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When he got the text back he smiled. He noticed she said nothing about being awake, but that was okay. He knew it was damn early. But he wanted to get to the coast with day light to it, and it was at least a 8 hour trip to the coast.

Ghosting he slipped through the door and headed towards her. At a table, sipping coffee. He came over and reached out to fluff at her hair a moment, just a soft touch before moving to lean his hands on the edge of the table, whispering to her. "You can sleep in the car. Bring a pillow."

He smiled at that, and drew back again. "Where's you bag?" He'd get it packed for her, like she asked.

The touch is enough to make her stomach flutter pleasantly but then when he leans to whisper to her, her cheeks go pink in the darkness and she smiles around her mug, nodding. He'll find when he gets to her bag in her room that she's already got a pillow sitting on top of it because she absolutely plans to sleep in the car for a little bit longer.

"On my bed," she yawns, pointing to the only bedroom door downstairs that's still open. Her whole body shudders at the end of the yawn and she has to set down the mug for a moment so that she doesn't spill any. Then, Rikki moans a soft little whimper of discomfort. One more yawn overtakes her and she picks up her mug again to finish drinking it.

"Let me know when you're ready," she calls quietly in sort of a stage whisper, emptying the mug and crossing her arms on the table to lay her head down on them, her eyes fluttering shut again.

He smiles at her sleep smile and nods, slipping off to her room to grab her things. There was a pillow already there. Good. Grabbing her bag and pillow he started back outside with them, ghosting with them to make it easier. That way he didn't wake her housemates and drifted out to the car with it all easily.

He packed it away in the trunk and tossed the pillow in the front seat, ghosting back into the house a moment later after making sure everything was n full order. No pets, no siblings, just the two of them, the car and the open road. He was looking forward to it.

He rested a hand on her shoulder, very soft and careful not to wake her when he came back in. "Hey..." He said in a whisper. "Ready. Come nap while I drive."

"Mmm," Rikki hums softly, lifting her head and giving him another sleepy smile. "Yeah, okay," she responds, getting to her feet and taking the mug to the kitchen, depositing it in the dishwasher. Then, she stifles a yawn behind her hand and follows Ben outside.

As she settles into the passenger seat of the car, propping her pillows against the window, Rikki turns her head so that she can look over at Ben when he gets into his seat, too.

"I'm really glad we're doing this, Ben," she says softly. He's given her permission to nap and a part of her really badly wants to, but she won't, she thinks. It's no good going on a road trip with someone who sleeps through the first chunk of it.

There was a moment in his head that all he could think was 'she's so cute' as she started to sleepy follow him out to the car. He glanced up to the heavens and thanked them for allowing him to still be here. For her being here still as well.

Then they got in the car. Starting it up he grinned. "After everything that's happened? We definitely need this break. Just... get away from everything. I'm looking forward to it. Especially with you."

He seriously didn't mind if she slept for this part. It was dark out still and nothing worth seeing for a bit.

"Yeah, really though," Rikki yawned, laughing a little bit through it as she settled back against the pillow she propped up. She could feel a blush warming her cheeks and she snuggled against the pillow, grinning a little bit sleepily.

She'd been looking forward to this trip since she proposed it and she was especially glad to be taking the trip now that the two of them had been through so much. Between Klaus being temporarily sent back and the actual apocalypse? Yeah. They deserved a break.

"We've more than earned it. I'm looking forward to it with you, too," she confessed, closing her eyes because they were burning from lack of sleep. She wouldn't actually fall asleep, she hoped, but the least she could do for herself was ease that discomfort so that she could focus on him. "What's our first stop? And...I'm only now realizing that we never actually discussed where we're going to sleep on this trip. Are we getting a room or sleeping in here?" She asked it like it didn't phase her in the least to consider sleeping in Ben's car for several days. Largely, that was because it didn't phase her.

There was no need to drive to the porter, they were on the right side of the map now as it was. It was just a long drive to the coast. They'd make it there at a good time of the day though, and he could rest while she got to take her first swim in her own ocean for once.

