ic Grand Prix

[Gizmo]

Trevor Hunter was more than a little glad when the attendant announced they would be landing at the Cote d'Azur Airport shortly, though anyone unfamiliar with the stoic young man would have had no inkling. He'd grown no more fond of air travel in general but at least the trip had not been plagued by the interruptions that so often appeared in the life he shared with the auburn haired woman in the seat beside him.

He hadn't been entirely sure how interested Erin would be in attending the Grand Prix despite her developing skills as a mechanic. He'd originally had somewhat more elaborate plans in mind for their anniversary but after the events of the new year something more terrestrial had seemed to be in order. At the end of the day, however, one could do much worse than taking a few days off from their respectively hectic schedules to visit the Principality of Monaco. Something also appealed to him about a celebration that was by their standards fairly low key: the implication that there would be many more opportunities in the years to come.

Rolling his stiff shoulders against a seat not designed with his tall frame in mind, he ensured his sunglasses had remained in place and looked over to Erin. "So far, so good?"

[Electra]

"Uh-huh." Erin had her face to the window, watching avidly as they circled to land at the seaside airport. "It's gorgeous down there. The water is so blue..." She paused a moment, looked again. "And if the pilot's not careful, we'll fall right off the runway into it.  It's like the runways end in the ocean or something. What a weird setup!" From the sound of it, she wasn't particularly worried. She'd enjoyed the plane ride quite a bit, first class travel with no disasters and the person she liked best in the world going with her. "We should make sure to go to the beach sometime when we're not watching the race." 

[Gizmo]

"Have time," Trevor agreed, packing a palm sized tablet back into his carry-on. "Prix begins tomorrow." They were arriving early enough by local time that they'd have time to make it from the airport and into Monaco itself, get checked into their hotel and settled and still have the better part of the afternoon and evening to spend however they liked. The night as well if the harbour parties surrounding the race itself lived up to their reputation. Seeing that water up close, not to mention certain swimwear, sounded like an excellent use of that time. With a ding, the passengers were instructed to fasten their seatbelts as the plane began its descent.

[Electra]

Erin dutifully fastened her seatbelt and packed away her book and her iPod before settling in for landing. A few quick breathing exercises calmed the quick rush of nerves that came from approaching a new place and a very new situation, where it was going to be busy and things would be strange. Three years ago, she wouldn't have been brave enough to do any of this, and just talking to a new guy at school was about as far as her social courage extended. She'd come a long way. They both had, really. Feeling as relaxed as she was likely to get, she gave Trevor's fingers a quick squeeze as the plane's wheels bumped the tarmac for a glass-smooth landing. "Food, hotel, and swimming," she decided aloud. "In whatever order seems convenient."

 

The first class passengers got to disembark first, so it wasn't more than a couple of minutes before they were out of the plane and into the jetway in a whole new country. "It's a lot different than the last time we came to France," Erin observed. "Just plopped down in the middle of Paris to fight robots at the Eiffel Tower."

[Gizmo]

"Hnh, should avoid that this time," Trevor suggested with a faint smile and a subtle shaking of his head. It would have been foolish to assume there would be no interruptions to their vacation at all but Nice, Monaco and the surrounding areas had their own, local heroes ready to spring into action and the proverbial shop was being minded back in Freedom City. Being 'plopped down' at least seemed less likely.

He kept a close eye on Erin's reaction as they disembarked, fully prepared to catch the next flight back home if she decided she was too uncomfortable in the strange place. He didn't think that would happen, however; he couldn't think of anyone he'd ever met who was better at overcoming and persevering despite everything.

An express busline ran from the airport into Monaco itself but Trevor had arranged for a car to be waiting for them instead. Between the chance to drive on new, gorgeous roads and having to sit through public transport there was no competition. Neatly fitting their few bags into the back of the sporty convertible, he made a point of opening the passenger side door for Erin with a shallow bow.

[Electra]

Erin quirked an amused eyebrow at him as she slid into the passenger seat. "Okay," she allowed, "but I want a chance to drive it later." She'd always thought that everyone in Europe drove on the opposite side of the road, but previous trips to France had cured her of that notion. Just as well, too, since there were plenty of nice cars to want to try out. She buckled her seatbelt as a matter of habit, then tugged the band from her hair as they pulled out into the quick-moving traffic beyond the airport. In a car with just the two of them, she felt comfortable enough to gape at the surroundings and take in all there was to see of Monaco and its blue ocean. "So do you think we'll run into anybody you know at these parties and stuff?" she asked over the rush of the wind. 

