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Summary: Chezlie finds Theo while looking for a tool. Talk about grand theft auto and dates comes up.
Date: May 26, 2010.
Log Title Sense and Sensibility
Rating: G
Xavier Mansion - Garage
Home to various cars of teachers and X-men, the garage can house at least twenty vehicles. There is also an area that has a auto body shop set up so students and teachers and work on their cars. Almost any tool a mechanic needs can be found in this garage.
Theo's put on some muscle in the last while. Between covert trips to the gym at night so nobody can see that he lifts like a wuss, and constant Danger Room training, he actually has a little bit of a build now. He's still kinda scrawny compared to most, though. He actually has been going no shirt at all in the garage though, since he seems to be working on a particularly messy pet project lately. He stands at the workbench, wrench in hand as he struggles to successfully place a bolt on…something.
It has three legs, but looks like it is lacking one. There is grease all over, including all over Theo, which might be why he opted to leave his shirt over a stool in the corner. More than that, though, there seems to be cuts all along his arms and shoulders, unlikely to be caused by what he is doing now. They aren't fresh, but they look like they were deep.
Chezlie has never had any issues with working out in the day time, but much of this could be caused by her strict running regiment; she's not much for lifting weights. She's still maintaining her runners physique; lithe and wiry. Her shirt is worn though, not being one to walk around the institute looking indecent. It'd probably just cause tons of gawks and disciplinary action. She's dressed in her usual fit-like-a-glove gray t-shirt and suede moccasins. One differences in her attire is a pair of old suit pants, black with thin white pin-strips cut into shorts that reach about mid-thigh; it is summer after all.
So into the garage she wanders, looking for some sort of little screwdriver that might be useful to pop open the back of her banjo. "Hey Theo." She says after passing through the door, easily spotting the other teen. The cuts on his arms are immediately apparent. "What happened to your arms?" She fires off quickly, though she's probably not one to be nosey with a rather nice looking shiner covering her left eye.
Theo glances up, and seems a little caught off guard by Chezlie's entrance. He abandons his project for the moment, and walks over to pick up a grease rag. He glances at his arms, and then back at Chezlie's face. "I should ask the same thing about your eye," he says, wiping the dark grease off of his chest, a little self-consciously.
"This?" Chezlie asks while a single finger is lifted up to point at the shiner in question. "Oh, it's nothing really. Just a little Danger room mishap you could say…" She pauses to chew on it for a couple seconds, arms crossing lightly over her chest. "…though to be honest, it wasn't really my fault this happened. Botched team mate move." Satisfied with her addendum, her focus falls back onto Theo's arms. "I told you about mine, so what about yours?"
Theo wipes down his arms, and moves back to the stool where his shirt has been stowed. He picks it up, and puts it on, covering some of the scratches. It's a moment before he answers, as if he is considering what to say. "Fell in a thorn bush," he decides. "Out back in the woods behind the school." The scratches, however, seem to be rather uniform, all moving in the same horizontal pattern.
"That bush must have been something, to have such uniformly patterned thorns like that." Chezlie is obviously not buying into the story. If there's one thing that has definitely grown since her arrival to the institute, it's her confidence. The old Chezlie would have just gone along. "What? You covering up for someone else? Afraid if you tell they'll find out?" Ok, maybe she's passing into jerk mode this very moment.
Theo's jaw becomes set. "It's not like that," he says, and glances up to the camera. He reaches out with his hand toward it, and then places it back down. Apparently doing something to the camera. "I'm not afraid of anybody here," he tells her. "But it's my business, okay?" he suggests. He clearly doesn't want to tell the real story, but why he hides it remains a mystery. The injuries are clearly not ones that were life threatening.
Chezlie only shakes her head in disappointment, her normal smile having turned a complete 180. "Oh no? What's it like then? Was it something playful that just got a little out of hand?" She shrugs, letting her feet take her over towards the racks of tools. "Whatever…" The word falls flat as her attention remains fully focused on finding the exact instrument she came looking for. As she slowly scans the mass amount of tools, her left foot slowly rises and falls creating a soft 'tap, tap' sound.
