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[daffodils1x1]

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Blue’s eyebrows shot up as Clover shot her question back at her, and she crossed her arms, frowning at him slightly after a moment. “What?” She questioned, before letting him continue. “They’re corn, all the doritos are tortilla chips.” She answered easily, even though she hadn’t had one in forever. “They’re vegan?” She confirmed after a moment, her eyes peering down into the bag. Her nose was wrinkled, ever so slightly, at the idea of eating one of them… but she let out a heavy sigh after a moment, reaching in and pulling out a broken chip. “Only because it is too cold out for a salad.” She popped it into her mouth and crunched down on it, her face changing slightly. “That’s so weird.” She admitted, once she’d swallowed, but reached in for another anyway.

At his next question, Blue’s eyes moved up from the bag of chips again, meeting his gaze. “They have so much sugar, Clover.” She pointed out, her voice almost scolding. “And I’ve only been camping like, once.” Also, her mother would never have encouraged such a thing. She might not have stopped it, but without any opportunities having presented themselves, when could she have done it? Even too much birthday cake on her birthday meant she would get a light scolding from her mom. She couldn’t imagine if she’d just eaten pure sugar and gelatine. “Alright… and how do you plan on doing that?”

He stood up then, though, and she frowned slightly. “Go ahead.” She said with a wave of her hand, not fully realizing what he meant, until he started using his magic. Her eyes widened slightly and her face changed, as she saw the tree start growing towards him. Her magic had never been like that, never been that… fascinating. All she could do was change the colour of things. “Oh… thanks?” She said softly, taking the twig from him and examining it for a moment. It didn’t look clean, but if he said so… well, maybe she’d let him eat his first, and see how that went.

.

“Right, then, let’s do it. I guess.” Clover said, shaking out a momentary shiver that a strong breeze had brought on. He’d give anything for a hot bowl of soup, maybe with some toasted sourdough on the side. But it seemed like they were going to be roughing it for a while.

Clover sat down cross-legged----he was momentarily reminded of childhood storytimes with Blue and his grandmother----and ripped open the bag of marshmallows. He quickly speared two onto his stick and stuck it in the fire. “Now, there’s kinda an art to this. Everyone has their perfect level of toastiness. Me, I like them burned to a crisp. No judging.” He joked, pulling his marshmallows out of the fire with flames still burning on them. He studied the flames for just a moment, before blowing them out.

“Your turn.”

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As much as her mother might dislike it if she were to be cooing at a huge dog, Blue couldn’t help it. She’d always had small pets - a couple of cats back home, and her parents finally let her have a dog when she was ten, a little white multipoo - but she died a couple years back. She missed having animals, even if this one was bigger than her and slobbery.

The blonde headed over to the fire and let the other search through the bags. The only things she grabbed that appealed to her in the store were pre-packaged salads - and, in the cold, those really didn’t sound all that great. She didn’t know what she would be eating on this trip, but she doubted she was going to be very happy about it.

“Not bad at all.” She admitted softly, giving him a smile. As he pulled something out, she blinked at the name scrawled across the bag. Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos. “Those are good?” She asked first, clearly uncertain as to how something like that could be appealing. She knew Doritos were popular, but she hadn’t had them since she was a kid. Even at parties, if she was going to have junk food, it was usually a potato-based chip. Nothing orange. “Hm?” She questioned as he mumbled something, mouth still full - she had to force herself not to roll her eyes. Was she becoming her mother? “Oh. Wouldn’t we need something to roast them with?” She asked, before hesitating. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually had a roasted marshmallow.”

.

“Are they good?”He shot back incredulously, perhaps a tad too loud considering the fact that they were supposed to be in hiding. “They’re only the best fried potato---Are they made of potatoes? Maybe it’s corn.---snack in the history of the planet. And they’re vegan.” Clover held out the bag, inviting her to try one. “Go on, then. One won’t hurt you.” He ought to know, having eaten a whole bag for dinner more than once and living to tell the tale.

He was starting to realize he and Blue had had very different lives. “You haven’t roasted a marshmallow?” The question came out almost a little sad, although he hadn’t meant it to. Small memories had slipped into his mind, things he’d forgotten years ago. Her mother’s tight-lipped smile, the whispered fights behind closed doors, the small portions she had always been given at her birthday dinners while he’d been given double the serving. He had a feeling he didn’t know the half of it. “Well, we’ll just have to fix that, then.” He said with a smile, getting up and beginning to look around for an appropriate marshmallow-roasting instrument.

