Indeed, Rose did blush a little, although she worked valiantly at fighting it off.

"Actually, I am," she replied. "I wanted to know if you wanted to get on the road a little earlier than we planned."

"Sure, that's fine," Damien agreed. "I'm ready to go, so I'll head over there."

He grabbed his shoes as he spoke, pulling them on.

"Alright," Rose replied. "I'll be waiting here for you. I'm going to see if I can find Terry and convince her to behave for the girl who's going to take care of the animals." Rose was actually kind of pleased that she'd come up with a name for the kitten. She nicknamed the thing Terry, but her real name was Tiny Terror. It fit wonderfully, in Rose's opinion.

Damien laughed quietly. "That's probably a good idea," he agreed. "Otherwise she really will be living up to her name." He shook his head but stood up.

"Alright, I'll be over soon."

"You have to admit, it was the perfect name," Rose pointed out. "I'll see you soon then. Maybe you can convince the cat to behave." She couldn't resist teasing him, just a little.

Damien just snorted and hung up so he could drive to her house safely. It didn't take him long, and he didn't bother to knock.

"Alright, where's the brat cat?" he asked, looking around.

"Upstairs," Sera called, sitting on the back of the couch with her feet planted on the cushions. "Have fun."

Rose was already coming back downstairs, having gone to find the cat a few minutes earlier. She grinned and handed the kitten to him, and then brushed off the dust she was covered in from having to fish around under the bed for said kitten. Little stinker was smarter than she let on.

Damien took the kitten, chuckling quietly as he looked her in the eyes. Her ears laid flat back against her head, and she looked sufficiently cowed after a few moments. He handed the kitten back.

"There. She should behave herself well enough."

Rose took the kitten back and cuddled her a bit.

"That was oddly underwhelming," she teased Damien. "But as long as she's not as much of a terror while we're gone, it'll do."

Damien laughed quietly and shook his head, ruffling the kitten's fur.

"Let me just go grab my bags and I'll be ready to go."

Rose nodded.

"Alright," she said. She put the kitten down on the couch, and picked a few cat hairs off of her shirt. Not that it would matter, really, but she still didn't like having all that hair all over her if she didn't have to. Once she was mostly presentable again, she went outside to meet up with Damien.

Damien had taken his bags out, looking at her briefly.

"I assume we're taking your car," he said quietly, waiting for her to unlock it. He didn't mind. He wasn't a control freak.

Sera got bored pretty quickly. Everything was ready, and she didn't want to spend the rest of the day fidgeting around the house. So she called Taylor.

Rose nodded.

"Might as well," she said as she took out her keys and popped the trunk of the car. "Besides, I'm the one who knows the way there," she added teasingly. "We're staying with the rest of the family at my grandparent's place, so that nobody has to waste money on a hotel." She grinned. "And my grandparents are the kind that live in the middle of the woods so they've got the ultimate privacy."

"I like those kinds of houses," Damien said with a grin. "My parents had a place like that. Out in the middle of nowhere, with the nearest neighbor about a mile away." He grinned as he set his bags in her car. "That was an awesome house."

"Hey. What're you doing for the rest of the day?" Sera asked once Taylor had answered.

Rose nodded.

"My grandparents have had this middle-of-nowhere house ever since I can remember," she said. "I know most of the marked trails around the woods by now, and there's a stream that leads to a big lake that I grew up around." She grinned. "And all of my older cousins are guys, so of course I grew up catching salamanders and wrestling with them."

"I've got nothing planned today," Taylor replied when he picked up. He grinned a bit. "This is my cue to ask you to dinner, hm? So we both have an excuse to pass the evening in one-another's comapny?"

Damien laughed quietly. "Sounds fun," he said mildly. He'd grown up doing things a little more dangerous than catching salamanders, but it was fun, all the same.

"The only downsides to these middle of nowhere places is that they take a while to get to." He sighed.

"I'm bored, Damien and Rose are leaving, and I don't want to spend the rest of the day jumping up every five minutes to check my bags and make sure I have something I just thought of." Sera pouted, even though he couldn't see it.

"And the lack of cell phone reception," Rose added. "It wasn't a problem before I turned fifteen, but afterwards... Suddenly the lack of working technology was weird. It took a while for my grandparents to get internet, and even longer for them to get internet that didn't tie up the phone line." She grinned a bit. "They've since fixed it. But otherwise, there's all sorts of... well, not necessarily OPEN space, but person-free space, at least."

"Then why don't you pack up your car and come to my place, then?" Taylor offered. "I'll make you dinner, and you can spend the night if you want to." It wasn't quite a double-meaning comment, but it was close.

Damien nodded. "Good," he said, clearly pleased. He didn't think he'd need the internet, though he had brought his computer in case something came up at work that he had to deal with. Sometimes he liked to get away from the city, and he stretched before he settled himself into her car.

Sera laughed quietly. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll have to come back to feed the animals before we leave, though. They won't be pleased if they have to miss dinner and deal with some strange lady in the morning."

Rose got into the car as well, and made sure everything was in order before turning it on and pulling out of the driveway. It was about a six-hour drive, if traffic was good.

"Fair enough," Taylor replied. "Any requests on dinner? Or should I surprise you?"

Damien settled in for the drive, turning on music but keeping it low. He left the radio on her station, though. He didn't mind.

"You can surprise me." Sera grinned briefly. "I'll be over in maybe half an hour. I have to make sure I have everything."

"Alright," Taylor said. He already had something in mind for dinner that he figured she would like. "I'll see you in half an hour, then."

Sera packed her things up in her car and drove over to Taylor's house.

She knocked a few times before she poked her head in. "Taylor?"

"In the kitchen," Taylor called. "Going through the pantry to make sure I have everything. Come on in."

Sera walked in, leaving her things in her car for the moment. "Hey. Thanks for saving me from a really boring afternoon."

"My pleasure," Taylor replied as he pulled a few things from the pantry and set them on the counter. Going over to her, her wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss. "Stir-fry sound okay for dinner?"