Routine Maintenance [IC]

[Electra]

"Yeah, well, I got you motorcycle gloves and grips," she pointed out with a crooked smile. "You're already like light-years ahead of me in the gift-giving competition, and I'm never gonna catch up. But you'll have fun in space too, right? Probably lots of weird gadgets up there, and then, you know, it's being in space, where hardly anybody gets to go." She looked down at her feet, or maybe at the floor beneath them. "Is there really a flying saucer down there, or were you pulling my leg?"

[Gizmo]

Stepping closer to wrap one arm around Erin's waist, Trevor leaned down and kissed her lightly on her forehead, still cool from the sink's water as his lips brushed over her fair skin. "Girlfriend gloves are the best gloves," he assured her softly, running his free hand through her auburn hair as his discouloured eyes traces the lines of her face. "Would never joke about flying saucers," he added absently.

[Electra]

"One of these days, I'll figure out a really good present for you," she promised, tilting her head slightly toward his caress. "Maybe for your birthday." Erin looked over at him and smirked as an idea hit. "I've got it. I'll have Mark buy you a raffle ticket for a new car or something like that. Not that you need any more cars," she allowed. "Maybe a cool computer or something." Giving his hand a quick squeeze, she went back to the limo and climbed inside, now that she wasn't going to get the interiors dirty. She turned it on and revved the engine a few times, listening to it purr. "This is sounding really good. Unless you want to wash and detail it while we've got it up here, I think we're done."

[Gizmo]

"Birthday? Oh. Hmm, coming up, isn't it?" Trevor blinked slowly as he mentally connected the dots between the current date and that one. "Realize price tag has nothing to do with it," he added as he followed after her back to the limo, making it more of a statement than a question as he listened critically to the engine. Apparently satisfied, he slid into the passenger side seat. "Test drive?" he suggested with a slightly self-satisfied smile.

[Electra]

"Thought you'd never ask." Putting the limo into gear, she carefully maneuvered it out of the garage and into the long driveway. It, far more than her truck parked outside, looked exactly like the sort of vehicle that fit with the house, big and old-fashioned, but in a quietly elegant sort of way. She was quiet for a few minutes, concentrating intently as she got the feel of driving the long vehicle again, but eventually relaxed enough to sit back and enjoy herself. "So what do you want?" she asked him, glancing over at Trevor. "For your birthday, I mean."

[Gizmo]

Trevor relaxed in the passenger seat, keeping an idle eye on the road as they pulled out of the manor's driveway. He was normally hesitant to allow anyone else to drive, but he trusted Erin to work on the limousine and certainly trusted her to take the wheel. "Want?" he asked, rousing himself from the hypnotic sound of the tuned engine. "Oh. Hadn't given it much thought. Don't usually make much of a deal about birthdays," he shrugged.

[Electra]

"Well, make an exception this year," Erin suggested with a half-smile. "It's a big deal birthday. Last kid birthday or first grownup birthday, either way you want to look at it. You've got to be at least a little bit excited to be turning eighteen, getting ready to graduate high school and all that stuff. And if you tell me what you want for your birthday, I won't have to go half-crazy trying to figure out a good present," she added, her smile widening.

[Gizmo]

"Oof, guilt trip," Trevor noted with a wince that quickly gave way to a small smile. "Well played. Really though, most of the days we really note at home are... well, funerals. Which also makes birthdays sort of... Hnn. Anyway." Frowning for a brief moment, he turned his attention to Erin's question. "May have to get back to you. Already have a lot of things. Sorry, not being very helpful."

[Electra]

"Okay, not so much with the things," Erin nodded. "You've got some time to think about it, anyway. Still another month and a half or so." She tapped the horn lightly for some impressed spectators on the sidewalk, unable to suppress a grin. "I really like this car," she decided. "All the maintenance work is worth it to watch people watching it go by. Do you ever loan any of the cars to like parades or anything?"

