#on the Interstate On-Ramp and MERGING

[accimaginaryescapades]

Yeah I don't need tech trying to 'fix' my things for me either It Sucks At It!

I am mad about cellphone cameras hiding the processing they do, and I am glad about software that lets me control it and opt in and out, and I dictated this rant on insta so I am resharing the images here and will attempt to turn this into a useful text post on my blog in future, when my hand is working better 🤘👍

[six-demon-bag]

woops cut a cop off 😌

[gagirlleaving]

Life Was Simpler In 1970

I was a kid. Dad got an apartment in Atlanta because he got a job there with the phone company. Everyone thought he was a nice fella.

Yeah, right. He also was abusive and my mother tried to cope. This particular year, we were on the way back home from Dad's apartment.

This photograph kind of symbolizes my life. Trying to merge onto a freeway with a very short on-ramp.

Looks kind of peaceful. Mama had just gotten me a Kodak Instamatic camera and traffic was exciting to me. This is my only photo from that trip.

I have generic memories of our trips to Atlanta. We took MARTA, which was fun. Got things we couldn't get in our rural town. Mama and I loved the excitement of the city, and Dad's apartment gave us a new home base for exploration.

Mama talked about taking trains to Atlanta from her rural town. Later, Mama and Dad lived there.

When life is hard, as it was with Dad's constant put downs and worse, you learn to appreciate the good things in life. Even a car trip in stop-and-start traffic, which Mama hated. That's why we took MARTA, besides Mama wanting me to learn practical skills with transit.

I think we were so close because of Dad's abuse. We were both female, and cooperated to cope.

My life is like this picture. It only looks peaceful, in the way a duck looks that way while paddling hard beneath the surface. Every merge on this interstate brought danger. Stop-and-start traffic was very hard on Mama and painful because she had a bad back.

But, like Mama, I keep going and smile while I am doing it.

Life was simpler then because prices were cheap. There were always things we couldn't afford, but Mama had a great sense of humor. I miss her a lot.

In 1970 we were complaining about Richard Nixon and Watergate. Women were fighting for equal pay for equal work. I was slowly gaining understanding of just how hard it was to make ends meet.

Now, with rents out of sight and food prices soaring, things promise to be worse in 2025.

So, my grown daughter and I are planning our move to Mexico.

Without a visa, we may be able to stay for 6 months, come back to the US, and go back to Mexico where we start our 6 month stay again.

I'm a packrat, so we'll have to go through our 3 bedrooms filled with boxes and have an estate sale.

My daughter will have to sell her house. This is a great disappointment for her. We thought this move would be our last. But, we had high hopes, didn't we?

But, Corene can go back to school. That's a plus. This will be like a long study abroad program. We are both studying Spanish. Corene is very smart, and I have better hopes for her future now that we made this decision.

At this point, we're waiting to hear back from the realtor. This will determine the timing of this move, because the house must sell first, and we want to get maximum money for it.

I'm posting under a pseudonym because I don't want our relatives to know. Not yet.

This account will be a diary of our research, and our thoughts, and how we plan to accomplish The Big Adventure.

[spummerof98]

in birmingham theres an on ramp onto i-65 from lakeshore parkway that i think is a great example of the fucked up way traffic engineers treat lanes, with no regard for how it will work in real life, in that to get on the northbound on ramp from the west theres two turn lanes, and theres one slip lane from the east that merges immediately, and the ramp starts out with two lanes and goes to one like 350 feet from the start of the ramp, and then you have something like 800 feet to merge again, so if you're going from the east or get in the southern turn lane from the west you have to merge twice in like 1150 feet, which causes people to go fast as hell to try to get in front of each other and nearly hit people with they merge badly, instead of just having one lane from the beginning which then merges onto the interstate like most other on ramps, which wouldnt move as great a volume of cars but would be much safer

[spacefaxy]

also i'd like to make a note here: interstates and highways typically move at very high speed. During your time on the on ramp, you must accelerate up to that speed before merging.

THAT MEANS YOU DO NOT HOLD AT 40 MPH WITH 75 MPH ONCOMING TRAFFIC, FUCKING GO!! ZOOM!! YOURE GONNA HURT PEOPLE!!

take the time on the on ramp to accelerate to match speed and merge smoothly.

this also applies to off ramps. unless the off ramp is extremely short, or had a clearly visible sharp turn, you should NEVER slow down ON the highway itself. Move into the out lane if applicable and slow down there. If it is not possible to slow down on the off ramp, activate your blinkers WELL AHEAD of the exit, give drivers behind you a chance to either slow down or move to the passing lane BEFORE you slow down.

ok im good now

Why do so many people make tiktoks while they're clearly driving. What the fuck. Stop that shit, you're gonna kill someone.

[thepoeticfox]

Yesterday was kinda awful.

I drove an hour and a half one way to visit my mother, whom I deeply dislike, and Maps took me through a city I hate driving in bc the interstate through the middle is always really fucked up. And it's not just the lane closures and detours, it's also the fact that people are driving bumper to bumper at high speeds on very bumpy (but newish) pavement in narrow lanes. For real, if you give a safe follow distance to the car in front of you, people will fill that gap. It's amazing there isn't a pileup every day.

I also ended up a ways behind a semi that kept losing those great big wipe plastic sheets that flutter and float like tarp. The game of "oh shit why is everyone slowing down, I don't see lights?" and then seeing some poor guy in a (normal size) truck try not to get it wrapped around his axles.... was weird once but then it happened again.

In my mother's city, someone tried to cross the road to merge their truck with my car, and I am grateful to have decent reflexes. If he hadn't stopped bc of my horn, if he had kept going, all that he would've done was maybe take out my driver's side headlight and seriously piss me off, cause I had basically stopped. He heard my horn and corrected himself into the turning lane (which he had to cross anyway) and I zoomed off.

On the way back, I was taken back through Bad Interstate City where I had no idea what lane to be in and performed two of those god awful "please don't brake" merges where I'm also kissing the ass of the vehicle in front of me. Blinkers! Blinkers helped! They warned people "I desperately need in that lane now!" I never ever ever intend to do that again. I will just be lost by taking the wrong exit ramp, fuckit.

All of this combined with the weather, of fucking course, gave me a migraine. Might also be the laundry stripper stuff I started using bc my clothes were smelling musty no matter what I did. Adhd makes it hard to do laundry in a timely way, alright? Well this stuff has a scent. "Original" I was hoping, praying, meant "very little fragrance" but noooo. "But Fae, why not just get unscented?" Because they didn't have it at my store.

Fucking awful traffic, my mother, more awful traffic, perfume in my face for hours, and shifty weather. Migraine cocktail.