It felt perfect. Getting away from the city that was the center of all the chaos. Getting away from all four damn cities. There was mild guilt there, for not stealing away Klaus as well. Because if anyone needed to get away it was him, but he had a feeling trying to find him right now would be hard anyhow. Not to mention he didn't want him to feel like a third wheel.

He was smiling though, as she agreed that this was a good plan. To do this with him. "Ah," he tapped the roof of the car. "There's a tent on the roof. Sleeping bags in the back seat. And a blanket, if you get cold. I figured we could find a nice beach to pitch a tent and settle in. When we're in LA we can rent a room. So long as you don't mind sharing a tent with me."

Ben had, at least, thought of how they were going to sleep and Rikki smiled more to herself. The warm embrace of sleepiness was making her brain a little hazy and when she realized belatedly that, in response to it, she had muttered softly, "you're so my Lewis," with a fondness that Ben might not actually understand the significance of that. Which, she supposed, was good, as the realization was also making her entire body heat up with embarrassment because she knew the significance there.

Lewis always took care of everything for Cleo. He thought of everything so she didn't have to. He made sure that everything was as perfect as it could be for her. He cared about her and genuinely wanted to make her happy. Ben probably didn't love her and that was fine, as she didn't think she loved him, either, but he still felt like the Lewis to her Cleo. That was a really nice feeling, one that she never really got from Zane. She'd loved him and he'd presumably loved her at some point and, yes, they had plenty of good times together, but...he'd never really been for her what Lewis had been for Cleo. He'd never been her best friend. Not before they'd dated and certainly not after. During, neither of them had really thought of it.

Ben? Ben was her best friend. If it ever turned out that he liked her, too, they would have a really solid foundation for a relationship, she thought, like Cleo and Lewis who didn't even let an entire ocean between them hurt their relationship with one another.

"Hmm?" she asked, half to make sure she'd heard everything and half because she was subconsciously trying to pull herself back out of her own thoughts and into the present. "Oh, no. I don't mind. So long as you don't drool on me and turn me into a mermaid in my sleep, anyway," she teased.

He had no idea what that meant, as he just barely hear her say it, but it made him smile. He had heard about Lewis and Cleo before. Two of her closest friends back home, so just being compared to that made him feel good.

Ben adored Rikki. Love wasn't the right word, but he felt for her, for sure. And he was generally a 'be ready for anything' kind of guy. It was mostly in his training, but he was also pretty thoughtful to these kind of things. He had almost bought two tents, really, but there was that mildly selfish side of him that wanted to share one. The boy side maybe, or so Klaus might point out. It was a large enough tent for two at least.

"I just figured it'd be good to have the option of camping out. And Highway One has a lot of B&B's around too, so that's a choice as well. We might as well make as many good memories as we can, right?" He chuckled softly. "And I promise I wont drool on you. I can't promise I won't snore though." He doesn't snore, but he might talk in his sleep. Not that he knows.

"No, that's all right, I like camping," Rikki replied. That...was not entirely true. She didn't hate it, though. Not anymore. So, she supposed, there was that. Rikki certainly liked the idea of camping a lot more when it meant sharing a tent with Ben than sharing one with Emma and Cleo. That had been sort of a tight fit if she was being honest.

She grinned at the idea of making good memories. Rikki reckoned that wasn't going to be much trouble on this trip. "We'll have to get pictures for your Instagram and I've got loads of ideas for things we can cross off your bucket list," she said before another yawn overtook her.

Rikki opened her eyes briefly to look at him. "I don't mind snoring so long as there's no drooling," she replied playfully. "I think..." she paused for another yawn, "I really might do...mmm, the sleeping while you drive. Are you sure you're awake enough that you don't need me to chat to, to stay awake?"

"At least it wont be hard core camping. There are always places to stop for things we need." He said with a chuckle, and didn't want to go into camping like in training. This was to be enjoyed.