[Gizmo]

Trevor blinked a couple of times as he considered Erin's words. "That's... a really good idea," the lean young man said slowly, sitting up slightly in his seat. "Most of the cars down there never actually got used as Night... whatevers. Could even repaint some, make them less suspicious. No reason for them to be tucked away when nobody can see." Trevor made small, vague gestures as he followed through on the logic, becoming uncharacteristically animated.

[Electra]

"That would be fun, and a good reason to get some of them fixed up before Memorial Day or the Fourth of July or whatever," Erin agreed. "It'd be cool to let those old cars see the light of day again. And maybe you can pick one to be your Night Sedan or whatever, the special one for when you don't want to use the Night Cycle. Need to carry passengers, or whatever. I know a newer car would be less noticeable, but it sort of seems like a shame."

[Gizmo]

"There's something to be said for making an impression," Trevor agreed with a small smile as a heavily clothed child on the side of the street elbowed his companion in the side and pointed out the passing car. "Parade is... Actually really excited about this, more I think about it," the dark haired young man admitted, steepling his fingers, the metaphorical gears turning in his head nearly audible. He looked over to Erin, his stoic visage unusually animated with a grin. "Thanks."

[Electra]

"No problem," Erin assured him, grinning herself. "It'll be a cool project. And the limo's sounding really good. I don't have your ear for engines, but as far as I can tell, everything's fine. It's handling really well too." To prove it, she pulled out onto the bypass and accelerated, the winter wind whistling in the side air vents as they reached highway speeds. "I could see this thing as an awesome supervehicle," she decided. "Put a couple of laser machine guns in the back, bulletproof the whole thing. It'd make a statement."

[Gizmo]

"Ah, yes... statement," Trevor agreed, resting on hand on the side of his face and scratching his cheek with the index finger. "Unrelated note, don't press any of the switches hidden under the dash." He glanced sidelong at Erin before adding defensively, "Well, they're not lasers." Normally his deadpan style of humour would have made it difficult to tell if he was joking or not, but having just participated in a thorough inspection of the vehicle, Erin could say with reasonable certainty that this piece of the Manor's vehicle pool was for strictly civilian use.

[Electra]

Erin smirked. "You think I've been your girlfriend this long and don't know better than to touch the unmarked buttons on your stuff? I have a finely honed survival instinct, you know." Despite its age, the car showed no signs of stress at highway speeds, even when Erin pushed her luck and took it up past the speed limit and merged into the fast lane. "Guess I'll also resist getting into a car chase on the highway in this thing," she decided, almost wistfully.

[Gizmo]

"Heh." Trevor laid his hand back down on his seat's armrest and smiled. "Still not tired of hearing that," he admitted, ducking his chin down for a moment as his grin spread far enough to show teeth. "'Girlfriend', I mean." Tightening his smile to a sheepish upturned twinge of his thin lips, he regarded the highway before them. "Hmm. Probably wise. Not exactly factory standard, but not outfitted for action."

[Electra]

"That could be changed," Erin said with the perfect confidence of someone who'd seen Trevor at work. "Bigger engine, maybe some power steering for the really fast handling, replace the axles with something harder-wearing... but I guess if you change too much, it loses part of its charm." She shrugged and flicked on the headlights as the short winter day began to dwindle into evening. "Guess we better start getting back before it's too dark." At the next exit, she pulled off at an empty park-and-ride and got out, letting Trevor take the wheel so he could check the tune-up as well. As they passed each other in front of the car, she let her fingers run along his arm. Even though they still hadn't done anything more than some very entertaining makeout sessions, every touch still made her feel like she'd been charged with electricity.

