Mariam is tired and overwhelmed and confused and scared that they'll never get home - she's been trying to be polite to the people who picked them up but it has been a very long day. She closes her eyes and tries to stay awake enough to react if someone addresses her, trusting that Daria will wake her up if she's needed.

Brian drives on. Eventually there's a sign for Billings.

"Mariam, wake up, we're almost there."

"What? Where're - oh." She shakes herself, trying to clear her head.

"Ten miles, but you probably don't just want to be dropped off within city limits, we can find you a motel or something," says Brian.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Will just any old motel do -"

"As central as possible, I don't want to be stranded with no way to go get dinner or something. Other Mariam - we really need nicknames or something - shouldn't mind paying a bit more."

"Mmhm. Jackson, keep an eye out once we're on a main street for places to put 'em."

"Yes Brian."

"Is there anything you can think of we're likely to trip over not knowing, with roles or eclipsed? I know that's a broad question, but if there's anything you think you haven't mentioned yet that might keep us from getting weird looks..."

"Uh," says Jackson, "eclipsed aren't that likely to come up... it's hard to say what might come up with roles..."

Yeah, she'd expected that. "Okay, I'm sure I'll pick it up quickly enough, we don't seem to have run into any dangerous misunderstandings."

"Uh, I guess if you see someone subbing high protocol style - like they have their collar on and are doing stuff for their dom but like less casually than me right now - then maybe don't try to talk to them?"

"That's good to know. Is there anything that'd make it obvious that it's more formal, or is it more inexplicable social intuition?"

Daria looks very unimpressed by the concept of people you're not supposed to talk to, but doesn't press the point.

"Uh, pretty intuitiony. Like they'd have collars but lots of people have collars... they'd be acting different? Like not necessarily looking people in the eye, maybe."

"All right, that makes sense."

"I can't really do high protocol in the car or I could show you."

"That's okay, I think it should be enough just to know it's a thing."

"Okay... and don't hit doms for asking you to get them water, you can just be like, 'I'm not yours' or whatever."

"I shouldn't need to clarify that some random person doesn't own me."

"Or you can ignore them, but don't hit them for flirting with you."

"I'm not going to hit them for flirting with me, I'm going to make sure they don't assume they can order me around!"

"Not by hitting them!" says Jackson.

"If they don't listen the first time" she catches a quelling glance from Mariam and glares at her too, "they deserve it."