Roadtrip (Part 1)
Posted on Sun Mar 15th, 2026 @ 11:35 by Alastair Temple & Liana Zhao
Chapter:
Gobsmacked
4395 words - 8.8 OF Standard Post Measure
It was the third time Liana had attempted to leave her room.
Ordinarily, the level of chaos that had thwarted her all morning was unusual for the well-organised woman. Though she didn't travel half as much as she would like, Liana was no stranger to relocating and normally had packing down to a fine art. Granted, it was often short-trips within the country for work more than recreational retreats but there was effort every couple of years to visit family in Korea and, less often, in China and she lived with the concept, at least, that ducking over to Europe was a fine way to spend a long weekend. She didn't often get that far but the thought was there.
And then she'd met Alastair Temple.
A perfectly innocent conversation over a routine supper of ramen. The wistful longing to explore the capabilities of his new acquisition colliding with an idle suggestion that she was long overdue for a catch-up with her father given she'd put his Christmas visit off in light of everything that had been going on. Neither of them had gone into the conversation with any intention beyond finishing their movie and then turning in for the night but now, several days later and some last-minute leave organised, there had been a scramble to haul down her suitcase once more whilst deciding what on Earth she was meant to pack for a roadtrip that had very little structure planned beyond pointing their nose south and just seeing where it took them. The broad strokes included the newly-opened tunnel, and Paris, and waving at Belgium as they cut through, but Liana had never attempted Europe by car and there was something altogether thrilling about having only a concept of their destination and no real idea of how they were getting there. Suddenly, all the prior experience in the world seemed barely applicable.
And so, she'd gone back several times for things she'd forgotten and arrived, breathless, trundling down the front stairs to where Alastair had pulled the car up and was waiting with the patience of a saint. If she looked flustered it was because she was but in the best way possible; spontenaeity was fast becoming a new vice.
"Sorry, I know, we're late. I'm late. It took me longer to hand-over to Jess than I expected and then I attempt to leave my head behind."
"Just means I'll need to keep my foot down. Probably going to get a speeding ticket or two," Al's warm baritone rumbled. Omen was at the ready, doors open and seat folded back to give Liana space to put her bags in the gleaming white car. One travelbag already sat on the car's rear seat, along with a guitar case; Liana would know it as the one Al used to carry his signature black Ibanez, electric 6-string. Al had spent more time than he cared to admit trying to choose his ride for the next few days; with both Omen and Umbra promising pure driving enjoyment. What had eventually helped him choose the white Kenmeri over the black Hakosuka though was that although Umbra was rare with less than two thousand produced, Omen was considerably more unique, with less than two hundred rolling off the assembly line; and fewer than that still remaining in a roadworthy condition.
Ever the less practical of the two, Al had suggested they take the new channel tunnel, until Liana reminded him - quite correctly - that with the distances involved that would mean more than a full day's worth of driving which would not leave them with enough time to do anything worthwhile in Germany. In turn she had suggested they take a taxi to an airport and fly, but that would've robbed Alastair of the chance to drive and stretch the legs of one of his Skylines. So, had elected to compromise to drive to Harwich and take a ferry to Hoek van Holland, from there to drive to Germany.
Having secured her violin case after leaving Alastair to wrestle with her luggage, Liana smiled to herself and sank into the passenger seat. Providing Alastair with a worthy excuse didn't really seem a requirement but she played along, quietly amused but content, for now, to keep it to herself. She had been equally as willing to leave the final say on logistics up to him, with only the stipulation that the trip would need to include a couple of nights spent with her father whilst still fitting into the timeframe they'd managed to carve from both of their schedules. She hadn't be surprised that his eventual compromise had still involved taking the car, nor was she disappointed. Airports were a necessary evil but they weren't an experience she craved.
Having swept up the spiral-bound road atlas from the seat before she sat, Liana flipped through the pages whilst entertaining the idle thought that she should probably act as navigator. "What's our timeframe, you mentioned a ferry?"
