The Oscar Day Road Trip (Gen)
The Oscar Day Road Trip (Heroes RPF, Gen)
by
therisingmoon
ZQ and MV in a car, brief mentions of their friends.
PG is for a slice of life and friends' drunken antics.
Notes:
Because
vaeltaa + tumblr = an evil, evil influence.
This was her idea, I just kind of ran with a slice-of-life version of it. >__>
Have some unbeta'ed ZQ and MV going on an impromptu Oscar-day road trip.
I played loose and fast with the timeframes.
Gen because I have this weird thing about RPF (don't ask) and because I have no other idea on how to spin this.
Disclaimer: No, this isn't real. Spawned from tumblr jokes. This is mostly forvaeltaa's amusement since she made the road trip joke in the first place. (Sorry I couldn't make a Highway 69 joke. XD)
Zach had fully intended on spending the day lounging around the house, playing with Noah and Harold, and getting some things done like the laid back hipster that he was. Chris had emailed and said he was going to be presenting on Oscar night; Zach wished him the best of luck because let’s face it, the movie had only been nominated for the technical awards so there was really no point for him to attend the show even if they did ask him to present. That and he had doubts about the movie’s chances of winning anything against its competitors. Zoë had also called him saying that she was going for the same reason and because of Avatar; she was going to meet up with Chris at the show. She had also wanted to know if Zach was going as well. He had told her no, he’d just be bored stiff there, so he wasn’t going.
That didn’t mean he turned down chances to go to the pre-Oscar parties though; he drove Chris and two other friends to one party and then he showed up to another charity event the next night. Hey, who was he to turn down free booze in the name of a good cause? And now today was Oscar day and some people were busy. Busy like walking the dog, getting lunch, cleaning the bathroom, and reading scripts from the ‘maybe’ pile. Zach was fully settled into on his couch with a box of candy, a cup of coffee, and a potential script in his lap; Noah was sleeping at his feet and Harold was perched on his TV cabinet licking himself when he heard a honk outside.
*
Thinking it was another car passing by, Zach ignored the noise and returned his attention to the pages in front of him. Then there was another honk, then two more honks, and a pounding on his door. “I know you’re in there, Quinto! Open up!” Milo’s voice called from the other side. Zach put the script and his coffee down on his coffee table and ambled over to open his front door to see Milo standing on his doorstep with his fist raised to pound on the door again.
He cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is there any reason you’re in my driveway and scaring my neighbors, Milo?”
“Get dressed and get in the car.” When Zach blinked at him in confusion, Milo made a ‘what the hell are you still standing there, move!’ face and gestured with his hands that yes, Zach should get dressed and get into the car. When Zach didn’t budge again, Milo smacked him on the arm and gestured again. “Any day now, Zach.”
“Okay, okay, jeez.” Zach grumbled as he went to get dressed. He heard Milo call out that he makes sure he was dressed comfortably and rolled his eyes. He put on his baggiest pants and a t-shirt anyway, and pocketed his phone and sunglasses as he grabbed his hat and jacket. When he showed himself to his friend, Milo grinned and jerked his thumb towards his car.
“Get in. You’re being shanghaied.”
“Showing up at my doorstep and telling me to get dressed and get into your car isn’t being shanghaied, dude. You should have knocked me out first and then dragged my ass to your car for it to count. Bonus points if Noah bites you for kidnapping me.”
Milo rolls his eyes and smacks him lightly on the arm again before heading back to his car. “Whatever, dude. Just get in the car when you’re done.” Zach snorted, went back inside to fill the food dishes, and then locked up his house before getting into the passenger seat and buckling up.
*
“So where are we going, Mr. Ventimiglia?” Zach asked, propping his feet up and tilting his seat back as Milo pulled out of the driveway and was making his way towards the 101.
“We’re going on a road trip.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know. San Diego? San Luis? Tijuana? I’m open for suggestions.”
