don't know what I would've done if I got time-napped with someone who didn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of vines."
Bo laughed. "Mags, I don't even know how many vine compilations I've watched, but it's way too many." He paused. "... Is it okay to call you Mags? Or do you prefer Magnolia?"
Magnolia seemed to consider this for a moment. "Mags is fine." she said. "But for blending in, you should probably go with Magnolia."
Bo was quiet for a moment.
"...Bo probably doesn't sound very 1940's, does it. And it's - it's already a nickname."
"Not as a name, no." Magnolia said. Her face flushed red again. "But, uh. It does sound like a pet name that was used, then."
"Oh." Another pause. "Would that be weird? Should we come up with something else?"
"I don't know." Magnolia said, after a beat. "It's your name."
"It could be a good cover story," Bo said quietly. "My actual name doesn't sound very American, and while I could just pick a fake name, I don't think I'd actually respond to it at first. It might be easier to stick with Bo. That is, if you're okay with it. Because, well, you know. People make assumptions. Especially in the 1940s... I imagine."
"Yeah, I imagine." Magnolia went quiet for a moment, thinking. "It might be a good, er, cover story, though. Tactically."
Bo hummed. "Especially since people will probably be wondering why I'm not -" he swallowed. "Out to war."
"That's--" Magnolia sighed. "Almost forgot about that, for a second."
"We'll have to pick up fake rings, though." Magnolia adjusted her grip on the handle of her cane. "Guess I can check jewelery theft off my bucket list."
Bo folded up the map, and it sounded like he set it on the dashboard.
"We'll see if we can find something," he said softly. "We're gonna be okay."
Magnolia's expression softened a little, until it resembled something like relief. "Teamwork makes the dreamwork."
Bo sung quietly under his breath: "What's gonna work? Teamwork."
"What team?" Magnolia whispered.
In unison, her and Bo said: "Wildcats!"
Magnolia gave a small smile.
The truck came to a slow stop.
"There's a sign." Bo announced. "Milthes. Ten miles. That's the town from the address."
"Let's check it out." Magnolia said, quietly. "Even if it's a dead end -- we'll need gas, right?"
"Yeah." The car started up again, and they turned left.
word count: 1413
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Points: 1150
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