"I intend to get loads of pictures. And, I already know a few things we can cross off. First on the list? Step into both oceans." He said confidently. He noticed her yawning more and smiled fondly. Turning onto the highway now, he settled back in his seat, both hands on the wheel for now.

"Sleep. I'll be fine. I'll turn on the radio if I get bored." he was really rather excited to be on the road, so he'd be awake enough. "I promise if I get too tired, I'll pull over and nap a bit, but until then I'll be fine." And he really would be. Rikki could nod off for a few more hours and it would still be relatively dark. He wanted to make sure they hit the coast line with plenty of time in the day. It might make for a long feeling day, but he didn't mind.

Rikki grinned a little. "I could definitely do without fishing or hunting and gathering to eat," she agreed with a playful lilt to her tired voice. "Although, I reckon we can squeeze that in, since it's on your list."

Shifting slightly, Rikki found herself finally in an especially comfortable position and her eyes fluttered shut again. "Swim in both oceans," she reminded him. "See a coral reef. Swim with dolphins," she added to the things he could do at their first stop, if he wasn't too wiped out from the drive to get there. "Build a sand castle. Send a message in a bottle, I reckon we'll need to put away a bottle of wine together before you can do that, though," she added with a little grin before yawning again.

She hummed a little and nodded against the pillow at Ben's reassurance. She trusted him to hold to his word. "Right then...wake me up when we do a stop for the restroom, yeah?" she asked. "Thanks, Ben," she added through a final yawn before humming softly to herself with contentment at the idea that they were finally doing this, just she and Ben, and letting herself drift off to sleep again with that last thought on her mind.

"Maybe. But that's a bit more then I want to do this trip." he chuckled. He brought scuba gear, not hunting knives (most people would have thought of guns, not knives, Ben).

When she started going over his list he blinked. His hand reached to check his jacket's breast pocket, the tiny note book there. She had really studied it, hadn't she? He put his hand back on the wheel and found himself heated up in the face. Oh. "We'll definitely grab a bottle of wine at some stop." He agreed, trying not to think that she'd put too much thought into his stupid check list. Gosh she was cute, and thoughtful.

"Will do." He said cheerfully, and reached down to turn the radio on softly. Classic rock. Not too loud, but just enough for noise.

He drove for a while, and after a few hours stopped at a gas station. thank god Rikki wasn't a prissy girl, because gas stations always had the worst restrooms (though this one wasn't bad). The trip from Jeopary to upper Highway 1 was about nine hours long, so it was a ways, but not bad. Their second stop was a little Ma and Pa diner for breakfast. He had ordered pancakes and eggs, but he was leaning over a pie menu and grinning. "Hey, how do you feel about pie? Also, how do you feel about the worlds largest comb? Because I totally just saw a flyer for that."

When they finally stopped, Rikki was feeling significantly more refreshed, largely because the sun had come up. It was amazing how much less tired she felt being awake just because the sun had joined her. The bathroom at the first stop had been horrifying, but she'd had to go so badly that she'd just grinned and beared it. She was glad that when they stopped again, it was a restaurant because not only did that mean brekky, but it also meant a probably less disgusting bathroom.

Ben had ordered what she considered to be a pretty American breakfast. She was sour that they didn't have any Vegemite, either, because it seemed like no one in America did, so she settled for just butter on her toast to go with her eggs and fried tomato. Only, the more she looked at Ben's breakfast, the more she wished she'd ordered it. It wasn't like she'd never had pancakes before, why hadn't she thought to have some? They'd have sat heavier and felt more satisfying in her stomach...

His question jarred her out of her envy and she laughed a little. "For breakfast, you want pie?" she asked, amused. "What kind of pie?" To the other question, she shrugged. "Hey, if you want to add seeing the world's largest comb to your list just so that you can cross it off, then I say let's do it," she replied with a smirk. Rikki wasn't sure he was serious about going, but if he wanted to, she wasn't about to tell him no. "How much further did we have to go for this morning?" she asked. Rikki had sort of lost track of how long they'd been on the road because even though she knew what time they'd left and what time it was now, she was a little sleep-disoriented and, not to mention, she wasn't sure where the Mountain time zone ended and the Pacific one began nor where they were in relation to that imaginary line.