“You have no idea where we’re going?”
“Kind of a last minute impulse thing,” Milo sounded sheepish as he replied. “Russ and Dino and some of our other friends are having an Oscar mocking party, Bella and her sister are having ‘girl talk time’, which leaves me bored.”
“And I’m riding with you in your car why?”
Milo shrugged. “You were the only one who came to mind that had a lot of free time and would possibly agree do something like this with me and didn’t care about the Oscars being on tonight?”
“Nice to know that I’m appreciated,” Zach snorted in amusement as he turned on the radio for background noise and plugged his headphones into his ears. “So we’re doing an Oscar-day road trip because we’re bored and have nothing else better to do. Sounds about right?”
“Yup.”
“What about the parties? Free food and drinks.”
“And shameless drunken gloating by people we don’t know and are much more famous that we are.”
“Good point. Okay, so let’s do this then. We go north.”
“How far north should we go?” Unable to come up with an answer to Milo’s question, Zach thumbs through a Google Map of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas before settling on Monterey. It was far enough to constitute a ‘road trip’ along the scenic route, and close enough that anyone who called or sent them a text shouldn't have to worry. Much.
“Monterey, it’s along the scenic route and far enough to consider this as a trip.”
“What’s in Monterey?” Milo asked as he wove his way through traffic and onto the 101.
“I don't know. Aren’t you the California native?”
“Yeah, but I’m the one driving; you’re the one with the iPhone, Quinto.” Damn, he had a point. Zach scrolled through his phone some more as he looked up things about their destination and as Milo swerved his way through passing cars on the highway.
“Well, there’s the scenic route, nice beaches and that giant aquarium. It’s also five hours away if we take the 5, six if we keep on the 101. Obviously, we take the long way there and then take the short way back.”
“Sounds good; let’s do this shit then.” They ride along the 101 with companionable silence in between conversations; Zach slowly falls asleep to the lull of Vampire Weekend on his headphones and Milo whistling along to the radio.
*
Two hours later, he wakes up to the sound and vibration of his phone going off in his pocket. He pulls it out to see that Neal left him a voicemail about inviting him over to his house with Corey, Tyler, and their other friends to play the Oscars drinking game. Zach sends an email back to Neal and deletes his voicemail when his phone beeps again. He receives two text messages from Chris and Zoë about being on the red carpet and talking to idiot interviewers. He replies back to them with a rather sardonic text that he’s been shanghaied to Monterey.
“So who called you?” Milo asks as he changes lanes.
“Neal. He wanted to invite me over to his house for the Oscars drinking game with our friends. Told him I was kidnapped to Monterey. He just sent me back a laughing face and then I got messages from Zoë and Chris about stupid interviewers. I said I got shanghaied to Monterey; haven’t heard back from them yet.” Zach yawns as he props his seat back up to watch cars, trees and the hills of California pass by them. “How come your BlackBerry isn’t going off with Russ and Isabella and everyone wondering where you are?”
“I turned it off. I don’t answer the phone when I’m driving. That and I called them just before I showed up at your house. Said I was going to hang out with you and that was that.”
Zach sniggers and changes the stations. His phone beeps again with shocked replies from Zoë and Chris. He reads the reactions aloud, making them both crack up and he quickly sends replies that no, he just joking and not that Monterrey in Mexico. And yes, this was completely Milo’s fault.
*
They stop over in San Luis for gas, snacks, and a bathroom break. A couple of reassuring phone calls and texts later (including a call to Neal to double check on his dog and cat), they get back onto the road and continue the drive to Monterey. Zach picks up the wheel while Milo naps in the passenger seat; he’d been reluctant to let Zach drive, but after it got pointed out that they nearly rear-ended a pickup truck in their last lane change, he agreed.
Zach was sorely tempted to turn the car around and drive back to Los Angeles, but since they were about halfway to Monterey and they did have nothing else better to do, he kept driving towards their destination. While they had stopped over in San Luis, he doubled checked their route; he could detour from the 101 and take Highway 1 instead as it was the same distance to their destination and plus, it was the scenic route.
