Test Drive

[cruisin_gal]

The campus was not bustling with activity as it had been all week, it now being Saturday, but things moved along at a slow and relaxed pace. Though many students chose to sleep in, several others were already out and making the most of their day. Small groups of schoolgirls could be seen walking toward the library for study sessions, a sight

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[witch_vanya]

OOC: Why not? ^^ And wow, temperature finally starts rising in New Hampshire. XD Warm enough that Vanya might even kind of enjoy it.It didn't happen often that she got to be outside, and especially since her illness almost two weeks ago, she'd been confined inside. Today, however, Vanya had decided to pick up her ritual of getting outside once a day again. It was to get a bit of exercise - even if she could only walk slowly - a bit of sunlight - even though she'd never tan - and some fresh air

[cruisin_gal]

*THUNK*

"Gah!"

She had heard voices talking amongst themselves in the distance, but caught unaware, hearing one so close caused the mechanic to jump. Though still unseen, it was easy to imagine that Jessie rubbed her newly-sore forehead from beneath the car's engine.

"Oh ha ha," she called out sarcastically, in too pleasant a mood to take offense. Though not originally meaning to, Jessie did let out a slight chuckle, finding the remark slightly humorous after all. "Hey, while you standin' there workin' on your stand up routine, mind handin' me that five-eighths next to my toolbox? Cain't quite reach it from here..."

[witch_vanya]

It wasn't exactly the reaction Vanya had expected. She hadn't meant it as fun, and even if she did, most girls didn't get her sense of humor. And yet this one chuckled, a sign that something was funny.

For a moment, the Seer just stood there with a rather puzzled expression on her face. Then she moved a bit forward to pick up the requested tool and handed it mutely over to the pair of legs.

[cruisin_gal]

A hand was now visible, a feminine hand that blindly felt around until it reached out and brushed up against Vanya's. Fingers trailed back until they reached steel, and grasping the wrench again retreated back away from view.

"Sorry...kinda caught me in the middle of somethin' here, and I gotta tighten this thing back on before...I....almost got it....aah. There we go. Perfect."

Now two hands appeared, and grasping at the side of the vehicle, were used to help the girl slide out from beneath. Jessie was dressed rather plainly, an old pair of denim overalls and a black sports bra underneath. Her long, golden locks were tied back with a red bandanna, and small patches of grease stained her otherwise fair skin.

Without thought, she wiped away at one spot on her cheek, not removing it but rather spreading it further on accident. Unaware, she glanced over at the girl who was standing by the quarter-panel of her new ride. "So," she asked the girl, wondering what Vanya was doing standing there. "What's up?"

[witch_vanya]

"If that is what you want to believe," Vanya replied indifferently to the show of sympathy - or more the lack of it. There had been only one thing about her parents that hurt her, but the Seer much rather preferred to think of ways to get her revenge than dwell on the pain and self-pity. Because she was going to make them pay for the attempt to kill her.

Although the nervous feeling remained, Vanya saw no reason for it and leaned back a little. Not that she relaxed, more that she found a more comfortable position for herself. She ignored the remark that came from the other girl, knowing fully well what the intentions of Jessie were.

OOC: It started to get rather small-ish there. XD

[cruisin_gal]

((OOC: Yeah, I hate that about this format. Huge, widescreen laptop and 90% of it is useless gray sidebars. This page has all the text in one super-skinny column in the center with the rest of the screen totally wasted...)) -_-;

Jessie more or less ignored Vanya's comment. Though sometimes blunt and harsh on the outside, it generally took a lot to get under the biker's skin.

But as Vanya began to relax more and more, the girl at the wheel began to grow increasingly more nervous. At first it was a subtle glance or two at the rear-view, slightly more often than normal but not desperately obvious. But as the miles zoomed past, Jessie's attention began to divide more evenly between her front and back windshields and discomfort grew within her.

[witch_vanya]

She might seem relaxed to the blonde girl next to her, but this was only a mask. Vanya still felt edgy and uncomfortable within and now Jessie's own nervousness and discomfort was added to that. The Seer tried to ignore it, much as she tried to ignore everything about her current partner, but when Jessie began to pay more and more attention to what happened behind them, she lost her patience.

"Alright, what?" Vanya clenched her teeth after that initial outburst and tried it again, a little calmer this time. "What is going on? Because I would really appreciate it if you paid attention to what happens in front of you, not behind you. I didn't come along so you could get us killed."

[cruisin_gal]

"It's cool," the blonde replied. "We're cool. We're frosty." Though obscured by tinted glasses, her eyes never left the mirror. "Maybe it's nothing..."

Careful to observe all safe driving rules, Jessie turned on her blinker and slowly proceeded to the leftmost lane. Finding breaks in traffic she slowed and turned at the next light, driving a short ways now deliberately trying not to look at the rearview mirror. A mile or so dragged on at a speed below the posted limit before Jessie took a deep breath and looked again.

"Oh, dammit."

[witch_vanya]

She gritted her teeth at Jessie's rather thoughtless remark.

"I don't... exactly chose... for any of this..."

Nails dug deeper into the girl's arm. There was a brief contact with Jessie's energy, almost like brushing fingertips lightly across it. Had it been in any other situation, Vanya would've used it to give herself strength. But energy was important to the driver to focus on what lay ahead of her on the road. So all she could do was steal a little bit, enough for her to stay alive just a while longer.

