The Night Ride

It was late at night, well past midnight. A black van was quietly going through a highway. The car inside was dark as well and only orange-tinted street lamps made it possible to see people inside. Majority of them were already asleep, leaning on the doors and breathing quietly. The vampire in the right corner was wearing big headphones, that if you paid enough attention, you could hear a faint sound of obnoxiously loud, japanese game soundtrack blasting in his ears, somehow completely not bothering him. The rest - The big lizard on the left and leaning on him, a boy with cat ears, were sleeping in complete silence. Because of that the radio was also turned off, to not disturb them. Two people on the front were also silent. The red-headed driver wasn't even holding the wheel correctly, rather just resting one of his hands on the bottom part, his other hand holding a closed cup of gas station coffee, completely washed out of any significant taste. It was just to keep him awake.

On the passenger seat there was a sleepy phoenix. She did her best to not fall asleep, leaning on the window and trying really hard to keep her bird eyes open, constantly blinking to the point it was making her dizzy. The constant loop of the street lights and the fact there was nothing on the road to distract her made it only harder to stay awake.

"You can take a nap if you want. We still have a few hours to go." A sudden voice of Ivo, the driver, woke her up.

"Few hours? Bruh, that's what you get for wanting to skip the gates. Like, the gas will cost more than if we just went through, y'know?"

"Whatever. I'm not paying them, Szili."

"yea..."

She looked to the side where, besides three other highway lanes, there was also a faint, dark silhouette of a forest. She couldn't make out anything coherent out of it however. It was quite to be expected, her kind is not suited for darkness and her night vision was even worse than human's. Sziliana frowned a bit, irritated with her sleepiness as her eyelids began to fall again. Her hand slowly reached the button on the dashboard and the window went down a bit with a quiet buzz. Everything outside got a bit louder and the fresh air hit her face, making her a bit more lively. She took a deep breath.

"When I was like, younger" The bird started "I would often come back from family parties this late. Like, I was always asleep on the back, yea? Weird, I was calm enough to fall asleep, cuz I knew that my pops was way too drunk to drive…"

The phoenix chuckled weakly and smiled as if her consciousness was slipping away. Well, it probably was, the fresh air only could keep her awake for so long. Ivo exhaled air slightly louder, signaling that he considered her "story" rather funny.

Sziliana yawned and then frowned very quickly. She raised her hands and gently smacked her cheeks a few times.

"Ugh! Dude, talk to me, or I'm really gonna snooze."She pouted like an angry teen girl and stared at Ivo with reproof.

"Huh? I don't have anything to say. Just get some shut eye." Ivo didn't even peek at her, just kept his calm, hooded eyes on the road. Unfazed, as always.

"What if you fall asleep, tho? I need to, like, keep an eye on ya!" Bird smiled proudly, as if that was a very important task she had.

The demon rolled his eyes, finally looked at Szili and raised the white paper cup with brownish accents and shook it lightly in his hand.

"I drank three. This will keep me awake for the next few hours, amigo. You're good."

"Ugh, fine mom." She said mockingly, puffing up her lips, but quickly changed her face to something more genuine "Just wake me up in like two hours or so, I'll swap with ya… With the wheel and all."

And those were the last words spoken for now. Sziliana rested her head on the car's window and her eyes almost immediately shut. Her feathers fluffed up, making a cosy cocoon for her to snuggle in and so she fell asleep really quickly.

Ivo however, did not wake her up two hours later, not like he agreed to do it. He didn't want to bother her.