The thing was, he’d set them up in a clearing, and had picked up all the available sticks and branches for the fire. And he didn’t exactly relish the idea of scaling a tree right now. He hadn’t done any magic since all this had started. “I hope you don’t mind if I just...yeah.”

Clover used to be uncomfortable using his abilities. He didn’t like the way it felt, that white hot burst of energy right at the end and the way it always built up before that. Now he was more confident; he barely even winced as he slowly reached out his hand toward a nearby tree, which shook and stretched one of its branches down into his outstretched hand. He gently broke off two long twigs and turned to Blue, feeling sheepish for some reason. “These should be good. And, you know. They’re clean.”

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Blue nodded a little bit once he said he would take care of the fire. She’d never done it before, and although she was sure it couldn’t be that hard, she wasn’t exactly keen to learn on the spot. 

The blonde sighed as she turned and looked back at all the things in the jeep, before looking back at him. By then, it seemed that he mostly had enough kindling and wood - which, really, was the only thing she could have helped with that would have actually been helpful. So, instead of standing where she was and letting herself freeze, she wandered over to where Lucky was sitting, smiling down at the dog. “You don’t look cold.” She cooed, bending to pet her. “Oh, you’re not cold.” She moved both of her hands to be petting the canine, one moving down her back and the other scratching behind her ears. 

Once the fire was lit, however, the blonde’s eyes flicked back over to where Clover was, and a smile came to her face. “Thank the lord.” She said with a bit of a chuckle, quickly heading back to the jeep to grab the bags of food, before coming back towards the fire and setting them down. She crouched first, trying to warm her hands by the flames. “That’s so nice.”

.

Clover smiled as he watched her play with Lucky, looking small next to the massive creature. It had crossed his mind before that perhaps she wouldn’t be an animal lover, that she’d find the idea of traveling with a big, slobbery dog distasteful in some way. He was glad that wasn’t the case.

Although he might not show it, he was as grateful for the fire’s warmth as Blue was. There had been a few times where he and his buddies had forgotton to bring matches or lighters, and had to shiver through the night---or even, once, had to return home as the temperatures suddenly dipped well below freezing. The comfort of a fire made everything easier.

“Not too bad, right?” he said with a smirk, reaching for one of the food bags and rifling through it. He realized he’d been ignoring the rumbling of his stomach for too long, and was suddenly ravenous. He pulled the bag of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos open and immediately shoved a handful into his mouth before continuing to look through the contents. “Oh, schweet, smarshamallows.” he mumbled, his mouth still full, before swallowing and looking around for some sticks. “We could roast them. Like a real camping trip.”

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It had been a long time since Blue had ever driven anywhere that there wasn’t a signal for the radio. Even when she was going hiking with friends, which she didn’t do often, she would still have cell service. They needed to, in case of emergencies, that was what she was taught. Always make sure someone has a time to expect you back, and if not, make sure you are going to have service. Well, now her phone was gone, and even the radio was giving out. And the conversation wasn’t a great pass-time.

The blonde had her hand reached out behind Clover’s seat, scratching the top of Lucky’s head gently. Her attention was mostly divided, as she tried to maintain conversation with her traveling escort, while also being lost in thought. What would happen if they got caught? The news wasn’t reporting what was happening in that instance, and she couldn’t imagine what those people were going through. “Hm?” She blinked as Clover started to talk again, but then blinked.

“Oh, yeah. I can do that. Are you hungry?” She didn’t have a lot of meal-type things, unfortunately… and the ones she did have were definitely going to be for him. Instant noodles, things like that. They had packages of salad kits, which she grabbed, but couldn’t imagine eating in the chill of the outside air.

Blue let Clover get everything he needed out of the back, before grabbing the bags of food and starting to sort through it. Sweet things in one bag, salty in another, instant noodles and other meals in a third, miscellaneous fruit, and drinks. “What are you hungry for?” She called over to him. As the breeze picked up, she felt a chill go up her spine, and her hands flew to the sides of her arms, rubbing to try and warm herself up. How were they going to get warm? 

She watched as Clover turned to head back to the jeep and started sorting through what was left in the back. She blinked as he pulled out makeup wipes, not having expected something like that. “Yeah, thank you.” She definitely wouldn’t be using that brand long term, but she needed a wet face cloth for her makeup remover, so this would just have to do. 