[Gizmo]

Trevor reacted to the light touch, slowing his step and sucking in a deep lungful of crisp January air before letting it out again as a mix of visible vapour and inky black mist. The flush of heat left him unsure of himself, as usual. On one hand, the last thing he wanted to do was place any pressure on Erin. They'd agreed from the very beginning to take things slowly, a promise the young man had taken very seriously indeed since she'd shared the story of her past with him. On the other, the tracing fingertips called to the same part of him which truly enjoyed going very, very fast. Cracking his neck audibly, Trevor finished walking around the front of the car and got into the driver's side.

[Electra]

Erin glanced at the vapour trail Trevor was leaving behind as she got into the passenger's seat, perversely pleased to know she had the same effect on him that he did on her. She knew it probably wasn't right to wind him up for nothing, and it definitely wasn't kind, but at least she was doing it to herself at the same time, so they were both frustrated, which evened it out. Or something. She didn't really know, and this was one area she didn't feel at all comfortable discussing with Dr. Marquez, or even with Alex, who would be so depressingly adult about the whole thing while secretly wanting to jump Mike's bones at the earliest opportunity. She'd even briefly thought about writing or calling Clarissa for advice but... yeah, no. She'd have to figure this one out for herself.

As Trevor got into the car, Erin settled back in her seat and opened the vent a little wider. She glanced over at Trevor and wasn't quite sure what to say. Luckily, in this case, saying nothing was a perfectly viable option.

[Gizmo]

Closing the door behind him, Trevor glanced at Erin glancing at him before placing his hands on the steering wheel and drumming his fingers briefly, looking straight ahead into the empty lot. Clearing his throat lightly, he put a little weight on the gas pedal and began pulling back out onto the highway. "Not cold?" he asked, in large part to direct things to a more innocuous focus. The cab of the limo was already noticeably cooler after being briefly opened to the elements.

[Electra]

Erin flushed slightly, the color just visible in the fading light. "Um, no. Just thought I'd get a little air." She felt altogether too warm actually, despite the bracing bite of the wind. She was glad, not for the first time, that she didn't have tells like Trevor's occasional smokiness, or she might be surrounded by a perpetual cloud of confusion. "And, ah, you can hear the engine better with the window open, and the wheels and stuff," she improvised. "Are you cold?" she thought to ask only belatedly.

[Gizmo]

"Okay?" Trevor responded uncertainly to Erin's explanation, flicking his eyes briefly from the road as it disappeared beneath the car. "I'm fine, was just thinking, chilly night..." A small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he raised both eyebrow slightly above his discoloured eyes. "Do have a mansion... with a fireplace... big, comfortable chairs... hot chocolate..."

[Electra]

That drew a smile from Erin, even as she tugged the vent shut. "Sold," she told him, leaning back in her seat. "I hear it is supposed to get cold tonight. We could even see some more snow." It wasn't that Erin didn't appreciate having the dorm to live in, especially with graduation starting to loom larger and larger in her mind. As room and board went, Claremont was a really good situation to be in for a homeless indigent. But she couldn't deny that it got awfully monotonous and bland after awhile. An evening in front of a fireplace with hot cocoa sounded really good, even though none of it sounded exactly geared towards her keeping her cool. "Is your grandpa going to be around?" she asked.

[Gizmo]

Trevor nodded as he murmured an affirmative. "Mmn. Probably won't see him, though. Still stays up late, but usually sticks to the library after dark." The estate was large enough that it wasn't hard for two people to avoid running into each other for prolonged periods of time by simple coincidence. Trevor and his grandfather only spent as much time together as they did by being familiar with each other's patterns. "He, ah... may have said something about giving us some privacy, too," the younger Hunter admitted.

[Electra]

"Ah." Erin scratched her ear, glad that it was getting dark, for all she knew Trevor could see the heat that rose in her cheeks anyway. "Well then, that works too. I make pretty good hot cocoa." It wasn't too long before they were back in North Bay and pulling into the lighted garage of the Hunter mansion. Leaving the car on the upper level for now, they cleaned up the last of the tools and detritus from the tune-up, and somewhat belatedly, Erin remembered to strip off the coverall she'd been wearing.