[FIN] That's a Lott of Cars

[Grike]

After pocketing the thin bit of stone, Tesla moved to the car's antenna; putting her just in Abel's peripheral.

"First he says he won't pay for my bail and then he has the gall to ask for a lady's age." She huffed a teasing scoff. "I thought you country folk were supposed to be all gentlemanly." Amber eyes flick to the young man as she continues. "You know the whole point of your job is to get you off your feet for a bit yeah? You don't have to stand. Just chill out, put your feet up, count some stars. Take a nap even. Doesn't matter to me."

Metal squeaks softly as she starts unscrewing the car's antenna.

"Actually...to be honest I'm just enjoying the company. Kinda been on my own for a bit. Nice to have someone to talk to. Even if he is half dead on his feet."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He let out a breath of amusement. "First she asks me to play look out, then tells me to take a nap," the blond countered, turning it right back to her, and ignored the 'country gentleman' bit for the time being. "How can I keep a look out if I'm asleep? And I'm good right here," he assured her, and as if to confirm his point, he planted his feet more firmly where he stood. "Plus, if I sit down and relax for real I don't think I'll be getting up again until morning, and I'm not really too interested in sleeping in some parking lot tonight."

Well, he certainly couldn't fault her for wanting some company. He tilted his head back to gaze up at the stars as she suggested - at least for a moment or two. "I can't argue with that," he said, then paused. "Though you wound me - half dead on my feet? Excuse me, more like two-thirds. I'll be surprised if I make it past my couch tonight. Maybe not even the kitchen," he added with some amusement. "All joking aside though, I really can understand that. It's no good to be on your own too much. Gets too lonely too quickly. So, did you just move here or something?"  

[Grike]

"Never said you had to be a good lookout." Tesla countered easily enough. Dexterous fingers soon freed the antenna from it's mount. Twirling it like a batone, she adds. "And I was being generous. We did just meet after all. Be rude to say you look like somethin' coughed up by a sick muk."

She punctuates the jab with a small laugh; tone light and teasing. A whining undercurrent follows from the antenna as she begins to hook the head. Drawing it eye level, she measures her job against her pinky.

When Abel asks about her living situation, Tesla nods. "Yeah, kinda. Got a job offer here so I've been explorin' a bit you know? I'm originally from Johto if you couldn't tell." She knew her accent could get a little thick sometimes. There was always this little 'pop' to the way some Johtan's spoke; especially those from Goldenrod. "What about you? You a native?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel aimed a finger at her with his mouth open as if to speak, and remained that way for a few moments before withdrawing the finger so he could fold his arms loosely over his chest with a nod, "Point made." She hadn't, after all. "Well, now that I'm free to be the worst lookout in history," the blond said a touch dramatically as he laced his fingers together behind his head, though really he couldn't bring himself to completely ignore the situation. "Generous, huh? Well, now I'm offended," Abel said without sounding the least bit offended. It was actually refreshing, having playful banter with someone else. How long since he'd been able to do that?

"Ah, yeah, know how that is." He nodded, shifting his gaze back down and off towards the street to make sure no one was coming. "Exploring's good; and no, I couldn't tell. Me?" He paused a moment, casting a glance back at her. "Nah, I've only been here a couple years tops, maybe. Before this I lived in Unova for a couple years, and before that I was in Hoenn. Born and raised in Solaceon," he added after another moment or two. "Or around there, at any rate."  

[Grike]

Tesla quirked a brow when a finger was jabbed her way. What followed made her snicker. "Worst in history huh? Way to shoot for the stars." Her gaze traveled up on reflex. Though light pollution had dimmed the skies, she could still pick out a few stars here and there. It should have been comforting, being under the same skies as home, but Tesla suddenly found herself missing the diamond strewn blanket of the open sea.

Shaking the thought off, she finds a grin. "Oh dear me, have I offended my brave look out? However will I go on!" Smile becoming genuine once more, Tesla slips over to the driver's door. Her steps were surprisingly light; a cat's shadow passing on a dark night.