Did have a pretty interesting time playing Call of Cthulu, even with the migraine, though. our GM is sensitive to the migraine issues, we are chronic health buddies, so he understands the desire to push a little and have some fun. He knows I'll excuse myself if I'm too poorly.

I did get some food, hydration, salt, and caffeine in me before taking a nap when game was called early bc of family stuff on his side, so I am feeling a bit better. I think showering and changing out of the perfumed clothes also helped.

I've had a fucking day, and now I am going to relax in my nice pretty office space and figure out how to store/display all these paints in a way that matches my aesthetic <3

[the-firebird69]

Shared route

Shared route

From Saint Ann to Rhinelander via I-55 N and I-39 N.

7 hr 59 min (562 mi)

7 hr 59 min in current traffic

1. Head north on Westridge Ln toward St Martha Ln

2. Turn right onto MO-180 E/St Charles Rock Rd

3. Turn left onto the I-170 N ramp

4. Merge onto I-170 N

5. Take exit 10B for I-270 E toward Chicago

6. Take exit 15B for I-55 N toward Chicago/Springfield

7. Keep right at the fork to stay on I-55 N, follow signs for I-72 E/Chicago/Decatur

8. Keep right at the fork to stay on I-55 N, follow signs for Interstate 55 N/Chicago

9. Take exit 164 for I-39/US-51 N toward Rockford

10. Take the I-39 N/US-20 E exit toward Wisconsin-Belvidere Rockford

11. Use the left 2 lanes to take the I-90 W/I-39/US-51 exit toward Wisconsin

12. Keep left to stay on I-39 N/I-90 W

13. Keep left to continue on I-39 N/I-90 W/I-94 W

14. Take exit 108 A-B for I-39 N toward US-51/Portage/Wausau

15. Keep right to continue on Exit 108B, follow signs for I-39 N/US-51/Portage/Wausau

16. Use the right lane to take the US-8 ramp to Prentice/Rhinelander

17. Turn right onto US-8 E

18. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto W Kemp St

19. Exit the traffic circle onto W Kemp St

20. Turn left onto Arbutus St

21. Slight left onto S Stevens St

22. Turn left onto W King St

23. Arrive at location: Rhinelander

For the best route in current traffic visit https://maps.app.goo.gl/3hZhM7v2Gzkoise27

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3hZhM7v2Gzkoise27

Left in the upper Midwest would be Eastern Wisconsin Eastern Illinois Indiana Ohio Michigan and part of Pennsylvania of course the Western half almost half the state. It's still fairly good size Plus Canada but it's only five miles north of the Great lakes North Havana sauce except for a 500 MI radius around the Hudson Bay but it does close off and it goes to the East Coast to the Atlantic. This is a big area and there's a lot of people there and we have put a wall up where you see the line it's kind of straight down the middle of three lines and it's almost due north and south between the two points. For real. We are aggressively clearing and people are evacuating the areas in the cities of Illinois and Western Wisconsin as a matter of fact they are vacuuming the east of those States to a lesser degree 50% of those there now anticipate to evacuate to the west of the wall where is 20% of active evacuated last night already we anticipate 25% to the east to the wall within those two states will evacuate today they are anxious to leave and we're holding off until the upper Midwest is emptied a little bit more from erasing cities.

-they are seeking to relocate Wells Fargo Bank and it is a decent venture but not sure if we should let them do something that crazy and we've been waiting for that for a long time and don't want them to destroy it. Fargo the movie will begin today along with several other films such as Jaws one the others have completed and they got massively injured and about 25% of them are gone forever and everybody was fighting over the sharks. Some of our money I mean our son's money that's what I was saying is up there North Dakota at that branch it was moved there from the upper Midwest because they wanted to drag people to North Dakota and it did not work they went out in and out a whole bunch of times accepted stipends to stay there for a week and left. Is a huge number of people who are trying to get in to go there. And Fargo is a small town so the airport is about 100 miles away and you have to drive and I'll kind of wondering how they're going to get there and that sun laughs and says during the daytime.

-couple other things are happening there are the formations on the border of Charlotte county to enforce their way in the military of USA is repelling them and staying there not welcome here their actions are illegal and be met with brute Force and they say that before but he didn't tell people. It's probably about 5 million at the outer ring and 3,000 no 300,000 at the inner and they're being fired upon. And almost out and this is triggering reactions in Florida to evacuate and it is more luck who are leaving all kinds including clones. Over the past two days only had expected high numbers but they did evacuate about 15% of Florida is more luck there was some infilling about 5% but now they're not coming back they're not that many attacking and not that many forming they are leaving I'm going to the islands and other parts

Going to publish so we don't lose it

Thor Freya

Zues

What time we get some help here he's falling to sleep all the time

Hera lol

Olympus

[kurokoros]

Quick I need tips for driving on the interstate!

[dracox-serdriel]

An example of a parkway is the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. It's a historic roadway. It's beautiful.

It opened in 1938. As you can imagine, cars were a wee bit different back then, particularly top speeds. Oh, and people have fought to keep the parkway way it is...

So, in short, it's also an absolute hellscape. On ramps? What are those? Here's a few yards to merge! There are several entrances that have literal stop signs. Want to get on this road? You have 10 feet to get up to 60 mph so you don't get run over! Want to go somewhere around dawn or dusk? Don't take the Merritt, deers will be afrolic, and you can't see them 'till it's too late because of the landscaping.

No large trucks, sure, but plenty of danger.

Speaking of that, here's a fun story about highways that allow big trucks!

I prefer to drive at night. For one, there are fewer drivers. For another, I have managed to get sunburned when day driving no matter how hard I try to avoid it. I was driving across countries (literally more than one, as I started in Alaska, drove through Canada, and was at this time driving down the West Coast, so I could take I-40 to the East coast) and had just visited a friend in Portland, OR. I took the interstate (I-5) down from there. Like always, I left late, and it was dark not long after I headed out.

Part of I-5 goes through a pretty steep/mountainous area. And I finally made real use of the fog lights in my small car, as this road was FOGCITY. When I tell you I was the only one on the road, I'm not exaggerating. Just one tiny Volvo winding its way through the foggy curves of I-5 while navigating some pretty steep roadwork on top of the curves.

As I'm going, I pass by an area with a wide shoulder/pull off, and I hear an engine start up. A BIG engine. Aha! I am not the only one on this road!

And this keeps happening! Every time I pass an area where cars/trucks can pull off, a big engine starts up. Sometimes more than one. I think nothing of it.

At one point, I look up in my rear view and see a kind of a caravan behind me. All of them are huge trucks (18-wheelers). ALL of them. And that's when I realize what's been happening.

These trucks cannot see in this fog. Their headlights hit it and reflect pure white back at them with no way to see the road. So when the road gets foggy, they have to pull over because they literally cannot see the road to drive. (But they can see and follow a pair of tail lights.)

