fic: Keep The Car Running
So part of this was written before Twittergate, and I abandoned it before realising that I really wanted to finish writing it, and... here it is. /o\ To be fair, Evan Lysacek is kind of a douchebag in this.
Keep The Car Running
Mirai & Evan gen
872 words
Mirai takes driving lessons from Evan. Set in summer of 2009.
Thanks to alexthegreat for the beta and factchecking!
Mirai was learning how to drive. She wasn't very good at it yet, but the relaxing thing about being on the road was that you didn't have to be great at it. You just had to be functional enough to not kill anyone, she figured.
Low expectations were why it sucked even worse to find out you were really terrible at it.
"Stop at the stop sign! Stop at the stop sign!"
For the second time that day Mirai slammed on the brakes five seconds too late and winced as she and Evan were thrown forward against their seatbelts, a couple of feet beyond the painted line.
Mirai smiled weakly.
"Sorry," she said. "I forgot."
Evan didn't say anything, and Mirai wondered if it was because he was too terrified to, or was trying to show that he was displeased in that passive-aggressive way her mom sometimes did - she chose to imagine that it was the former, anyway.
"How can you forget about something like that?" Evan said, his monotone incredulous. "All right, turn left now."
You can if you're new, Mirai didn't say, as she merged into the main road and the signal clicked off. A huge truck snuck up behind them, then overtook their car. Mirai was trying not to sass Evan, because he was giving her driving lessons for free after all. Using his own car, too. It was going to be ages before Mirai got her own non-shitty car, and another millennium before she was allowed to drive it, probably.
Driving was kind of fun in that abstract way, if only Mirai could stop getting distracted - the road would be clear and you always thought you were free to go, and then, bam! There was another vehicle on the road. How dare these drivers, right? How dare they.
Shops and roads and traffic lights swam past Mirai in the opposite direction as she went at the dizzying speed of thirty miles an hour. That was really fast for her.
"Slow down," Evan said, and Mirai did, although she didn't understand why. She thought she'd been doing good. "Slow down!" and Mirai increased her deceleration, fuming all the while.
Evan rolled down the window. "Look," he said, barely-repressed irritation creeping into his voice. "You're not parallel to the curb, and you're too far away from it! Can you see?"
Mirai didn't bother to look. Eyes on the road, right? She was being a responsible driver here. It wasn't that engaging with Evan right now would make her want to gouge his eyeballs out, or anything. She already wanted to anyway.
"Don't talk, I'm checking my blind spot," she chirped, even though she wasn't planning to turn left any time soon. It was fun to play at being dumb, especially since Mirai didn't get that chance very often. She turned around to check - and without noticing it she'd switched lanes, and Evan yelped.
"Jesus, Mirai!"
"I'm not Christian," Mirai murmured, a reflex. Oops - too much? She didn't want Evan to stop giving her lessons, after all. She glanced in the rearview mirror, to find that Evan had turned a gratifying shade of purple.
"Pull over," Evan said, jogging his right leg nervously. "Pull over now."
Mirai did, even though it was a double white line at the side of the road. So now they were breaking the law, too. Great. They sat in sulky silence for a while, before Mirai couldn't stand it any longer. "That was okay, right?"
"Are you kidding me? That was a disaster!" Evan covered his face with his hands and said, "I think we need a new strategy."
Okay, Mirai thought. Personally she thought she'd been doing fine for a beginner. Caroline had a license already, and every time Mirai rode in her car she threatened to rip it up. Some people should just never be allowed on the road. She forgot every time, though. Having a best friend who could drive was really convenient.
"You're gripping the wheel too tight," Evan said. "See? You need better control."
Mirai resisted asking how she was supposed to achieve the both of them at the same time, and Evan didn't explain. She just nodded. "Cool," she said. "Now can we go again?"
"But I don't think you're so good at turning yet," Evan said, and Mirai struggled to reign in her impatience. How was she going to get better at driving if she never did it?
"I can't just go straight all the time," Mirai pointed out, though the idea definitely appealed to her. The best thing about California was its big open roads. Driving cross-country, friends who weren't Evan in the backseat, a good mix CD to sing along to, baby there's a shark in the water...
Her parents were so never going to let her.
"Just go straight first," Evan said. "Then when you can't any more, turn left and go back very slowly, okay?"
"O-kay," Mirai said in the same condescending tone he'd used, but Evan didn't seem to notice. He refastened his seatbelt and made a gesture for her to start driving again.