Theo takes a deep breath. "Why do you care anyway?" he challenges, trying to maintain his temper. He enjoys Chezlie's company, and would like to maintain that if possible. "What am I to you?" he asks. He actually does hope to get an answer, though he would rather pose as if he doesn't care.
"A friend?" Chezlie quips back, not taking her eyes off the tools hanging on the wall on display. "But I guess that doesn't quite mean what it did back home here." There's an obvious tone of disappointment, like maybe she really believes this fact. It's hard to tell if she's being completely serious or perhaps posturing in an effort to pry what happened to Theo's arms out.
Theo hasn't been familiar with the term 'friend' lately. "If I tell you," he says, "You have to promise not to tell another soul in this school," he tells her. He walks up beside her, looking at the tools as well, even though he's not searching for one. "I mean, don't tell anyone." He turns his head to look at Chezlie.
Chezlie's head swivels in Theo's direction, her expression turning quite serious. "I promise I won't say say a word… but I can't promise I won't beat the crap out of who was the cause for other reasons." The last couple words cause a brief half smile to make an appearance, though it disappears as the little teen turns to face the tools once again. She even reaches up for one with hesitation, though withdraws her hand before it's even close to being touched.
"I had a talk with Magneto," Theo says, dropping the bombshell secret. "He thinks he can use me in some crazy war against humanity, and was trying to prove a point." He laughs half-heartedly. "Still wanna go beat the crap out of him?" he asks. "And don't worry, I don't plan on joining his crazy Alzheimer's quest. I just wanted to know what he was all about. Now I know he's all about crazy," he arches his brow as he concludes.
He looks at the tools. "What are you looking for?" he asks, trying to move the conversation forward, not wishing to dwell on it.
If Theo could have picked the perfect person to tell this information too, then Chezlie would probably actually be the one. She grew up under a rock in southern Utah, so has not much of an inkling to what the man known as Magneto is all about. Sure, she's caught the majority of the other students reactions when he's mentioned, but her only run in with him actually saved her and Kael's lives. "Oh, that's who? He saved my life once… well, not mine, but Kael's. My shoulder was shattered and he helped fix that."
She smiles, looking back over at Theo as her left hand moves up to mimic pulling a zipper across her lips. "My lips are sealed." Then it's back to the tools hanging on the wall. "I need a really small hex key, though it's not really a hex key. Should be in shape of square. Used to pull the head off my banjo."
Theo smiles, and looks back to the camera. He concentrates on it for a moment, unpausing it's ability. And here, he was worried. "Sounds like a robertson or a square drive, but do you know what size?" he asks. "You play the banjo?" he adds, walking over to a drawer. He pulls it out, and sifts around amongst the miscellaneous tools found within.
"Hmmm… not really. I think it's the same as what can be found on a drum set." As soon as Chezlie says this, she realizes the best place to have gone would probably have been the music room. Good chance a drum key would have been found there. "Not sure exactly what size that is." She bites down into her bottom, holding her teeth just long enough to leave fast fading indention's when released. "Yep, sure do. It was about one of the only instruments I could get my father to let me play. Guess banjo's don't have that 'devil music' quality that electric instruments apparently have."
"Oh," Theo answers, and closes the drawer. He walks back to Chezlie, and reaches out to gently place a hand on her back to indicate her to move, "Excuse me," he says with a grin, and reaching for the drawer in front of her. "I think I know what can do the trick for you."
He opens the drawer, and pulls out a device that doesn't look like a wrench at all. It has several posts that protrude from where the wrench part of the device should be, arranged together. He holds it up between his face and Chezlie's. "This, is a gator grip," he tells her. He pushes in on the arrangement of posts, and they sink inward. "It'll fit anything."
The little teen moves over to allow Theo the room near where he appears to know where a tool that should work can be found. "Of course." Chezlie response, watching as he begins to dig around in the drawer that was moments before right in front of her. Her eyes follow the tool that's held up, taking note as to how the other teen seems to be working it. "Cool, a one size fits all type deal. Should work perfect then. Thanks."
