Car Shopping (IC)

[alderwitch]

"I dunno. Headmaster Summers seems like he'd be kinda hard to freak out. Kids have probably done stuff during their course that I couldn't imagine coming up with." Alex said doubtfully. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt for a moment nervously before blurting out, "Can we practice with a convertable? Those have always looked so neat. Like in Thelma and Louise. Uhm, without the driving off a cliff part, though. And with more people."

[Electra]

"That's what I've been trying to say," Erin agreed, looking up at the Chevette's open top. "But he keeps saying no!" She gave James an arch look. "If you want to have a cool team ride, you should ride in a convertible. Do we really need a truck or a van or whatever when Mike can just carry whatever we need? And catch the car if someone drives it off a cliff, if it comes to that."

[Cyroa]

James chuckled and started the car. "Yeah, he's not the good humor guy. I meant the guy giving the test. That won't be here you know. That's at the DMV." He shrugged. "Not sure if any of the rented ones are convertibles. Didn't ask. It was only for a few hours anyway." The car quickly shot down the driveway and they were off.

"I suggested the truck as a more stealthy option to more stuff to the underground place. Obviously you two could do some serious lifting, but that doesn't exactly blend in well. If you guys would rather go for a car, that's up to you."

[alderwitch]

"Oh, I know that about the test. I studied!" Alex announced as she slipped into the backseat without question. She sat and bounced slightly, seatbelted in as James started the car. Alex kept her gaze out the side window. "Convertibles are neat. Even if they're not the safest cars. I've always liked them. Although, if I could drive anything it'd be, like, a scooter!"

[Electra]

"A scooter?" Erin asked with a grin. She resisted the urge to tease Alex any further, and instead tried to give the idea some serious thought. "I guess... I guess you could ride in on the sidewalk and avoid traffic," she said, somewhat dubiously. "And plug it in at night to avoid gas prices. But really, you're better off with a motorcycle if you want something with two wheels instead of four." She buckled in as well, from sheer force of habit, and brushed her hair back out of her face. "Just don't forget your helmet."

[Cyroa]

James raised an eyebrow, glancing at Alex in mirror. "A scooter? If that's really what you want... not the best choice depending on weather or if you've got to bring anything with you. Not to mention the coolness factor. I've got a bike but I like the car better."

He shrugged. "If you want to go electric, then your choices are a lot less. There's a couple cool electric sports cars but they aren't for sale over here yet, though I can't wait for that. Same for the other alternate fuels. Slow going but eventually it'll happen. Anyway, this is for you guys to practice driving and all that. Not sure what I'll do with it once you're all done with it; assuming that ever happens," he adds with a chuckle.

[alderwitch]

"I thought about motorcycles but they're dangerous. My mom'd flip. I'd love to try it sometime, though. Just to have driven it once." Alex agreed, cheerfully unconcerned about the logistics of carrying things with a scooter much less the coolness factor, "I can totally see you on a bike, though, James. It suits the whole you-mystique."

She scuffed her foot against the floor of the car and glanced out the window, "When we're done with them, you could always donate it. There are lots of folks who'd love a car and can't afford it."

[Electra]

"If we haven't crashed it," Erin added pragmatically. "I mean, look at Chris's flying machine. There's nothing else in the sky with it and he managed to crash it. Something cheap with extra airbags might be better for the way we tend to work." She rested her arm on the windowsill as James pulled the car into traffic, quieting down to enjoy the ride.

[Cyroa]

James just raised an eyebrow. "The bikes are fun. Helps when you go the whole 'rebel' thing, plus some girls think it adds to the whole sexy thing. My mystique? I have a mystique? I thought I was pretty much a given. Handsome, charming, flirtatious." He had little trouble describing himself; he knew who he was and wasn't ashamed of it. Least not that part.

He shook his head with a grin. "Alex, you are so easy. It was a joke. Obviously I'm footing the bill and the insurance. It's to help you guys learn. But the papers are going to have your names on it. You decide what you do with it when your done. 'Course, if you wreck it, you're wrecking your own car."

[alderwitch]

"I wouldn't wreck a car!" Alex protested automatically, jerking back around to face the front seat with a little laugh, "I'm way too cautious a driver. I mean, not that I've driven but it's kinda given."