Mirai tried not to grin as she released the handbrake. He'd never know what hit him.
Keep The Car Running
Mirai & Evan gen
872 words
Mirai takes driving lessons from Evan. Set in summer of 2009.
Thanks to alexthegreat for the beta and factchecking!
Mirai was learning how to drive. She wasn't very good at it yet, but the relaxing thing about being on the road was that you didn't have to be great at it. You just had to be functional enough to not kill anyone, she figured.
Low expectations were why it sucked even worse to find out you were really terrible at it.
"Stop at the stop sign! Stop at the stop sign!"
For the second time that day Mirai slammed on the brakes five seconds too late and winced as she and Evan were thrown forward against their seatbelts, a couple of feet beyond the painted line.
Mirai smiled weakly.
"Sorry," she said. "I forgot."
Evan didn't say anything, and Mirai wondered if it was because he was too terrified to, or was trying to show that he was displeased in that passive-aggressive way her mom sometimes did - she chose to imagine that it was the former, anyway.
"How can you forget about something like that?" Evan said, his monotone incredulous. "All right, turn left now."
You can if you're new, Mirai didn't say, as she merged into the main road and the signal clicked off. A huge truck snuck up behind them, then overtook their car. Mirai was trying not to sass Evan, because he was giving her driving lessons for free after all. Using his own car, too. It was going to be ages before Mirai got her own non-shitty car, and another millennium before she was allowed to drive it, probably.
Driving was kind of fun in that abstract way, if only Mirai could stop getting distracted - the road would be clear and you always thought you were free to go, and then, bam! There was another vehicle on the road. How dare these drivers, right? How dare they.
Shops and roads and traffic lights swam past Mirai in the opposite direction as she went at the dizzying speed of thirty miles an hour. That was really fast for her.
"Slow down," Evan said, and Mirai did, although she didn't understand why. She thought she'd been doing good. "Slow down!" and Mirai increased her deceleration, fuming all the while.
Evan rolled down the window. "Look," he said, barely-repressed irritation creeping into his voice. "You're not parallel to the curb, and you're too far away from it! Can you see?"
Mirai didn't bother to look. Eyes on the road, right? She was being a responsible driver here. It wasn't that engaging with Evan right now would make her want to gouge his eyeballs out, or anything. She already wanted to anyway.
"Don't talk, I'm checking my blind spot," she chirped, even though she wasn't planning to turn left any time soon. It was fun to play at being dumb, especially since Mirai didn't get that chance very often. She turned around to check - and without noticing it she'd switched lanes, and Evan yelped.
"Jesus, Mirai!"
"I'm not Christian," Mirai murmured, a reflex. Oops - too much? She didn't want Evan to stop giving her lessons, after all. She glanced in the rearview mirror, to find that Evan had turned a gratifying shade of purple.
"Pull over," Evan said, jogging his right leg nervously. "Pull over now."
Mirai did, even though it was a double white line at the side of the road. So now they were breaking the law, too. Great. They sat in sulky silence for a while, before Mirai couldn't stand it any longer. "That was okay, right?"
"Are you kidding me? That was a disaster!" Evan covered his face with his hands and said, "I think we need a new strategy."
Okay, Mirai thought. Personally she thought she'd been doing fine for a beginner. Caroline had a license already, and every time Mirai rode in her car she threatened to rip it up. Some people should just never be allowed on the road. She forgot every time, though. Having a best friend who could drive was really convenient.
"You're gripping the wheel too tight," Evan said. "See? You need better control."
Mirai resisted asking how she was supposed to achieve the both of them at the same time, and Evan didn't explain. She just nodded. "Cool," she said. "Now can we go again?"
"But I don't think you're so good at turning yet," Evan said, and Mirai struggled to reign in her impatience. How was she going to get better at driving if she never did it?
"I can't just go straight all the time," Mirai pointed out, though the idea definitely appealed to her. The best thing about California was its big open roads. Driving cross-country, friends who weren't Evan in the backseat, a good mix CD to sing along to, baby there's a shark in the water...
Her parents were so never going to let her.
"Just go straight first," Evan said. "Then when you can't any more, turn left and go back very slowly, okay?"
"O-kay," Mirai said in the same condescending tone he'd used, but Evan didn't seem to notice. He refastened his seatbelt and made a gesture for her to start driving again.
Mirai tried not to grin as she released the handbrake. He'd never know what hit him.