Meanwhile, my tiny sedan and its fog lights can see the road. I'm driving like there's no fog at all. And literally dozens of truckers were like, "Whelp, that one person in front must surely be able to see to drive right? Let me follow that there caravan!"

And that was how I came to lead dozens of trucks through the foggiest parts of I-5 one night while listening to The Hobbit on CD (a 10-disc set).

Writing fanfic as a non-US citizen like

[whoistartaglia]

driving headcanons. 

including: kaeya, scaramouche, childe, ayato, and al haitham. 

warnings: gender neutral reader, fluff, reckless driving in childe’s part.

notes: inspired by my own bad driving. 

kaeya.

kaeya was a good driver. a great one, even. but he was terrible, absolutely terrible, with directions.

he couldn’t make one drive without getting lost or making at least at few wrong turns, even if you were there to help.

you looked up from the map on your phone to the road before you. “kaeya! you were supposed to get off at that exit.”

“really? oh, sorry. i’ll just get off at the next one,” kaeya replied as he got into the wrong lane. you opened your mouth to tell him to merge back, that he was in the wrong lane, and the next exit was coming up—

it was too late. the exit ramp came and went.  

“kaeya!” you exclaimed, exasperated. “that was the next exit and you passed it. we have miles until another one!”

“sorry, sorry! i’ll get off at that one, i swear.”

“you said that last time!” 

kaeya, thankfully, did get off the interstate at the next exit. except that when he tried to get back on in the opposite direction, he accidently merged onto an adjacent highway. now you were headed east when you really needed to be going south. 

before kaeya could issue another applogy, you very quickly cut him off. “don’t. next exit, the very next one, you’re getting off, and i’m driving home.”

you didn’t need to tell him twice. 

scaramouche. 

scaramouche absolutely did not appreciate your comment asking if he needed extenders to reach the petals.

he was not that short. and there wasn’t anything wrong with using extenders to drive, but scaramouche didn’t appreciate that jab at his height.

“it was just a joke,” you insisted. maybe your words would have had more weight to them if you weren’t laughing as you said them. you tried, and failed, to keep a straight face as you again repeated, “i’m sorry.”

“no you’re not.”

“you’re right,“ you said, on the verge of another fit of laughter. “i’m not.” 

you were being mean, but scaramouche was mean all the time. it was about time you gave him a deserved taste of his own medicine. 

it was when you almost started crying in laughter did scaramouche decide to never drive you anywhere ever again. you wanted to go to somewhere? fine. scaramouche would go with you, but you would be the one driving.

when scaramouche told that to you, he expected you to immediately stop and actually apologize, if only to get him behind the wheel again. but without missing a beat, you only tilted you head, and asked very, very innocently, “is it because you don’t want me to see you drive with petal extenders?”

“why you—“

childe. 

this was it. you were going to die. you were going to die, and your boyfriend was going be the one who did it.

“childe! that car’s breaking—“

childe slammed on the breaks just before the hood of his car collided with the one in front of you. it was slowing down to get onto the off ramp and childe—

“you can’t pass him on the shoulder!” you said, even as childe maneuvered the car onto the left shoulder. 

“it’s fine! i got this,” childe insisted. you could only watch in horror as he hit the gas petal and very quickly went around the turning car. and then he was back over the speed limit, racing down the interstate, merging in and out of the different lanes. 

“childe, please slow down— that is not an exit ramp!”

childe jerked the car back into the right lane. another car, or maybe it was several, honked at him. but you supposed that was at least better than childe accidently getting onto the on ramp… in the wrong direction. 

a wail sounded in the distance.

“are those… sirens?” you asked.

childe’s hands tightened on the wheel. 

the blaring noise began to grow louder and louder. when you turned, you saw not one but two cop cars behind you. and they were state troopers, not your local police force, either.

you buried your face in your hands. childe was about to get pulled over. again. 

ayato.

“you don’t know how to drive?” you asked, surprised.

it wasn’t like you and ayato lived in a big city where you didn’t need a car. you both lived in a small town where driving was the only way to get around. 

ayato shrugged. “i never learned.” 

“oh.” with some hesitation, you said, “i can… teach you. if you want.”

ayato looked surprised. he went to say something, but you continued before he could. “i’m… not the best driver. but i can still teach you the basics— oh, but you would need a permit first…”

you trailed off and looked up. ayato looked conflicted, and for a second, you wondered if he maybe was afraid of driving. maybe that’s why he didn’t have his license.

“it’s okay if you don’t have to, though,” you said, not wanting to pressure him further. but then a thought occured to you. “wait but… how do you get around then?”

ayato pressed his lips together, and then reluctantly admitted, “i never learned because i never needed to learn. i have a lot of… limo drivers…”

he gave you a sheepish smile, which quickly faltered and faded once he realized you were unamused. very unamused. 

ayato gulped. you were going to teach ayato how to drive, whether he liked it, or not. 

al haitham.

al haitham followed all the rules of the road, always used his turn signals, never cut other drivers off. the perfect driver really… except for one, admittedly huge, flaw.

al haitham was a little too polite on the road.

“you have time to go,” you said. al haitham was about to make a left turn, but was currently waiting for an oncoming car to pass. which would have been fine, if the car wasn’t more than a quarter mile away.

he had more than enough time to complete the turn. 

the oncoming car flashed its high beams, the signal to go. but still, al haitham did not move. the car behind you honked, and you felt like you could die from secondhand embarassment. 

“please go,” you almost begged. 

“i’ll just wait. it’s fine, really.”

you didn’t argue back, even though you kind of wanted to. you glanced at the side view mirror and saw a line of cars behind yours. 

the oncoming car was closer now and—

it passed. you let out a breath, expecting al haitham finally to make the turn but he remained still. 

“why—“

“another car’s coming. i can’t go yet.”

it was even further away than the first one.

when the car behind you illegally passed you in the opposite lane, you couldn’t even blame them.

not in the slightest.

[cuntwrap--supreme]

Hi. Hello. Is it too much to ask for people getting onto the interstate to stay in their FUCKING LANE while merging? Yes, I realize there are two lanes getting on this particular ramp. You cannot occupy both at once, because then I have the option of hitting you or hitting a fucking concrete wall, and you bet your ass that I'll cut in front of you going 80 and slam into a dead stop in front of you.

Thanks.

-this post is brought to you by Leon's roadrage

[lilbit-of-kizzy]

Types of people on the interstate:

I'm going to drive consistently the speed limit, and stay in the right lane while doing so (angels)

I'm going to drive 5 or so over the limit and politely pass if I need to, but otherwise stay in the right lane (perfect ily)

I'm going to Speed™ but I understand that others aren't, if I come up on someone trying to pass in the left lane I'll keep a respectful distance until they merge right again (god speed good luck with your tickets!)

