Irhaboggle Pride (2020) Quarantine Edition

Travel Bans

"Just our luck! Finally old enough to travel, and now there are travel bans!" Marni sighed and shook her head, amused and annoyed.

"I know, this really wasn't what I was expecting to see the year I got eyes!" Mag joked. Marni winced sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Maggie, I also wish you could've seen the pre-Corona world, but..." she trailed off.

"Don't apologize! It wasn't your fault!" Mag quickly reached out to squeeze Marni's arm. "I can't thank you enough for helping me get eyes at all!"

"But still! You deserve better!" Marni sounded unhappy as she met Mag's robotic gaze. "I wanted to see the world with you..."

"Well, I don't think this pandemic will last forever. Even the one 20 years ago sort of petered out," Mag said, but she didn't sound sure.

"I don't want to wait any longer, though!" Marni continued to despair. "Even if this ends eventually, it will be slow getting back to normal."

"True," Mag heaved a tired sigh. "But even so! I'm grateful enough as it is just being able to see you!"

"Ugh, ever the charmer and flirt, aren't you?" Marni joked dryly, but she was genuinely touched by Mag's compliment.

"No! It's just the truth!" Mag cried. "Even before I had working eyes, I was sure you'd be the prettiest sight of all! I wasn't wrong."

"Well, unfortunately, you're comparing me to a post-Corona world, you didn't get to see Earth in its prime," Marni gave another dry laugh.

"I've seen pictures and videos, I'm still not impressed," Mag replied with a sniff. It was enough to earn a real, warm, genuine laugh from Marni.

"Oh, Mag, you always know just what to say to cheer me up, don't you?" she asked adoringly.

"Well I'd hope so, seeing as how we've been dating for several years now!" Mag laughed.

"True, true!" Marni echoed the sound.

She was still disappointed to think that she could no longer take Mag sight-seeing and help introduce her to the wonderful world of vision, but Mag really did know exactly how to cheer her up and comfort her. She kissed the other woman's cheek fondly.

"I swear it, Maggie, as soon as this quarantine lifts and the travel bans are removed, I'm taking you all over the world!" she cried.

"Ha, a world tour and I haven't even begun my singing career yet!" Mag laughed.

"Oh no, this isn't your world tour," Marni snorted. "This is me taking you on the most extravagant date of your life!"

"Jeez, Marni, flying me all around the world just to show me things?" Mag snickered. "I know lesbians are extra, but jeez!"

"Only the best for you, dear!" Marni sighed, kissing Mag's cheek again. Mag giggled and kissed her back.

It was times like these that reminded Marni of exactly why she'd been dying to show Mag the world. Not only had she also always wanted to travel, but the thought of getting to do it with her beloved girlfriend made it even more enticing. And now, with Mag finally having functional eyes, Marni wanted so desperately to be the one to show Mag all the wonders of the world. She wanted to introduce Mag to all of that. She wanted to be the one to teach Mag just how cool it was being able to see, and how many good things there were to see!

Yes, their world was full of death, decay, despair, darkness, danger and disease, but there were still so many wonderful sights to see! There were so many stories to tell, so many adventures to have, so many reasons to stay, so much still left to do and explore, they had to keep on living!

"I've already even mapped out a path for us," Marni sighed sadly, pulling out a world map covered in markings. They would start where they were, in California, then they'd make their way east. Once they hit New York City, they'd take a plane to Europe and travel all of their countries before going north to Scandinavia, then back south toward the Middle East, then even further east into Asia.

On the return trip, they'd go back and head south this time, hitting Africa, and then bouncing to South America before working their way northwest until they were home again. That meant they were going to miss a few countries, but they had their whole lives ahead of them!

"Wow, you really did plan this out!" Mag breathed as she studied the map, entranced by all the colors and markings and stickers. Not only was it just incredible to be able to see them, but to realize how much time and effort Marni had put into this plan made it all the more beautiful and tragic.

"Right?! And then stupid Corona happened and now there are travel bans everywhere!" Marni huffed, pouting and crossing her arms. "Airlines are closed, certain planes may not let us pass through, we may not be able to even go where we want if countries aren't accepting us, it's just a whole hot mess and it literally happened at the worst of times!"

"Don't I know it," Mag snorted and rolled her new eyes. Even though she'd meant what she said about Marni being the prettiest sight in the world, she couldn't deny how cruel it felt that the year she should be blessed with sight would also be the year a global quarantine happened.

And who knew when the travel bans would lift? If ever! Because even when the virus passed, who knew if countries would revert to their old ways, or if they would keep some of the travel bans forever? The pandemic at the turn of the century had left an everlasting mark on their world, what if COVID did the same? Of course, Mag was certain she'd get to tour the world eventually, but as Marni had said earlier, it was just disappointing because this was the first time they'd ever had the age and resources to go places beyond their city.

And even if they tried to improvise and only go to places accepting tourists, that still wasn't a very safe plan. Furthermore, a lot of things would be closed and abandoned and any human they would meet would be wearing a mask. So even if there weren't any travel bans, the tourism still wouldn't be as good as it used to be.

"I think the only plus side is that plane tickets are super cheap this summer," Marni chuckled dryly. "I'm almost tempted to book a flight..."

"Oh, please don't!" Mag laughed. "Honestly, I'm ok with just exploring this state for now. I know it still won't be at its former glory, but..."

"Yeah, I guess it's the best we can do," Marni gave a resigned sigh.

"Awww, but don't feel too bad. Travel bans or not, we'll still be touring together, and that was the part I was most excited for," Mag said, kissing Marni's cheek. Once again, Mag managed to cheer her up just like magic, and it didn't take long for Marni to flash her a grateful smile.

"I'll never know how I got so lucky as to meet you, but I'm grateful for it every day," she whispered. This time, she kissed Mag's lips.

"Same to you," Mag whispered against Marni's kiss, then she began to kiss back.

Yeah, the pandemic was an annoying wrench in their vacation plans, but as cliché as it was, having one another around was more than enough to keep them sane, for now. Even though Marni thoroughly enjoyed kissing Mag, she couldn't wait until they could do it again, but in her mind, the next time they kissed like that, they would be traveling the world hand in hand. Nothing would be more romantic than that! And even better, it would be a post-COVID, post-travel ban world! Marni couldn't wait!

AN: I was lucky enough to already have no vacation plans, but I know plenty of people were let down by the travel bans. You all have my respect. (Won't lie, the cheap plane tickets were VERY tempting... LOL!)