[Gizmo]

"Sounds fair," Trevor agreed with a broader smile, breaking the deadpan of his exaggerated courtesy as he slid into the driver's seat and took them out of the airport and along the expressway. Driving along the seaside with Erin beside him and no immediate crisis to deal with was about as close to perfect as he ever expected to come. "Possible," he supposed, leaning back and steering with one hand, gentle movements guiding the responsive vehicle around the bends of the road. "Chances of crossing paths seem low, though."

[Electra]

"So really, we could pretend to be anyone we wanted," Erin mused aloud as the buildings of Monaco proper began to grow in the distance. "That could be fun. If I wear all that stuff Frank sent with me, maybe I could pass myself off as a fancy rich girl. Think anyone would buy it?" she asked with a laugh. Frank's clothes were beautiful as well as very functional, but even with all her grace, Erin couldn't seem to walk like someone born to gowns and high heels. "I could call you Tristan and you could call me Emilie, and you could do all the talking so no one would notice that I don't actually speak French," she suggested, warming to the game. "And then we could sneak out onto the racetrack and steal one of the cars and take it for a joyride, then disappear in a poof of black smoke, and no one would ever know what had happened." 

[Gizmo]

There was a pause while Trevor gave Erin a sidelong glance, trying to process the unexpected train of thought. Eventually the bemused look melted into a smile broad enough to show teeth and tinge his voice with the beginnings of laughter. "We could," he agreed, keeping a portion of his attention on the curving road. "Definitely support trying new outfits. Already fancy." Amusing himself with the idea of a madcap chase through the streets of Monaco in a stolen Formula 1 car, he shook his head. "Think I would rather spend vacation with Erin than Emilie, though."

[Electra]

"I guess that's good, Erin's pretty jealous about things like that." She laughed, then tilted her head back to catch the breeze. "The ocean smells so different here than in Freedom City. It's almost like being on an island or something." They rode along in comfortable silence for a little bit while buildings began to rise around them. "The hotel is coming right up," Erin eventually reported, looking at Trevor's  GPS unit. "Le Meridien Beach Plaza," she attempted in a French accent that was just short of execrable. "Look for the hotel with the big round glass elevator on the front. I was reading about it on the plane, and apparently they offer windsurfing. We could go windsurfing."  

[Gizmo]

The Meridien turned out to easy to spot even among the other gleaming buildings of Monte Carlo. The rented coupe blended in easily with the rows of high end cars presumably belonging to race enthusiasts brought to the city by the Grad Prix and some part of Trevor wished he'd been able to bring something a little more impressive to drive around in. The more professional part was glad to remain inconspicuous among the many tourists checking into the hotel as he and Erin stepped into the lobby, the background din of conversation including a half dozen languages.

[Electra]

Checking in at a luxury hotel, Erin discovered, was not much like checking in at a Ramada Inn. A line was unavoidable on a day like today, but uniformed waiters breezed through the lobby with wine and snacks to ease the pain of delay, and a grand piano in one corner provided a pleasant undertone to the conversation. Having so many people milling about made her just a bit edgy, but once she'd gotten a look at the exits and all of the discreet but effective security measures present, she relaxed and began to people-watch. Conversations about cars were the order of the day, at least from the ones she could understand, and even here in the hotel there seemed to be quite a bit of money changing hands on the outcome of the race. 

 

Even with the press of people, it was barely ten minutes before they were at the front desk to be checked in. While Trevor discussed the finer points of wireless internet and valet parking, she ate crackers with some really good unidentifiable cheese on them and wondered if it would be out of line to give the bellboy a hand with a really heavy valise he was dragging to the elevator. Probably, she figured with slight regret, they were keeping low profile here. As the elevator doors opened, for just a moment Erin saw a face that looked oddly familiar, then it was gone again, swept away by the crowd moving in and out. Erin racked her brain for who it could be, but all that sprang to mind was... Tricia. Old Tricia. That didn't even make any sense, she told herself, even as she shook her head and looked away. Even people who only slept every couple of days could get jet-lagged. She turned her attention to the desk just in time to get a key to their room. "Ready?" 