"Hurry up... it hurts..."

OOC: One day I'll learn to post directly in a new thread, instead of first replying to the previous comment...

[cruisin_gal]

The gearshift was put in park just long enough for Jessie to do a little damage control and assess the situation. "Can't stay here long," Jessie softly admitted, as eventually the officer would find his way back to where they were last seen. She pulled the shades from her temples to look Vanya over, obviously concerned. "But if you're good enough to go, I bet we can slide real normal-like into the line of cars headin' back to the campus, and won't nobody tell the difference. Everyone's still gonna be looking back the way we were headed, most like it."

She didn't understand quite why, but she felt a slight bit woozy as if momentarily lightheaded, but the short pause gave her enough time to shake this off. At least enough to try and ignore the effects. There was a thoughtful pause, and shaking her head lightly, Jessie once again shifted the car back into drive."Though a heart attack, that woulda been a damn good excuse to give the five-oh why we were speedin' back there..."

Nah, couldn't be that. Mentally, the driver corrected

[witch_vanya]

It wasn't like she had much choice, though even if she had, Vanya wouldn't have said anything. Talking required energy and oxygen, two things that were hard to come by at the moment. Besides, Jessie probably knew what she was doing. Though it was that 'probably' that kept Vanya from feeling entirely safe.

She didn't remove her face from the girl's shoulder. As much as she hated to admit it, it made her feel safer, which in turned helped her to calm down a little. And the position might make it possible for her to synchronize with Jessie's heart beat. It wasn't something Vanya had done often, because it required close contact and the Seer despised close contact. But this was an emergency situation and that often required sacrifices.

Her hand moved up to the driver's chest, both for a comfortable position as well as to find the heart beat Vanya needed.

OOC: A very close contact there... ;) And synchronizing wouldn't be really something Jessie notices. It's more than Vanya concentrates on Jessie's heart beat, sort of link to it and

[cruisin_gal]

Jessie was distracted. Once so focused on the road that she felt all but invincible, her eyes now scanned the horizon, looking for any other patrol cars. Driving slow and casual she would draw no further attention, but other units had probably been radioed by now and could come from just about anywhere looking for them.

But more importantly, some new girl was about to die in her car. Jessie had never laid a hand on her, and had only offered a friendly cruise around town, but with no witnesses that would be hard to prove. And even so, her fancy driving may be what eventually scared this girl to death.

She took a deep breath, fairly calm given the circumstances but still keenly aware of every car that passed. The car seemed to glide across the asphalt, as smooth and peaceful as could be. But there was a sudden jerk as a hand had worked it's way between the driver's breasts. A sweatdrop slid visibly down the side of her face as she stared downward, far too startled to speak.

[loaghaire]

"While it is flattering that you think I might be able to assist in something like that, my medical skills are quite rudimentary," Laurian replied. "I am trained to help with bruises, cuts, possibly broken arms and legs. But anything that goes further those basic injuries should be attended by a real doctor and I can assure you Doctor Tam is the best mundane doctor I have ever seen."

She leaned casually against the wall. "You might want to tell me what happened, though. And you can start by explaining what you did with that car, because if my memory serves me well, it isn't yours."

[cruisin_gal]

"Oh, great," the blonde girl said, rolling her eyes noticeably. As Laurian got more comfortable, Jessie murmured under her breath. "Got all sorts of useful folks that can shoot fireballs and turn people into frogs, but we're stuck with some normal doc..."

The professor's cool and casual demeanor irritated the girl, and her accusation caused her to suddenly lash out verbally. "Like hell it ain't mine!" Two pair of emerald eyes met in deadlock. As she stared the assistant professor down, her voice leveled after the momentary spike. "You tryin' ta say something?"

[loaghaire]

"I believe the only thing I was saying was the request to get an explanation. One part you already explained; that car is not yours. Now perhaps you'd like to let me know whose car it is and what happened during the ride that cause Miss Lindsen's heart to fail."

Laurian hadn't even blinked at the girl's outburst and even now she remained calm. There was no anger or accusation; the only accusation made was that the car didn't belong to Jessie and the girl had admitted that herself as well.

"I know Miss Lindsen has a weak heart and that even the slightest bit of exercise can cause this reaction. However, I doubt she had much exercising to do while sitting in a car. So I ask you again. What happened during the ride?"

[cruisin_gal]

One hand fumbled around in a pocket. Soon it produced a wallet, and from that wallet a crumpled pink slip. "Wanna tell me again that ride isn't mine?" Jessie's face turned into a rather triumphant smirk, though the girl was clearly still annoyed. "Next time, you might wanna get your facts straight before you start callin' folks thieves." The title paper was handed - almost tossed - at Laurian's chest. "Got that baby last night, spent half the mornin' giving her a tune-up, and then took her out for a test drive."

The blonde spoke plainly, relaying those simple facts. The rest would be a little trickier to describe, as she hadn't quite pieced it together yet herself. "Glad you knew she was a heart attack just waitin' to happen." Bare shoulders shrugged beneath denim straps. "We was out for a spin and she started breathin' funny and grabbing at her chest." Mine too, Jessie thought to herself, but the speaker didn't feel the need to share this at the moment. "How was I to know she'd have some kinda stroke or something?"