I'm and going to Speed™ and I will make it your problem (may many tickets shower upon you)

I am going so slow in the left lane, there's no one else around what does it matter? You 3 other cars can go around me (hate rage kill)

I don't like my speedometer, I'm gonna use you instead ok? (No. Go away. I will slam my breaks just to watch you have a mild panic attack, learn to drive...also just fyi cops pull the car in the left lane ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

I pass trucks going the same speed I've been going like a normal person

I wait until the next car passes the truck then speed as fast I can past it myslef (ok but that's worse....you understand why that's worse right??)

My exit is in 5 miles, I'm going to go 20 under the limit now (why...just....they're called deceleration ramps for a reason???)

This is my exit, I will slam my breaks now (the ramp is right there)

Curve!?!!!?!!?!! *Goes from speeding to 50mph* (bye)

I'm not gonna set a cruise control, but I'll watch my speed as much as I can (fine whatever)

I'm not gonna set a cruise control fuck consistency. Oh it's 65? I'm gonna do 70 NO...63....JK 80!! (I will shoot out your tire, for the love of God USE YOUR ACCELERATOR UP THE HILL)

Haha we ride beside each other isn't this fun and cute 😄 (YOU'RE DOING 60 IN A 70)

I'm doing 65 in and 65...wait is that a Prius? (Istg your pride as a driver will survive me passing you)

I am on my phone (I can tell)

I am zoned out...oh a car is getting close/starting to pass me, am I not doing the speed limit? *Does 90* omg I'm speeding 😱 *goes back to 60*

Feel free to add more lol there are more but this got long. Anyways if you're driving on the interstate please, if your cruise control works, use it and be respectful of other drivers if you want to speed!....and for all that is holy stay out of the left lane (if you're not passing lol)

[jinmukangwrites]

Whumptober 2021 - October 7th - Blindness

Gift fic for @sassydefendorflower

Fandom: Nightwing, Batman - All Media Types

AO3

Warnings: Head Injury, slight descriptions of blood

---

Slade dodges under the swinging blow of Blüdhaven’s newest sewer monster; born from whatever chemicals a rat has gotten into near some chemist-based super-villain’s old hideout. Now, while it’s not everyday Slade goes out of his way to take down various monsters across the ‘Haven, this time… he feels a little obligated to.

Yes, he is the reigning champion of being Nightwing’s least favorite and most powerful villain, but unfortunately Nightwing is Slade’s favorite and most interesting opponent. He came to the ‘Haven to give the kid a head’s up that he has a mark in the city; a regular challenge he likes to set for the kid to try and stop him. However, when he didn’t find Nightwing along any of his normal routes, nor in his apartment, he turned to the news to see if the kid had left for Gotham or some other city without him noticing; preparing to postpone this mark until he was back in his patron city and away from other bats.

It was then he noticed the breaking news that a giant, sewage themed rat was wreaking havoc under Blüdhaven’s streets in the downtown areas, near a major subway platform. Nightwing was spotted going in, telling people to stay out, and he hasn’t been seen since.

Of course, Slade went to the fight, and it’s a good thing he did. When he got there, he found Nightwing limp in the creature’s tail, held inches from it’s long and jagged front teeth. Blood trailed down the side of his skull in a steady flow. Slade knew immediately he was unconscious.

He took out one of his pistols and shot at the rat, but the monster was so large and feral it hardly did anything when it went into its arm. It dropped Nightwing like a sack of flour onto the ground, snarling as it turned to it’s newest threat, drool dripping down it’s snout. Slade pulled out his swords and faced it head on.

The creature, while lacking any intelligence, was fast and powerful. Even Slade had trouble ducking under its tail that it used like a club and avoiding its powerful legs and jaw. While it’s disappointing to see Nightwing taken down by a creature as low as this, he can’t exactly blame the kid when it takes himself several minutes to finally get his sword through the thing’s tail. He cuts off the appendage, then while the monster screeches in agony, he pierces its throat.

It goes down twitching and gurgling, its blood bubbling down into the sewer's already questionable streams of water. He whips his swords out, getting off a majority of the wretched blood, then heads over to his unconscious person of interest.

Nightwing doesn’t move as he kneels down beside him, in fact he’s still in the rather undignified position he had been dropped in. Frowning, Slade moves Nightwing into a better position that won't strain his spine and smacks his face lightly to wake him up. He doesn’t even twitch, causing Slade to frown more. His head is still bleeding, which is worrisome. He grabs a tube of smelling-salts from his pouch—usually used to wake up people he’s previously knocked out to get some information out of them—and firmly places it under Nightwing’s nose. A solid few seconds pass before Nightwing’s eyes shoot open under his domino mask; his hands fly out to his face to stifle coughs and he rocks forward so he’s sitting instead of laying down.

Slade doesn’t try to make conversation quite yet, more worried about that head injury. He holds Nightwing by the jaw to tilt his head and get a better look, but Nightwing reacts like the touch was electrified. He smacks Slade’s arms away and jumps to his feet, stumbling back and holding out a single escrima. Slade doesn’t know where the other one went.

“Sit back down,” Slade growls, “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Nightwing flinches at the initial sound of his voice, his mouth dropping open in shock before lowering his single weapon slightly.

“Slade?” he asks, his voice slurred.

Slade resists sighing, and lifts his eyebrow. Who else would it be? It’s not that dark here, even with Slade’s heightened senses. Nightwing doesn’t relax completely though, as if waiting for an answer. Not for the first time that night, another spike of worry rises in his chest.

“Kid, sit down or I’ll make you sit down.”

Nightwing almost goes boneless after that, breathing a single ”thank fuck” before sinking to his ass and putting his head in his hands with a groan.

Now Slade does sigh, even rolling his eyes as he does so, as he once again approaches Nightwing and grabs onto his face to look at the wound. Nightwing hisses and flinches out of his grasp.

“Don’t,” he says, “I already know how bad it is.”

Slade hums, folding his arms across his chest. “How bad is it then?”

Nightwing remains quiet for a moment, biting his lip, perhaps internally fighting with himself on whether or not it’s a good idea to tell one of his biggest enemies about how injured he is. Eventually, Nightwing makes the smart choice and speaks anyway, knowing Slade will find no pleasure in ending him if he's already down.

“Head feels like a war-drum. Feel like ‘m gonna throw up. Voice slurred… ears ringing… I-” Nightwing hesitates. Then sighs. “I can’t see.”

“You can’t see?” Slade repeats, kneeling down to once again take Nightwing’s face in his hands. Nightwing fights the grasp, but this time Slade holds strong and takes off the mask, revealing unfocused electric-blues.

