And Then I Feel Alright. ((Okaaaaaami))

[Anonymous]

Tapping her heavy boot on the floor Makani sighed. Her foot was tapping sort of impatient and sort of to the music. She was sitting at one of the booths in Gravitation, cigarette smoke was curling around her head creating a fog around her slowly. Her chin was in her hands, her elbows on the table. She looked utterly an completely bored. It was early in the night, she could have been at catching up on sleep instead of waiting on Garrett.

Garrett seemed to always be late everywhere he had to go. She swore to some people it was because he slept all a lot, to others she said it was because he never replaced his clocks. Really? It was because he as stoned so much of the time that he liked to not observe time or what it meant. The guy was lucky he could nurture a plant like nobody's business or he would be out of business. Normally he didn't make Makani wait, she wondered what was keeping him.

She lifted her chin off of her hands and started to stir the straw around in her drink. Someone at the bar had sent it to her and she was in so foul a mood she didn't even investigate who it had been. Normally that would be at the top of her list right off, anyone who bought Maki the right drink normally got Maki attention. All she wanted tonight though was to fix this horrible moo she was in.

She needed her fix. It had been a less than brilliant work week. No race this week either. Molly had been sick. Poor thing, though Makani sort of hated her for making her loose her adrenaline jump for the week. No race meant she took some extra work hours, which meant a longer time serving people, bowing for them, getting what they wanted, getting weird looks, and she had to do most of it sober. Rupi had gotten a taste for Garrett's brand and now Makani could barely keep it in the house, always seemed to go up in smoke.

[Anonymous]

Garrett walked into Gravitation, smiling at at few people he knew, his sunglasses still on his face even though the place was almost completely dark. He spotted Makani and slid into the booth across from her. The dealer gave his most award winning smile.
"Sorry to be late for our date, I sort of....lost track of time."

By 'lost track of time' he of course meant that he had been product testing and was to stoned to realize that he was supposed to be at the bar an hour ago. There was no race this week so he had been spending most of his time nurturing his children and trying to make some extra money in places he wouldn't normally sell. Which has gotten him into a pinch with the law and made for a pretty bad week. But now that he was in the precense of Miss Makani, his week was starting to get better.

"So how are you tonight, Miss?"

[Anonymous]

Her bad mood started to float away as she saw Garrett walk into Gravitation. There was her boy, well one of them. She patted her phone waiting for him to get over to her. One surprising thing about Makani was how attached to her phone she was. It was her lifeline. It was all sorts of handy things like a calendar to make sure she didn't miss dates with her boys, or girls, and races. Her business meetings things like that. She was sure she would lose her mind without it.

She was about to suggest that Garrett get one, but when he got to the table he gave her that smile. The more that had reeled her in the first times she talked to him. It was a smile you could trust. Plus, he looked so damn blazed she just couldn't be mad, though it wouldn't stop her from pretending she was. When he was stoned he looked sleepy, and it was that sexy sort of sleepy, that warm sleepy look that just made you want to curl up with him.

"I'll be benevolent enough to forgive you." She straightened up leaning against the back of the booth, she slid her feet out of her slip on shoes and put her feet in his lap. It helped to have really long legs in so many situations. She held the cigarette between her fingers watching him closely, like she always did, searching for his reactions. She saw there was something under that sleepy sexy look.

"I'm much better now that my date is here. I was very worried you were actually going to stand me up Garrett." She pointed at him with the hand holding the cigarette. Her expression softened though. "How was your week?"

[Anonymous]

Garrett's hands slid under the table and rested on Makani's bare ankles and he feigned shock.

" I could never ever stand up my Mechanical Goddess! Especially after she's had such a terrible week. I just had to dull my own pain from my week before I was fit to come see you."

He slid up against he booth, just enough to pull up his shirt and show her his chest. His skin was extremely scarred, the burns actually went over his shoulders and arms as well. And even they still hurt like they were brand new they looked like he had had them for years.

Garrett pulled his shirt back down and put his hands back on her ankles. The mage smiled lopsidedly at her and began to rub her ankles. He always liked touching her no matter where it was, and he always tried to touch her as little as possible. He really liked Makani, probably to much, but she wasn't the type to settle down and stay with him for any length of time and try to have something together.

But that didn't stop him from wanting to be friends with her, or be around her.

"As for the rest of my week I had time to cook up a little something that with definatly make your week much better, your Majesty."

