It's not as bad as he thought. The idle chatter between Owen and Blue becomes white noise after a while, not grating on him as it might have a handful of months ago; their siblings don't abuse the radio privileges again, likely because Dr. Gwen is maintaining some semblance of order over in the other vehicle. And they do stop every once in a while, which Omega also thought would have annoyed him, except that he is simply too tall to stay comfortable in the back seat indefinitely, even stretched out as much as he can manage. So it helps to move around every once in a while. Cramped conditions are not so thrilling, but he'll manage.

Once his mate crawls into the back with him, though, he might as well be glued to the seat for how willing he is to disturb her by moving at all. Omega lets her settle however she pleases, and basks in the loveliness of her weight and warmth at his side. The touch of her fingertips sends out a spiderweb of tingling heat through his chest, like cracks in cooled lava.

Listening to childhood recollections that mean very little to him also hasn't left Omega with a very clear idea of what they're heading for. It's north, that's what he thinks of most, very north, where the cold is aggressive, unlike the lazy and ineffective winters on their mountain. Will it get cold while they're there? Blue doesn't do well in the cold. And the rest of this adventure is just one big question mark for someone who hates not knowing what's ahead of him.

But Omega just watches the shadows of passing trees roll across Blue's body, letting time stretch on toward Oregon.