She was just about to open up the wipes, when Clover also held out a sweater for her to wear. “Oh, yeah. Thanks.” She took it, and hesitantly started undoing her jacket so she could put it on underneath. She would be stupid not to wear it, even if it wasn’t exactly her style. Once the jacket was off, she pulled the sweater over her head, only to put the jacket back on overtop. “Yeah, a fire would be good.” She admitted, rubbing her hands together and blowing air into them for warmth.

.

The glimpse of her in his old sweatshirt made his head go fuzzy for a second, a feeling he shook off and ignored because that kind of thing was Very Bad. Especially now.

“I’ll go take care of it.” Times like this were the only time he wished he could manipulate fire insted of Earth, because starting a campfire from scratch always took forever. Collecting kindling, firewood, making sure there was no way for the fire to spread. That was always his biggest worry, that he’d somehow manage to burn down the environment he so desperately loved. He always wondered if he would somehow be able to feel the pain of it.

Once he’d managed to light the fire (with the help of an old lighter he always kept in the Jeep) he looked up at Blue with a smile “Here we go. This should help. Bring the food over here and we’ll figure something out.” With that he sat down on the dirt, not bothering to dust anything off or lay anything down beneath him, and beckoned her to join.

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Afraid of getting found out, Blue’s mother kept her inside pretty often since she was little. It wasn’t like she restricted her in the backyard or anything, but she didn’t want her wandering too far away. When she was very young, Blue had a habit of touching things and turning them a soft shade of pink. “We look with our eyes,” became a very common phrase in the Iverson household as she slowly learned how to control her power. It became useful later on, when a dress was just a shade too dark on her… but only behind closed doors. 

“Fascinatin’.” Blue said hesitantly, wrinkling her nose ever so slightly. Hopefully she wouldn’t need to pee in the middle of the night… she wasn’t keen on having to wake Clover up just to make sure nothing happened. “Glad I bought coffee.” She commented, knowing there were at least three or four bottles of the stuff in there - not that three or four bottles would last her too long.

“Won’t it be warmer in here though?” She got chilly just walking outside before, let alone actually sleeping out there. “Oh, alright.” She supposed that was part of how he knew the roads so well, too. He’d always been much better at directions than she was - although, they never went anywhere very far without an adult showing them how to get back. 

.

There were miles and miles of terrain behind them before Clover felt safe to stop, certain enough that there was no person within any significant distance of them. The jeep’s radio had long since lost any kind of signal, leaving only the hum of the wildlife and their conversation to fill the silence. Normally this wasn’t something he’d mind, but he wasn’t totally at ease with Blue. He never had been, really. Not since they were small enough for their differences not to matter.

When they reached the clearing they were to hunker down in for the night, Clover turned to her and sighed. “Well, Lucky and I can set things up. You can organize the food, I guess? Or just get some fresh air?” He didn’t want her to feel like he thought she was useless, but the sun was setting fast and he could work better on his own.

Setting up the campsite was easy enough. His ex used to like watching him do this part, joking that he looked sexy with his sleeves rolled up and the gleam of sweat on his face. He couldn’t imagine that he looked very good now, with the stress of today weighing on him. He wished there was a hot shower waiting for him, instead of only the warmth of a hastily made campfire.

When he was done he walked back to the car and started sorting through the mess of things he’d stowed back here. There were his clothes, dog food, and packed in the corner a small box of Sam’s things he’d forgotten to give back to her. It didn’t really matter now, and he didn’t feel the sting he expected to upon seeing it. He rifled through it’s contents and went back to Blue.

“Here’s uh...you know. For your face.” Clover handed her a box of cucumber-scented makeup wipes that he’d found. “If you want. And this in case you get cold.” He gave her his old OAK MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL BUCCANEERS, worn out but still cozy. She’d mentioned not having packed for this. “I’ll go start the fire, I guess?”

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Blue frowned at his question, scowling at him for a second. “Not everyone has been camping.” She pointed out stubbornly, as a way of saying that she was one of the people who had not. She had friends who went camping, but she’d either never had time, or wasn’t all that interested… or both. She was never a huge fan of the outdoors. Hiking was fine, fun even, but anything more than that? Not for her.