"If we take the highways I figure we can get to Harwich by about six this evening, it's a six hour ferry ride to Hoek van Holland. I'll sleep on the ferry, we can drive across the Netherlands during the night, get to your dad's place in the morning." Which would still be quite a few hours less travel time than the channel tunnel even though it would still take them the better part of a day to get there. Maybe for the trip back they'd elect the chunnel, but for the journey there this seemed the most workable compromise.
Under different circumstances, Liana would have been happy to offer to shoulder half of the responsibility for driving. As it stood, she was still willing but figured it best to wait until it was necessary, and even then, they were probably better off just booking a night somewhere in between if it really came down to it. "It seems a shame to be in any kind of hurry," she mused instead, lifting a hand to wave to a bunch of seniors wandering up the main driveway returning from a walk. "Aside from visiting Papa, I've not been to the Continent outside of work trips for years."
"Mm. I figured we'd get there somewhat expediently and just enjoy the continent once we get there," Al mused, as they took their respective seats. With a twist of the key Omen snarled to life. No, she didn't roar - that was best left to those big American V8s with something to prove. This was the snarl of a predator awakening. Not one of those big, powerful, muscly ones either, but a slender, agile hunter. "Chances are I won't be able to do the whole trip myself, at least not in a comfortably awake state, so I might ask you to take over for me for a bit some time if that's ok with you?"
A gentle, brief squeeze of his forearm was meant as reassurance. "Only for the boring bits, right?" Her smile, a little mischievous around the edges, succumbed quickly to a quiet chuckle and Liana nodded, her hand returning to her lap as she watched the hedge of rose bushes pass by. "Have you ever taken her this far before?"
A smile and a quick glance over at her gentle, reassuring touch. "This far? No. I've taken her on road trips across the UK but she's never left the island under my care," Beat. "Part of me is low key nervous about driving on the other side of the road, with the steering wheel on the wrong side," he admitted. "And the one who isn't driving is going to have to be on map reading duty."
Patting the atlas in her lap, Liana smiled. "Not that I believe you didn't spend the night studying the best route," she teased. "It will be fine," she added, her eyes still twinkling with mischief. "We have plenty of time, we're not in any hurry."
The sudden influx of bass as Alastair turned on the music in playful defiance left Liana laughing. Putting Alastair behind the wheel and telling him there was no rush was tantamount to waving a red flag at a bull but that had been the point. She had her own reasons for being nervous about this trip, rather more personal in nature, but the same advice applied; no rush, no expectations, just a genuine attempt to open her world up to a man she very much wanted to be part of it. It would be fine.
Hopefully.
Having only used ferries as a foot passenger in the past, and even then very infrequently, Liana had to admit that being able to pass the waiting time with only Alastair's company to concern herself with was a nice change to the hustle and bustle of busy airports. She was sure it was a little more stressful for the driver, since Alastair was responsible for navigating the checkpoints and being aware of all the onboarding instructions but even those seemed relatively straightforward. By the time they were parked and the car left secure, it was lovely to be able to stretch but also a little strange to be mobile again; Omen was a very comfortable ride, the trip had been a relaxing one.
Given the importance of a decent amount of sleep, Liana wasn't surprised to see that Alastair had booked one of the more deluxe cabins and there had been temptation at first to just take a shower and crawl into bed. It had been a long time since they'd stopped for lunch, however, and Liana hadn't been too keen to arrive on board stuffed full of snacks. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility for sea travel to leave her queasy but starvation wasn't going to leave her feeling much better. Besides, curiosity made a quick tour of facilities an appealing distraction.
It had brought them to a small table at one of the bars, sneaking in a single cheeky nightcap after a light meal. Liana wasn't sure if drinking beer was in any way a better idea than not filling her stomach with junk food but given their intended destination, there was a certain amount of nostalgia to her rare deviation from wine.