This was an impromptu road trip and Milo’s idea after all; he could deal with Zach’s driving and taking the scenic route later once he woke up. Guy looked like he hadn’t slept all day, which could explain the near close calls they had when changing lanes. He finally wakes up somewhere along the way where the car is slowly and steadily driving along the section of highway that’s so close to the cliff edge that a wrong move would equal plummeting to certain death below.
“Where are we, Zach?” Milo blinks groggily and rubs his hands over his face.
“Highway 1,” Zach replied. “Thought we’d take the scenic route, but you fell asleep.”
“Nice,” Milo grunts as he yawns and takes a swig of water from his bottle as the California cliffs pass them by. Their phones beep with alerts from their friends.
“Hand me my phone?” Zach asks as he holds out his palm.
“If I give it to you, then you’ll be driving with one hand and we’re on a highway by a cliff. I’m not too sure about giving you your phone.” Milo replies as he clutches Zach’s phone to his chest with a look of mock fear on his face.
Zach scoffs and rolls his eyes. “To unlock it so you can find out who’s trying to reach me.”
“Fine,” He hands over the phone; Zach quickly taps in the password and gives it back. Milo sees that there are two messages from Zoë and Chris and a voicemail from Corey. He reads them out loud: “Zoë says that Ben Stiller just came out on stage in Avatar makeup and then Chris said your ears just won an Oscar.” The voicemail from Corey was him cackling with glee that Spock’s ears are now Oscar-winning ears. Milo snickers at the news. “Dude, you’re never going to live that down now, Spock.”
“No way! Are you shitting me?” Zach laughs. “What about my eyebrows? I had to live with shaved eyebrows and then growing them back for almost nine painful! You saw what I looked like!”
“I know and I shit you not, the movie won best makeup. According to Russ, they were showing the makeup people putting the ears on you and shaving your eyebrows.” Milo snickers as he scrolls through his BlackBerry and reading a play by play from Russ. “Looks like all those months paid off, Spock.” he laughs.
*
“I should have brought my camera,” Zach commented as they approach a particularly scenic coastal vista of the highway; Milo nods in agreement and pulls out his camera out from the backseat with a smirk and starts snapping. Zach throws a mock glare at him and points a finger at the camera. “You bastard,” he jokes. “I thought you said this was a last minute trip! Where did the camera come from?”
“I pulled it out of my ass,” Milo retorts with a smack on the arm. “Nah, I always keep a camera in the car, you never know when you need to take a picture of something and sometimes I don’t want to use my BlackBerry. And this road trip was an impulse; you just reminded me about the camera, doofus.”
*
As the sky gets darker and the lights are turned on as they drive on, the road signs indicate that their intended destination is getting closer and closer. Their phones continue to beep with alerts from their friends recapping the awards show and the drunken party antics until it was agreed that they were better off just shutting both phones off. Milo’s camera, on the other hand, was working nonstop with pictures of the ocean. the passing cars, the Big Sur vistas and the trees of Carmel. There’s also a couple of pictures of Zach driving because he liked the way the sunlight bounced off his friend’s face and because taking pictures of the scenery gets boring after a while.
It’s another hour when they finally reach Monterey; they have dinner and dessert at a small diner and catch up on their messages on their phones and trade stories about their friends. Apparently the Oscars were worse than they imagined; Tyler had gotten so wasted because of the drinking games and because he lost half his Oscar pool that he blacked out halfway through the show and had to be dragged to Neal's bathtub to sleep it off. Dino fared a bit worse; somehow he fell asleep in the yard with just his pants on and lost his entire Oscar pool. Chris and Zoë had been texting each other as well as Zach in an effort to stave off the boredom; their messages had gone from bored to amused to snarky to almost desperate to leave the show and hit the open bars at the after-parties. Zach’s trying very hard to not laugh at them but he couldn’t contain himself; he shares the messages with Milo and they crack up.