[Anonymous]

Mmmm.

The serpent didn't show it on her face but warmth crawled around her ankles where his hands touched them. She tried to keep her distance from Garrett, to try and not hurt him. Not eat him all up, but he made it so damn tempting with that puppy routine. It was almost impossible for her to ignore. Plus, Makani was never one to say no...to almost anything. She'd rather try everything once and see what disaster she could cause in the process. Garrett made it hard for her not to do those things.

A breath left her throat tightly when he lifted his shirt, and this time for a very different reason.

"Oh baby." She bit her lip imagining what the pain could have been like. She didn't know how he dealt with it or volunteered to do it. He was a much nicer person than she could ever pretend to be. She wanted to reach out to him but couldn't really reach him, and moving her feet in their current position would just cause problems for both of them.

"I suppose I can forgive you this one time...and because that feels really fucking good." Her head tilted back and she lifted the cigarette to her lips as her rubbed her ankles. Her feet always hurt from racing and being a waitress her ankles were always under constant work. She gave a sort of purring hissing noise as she let out some smoke. Then she perked up lifting her head to look at him.

"Oh really Garrett?" A raise of her brow. "Tell me more."

[Anonymous]

Garrett gave a small as Makani looked at his scarred chest. Well at least she cared about him enough to feel bad for him. He squeezed her ankles lightly and leaned forward a bit, so he could talk a little quieter. The medic's sunglasses slid down his nose slightly, showing just the barest glance of purple eyes.

"All I can tell you is that I worked very hard for you on this batch. Other then that, I would have to kill you." He leaned back into the booth and smirked again. "And of course I can't really just give it to you here."

Garrett slid her feet from his lap and folded his hands as he set them on the table. He tilted his head slightly and smiled widely at Makani for a moment. That Mechanical Goddess of his. "In fact, I think it's so good, that we have to race for it. What do you say?"

[Anonymous]

She leaned forward as she did a grin spreading across her face and her canines sticking out over her lip. When Garrett worked hard, he worked it. He had the mediocre shit when he had started like any other dealer you meet. The whole Behind the Kettle story they all tell. He had only gotten better with time and practice. Then from better...it had gotten pretty damn amazing. Makani was spoiled and she was way fucking aware of it.

And she loved it.

She met his purple eyes and slid back into the booth as he leaned away from her. Sometimes she wish she could stomach being a bit more normal. Wanting the husband and kids, slowing down to pace through life instead of racing through it. Maybe Garrett wouldn't be in such bad hands then. She could actually think about how he made her feel, if he made her feel at all. She wasn't even sure half the time anymore what was serious and what were her games.

Except, all that? It sounded like crossword puzzles, like suit and ties, like military, like every other god damn easy going person in the world. It sounded fucking boring. It sounded like she'd have to kill for amusement and if it came to that it might be someone she actually cared about. Which wouldn't do at all, she'd have to stay in her exciting life that moved quickly never slowing down. She liked it better that way.

"You," she pointed at him, just barely keeping the smile off of her face. "want to race with me?" She pointed at herself a little bit of laughter bubbling over. She knew he was trying to be competitive with her, he had no prayer. Still though something in her made her want to go. 'Oh you think so you little bitch?' Even though Garrett was the last person who deserved it. She put a hand over his and controlled her mouth.

"I'd love to Boss. Where's the finish line?"

[Anonymous]

Garrett smirked widely at Makani as she tried, tried and failed horribly, to hide her giggle. He gave a lopsided grin.

"Girl, don't laugh at me. It's like you have no faith in my racing ability." His voice was playful, though it hurt his feelings just a bit that she didn't think he could beat her. Of course, there wasn't anyway he would win. Mak was born to race, Garrett was born to smoke. He knew it, she knew it, and everyone in the Motorail community knew it. But a little bit of faith wasn't much to ask for.

The mage leaned back in the booth, bringing his left hand to his chin as he looked off in faux-thought. Hell, she hadn't gotten her race fix for the week and if Garrett could give it to her, then damn it, he would. He just had to think of a way to make it a little more interesting for himself.

"I suppose the finish line could be your place, seeing as how mine looks like a bimb went off in it, and I couldn't possibly bring a lady of your caliber to such unworthy surroundings." He smirked again, loving that he could stroke her ego as well as give her a race.