[Gizmo]

While Erin looked about the room, a level look from behind Trevor's sunglasses had taken the man behind the front desk from a rote but lengthy listing of the hotel's many amenities and optional services to concise albeit stammering helpfulness. In short order they were signed in and Trevor passes Erin one of their key cards on the way to the prominent glass elevator. The view of the water as they ascended was very nearly worth the trip on its own and indeed wind surfers could be seen below along with other ways of enjoying the beach.

[Electra]

Erin pressed her hands to the glass as they rose in the elevator, watching the tourists frolicking in the ocean. She thought about mentioning the strange person she'd glimpsed to Trevor, but decided against it. It had just been a fraction of a second, but he would undoubtedly worry about it even though there was nothing they could do. It was a ninety-nine percent chance that she'd just been mistaken, and the one percent... well, they could deal with that when it came up, if it came up. For the moment, she was ready to put it out of her mind. "So what do you want to do first?" she asked as they walked down the short corridor to their room. "We could eat or rest or go out to the beach... oooh." 

 

She paused a moment to appreciate the hotel room, which was very large, very plush, and had a floor-to-ceiling view of the ocean. The bathtub on a pedestal in the main room looked big enough for two people, the bed in the next room big enough for a basketball team. A side table near the door held a basket of fruit and wine, with a folder full of information on the many attractions of Monaco during race week. "I'm not sure I'm ever going to get used to traveling like this. But it is fun." 

[Gizmo]

"Not quite as impressive as the Dakanan palace but pretty close," Trevor agreed, putting down the luggage he was carrying and rolling his shoulders a few times as he took stock of the room. Where Erin's first impression of a new space always focused on blind spots, possible exits and threat assessment, he took in the room as an engineers dismantling a new mechanism, taking dispassionate inventory of its component and filing them away in case they might later be of use. Once that was done he was free to enjoy the view more casually. "Not too much?" The last thing he wanted was to put Erin further out of her comfort zone than she was willing to go and he knew the entire trip was already pushing that envelope no matter how resolute she was.

[Electra]

"No, no, it's great," Erin assured him,  peeking into the bathroom and the minifridge and the closets. "I like that it's quiet and big and has the windows. If I do wind up losing my cool and need to pull myself together, this'll be a good place for it. But so far, so good." She came up behind him as he looked out the window, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking over his shoulder at the blue water. "I kind of think getting on the plane at all was the worst part," she admitted. "I got so nervous about the idea of the trip, I psyched myself out. Now that we're here and doing it, the people and the language and all that doesn't really bother me so much. We've been to way stranger places and done much scarier things. It's just that in those cases, I didn't have weeks to think about them beforehand." 

[Gizmo]

"Can understand that," Trevor assured her with a shallow nod, placing his hands atop hers about his waist. "Prefer warning, usually. Time to prepare, analyze. Come up with plan, recognize variables, proceed with confidence. Waiting, though... Hnh." It didn't take much to remind him of the seemingly interminable length of time it had taken to determine the origin of the Curator's robot duplicates and travel to their source. Squeezing Erin's fingers, he shifted position a step so that they were side by side in front of the window. "Food?"

[Electra]

"See, master tactician," Erin agreed, pressing a kiss to his jaw before letting him go. There was certainly no shortage of places to eat in the area, but for this first meal they stuck with one of the hotel's several restaurants. Erin chafed a little at the typically French speed of the meal, but the shrimp salad and fresh bread was excellent, at least. "You know, I could've gone out and caught the shrimp and picked the lettuce myself," she murmured sotto voce to Trevor as their waiter finally left with the bill. "But I guess not everybody wants to be efficient when they eat. Can we go out to the beach now?" By now it was well past noon and cruising steadily into the hottest part of the day, but that didn't deter her one bit. 

Edited May 30, 2013 by Electra

[Gizmo]

Trevor made a soft, amused sound as he set down his emptied cup, though he seemed to enjoy the restrained, perfectionist attitude for the most part. "If you like, of course," he replied with a glance out the numerous windows toward the waterfront and the blazing sun. "Tt, need to apply sunscreen. Not all of us negotiated a ceasefire with ultraviolet radiation." While they were both on the pale side only one of them had to worry about burning and midnight mist infused tissue. The Monaco summer would not be kind to the largely nocturnal young man.