As they headed closer towards the mountains, she sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. “Don’t hold in my pee?” She asked with a raised brow, uncertain of how that would help anything. “I’d say best case scenario we sleep in here… at least then we know an animal can’t get us.” The only advantage of camping in the winter was that there hopefully wouldn’t be as many bugs out there eating her alive. 

.

He scratched his head and frowned a little. He should have recognized that the pageant girl whose childhood bedroom had included a canopy bed and pounds of pink ruffles might not have a lot of wildernes experience. This could prove to be interesting. “Well, everyone I know has been camping.” he pointed out with a shrug.

“Uh, you can’t hold in your pee because then your body diverts energy into stopping you from pissing yourself instead of regulating your body temperature. It’s a thing.” he explained a little inelegantly. “You’re not gonna want to do it if you wake up at, like, three am. Just wake me up and I’ll stand guard or whatever.” He’d learned that lesson the hard way on a very miserable Boy Scouts trip.

“We can if you want, but it’ll be cramped. We don’t have to worry about animals. They never bother me.” He didn’t exactly know how to explain his connection with them. It wasn’t like his dad’s, who could communicate with every kind of creature. Animals wouldn’t come and cuddle with him, but they seemed to sense that he wasn’t there to disturb them. Like he was just a natural part of the landscape. There’d been more than once that he’d encountered a bear or a coyote on a hike and they’d just given him a glance and left him alone. “It's, like, an elementalist thing.” he finally said.

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Blue relaxed into the seat once she had the chance to sit down, already wishing that she still had her phone back. It was her distraction, it was something she could do with her hands when she didn’t have anything to talk about… it was going to be a long trip without one. “We can camp?” She repeated, suddenly turning towards him and blinking. She knew there was no argument, they couldn’t risk trying to cross the state line through the highway… so if that was where they were going to have to go, that was just where they were going to have to go. 

“Won’t it be cold?” She really didn’t have the clothes for this. She had packed for California, not for sleeping outside in the winter. She wanted to suggest something else, an alternative - but everything she thought of was too risky, especially this close to the state border. Motels would be fine, once they got away from the boarder line and the checkpoints.

.

“’Course we can camp. You have been camping before, right?” he asked as he pulled into traffic, side-eyeing her a little. Clover hadn’t been the best boy scout Oak Mountain had ever seen, exactly, but he remembered enough to get by. And many of his friends in Maine were hearty, people used to camping and being in nature. They’d filled a lot of gaps for him in the past two years---he could make sure they survived. Whether it would be comfortable was another story.

Luckily, the route into Green Mountain was still familiar in his mind; something about the trees and the fresh air jogged his memory enough that he was pretty sure he was going the right way. “Yeah, it’ll be cold. But I have a really good sleeping bag. Just sleep in all your clothes. You know, layer up. And don’t hold in your pee.” he said with a smirk. “Worst case, we sleep in here.” Some small part of Clover has actually a little excited, despite the circumstances. He loved being out in nature. Even with the circumstances, it made him feel a little lighter.

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Blue gripped her arms as she headed into the gas station, the wind blowing and making her shiver slightly. Once she was inside though, she immediately went about her business, grabbing a basket to fill up. First she headed for the water, grabbing several bottles of those. The blonde then moved to the snacks, and started grabbing some of those at random. She didn’t know what kinds of things Clover liked to eat for snacks, but she assumed a variety of chips would be fine.

Finally, she spotted some granola bars. Quickly scanning the ingredients for dairy, she threw a few into the basket, and headed towards the very sad looking fruit bowl by the coffee station. She grabbed a few apples, a couple of oranges… the bananas were too brown already though, so she decided to leave them.

She could only hope that she looked calm as she scanned over the store, trying to figure out if there was anything else they might need. She hesitated at the sight of bottles of iced coffee, noticing that there were some without milk or sweetener. She wandered over and added a few of these to the basket as well, noticing that it was becoming rather full.

Once the blonde decided she had enough, she headed to the cashier, starting to unload her purchases. When he gave her a weird look, she smiled a bit. “Camping.” She explained softly. “My friend was in charge of food, and that was a mistake.” Earning a chuckle from the stranger, she pulled out her wallet, thankfully having just enough cash to cover this. Hopefully, they wouldn’t need to stop again until they got the cash from her parents. Thanking the store worker, she headed back out to the car.