*
By the time they decided that it was time to head back to Los Angeles, it was already late into the night and by the time they got back, it would have be some time in the middle of the night. After a quick refuel of the gas tank and stocking up on late-night driving snacks, they were back on the road with Milo behind the wheel again and Zach commandeering his camera. Milo sticks his palm out to block the lens as he weaves the car onto Interstate 5. “Dude, stop taking pictures of me, there’s no light!” He laughs as he blocks each attempt from Zach to shove the camera in his face.
“That’s for taking pictures of me,” Zach laughs as he dodges swipes from Milo’s palm. “Especially because I was driving alongside a freaking cliff and can’t do a thing about you sticking that camera in my face.” He concedes anyway and focuses the camera away from Milo and towards the night sky. His phone beeps again with a victorious message from Corey saying that he won the Oscar pool and that lunch is on him; he sends a reply threatening to hold Corey to that promise.
“I couldn’t resist,” Milo laughs. “The lighting was just really too good to pass up.”
“Planning on becoming the next Ansel Adams?”
“You bet. Another thing to fall back on when acting and producing and directing gets boring. Mostly because it’s fun. You should try it instead of that banjo.”
“I like my banjo just fine, thank you very much. But that’s a good idea anyway. I can take pictures of the paparazzi instead of them taking pictures of me walking Noah.” Zach laughs as he drops the camera in the backseat, props his feet up on the dash, tilts his seat back and tips his hat over his eyes. “You know, this was a good idea and a pretty fun day. Thanks for kind of shanghaiing me along with this. Wake me up when we’re halfway home and it’s my turn to drive.”
“You’re welcome.” Milo grins as he guns the pedals and they speed down the emptying interstate. He then adds, “Next time I’ll make sure to knock you out then.”
“I appreciate it if you did,” was the yawning reply as he starts to doze off to the background noise of the radio.
tyfyt. ♥
by
therisingmoonZQ and MV in a car, brief mentions of their friends.
PG is for a slice of life and friends' drunken antics.
Notes:
Because
vaeltaa + tumblr = an evil, evil influence. This was her idea, I just kind of ran with a slice-of-life version of it. >__>
Have some unbeta'ed ZQ and MV going on an impromptu Oscar-day road trip.
I played loose and fast with the timeframes.
Gen because I have this weird thing about RPF (don't ask) and because I have no other idea on how to spin this.
Disclaimer: No, this isn't real. Spawned from tumblr jokes. This is mostly for
vaeltaa's amusement since she made the road trip joke in the first place. (Sorry I couldn't make a Highway 69 joke. XD)Zach had fully intended on spending the day lounging around the house, playing with Noah and Harold, and getting some things done like the laid back hipster that he was. Chris had emailed and said he was going to be presenting on Oscar night; Zach wished him the best of luck because let’s face it, the movie had only been nominated for the technical awards so there was really no point for him to attend the show even if they did ask him to present. That and he had doubts about the movie’s chances of winning anything against its competitors. Zoë had also called him saying that she was going for the same reason and because of Avatar; she was going to meet up with Chris at the show. She had also wanted to know if Zach was going as well. He had told her no, he’d just be bored stiff there, so he wasn’t going.
That didn’t mean he turned down chances to go to the pre-Oscar parties though; he drove Chris and two other friends to one party and then he showed up to another charity event the next night. Hey, who was he to turn down free booze in the name of a good cause? And now today was Oscar day and some people were busy. Busy like walking the dog, getting lunch, cleaning the bathroom, and reading scripts from the ‘maybe’ pile. Zach was fully settled into on his couch with a box of candy, a cup of coffee, and a potential script in his lap; Noah was sleeping at his feet and Harold was perched on his TV cabinet licking himself when he heard a honk outside.
