Another Sunrise (IC)

[Electra]

"Oh, well, that sounds smart." Erin couldn't help feeling a little bit disappointed in that answer. Even though Trevor's strategy was undoubtedly sound, it seemed boring. If she ever got that kind of money... well, most of it would probably have to go to expenses and stuff, now that she was going to be out on her own, but she would do something cool with at least some of it. Buy something big, take a trip, go to some super-expensive restaurant just to see what it was like... She almost laughed at herself when she realized again that he could do any of those things any time he wanted to. None of that would be any more special than rolling it into a stock portfolio. "Did your grandpa get you anything?"

[Gizmo]

"It's also extremely dull," Trevor noted dryly in response to Erin's diplomatic assessment of his plans. "I know. I keep enough liquid to give me some flexibility, but there aren't a lot of things I need, or trips I wanted to take on my own, and so on. Although..." He turned his head enough to look at Erin in his peripheral vision. "If you wanted to, when we have time... Well, this year's pretty different." Though awkwardly phrased, he hoped that the sentiment had been clear. "Gramps actually got on the phone with King M'Balla," the young man answered her question as they pulled into North Bay. "Got me set up with a line on some daka crystals, enough to experiment with, plus a good supplier for beans. World leaders' personal numbers evidently being a perk of the family business."

[Electra]

Erin grinned, liking the tone of this present quite a bit more. "So you're getting Dakanan coffee and daka crystals? We'll get that saucer up and running this summer after all," she joked. "Probably didn't hurt that you're on M'Balla's short list of Heroes To Be Thankful For, after that thing at the volcano last fall." She leaned against his back as they pulled into North Bay, where the roads got wider and the houses bigger and bigger. "Reminds me of my birthday, where you made those little floating candles. Those were cool."

[Gizmo]

Smiling behind his helmet's visor, enjoying Erin's weight on his back and arms around his waist. "Heh. Glad you liked them." The levitating daka crystal lanterns had been a bit of a last minute addition to the balcony dinner, but the demonstrative combination of function and form had seemed apropos for the occasion. Soon they were pulling into the Hunter Estate, gates rolling back automatically to let them in, as did one of the broad garage's doors.

[Electra]

Erin hopped off the bike as it pulled to a stop, tugging her helmet off and running her hand over her hair to smooth down the flyaway strands. "So what do you want to work on?" she asked, looking around the always-immaculate garage. All the vehicles were stored below, a veritable candy store of goodies for the mechanically inclined. She couldn't even name half the vintage black cars down there, but though many didn't run, they were all cool.

[Gizmo]

Turning off the engine and dismounting, Trevor waited for the garage door to close behind them before pressing a small stud concealed in the bike's handlebars. With a faint ripple of electricity, the gleaming blue paint job resumed it's true, pitch black shade as the morphic molecules rearranged themselves. "Actually... I though maybe we could work on the Night Cycle," he suggested, clearing his throat with attempted nonchalance. "I was thinking, if you ever had to get any of them up and running in the field, chances are..."

[Electra]

Erin turned and looked at him, quick surprise passing over her face. "Really?" she asked, looking from Trevor to the Night Cycle. They'd spent endless hours tweaking Erin's truck, and still more going over various vehicles in the Night collection, but the Night Cycle was Trevor's very personal baby. Nobody ever touched that thing but him. She grinned broadly. "Yeah, sounds great. It's always a good idea to be prepared for anything."

[Gizmo]

"Just want to make sure you two can take care of each other... just in case," Trevor explained, his expression shifting back and forth between attempting to play the sentiment off as unimportant and vague embarrassment at not being able to do so successfully. The Night Cycle was very important to him, but where that would normally make him protective and wary, it instead made him want to share that part of himself with Erin as well. "We haven't worked on a motorcycle before," he noted as he went about gathering tool and various sundries, "but most of the principles are the same."

[Electra]

Erin put on a pair of coveralls and helped Trevor collect the tools, listening as he explained the basics of supercycle maintenance and repair. It was interesting, and she filed away the salient points for later, but it was hard not to take a little time as well just to bask in the feeling of being included in something that was particularly special to him. They were both naturally private people, with corners of their lives that they did not easily open up. Being allowed into this part of Trevor's life really meant something important. Since she was a novice, most of what she did was listen and pass tools to him, but it was being there that counted.

[Gizmo]

Trevor took his time demonstrating the Night Cycle's working, focusing for the time being on the things Erin would need to know to get the motorcycle running in an emergency. There were enough hidden compartments and on board systems to fill several nights, but then the point wasn't really briefing her on the vehicle's capabilities anyway. He'd put more of himself into the motorcycle's constant tweaks and improvements than any other project, and there was a nervous excitement to presenting that work to an audience. It wasn't something he could imagine trusting to anyone else.

[Electra]

Erin had already known that the Night Cycle was far more than an average motorcycle, but she'd really had no idea how many extra features, secret compartments and efficiency tweaks Trevor had put into it. She watched with fascination as he described each one, occasionally pressing up against him to see better or resting a hand against his arm or his back. Despite the surroundings and the innocuous nature of what they were doing, there was an electric sort of tension in the air, one that made Erin feel edgy but not in a bad way.

"I can't believe how much you've put into the Night Cycle," she murmured admiringly as they both leaned in to study the auxiliary weapons compartment tucked away behind the exhaust manifold. The awkward location meant that she was pressed up against his back and all but speaking directly into his ear. "You'd never be able to guess just looking at the outside."

[Gizmo]

"Mmh," Trevor murmured in vague agreement, finding himself a little distracted from the work at hand, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Having Erin leaning over his shoulder without helmets in the way or wind whipping past was an entirely more intimate prospect. "Trickiest part is not weighing it down too much in the process," he noted with a soft clearing of his throat, even as his head turned slightly to one side to face the young woman.