After dropping her phone in the bed of a truck, as instructed, Blue walked to the jeep and opened the door, setting her purse down in the front seat and tucking the bags of food behind Clover’s seat and onto the floor. “Sorry to scare you.” She said first, getting herself settled on her seat before looking at his phone. She hummed slightly as he asked if that was okay, before nodding hesitantly. She would have grabbed bug spray if she realized they were really heading through the woods. “That should be fine… will we still make it to that professor’s place on time?”

.

Clover eyed the bag of food as she placed it in the back, grateful that it was full and he could see the Doritos logo through the clear plastic. Normally when he went camping he packed anything with enough calories to sustain him---nuts, seeds, granola. But he hadn’t had time to give Blue a wilderness 101 lesson before the trip. “No, we won’t. I can’t drive fast enough through the woods without blowing out a tire. We can just camp out tonight.” he said nonchalantly, not thinking about the fact that a pageant queen might not be exactly fond of the idea.

He pulled out of the parking lot carefully, checking to see if it seemed like anyone was following him. The normies were taking things more seriously than he’d thought possible. “I have a tent and a sleeping bag in the back. I’ll let you have the sleeping bag, I can just sleep on my coat. I’ll take care of everything.”

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Blue was also good under pressure. She was under pressure constantly, from her parents, pageant coaches, skating coaches, school… she’d learned how to deal with it very well. However, this was different. If they couldn’t figure out a plan to get out, they were going to be caught - and no one really knew what happened to the mages that tested positive. And, so far, she hadn’t heard about any false negatives.

Part of the problem was that Blue’s magic wouldn’t even help anything. She could change the colours of things, that was it - how was she supposed to defend herself? Throw her skate at someone? 

“Right.” She whispered as Clover mentioned staying calm, swallowing hard as they pulled into the gas station. She nodded slowly at his instructions, trying to make note of everything. Her eyes scanned around the jeep as he mentioned trying not to be recognized, and her face lit up as she saw a baseball cap on the floor of the backseat. She picked it up and, after thoroughly brushing it off, pulled it over her head, as if that would solve the problem of the cashier not seeing what she looked like. “Oh.” Her gaze fell back down towards her phone, not having thought of that. “I guess that makes sense.” She opened the texting app, before deciding against it - she didn’t know how much they could trace. Instead, she went ahead and did the factory reset, tucking it into her purse as she opened the door to get out. “I’ll be right back, then.” She told him, before heading off towards the gas station. 

.

Clover watched Blue safely enter the gas station before getting out of the car himself. Belatedly, he wondered if he shouldn’t pay for the gas in cash. Not that he had any---he never did. Maybe he should have asked Blue, but it wasn’t like people were tracking him. At least, he didn’t think so. Her parents were safely on the west coast by the time they’d contacted him. There was no reason for anyone to believe they were together. Right?

He got to filling up the tank quickly, finishing up before parking the car and letting Lucky out on her leash to do her business. They had a full tank of gas, water, food...they could last at least a few days in the middle of nowhere. If anyone asked, they were just going camping. In winter. (Hey, at least he always kept a tent and sleeping bags in the back.) It was a plausible enough story. Probably.

His mind still whirling, he pulled out his phone and checked the map. There was a road that would take them up into the woods, and a smaller one that appeared to go over the border into New York. That could work, but beyond that he had no clue. He send a quick text to Fern to let her know what was going on and that he might be out of touch for a while, and then let Lucky back into the backseat and sat down in front.

When Blue opened the door to get back in the car, Clover nearly jumped out of his skin and yelped a little. “Sorry. On edge.” he said, before leaning over to show her the map on his phone. “I’m gonna turn it off, but I wanted to show you. We’re going up here until we’re deep enough into the woods, and then cross into New York here. I navigate really well in nature, so it shouldn’t be an issue. That okay with you?” Even though there wasn’t really another choice, he still wanted her to be comfortable.

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Blue had never meant to lose touch with Clover, not really. Maybe she didn’t make enough effort, but she’d been busy - and after they didn’t go to the same school anymore, it was harder to actually stay close. Besides, all her weekends were booked with various things - skating competitions, pageants, training for one or the other… it really was no wonder that they’d lost touch. 