After leaning the antenna against the car, Tesla fishes out the flat bit of asphalt she pocketed earlier. Rising on her tip-toes, she then works on wedging the stone between the body of the car and the top of the driver's side door. It's delicate work and she's careful not to warp the fiberglass too obviously. If it came to that though it wouldn't be too hard to bend it back into place.

"Wow, so you've been all over huh?" Tesla says in response to Abel's later comment. "Never been out of Johto to be honest. I thought you were a farm boy? Why move so much?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That's me, always shooting for the stars," the blond said jokingly as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and tilted his head back again to gaze up at them. "Nah, I don't really mind. I don't care what anybody says, twelve hour shifts tend to make anyone look like crap after you work too many of them." Not that he hadn't asked for every single one of them, of course, but that was besides the point. At the moment, anyway.

He could barely hear her moving around; even the sounds of her working were quiet, though his fatigue prevented him from caring too much about whether she was just normally this quiet or if it came through some amount of practice breaking into cars. Remembering his job again, he glanced down to see if the Joltik had emerged yet or not. "Nah, no farm - just a ranch. We didn't grow crops or anything, just raised different kinds of pokemon. There were a few farms around in the area, though," the blond explained with a mild shrug. "As for why I moved so much..." That answer required a bit of thought before he offered, "Family drama, break-ups, job-related reasons... Take your pick, they've all been applicable at one time or another."  

[Grike]

Tesla snorted softly as she cracked the door just enough to slip the antenna inside. The soft tap, tap, tap of her work bubbled beneath her next words. "Sounds like you just read a short synopsis of my own life story. Except for the pokemon bit."

More tapping. She squints, pressing her face into the window. A far off street lamp provided just enough light to beat the gloom off the car's lock. Tongue peeking between the gap in her front teeth, Tesla tries to use the antenna's hooked end to catch the lock.

"I'm from Goldenrod myself. The aptly named city of rich dicks. So what kind of pokemon did you raise?"

A soft 'click' and the door unlocks. Tesla held her breath; instinctively moving to cover her ears.

Nothing.

Fighting a pleased grin; Tesla opens the door smoothly.

"Damn I'm good."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"What, farms? Twelve hour shifts?" His head rolled back a bit as he looked up at the stars again, wondering what part of what he'd said was a synopsis of her life. She'd just said she had been in Johto her whole life, so he assumed it wasn't the 'moving around' part. "Oh man, what did we have... Growlithe, Mareep, Miltank, some Tauros and Poochyena, and a few others; mostly Mareep and Miltank though. But, Goldenrod, huh? I've heard of it but I've never been to Johto. That's one of the bigger cities, isn't it?"

The soft click of the door pulled Abel's attention in that direction, and an amused grin spread across his face. "Humble, aren't you," he noted in teasing tones, but then added more seriously, "lucky there's no alarm on that thing though. I bet that would've gotten your Joltik out real quick though." And probably made the poor thing permanently deaf, too.  

[Grike]

Tesla nods. "Aye, it's pretty famous for its radio tower. Also houses the train station that connects Johto to Kanto." Opening the door fully, she slips inside.

Corn chips crackle under her hands and knees, adding a salty undertone to what already smelled like a cheap fast food joint. "Oh my Lugiaaaaa." Tesla whined as she slowly shimmied herself under the dash. "Dude, clean your car. There's like...enough french fries down here to feed all the homeless ever. And a pickle. A whole pickle, covered in mold and...how do you lose track of a whole pickle?! I mean honestly!"

Reaching for the antenna, Tesla starts sweeping out a clean spot. French fries, beer cans, chips, and scratched out lottery tickets of all shapes and sizes vomited onto the street behind her. Not exactly her stealthiest moment but a girl had to have her priorities.

Tesla was so busy with her spring cleaning she almost missed Abel's later comment. "Humility is for people who aren't awesome. And Luck has nothing to do with it. With a car like this, dude probably wants it stolen." Or maybe her Joltik was just the most bamf pokemon in the world. It appeared weeks of training had paid off and Lit finally figured out how to siphon off energy from the fuse connecting the car's alarm. It almost made her feel bad for this next bit but she had to keep up appearances.

