A refill and a hangnail
Nova pulled her vehicle around to the side of the gas pump and filled up, letting the pump run while she wandered inside the mini mart to pick up some nail clippers. Damn nail had been driving her nuts for the past 300 miles, and she was ready to hack off her entire finger just to get relief from it.
She cracked her stiff neck loudly as she opened the door and took a moment to pop her knuckles as well. It appeared nail clippers were beyond a store of this size at first, and she nearly swore in frustration, but then she spotted an emergency sewing kit that would serve the purpose nicely. She ripped the package open immediately with her teeth and pulled out the tiny scissors. With a snip the errant nail was taken care of, and she walked up to the counter to pay for the already used item.
/ooc I'm fishin', anyone is welcome to join
She turned when the jag pulled up, winking at the gentleman inside and then nodding to indicate the stoplight further ahead that could barely be seen in the distance. She could hear nothing over the rumble of the Firebird, and hoped she had communicated the finish line well enough.
Deciding a little music was just what this race needed, she shoved a disk in the drive and grinned as the beat vibrated through the car.
Any second now.
She revved up the engine and gave Mr. Aron Swiftwood another wink.
"Red....yellow..."
"Green"'
Keeping the wheels just below the spinning point, the car leapt ahead...
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the jag was keeping steadily ahead, but did not dwell on that. If she looked over, her concentration would break, she would become too aware of the competition and not focused enough on the drive. Instead, she floored it and felt the rush of speed and danger.
Ever since Aron had been in his first car, almost a century ago, he had changed gear with his left hand. Sure he could drive a car with the wheel in the left side, but he didn't have the training racing them that he did english cars. He sputtered a curse and got it into gear right. He might have lost a quarter of a second, maybe a third. Ages in a race. The Firebird roared past him. In a longer race he would have had the upper hand. Very unlikely here. He had no intentions of giving up though. No intentions at all....
The Firebird was flying now, roaring over the asphalt, and Nova gripped the steering wheel tightly, in the back of her mind observing that the jag was no longer apparent at the edge of her vision.
So much the better.
Nova was laughing now, her hands operating the vehicle as though it were an extension of herself, leaving her to focus on the incredible thrill of speed and danger.
The stoplight grew larger and larger in her vision, as though rushing toward her instead of the other way around.
"Well...ladies first..."
She really should have timed that. What kind of a scientist experiments without collecting the data at the end, after all? Still, this was more about thrills and less about work, and there was no reason to turn -everything- into a chore. She shrugged off her discontent easily enough and pulled over, checking in her rear view mirror to see if the gentleman would do the same. Perhaps he was the type to get sulky when beaten at his own challenge, after all.
Really, the race had been anyone's match; while Nova was developing quite the racing vehicle, she was not quite there yet. Depending on how seriously she decided to take this little project, she might go as far as stripping out the interior and making the Firebird a -real- racer, but it wasn't as if she ran into (literally!) great competition every day in any case.
"You're sulking love, you lost a race, not an arm"
Aron chuckled, she was right. His expression turned into a grin instead, and he walked over to the firebird.
"Well, congratulations. That was rather embarresing on my part. I used to drive Formula 1"
"Love, that was almost 80 years ago"
Formula 1 had been a gentlemans sport, not the crude robot races of today. Aron had enjoyed them quite a bit, but he hadn't raced since the late 1920's.
"Allright, it was quite a long time ago, and the bloody transmission was in the right, or rather the left, side of the car. Still, not bad for a car that's probably older than than you are"
"Older than she is? Well, you might be right there love...or you might be very wrong indeed"
"What would the odds of that be May? Even here there are more humans than..others" he whispered
It was a close race. Maybe you'll catch her next time.
Well. Either he's a raving nutter who likes to make up stories when he loses a race and talks to himself...or he's been around longer than his looks would indicate, -and- he's a raving nutter who talks to himself. Perception, she thought, certainly could be dead useful. Nova crinkled her brow thoughtfully.
Judging by appearances, Nova would say there was no way in hell Aron Swiftwood was even a minute older than herself. She knew as well as anyone, though, that looks could be deceiving.