"If I'm honest," she continued the conversation that had flowed easily from one point to another all evening, "I still can't really swim all that well. Too problematic to learn, full immersion for that length of time just destabilises my control."
"Mm," Al agreed. "I don't think water is either our natural habitat, though I can imagine it's a bit worse for you." The trip had been somewhat less comfortable for him than for her. He had to concentrate for basically the entire duration, plus for all the things you could call Omen, for all the words and descriptors that applied to the classic car, 'spacious' was not one of them and a man as tall as Al felt a bit cramped when driving it. Fortunately he had splurged on the comfortable leather touring seats when he restored her originally. He seemed about ready to go in for a few hours of rest, now.
"Is it dangerous for you?" he asked. It just seemed to him that fire and water was not the best, safest combination, and the idea of her losing control and destabilizing, then transforming under water made him uneasy.
A wry smile conveyed a sense of weariness. As much as it wasn't such a huge deal now that she was an adult and could mostly opt to avoid situations that required swimming, there had been a time in Liana's life where this had just been another aspect of her mutation that had made her parents argue. "I've never tried to find out. I learned some basics when I was younger, before my mutation activated. Dad's idea of a proper family holiday involved the coast even though my mother can't stand the sight of sand." She hitched her eyebrows. "Even after they divorced, he'd take my brother and I to Brighton but by then, there'd been enough near-misses in bathtubs for me not to risk getting into the actual ocean. I don't imagine it would be a great idea; I'm not in a hurry to find out if it's possible to extinguish me though."
"Yeah, for real," he agreed. That was not an answer he was keen on discovering either. For now though they were safe, on a boat. "How about rain? I mean, I know you're - " he trailed off, not really sure how to put it into words. "I know you're not a fan of the cold. What about rain, though? Just - curious about you, all that you are," he added with a tired smile before stifling a yawn.
"I'm not likely to melt," Liana reassured with a laugh. "Nor turn into a Gremlin," she added, with some recollection of the movie they'd watched seemingly an age ago now. "I wouldn't say getting saturated by it is my favourite but you probably don't need to be a mutant for that. I can tolerate it just fine." The squeeze of her hand atop his closed the subject. "And yes, before you ask, showers and bathtubs are also perfectly managable. Less of a temperature variance, I can usually get my particles to cooperate. That's an investigation for another day, though. I think it's time to sleep, you look beat."
"No booking a trip to a tropical swimming paradise then," Beat. "I think I prefer a cosy chalet in the woods more anyways," he smiled, turning his hand over to intertwine his fingers with her and squeeze softly, affectionately. With a yawn and a stretch he rose to his full height, rolling his shoulders a bit. "I'll go turn in for a few hours then. You can come join me any time, or stay up and explore the ship, enjoy the trip, either is fine." He hoped that came across encouragingly and freeing, that he was placing no expectations on her whatsoever. With that he headed to their booked room, humming a melody - one she'd recognize as the lead melody on what was going to be the opening track on Temple of Zhao's debut album.
As unappealing as separating was, Liana tucked away her reluctance and simply sent him off with a smile and a promise to wake him when they were half an hour out from port. From there, it was simply a matter of seeking out a quiet space to read, and eventually, when the urge overtook, a decent cup of tea. With any luck, the combination would be enough to soothe both her stomach and her nerves.
Disembarkation proved uneventful, though the process was delayed by others who struggled to follow instructions and it was tempting, amidst the mounting anxiousness, to let impatience dampen their moods. Liana, who had left Alastair to rest and managed most of the trip relatively unscathed by motion sickness, was nevertheless sporting a mild headache and opted to weather it in silence because there wasn't a lot of point in complaining. A degree of empathy made it relatively easy to pick up on Alastair's own sense of anticipation and Liana knew, whatever she was feeling about this first meeting, he was likely experiencing in triplicate. At least she knew the people they were about to spend the weekend with.
She also wasn't responsible for driving in an entirely different country.