As for the description of James, Alex wasn't touching that one with a ten foot pole. Not that he wasn't handsome or any of those things, but not only did Alex have a boyfriend, she knew that even if she was in the market, James was too much of a rebel for her. Some people were into the whole bad boy thing. Alex just wasn't.

[Electra]

"It's not what you run into," Erin said wisely, "it's what runs into you that's the problem. But if this is a secret hideout type vehicle, even that shouldn't be much of a problem. You have to be in a pretty bad part of town for people to start ramming into and shooting random cars and trucks. And don't talk about his mystique, you'll just give him a bigger head." She chuckled, able to relax more than usual when away from school and in the company of the two best friends she had.

[Cyroa]

James laughed at Alex's protest and shook his head in amusement. "It was a general comment Alex. Not about your perspective driving ability. But don't worry, If nothing else, probability says you'll have a car accident at some point." He shrugged. "Heck, I wrecked my first car when I was 12. No, 13. Though technically it wasn't my car," he added with a wry grin.

At Erin comment, he laughed out loud again. "This coming from the person who works to be the best at everything she tries; obsesses over video games just to beat me!" He chuckled, still entertained as they drove on. "But seriously, do I project some kind of mystique? Certainly wasn't planned for. Maybe I'm slipping... Nah," he said with a grin.

[alderwitch]

"Well, if probability says that, I'll just hang out with Mark some more. That should solve that problem!" Alex teased with a quick laugh. She peered out the window once more, trying to figure out where exactly James was driving.

"As for mystique. Kinda. You're certainly the bad boy and there are things you don't talk about. That lends you a certain air. A little dangerous, a little mysterious, an a lot rich. It's pretty much a textbook recipe for school bad boy." Alex said pragmatically, with that rare air of maturity that seemed to pop out at random intervals, "It keeps the majority of people at a certain comfortable distance and lets you pick and choose who you let in. That makes you selective and makes getting to know you, well, the real you, a challenge. It's definately popular with the girls-- Oh, hey, a Foster's Freeze! Can we swing through?"

[Electra]

"I think she likes you," Erin stage-whispered to James, mostly to see if she could tease a reaction from Alex for that. For all Alex's preternaturally adult attitudes could be annoying, usually they were amusing and sometimes very helpful. And it was occasionally funny to see the normal young teenager peeking through. "Buy her an ice cream cone, and maybe she'll drop Mark for you."

[Cyroa]

James gave a half smile. "I admit that I didn't exactly have a lot of friends before Claremont and YF came around. And I have a certain dislike of the rules and distrust of authority. As for the things I don't talk about," he glanced over at Erin for a second, and then he shrugged. "I could certainly make stuff up, lie or whatever and the vast majority of people would never know if I so chose. But it's more about people not asking and really not wanting to know than anything else. Getting to know the real me? Wasn't really something I planned on. But then neither were friends."

He chuckled at her sudden segue into ice cream. He nodded over at Erin, even as he pulled into the drive through. "Oh, she's cute, no doubt. But there's a line and I'm not the most patient sort," he added with a grin before turning to the speaker and ordering. It was good for Alex to ditch the heavy brain thing now and again and be a kid. Fun was important. "Really? Ice cream is all it takes. Who'd have thought? It wouldn't work in the end though. Not meant to be and all that." Despite his tendency to be something of a player and get lots of action with the fairer sex, James believed whole heartedly in true love and was always looking for it. No luck yet. But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the process of looking!

"So, are you guys good now? Ice cream will hold you over? The lot is only another 10 minutes or so from here."

[alderwitch]

Alex laughed at the insinuation and informed James with a cheeky grin, "My heart's broken. To think of all the time I wasted doodling 'Alexandra Prophet' on things. Oh, well. I'll simply take the ice cream and consign myself to a loveless fate with someone else. Perhaps after our marriages dissolve into shambles, we can at least do the fling thing."

Her eyes twinkled at her friends in the mirror before she scooted over and gave her order in an impressive bellow for such a small girl.

[Electra]

Erin thought about mentioning that driving the car would be an excellent way to pass ten minutes, but decided to content herself with her ice cream and playing with the radio instead. She found a classic rock station and turned it up loud enough to play over the rush of the wind, then leaned back in her seat to concentrate on not letting her chocolate cone drip onto her shirt as the sun beat down on them. As they started to move out of city traffic and towards a slightly less populated area, she asked James, "So have you bought a car before, by yourself? Like this one? Or do you have people who do that?"

