Work Text:
Neal was sitting on his porch, avoiding looking through the window to where is sister was making obnoxious kissy faces. He had come out to the porch to avoid her (and not because as Lizzy had teased, he was too impatient to wait for her to knock... though he was excited to see her).
And see her he did, turn the corner and swerve to barely miss a crow who had decided that the street was a great place to stand around with half a pair of scissors in it's mouth.
Before he knew it he stood up and walked to meet Sara in the driveway as she pulled up.
"Hey Neal from the comic shop!" Milo greeted, securely belted behind Sara... his accordion case seat-belted in the other back seat.
"I told you I was going to drop Milo off on the way, I hope that's fine."
"I got the text," Neal said.
"Oh good, I thought it might not have gone through,"
"It did, though it looks like my reply didn't," Neal said, buckling himself into the passenger seat.
"Well that's good, ready to get some stuff signed!" Sara asked grinning. Her smile and excitement was contagious, and just seeing her smile made his heart feel warm and fluttery.
"I was born ready!" Neal said, moving to dig the comics out of his bag, "I got-"
"Maybe keep those safe in there!" Sara said hurriedly, "Any barrier against Murphy's Law drastically increases their survival rate.'
"Sara's got all her stuff in a safe in the back!"
"It's no guarantee, but it does help my chances," Sara explained, "If you want you can put your stuff in there too.
"I'm sure it'll be fine." Neal said.
"Risky words" Milo said with a wince.
"Well, I'll pay you 5 bucks if my stuff gets damaged." Neal said confidently.
Milo considered his offer carefully, and extended his hand, "Deal,"
It was an eventful drive to the park where Milo was apparently shooting a music video with his band-mates. A detour because of snakes, nearly getting pushed off the road by a sudden flow of water. But Sara remained calm, each barely pausing her conversations, bouncing between excited discussions about Dr. Zone, the upcoming meet and greet, and Milo's music video.
It was always something to see Sara in her element. From the first time he'd seen her he'd been attracted to her energy, her passion, and indomitable spirit. It was easy to see where it had come from, a life time spent loving people who required that kind of character to just be around.
But it also made him love the uniquely Sara things all the more. Her genuine, unabashed love of her interests. Her single-minded determination and attention to detail. Her artistry and craftsmanship that went into her cosplays.
And fortunately, the car, and thus his bag, and by extension his merch, remained untouched, and thus Neal survived without losing 5 bucks. Milo tried offering him 5 bucks in return, but Neal had declined his money.
"It was just insurance," he explained.
"Playing the system?" Milo nodded approvingly, "Just be careful, Murphy's Law is unpredictable, just because it works out once doesn't mean it always will."
"I'll keep that in mind," Neal said.
Milo walked off, and a crow with half a scissor appeared out of nowhere and began diving at him.
"Should we be worried?" Neal asked.
Milo shooed it off with an umbrella.
"Nahh, he knows what he's doing," Sara said, but they still stayed a moment longer than necessary, watching as he headed deeper into the park, before Sara pulled away.
So now it was just the two of them.
"Sorry about all that."
"Don't be, it was fun. Like an adventure,"
"It's good to hear that," Sara kept her eyes focused on the road, but her face showed a small, soft smile. Neal didn't see this side of Sara as often, so often she was going at 100 mph passionate, so often unfazed and unbothered. But he liked this Sara too.
"Well in that case," she continued, "I'm sorry the adventures done now."
"The adventure's not done." Neal said.
"Hm?" Sara asked, sparing him a glance between the road.
"I mean, Murphy's Law is fun and all, that wasn't the adventure I'm here for."
For the first time all day Sara was flustered.
"Cheesy much," she finally said.
"Is it really cheesy if it's true?" He asked.
"Alright Mr. From the Comic shop where too next on our adventure?"
"Wherever you'll take me!"
Sara laughed, and Neal's heart skipped a beat, "I meant can you check the map?"
"Oh... yeah."