“Nothing, it’s all black,” Nightwing whispers, a slight wobble in his voice that Slade is sure he’s trying to keep down.

He grabs a small flashlight from his tools and shines it in Nightwing’s eyes, frowning as there’s hardly any reaction in the pupils. He clicks off the light and releases Nightwing, thinking of options.

He’s sure the last thing the kid’ll want is to get dumped at the hospital, but Slade’s no medical expert, especially with something as fragile as a normal human’s brain.

He sighs, as only one option realistically reveals itself. The last thing Slade wants to do is risk Nightwing going home all on his own and possibly making this blindness permanent when there could be something that can be done to help him. Nightwing is a competent, talented young man, which is why he’s so intriguing to Slade—and while he has all the faith that Nightwing will find a way to fight even if his sight is forever gone, Slade also knows the loss of sense will be a major blow to the kid’s moral for months to come. He’s seen how far Nightwing can fall with helplessness and depression plaguing him, and honestly the thrill of fighting him leaves when his fire is replaced with a desperateness to prove to himself that he’s still worth something. He needs Nightwing to have a steady support system, and help for this injury.

Nightwing is going to hate him for a while after this, but Slade has no choice. He doesn’t fight against Nightwing to kill him, but because those fights are the only thing that brings a fun challenge. For how human Nightwing is, he fights like a beast, and Slade can’t lose that.

“Up,” he says while returning the kid’s mask; he grabs Nightwing by the arm and lifts him to his feet. Nightwing groans, but doesn’t fight too badly as Slade firmly wraps his arm around Slade’s shoulders. “Where is the best place to exit this place without being spotted?”

Nightwing, with the complexion of the inside of an avocado, talks him through on where to go. He looks one small fit of nausea away from throwing up all over Slade’s armor.

Luckily, he keeps it in his stomach—perhaps the discomfort in his body being something more desirable to deal with than a vomit covered Slade—and by the time they make it out of a small, boarded up and abandoned, exit to the subway line, Slade lets the kid take a break by the nearest dumpster. Nightwing, the poor thing, must have lost everything he’s eaten today in those fifteen minutes.

Now that he’s out below Blüdhaven’s night sky, he’s now the one in charge of leading the way. Nightwing stumbles along blindly—hah—never letting go of his weak grasp around Slade’s neck and shoulders.

Finally, they make it to where Slade has parked the car he had taken into the city. The windows are all tinted to near-illegal levels, but Slade still stuffs Nighting in the back-seats and hands him a bucket he had in the trunk that previously held a few hundred bullets from when he bought them in bulk.

“Throw up on the seats and I’m making you buy me a new car.”

“Bet this one was stolen anyway,” Nightwing mumbles, curled up in the backseats with the bucket touching his stomach like a flu-ridden child.

Slade scoffs and closes the door after reminding him to keep his head down but to stay awake. He takes off his Deathstroke mask, then the top bits of his armor, and shoves them in the truck. Then, after he gets in the driver's seat, they’re off.

Getting out of downtown Blüdhaven should be the hardest part of all of this; both for Slade’s navigation skills and for Nightwing’s gag-reflex. Eventually, however, they make it out of the twists and turns of downtown and eventually make it onto the main roads of the city—still crowded with cars coming too and from various ass-awful shifts of work. Nightwing remains quite agreeable in the backseats, responding that he’s awake every time Slade calls for a status report (about every five-ten minutes), and groaning at every turn no matter how slow Slade takes them.

However, that agreeableness quickly leaves the boy when Slade enters the on-ramp connecting to the north-south interstate.

Kid almost makes himself throw up by how quickly he scrambles to a sitting position; ignoring Slade's commands to lay back down.

“Turn around,” Nightwing growls. And it’s a strong growl too, reminds Slade of a chihuahua. Shaking and all.

“You’re currently blind, you have no idea where-”

“I know the roads of my city, Slade. And you’re leaving it.”

Slade sighs and merges into traffic, then uses one hand to shove Nightwing back town onto the seats. “Keep down, a cop will see you.”

“Where are you taking me?”

Slade remains silent.

“Tell me it’s a secret mansion somewhere and you have your own personal doctor that can help. Or you know a guy that happens to be down south. Or-”

“I’m taking you to Gotham,” Slade says, ripping off the band-aid.

Nightwing looks all sorts of emotions in the span of a few seconds. The one he settles on, however, is anger.

“No.”

“Batman gets injured all the time,” Slade begins to explain, but Nightwing looks frantic now.

“No, don’t take me back- I’ve worked so hard to get him to see that I can do things without him- and he has a new kid now and-”

“Suck it up,” Slade growls. “Deal with it. I’m not like you, kid. I don’t know how to take care of a normal human, and I definitely don’t know anyone who can because I have no need to. What you need is a doctor that can treat you off the record, who knows about your nightlife. Batman has that, doesn’t he.”

It’s not a question, but Nightwing’s silence is still an answer.

“Whatever your old man thinks of you for coming back injured doesn’t matter in the end. Nor does the new kid. What you should worry more about is what I think of you after this. You’re not fighting Batman, you’re fighting me.”

“What if he doesn’t let me fight after this?” Nightwing… Dick whispers as he finally lays back down on the seats. He’s taken his mask off and is rubbing his eyes, perhaps quelling tears or a headache. Perhaps both. “What if my sight doesn’t come back? What if he retires me?”

Slade remains silent for a second, then answers as firmly as he can. “I’ve known plenty of formidable enemies who are missing a sense. You’ll find a way to get back up, and if he doesn’t let you then I’ll just have to break in, kidnap you, and train you myself.”

That startles a laugh out of Dick. “I thought you were no longer trying to get me to be your apprentice.”

Slade shrugs, allowing a smile on his lips, selfishly comforted that Dick couldn’t see it. “You have a lot of potential, kid, I’d rather you use it against me than not at all. I’ll train you and release you like the bird you are, and we can get back to the same ol’ dance we have.”

Dick takes a deep breath. “Yeah. Yeah… okay. I’ll hold you to that.”

-o-o-o-o-

Slade parks the car in an old neighborhood in Gotham that has a considerable drop in crime compared to the rest of the city. All things considered. Though, the sun is beginning to rise and Slade’s positive the Bat knew he was in his city the second he drove into it. Dick knows this too, as he’s telling Slade to hurry up and get out of here despite the boy still looking green around the gills. Slade grabs his mask and armor, then turns to the stolen car he’s about to abandon and opens the back door near Dick’s face.

Suddenly, and rather embarrassingly, he doesn’t know what to say. Thankfully, Dick is a freaky empath sometimes and gives an exhausted smile.

“Don’t worry,” he says, “I’ll get through this.”