He didn't mind the long drive in the night. There wasn't anything to look at other than road, so it made it easy to not be upset over missing things. He could think things over more as he drove mindlessly in the night. Think about how he was going to ask Rikki out. Not at first. Let the excitement of the ocean take front stage. It was her proper ocean after all, if not a bit far away from home.

No, a calmer moment would be best. He didn't want to do it over dinner like most people might have. A calmer moment was the best choice. He bit his lip, glancing over at the sleeping form then smiled. Glad she was resting.

So far so good. He grinned at her at the Pie comment. "Banana cream pie maybe, or apple. Or maybe coconut. Bit silly, right? Having pancakes and pie. It's basically cake and pie for breakfast, right? But this place makes all their own pies, so they have to be good, right?" He was trying to sell HIMSELF on this, really. It was way too early for pie but he might do it anyhow.

"It's a comb. It's a little strange, right? I wonder what it would look like. I mean, will I regret not taking a 10 mile detour to see a comb that is no doubt some plaster sculpture and gift store? Or can I live my life without it. It's not like the worlds largest rubber band ball or something. You know?" He rambled, in high spirits right now. But no, he really wasn't serious.

"But yeah, um, few more hours. Not a lot. I was making good time on the flats out there. We gained a hour when we crossed over into California, so that helps. the views are so much nicer in this state too. More trees." His hand played with three of the little creamer buckets that were for coffee, moving them around as if they were a hidden ball trick with one hand, his other hand poking at what was left of his pancakes.

"You know, I reckon we're both adults and we can do whatever we want, so if you want pie, let's have pie," she said with a grin. "I'd say 'you only live once' but..." she adds with a little wink. "Let's not waste it worrying over silly things like whether or not pie is acceptable in the morning. It's food, isn't it? People eat food for breakfast. No point getting all hung up on what exact food, yeah?" At least, she didn't think so, especially when part of this trip was about getting more experiences under Ben's belt during his second chance at life.

Christ, she hated it when that reminder cropped up in her head, that he had already died and he was essentially living on borrowed time here; that if this place ever sent him back like it had Klaus, there was a very good chance that it might be for good. It was hard growing ever more attached to him while knowing that, but Ben was hard not to become attached to. He was such a sweet guy and he was so much fun to be around, how could she not?

"How many kilometers is that?" she asked, curious. Rikki wasn't very good at the conversions yet and why America insisted on using such a stupid measuring system was beyond her. Australians weren't perfect; her dad had used the Imperial system at some point, but ever since she'd been around, it had been metric. Metric just made more bloody sense. "If ten miles isn't that far out of the way, why shouldn't we make the stop?" She shrugged. "We've all weekend, yeah? It's fine, if you want to."

Of course, she was much more keen on getting to the beach and getting back in her own ocean, but she wasn't going to point that out to Ben. This trip was a lot more about him than it was about her, as far as she was concerned. She just got the bonus of being able to swim in the Pacific again, but that wasn't the reason she had suggested the trip and pushed for it.

Her eyes shifted to the way he poked at his pancakes. "Are you gonna finish those?" If he wasn't, then one, maybe she could get away with stealing some and two, maybe he really ought to skip the pie.

"With reasoning like that? Pie it is." He said with a laugh, grinning at her cheeky response. "I only live as often as I can." he said instead. It was borrowed time, sure but he intended to make the most of it. Intended to live it as long as possible. He didn't mind, and his only fear was losing all of this. If he lived to be 90 and he got pulled home, he's forget everything, but that would be like death. Die and forget. Or, well, he assumed it would be like a normal death.

"Oh, uh, 16ish kilometers, I think. It's not too far, but like i said it's probably a tourist trap. Though if you want to play into traps we can totally be tourists. We have all the time you can take off. We just need to be home in time for you to go back to work, I think." He chuckled, taking another bite of pancake.