“How do you know about Sun Cafe?” She asked curiously, but then she saw Clover’s expression as he reached to turn up the radio, and she immediately moved her attention there as well, listening to the radio announcer. Her lips parted slightly and her eyebrows twitched upwards, as her eyes immediately flicked up towards the road to find a sign. 

“We’re almost at the state line.” She said quietly, although she was certain that he already knew that. She was almost more saying it to herself, absorbing the information. Were they going to be caught? What would happen if they were? 

The blonde gripped the armrest on her seat, desperately trying to think of how they could avoid this. They couldn’t just stay in the state, so they would have to cross state lines eventually. Were there roads that crossed it that wouldn’t be busy enough to warrant a checkpoint? There had to be, right? Immediately, she started pulling out her phone, opening up google maps to try and figure something out. However, Clover spoke again - and she blinked up at him. “What’s your idea?” She asked tentatively, now ignoring the open google maps on her phone.

.

Everyone always told Clover he was good in a crisis. Normally he was anxious, his thoughts flying this way and that. But when it was important, really important, he tended to get tunnel vision. Although his heart was pounding, his mind became surprisingly clear. He just hoped that would hold true. Normally his biggest ‘crisis’ was getting busted for having beer in his dorm or getting a flat tire on a deserted highway. Not this. Not life or death.

His original plan had been to stick the the interstate on day one and possibly day two, take the quickest route and put in as much distance as possible on the most convenient road, before things got stricter. Obviously the normies had other ideas.

“First, we’re going to stay calm.” he said, as much to himself as to Blue, as he pulled into a local gas station. He turned to her, trying to smile a little. Seem more confident than he was. “You’re going to go into the gas station while I fill up the car and let out Lucky. Get water and some maps. Maybe some snacks. Try not to let the person working there see what you look like, but don’t be weird. In and out in five minutes.” The plan was forming as he spoke, and he thought it made sense. He glanced at the phone in her hand.“On the way back get rid of your phone. Send a quick text to your parents if you want, then factory reset it. Put it in the bed of someone’s truck. They’ll drive away and confuse anyone who might be tracking it. Your dad told me that there were people looking for you. Got it?”

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Blue was glad that they were getting along. They hadn’t spoken at all in years, so she truly had no idea how it was going to be. How he would have changed, what he would think of her now - what she would think of him now as well, especially when she couldn’t really find anything about him online. “Uh huh. The big bad wolf is shaking in his boots.”

“Oh, no, they didn’t tell me that. And I’m sure Fern won’t incinerate them - as long as she doesn’t spend too much one on one time with either of them.” She joked. She loved her parents, she really did - but after living on her own for a few years, going home was always a little stifling. “God, Sun Cafe is the best. I went there once last time I visited and it was so good not having to pick through a menu.” 

.

He nodded as she spoke, smiling a little. Despite the awkwardness, it felt surprisingly normal to be reunited with Blue after so many years apart. More natural than with many of his friends at college, if he was being honest. Was that odd?

Just as they passed the sign for Bennington, Vermont, he heard something that piqued his interest. For the whole trip it had been on a random top 40 station that he’d picked because he thought Blue might like it. The only break from the pop tunes had been the ads and two talking heads discussing the latest celebrity gossip and trends. That is, until now.

“Get this, Stacey. According to a leaked White House memo, all major interstates will be implementing checkpoints at state lines to check for mages. Any word on how this will effect Lady Gaga’s tour?”

“Shit. Fuck. Shit.” Clover turned up the radio and after determining Stacey and Co. had nothing else to add, he shut it off. He needed to think. The state line was less than ten minutes away. What could they do? Clover tried to picture the area in his mind. He’d only been to this part of Vermont once before. Last year, he and his roommate had gone hiking in Green Mountain National Forest. There had been a road...it had been pretty remote...would it get them there?

“I have an idea.” he said, before taking the exit into Bennington. He was driving quickly, but not so quickly that he’d draw attention to himself. They needed gas, and then they were going north.

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“I think you may have started the whole wrong foot thing when you refused to stop at Starbucks.” Blue pointed out with a bit of a shrug. Speaking of, the blonde reached for her cup, taking another sip of it. Ah, glorious caffeine. “I think flannels are fine. Just… watch what else you wear, or you’ll start looking like a Canadian lumberjack or somethin’.” 