[Electra]

"The balance must be tough to manage too," she commented softly, her cheek brushing lightly against his as he turned his head. "I've never noticed a pull one way or the other, though. And the way you took it up the cable on the Pramas Bridge..." She smiled at that memory, remembering the heady roller-coaster mix of nerves and adrenaline that ride had been. She was feeling a little of that again now, actually. "Balance doesn't seem to be a problem. But that might be the skill of the rider."

[Gizmo]

The slightly flush in Trevor's lean face would have been almost imperceptible has it not been for the sooty darkness of it's shade. "Well. Practice," he managed to modestly explain. His attention well and truly diverted, the young man found Erin's hand and placed his own atop it, remembering the first time they ridden the Night Cycle together. "That was a very good night," he assessed with a small smile.

[Electra]

"One to remember," Erin agreed quietly. She hesitated for a moment. "It changed a lot of things for me. I think it might have changed my whole life. These past months, you've made me feel things I never thought I would feel, or ever feel again. You make me feel like a whole person, instead of some... some remnant of something that doesn't exist anymore. And I want to be with you." Deliberately, her eyes on his, she reached into her pocket and drew out her communicator. She deactivated it with a flick of her thumb and set it aside, then leaned in to kiss him.

[Gizmo]

Tilting his chin to meet Erin's lips, Trevor leaned backward, supporting them both with one arm while the other wrapped around the waist or her coveralls and pulled her closer. The kiss was slow but heavy, leaving the young man feeling light headed as he let his eyes drift closed partway. Ater several long beats and with considerable effort, he broke away just far enough to catch his breath and look Erin in eyes, the flush in his cheeks darkening to nearly onyx black, "If you... you're sure...?"

[Electra]

"I've been thinking about it a lot," Erin told him, her own voice breathy and a little ragged. "Ever since we got, um, interrupted that other time. I had some stuff to work out in my head. I don't want to do anything I would feel bad about later." She kissed him again, partially because it gave her a moment to regroup. "And I'm pretty sure we'll be okay there. I went to the doctor," she blurted, then added in a rush, "because I was sure of what I wanted. She gave me a three month birth control shot. It really hurt!" she added with a crooked smile, apropos of nothing. "So yeah... if you're sure too."

[Gizmo]

Trevor responded with a rumbling baritone sound that resonated in his chest as he leaned forward again to plant a series of kisses along Erin's throat. "Mentioned how beautiful you are when you're planning ahead?" he asked, matching her smile with one of his own as he ran his fingers gently through the auburn hair framing her face. As she watched, the tips of his fingers darkened to matte obsidian, the transformation spreading up his arms to cover his skin.

[Electra]

The pulse in her throat beat faster under his lips, even as a more mundane pink flush rose in her pale cheeks. Erin chuckled softly, reaching out to feather her fingers along his cheek. "I learned from the best," she pointed out. Shifting to sit on her knees facing him, she reached out and traced the lines and planes of his face with both hands as though trying to learn them by touch. "The big question now," she murmured, "is can we get past your grandpa without risking horrible embarrassment."

[Gizmo]

"Never underestimate how stealthy a Midnight can be," Trevor advised, his lopsided smile widening a touch, "when properly motivated." Taking Erin's hands from his face and into his own, the young man rose to his feet, the mist supersaturating his muscle tissue giving him the appearance of a three dimensional shadow. He nodded toward the door leading from the garage into the mansion proper, still holding both of her hands. "Follow me."

[Electra]

With a laugh that was half amusement and half pure nervous excitement, Erin paused just long enough to grab her knapsack, then followed Trevor into the manor. Switching to a one-handed grasp to make quiet travel easier, she followed him into the dark corridor, both their footsteps utterly silent against the hardwood floors. It seemed strange, almost silly, to be using all their hard-earned skills to sneak through Trevor's own house, but at the same time, the stakes were at least as high as life or death.

[Gizmo]

In truth, it wasn't much of a challenge getting to Trevor's room. The mansion was large but the bedroom itself wasn't far from the garage. Stepping silently inside, the dark haired youth closed the door behind them with a soft click. The chamber was considerably tidier than his dorm room back at Claremont; it appeared he'd made a point of cleaning up since the last time Erin had seen it. Still holding her hand, he paused with a sudden stab of nervous hesitancy now that privacy had been assured.

[Electra]

Erin dropped her knapsack and looked around for a moment, then back at him, feeling the same quick rush of nerves. "Well, here we are again," she joked weakly. "I, um... we're probably thinking about this too hard." Closing the distance between them with a step, she kissed him again, this time not slow and romantic, but deep, almost rough in the way she closed her fingers on his shoulder and in his hair.

[Gizmo]

Responding to the sudden ferocity in kind, Trevor stooped slightly to facilitate the hungry kiss, evidently agreeing that for once analysis was overrated. Long, thin fingers fumbled with uncharacteristic clumsiness with the buttons of his shirt, knocking into Erin's arms briefly as he finally managed to toss the garment to the ground. With unexpected boldness, he renewed the breathless kiss and located the zipper of her borrowed coveralls by touch, pulling its tab down the length of her torso.

[Electra]

Erin kicked off the coveralls and her shoes as well, then deliberately slowed down despite the heat pounding through her veins. He was tougher than he looked, but she still had to be careful... and everyone said that slow was better anyway. She skimmed her fingers over his bare chest, then drew back enough to remove her own shirt. She couldn't afford to lose any buttons. Tossing that into the growing pile of clothes as well, she stepped back into his embrace and drew him in the direction of the bed. It was impossible to quantify everything she was feeling, but for once, for now, there was absolutely no regret.