*
Thinking it was another car passing by, Zach ignored the noise and returned his attention to the pages in front of him. Then there was another honk, then two more honks, and a pounding on his door. “I know you’re in there, Quinto! Open up!” Milo’s voice called from the other side. Zach put the script and his coffee down on his coffee table and ambled over to open his front door to see Milo standing on his doorstep with his fist raised to pound on the door again.
He cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is there any reason you’re in my driveway and scaring my neighbors, Milo?”
“Get dressed and get in the car.” When Zach blinked at him in confusion, Milo made a ‘what the hell are you still standing there, move!’ face and gestured with his hands that yes, Zach should get dressed and get into the car. When Zach didn’t budge again, Milo smacked him on the arm and gestured again. “Any day now, Zach.”
“Okay, okay, jeez.” Zach grumbled as he went to get dressed. He heard Milo call out that he makes sure he was dressed comfortably and rolled his eyes. He put on his baggiest pants and a t-shirt anyway, and pocketed his phone and sunglasses as he grabbed his hat and jacket. When he showed himself to his friend, Milo grinned and jerked his thumb towards his car.
“Get in. You’re being shanghaied.”
“Showing up at my doorstep and telling me to get dressed and get into your car isn’t being shanghaied, dude. You should have knocked me out first and then dragged my ass to your car for it to count. Bonus points if Noah bites you for kidnapping me.”
Milo rolls his eyes and smacks him lightly on the arm again before heading back to his car. “Whatever, dude. Just get in the car when you’re done.” Zach snorted, went back inside to fill the food dishes, and then locked up his house before getting into the passenger seat and buckling up.
*
“So where are we going, Mr. Ventimiglia?” Zach asked, propping his feet up and tilting his seat back as Milo pulled out of the driveway and was making his way towards the 101.
“We’re going on a road trip.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know. San Diego? San Luis? Tijuana? I’m open for suggestions.”
“You have no idea where we’re going?”
“Kind of a last minute impulse thing,” Milo sounded sheepish as he replied. “Russ and Dino and some of our other friends are having an Oscar mocking party, Bella and her sister are having ‘girl talk time’, which leaves me bored.”
“And I’m riding with you in your car why?”
Milo shrugged. “You were the only one who came to mind that had a lot of free time and would possibly agree do something like this with me and didn’t care about the Oscars being on tonight?”
“Nice to know that I’m appreciated,” Zach snorted in amusement as he turned on the radio for background noise and plugged his headphones into his ears. “So we’re doing an Oscar-day road trip because we’re bored and have nothing else better to do. Sounds about right?”
“Yup.”
“What about the parties? Free food and drinks.”
“And shameless drunken gloating by people we don’t know and are much more famous that we are.”
“Good point. Okay, so let’s do this then. We go north.”
“How far north should we go?” Unable to come up with an answer to Milo’s question, Zach thumbs through a Google Map of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas before settling on Monterey. It was far enough to constitute a ‘road trip’ along the scenic route, and close enough that anyone who called or sent them a text shouldn't have to worry. Much.
“Monterey, it’s along the scenic route and far enough to consider this as a trip.”
“What’s in Monterey?” Milo asked as he wove his way through traffic and onto the 101.
“I don't know. Aren’t you the California native?”
“Yeah, but I’m the one driving; you’re the one with the iPhone, Quinto.” Damn, he had a point. Zach scrolled through his phone some more as he looked up things about their destination and as Milo swerved his way through passing cars on the highway.
“Well, there’s the scenic route, nice beaches and that giant aquarium. It’s also five hours away if we take the 5, six if we keep on the 101. Obviously, we take the long way there and then take the short way back.”
“Sounds good; let’s do this shit then.” They ride along the 101 with companionable silence in between conversations; Zach slowly falls asleep to the lull of Vampire Weekend on his headphones and Milo whistling along to the radio.
