navelgazed | Making New Friends on the Road

Fandom: none
Summary: Justin and Sam started a relationship months ago, but Sam's never met any of Justin's headmates until an eventful and educational post-grad road trip.
This was done for the discount pluralthon fundraiser for Amorpha's housing, which you can check out here!

The sunset was beautiful, all golds and reds and deep violets and Sam kind of wished he was seeing it with his boyfriend. As he was supposed to, or at least how he and his boyfriend had planned it. But instead, he was watching the sun set on the Grand Canyon with one of the people in Justin's head, Faran, who he knew almost nothing about. So an awkward silence stretched on while the sun dipped below the horizon.

He'd mentioned it in a conversation they had just a few months ago, a couple of weeks after they had started dating. Justin had told him about the other people he shared his body with, and it was shocking at first. But Justin assured him, in a way that seemed almost self-conscious, that he would be able to avoid them if he was uncomfortable, and Sam acquiesced. Truth be told, he wouldn't have left Justin even if he hadn't made that promise. Justin was a sweet guy with a smile that lit up a room, and he wanted to get to know him. Everybody has their quirks, after all.

Of course, Justin had mentioned this might happen, but had promised he would do his best to make this road trip romantic. Well, as romantic as road trips could be, but they both enjoyed travelling. So it was perfect.

Faran, however, had a subtly different energy about him. Where Justin liked to fidget, Faran was still and composed, his muscles seemingly relaxed and ready to tense at any time. His face, too, lacked the regular smile Justin wore. It was kind of unnerving, if he was being honest.

But at the same time, he was intrigued. And he wanted to make sure Justin knew he was undaunted in the face of the unknown. So, he turned towards the man.

"Pretty sunset, right?" Sam offered.

Faran nodded.

Hoo boy. Okay.

"Nice to meet you," Sam said. "I'm, uh. Sorry if I'm not doing this right."

Faran turned to look at him, and he had the faintest of surprised looks on his face. "Don't worry about it," he said.

Sam breathed out an inaudible sigh of relief. Okay, this won't be too hard. He's just another guy. He just had to close his eyes and pretend he was talking to somebody else.
That line of thinking fell apart when they got back to their hotel room that night. Their hotel room that only had one bed.

Uh. What was the protocol here? He and Justin would sleep in the bed together, but he didn't want to sleep next to a stranger. Was it weird? Should he take the couch or should Faran? He seemed like the stoic type so even if it was a pull out and felt like they had stuffed it with potatoes he would probably be fine, right? Or was Sam the one imposing?

"Do you want to...take the bed?" Sam asked, figuring the direct approach was best

Faran shook his head and sat on the couch. "I will be fine here."

Despite that assurance, Sam felt a little guilty going to sleep. He observed Faran as he fell asleep, seeming to shift between Justin's natural positions and ones he'd never seen. He wondered if all of the people in Justin's head shared their dreams.

*

"Up and at 'em, Sammy," a voice with a distinctive southern drawl said. Sam rubbed his eyes. He hadn't ordered a wakeup call, but--

Oh. Justin, or rather Justin's body, stood over him, but hands on their hip and slung to the side, just a bit farther out than Justin's would have been.

"Okay, definitely not Faran."

The person smiled and laughed a somewhat high-pitched laugh. "Ain't bad at picking us out for the first time you've seen us. Name's Jacqueline, but call me Jackie, okay?"

Jackie was talkative, unlike Faran. She practically talked his ear off while they drove west, insisting that she drive despite Sam being the designated morning driver. She was all confidence, slouching back into the seat with one hand on the wheel.

"Justin gave us a good scare, the other day," Jackie said after a prolonged silence. "He'd run himself ragged."

Sam knit his eyebrow. "Is he okay? Why..." he trailed off, not sure how to phrase the question.

"Tell me, Sammy, when you heard about the rest of us here, what was your first thought?" Jackie asked, not unkindly but not warmly either.

"I--I guess I thought it was a little weird. I'd never heard of someone like that."

"And you didn't think that sorta showed on your face?" Jackie said. "Don't get the wrong idea, now. We like you just fine. But Justin's a nervous guy. We've had this whole reveal go south on us before, and trust me, it ain't been pretty."

"So are you saying he..."

"Tried to keep front so long he just about collapsed from the mental exhaustion, yeah. He'll be just fine for our big finale on the west coast, but he's recovering now."

Sam was silent for a few moments. "...How do I fix it?" He said, finally. "How do I make him realize that I'm not going to abandon him just because he's different?"

Jackie smiled. "I reckon you've already sort of started, haven't you? This may surprise you, but ain't nobody ever tell us 'nice to meet you' 'cept online, so that really shocked Faran when you told him."

"Was that bad?"

"Nah, just the opposite. It made him feel seen. In a good way." She was silent for a moment, thinking while the passing pavement zoomed by outside. "Tell you what. You get to know us, and I think that'll reassure him."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. And...I dunno, I'd like to get to know you all too. Just from talking with you and Faran, it's getting easier to see you as just...people."

That made Jackie smile and duck her head a bit in embarrassment, but a moment later, they both burst out laughing.
Getting to know the people in Justin's head was, dare Sam say it, fun.

Instead of seeing them as obstacles to his boyfriend, when he asked questions, treated them like friends of Justin's that he wanted to get to know, it was like going on a road trip with lots of new and interesting people.

As it turned out, Faran was a monk. The meditating kind, anyway, although the details were few and far between. Jackie let it slip that he was from a different world, but he didn't pry, seeing how spooked Jackie got. He let it go, hoping to hear more some other time.

Jackie herself wouldn't go into much detail about her past, but she said she had an affinity for farming, and invited him to see the little garden she kept on Justin's patio when they got back.

There was Mell, who got excited over stuff like Dungeons and Dragons and Doctor Who, and seemed to have a youthful energy about them. When Sam asked them their age, they rubbed their head self-consciously and admitted they were only 13. Sam resisted going into dad mode, but promised them he'd play a tabletop game with them sometime.

There was Lorra, who was withdrawn and skittish and whose teddy bear Justin had thoughtfully packed. She spoke like an adult, but she clung to that stuffed animal like her life depended on it.

They went on like that until they were nearly to the California coastline. That was when Justin woke back up.

"Have a good nap?" Sam asked teasingly, elbowing him as soon as he recognized the way Justin set his jaw and the way his eyes squinted.

Justin shook his head. "I can't believe I missed the Grand Canyon."

"We'll catch it on the way back," Sam said, finding a parking space. The Pacific loomed before them, and they sat in silence, mid-noon sun streaming through the windows.

Justin took Sam's hand. "They had a good time. Sam, I...thank you. Really. This is the best possible post-grad gift I could get."

Sam looked at Justin and smiled. "I had fun too. Whoever doesn't want to be friends with that bunch is missing out."

They stayed at the beach and watched the sunset, hand in hand. It may not have been the road trip Sam had planned for, but he was so glad it hadn't been.