[Cyroa]

James grinned and nodded wisely. "Well, you can always pine quietly. Perfectly understandable. And when you want to have that fling, just let me know. I'm sure we can make that work."

He glanced over at Erin with a nod. "Yeah, I've done it a couple times. Not for this one but since then, yeah. I could have some people do it, and have, I suppose. And for some of it, it's easier. But for this, we're covered. I already took car of it."

A few minutes later, he slowed and pulled into a large open lot. "Here we are." There were traffic cones set up off on one section, a small course already laid out. He drove off to one side where a half dozen or so vehicles were parked and a couple individuals stood off to one side.

He pulled the car up, shut off the engine and got out. "There you go ladies. These gentlemen are here if you need help or have questions. Otherwise, go ahead and figure out what works for you. Once you've settled on what you like, we'll go and head over to the dealership."

[alderwitch]

Alex bounced out of the car and into the lot, her eyes rounding at all the different options. She hung back for a moment, letting Erin beeline to her choice first before she began examining the possibilities. She peppered the various people with rapid fire questions and sat in a few different models, all with good sight lines and a decent number of seats before she finally trailed over to the mini she'd been eyeing since they first reached the lot. Oh, it was never one she'd pick herself as Mike would end up all squooshed if he had to get into it but it might be fun to drive.

"You go ahead first with the driving part," She called cheerily to Erin, "I wanna ask a few more questions.'

[Electra]

Erin headed over to the larger of the two pickup trucks, popping the hood on it to take a look inside before climbing into the driver's seat. She didn't know a lot about car insides, but she could tell if the battery was likely to be dead, or if corrosion had eaten too many vital parts for it to be safe. This one was in good shape, though, as far as she could tell. Starting up the engine, she listened to it for any blatant signs of trouble, then buckled in and played with the buttons for a little while. Everything seemed to work on this truck, which was sort of a novelty. "You want to come too?" she called out the window to James and Alex.

[Cyroa]

James chuckled at their respective approaches to the problem. Erin just jumped right in while Alex started a researching through interviewing. He leaned back against his car and watched, amused. He just waved at Erin. "I'm good. Just go for it. That's what they're here for. And if you're going to wait for Alex to finish her research, it'll be dark by then," he said with a teasing grin. He reached into the car to pull out a bottle of water for a sip while he watched. Dropping it back, he pulled out his phone. He figured he might as well make a few calls while he watched.

[alderwitch]

"Sure!" Alex agreed with probably not nearly enough fear. After politely thanking the person who had been answering her questions, she headed over to the truck that Erin had picked. She crawled into the passenger's seat and buckled herself in. She glanced over at Erin and with a cheeky wink, activated her forcefield and grabbed onto the handlebar playfully. Once braced, she announced, "Okay, I'm ready!"

[Electra]

Erin glanced at her and rolled her eyes, a smile twitching the corners of her lips. "Now there's faith. I've never let you get splatted before, have I?" She shifted smoothly into drive and took her foot off the brake, letting the truck coast for a moment before starting to accelerate. It was a lot more responsive than the old Jeep she'd taken halfway across the country, and leapt forward just a bit before she figured out the proper amount of pressure. "Big engine," she commented blandly, resettling her hands on the steering wheel and accelerating at a much steadier pace. She didn't go for the track of cones, just driving the big vehicle in a wide circle around the open lot. Her lower lip was caught between her teeth part of the time, but the trip itself was not bad, for someone self-taught who hadn't driven in a year. "It's easy to steer," she told Alex. "I don't know I'd want to try and park it on the street, though. You should try driving it."

[alderwitch]

Alex had relaxed into her seat with a chuckle and hadn't really done much more than let out a squeak at the one or two lurches. She grinned at Erin, "Oh, come on. My nana could drive faster than that. I know you want to gun it a bit. Go for it, I think you've got a good handle on the car. You're not going to do any harm here. I'll bet you that you can't do the cone course on the first try."

[Electra]

Erin snorted. "Now you're just trying to cause trouble," she accused good-naturedly, even as she sped up a little. "If I crash this thing, James will never let me hear the end of it. And it'll be your fault." Even so, she steered toward the course of cones. She took a deep breath, her fingers tightening on the wheel, then navigated neatly through the cones, tires squeaking slightly on the sharpest turns. "No problem," she said when it was done, relaxing. "It steers pretty well." She drove the truck back in James' direction, stopping near the Chevette.