Garrett ran his hand over his bright blonde hair, trying to make the mess a bit more orderly, but it didn't work. He tilted his head at Makani and leaned closer again.

"By the way, what do I get when I win?"

[Anonymous]

Like her place would be much better?!

Rupi was in it...a lot and therefore just about every room except the garage was disorderly. Makani just couldn't spare the time to clean. At least that's what she told herself. She was always too busy doing things far more entertaining that dusting and vacuuming. WAY more interesting. She couldn't even remember where the vacuum was in there house. She tried to think it out for a moment but found she was fighting a losing battle. She did have more room than him though.

She simply arched a brow as he asked her what he would win. A slow, slow smirk appeared on her face. She couldn't help but tease him, couldn't help but flirt. It was the automatic reaction right out of the gun. How could she resist it? Her hand slunk across the table and stopped before it got to him. Sliding like a snake. Her eyes were heavy lidded as she looked at him.

"Well we'll have to see how lucky you get." She stood up stretching one hip going higher than the other and some of her stomach showing. She hissed in pleasure and then situated her shirt, slowly. She looked down at him and started to turn on her heel. "One....two....three ..." She took off out the door in the blink of an eye. She grinned back over her shoulder when she got to the bike waiting for a little while to see if he would catch up.

[Anonymous]

Mmmmm, Maki belly. Garrett stared openly as Makani streched seductivly in front of him. Damn woman, she always had to be the biggest tease in the world. Sometimes Garrett was sure she wanted to punish him, though he wasn't sure what he had done to deserve such a severe punishment.

Her skin was, in his humble opinion, one of her best features. The pale against the ocasional green tint made her look like her skin was actually glowing. So flawless. So touchable.

So....gone.

He had blinked and the Motorail Princess had vanished. Damn it, like she needed a head start. Hell, HE could have gotten the head start and it still wouldn't make a difference. Did she really have to add insult to injury?

"You cheating snake-woman!" Garrett slid out of the booth, but didn't bother to race out the door. If she really wanted to start without him, there was no reason to hurry.

[Anonymous]

Makani sighed angrily as she waited for him. He was supposed to be chasing her. How frustrating. She leaned against Serpentine carefully pretending to clean her nails as she waited. After a couple seconds she grew tired of that as well. What a party pooper Garrett was. She pouted slightly as she waited for him. She could have smoked a whole other cigarette by now. Speaking of...

She took out a cigarette, lit it and started smoking. She smiled to herself as she waited for him. It felt nice to spend time with Garrett. He really was one of her favorite people. She inhaled slowly and tried to hold onto the happy feeling but naturally it went into more questions about how she couldn't be with him. She inhaled again then exhaled slowly. She needed to numb again and soon. Waiting for him was having her mind take darker turns.

[Anonymous]

Garrett strolled out a minute or two later, smirking at Makani.  "Still here, cheater-pants? I figured you would have ducked out already..." He could tell just by the way she was standing that she was aggrivated.

Uh-oh, pick-me-up time.

The Mage was starting to feel this injurys again and sighed a little as he rubbed the wounds on his stomach. He tilted his head deeply at her, he pushed his sunglasses up on his forehead. Purple eyes looked her over and Garrett took a step forward, Makani was one of the few people he didn't mind showing his eyes to.

"Hey Mak, before we go....I gotta ask you something..." He grinned again and moved closer to her, closing the distance between them, reaching his hand up to touch her cheek. He tried his best to come off in control, but underneath the calm, Garrett's stomach was jumping. It happened every time he touched her.

He took a deep breath and moved even closer to her, his other hand snaking around her back to rub the base of Makani's spine. Garrett pushed his body up against her, and licked his bottom lip. Their faces were only an inch apart and his hand moved to cup the side of her face.

"I gotta ask...."

A huge smile broke across Garrett's face as he pulled away from Mak, the hand on the side of her face producing a joint out of thin air.  "What the hell is this doing behind your ear?"  He chuckled a little as he placed it between her lips, then moved back to lean against his bike, Violet.

Tease me will you...take that.

[Anonymous]

Makani was about to unleash a bit of verbal tearing down for being so slow. However, Garrett got this look to him, his body language. That wasn't quite...normal for Garrett. She saw the cockyness of it and smiled to herself.

