Kindred

A Bit Of A Bumpy Start

"Are we there yet?"

Steve took his eyes off the road for a split second to give Melody his best 'are you serious?' face before shaking his head and letting a quiet chuckle escape his lips. "No."

"But what about now? We gotta be getting close! We've been on the road for ages..."

"We've been on the road for 2 hours." Steve corrected.

"Same difference." Melody shrugged. She leaned back against the seat and crossed her arms with a dramatic pout.

"That's definitely not the same! God, how old are you, Parker?" Steve questioned, completely unaware that his question would earn him a gasp and a smack on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir, we never ask a lady her age!" Melody exclaimed. "Surely you were taught better than that."

"Oh, well pardon me, Mels, I didn't mean to offend." The apology was absolutely dripping with sarcasm, though Melody didn't seem to notice, or care. Steve wasn't quite sure which.

"You're forgiven this time, Steven." Melody mused as she picked at a loose thread at the hem on her sweatshirt.

"You really don't have to call me Steven, you know, Steve works just fine."

"Nah, Steven will do." Melody smirked. She could see her travel companion was getting a bit annoyed with her antics, but she was having way too much fun to stop now. Besides, if she was stuck in the car another 8 hours she had to have something to do, right?

Seeming unwilling to fight it, Steve merely shrugged and kept his gaze on the road. The amused smirk on his lips didn't go unmissed by Melody. "Alright, whatever... Do you call Tango 'David'?"

"When the situation calls for it." Melody replied simply as she pulled her legs up in the seat so that she was sitting in a criss cross position. "As it happens, the situation rarely calls for it, but I assure you it does happen..."

Melody noticed Steve glancing at her for the quickest of moments before he returned his gaze to the road. "I'll believe it when I see it myself." He teased, that smirk still present on his lips. "How on earth do you sit like that, anyway? That can't be comfortable..."

"It can't?" Melody questioned in mock concern. "Oh, I had no idea. This isn't usually what uncomfortable feels like for me. In fact it feels pretty comfy so I think I'm gonna just keep on with this until my knees hurt."

"Seeing you sit that way makes MY knees hurt, Mels." The man muttered, shaking his head.

Melody shrugged. "Well, don't look then, sir." She mused. "You're supposed to be keeping your eyes on the road anyway. I'm not interested in having a wreck, I don't know about you."

"Yeah, that's a no." Steve was quick to reply, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. "Way too much precious cargo in this van."

Melody wasn't quite sure why, but as Steve spoke those words she felt her cheeks warm in what she was sure was a deep blush. Great, leave it to her to make it awkward. She knew Steve had been talking about all the investigation equipment and definitely not anything else. But apparently her red face thought otherwise. Clearing her throat, Melody decided to turn her attention back to the loose thread at the hem of her sweatshirt sleeve. She tugged at it for a few seconds before completely tugging it off of her sleeve and proceeding to wrap and unwrap it around her fingers in an almost nervous fashion.

A silence fell over the two, and unlike earlier, this one was an awkward silence. Melody was at a loss on what to say next and her anxiety was stopping her from saying anything. What if he thought she was being silly, or had noticed her blush and had concluded that it was the direct result of Melody's assumption. It wasn't, was it? He's going to think I'm crazy...She thought to herself. Or that I'm flirting with him...And that's not the case at all! God, I don't even know the guy all that well and I've already screwed it up...it's going to be a long trip...Way to make it awkward, Mels. She continued to wrap and unwrap the thread around her finger as she attempted to calm herself down. She was being silly and she knew it. Steve probably wasn't even aware of her blush, let alone of any awkwardness she might have felt. But try to tell that to her brain, it wasn't so easily convinced.