(Untitled)

[whatselfcontrol]

WHO: Rui and Alastair
WHERE: Hell Towers
WHEN: Tuesday night
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: Alastair busted his bike! Luckily, there's another motorcycle freak in the building willing to help out. Kinda. With glares. He does that.
FORMAT: Paragraph to start, then whatever we want!

Comments

[hackeralastair]

Alastair pulled into the underground garage fresh off the street, fresh from his run-in with some big horned freak of nature and still unsure about the handling. He wasn't much of a mechanic; he could change his motorcycle's oil, but anything beyond that was outside his realm of ability. But where to go to get it fixed? He considered asking Hiruma, he would probably know...

As he settled into the parking space alongside the other motorcycles parked there - Hiruma's, Kiryu's new bike, and Rui's - he noticed the tools scattered around. He tugged off his helmet and had a look around. Maybe this could be easier than asking about repair shops.

[whatselfcontrol]

The familiar rumble of an engine echoed through the basement complex, and Rui paused in uncapping his drink. Walking back into the combined parking lot/work shop, he spotted Alastair seated on his Ducati. He hadn't talked to the guy much, considering how long they'd shared an apartment building - for all the social interaction that meant; he wasn't sure if Kid knew anyone else's names beyond his own and Hiruma's yet - but he had good taste in bikes, which was enough to convince Rui that conversation wasn't necessarily a bad idea.

"Hey," he called.

[hackeralastair]

Alastair's head turned toward the voice. "Hey, there you are," he noted, sliding off his bike and setting the helmet on the seat. "Rui," he added to prove he actually knew Hiruma's roommates' names. "Whatcha up to, fiddling with bikes?"

[whatselfcontrol]

"What, were ya lookin' for me?" That would be new. He shrugged, motioning to the various parts and tools he had strewn about the place. Cleaning up after oneself was overrated. "Working on mine, yeah. Thing still isn't as good as the one I had back home."

[hackeralastair]

"Nah, just wondering who was down here making a mess," Alastair shrugged. "You're good with mechanics, then. Does that include any kind of bike?"

[whatselfcontrol]

Thanks to his experience at the shop, Rui could say yes to the question where he might not have before; one upside to the City, then.

"For the most part, why?" he answered, then his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "What'd ya do?" Did he mishandle his motorcycle? Heresy!

[hackeralastair]

Alastair's lips twisted into a pout. "I didn't do anything to it!" he insisted. "I ran into some real freak on my way home from work. I mean, sure, most of it was the car in front of me suddenly overheating and almost starting on fire, but that didn't seem to damage it at all - it was the guy who stepped in to save the day." He huffed and set his hands on his hips. "Had to have been one of us - import, I mean. He iced over the car. But he shoved my bike out of the way somehow and I think the suspension got a bit...I don't know. It's not handling as smoothly as it was before that."

He tossed his hair as if to prove he was totally unruffled by the encounter. Totally. "Think you could take a look at it? I mean, I could just take it to a shop, but hey. As long as you're already around."

[whatselfcontrol]

Rui stared, half at Alastair's mannerisms - which, to such a masculine football player as himself, just seemed so very... gay - and half in disbelief at the story.

"Sure," he said, walking over to the bike and crouching down to take a look at the suspension. "People are so freakin' weird around here," he agreed. "Makes you wonder what the glitch is with the damn computer."

congrats Rui, your gaydar works :D

[hackeralastair]

"Seriously." Alastair made sure to stay just out of the way, though he rubbernecked the examination. He had always privately harbored a wish to know more about his bike's mechanics than he did, but he was too lazy to actually do anything about it. "I mean, it's all fine for someone to charge in and keep a car from exploding, but he didn't have to be such a dick about it. It wasn't my fault."

He folded his arms over his chest and watched in silence for a while, trying to squash the irrational irritation that wanted to bubble over. "So...what's the verdict, doc?"

expertly honed by secretly watching Will and Grace

[whatselfcontrol]

Rui listened to Alastair with one ear and nodded his agreement, most of his attention focused on the bike. He stood up when the other spoke again.

"I'd probably have to take it for a test drive ta be sure there's nothing else, but it's not so much your suspension as the fork seals. One's leaking and it fucks with the handling. I probably have a spare around here."

LMAO!

[hackeralastair]

Alastair sighed, and then dangled out the key. "Fine, do what you gotta do. Here, I'm gonna run upstairs and drop off my laptop bag. I'll probably be back down before you get back. Sound good?"

Fork seals, that didn't sound good even to him. But he really didn't know one way or the other.

[whatselfcontrol]

Shrugging, Rui took the key. If Alastair wanted to wait, it was his choice. "Works for me," he said. He grabbed his helmet from the work bench and slid onto the Ducati - looking forward to taking it for a spin, to be honest; it was hell of a nice bike - and was tearing out of the basement moments later.

Access to the nearest highway wasn't far, and he did his best not to violate any traffic laws on the way. With smooth cement beneath him and a wonderfully high speed limit, he drove for a while until he'd confirmed his earlier suspicions about the problem. Definitely the front fork seal. Not the worst thing that could happen, really. He headed back to the apartment and found Alastair waiting for him when he pulled back in.

"Fork seal," he said, voice slightly muffled as he pulled off the helmet. The leak was a bit more significant when he hopped off to look at it again. "It's not bad. Shouldn't take me more than a few hours."

[hackeralastair]

Alastair was leaning on the wall with his arms folded, and gave a small scowl at that. "All right. Is it a real tough fix? I mean, I know I asked for a favor and all, but I guess I could slip you a little something if it's gonna be bad."

[whatselfcontrol]

To be honest, Rui would probably be working on his own bike if he wasn't fixing Alastair's, and the whole thing was good experience for him anyways. But if the offer was there...

"I don't need the money. How's about ya just owe me?" If Hiruma kept the guy around, he was sure to come in handy sometime down the line.

[hackeralastair]

"....yeah, okay," Alastair shrugged.

He hesitated a moment, since he could totally just go upstairs now and wait for the news that his bike was fixed, but he was curious. He stayed out of the way, in case Rui needed to grab tools or do things with the motorcycle that required room, but he still lurked around. "So, how'd you know Hiruma in the first place? Back home, I mean. You guys on the same football team or something?"

[whatselfcontrol]

Dragging a short stool and the tools he figured he'd need at the moment, Rui sat down and went about the business off taking apart the problem area. Seeing that Alastair was still hanging around, he left enough space so that the other could see for himself if he so chose that his bike wasn't being sabotaged.

"Play on the same team as that guy?! Ka!" Rui scoffed. "We played against each other. I'm captain of my team, the Zokugaku Chameleons." Bunch of nearly-useless thugs as they were.