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[vampires: los muertos] derek bliss

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Who: Derek (

i_speak_softly)
What: Building things with engines!
When: Now
Where: Battledome room
Summary: Derek and Don decide to check out what Don's been making and then possibly build more stuff.
Rating: G, maybe PG if Derek finds a reason to use a four letter word.
V8 verses NOS....it never ends...

One of the easiest ways to get Derek to spend time with someone is to present something he can really sink his teeth into.

Cars? That's an easy one. The hunter tended to use fixing cars as a side employment when the vampire population is taking a break back home. Fast cars? Even better since he'd been into that sort of thing since he was little more than a kid.

Checking them out with another mechanic so that they can talk shop and test out whatever gets done to the vehicles? Heaven.

So it's on this early morning Thursday that Derek is waiting at one of the battledome rooms, not to do his usual training, but for Don to get there so that that can mess with...stuff.

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Don timed his morning run to end at the Battle Dome at the hour he and Derek planned on, so he shows up a few minutes later looking highly satisfied with his place in the world.

"Hey. Ready to get some simulated grease on your hands?"

Derek will push himself up from the wall he'd been leaning on when Don approaches. There's still that part of him boggling a bit over the whole 'that's a turtle' thing, but it's been pushed to the back and ignored until it can be properly put in its place as a non-issue. As it is, he'll give the guy a gentle clap on the back of the shell when they get close enough; a sign of comradery.

"Hey, man. And yeah, I'm ready. Didn't start anything up yet; wasn't sure if you wanted to use something already loaded or start new. How's the morning going?"

Don pauses a moment at this - was Derek always that good at shell-clapping, or has he retained some shard of physical memory from his previous visits to Luceti? - but he shakes his head and recovers.

"Pretty good. Mostly I keep the cars in my garage simulation, but we can import them somewhere else if you want."

Clapping of any sort has always been an instinct Derek possesses. But he wouldn't know to tell Don that.

"Up to you. If you don't mind me touching your tools, I'm good with whatever you already have set up."

Because you should never, ever touch a mechanic's tools without their permission.

Don spent a large part of his life waiting to meet someone who understood that, and it's one of the many reasons he likes Derek.

"It's all virtual. And I trust you."

He leans over the console, fires up his garage, and gestures Derek to the door.

Derek will make his way into the room, already looking around to see what materializes out of the ether. It's been a while, even back home, since he'd spent time in a workroom or garage, and he'd always been interested in other peoples work spaces as well. Some of the things you could learn just by looking...

He'll claim the first stool that materializes while he waits for the whole thing to load and for Don to join him.

One thing Derek will quickly learn is that Don never bothered to program any stools. There are some low carts for rolling yourself under a chassis, and you're welcome to park your butt on the hood of any of the gleaming vehicles reading themselves into existence, but those are pretty much the only choices for seating. This workspace is for mechanics, not spectators.

"This is the one Pascal and I were working on," Don says, pointing out a car as he follows Derek into the room. "The helicopters are down that way."

Derek will have to change that. You may be a teenager, son, but Derek is an old fart and needs his stool. Have mercy on the elderly. That, and he doesn't want to be marring up any paint jobs by putting his denim covered butt on them. Part of the appeal is having a perfect glossy coat on it.

Derek will make his way to the car Don points out, already giving it a critical eye. He won't pop the hood--it's not his to pop, but he will check out the exterior.

The exterior of the car is sleek and shiny but also subtly wrong, possibly giving away the fact that real-world parameters don't apply to this particular code module. It's a little bigger on the inside than the outside. The engine generates more power than is physically possible. And the ride, were you to take it for a spin, would be smoother than the laws of friction normally allow.

Don knows all this already, so he casually reaches into the car to pop said hood. You are more than welcome to look, Derek.

And look he does, noting the engine set up, the subtle differences between what he's seen in reality and what the simulation has allowed. It's clean work, good theory crunching, and it makes him wish he could take it out on an actual course.

"How would you have solved the dimensional aspect if you really built this?"

"I would have sacrificed some head room and cargo space. And probably the grappling hook assembly, much as it pains me to admit it."

"If you needed the hook though, there would probably be another spot you can apply it to. Just have to be willing to try for some off angles. Just depends on what you really wanted this to focus on; speed and utility don't always have to conflict."

He leaves the hood up, but heads for the drivers door to open it and really give the inside a good inspection.

"What's the wiring like?"

"Pretty basic on this one. No room for a radar system."

"Not even a GPS?"

Yes, he knows what those are. When in doubt, spend time in the library...

Don spreads his hands.

"It's a simulation. I can't get lost."

"True."

He starts closing it up, careful not to slam anything.

"Pretty cool."

Don smiles - it's a rare friend that he trusts not only with himself, but with his stuff.

"Do you want to take any of them for a spin?"

Derek nods.

"Got a good old traditional V8 in here?"

He doesn't need anything fancy--just lots of power and speed.

"Right this way".

Don leads Derek down the row to a car that looks like it could have come from any dealership in America, if all American dealerships offered cars designed to be driven on roads that are long, straight, and devoid of other traffic.

"Where do you want to drive it? Desert? Scenic coastal road? Vaguely European racetrack?"

"Some California coastline would be great."

He's checking the car out. Nice. Clean lines. Beautiful.

Hopefully it looks something like this, because that would just make his day.

Sorry, Don's not an antique car kind of guy. He can provide the coastline, though.

"Coming right up."

Don summons the virtual keyboard, enters a command, and in a moment he and Derek are standing next to the car in a place that looks like this.

Ffff, 'antique'. Please. Classic, more like.

Derek will poke at the 2006 V8, lift it's lid, do all the picky little stat checks and find it acceptable.

"Let's go. Unless you want to grab your own?"

Edited 2013-05-04 13:19 (UTC)

"I'm good."

He can come here any time, after all. For now, he's content to let Derek do the driving.

"All right. Lets go for it, then."

He'll head for the driver's side door.

"You don't get sick easy, do you?"

Don can't help snorting unbecomingly.

"Derek, I'm a ninja."

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