She asked if he was going to finish them, and yeah, he intended too, he was just distracted. He turned the plate around so a uncut side of the pancakes were facing her better. "You can have some if you like. They're really good."

"Up to you, mate. We can do whatever you like. This trip is about you. I've got until Monday, so we've got a couple of days, yeah?" she asked, smiling a little when he turned his plate for her. Rikki took a little piece off with her fork, grinning around her fork after taking her bite. She hummed her approval of the taste and finally drew the fork back out of her mouth.

"Those are really good, I should've gotten that," she laughed. "D'you reckon they can get us the pie pretty quickly? We should probably get on soon, right?"

She was starting to get excited now about getting to be in the Pacific again for the first time since her arrival. Admittedly, she was also kind of excited about Disneyland, though mostly because Ben seemed excited about it.

"Well see if we hit the turn off for it." He said with a hum, taking a sip of his strong coffee and sighing softly. It was cold now but that was okay. "I might just snap a picture of the sign and call it good." he said with a chuckle.

Another fork full of pancake and he nodded to her, waving with his fork to say have more. "Eat up. We can get pie to go." And he would get banana cream to go, as well as what ever she wanted. He might not eat it right away but he could eat it easy enough on the road.

Passing the sign for the comb, he did stop to take a picture and then move on, no longer really enchanted with it enough to add 20 miles to their trip. In the car he settled back, a plastic fork in his mouth, and grinned. "Gonna be good to get in the water. Wash off all this road dust." He commented, almost as excited as she was to reach the pacific.

Rikki indulged herself a couple more bites of the pancakes while Ben ordered the pie to go. She was itching to get to her home ocean again. It was nice that Ben seemed almost as excited about it as she was, probably for his own reasons.

She was appropriately chatty on the rest of the drive, practically talking his ear off about the different flora and fauna in the Pacific that he hadn't been able to see in the Atlantic. She couldn't wait to drag him way out where neither of them have ever been, too close to the United States for her to have visited and on the wrong coast for him.

After a day like that, she was certain that it wouldn't matter where they slept, she'd pass out with little trouble at all. That sort of excitement was plenty enough to knock a girl out at the end of the day when the adrenaline crashed.

They chatted and she explained things that actually did interest him, thus the conversation was easy and flowed well. Talking to Rikki had always been easy though. She was just a likable person. At least to Ben.

As they got to the shore line he drove the Highway One for a bit, looking for a nice area to park. Finding a parking lot and a pebble beach he parked the Nova facing the ocean and sat there a moment, taking a long deep breath. "Welp, your home ocean awaits. No ones around either, which should help. Go on out and test the waters. I'll pitch the tent and join you after."

He offered to let her go on her own. To let her have a moment in the water with out him distracting. It was mid day and warm, a good time for a dip. He could set the tent up, change in it, and drag his tanks down to the water side and join her after a bit.

By the time they get to the beach, Rikki was practically vibrating with anticipation to get in the ocean. It was especially nice to see that the beach was still empty. She imagined that had more to do with the time of year than the hour of the day and that suited her just fine. The cold wasn't going to bother her in her mermaid form and Ben would be okay in the gear, she thought. Or if he wasn't, she'd do as promised and warm up the water around him with her powers.

His permission made her face light up. As much as she wanted Ben to be with her, she was also entirely too excited to get into the Pacific again to want to wait for him to pitch the tent which, she thought, was a good place to start, really. She grinned widely at him, then leaned over and threw her arms around him in a tight hug before throwing a breathless, "thank you!" over her shoulder and scrambling out of the car, taking off toward the ocean at her top speed.

Rikki ran into the water and lept into the air to arch herself forward, propelling her body away from the shallows as her legs shifted into a long, heavy, golden mermaid tail just before she disappeared beneath the waves.

It felt the same as the Atlantic this shallow, but Rikki knew it would take Ben a little while to get the tent set up and change into swim clothes and his diving gear, so she had time. At her top speed, Rikki sped away from the beach and into the depths of the Pacific where, once the corals and the schools of familiar fish started to make themselves seen to her, she finally felt like she was home again.

