ic Midnight Run (IC)

[Electra]

Even though the cold didn't bother Erin much, she happily leaned against Trevor as they walked out to the truck, tugging the keyfob out of her pocket and handing it to him as they went. Erin's keyring didn't actually have any keys on it, just the fob and a fanciful silver cat charm she'd gotten at the pet store. Giving his hand one more squeeze, she let go and went around to the passenger side, climbing in and buckling up. That was something of a quirk of hers, despite the fact that she could fall out of a plane and walk away, Erin always buckled her seatbelt in the car. "All right, let's see what you can do with, hmm, the Wandermobile," she challenged good-humoredly.

[Gizmo]

"It's not really set up for jumps," Trevor admitted as he strapped himself into the driver's seat. He'd managed to make some significant improvements to the pickup's factory standard engine, but he hadn't rebuilt it from scratch as he had the Night Cycle. It's automatic transmission was another limiting factor, but he felt uncharacteristically inclined to show off anyway. Pulling out of the parking lot and back onto the empty freeway, he placed both hands firmly on the steering wheel. "Fast, though... fast we can do." At his command, the truck smoothly accelerated, the speedometer's needle lurching from its rest.

[Electra]

Unconsciously, Erin leaned forward in her seat, watching the road as the truck sped up. It didn't lurch the way it had with Erin driving, just a smooth acceleration to a truly improbable speed. "I guess it sort of is a night truck," she allowed, "there's no possible way I could take it up to these speeds in the daytime. But hey, at least a cop couldn't even read my plates, let alone catch us..." She turned the radio on, letting rock music fill the cabin as they flew through the night.

[Gizmo]

"Heh. Worst upholders of the law ever," Trevor grinned, drifting them around a curve in the road at a breakneck pace before accelerating once more down the straightaway. Pavement disappeared beneath the blur of tires, and he consciously took a longer route back to the campus so as not to have the ride over with too quickly. "Anything, ah, else you wanted to do tonight?" he asked, his tone disconcertingly calm for someone maneuvering a vehicle as such speeds.

[Electra]

"Just my homework, but that's more a "have to,"' Erin admitted, grinning as they skidded silently around one more breathtaking curve. "I've had a lot more fun goofing off with you. And hey, all I need to do is graduate, nobody on earth is going to care about my GPA after I get out of here. I sure doubt the supervillains are going to be impressed." It was a little disappointing to see the lights of the Pramas bridge coming up and to realize the drive was nearly over. "What about you?"

[Gizmo]

"Sure, you say that now, but just wait until Mark gets us sent to the universe where everyone has to get their high school GPA tattooed on their forehead," Trevor cautioned, splaying his fingers out dramatically and steering with his thumbs. "So I should probably let you get to that," he allowed, clearing his throat quietly as he slowed the truck down to cross the bridge and was soon pulling up to the campus. His own schoolwork was long since completed, and he couldn't say it topped his list of desirable activities for the evening, but it was worth remembering that Claremont actually was a high school most of the time.

[Electra]

"I could just cut off a tattoo if I didn't want it anymore," Erin pointed out. "I'm not sure I could get a tattoo if I wanted to, anyway. I know I can't get new piercings in my ears, they just heal right back up. I would be an enigma to them." She unbuckled and stretched as Trevor pulled the car back into its parking stall, then shut off the radio and looked over at him. "That was fun," she told him. "Thanks for the help with the truck."

[Gizmo]

"Well, thanks for the pie," Trevor replied with a small smile, turning off the truck's engine and unbuckling his own seatbelt. "... and for listening to my embarrassing adventure in poor decision making. I guess I've never really talked about it out loud before. Helps, actually." In the quiet of the garage, the lights in the pickup's cab separating them from the darkness outside, he reached out one hand, palm upward and open.

[Electra]

Erin hesitated for a moment, wondering for a second if he wanted her to give him five, but suspected that something else was called for. She reached out and pressed her hand against his, fingers to fingers, palm to palm. Her hand was a little cool, as usual, her super-efficient metabolism concentrating body heat in her core for minimal energy expenditure. After a moment, she curled her fingers, closing her hand around his. "I'm glad," she told him. "That you told me, and that it helped some. Sometimes talking really makes you feel better. And it wasn't your bad decision, it was her being stupid," she added loyally. "If she was your friend, she should've understood and stood by you."

[Gizmo]

Wrapping his own fingers around Erin's, Trevor closed his eyes for a moment as he exhaled in a clipped chuckle. "Point taken. Luckily I've found some better people to put my trust in." His digits were long and thin, but possessed of a sinewy strength from tightening bolts and gripping weapons. There was a long, silent moment before he reluctantly spoke again. "...honestly, I could stay like this all night, but..."

