Lori caught the rock with a triumphant grin, pocketing it in her coat. With her victory in bunking with Zimmy secured, she turned to the very important business of gloating about her victory. "What can I say boys and girls? Its not [i]my[/i] fault you weren't born with the natural advantages of having adorable bugs living inside of you." She winked at Lee. "I'm sure you'll get a chance next time, hotshot. Maybe if I happen to be out of ear shot." She looked at Kitty with both eyebrows raised. The idea to drink every time Setz hit a pothole was crazy, even by her standards. "Ah, I see you all want to die of alcohol poisoning! I'll brush off that spell to quickly sober people up then, just in case." She doubted even Zimmy's magic liver could withstand that kind of punishment, though she did want to see how far they would all get. "I wish you champions the best of luck." 

Upon hearing Setzer and Gideon's [i]slanderous[/i] accusations, Lori held a hand to her chest in mock offense. "How dare the both of you! I'll have you know I only kick if you try to unlawfully steal the blankets I have carefully divided between us, or hog the entire bed because you're built like brickhouse. And, and! I give plenty of blankets. You're both just greedy and try to get more!"

It was right around that time Setzer began to purposefully hit potholes. "Setz you spiteful fuck! You're gonna break the truck!" Lori yelled at him, hands clinging to the side of the truck as it shook and whined. If the truck broke because he wanted to be an ass she was going to punch him and then make him fix it then and there, without magic help. Maybe that'd teach him to be a better driver. Fortunately for all involved, they made it to the gas station. If only barely. As the truck rolled to a stop,  Lori sprang to her feet and stretched, snorting at Setzer's threats. "Yeah, like you could hit me. Besides, you think I'm going to let you have all the fun to yourself? Hell no." She front flipped from the truck to the ground, landing on her feet with the grace and poise years of training got her. It was mostly to burn off some energy that sitting in a truck for hours on end had built up. That, and who didn't like to do flips? 

She took off her jacket, revealing the tank top underneath, cooing as her insects left her body and began flying around her. "Why hello darlings! Are you happy to be outside now? I bet you are! It must have been sooo boring in there! Don't worry, we're done driving for the day now!" Their energetic flying and rapid colors indicated they were just as happy as she was, though that might have been them reacting to her emotions. 

[i]A few hours later[/i] 

"Yeah. Enough of that garbage." Lori agreed with Galahad, scowling. She was sitting on a collapsible stool, near the fire, an almost empty bottle of beer in her hand. She didn't trust the delegation at all, even advocated for using the princess as a hostage. [i]It's probably just another 'oh surrender and we'll allow you to be part of our empire without too much damage or death. You wouldn't want to end up like Astran or the desert would you? Hmm? Hmm?' because they're fucking bastards and they lie and kill and destroy and burn and I hate them I hate them I hate them-[/i] Lori paused in her mental rant, realizing her insects were beginning to buzz in anger and flash red. She was losing her temper again. She took a deep breath, clenching her fists, and breathed out. She focused on relaxing and letting her anger go like she had practiced with Zimmy, years ago in their dorm. 

Her insects died down as she finished off the rest of her beer, putting it to the side. "When all this is all over, I say we pool our funds and start a business. Like, 'Barghest's Clothes' or 'Barghest Arms Dealers' or something. We were already pretty successful at keeping a gambling ring going, how much different could it be?"