"Cheater me? I don't think that..." Then he was all up on her. His hand on her cheek and the other on her back. Warmth hit her hard. Makani's body always seemed to be ready to take off, to fly, just a touch was all it took, sometimes a whisper and she was ready to go. His body was against hers, his hand moving on her back. Which felt divine. She would have to get a back rub tonight after some smoke. That sounded...perfect.

"Ask me...what?" She grinned as she answered quietly. Then his hand went up to her hair and he pulled a joint out behind her ear. He pulled away from her and she felt disappointed. Not disappointed about the weed, but about the teasing. She thought it was more than just teasing. He put himself in a rather dangerous position. She smiled and put the joint into the cigarette pack in her pocket.

"We'll smoke it when we get there and you..." She trailed off walking over to him and placed a hand on his chest. She leaned in her hair brushing against his face as she moved to his ear.

"...Are in so much trouble darling. You won't even know where you've gotten to." She grinned her canines showing as she walked back over to Serpentine and climbed on. She did it rather slow and then stretched her arms up above her. The back of her shirt raised up to reveal a quick glimpse of skin and tattoo ink. Then she looked over her shoulder, blew him a kiss and kicked Serpentine into life.

Damn, a motorcycle between the legs feels good. Though I plan on something better later.

Garrett should have known better than to tempt her. She loved a challenge.

[Anonymous]

Her hand on his chest hurt, if she had pressed any harder he probably would have cried out, but for Makani, Garrett didn't really care if she shoved her fingers in his eyes he liked her touching him so much.

God he shouldn't have teased her, usually he could keep his hands to himself. He had to, for his own sanity. He might not be able to be with Makani, but he could go crazy if he didn't at least have her in his life somehow. He has seen all the guys she had flirted with, the ones she kept for a few nights and then chucked out. In his humble opinion none of them were actually good enough for her anyway. They wanted her because she was beautiful, or an amazing racer, or just to say they had her. Sometimes Garrett wasn't really sure if some of them had a choice.

Maki usually took what she wanted and had a way of making you seem like you did too. If he thought about it to hard, he was pretty sure he loved her....which was why he liked to be completely blazed out of his mind when he was around her.  Every once in a while when she thought he wasn't paying attention, he could swear she was looking at him like she wanted something more, the wheels grinding against each other in her brain even though she tried to stop them. But then she would catch his eye and the look would be gone. As much as he wanted to, Garrett couldn't let her get that close to his heart and know it.

'You won't even know where you've gotten to.'

For the love of God, that had not been a threat he needed. He cursed under his breath but smirked at Makani. "Oh I'm sure I would once I got there." The mage pushed his sunglasses back over his eyes and started Violet. "Alright my love, first one to the garage...."

He didn't finish his sentence as he took off down the road, Violet roaring while his coat flew out behind him. Oh, he knew she would catch up to him in no time, there was no way he would win, but at least he could pretend for about ten seconds like he had a chance.

[Anonymous]

She took a leisurely pace for a little while. She saw Garrett take off into the distance. The bike just felt so good underneath her, the wind in her hair. It was nice to be with someone she really knew. She didn't get much time with people sometimes. It was easier that way. She licked her lips and pushed the pedal down and zipped off around a corner taking a shortcut.

She leaned into the turn then righted herself zipping around some other vehicles. She turned down an alley spotting Garrett still a little bit ahead of her. Makani licked her lips again looking at him. She was thinking about letting him win. He had asked what he would get if he won, and thinking about what she could give him made her warm all over. She turned onto another street.

The snake decided she would let him win. She took the cycle down a speed and cut across a couple alleys to a scenic route. Makani was trying to remember whether or not Fi was supposed to be in tonight. If she was it wasn't like she'd join the party, she'd probably hide in her room. She pushed the bike a little harder for a second trying to leave the thoughts of Fi behind her. Once they got to the apartment those thoughts could fly away.

Makani arrived at the garage a few minutes after Garrett did. She clicked the button on her keys and the door went up. She shut off Serpentine feeling the rumble of the bike fade away. She slid off the bike and walked it passed Garrett to the garage.

"It looks like you get a surprise." She smirked at him over her shoulder, licking her teeth for a moment.

[Anonymous]

Garrett had zipped all the way to the garage, expecting to see Makani sitting on the workbench, already lighting up the joint that he had slipped her earlier. But when he got there the place was empty.