Turning on her back, she lays down so she can start fussing with the steer column. Searching for a concealed clip, Tesla eventually manages to remove the plastic covering that sheltered the wiry intestines of the car.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Radio tower and train station, huh? Either they were really innovative or cool, or Goldenrod wasn't as impressive a city as he'd been led to believe. Her misfortune with the car's surprisingly dirty interior amused him, and what started as a chuckle or two slowly evolved into quiet laughter. "That's what you get for breaking into some dude's car," he said with a shrug, still laughing a bit. "But all joking aside, pickles are delicious and I don't understand how he could've lost a whole pickle." Seriously. He was a guy too, but that didn't mean his car was a total mess.

"First Ho-oh and now Lugia," the blond noted, suppressing another laugh as he heard various bits of food or wrappers tumble to the ground while Tes cleaned. "I prefer Azelf myself. And I don't know about that. Plenty of people are awesome but wouldn't admit it," he pointed out. He knew plenty of people like that.  

[Grike]

"Yeah but they don't know it. If they did they'd be shouting it to the heavens." Tesla said, voice slightly muffled now that she was in the car. Resting her legs atop the driver's seat with an ear brushing the breaks, she gets to work. Eventually she manages to find the wiring harness connector. It'd been a bit intimidating, the first time Tesla found herself with a fist full of wires and only a pinch of sense. Now she was an old hat, and easily found the wires that lead straight up to the steering column.

"You should give it a try. Just start screaming how cool you think you are and how you are too awesome to waste a whole pickle. It's pretty therapeutic." At the mention of her word choice, Tesla snorts. "Ho-ho and Lugia are waaaay cooler than Azelf."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah, probably," the blond said as he lifted a hand to scratch an itch under his chin. Damn stubble... Maybe he'd shave when he got home. ...or maybe he'd pass out on the way to bed and just worry about it in the morning. That sounded better.

Hm? Oh. "Scream about it, huh? I don't think I'll be screaming about how I'm too cool to lose a pickle. You can do the honors," he suggested with a wry grin - not that she'd be able to see it, of course, from the interior of the car. "Man, I dunno about that. If we're talking from a mythology standpoint, Azelf is so much cooler. Ho-oh and Lugia just fly around and stuff, though Lugia's got the better job leading other legendary birds," he said while stretching his arms above his head and bending back a little, hoping the movements would help wake him up some. He was starting to feel pretty sleepy - or more than he had before, anyway - just standing there.  

[Grike]

Holding a pair of wires in her hands, Tesla grins slyly.

"Alrighty then." A deep breath and wires spark between nimble fingers. "MY NAME IS TES AND I'M FUC-" The rest was lost when the engine snarled to life. A shiver curled along the metal frame, the car's now beating heart pounding in her ears. Outside the headlights flashed, a startled Joltik riding the beams straight into Abel's hair.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A soft breath of a laugh escaped him at her words, interrupted as they were by the sudden roar of the engine as she succeeded in starting it. What startled him most, however, was the feeling of something tiny scuttling up his side and into his hair, and it took him a moment to remember just why she'd broken into and started the car in the first place. "There you are," the blond said to the Joltik he couldn't see - and briefly wondered if Tes would see it either, hiding in the midst of his similarly colored hair - then hummed lightly as he debated whether he should try to coax it down onto his hand or something. "Don't get lost up there; I think Tes would be upset with me if you did."  

[Grike]

Blue eyes blinked when a low rumble shook it's newfound nest. Still fresh from the wild, she fussed nervously with a blond curl; not yet recognizing the strange yet somehow familiar sounds. It's static held a note of familiarity however. Her cluster mate, something that rang sharp and bright against the lax, rolling vibrations of the creature beneathe her.

Hesitantly, the Joltik let out a few sparks in greeting, trying to convey to the large yellow haired two legged that she was a friend and to please not eat her.

Meanwhile, Tesla unwound herself from the driver's seat and slipped out of the car. "You get her?"