It took navigating off the boat and out of the docklands for the tension across Liana's shoulders to abate enough for her to focus. Navigation was a delicate task, neither of them were at all familiar with the terrain this time around, and after several near-misses involving exits and off-ramps, the dull ache behind her eyes had graduated to a fullblown throb. The tension in the car wasn't directed but it was challenging, nonetheless, not to fall into the trap of letting it turn into a mood that produced a bunch of misplaced irritation.
"I think next time," she remarked after another bout of momentary confusion saw them finally on a longer stretch of road, "we just buy you a whole new car and leave it with my father." It was meant as a joke, and might have worked a little better as one if Liana's fretfulness wasn't approaching contagious levels.
The half hour before disembarking allowed Al some time to drink one or two very strong coffees. He was going to need them, for the trip ahead. It wasn't so much the distance or the length of time, just that it was entirely outside his normal schedule. He would probably need some more rest once they got where they were going, but that was a concern for then. For now though, he was awake and felt good. Excited. Nervous, yes. But excited. The last leg of the journey started, taking some time to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. Having the driver's position be on the wrong side of the car didn't help, but he managed well enough.
"Yeah. Hm." Al replied to Liana's comment, in that way that told her that he was putting waymore thought into it than the comment deserved. Sure, he could afford a car. It would have to be a German car, just because. An BMW M3 perhaps? Sporty, with a similar pedigree and reputation as his beloved Skylines. But where would they park it? If they left it at her father's place it would be useless to them, as the idea was bridging the gap between the ferry and his place. And it'd be a waste of a perfectly good car to have it sit there for months, unused, until they made the trip again. So, he'd let her father use it. But then he'd have to come pick them up at the port, which defeated the purpose of buying a car altogether. "I don't - really see a way how we could make that work logistically," he eventually commented, even though he knew she'd said it in jest.
A wane half-smile was left to act as response at first. Logistically, if this were to become in any way an ongoing thing, they would likely have to take a flight and then rent a car at the other end. For the umpteenth time, Liana chided herself that the point for now was to use the trip as an excuse to drive Omen and that, as complicated as that had made things in places, parts of it had also been very nice. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes and took yet another leaf out of her own book to fix her breathing before she tried to speak again.
"I don't even know if Dad and Leonie have a car since they got the bikes," she eventually replied. It struck her then how long it had been since she'd visited, since the last few had involved the pair coming to her.
"He owns a tavern, right? An inn? I'm not quite sure of the difference between the two, to be honest," he admitted, turning on what counted for a 'highway' in the Netherlands, with a 120kmh legal limit. A fairly sedate pace, about half of what Omen was capable of, though the quality of tarmac was very nice making the ride very smooth. "One would think he'd at least have a car of some description, maybe a van, for supply runs. Running an inn requires logistics."
"A Gasthaus," Liana replied, and immediately smiled as she realised that wasn't much help. "It's a little bit of everything, I suppose. Bar area and restaurant for the general public but they also have accommodation and facilities for those guests. Papa runs the kitchen and, as he likes to say, Leonie runs everything else." A soft huff of affectionate laughter hinted at agreement. "I think supply is mostly handled by the distributors but he may still have his old car. If Leone hasn't been successful in prying him out of it."
Alastair bit back the urge to grill Li about said old car, knowing she wasn't a car person and probably wouldn't be able to answer all his questions to his satisfaction anyways. Also, if said car had been gotten rid off it wouldn't matter anyways. Plus, if it had not then it would be a good bonding subject with her father. Never hurts to have another one of those. Besides metal. And guitars. "I have many questions," he eventually volunteered. "That will get answered in time, I'm sure."
For now though, they rode. Small talk, music, Alastair keeping his attention on the road. Eventually switching out, Li driving with Al reading the map. As they cross into Germany and made it to the Autobahn he moved to rest his hand on her leg for a moment, giving a soft, encouraging squeeze. "You can let her loose if you want. Go at your pace, hon. As long as you are comfortable and enjoying yourself," he smiled.
