stuff us in boxes that's where you want us

cardboard is boring, we brought our matches - look how it burns

Those words drenched with bitterness caused her to meet her companion's eyes. She hoped Henry hadn't ruined him completely. Her lips formed into a grim line at the thought. There wasn't much hope in choosing who you loved. Love never gave you the luxury of choice. Lust... though, it was hardly as fickle and not that picky. Her dark brows rose into something far more contemplative. Sterling batting for ladies again? It wouldn't be the worst choice considering the one man he fell for fucked him over in the worst way. "Hmm...You might be onto something, you've been missing out on the wonderful world of boobs for too long." She leaned back enough to allow an amused chortle to escape her. Hell if she knew the answers when it came to matters of the heart, she was never too fortunate in that department except for having a knack at attracting psychopaths. It was a damn shame you didn't get to choose your gifts.

The pair easily rued the people that had scorned them, even if somehow Sterling found Harley's ridiculously irresistible. Traitor. How wrong it seemed to sit with her, like a feline who was rubbed the wrong way. Psh. She had to give it to him, that moppy emerald-eyed, caramel-skinned man to anyone with a pulse was a good looking guy. But looks faded quickly when you were at their mercy. The very thought of him made her wince in distaste. Now... one thing that both Harley and Sterling could agree on was that this city possessed two people they would soon forget.. Well.. Maybe more than a few for her. She quickly batted those faces which corrosively haunted her aside. Those creatures of the night that would sooner see her nothing more than a cadaver on a stainless steel slab at the morgue. Even then, her life would have met so very little. She nearly shuddered at the thought. The thought of leaving Sacrosanct seemed nothing short of welcoming to her. It wasn't for good, but a brief interlude never harmed anyone.

With a plan in effect, she all but forced Sterling out into the hallway, urging the man to get his shit so they could kiss this crap stand goodbye. Once the two met up bags in tow, Harley took them to the one place Sterling would least expect her to go. The Ark. The moment she saw that large impending near black silhouette of a ship that painted the skyline the regret seized her all at once. She could see the wariness which settled upon her companion's face, after all, it was most likely so dangerously close to where Henry was. Yet hidden in the confines of the car, she was certain to keep him entirely concealed. Yet on such late notice, she knew regardless of their history someone in that ship, predominantly a moppy headed alpha would possess a soft spot of all things for her loveable Ace. At least that was one thing she was certain of. Now, if only she had slipped in and out of that ship without being noticed, alas it was an impossible feat, even with that commotion that kept the raven-haired were-cat mostly concealed. She fled the scene, having left nothing more than that hastily written note for Tetradore to find.

With Ace in... well capable enough hands and Harley's squelching tires the only thing to meet the poor she-wolf that followed her out. There would be simply too many questions she didn't feel like answering. Surely, she would have to face at least one of them when she returned to collect Ace, but that was something she would just have to deal with later. How she would have been pleased to take her monstrous pup on that trip with them, but the reality that it would have hardly been fair to him, the massive dog prone to car sickness would have just made everyone miserable.

Sterling seemed to watch and yet scarcely said very little on it. She was grateful for his lack of questions in this department, not quite sure she could conjure the answers to satisfy him. His bafflement seemed to only draw a small smirk to her lips. How she would miss him. If shit went to hell, which it most likely would, he would be one of the faces she would miss the most. Those words seemed to burn in her mind and yet she couldn't help but lack their validity. Alive and free. Such a foolish pipedream to cling to, it was a good thing she knew better to believe it, even though somewhere deep inside she wished it to be true. "Hey look Fiddy is following us... you want her to come? There's room in the back seat... She's potty trained right?" Harley questioned, her foot letting off the gas just a little.

Now all that mattered was putting space between them and Sacrosanct itself. The woman said very little able what transpired upon that ship even though Sterling offered that questioning prompt. Hesitance and question lingered within the warlock and truthfully she could hardly fault him. That mischievous grin only seemed to grow then. "Well, we are driving and not being tailed so I think... we are doing pretty damn good." She admitted somewhat truthfully.