[Electra]

"Oh, right... yeah." Erin withdrew her hand and slid out of the truck, coloring a little in the dim light of the garage. She'd been so concentrated on the feel of his hand that she'd lost track of time entirely, which she was pretty sure was lame. Looking for a quick recovery, she started picking up the few things left on the ground after the tinkering earlier. "Um, you want these tools back over by the Night Cycle?" she asked, holding up Trevor's socket wrenches.

[Gizmo]

Getting out of the truck himself, Trevor paused for a pair of beats when Erin started picking up the wrenches. Snapping out of it, he covered one eye with a palm and offered her a small, rueful smile. "Sorry, I was... Well, I was just thinking how cute you look holding tools. Guess I've got it pretty bad, huh?" Ducking his head embarrassedly between his shoulders, he moved to retrieve the wrenches from her. "Here, let me get that stuff."

[Electra]

Thoroughly baffled, though hardly displeased at the reaction, Erin handed him the wrenches and picked up a chamois to buff a few bits of dirt off the truck. "Maybe you're just really attracted to mechanics," she joked, tending to her task with quick precision so that in moments the truck was sparkling again. "In which case I'd better brush up on my car skills. Good thing I have a good teacher." Tucking away the cloth, she walked to the center aisle of the garage to wait for him to finish putting things away. The dorms were just a short walk or a single jump away, but she was dawdling, not wanting the evening to be over.

[Gizmo]

Trevor shrugged as he replace the wrenches in his tool box and carried the red metal box over to the Night Cycle's berth. "Nope, pretty sure it's just you," he replied lightly as he dusted off his hands. "But if you wanted to add mechanics to ASL and driving, I could probably be persuaded." Sauntering over to where Erin stood in the middle of the garage, he slipped an arm around her waist. "So, uh... guess we should..." he trailed off, not bothering to look away from her brown eyes to indicate the exit.

[Electra]

"Yeah," she agreed, not looking towards the exit either. Life was short, and sometimes you didn't have all the opportunities you thought you were going to. Instead of moving away, she turned to face him fully, then slid her hands up onto his shoulders and brought him in for a kiss. It was a little bit awkward at first, with a little bit of nose bumping from inexperience, but she got the hang of it pretty fast. It was certainly a lot more fun than doing homework, for all it was almost as scary as it was thrilling.

[Gizmo]

After a moment of surprised, clumsy fumbling, Trevor closed his eyes, one hand remaining at the small of Erin's back while the other waited uncertainly before resting lightly across her shoulders. There was a new sense of urgency, a desperate need to convey the caldera of overlapping emotions he was feeling. Once again the young man ran out of breath first, but his lower lip didn't even leave her's as he took an uneven breath and leaned back into the kiss.

[Electra]

This was certainly a good way to lose track of a lot more than time, Erin thought distantly, with most of her attention thoroughly caught up. She ran her fingers through Trevor's hair, nearly dislodging his hat, as her whole body seemed to shiver with the feel of the kiss. And after a long few moments, she was the one who finally pulled away, brown eyes wide in her flushed face. "That was, yeah... wow again," she managed. Right now she was so revved up, she was pretty sure if she tried a leap, she'd brush the upper atmosphere before she started to come down. What she probably really needed was some time to cool off, unattractive as the prospect sounded. "But I probably really ought to go do my homework now."

[Gizmo]

"Mmhmm," Trevor agreed with some difficulty, the noise coming out with a strangled pitch unlike his usual soft baritone. Clearing his throat as quietly as he could, the lean young man took a ginger step back to arm's length, having considerable trouble calling upon his much vaunted self control. "I... I'm just going to go out to, ah, to the track. Few laps before turning in." As his hands pulled back they traced their way down Erin's arms seemingly of their own accord, lingering longer than he'd intended.

[Electra]

Erin smiled at that, understanding totally. "Sounds like a good plan. I may hit it up myself later, before bed. It's been an exciting night." She squeezed his fingers lightly before breaking contact completely. "Night, Trev. I'll see you tomorrow." This time she smiled at him and then turned for the door immediately. Maybe she needed a few laps around Freedom City itself, come to think of it. But it had been a good night.

[Gizmo]

Trevor raised a hand in a weak wave as Erin left the garage, standing very still for a long moment before slowly stepping backward to head back outside, pulling his stained t-shirt off over his head and leaving in the Night Cycle's stall. Jogging through the night's slight chill to the campus track, he made a cursory inspection to ensure he was alone before shrugging out of his shoes and socks and taking off in a dead sprint. As he ran, arms pumping, thickening streams of inky black midnight mist poured off his pale skin, leaving a stygian vapour trail behind him as he moved faster and faster until abruptly throwing himself to the grassy field in the track's center. Heart pounding and breath heavy as mist continued to rise from him like ink drifting in water, Trevor laughed.