*
Two hours later, he wakes up to the sound and vibration of his phone going off in his pocket. He pulls it out to see that Neal left him a voicemail about inviting him over to his house with Corey, Tyler, and their other friends to play the Oscars drinking game. Zach sends an email back to Neal and deletes his voicemail when his phone beeps again. He receives two text messages from Chris and Zoë about being on the red carpet and talking to idiot interviewers. He replies back to them with a rather sardonic text that he’s been shanghaied to Monterey.
“So who called you?” Milo asks as he changes lanes.
“Neal. He wanted to invite me over to his house for the Oscars drinking game with our friends. Told him I was kidnapped to Monterey. He just sent me back a laughing face and then I got messages from Zoë and Chris about stupid interviewers. I said I got shanghaied to Monterey; haven’t heard back from them yet.” Zach yawns as he props his seat back up to watch cars, trees and the hills of California pass by them. “How come your BlackBerry isn’t going off with Russ and Isabella and everyone wondering where you are?”
“I turned it off. I don’t answer the phone when I’m driving. That and I called them just before I showed up at your house. Said I was going to hang out with you and that was that.”
Zach sniggers and changes the stations. His phone beeps again with shocked replies from Zoë and Chris. He reads the reactions aloud, making them both crack up and he quickly sends replies that no, he just joking and not that Monterrey in Mexico. And yes, this was completely Milo’s fault.
*
They stop over in San Luis for gas, snacks, and a bathroom break. A couple of reassuring phone calls and texts later (including a call to Neal to double check on his dog and cat), they get back onto the road and continue the drive to Monterey. Zach picks up the wheel while Milo naps in the passenger seat; he’d been reluctant to let Zach drive, but after it got pointed out that they nearly rear-ended a pickup truck in their last lane change, he agreed.
Zach was sorely tempted to turn the car around and drive back to Los Angeles, but since they were about halfway to Monterey and they did have nothing else better to do, he kept driving towards their destination. While they had stopped over in San Luis, he doubled checked their route; he could detour from the 101 and take Highway 1 instead as it was the same distance to their destination and plus, it was the scenic route.
This was an impromptu road trip and Milo’s idea after all; he could deal with Zach’s driving and taking the scenic route later once he woke up. Guy looked like he hadn’t slept all day, which could explain the near close calls they had when changing lanes. He finally wakes up somewhere along the way where the car is slowly and steadily driving along the section of highway that’s so close to the cliff edge that a wrong move would equal plummeting to certain death below.
“Where are we, Zach?” Milo blinks groggily and rubs his hands over his face.
“Highway 1,” Zach replied. “Thought we’d take the scenic route, but you fell asleep.”
“Nice,” Milo grunts as he yawns and takes a swig of water from his bottle as the California cliffs pass them by. Their phones beep with alerts from their friends.
“Hand me my phone?” Zach asks as he holds out his palm.
“If I give it to you, then you’ll be driving with one hand and we’re on a highway by a cliff. I’m not too sure about giving you your phone.” Milo replies as he clutches Zach’s phone to his chest with a look of mock fear on his face.
Zach scoffs and rolls his eyes. “To unlock it so you can find out who’s trying to reach me.”
“Fine,” He hands over the phone; Zach quickly taps in the password and gives it back. Milo sees that there are two messages from Zoë and Chris and a voicemail from Corey. He reads them out loud: “Zoë says that Ben Stiller just came out on stage in Avatar makeup and then Chris said your ears just won an Oscar.” The voicemail from Corey was him cackling with glee that Spock’s ears are now Oscar-winning ears. Milo snickers at the news. “Dude, you’re never going to live that down now, Spock.”
“No way! Are you shitting me?” Zach laughs. “What about my eyebrows? I had to live with shaved eyebrows and then growing them back for almost nine painful! You saw what I looked like!”
“I know and I shit you not, the movie won best makeup. According to Russ, they were showing the makeup people putting the ears on you and shaving your eyebrows.” Milo snickers as he scrolls through his BlackBerry and reading a play by play from Russ. “Looks like all those months paid off, Spock.” he laughs.