Sterling, however, seemed entirely perplexed by that idle jest at the reveal of where they were headed. She shook her head softly with an embellished sigh upon her lips as her fingers tightened upon that steering wheel in unspoken determination. Sterling's confusion seemed to linger within the car. Oh, Sterling. How she could run circles around the warlock, she swore she could see her own tread marks in her wake. It was fortunate that in all those years of friendship, he hardly seemed to mind.

That was when Yoda Harley rose to be, that sage wisdom offered to her companion as they began their long impromptu trek over state lines. With her vibrant eyes upon the road ahead, she hardly needed to see the roll of Sterling's eyes to feel it. It did little to deter the woman, after all, little did. That insinuation that his ex hadn't attempted contact brought an acerbic scoff to her lips as he pulled up the directions. "No offence Sterling, but men are fucking idiots." How badly she wished to rip Henry a new one in that very moment, it was a damn good thing she didn't come across the other panther when she all but tore through the Ark like a veritable like a wrecking ball of destruction.

Now more than ever the two of them needed this. She hardly cared if it was reckless, why the hell not. She suspected given her current predicament that this very moment might have been their last. She looked out the rearview mirror as if the to be absolutely sure that no one trailed them before she tasked Sterling with the task of navigator. The man fell into the task at hand quite easily.

The pair easily got lost in conversation as Harley drove into the night, testing the limits of speed while the engine purred beneath her fingertips. She babbled of replacing that engine with something better like nothing would rob her of that chance to enjoy it. The car was old but refurbished. It surely needed a little extra love, the pair had done a wonderful job at restoring that sentimental vehicle.

The music droned as mere background noise like the sound of her friend's slumberous breath deepened. He seemed so peaceful like that. Harley was content to allow him that rest while they drove through the Cali desert. It felt endless... and truthfully it was amusing to see the topography change into such abandoned vastness of barren golden sand. It was easy to spot that movement of creatures both predator and prey moving about with her enhanced eyesight. She felt predatory, far more than she had in some time as she noticed even the slightest of movements.

Fortunately, that drive was uneventful for the most part, the woman lost in the depths of her own mind. Both dismal and nonsensical contemplations crossed her mind. Like what would it be to be a panther forever? Could she survive in the Mojave desert in her feline form? Would she want to? How quick she was to realize she wouldn't be able to survive without pizza. Where the fuck would she even find water? How quickly that train of thought drew seamlessly into wondering what it would be like for her feline form to cruise through a drive-thru. The woman found it easy to get lost within her own company before eventually, tiredness seemed to catch up to her despite how much she fought it.

She pulled off into a gas station, refuelling and stocking up on snacks. All the shit that was hardly good for them and yet it was hardly a road trip without it. God... Sterling fucking slept through everything! What she would give to sleep so peacefully. She prodded Sterling gently. "Wake up, sunshine." She waited for that flutter of his eyes opening before she grinned at the dark-haired warlock. " You know you sleep like the dead. I think I ... need some... beauty sleep, coffee isn't cutting it anymore. Care to take this sexy-kitten for a whirl?" Of course, she was speaking of the car, her hand patting the steering wheel like it was indeed her pet. "I bought you snacks and caffeine to keep you company. I know, easy on the praise it's going to go straight to my head. You can't ever tell me I never cooked for you." That playful sarcasm uttered as the pair swapped positions, Harley sitting in the foreign spot of the passenger seat.

It was interesting what a little distance could do to your sleep, she slept oddly, as though she were hugging herself, her head buried into her jacket that served as a makeshift pillow. She woke up with a start, near sitting upwards abruptly. "Shit. How long was I out for?" She blinked back the sleep from her eyes multiple times, it took little time for them to adjust to the glaring sun. She stretched languidly accompanied by a trembling yawn. Her gaze then landed upon her companion. It was a bizarre sight seeing someone else drive her baby and yet he was one of the few people she trusted to keep that prized vehicle safe and sound.

Harley Westward