[Electra]

"There are times I wouldn't mind being able to get a tan," Erin replied sourly, studying her own exceedingly fair skin. "I tried that sunless tanning stuff, but my body sloughs away dead skin so quickly, I was polka-dot by morning and totally white again in thirty-six hours. Even Charlie was laughing at me." She shook her head ruefully. "I guess there are worse things than looking like I live in a cave for the rest of my life, but once upon a time I had freckles, swear to god." 

 

She folded her napkin and stood up, nearly reaching to leave a tip before she remembered that wasn't a custom here. "Anyway, it'll be fun. I'll help you put your sunscreen on," she offered, a gleam in her eyes as she turned to head back toward the glass elevator. 

[Gizmo]

Standing up a little more quickly than he might have otherwise, Trevor carefully adjusted the collar of his shirt before leveraging his longer stride to catch up with Erin on her way back to the elevator. "Compelling argument. Sure freckles are all gone?" he questioned sotto voce as he fell into step beside her and stepped into the elevator. "Should probably check. Just to be sure." The corner of his mouth quirked up slightly as the doors of the elevator closed.

[Electra]

"You're just trying to distract me from going to the beach," Erin accused playfully. She was grinning as she looped her arms around his waist, ignoring for the moment the fact that the walls were transparent. "And it's a very good effort, but it's not going to work. But later on, you can help me look for them." Despite her bold claims, it took longer than might be expected for both of them to get into their swimming clothes and for Trevor to be properly slathered with high-SPF sunscreen. That was all right, they were on vacation. 

 

Erin had picked a swimsuit designed more for sport than sexiness, with a bright blue top shaped like a sports bra and matching cropped shorts that left most of her abdomen bare.  She'd figured that to be good enough for beachwear, but then Frank had added on a breezy floral sarong, a straw sunhat, sunglasses and water shoes to finish off the ensemble. It ended up being more accessories than she wore to work most days, but it looked cute and softened the annoyingly muscled look the suit alone gave her. Conscientiously, she secured her passport and documents in the room safe, then tucked a little money and her comm into the hidden pocket of the sarong. "I almost wish I'd brought a pail and shovel," she joked, "but I guess the beaches here are probably too sophisticated for sand castles." 

[Gizmo]

"Collapsible spade and cup if you want them," Trevor offered, affixing a small, inconspicuous device of his own to the inside of the safe before depositing his beaten black fedora and closing it. He wasn't expecting any trouble but lack of precautions simply wasn't his style.

The roomy board shorts he wore, with their sizable pockets, were closer to that style, though the complementary blue and orange design clearly indicated another hand at work. Reaching most of the way to his knees, the swimsuit gave a more casual feel to a frame that maturity had sculpted into something too broad to belong to an avid swimmer but too lean for the showy exaggeration of the bodybuilders littering the waterfront. He hoped his pale flesh wouldn't stand out too badly among the many tourists and the glaring sun at least gave him ample excuse for his ever-present sunglasses.

As he slipped his sandals onto his feet however he was more focused on Erin's outfit than his own. "Wow. Good swimsuit," he adjudicated with a light smile. "Heh. Remember plane ride to Dakana?"

[Electra]

"Thanks," she replied with a grin, taking a look at his ensemble. "Yours too. And although portions of that trip are a blur, I think I remember most of the important parts." Erin laughed, slipping her hand into his as they walked into the hallway. "I remember you doing a headstand in the hot tub, that was funny. And Mark lost his trunks and threatened to jump out of the plane if we dared him to. And I remember I was so nervous because I liked you so much and I had a brand new swimsuit and no idea what I was doing. But it turned out nice, so that was all right."

 

Remembering her favorite part of that ride, she stopped and put a hand on his cheek, bringing him in for a leisurely kiss. "Who could have known back then, huh?" she mused, her smile gone soft  and sentimental. "You gave me my first birthday party on Prime, and helped me figure out that I really did want to be a hero. That was a nice trip." 

[Gizmo]

"Was definitely the more nervous," Trevor challenged playfully as he leaned accommodatingly down into the kiss and bringing a hand up to rest on Erin's bare midriff. Letting the kiss linger, he pointedly ignored the handful of other guests walking by toward the elevators. Getting out of Freedom City for a few days had been an excellent idea, he decided. Even with Erin moved into the mansion it was a challenge to align their schedules and while the couple were excellent at making to most out of their time together it was nice to be able to focus on what was in front of him. "Assume I must have known," he deadpanned. "Reputation to maintain."