Finally she gave a careless shrug and smirked. He was a fun racer, a good sport, and didn't seem to be looking to exact some sort of revenge. If he wanted to talk to himself like some kind of lunatic, what was that to her? There were a few worst case scenarios running through her head, but Nova didn't like to dwell on the worst case. Staying alert, however, came naturally enough.
She leaned against the car door, still smirking.
Oh? And how old am I?
"She cannot hear, but you...can tell"
Ofcourse, he had sent May's voice to Nova's head as well, and the girl had mistaken it for his own. Meaning that she would either know far too much or think him a raving madman. Probably both.
"or she could be a vampire herself..."
Aron admitted that option to himself, it was indeed very possible. Either way, he would have to go for some damage control.
He flashed her a charming smile and said
"Ohh I'm sure you're not a day over 22"
Flatter always worked well, humans and vampires alike.
((OOC: Woops, forgot to mention the dark red stuff is in his head ...my bad...keeping it in italics from now on...makes more sense anyway ops:
Twenty two? Ah, Mr. Swiftwood, flattery will get you everywhere. Except, apparently, across the finish line first.
She gave him a saucy wink to indicate she was only kidding.
But you say you raced a vehicle older than me in a formula one? You were, what, four at the time? All assuming, of course, that I really am twenty two.
/ooc no worries, think it was a more general miscommunication, understood the red text well enough I think O_o.
She was fairly fast with the lines, vampire or human she was an entertaining match.
"Provided that you -are- indeed 22... Ofcourse I would never ask a lady's age, it would be impolite"
Aron delivered the last line with a polite smile.
"Oh, now he's calling me a -lady-. That's sure to go to my head."Â?
She turned back to Aron, grinning.
"Keep talkin' like that and I may have to consider a rematch some night soon."Â?
Nova found herself rather hoping for a rematch in any case; this guy seemed like he knew how to have fun.
"But I guess you probably don't want to see your Lady May get spanked on the asphault twice."
Aron grinned.
"I am usually the one doing the spanking though..."
Another race would be most welcome indeed, though he would probably need a few modifications done. If they were going to race again, he had no intention of loosing
"And if I have to be spanked, then I can assure you that I would much prefer that it was you who did it"
Arons eyes seemed to shine with a brighter green now, and there was mischievous look in them.
"On the road ofcourse"
Of course.
She shoved off the Firebird with her elbows and took a step closer to the man grinning in front of her. She realized that, judging by appearances, he actually might not be as young as she had initially suspected. Closer, in fact, to her own apparent age than she had judged at first glance.
I'll be in town for a bit. Here's hoping we find each other again.
And with that, Nova turned and opened the door of her car and flopped into the driver's seat, leaving the door opened if Mr. Swiftwood wanted to chat more but not so subtly hinting that she was dirty and tired and really ought to get going.
"But is she what she seems, love? Is the red liquid that flows through her veins human, or is she kindred?"
"I don't know love, but caution didn't kill the cat..." he whispered. A pretty face had let him into a group of clanless before, and Aron was a man who learned from his mistakes.
"I'm sure we will, it is fate" he said with a grin and walked back to the jaguar
Nova couldn't help but smile as she slammed the door and drove off. She didn't believe in fate. There were times when she could very much wish some sort of higher power was running the show, that her life wasn't entirely up to a woman who often forgot to eat for days at a time even before she was turned, too wrapped up in her work. A woman who didn't consider an evening of fun a success without a little danger. It was a nice sentiment, the idea that something out there was looking out for everyone. But Nova didn't buy into it.
She actually preferred to believe that she'd made her own luck tonight. And she was willing to bet she could do it again.
She put the Firebird into gear and took off into the night, heading back home.
/ooc Nova out *grins*
"qszzsix bombs have gone off in London city, so far noone's quite sure what have happened, but it's most likely the result of a terrorist attack..."
The radio kept talking. Aron didn't listen. His knuckles went white. They had attacked London, HIS London. Nova was out of his mind now, he was furious. He had to get back to the mansion fast, there was a lot of work yet to be done this night. The jag passed the 200mph mark on the way back
((Out