hitchin'

[insertusername]

hitchin'

Going my way? When you find yourself on some lonesome strip of road with no way to get where you’re going, you stick out your thumb and hope the kindness of strangers pays off. It's a hitchhiking meme. Find a lift or offer one.

top level

as a hitchhiker or a driver. or both.

Hitchers tell your potential driver where you’re heading and see if they're willing to make some room.
Drivers pull over and lay down some ground rules for riding with you.

comment

on the hitchers you’ll stop for or the drivers you’ll hop in with.

Comments

[unshakencowboah]

Arthur stared back a moment then looked down at himself. "What? Somethin' wrong?" he asked, doing up the ties on his pants before heading over to his things.

He found his phone and pulled it out, along with what looked like a battered leather journal, which he also retrieved before sitting on the bed only to get back up and fiddle with the AC a moment, turning it on to pump some fresh air into the muggy dank smelling room.

[drakestone]

He snapped out of it. "no, no, just, got lost in thought." He stood up and decided a shower would definitely do him some good too. He certainly didn't bump the ceiling, the shower was on the smaller side for sure, but so was Eli so it actually worked out very ell for him. He sighed, happy the cowboy hadn't used up all of the hot water.

Not too long after, he stepped out in only a pair of boxers and socks. "Man, didn't realize how much I needed that."

[unshakencowboah]

The other's behavior earned a strange look but he shrugged it off and went about his usual routine, checking his phone for messages, answering what he could, then opening up his journal and sketching, jotting down his adventure thus far today.

When he stepped out, Arthur too looked at him a little longer than he should have, trying to keep his eyes up as he spoke

The younger man was...rather good looking...

He shook the thought from his mind and went back to writing for another moment before putting the journal away and picking up his phone again, wondering if it was too late to order anything.

Valentine wasn't a big truck stop place but a few were open twenty four seven so he started to put in an order for burgers.

"Hungry at all? Burger place is open." he said.

[drakestone]

"This late? Heh, man, thought was only in the city." Genuinely surprised that out here there were late night places; "A burger sounds great." he wasn't sure if this place delivered or they'd go and get them, so he asked, "Should I put some pants back on then?" He also noted Arthur's journal, but figured he'd ask him about it later perhaps.

[unshakencowboah]

"Truck stops usually have twenty four seven food as they come in at all manner of times." he said, finishing up his order. "Nah, looks like they'll run it over to the motel. Good news for both of us" he chuckled, not in any hurry to get dressed again himself.

He set his phone aside and picked up the remote to see what the local news had to say on the TV.

"Oh, you need a ride any further or you off after tonight?" he asked.

[drakestone]

"Oh," he sighed lightly with a smile, "good, just got comfortable." The younger man took a seat on the foot of the bed; lack of seating so he could face and talk with Arthur some more as they waited for their food to arrive.

"Uh, well-" Eli hadn't thought about that. He could stay here in Valentine possibly, that truck stop could possibly use another worker. "-if you're offering. I wouldn't mind going a bit further."

[unshakencowboah]

"Okay, my next stop is Strawberry, will take most of tomorrow to get there, then after that it's a straight shot up to my place so let me know where you need droppin' off." he said.

He tucked a hand behind his head and laid back, setting the remote on his stomach, tucking a hand behind his head and watching the news. Nothing really, good on the weather front which was nice, last thing he wanted was to be driving in rain the last couple days.

[drakestone]

As they waited, Eli looked at the tv briefly, but found it uninteresting. His eyes and mind wandered back to his travel companion. Eli let his eyes linger a bit longer than he meant to; Arthur was handsomely rugged, tall, and had been a kind and much appreciated godsend.

He's unsure how much time has gone by and he's just been ogling the older man, when there's a knock at the door. "Hn?" he snaps out of it, then gets up and answers the door. He comes back with a hot bag of food. There's no table or anything resembling a table save for their nightstands, so he sits the bag down; Arthur bought so he'll let him look through the contents.

[unshakencowboah]

Arthur became quickly aware of how long Eli was watching him, and knew it wasn’t just a glance.

He tried to ignore him, unsure of how to take it, never much seeing himself as attractive even when he was younger.

Fortunately the knock of their food interrupted things and he sat up, opening up the bag on the bed and spreading out what they got and setting the drinks on the nightstand. When everything was divided up, Arthur hungrily tucked into his burger.

“So you’re just makin’ your way over the country? No end to your journey?” He asked to try and keep some conversation, and avoid thinking about other things...

[drakestone]

Eli sat back down and happily went ahead and took a bite of his burger and then a fry or two before Arthur broke the silence between them; the two men were both clearly hungry.

"Mm, yeah, I guess you could say that. I mean, I hope there's an end." His tone growing more than a little somber, and he realized that and forced a smile and ate another fry. El had no intention of delving into his past, the few people he actually told about his past had betrayed him, and after a couple of times, he just stopped trusting people with it. "I saw you were writing in a book earlier, do you keep a journal, or, working on a novel or something?" he decided he'd try to redirect the conversation.

[unshakencowboah]

Arthur picked up on the change of topic immediately, but, being one who didn't like to talk much about his past himself, he respected it and didn't pry further.

"Journal, yea, way to organize my thoughts, get them out, sketch a little if I see somethin' interesting." he had his burger halfway to his mouth again when he paused and quickly added, "And no, you can't see."

Had enough of the gang trying to pry into his head to know when someone's curiosity might make them ask.

[drakestone]

"Okay, heh, I wasn't going to ask." That was a lie, he absolutely was going to; wasn't like there was a surplus of entertainment at an old motel in a small middle of nowhere town.

"I was just wondering, I used to keep a journal too, until I lost it." It was actually stolen. He went ahead and finished his meal, took care of both of their trash once the other man finished his as well, then walked over and looked out the window. A blinking yellow light at the four way stop, the truck stop their food had come from with no more than two cars total in the parking lot. Beyond that he could see a distant valley and the silhouette of mountains.

[unshakencowboah]

Dinner done, Arthur went to wash the grease off his fingers and face in the bathroom before settling into bed, tired after the long drive.

He glanced to Eli as he watched out the window, but put any other thoughts that had drifted to mind, out. One bed did not equal nothing.

He made sure he was taking up an even amount of room before laying back and closing his eyes, able to sleep even if the lights were still on.