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When Otto opened the door, he would unsurprisingly find his girlfriend laying on her bed. At least she wasn't lost under the covers this time, but she might as well have been; she was laying in the wrong direction, and her face was pressed into the sheets at the bottom of her bed. The sound of Otto's voice did not rouse her from her splayed out position, but her arm rose enough to wave a lazy hello at him.

Then she digested what she was being told, and her head did rise up to peer at him from over the sheets. She spied the duffel bag, and took her time understanding exactly what was being offered.

Two of her twenty minutes were already lost.

She popped up like a jack in the box, bounced off of the bed, and hardly touched the floor with her feet before she was up in the air, wrapping her arms and legs around him to hold herself up. "Seriously?" Her voice cracked with a desperation that sounded like it was half excited, half begging. It was hard to believe anything was true, nowadays.

It was like he'd injected pure adrenaline into her body. She peppered his face with kisses until he was done speaking, and then she dropped off of him and slid around him to get to her closet. There, she pulled out a luggage bag - big, pink, covered in zippers, and no one was surprised - and began to fill it.

"I can't believe you just called me a cockroach. You basically just told me you want to squish me under your heel. Like, I know I've been hiding out but I think there are better things to compare me to than some gross cockroach. A groundhog, for example." She used one of her scarves to gently wrap around his neck from behind. "Or some kind of hibernating bear."

She paused in her slithering movement to contemplate that, and made a face. "Scratch that. Too hairy."

Keeping the focus light was doing wonders to help her pack, and soon enough she'd thrown in enough tiny garments to last her an entire weekend, including the nights. Those were the tiniest.

She sat down on the bag and zipped it closed underneath her, taking a minute to ponder the offer. "Anywhere I want, huh? Should I pick somewhere I've already been that I know I like, or should we do something new - forget it. Already decided. I'm not in the mood for new, I need old favorites. The beach then - maybe the Hamptons. Unless.." Her eyes glittered with interest. "I've never been to Hawaii.. maybe I'm changing my mind about that old favorites thing."

Oh yes. Hawaii sounded absolutely perfect.

Her fingers slid into his, tightening the hold enough to help her up off of her perch on the luggage. Her other hand reached down to grab the handle, pulling it up at the same time she pulled herself up. It was clear she was ready - more than ready, even.

"Is it really that simple?" She hadn't used leave for more than a quick day trip for pleasantries now and then - something as big as a weekend to Hawaii still sounded a little hard to swallow. "I don't need like, security clearance to leave the country?" It was also easy to forget that she wasn't actually in the country right now.

Her hand let go of her luggage and slid across his belly, fingers prodding along the curves of his abdomen. "You know we're going to be in bathing suits, right? Hope you're not getting fat."

"Vacation." She breathed the word out in an exhale, letting the taste of it linger on her tongue. "Feeling human again. I need it pretty bad." She'd almost forgotten what it meant to be normal; to have normal problems, and normal worries. Normal regrets. The past that shaped her seemed like a distant, dirty memory.

It almost frightened her to think about. It would be so easy to lose herself, to forget everything and start over. Taking Otto's hand felt as easy as that breath, and just maybe-

She laughed, timed perfectly to look as though his squished kiss was the cause of it. Then she let him drag her along, her luggage in tow. "Okay, but then back to chopping trees. Preferably while I'm watching. And shirtless." Her little baby faced lumberjack.

"Yeah." She snapped back, her teeth showing in a vicious grin. "Not that you'd have a choice. You could hand me an axe, and point me to a tree, but at the end of the day, you'll still have an uncut tree."

No axe though. That she'd keep.

Walking through the portal was shakingly disorienting - not because of the portal itself, but because of how different the world was on the other side. She'd gone from the drab grey and white world of work and fear - into an explosion of color, smells, and sound. The first step in was the only step she made, standing awkwardly right in front of the portal to stare at the alternate universe that was Hawaii.

Everything looked and felt beautiful. Just being there made her feel more beautiful.

"This feels like cheating." Maebe whispered, the awe still stuck in her voice. "And that makes it even better."

She knew exactly where she wanted to go first. The clear skies and overbearing heat had her hungry for her first taste of beach life in longer than she could remember. She followed him to their room, if only because it meant she would be able to change into her smallest bikini as quickly as possible and practically run for the nearest beach. But first, he earned himself a kiss - quick, breathless, against his cheek. Because no one had ever given Maebe a gift as great as Hawaii, and as far as she was concerned, it was hers now. All because of him.

As soon as Maebe's bare feet hit the sand, she leaned down and grabbed fistfuls of it to feel it sifting through her fingers. His pinch on her waist had a fistful of sand flying into his gut, and she looked down at her bikini - a precious little number in pink and lace, and pulled one of the strings that held the top up. "Um. I kind of think that was the point. Are you complaining? Because I can go put on a sweater, I mean, it's no big deal."

The string was pulled back over her shoulder, and her arms were folded in front of her. "Painting a bikini on is not a bad idea. You'd get a perfect tan, but still look clothed. Maybe I should try that sometime." Her teeth clacked as she grinned ferally. "Unless I plan to go swimming. Then... oops."

Speaking of which, the water was calling, and teasing Otto with thoughts of painted on bikinis was only going to amuse her for so long. She turned and started running for the water, pausing just long enough to dig her toes into the sand again. It felt so good.

Maebe slowed when she neared the water, and Otto zoomed past, splashing down several feet in front of her. She was more careful, testing the water and finding it absolutely delightful before sliding herself into it inch by inch. She was well aware that a dive like Otto's would turn this into a topless beach within seconds.

He reappeared, wet and slick and immediately happier. Her face turned wry, pursing with a sarcastic smile to temper the flush she felt against her cheeks. It wasn't her fault; this was just a good look for him. She convinced herself it was a natural reaction to admire her angel when he glistened. Completely natural.

She dipped down until she was neck deep, and stopped there. The water was crystal clean, but that didn't change the fact that she would always be hesitant about getting her hair wet. It was her finest, prized feature. But she could already feel the ends of it sopping up water behind her, and knew the inevitable would come soon enough.

"Don't pee in the ocean." She warned him with a softness in her voice that made those terrible words sound more like she'd just said she loved him.

Which was weird. It was truly weird.