After Wrenching Comes Testing, and After Testing Comes Elation
After Wrenching Comes Testing, and After Testing Comes Elation
Author: Tacit_Hooligan
Rating: PG
Characters/Couples: Ashley and H
Warnings: Purists Should Be Advised That Lowering Links Have Been Applied
Disclaimer: No ownership, no profit.
Summary: Sometimes, it all comes together.
Word Count: 481
She swung her leg up, stepped over and settled herself down onto the thing, marveling at the difference an inch here and there could make.
‘Perfect,’ she thought, getting comfortable amid soft creaks from the leather, and then making herself at home with an admittedly self-indulgent little wiggle that provoked a nervous titter from Henry behind her.
She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder and frowned, long, blonde hair drifting down over her chest with the motion.
“Hey! This is a supremely personal moment here, dude. Y’wanna squelch the editorial giggles until I finish, at least?”
His eyes widened as if he’d just figured out that laughing might not be taken as a compliment at this point, but he nodded vigorously then, too, so Ashley crossed ‘smack Henry into next week’ off her mental to-do list, and turned around again.
‘Oh, God - this is perfect,’ she told herself, with a little sigh, rocking a bit to feel her balance. ‘I could get lost in this and never come back. Not even want to come back. So perfect…’
She reached down with one hand, the black leather of her glove reflecting a sleek sheen of light as she stretched out her finger… and pressed the button.
Immediately, it spun up and caught, like the marvel of Japanese engineering it actually was, and Ashley checked the tach, luxuriating in the soft vibration of the CBR’s in-line four like a promise - seductive, demure, calm, ferocious, zanshin and mushin at the same time - everything and anything, all at once, as it idled under her. All she had to do was ask, all she’d ever need to do would be to ask…
She blipped the throttle, barely more than a twitch, and the tach climbed with the rpm’s. The engine’s vibration smoothed, even in those few hundred rpm’s, and the exhaust note began to echo back from the gray concrete of the garage walls, offering a coy little hint at the keening wail that was going to underscore it at speed.
It was actually difficult to pull her helmet on over her cheeks while she was grinning so hard.
“I’ll be back in a couple hours, Henry!” she yelled and flipped the visor of her helmet down and locked it so she could pretend not to hear him squawking as she put the CBR into motion for the very first time.
She saw Henry running after her in the left mirror, waving like windmill and yelling something, but with the echo in the garage tunnel up to the exit ramp she truly couldn’t make out a word he said.
And then she was out of the cold shadows of the underground ramp into the brilliant spring sunshine on the access ramp with the breeze of her own passage around her like a caress, and there was no reason to look back.
Elation.
Author: Tacit_Hooligan
Rating: PG
Characters/Couples: Ashley and H
Warnings: Purists Should Be Advised That Lowering Links Have Been Applied
Disclaimer: No ownership, no profit.
Summary: Sometimes, it all comes together.
Word Count: 481
She swung her leg up, stepped over and settled herself down onto the thing, marveling at the difference an inch here and there could make.
‘Perfect,’ she thought, getting comfortable amid soft creaks from the leather, and then making herself at home with an admittedly self-indulgent little wiggle that provoked a nervous titter from Henry behind her.
She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder and frowned, long, blonde hair drifting down over her chest with the motion.
“Hey! This is a supremely personal moment here, dude. Y’wanna squelch the editorial giggles until I finish, at least?”
His eyes widened as if he’d just figured out that laughing might not be taken as a compliment at this point, but he nodded vigorously then, too, so Ashley crossed ‘smack Henry into next week’ off her mental to-do list, and turned around again.
‘Oh, God - this is perfect,’ she told herself, with a little sigh, rocking a bit to feel her balance. ‘I could get lost in this and never come back. Not even want to come back. So perfect…’
She reached down with one hand, the black leather of her glove reflecting a sleek sheen of light as she stretched out her finger… and pressed the button.
Immediately, it spun up and caught, like the marvel of Japanese engineering it actually was, and Ashley checked the tach, luxuriating in the soft vibration of the CBR’s in-line four like a promise - seductive, demure, calm, ferocious, zanshin and mushin at the same time - everything and anything, all at once, as it idled under her. All she had to do was ask, all she’d ever need to do would be to ask…
She blipped the throttle, barely more than a twitch, and the tach climbed with the rpm’s. The engine’s vibration smoothed, even in those few hundred rpm’s, and the exhaust note began to echo back from the gray concrete of the garage walls, offering a coy little hint at the keening wail that was going to underscore it at speed.
It was actually difficult to pull her helmet on over her cheeks while she was grinning so hard.
“I’ll be back in a couple hours, Henry!” she yelled and flipped the visor of her helmet down and locked it so she could pretend not to hear him squawking as she put the CBR into motion for the very first time.
She saw Henry running after her in the left mirror, waving like windmill and yelling something, but with the echo in the garage tunnel up to the exit ramp she truly couldn’t make out a word he said.
And then she was out of the cold shadows of the underground ramp into the brilliant spring sunshine on the access ramp with the breeze of her own passage around her like a caress, and there was no reason to look back.
Elation.