RP: Drink to a Stranger, Drink to a Friend

[stephenross]

Date: August 14, 2011
Characters: Stephen Ross, Harley Jordan
Location: La Luna Bar and Grill
Status: Private
Summary: Wandering around lost in his own life, Stephen finds a bar and a new acquaintance.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[harley_jordan]

Sunday wasn't much of a bar day usually, but Harley was in the mood. If she'd had her way she'd have done some drinking last night, but since she'd had to work this morning that would only have made the customers even harder to deal with. She went to her usual bar, not feeling up to bright and family-friendly right now. She'd had a low-level headache for what felt like days and was coming off her fourth ten-hour shift in a row

[stephenross]

"Is there another way to take that?" He laughed. "Anyway, I don't think I'd make a great teacher. I don't even like talking to more than one or two people at a time."

"Cars?" He perked up. It wasn't really a passion of his, but it was one of those topics that paid to know something about, so he did. And there was a soothing sameness to car repair. A dependability. "What kind do you work on?"

[harley_jordan]

"I'm just saying," Harley said, her laugh sneaking out of her.

"All kinds," she said. "I work at a garage, so it's whoever needs work done basically. I mean, you get a lot of pickup trucks around here, which is not my favorite thing, but most of them work the same way so that's kind of cool. Occasionally someone makes my week and brings in some muscle or a sports car." She'd noticed his eyes brighten a little. "Why, you into cars?"

[stephenross]

"Not into them exactly. But I do like to drive." He smiled encouragingly. "But I bet whatever you drive blows my Civic out of the water."

[harley_jordan]

"Yeah, it kinda does," Harley winked. "Civics are good cars, though. Well-made, Alpine stereos, real easy to customize." Honda parts were really easy to come by, but they were quality; as she remembered, taking one apart could bring in a lot of money if you knew a good fence. "I bet I could outfit it so it's almost as fast as my Trans Am. You'd have a sweet little ride on your hands."

[stephenross]

"Huh. I thought I'd done good just replacing the radio." He admitted. "And I only did that because it only had a tape deck."

He tried to imagine souping up the trusty gray car that had carried him everywhere.

"I'm not sure it'd be worth the effort honesty."

[harley_jordan]

"Might be. Depends how old it is and if it's in good shape. And actually, Civics looked better before Honda did the body changes on their line. They were sleeker and lower to the ground. But yeah, all you'd need is a spoiler, new steering wheel, side skirts and a dual exhaust. Some nice wheels." She shook her head and sipped again. "Sorry. I could probably talk about cars all day. But ever seen Fast and the Furious? Those little black cars weaving in and out from under that Mack Truck, those were Civics. One of my formative movies."

[stephenross]

"I did see it." He remembered it though not sharply. There had definitely been a lot of cars. "I'll take your word for it. I don't really have the cash to do anything right now anyway. So what do you drive then?"

[harley_jordan]

"Well, I work at Reen's on 8th. Call me when you do," she said with a grin. She didn't get a chance to do much custom work apart from her own car. Most of it was repairs and maintenance at Reen's, but when she opened her own garage, she wanted to do more of it. "'76 Pontiac Trans Am. I pretty much rebuilt her from junk."

[stephenross]

"Oh yeah?" He grinned. "Do you keep a picture in your wallet?"

He was only half joking. A few of his friends were certainly more likely to have pictures of their cars than their girlfriends.

[harley_jordan]

"Matter of fact," she said with a laugh, pulling her phone out of her pocket and flipping through her photos. She landed on her most recent picture of her car and turned the screen so Stephen could see. "Don't exactly have a snapshot, but what else is a cell phone good for, right?" She didn't know if she'd ever have kids, but she doted enough on her car as it was.

[stephenross]

He took the phone and whistled low.

"Ok, that's a pretty hot piece of machinery." He handed the phone back, mock solemn like a mother clucking over someone elses' baby. "You must be very proud."

[harley_jordan]

"I know, right?" She chuckled at his solemn manner and tucked her phone away again. "Yeah, well you know. Blood, sweat, tears, all that. It's a big deal."

She glanced at him. "Maybe you'll figure out whatever makes you feel like that."

[stephenross]

"I'd like that." He finished off his second drink with more care. "I can't remember ever feeling passionate about anything like that. I always thought I would find something if I tried enough stuff, but it so far...not so much."

[harley_jordan]

"I figure everyone's got something," she said with a little shrug as she tipped back the last of her drink. "Just don't worry about it so much, it'll happen. You got so much angst for a guy who seems to have so much going for him."

[stephenross]

"Angst?" He blinked into his cup. "Yeah. I guess. I don't know. Honestly, you're the first person I've said any of this too."