“Good,” Slade replies. “I won't let you quit.”

His grin widens. “Never.”

Then Slade closes the door and takes off quickly, only pausing on a distant roof to watch a large black figure and a smaller red-and-yellow clad child approach the car and catch sight of the injured bird inside.

From there, Slade turns and leaves, not looking back.

He’ll see Nightwing on the battlefield again. No matter what, Slade will make sure of it.

[atlfics]

Midnight Drive- All Time Low Fanfiction

Jack takes Alex on a night drive, and Alex confronts him about something serious. High School AU.  Word Count: 3400

TW: angst, self-harm, suicidal thoughts 

More notes at the end. 

“Alex, we should take a drive!” Jack exclaims, as Alex yawns.

“A drive? Jack, it’s twelve thirty-six in the morning,” Alex replies, still finishing his yawn.

“So? It’s a Friday night, we can stay up as late as we want! Besides, I don’t think we’re ready to watch a movie and fall asleep yet,”

“Speak for yourself, dude. Why do you want to drive so badly?”

“It’s a nice night, no rain or anything. I don’t know, I just want to drive with the windows down and the music loud with no one else on the road, y’know?” Jack continued, digging in his pocket for his keys.

“Well, no, I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve ever had the urge to randomly drive in the middle of the night, but sure, we can. You have to drive, though. I think if I drive, I’ll fall asleep at the wheel,” Alex decided, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to feel more awake.

“That’s fine, I figured I’d be driving anyway. I think it’s a little cold out, we should grab our jackets,”

“Good point, I don’t want to be cold and tired. My jacket is on the hook by the back door,”

“Same here, let’s grab them then drive,”

They both got up from the sectional, and Alex followed Jack up the stairs from the basement and over to the back door. Once they had their coats on, they quietly walked out the back door, not wanting to wake Jack’s parents up and have them question what was going on. Alex hugged himself through his jacket, it wasn’t super cold out, but the slight breeze and exhaustion Alex was experiencing made it feel cooler than it really was.

As soon as they got into Jack’s car, Alex immediately reached for the temperature dial, turning the heat up as high as it would go.

“It’s not that cold out here,” Jack stated, laughing as he pulled out of the driveway.

“It feels cold to me! Once the car is warmer, we can turn the heat down some,” Alex decided.

“The heat being on is just going to make you more sleepy, you know. If the AC were on and blowing in your face, it would force you to wake up some more,”

“We are not turning the AC on, dude. You’re insane if you actually drive with the cold air blasting in this weather,”

“Hey now, don’t knock it until you try it! Anyway, I’m putting on Take Off Your Pants and Jacket at full volume, sound good?” Jack asked, messing with his stereo some.

“I don’t know if we need full-“

Alex was cut off by the first song on the album starting to blast through the speakers. The sudden loud noise made him jump, but it did make him feel a little more awake. He didn’t really want to feel wide awake at almost one in the morning, but at this point, he figured he’d just embrace it. If he was being honest, this was the last place he wanted to be right now, he wanted to be back in Jack’s basement, falling asleep on the sectional couch with some raunchy comedy playing in the background, but he wanted to make Jack happy.

Jack had been having a rough school year, dealing with mental health issues that got so bad that it led to him getting hospitalized for a month. This was three months ago now, and Jack had promised Alex that he was fine when he’d come home, and that if he felt that bad again, he’d talk to someone.

Alex knew this was selfish, but he didn’t want Jack to get bad again, because he didn’t want his friend to be gone for a long time again. Communicating with Jack had been hard, they were forced to write letters back and forth since the people Jack could call on the phone was limited to his parents and siblings.

They’d spent the first ten minutes of the drive going through random subdivisions and neighborhoods, but as soon as he could, Jack drove onto the highway, immediately rolling the windows down.

“Are you sure you want to drive on the interstate?” Alex yelled over the music.

“Hell yeah, dude! This is the best part!” Jack exclaimed, picking up speed as he merged from the ramp onto the actual highway.

Alex grabbed onto the sides of his seat, anxiety going through him as it seemed like Jack was just going to keep accelerating in speed. He tried taking deep breaths, he knew Jack wasn’t actually going to keep going so fast, but it was a bit intimidating being in such a fast moving car on a normally busy stretch of road with the speakers blaring. Eventually, Jack did slow down a bit, making Alex’s anxiety start to dwindle, and allowing him to actually enjoy the drive.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, this is actually kind of fun!” Alex eventually said, turning the music down just a bit to make talking easier.

“See, I told you! Also, it’s hot as hell in here,” Jack replied, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead.

“Can we keep the heat on just a bit longer?”

“I guess, as long as it’ll keep you happy,”

Jack carefully rolled his sleeves up, then put both hands back on the wheel. Alex had to admit, there was something almost magical about being on an empty highway in the middle of the night, it made time feel nonexistent.

They went down a stretch of road with a bunch of street lights, and Alex looked over at Jack. He slowly went from the top of Jack’s head down, but immediately stopped when he got about halfway down. The lighting wasn’t great, but Alex was almost positive that he saw fresh cuts on Jack’s wrists.

Alex felt his stomach start to churn some, he didn’t want to pry and make Jack engage in a conversation that he wasn’t comfortable with, but Alex couldn’t just ignore what he’d seen. Jack had been doing so well, Alex had to know what happened, but he knew that the middle of the highway wasn’t the place for this conversation.

“Hey, um, can we get off the highway and pull into a parking lot for a minute? I’m feeling, um, a bit carsick,” Alex requested, looking back over to Jack.

“Sure, yeah, I’ll take this exit here,” Jack replied, a sense of urgency in his voice.

Alex hadn’t totally been lying, his stomach did hurt some, but it was from anxiety rather than carsickness. Seeing what he saw made Alex blame himself some, had Jack been acting differently? Did Jack try to hint that something was up, but Alex just didn’t catch on?

These thoughts, along with others, rattled around his head as Jack got off at the exit, then drove up a stretch of road until they found a parking lot that seemed safe enough to hang out in for a bit.

“We can hang here for a bit, do you feel like you’re going to puke?” Jack asked, putting he car in park and turning his lights off to save the battery.

“Jack, um, we didn’t really get off the highway because I felt carsick,” Alex started, feeling nervous.

“Really? Why’d we stop driving, then? Hey, you do actually look a bit sick to your stomach,” Jack observed, turning on one of the overhead lights.

“Well, I am, but not from being in the car,”

“Okay, well, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

“I think the better question is are you okay, Jack?”

“Of course I am, why do you ask? Also, why are you acting weird?”

“Jack, when we were driving and you pulled your sleeves up some, um, I saw something on your wrist,” Alex nervously started.