She indulged herself only a few minutes before speeding back because she'd swam out hundreds of kilometers and then down hundreds of kilometers as well. By the time she returned to the part of the sea where Ben would be able to see her as she surfaced, nearly an hour had passed. Rikki popped up from the waves, looking around for him and seeing him several kilometers down the beach. She slipped back beneath the surface to swim toward him more quickly before resurfacing and looking back at him from her spot just far enough from shore to keep from her tail dragging on the sand.

"Come out with me," she called to him hopefully, moving her hands to warm the water a bit and pushing that gentle heat toward the shore. "I'm warming it for you." She was struck just then by how much she felt for Ben as he readied himself to join her. He'd always been attractive and kind; she'd always enjoyed spending time with him and she'd had a bit of a crush on him for months. But now when she looked at him, she saw a man who drove through several states in the hours of the morning when he was meant to be asleep just to bring a mermaid to her preferred ocean and her heart swelled so large in her chest that she worried it might burst in there. And all she wanted to do was kiss him for it.

Rikki's stomach fluttered incessantly as he made his way out and she tried to will herself to ignore it. It wasn't like she could kiss him with his gear on, anyway. She could hug him, though. She could and she would when he got close enough for her to grab him.

When she threw her arms around him with a breathless thank you his face must have turned ten shades of red. "No problem." He said, but she was already running for the shore line. He leaned on the wheel a moment, watching her go, smiling dumbly after her. He couldn't help but be pleased with himself seeing her so happy and excited.

He took a moment to let her swim off before he crawled out of the car, taking down things from the roof and the car. He took his time setting up the tent, putting down two bed rolls side by side, and slowly changing. Into his wet suit, he pulled his tank and flippers with him, moving out over the pebble beach and to the shore line. He got all suited up and sat down there, letting the water splash his flippers as he waited.

It was calming. He could see why she loved the ocean so much. It was almost relaxing that he thought tonight would be a great sleep, even sleeping in a tent.

When he saw her pop up in the water he perked up, smiling as she called to him. He moved to stand, dusting off his butt as he moved to the water. It was warmer than it was earlier and it made him smile. "You don't have to do that. Swear. I should be okay." He laughed, smiling at her as he came closer. Goggles on the top of his head.

When he got close enough he said "Have a good swim?" He said, just barely pulling his goggles down before he got hugged. He laughed, hugging her back tightly.

He hugged her back and Rikki didn't want to let go. Being close to him had always been something she liked but they were across the country from where they usually spent the most time together and that was because he had wanted to make sure she got to swim in her home ocean. She appreciated that more than she could probably ever put into words.

"Yeah, brilliant," she replied, finally making herself separate from him so that she could look at him. "So...now you're swimming in the second of your two ocean goal," she went on. "And I'm going to take you to knock out at least one more, possibly two if we get really lucky. How much time have you got on your tank?"

If he had at least an hour, then she was confident that they would be fine. She'd take him out, come up for breath, and then take him down so that he could see the coral reefs hiding in the deep and, if they were lucky, the pod of dolphins hanging around it would come explore the human and the mermaid and he would get to swim with dolphins as well.

"If you're ready, hold on really tight. I haven't ever brought you along at my full speed and it's really fast; I don't want to lose you, yeah? But we've got a ways to go and it'll just be a lot faster if I can just use my speed. I really want you to see. It's not Australia or Mako, but it's a lot closer to home for me than I've been able to show you before. I really want you to see..."

Oh god, she hugged him tightly and his face had to have flushed more, but he hugged her back with a squeeze. His Mermaid.

"I've got about a hour of usable air under water. Full tank. And you're right, I get to mark that one off when I'm dry again." He laughed, moving back to make sure his flippers were each on properly, getting ready to be pulled along.

"What are you taking me to?" He asked, grinning at her as she said they had a ways to go. He messed with his goggles, making sure they were clear before putting them on, a clear sign that he was ready for this. "I think I can handle holding on. I'm excited to see what you have going on out there."

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