“I guess so.” As much as Blue complained about their hometown sometimes, she still sort of wished she was heading back there. “Would Fern and your Gran meet you there? Or are they still in Georgia?” She didn’t really know what was up with his family in that regard. “California is nice for vacations, I’m not sure about long term. But who knows, they’ve got lots of great vegan food.”

.

Clover just smiled as she teased him about the coffee thing, although he was still a little embarrassed. When he got going he had a habit of not stopping---helpful for a long night of equations or jetting across the country, but not so much for making friends. “I wouldn’t mind being a lumberjack. Put these muscles to good use.” he joked.

“You didn’t know? They’re with your parents. Which I appreciate, by the way. Even though I’m worried about Fern accidentally incinerating them.” he said. It had been a generous part of the deal, and easy enough for them to be part of the entourage taking care of the Iverson’s. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t eager for all them to be together. “They do. I want to try Sun Cafe.” he agreed, forgetting to be embarrassed. He normally didn’t talk much about being vegan, unless it was an alcohol-fueled animal rights rant.

[daffodils1x1]

inconvenientfireworks1x1·:

Blue rolled her eyes at him. “It is math-based, and it is boring. I got all of them out of the way in my first couple years because they were just so awful.” But she had to take them. Which made sense, but she still hated it.

Everything had happened so quickly. First, there were the problems with the elementalists. Then, the government made finding mages a priority… and then, within a couple days, her parents were to go into hiding. She’d been packing to go home for Christmas, and then bam, her family told her that someone would be by to pick her up ASAP, and to pack everything she needed immediately. It wasn’t the best end to her semester, for sure… and the uncertainty was killing her. “I guess that’s true.” She admitted with a bit of a chuckle. “You haven’t broken them in enough yet?” Her left eyebrow perked up and she gave him a bit of a teasing smile. “Seattle sounds nice. I’ve never been.”

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“Oh, don’t start on the flannels. I would hate for us to get off on the wrong foot already.” He joked with a smile. Honestly, he was fully aware that he was one septum piercing away from going full hipster, but he kind of liked it. He wanted to dress comfortably enough that he could go on a hike or some kind of adventure at a moment’s notice.

“Me neither. But I figure it’s as good as anywhere else would be.” he said, shrugging. Seattle had a reputation for strong coffee and pine trees and cycling, all of which sounded good to him. But, maybe he wouldn’t go there after all. He really had no idea. “What about you? Do you like the idea of California?” he asked. “I feel like I could picture you there.

[daffodils1x1]

inconvenientfireworks1x1·:

Blue couldn’t help the smile that came to her face at his question, but she didn’t press it. It was a little awkward between them, after not seeing each other much for so long, but moments like that made it a little bit easier to imagine their trip. “I had to take a couple econ classes - and that was absolutely not abstract and interesting. But I’ll take your word for it.” She didn’t want to shut him down. She was sure he enjoyed it, but she couldn’t ever imagine herself enjoying it. 

At his question about her program, she shrugged a bit. “I’m still deciding between a few things There are a couple options back home that I could do temporarily before finding something more permanent, and I was considerin’ law school…” She trailed off, eyes flicking to the road again. “But I’m not really sure, now.” 

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He turned to her and scoffed. “Econ is not math. I mean, it has mathematical components but it’s totally different. I don’t even have to take econ.” Probablility, Optimization, and Advanced Topics in Dynamical Systems, sure, but never econ.

At her uncertainty he nodded, understanding it more than ever now. He actually hadn’t formally dropped out of Bowdoin yet, although the option to return next semester was seeming less and less likely with every news headline. Mages had strongholds on several universities in the West (his grandmother kept hinting at Berkeley), but somehow applying to one of them made this all seem more real and scary. “Well, we’ve got time to sit around and figure shit out now, I guess. Once we get there it looks like we’ll be stuck for a while. I might go to Seattle or something. Really break in the flannels.” It wasn’t like there was any reason for him to stick around the Iverson’s anymore.

[daffodils1x1]

inconvenientfireworks1x1·:

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Blue’s eyebrows raised a little bit as he answered her question. Math?·“I knew you were smart, but math?” She asked with a bit of a chuckle, shaking her head. She was glad to only do the math courses required for her program.·“I’ve never understood liking math. I mean, I can do·it, but I don’t enjoy·it.” Usually, she started overthinking things, and confused herself, and got frustrated. Or, she was missing a step somewhere in the middle… and she refused to ask for help.·“Oh, I’m in business, with a minor in English and literature.”·

In some ways, it made complete sense that Blue had done a minor. She always liked to keep busy - and in high school, it became apparent that skating wasn’t something she’d be able to do as a career, at least not without a hell of a lot of luck. She wasn’t the ideal body type; she was too short, her chest was too big, or at least those were the things she told herself. So, she had to find something else that would keep her busy long-term. A minor was the easiest way to do that, once she got to college. Sure, she still skated, and still did pageants… but not as much anymore.