He hated himself for feeling so nervous about this, it had to be done for Jack’s safety, and he knew that Jack would eventually be appreciative of his concern, but angering his friend, especially so late at night and in the middle of nowhere wasn’t really what Alex had in mind for the evening.

“What? No, there’s nothing on my wrists, I’m all good!” Jack exclaimed, clearly overcompensating.

“Okay, well, if there’s nothing, can I see them? Just to make sure you’re right?”

“Why do you need to do that? I already gave you your answer,” Jack defensively stated, his tone indicating that he was starting to get annoyed.

“Well, I mean, if there really isn’t anything, then why would showing me be a problem? Let me see, if there really is nothing, I’ll accept being wrong, and we can go about our night,” Alex proposed, starting to feel a bit more confident.

“Okay, fine, I guess you have a point. I’ll show you in three, two, one,”

Jack quickly flashed his wrist in Alex’s face for all of three seconds before lowering his wrists and grabbing the ends of his sleeves with his hands.

“Jack, we both know I didn’t see anything,”

“Exactly, because there’s nothing to see!” Jack exclaimed, his voice cracking some.

“Look, I know that this kind of conversation is hard to have, but we’re having it because I care about you. I don’t want you to feel how you did a few months ago, I’m not trying to pry, I’m trying to help you before things have the opportunity to get bad. Now, will you please show me again? I need to be able to see this time,” Alex sternly stated, looking the most serious Jack had ever seen him.

Jack just stared at Alex for a moment, he knew that he’d been cornered and just had to comply at this point, but he still didn’t want to. After a few deep breaths, he slowly rolled up his sleeves some, then held his wrists out for Alex to look at.

As Alex had predicted, fresh cuts littered Jack’s wrists. They were mostly small and not very deep, but there were quite a few, especially on his left wrist; this made sense to Alex, since Jack was right handed. Alex stayed silent for a minute after Jack put his arms back down in his lap, trying his hardest to come up with something to say that was coherent and made sense.

“Jack, what happened?”

“I don’t know, Alex. I’m really sorry, though,” Jack replied, hot tears starting to pool in his eyes.

“Don’t apologize, I just want to know what caused this. You were doing so good, Jack. When did you do this?”

“Well, it started a week and a half ago, most of these cuts are from last night and the night before that, though,” Jack admitted, his tears starting to spill from his eyes.

“What made you do this, Jack? Like, what were you feeling? Did something specific trigger it?” Alex questioned, sounding more frantic than he’d intended to.

“That’s a lot of questions,”

“You’re right, sorry about that. I guess we should start with what triggered you to do this? You’d been clean from self harm for, like, two and a half months,”

“I know, Alex. The first time I did it since I’d stopped, it was because I got into this really bad depressive spiral. I tried so many things to get out of it, I tried exercising, I tried journaling, I tried talking to people, but nothing was working. I just felt so sad and wanted to feel something else, so I did this. It felt kind of good, so now every time I’ve been sad or upset since that first time, I’ve been self harming,” Jack explained, trying to hold back tears that slowly spilled from his eyes.

“Why didn’t you talk to me? We could’ve figured out a solution to what you were feeling that didn’t involve you hurting yourself,”

“I tried to, dude. We’d actually been texting the day I did it for the first time, I almost called you and told you what was going on, but I didn’t want to bother you and I didn’t think I’d get back to doing it so frequently,”

“Jack, I have to ask an important question, and I need you to answer honestly, okay?” Alex calmly asked his friend.

“Okay, what is it?”

“Are you having thoughts about wanting to end your life? Like, the ones you were having shortly before you were hospitalized?”

“I mean, yeah, I guess. I don’t have a real plan or intent, but the passive suicidal thoughts have been coming and going since right before I started cutting again,”

“Do you think you need to go back to the hospital?” Alex gently asked, putting his hand on Jack’s back, hoping it was comforting.

“No, fuck no, dude! I can’t go back there, I just can’t! Like, the staff were fine and honestly so were the other patients, but being almost fully cut off from my family and friends, especially you, no, I can’t do that again,” Jack continued, his tears starting to pick up again.

“Jack, I get that, but you might not have much of a choice,”

“No, I have a choice, my choice is that I’m not going back to that fucking place!”

“Listen, Jack, when you were gone for all of that time, it was hard on me, too. You’re my best friend, the person I want to tell everything to as soon as it happens. You’re the person I feel the most comfortable confiding in, and I couldn’t talk to you when I needed help for the longest time. You being gone was painful, but the thing that kept me sane was that I knew it was for the best. Jack, if you’re feeling the urge to hurt yourself and are thinking about ending your life, you need to get help again,”

“Why the fuck would I do that? Why would I go back to the place that clearly failed me the first time?”

“I don’t think that place failed you, Jack. When you got home, you were almost like a different person, but in a good way. The way I see it, that place didn’t fail you and you didn’t fail it, you just hit a rocky patch, which is totally okay. However, we need to address this rocky patch before something bad happens. Now, do you think you need to go back?”

“Maybe, to be honest. I don’t know, Alex, I don’t want to be that freak who had to go to the mental hospital twice in one year, you know how much I’ll get made fun of for that?” Jack asked, his crying getting stronger and his face getting redder.

Alex moved his hand up from the middle of Jack’s back to his shoulders, doing his best to give him a half hug while being somewhat restricted by the seats.

“Hey, seeking out help doesn’t make you a freak, it makes you brave,”

“No, it just makes me weak,”

“Actually, I think it’s quite the opposite. Why didn’t you ask me for help when you started cutting recently?”

“I don’t know, I guess I was nervous about what you’d say and what I’d have to do next,”

“So, you were scared? Anxious, maybe?”

“I guess so. What does this have to do with anything?”

“That fear and anxiety you’re feeling, that shit makes so many people who need help not ask for it. You’re tougher than those people, you asked for help the first time, remember? Who says you won’t be able to do it again?”

“I get your point, but I shouldn’t need to ask for help again. Like, I already spent a month in the hospital, I should know how to deal with stuff now and not need to go back,”

“That’s not always how it works, Jack. Some people might only have to ever go to a place like that once, or maybe even not at all, but some people need to go more than once. Sure, you learned ways to deal with problems, but you could be having new problems that you didn’t learn to deal with because they didn’t exist the first time you went,”

“So you’re saying that every time I have a minor inconvenience in life, I’ll lose control and have to go back to the psych ward?” Jack asked, cynically laughing.

“Not at all, dude. You’re still figuring shit out, like what bothers you and what doesn’t, what you need help dealing with and what you can handle on your own. Jack, if you go back to the hospital, it won’t be the end of the world. I’ll miss you like crazy, but I’d rather you be gone for a month or two than forever. Jack, I can’t lose you permanently,” Alex stated, seriousness in his cracking voice.