By this stage, Liana had consciously eased out the tension across her shoulders and, succumbing to the inevitable need for decent coffee at their last stop, had mostly dealt with her headache too. Reasonably refreshed, it was a mounting familiarity with the way the car handled that had likewise relaxed her stance and, in turn, painted her as a much better driver than the anxious, white-knuckled caution of her first attempt.
It did not automatically gift her any desire to floor it.
It was all relative, however. Restraint when it came to a car like Omen was not quite the same as a standard family-oriented suburban. It was taking time, but the more he encouraged her into environments that didn't require her normal measured composure, the more Alastair was learning that there was a side to Liana that burned just as fierce as transformation revealed. She didn't urge the car to its maximum potential but, free from the winding disrepair of the Scottish backroads, there was scope for picking up the pace just a little.
The more Liana used her right foot, the more Omen attacked the autobahn, the two-liter six-inline singing its throaty song. Soft vibrations sent back through the steering wheel and the pedals, slower traffic on the right, though still being overtaken by faster traffic on the left. High end, expensive Porsches, Ferraris, top of the lines Mercedes' and BMWs - all much newer and much more glamorous than an over twenty year old import, with unassuming - even subtle, to an extent - coachwork. And yet, whatever Liana asked of Omen, the Skyline was happy to give, with the promise of more.
Eventually, the only promise Liana was interested in was clean restroom facilities and the opportunity to stretch. Now that it was clear they were going to be roughly on-schedule, there seemed less need to force themselves onwards past decent levels of comfort and, though typically Liana's diet only veered in the direction of instant noodles as a deviation from healthy choices, there was something alluring about gas station snacks. The service area they pulled into was relatively quiet, and the weather, whilst overcast and cold, was at least dry. There wasn't any need to rush.
The stop was also the perfect means for quiet negotiation, a conversation whilst cuddled up leaning back against the car. Liana, her arms around Alastair's waist, studied his face with the keen analytical empathy he'd come to recognise as disguising a good deal of sparkling mischief when she put her mind to it.
"So I think this is the part where I give you permission to show me how it's done."
"Come to think of it, I've never given her the beans since Mhairi installed those parts a while back," Alastair casually commented as Omen snarled into life. A moment of gathering himself, wiggling a bit to embed himself fully into the leather clad comfort seat, then a smile - he gripped the steering wheel firmly, shifting into first and with a screech of rubber on asphalt the car surged forward, drawing a few looks from bystanders at the gas station. She had given him permission, and by the Old Gods, he was going to make use of it. He had been holding back all this time, for her comfort. But no more.
The autobahn was near empty and spacious at this time of night, giving him all the space he needed. Quick and angry shifting, a gleeful smirk on tall metalhead features - the car shot past 100 kph, past 140, past 170, approaching 200. Still the car surged ahead, approaching the speedometer's redline. 220 ... 230 ... Finally, the needle stopped just past 240, the highest value on the speedometer. He kept her there for a few moments, the engine screaming its song, before easing off and settling at a 'sedate' 190. Omen was comfortable here. Alastair was happy here.
Ordinarily, when her life gave her any scope for this kind of speed, Liana was never quite in a position where laughter was physically possible, much less something easily shared with others. Adrift on thermal currents came with its own appeal but it was primal energy, solitary by nature and tainted by the constant flirtation with indifference that made it difficult to look back on the exhilaration with uncomplicated joy.
This was different.
There was still a lack of control, enough to provoke an adrenaline response. This time it was not because of any innate urges but was instead the result of a very simple inability to act. Alastair was driving, and by the expression on his face, Liana wondered if it was the first time he'd really experienced the liberation that came with total abandon. She supposed the average air-speed velocity of a raven wasn't going to compare. Overcome by a sudden onrush of empathetic affection, the brunette interrupted her quiet study of his expression with the warmth of genuine delight, a sincere laughter that became a whoop of approval, drowned out only by the throb of a deep bass as she leaned forward and turned up the volume.