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“You think I’m smart?” The question slipped out before he could think, and he quickly bulldozed over it with a cough and continued speaking.·“Math is actually really cool once you get out of high school and it’s not all about ACT prep. It’s more abstract and interesting.” Maybe someday he would explain exactly how much he loved it, the euphoria he felt after cracking a tough problem. The way the world seemed a little clearer. But she probably wouldn’t understand it. When he’d tried to explain it to Sam she’d just teased him.·

“Business? What do you want to do with that?” He hadn’t given much thought to what Blue might study, but he supposed pageants and skating weren’t usually lifelong pursuits. He could picture it, Blue running a business. She certainly could take command of a room.

[daffodils1x1]

inconvenientfireworks1x1·:

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Blue’s eyebrows raised a little bit as he answered her question. Math? “I knew you were smart, but math?” She asked with a bit of a chuckle, shaking her head. She was glad to only do the math courses required for her program. “I’ve never understood liking math. I mean, I can do it, but I don’t enjoy it.” Usually, she started overthinking things, and confused herself, and got frustrated. Or, she was missing a step somewhere in the middle… and she refused to ask for help. “Oh, I’m in business, with a minor in English and literature.” 

In some ways, it made complete sense that Blue had done a minor. She always liked to keep busy - and in high school, it became apparent that skating wasn’t something she’d be able to do as a career, at least not without a hell of a lot of luck. She wasn’t the ideal body type; she was too short, her chest was too big, or at least those were the things she told herself. So, she had to find something else that would keep her busy long-term. A minor was the easiest way to do that, once she got to college. Sure, she still skated, and still did pageants… but not as much anymore.

“You think I’m smart?” The question slipped out before he could think, and he quickly bulldozed over it with a cough and continued speaking. “Math is actually really cool once you get out of high school and it’s not all about ACT prep. It’s more abstract and interesting.” Maybe someday he would explain exactly how much he loved it, the euphoria he felt after cracking a tough problem. The way the world seemed a little clearer. But she probably wouldn’t understand it. When he’d tried to explain it to Sam she’d just teased him. 

“Business? What do you want to do with that?” He hadn’t given much thought to what Blue might study, but he supposed pageants and skating weren’t usually lifelong pursuits. He could picture it, Blue running a business. She certainly could take command of a room.

[daffodils1x1]

inconvenientfireworks1x1·:

Blue sighed a little bit at his words, eyes moving to some of the other vehicles again. Maybe he was right, maybe there were other mages around them, and they’d never even know it. Maybe there were mages who had been more discreet - that could try and continue on with their lives, keeping it all a secret. Her powers were discreet enough, she’d have been able to do that, if her family wasn’t so prominent in Georgia. “I s’pose that could be true.” 

Hearing the rustle of his shirt brushing against the seat as he moved, she turned her head back towards him, and nodded slightly. “We’ll be fine.” She repeated, forcing a smile. “So, uh, the professor we’re staying with… What do they teach? Like, what’s your major?” They really needed a new topic of conversation. 

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Clover was grateful for the change in topic. Not that he was a particularly private person, but he felt he’d aired a few too many of his traumas considering how early it was in the trip. “He teaches linear algebra.” he answered. Professor Montoya was one of the younger educaters at Bowdoin, having not even reached forty yet. He’d hired Clover as an assistant of some sort, paying him to make copies and design powerpoints for his lessons. He was one of the few people that Clover had trusted with his secret.

“I do math. I mean, my major is mathematics. I wanted to do applied mathematics, actually, but Bowdoin doesn’t offer it and they gave me a good scholarship.” Clover had discovered his love for numbers in high school after a few lessons with a particularly enthusiastic geometry teacher, and the choice had been easy for him. Although many elementalists picked something more suited to their skill set----biology or agricultural science, for instance----Clover loved the logic of math, the way everything always fell neatly into place if you worked hard enough. “You?”