They were silent for a minute, Jack was trying to piece together something coherent to say. Alex, on the other hand, started picturing scenarios where Jack wasn’t there, and it freaked him out. The thought of living a life without his best friend felt impossible, and made tears start to pool in Alex’s eyes.

“What if people make fun of me for having going to the hospital again?” Jack finally asked, his voice weak.

“If people bully you for getting help and taking care of yourself, I’ll beat their asses,”

Alex’s tone was serious, but Jack couldn’t help but giggle some.

“Why’re you laughing? I’m so serious, dude,”

“I know you are, it’s just funny hearing something like that come from you. You’re right, though; I need help, things are starting to get bad again,”

Alex unbuckled his seatbelt and squeezed in between the seats, sitting on the middle console. He extended his arms and wrapped Jack into a tight hug, and they both let more tears fall.

“Maybe in the morning, we can talk to your parents? I mean, you can tell your therapist, but you don’t have therapy until Wednesday and it’s Friday night, well, technically it’s Saturday morning. I don’t want you to hurt yourself again before then,” Alex suggested, slowly pulling away from his friend.

“Talking to my parents might be good. To be honest, I don’t think I can promise to not hurt myself until I go to therapy next. I know that probably sounds so stupid,”

“No, not at all. We’ll talk to your mom together and figure it out. You don’t have to go through this alone, Jack,”

“I know. Thank you, Alex, you’re a good friend,”

“I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like I did, but, just, when I saw those cuts on your arm, I couldn’t just not say anything,”

“I get it, I appreciate you calling me out on it, I clearly wasn’t going to say anything myself. Thank you for assuring me that asking for help is a good thing,”

“Anytime, man. We’re going to get through this together, you don’t have to go on this journey alone, I promise,”

“You’re the best, seriously. Hey, should we go ahead and drive home? It’s almost two in the morning and I’m starting to feel sleepy,”

“We probably should, do you want me to drive?” Alex offered, getting out of the crack between the two seats he’d wedged himself into.

“No, you’re tired too, and-“

“I’m fine, let me get us home. We just talked about some heavy stuff and I know you’re still feeling some big emotions over it. I don’t mind driving, I promise,”

“Well, as long as you’re okay with driving,” Jack trailed off, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“I’m totally fine with it,”

They got out of the car and walked around the front to swap seats. Alex readjusted the seat some, Jack wasn’t much taller than him, but it was just enough to where the seat was too far back for him.

Once he was situated, he started to drive out of the parking lot. The highway ramp wasn’t too far from where the lot was, and it was just a straight shot to get back to Jack’s once they were on the highway. After a few minutes, Alex looked over to Jack and saw that he was looking out the window at an upward angle, and Alex figured he was trying to see the stars in the sky. Alex smiled to himself, then continued to drive into the night.

A/N: Hi guys, sorry for the random hiatus! School got a bit busy, and work was a lot, I work in a psych hospital and things that have been happening lately are the reason that this fic is so angsty. I'm hoping to get back to posting regularly again, I've been a bit emotionally drained lately, but hopefully that'll go away. As always, I'm always open to requests! Thank you for reading! -Liv

[bee-whistler]

A lot of these are the first step in getting shot. At least, in certain regions of the country they are. I had to remain as neutral as possible in California. No eye contact, no actions that could be seen as deliberate. Even the cops would warn you to match the speed of traffic, even if it was over the limit, rather than antagonize another driver. Mind you, they may have just wanted to make sure they had plenty of tickets to write. If they ever bothered.

But here in Texas I have one of these little communications, wise or unwise. We have a back road leading to the interstate but it’s only a 30 mph stretch and people get pretty impatient with that. But I’ve seen cops chilling on side roads there just often enough that I’m not screwing with it.

So when a driver gets cranky with me going only 35 in a 30 I give them about 20 seconds to recognize that their tantrum (tailgating) won’t make me speed up. Then I drop speed down to 30 exactly. Sometimes they back off at this point as though they get the message and then I give them back the 5. Sometimes they stay close and they get to stay at that speed until I turn off the road.

And if we’re headed toward the interstate at that point, they get to eat my freaking dust because once I reach I-20 I switch California mode back on and punch it to prepare to merge with 70 mph semis, because these local drivers don’t seem to know what an on-ramp is for.

does anyone else do that thing where you're stuck in heavy traffic and another driver tries to do something dickish to cut ahead of you so you nudge the accelerator a little bit to make your car growl at the other car and scare it off

[livs-random-blog]

Romantic Robbery

A Christmas present for @mickeysjones about our beloved Crime Girlfriends

“You and I make a pretty good team,” Lexi Rory declared from the passenger seat of the getaway van.

“We make an even better couple,” Allegra Snart replied, her eyes focused on the road as she merged into a busy interstate lane. As much as she loved the adrenaline of the chase, sometimes it felt nice to enjoy the drive without constantly being on the lookout for cops.

“Well duh Alli, I never said we didn’t. Where’s the bag, I wanna look at everything we snatched,” Lexi rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s attitude.

“Same place it always is, secret compartment.”

“I love robbing jewelry stores, everything is so pretty. They make perfect anniversary gifts too, don’t you think?” Lexi asked as she unlocked the hidden space that her dad had built for them.

“Our anniversary isn’t for a few more months dear, there’s plenty of time to swipe things until then,” Allegra mentioned patiently, she was more than used to Lexi’s struggle with dates. ADHD and time travel do not mix very well.

“Can we go to Italy again? Ooh! Alli, look at this bracelet! It sparkles in the moonlight! And it’s blue! Perfect for you,” Lexi exclaimed, having gotten distracted by the shiny objects.

“Can’t right now Lex, I’m driving. But when we get back I promise I’ll look at it. And you can tell me all about how the metal was crafted.”

“Did you get anything red?”

“Yup. Got us a matching set of earrings. They were literally labeled ‘Fire and Ice’.”

“That’s perfect for us!”

“I know. Our dads are going to be so proud.”

“They always are,” Lexi grinned as she continued to look through the rewards of tonight’s job.

“How much time before we’re expected to be back at the ship?” Allegra asked as she turned on the signal to turn off at an exit ramp. Road safety was not a law she liked to break.

“About thirty minutes, why?” Lexi answered after she glanced at the dashboard.

“Thought we deserved a little chill time before we get yelled at for making a big scene again.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Fast food and listening to you talk about the latest episode of that true crime podcast you discovered last mission.” Allegra shrugged with a grin. She loved listening to Lexi talk about whatever she was hyper fixating on. Even if she didn’t always understand what her girlfriend was explaining, it was always educational.

“I love you!”

“You better, partners in crime-“

“-make partners for life.”