"No problem," Theo answers with a smile. He scratches his jaw, which leaves a streak of grease behind. "I think I'm almost ready to take a spin in one of these things, by the way," he tells her, nodding over at the shined up cars of Scott's. "You still wanna come with me when I do?" he asks. "Hot cars are no fun by yourself."
Peering over towards the row of cars, Chezlie begins to rub at the back of her neck. "Ummm… yeah, I suppose… Why not?" She turns back to Theo, lips split open into a toothy grin. "Breaking the rules alone is never fun." She glances back over at the vehicles. "Got any specifically in mind?"
Theo looks at an old Stin Ray. "I always did like vettes," he says. "Never got to drive one. Maybe we could have a night on the town in it," he says with a smile. Sounds like he's asking for a date. "I know a great place to eat down in the city."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chezlie shouts out while her hands are thrown up into the air. "Now there's a couple things we need to settle here before any discussion about what's going to be going down happens, ok?" There's a strange seriousness that's usually void in all of her conversations. "Now I gotta know…" She pauses, hands lowered back down at her sides, leaning just enough to get a look at the named car. "…am I going to get a shot at driving it too?"
Theo laughs. He follows her over to the car casually, looking inside next to her. "Are you a safe driver?" he teases. He points at the shifting mechanism. "And can you drive a stick?" he asks. "If not, then I can teach you," he offers. So yes, she'll get a chance to drive. "But we just better make sure we don't ding it, or he'll kill us." He crosses his arms in front of his chest, waiting to hear if she approves.
Following behind him, Chezlie stops right as they near the Sting Ray. Her hands are placed open palmed across her thighs as she bends forward to also get a better look at the inside. "Safe driver? Maybe." She pauses, moving her jaw around in a chewing motion. "Never driven before." Standing up straight, she crosses both arms facing Theo. "I don't even have a license." Her grin can only be described as shit-eating.
Theo's smile broadens. "Oh," he says, "Well then, maybe we should stay around Westchester," he suggests. "New York City driving might not be your thing, yet." He looks back to the camera. "I don't have a license either," he says, "But that hasn't stopped me. We just gotta make sure to follow the rules of the road, because if the cops pick us up for anything," he says, drawing his finger across his neck to mime decapitation. "Scott just might leave us in jail for a few days before getting us." He has no delusions of how angry the headmaster would be. He still wants to try it.
Chezlie nods, her head shaking back in forth real solemn like. "Those couple days jail time would probably be the best days in our near future, should we get caught with one of these cars." She places both hands across her hips, curling her tongue out to lick at the bottom flesh of her mouth. "So getting caught is probably not an option. I could see expulsion being the response." With this idea of being expelled from the school rolling around inside her skull, a joy ride in any of the cars not sounding quite as appealing as before. "So maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea. I mean, what's the chances we're not going to get caught? It's not like either of us look old enough for a cop to have no thoughts that we wouldn't have a license."
Theo grins, "What's wrong, scared?" the technopath teases. "I'm being really careful to know that we aren't going to get caught by the school. So all we gotta do is not be stupid when we're out there, and we should be fine. But if you really don't wanna, then I'd still be happy to go out on the town in the city bus. That's the most stylin' ride around, you know." He shrugs, still wanting to push for the car, but the date is the higher priority in his mind.
"Scared?" She echo's back, her eyes narrowing in on the other teen as she feigns disgust. "I'd rather call it not being stupid." The act is dropped as fast as the laughter begins to pour out. "It's one of those situations were we just don't have control over what happens around us, right? I mean, we could drive perfectly around town, but end up getting clipped by some other moron on the road." The answer to the date has momentarily been left to hang.
Theo shrugs, "Well, I guess," he says. He still wants to do it, and that's clear in his tone. It's the thrill of doing it that gets him, not actually the car itself. "You know, I can get my license in two months, maybe then we'll convince somebody to loan us their car, but until then, we can stick to the bus." He lets the question hang still with his own last comment, he's waiting for an answer.