*
“I should have brought my camera,” Zach commented as they approach a particularly scenic coastal vista of the highway; Milo nods in agreement and pulls out his camera out from the backseat with a smirk and starts snapping. Zach throws a mock glare at him and points a finger at the camera. “You bastard,” he jokes. “I thought you said this was a last minute trip! Where did the camera come from?”
“I pulled it out of my ass,” Milo retorts with a smack on the arm. “Nah, I always keep a camera in the car, you never know when you need to take a picture of something and sometimes I don’t want to use my BlackBerry. And this road trip was an impulse; you just reminded me about the camera, doofus.”
*
As the sky gets darker and the lights are turned on as they drive on, the road signs indicate that their intended destination is getting closer and closer. Their phones continue to beep with alerts from their friends recapping the awards show and the drunken party antics until it was agreed that they were better off just shutting both phones off. Milo’s camera, on the other hand, was working nonstop with pictures of the ocean. the passing cars, the Big Sur vistas and the trees of Carmel. There’s also a couple of pictures of Zach driving because he liked the way the sunlight bounced off his friend’s face and because taking pictures of the scenery gets boring after a while.
It’s another hour when they finally reach Monterey; they have dinner and dessert at a small diner and catch up on their messages on their phones and trade stories about their friends. Apparently the Oscars were worse than they imagined; Tyler had gotten so wasted because of the drinking games and because he lost half his Oscar pool that he blacked out halfway through the show and had to be dragged to Neal's bathtub to sleep it off. Dino fared a bit worse; somehow he fell asleep in the yard with just his pants on and lost his entire Oscar pool. Chris and Zoë had been texting each other as well as Zach in an effort to stave off the boredom; their messages had gone from bored to amused to snarky to almost desperate to leave the show and hit the open bars at the after-parties. Zach’s trying very hard to not laugh at them but he couldn’t contain himself; he shares the messages with Milo and they crack up.
*
By the time they decided that it was time to head back to Los Angeles, it was already late into the night and by the time they got back, it would have be some time in the middle of the night. After a quick refuel of the gas tank and stocking up on late-night driving snacks, they were back on the road with Milo behind the wheel again and Zach commandeering his camera. Milo sticks his palm out to block the lens as he weaves the car onto Interstate 5. “Dude, stop taking pictures of me, there’s no light!” He laughs as he blocks each attempt from Zach to shove the camera in his face.
“That’s for taking pictures of me,” Zach laughs as he dodges swipes from Milo’s palm. “Especially because I was driving alongside a freaking cliff and can’t do a thing about you sticking that camera in my face.” He concedes anyway and focuses the camera away from Milo and towards the night sky. His phone beeps again with a victorious message from Corey saying that he won the Oscar pool and that lunch is on him; he sends a reply threatening to hold Corey to that promise.
“I couldn’t resist,” Milo laughs. “The lighting was just really too good to pass up.”
“Planning on becoming the next Ansel Adams?”
“You bet. Another thing to fall back on when acting and producing and directing gets boring. Mostly because it’s fun. You should try it instead of that banjo.”
“I like my banjo just fine, thank you very much. But that’s a good idea anyway. I can take pictures of the paparazzi instead of them taking pictures of me walking Noah.” Zach laughs as he drops the camera in the backseat, props his feet up on the dash, tilts his seat back and tips his hat over his eyes. “You know, this was a good idea and a pretty fun day. Thanks for kind of shanghaiing me along with this. Wake me up when we’re halfway home and it’s my turn to drive.”
“You’re welcome.” Milo grins as he guns the pedals and they speed down the emptying interstate. He then adds, “Next time I’ll make sure to knock you out then.”
“I appreciate it if you did,” was the yawning reply as he starts to doze off to the background noise of the radio.
tyfyt. ♥