"Nonconsensually hitting people is actually illegal," says Brian. "Someone telling you to bring them a glass of water doesn't make it count as self-defense."

"I'm not saying I'm going to. Just that they'd deserve it if I did."

Your alt is perfectly capable of defending herself, Mariam doesn't say, because personal conversations in front of strangers never go well and she has some measure of tact.

"Most likely nobody's going to parse you as a sub in any case, we're apparently confusing that way."

"You're a little confusing but people might guess anyway," says Jackson.

"There's nothing to guess, we don't have your -" Daria bites back the first few descriptions that come to mind "- role thing." 

"- they might... make... guesses?" says Jackson. "I don't mean they'll figure it out."

Daria crosses her arms over her chest and doesn't say anything.

Sigh. Probably she should try defuse the argument but she is tired and they won't see these people after they drop them off and she does not want to deal with this.

Jackson spots a motel. Brian pats him on the head and Jackson beams at him. They park.

Mariam gets out of the car and looks around briefly. "This looks good, thanks."

"I can put your room on my card and give you like -" Brian flips through his wallet. "Jackson, is any of your money in cash?"

"No Brian."

"Damn. Uh, twenty bucks - twenty-one - for food till your - people - get you?"

"Oh, thank you! Yeah, that'd be really useful. We can probably figure out how to transfer money somehow, or they'll find someone near here, but until then it'd be good to have at least a little cash."

"Long as they pay me back," says Brian. He hands over a twenty and a single. "Do you need one bed or two -"

"Two."

Brian buys them a room on his card.

"I think that's all - Daria, do you think we're missing anything?" When Daria shakes her head, she continues, "thank you so much, honestly, you've been extraordinarily helpful with having us dropped on you quite literally out of nowhere."

"It's no trouble. Hope you get where you're going all right," says Brian.

Her smile becomes slightly strained (they don't know how they got here, an unfamiliar unobserved phenomenon is the hardest to reproduce, and she's not hopeful for their return), but she manages a reasonably cheerful "and you!"

And Brian and Jackson get back in the car and drive on.

They go into their room and look at each for a moment before Daria pulls Mariam into a hug.

"We'll fix it. You sleep, it's late by our time. I'll call the - other Mariam and let her know to call us at this hotel if something comes up, we can figure everything else out tomorrow."

She mutters something inaudible into Daria's shoulder, lifts her head and says more clearly "I'll... be thinking more clearly in the morning, yeah." She leans into the hug for a moment more, then breaks away and heads for the shower.

And Daria calls the local Mariam, just long enough to confirm the motel's phone number and their room, and then sits cross-legged on one of the beds, thinking and idly sorting through the things in her bag to see if any of them might be useful. When Mariam emerges, she dims the lights and abandons her bag on the floor, but otherwise doesn't move until she falls asleep.

At least neither roles nor magic have affected the fact that the sun rises once every twenty-four hours in the east.

Mariam wakes up with the sunrise, notices Daria asleep on top of the covers, and pulls a blanket over her. Sighs. Considers going to get food, discards the idea of leaving Daria to wake up alone.

Daria had left her phone charger on the ground near her bag, so she plugs hers in and checks the signal - none - before opening a mindless puzzle game.