halo 'n horns [klance au]

13. Friendly Competition pt.1

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Lance

1̶-̶ ̶S̶e̶e̶ ̶f̶l̶o̶w̶e̶r̶s̶

2- Go to a concert

3- Go on a spy mission

4- Go to an island

5- Find a forest

I sighed, rubbing my temples. It was early the next morning and my hangover was what had woken me up. Keith was asleep on the bed, and I'd already put away my make-shift bed from the floor. I was sitting at the small kitchen table, Keith's list in front of me. I'd kept it so that we could keep track of our adventures and what we had left to do, but I had no idea where we should go next.

On one hand, I could stay in California, finding everything we needed here, but that meant a lot of driving and I'm pretty sure I was mentally-scarred from the incident a few nights ago. I also knew that Keith didn't like big crowds, so maybe California wasn't the best fit for him. But then again, why would he put "Go to a concert" on his list if he didn't like the feeling?

I glanced over at his sleeping form, so quiet that I had to study his back to make sure that he was breathing, and sighed. Last night had ended with us toppling over each other after one too many drinks and way too many dances and calling an Uber to drive us back to the motel. I didn't know how much Keith had to drink, but I hoped, for his sake, that it wasn't too much. I assumed that they didn't get hangovers down in the Underworld.

Looking back at the list, I figured that I could just go in order. That meant... the concert. Luckily, I knew his music taste from our road trip together, so with a few quick Google searches, I'd found us a venue that would suffice, even if it was a good five hours away, which I actually didn't mind. Turning off my phone, I packed up my things, loaded everything into the car that we'd need (the rest of the Oreos, too), and then carefully woke Keith up.

"Go away," he snarled sleepily, eyes squinted.

"You can sleep in the car," I said smoothly, handing Keith a glass of water. He chugged it and I refilled it with a flick of my fingers. He drank slower this time, watching me warily with tired eyes. There were purple semi-circles beneath his eyelids.

"Sleep well?" I asked gently, easing the devil out of bed and onto his feet, holding him by his elbows, before handing him a plate of scrambled eggs.

"Like a baby," Keith retorted snarkily. I rolled my eyes and materialized two Advil on his plate too.

"Okay, Mr. Sunshine. Eat up. We're leaving."

...

Okay, so maybe a devil with a hangover wasn't my ideal passenger, but at least he was the quiet type of hungover and not the loud, obnoxious kind. Keith had bundled himself up in a ball in the passenger seat, eyes closed, the giant quilt pulled up over his face to shield himself from the sun.

We were about 2 1/2 hours away from Kettleman City, the halfway point between Lancaster and San Jose, but the traffic wasn't too bad so I was able to drive relatively quickly. We weren't in a rush- it was still morning and the concert wasn't until late afternoon, so I had to find something to do to keep us entertained before the show started.

However, me being the amazing, resourceful angel I was, of course, I had already found something in the small city.

Keith slept for most of the drive and I didn't blame him. My alcohol tolerance was pretty high, so I didn't have it very bad, but this was Keith's first time drinking in the Midworld with mortal-esque side effects, so he was probably hit pretty hard.

We arrived in Kettleman City at around 10:45, which was perfect, since the entertainment I had picked out opened at 11:00. I parked easily, as it wasn't too crowded, and turned off the car, sighing.

To be honest, I didn't mind driving so much. I knew that it felt like it was the only thing I had been doing for the past few days, but I was happy to go the long distances- it gave me time to think and relax.

Stretching, I yawned loudly, ruffling my hair and unbuckling my seatbelt. Rolling my head to stretch out my neck, I observed the park in front of us. When I had been looking at reviews earlier online, a lot of people had given the place good marks.

"Adventure Park"

The building was pretty big, and even from here, I could see the bumper boats out in a small pond out back and the looping track for go-karts. The arcade, likely inside, was supposed to be pretty good too. I glanced over at my passenger, who had a hard expression over his face.

I laughed quietly. "Why are you so serious?" I murmured, refraining from reaching out and pressing my thumb between his brows to smooth down his frown. Instead, I gently put my hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently.

One of his dark eyes opened, meeting mine with an unreadable expression.

"We're halfway there. I thought it would be fun to stop for a few hours and have some fun," I informed him hopefully. Keith looked out the windshield, other eye opening. He unfolded from his position and unbuckled his own seatbelt, interest growing in his eyes.

"What is it?" he asked, tossing his blanket into the back seat.

I tried to hide my smile. "Well, I was thinking that we could try go-karts and then laser tag if you wanted."

Keith turned towards me, eyes bright. "I have no idea what either of those are, but they sound sick."

...

"Get your ass back here!" I yelled, yanking hard on my steering wheel and accelerating. The bright blue go-kart purred beneath me, racing forward towards Keith around the track.

"Never!" Keith crowed, his red kart drifting around the sharp turn ahead. He was definitely better on his own kart than an actual car. Gritting my teeth, I floored the gas and spun around the turn, gaining on Keith and his red go-kart.

Keith spared a glance back at me and I grinned maniacally, yanking the steering wheel. My tires screeched as Blue and I skidded closer and closer to the devil.

Suddenly, Keith jerked towards the inside of the track, cutting me off from passing him. "Asshole!" I shouted, driving up next to him. He smirked at me over his shoulder and I could see his small horns on his forehead below his helmet.

Swearing under my breath, I jerked the steering wheel to the right and slammed into Keith's kart. Taken by surprise, he slowed just enough for me to pass him, blowing a kiss as I passed. I heard him growl at me, but I didn't care. I hugged the corners like a pro, but Keith didn't budge from his position exactly a foot behind me.

I guess I got too cocky because the next thing I knew, I was spinning backward and Keith was racing ahead. Sputtering, I realized that he'd clipped the left side of my kart as we went around a turn and rotated me completely.

Fuming, I carefully turned back around and finished the track, pulling into the garage. Keith was waiting for me there, lounging proudly in his kart. He flashed me a lazy smirk, making a point of lifting up the plastic medal he'd won. I rolled my eyes, a little embarrassed. He played dirty, but it was fair and square in my book.

"Who's the bad driver now?" Keith called as I unbuckled my seatbelt, stretching out his long legs before standing and yawning.

"Just you fucking wait, hotshot," I muttered under my breath, "Laser Tag is next."