Car Shopping (IC)

[Cyroa]

James leaned against his car, relaxing as he watched the two of them and the truck. It wasn't like they could crash into anything except cones, but it didn't seem to be a problem. Erin moved through the course with ease it seemed. He grinned as they drove up. "Very nice. Seems like you've got this one down Erin. Having fun I hope. Alex, you going to try? There's still other vehicles to play with unless you've settled already," he said skeptically.

[alderwitch]

Alex bounced out of the car and landed solidly on her sneakered feet, "I knew you could do it. Now you just need to figure out what I owe you! I think I want to try driving the mini. I'm not up for a truck yet. Too big."

She smiled at her friends then hustled over to the car in question. It was a very Alex-sized car, really, and of course it came in array of cheery colors. One had to wonder if that was not part of its attraction for Alex.

[Electra]

Erin followed along dutifully, wedging herself into the front passenger seat of the little car. "Just so long as you don't plan on taking Mike for any rides in this thing," she commented wryly, strapping into the seatbelt. "Now do you remember how to work everything? It's different from how it's written in the books, it might take a couple of times to get used to it."

[Cyroa]

James watched Alex be attrached to the tiny little car. The thing was almost small enough to fit through the doors of a building with ease. Supposedly it was still a decent car though. A favorite of stunt drivers given it's speed, low weight and easy ability to customize and upgrade. Of course the color left something to be desired. James wondered, not for the first time, if Alex was actually colorblind or something...

[alderwitch]

"Of course!" Alex said blithely. "Practice makes perfect n' all. Now, lessee..."

Assuming a look of intense concentration as she moved down what was very obviously a list of mental checks, Alex finally stepped on the gas and began zipping through the parking lot. As far as first time drivers went, it wasn't too shabby. Somewhat surprisingly, Alex errered on the side of more speed better. She drove it around a few times before bringing it to a stop in front of the parked cars.

[Electra]

"Not bad," Erin offered, rolling down the window and reclining the seat to give herself a little more room. "Didn't crash even once. But now it's your turn to do the cones. I did them in an extended-cab pickup, you should have no trouble doing it in this bumper car," she challenged. "Just don't hit the Chevette, or James might just leave us here."

[alderwitch]

Alex's chin lifted at the challenge and with a flair worthy of a street racer, threw the car into drive and sent it zooming through the course.

It handled smoothly and despite the pace, Alex only tapped a cone or two. When she stopped the car and got out to take a look as well as restore the cones. "No problem! Ish."

[Cyroa]

He chuckled and grinned. At least the two of them were enjoying themselves it seemed. He tapped the door he was leaning against lighly. "She's tough. 'Sides, I have faith in Alex." He nodded at the little car as it moved through the course with speed; watching. As she drove up, nodded. "Nicely done. So you guys are driving the biggest and the smallest cars I've got here respecitively. We doing some more active research or as we going to keep playing?"

[Electra]

"This is research," Erin told him with a quick grin. "We're test driving. But I like the truck pretty well so far. We could shove five or six in the cab, in a pinch, and carry things around in back. It should go off-road just fine, too." She walked over to the truck and kicked the tires a couple of times, more for something to do than because she expected it to do anything. She wasn't actually kicking that hard. "The mini's cute, but wouldn't do anything we probably need it to."

[alderwitch]

"It is a bit impractical," Alex admitted with a touch of regret as she gave the tiny car a pat. She cheered after a moment and gave James a grin, "Now that you know we have the hang of it, you could let Erin try your car. You know, for science."

[Cyroa]

He shrugged. "Well, the main purpose is for you guys to practice the driver's ed stuff. Anything else is just a bonus. If you'd rather get a car, get one. If we need to get a truck to move stuff, I'll just rent one."

James grinned. "Such experiments in the name of science, despite their interest, will have to wait thank you." He gestured to the others. "If you want to try some faster cars, there are a couple over there you know," he said with a smile, pointing.

[Electra]

"It wouldn't be the same," Erin said with a dismissive wave, a smirk playing around the corners of her mouth. "But for just utility and something that'll be good to drive, I say the truck's a good bet. You never know when you'll need one, and it should off-road without much problem if it needs to. It's not a jeep, but if I never drive another one of those, it'll be too soon. I like it."

[alderwitch]

Alex shrugged and said loyally, "I'll go with Erin's pick on the matter. If she thinks we should get a truck, that's what we'll get. What color are you getting?"

She went over to look over the truck and began asking a few questions about the specific make and model they were looking at versus others currently available.

[Cyroa]

James nodded. "Ok, works for me. If you're set on getting a truck, let's go get one. Just leave the keys in there. These guys are just returning it anyway." He pulled his keys out and got in the car. "You guys coming? We've still got to go shopping. This was just window shopping after all," he said with a grin, starting the engine with a roar.

[Electra]

Erin hopped back into the car without bothering with the door, landing neatly in the front seat. "All right, where do we go to actually get one?" she asked him. "Used truck dealership or something like that?" That seemed like the most reasonable way to do it, but that wasn't always the way James liked to get things done. His methods tended to be flashy, but effective nonetheless.

[Cyroa]

As soon as they were in, James got the car moving. "Used dealership? Heck no! Why would I buy something used? 'Sides, it might not be what I, or in this case you, want. This way, it starts with everything you want in it. I already made some calls. There''s a dealership with the brand new vehicles on the lots that's expecting us." He grinned. "It's only about 5 minutes from here. You walk the lot, pick the one you want. If it doesn't have what you want or color or whatever, they'll upgrade it. Though that might mean you can't get it right away," he said with a shrug.

[alderwitch]

"Oh, colors!" Alex enthused from the backseat. "Do you think they'll have two-tones? Oo! Or maybe pinstriping!"

Alex scrunched up her face as if trying to decide what Erin would look best driving and then pronounced, "Pumpkin! You should see if it comes in pumpkin."

[Electra]

"Pumpkin?" Erin repeated, incredulous. "You want us to have a bright orange pickup truck? People would be stopping us on the street to tell us about their potholes. Let's just get one of whatever they've got available, then we don't have to wait for it. Maybe blue or brown or black. Something inconspicuous. And just one color. You could get an orange Mini," she pointed out to Alex, "and it would look like you were driving a pumpkin."

[Cyroa]

James shook his head ruefully. She wasn't colorblind, unless it was in 'good taste' option. Perhaps Alex was some kind of fashion throwback to when a mix of horrific colors were all the rage? He didn't know but it didn't particularly matter either. It added to her charm, in a blinding kind of way.

He just grinned and kept going. "Whatever. You guys are going to be driving it, not me. You two work out what you want." He drove the few minutes away before pulling into a large car dealership. The vehicles for sale stretched out over quite a large area, models and colors laid out before them. He pulled up front and killed the engine. Getting out, he turned to the two of them. "I'm heading in to get the ball rolling and to get most of the paperwork done. Go look around and if you want to get it or start it, just grab a salesman. I'll be back in a few minutes."

[alderwitch]

The ribbing didn't phase Alex in the slightest. She scooted out of the car, "What about teal? That's like blue! Ooo, or aqua."

Alex headed over to the brochure rack first, determined to see all of the options.

[Electra]

Erin jumped out of the car and followed after Alex, shaking her head. "I don't think they're going to have any of those in stock," she pointed out, trying to curb Alex's enthusiasm. "And we don't really want to have to wait for something to get painted up and delivered, right?"

She detoured from Alex's path when her eye was caught by a gorgeous-looking extended cab in a deep metallic blue. It demanded closer inspection. Erin walked over and hopped into the bed to look in through the back windows. It looked a lot like the one they'd just been driving, maybe even a little nicer. The price tag made her flinch a bit, but numbers like that hardly even seemed real. And it was a very pretty truck.

[alderwitch]

Alex twisted, her hands full of catalogues only to smile at the besotted expression on Erin's face. She put the brochures back as she called out to James, "Erin found what she wants. We'd best get it before she talks herself out of it."

[Cyroa]

James walked out of the building, salesman in tow, in time to hear Alex's shout. "Looks like thats the one," he said to the man. James nodded at the selection as the salesment went to get the keys and VIN number for the paperwork. A few minutes later, James waved them over. He led them to a small little table with a few forms on it.

"Ok, ladies. You just need to sign on the dotted line. I'm covering the legal stuff like taxes and insurance and the annoying stuff they wouldn't let us leave without doing. Everything is done except for your signature. But once you sign, it's yours. Title will be mailed to school and be in your name."

[Electra]

Erin had no idea what most of the paperwork meant, but she was fairly sure that James, or one of James' many "people" had already looked it over and knew what it said. She picked up a pen to sign on the first of the indicated lines, then got as far as writing "Er" before remembering that it wasn't her legal name anymore. Or wouldn't be, anyway, when she had one. Biting her lip and hoping no one would notice, she quickly scribbled out the two errant letters and wrote in "Keeley E. White" on all the marked spaces. "Is that everything?" she asked, pushing the papers to Alex to sign.

[alderwitch]

Alex simply handed the papers over to James with a smile and a wink, "No reason to co-sign it, I think. I'm sure Erin will let me borrow her truck. Unlike some people."

She smiled at James as she teased him about his car and neatly sidestepped being an equal owner on James car. She was sure he'd understand and pick up the banter. They both knew how poor Erin was not to mention how prickly she was about it. Alex had no intention of letting Erin share something she'd never be able to afford on her own and her presence up until this point had made Erin much more likely to go along with it without getting her back up, "I don't think I'm a truck person, I mean, I suppose I could sit on a phone book. Nope, I'm more of a convertible classic girl, I've decided."