"Oh that cheating little..." He couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice as he climbed off Violet and parked her over on one side of the garage. She probably let him win to see what he had wanted for a prize. Well, bad luck for her. He wasn't going to ask for it. He reached smacked the side of Violet, a hiss of air snaking out as a compartment opened. A coolent system that kept his more precious cargo safe from the heat of the bike. He actually installed that little addition himself, and he was very proud of it.

Reaching in, Garret pulled out a little plastic container along with a small baggy. The baggy contained his new strand of 'Kettle', as Mak so affectionatly called it. Bright blue was mixed in with the dark green. Oh she was gonna love it. Hell he hadn't even really tested it yet.

The mage looked at his timepiece. She should have been here five minutes ago, Mak obviously had no faith in his ability to race. A smirk crawled across his face as he set down the plastic container and the Kettle and slid up onto the workbench. He hissed in pain, lifting his shirt to run his hand over his burned chest. Normally he wouldn't start with out her, but Garrett lifted a joint from his pocket and to his lips. He lighted it and inhaled just as Makani waltzed in.

"I get my surprise after you get your miss."

[Anonymous]

The way Garrett was leaning back on the work bench made her hiss. She parked Serpentine and tried to talk herself into telling him to leave. She wasn't this kind of girl. Well, not to him anyway. She kept her hormones in check when she was around him, as much as she could. It had become more difficult recently. The way he looked at her, the way he instantly understood her even when she tried to prevent it. He and Fi were the only people who could hurt her, they just knew her mind so damn well.

Makani took a deep breath and walked back over to him. She slid her jacket off from around her shoulders laying it on the work bench next to him and then placing a hand on either side of his legs.

She had just said she wouldn't do this hadn't she? She sighed and let a hand touch his knee as she leaned in to smell the scent of the joint. She couldn't help but notice Garrett's smell in the process.

"And what is that?" It didn't smell like it normally did. It smelled...richer, more earthy but a little bit fruity. Her made her nose burn with the scent and she loved that. She moved back from Garrett and grinned.

"Let's go to the smoke room then?" She wanted to get him in a comfortable place. One where they could relax. Listen to some jazzy music. Though she may never admit it Makani found jazz music unspeakably sexy. Teinar had a lot of jazzy music. There was a lot of pain in this place. Some of it was just too damn good. She patted his knee very gently. She didn't want to hurt him.

Wait...Maki darlin' think this over. You get him in that room and you're gonna tear him to pieces. It's just the mood you're in.

The devil in Makani didn't want to listen, so she didn't. She could handle being alone with him smoking some new brand of tasty. She'd be fine, and so would he.

[Anonymous]

Garrett's hand and shirt dropped as Makani walked over to him. He gulped a little as she moved, maybe it wasn't such a good idea for them to do this right now at least not witheout someone else around.

The mage shook his head. No, they had gotten high together plenty of times over the years and he had been able to control himself. Tonight wouldn't be any different no matter what sort of evil tricks she had up her sleeves.

Then she was so close, inhaling the smell of the weed and making that noise, that happy little noise she made....damn that noise. Her hand touched his knee and Garrett's back and body went stiff, along with other parts of himself. The joint was hanging out of his lips and he swallowed again before reganing his composure. He tilted his head at her and moved his hand to take the joint out of his mouth.

"It's something new, something I make especially for you." He slid off the workbench with a little groan and handed her the plastic container. "To the smoke room it is!"

With that he dashed off out of the garage and into the house ahead of her before he could do anything else to get himself into more trouble.

[Anonymous]

Makani leaned forward when he said he'd made it just for her. Garrett knew how to sweep her off of her feet for sure. If she was going to settle down...

Whoa, whoa, whoa...

Did Makani's brain just think those two words? She shook the feeling out of her head that she was thinking like that. It would make her run scared as fast as she could away from him. It was just a slip up right? She watched him run off and up the stairs and she doubted it for a minute. Today was going to be dangerous. She kinda felt like she was alright with that.

She followed him up the stairs and through the kitchen then she backed up and grabbed some rum. The stronger stuff, two shot glasses and a thing of soda. Tonight was gonna be good. She followed into the smoke room at the end of the hallway. It had big floor to ceiling windows with big black drapes in front of them. The light was already flipped on...well lights. There were ropes of light around the corners of the ceiling and the floor and some surrounding the windows.

There was a black wooden table in the middle of the room and it had a small cabinet underneath it filled with all sorts of tools. Then the stereo. It had huge speakers and a large screen attached to it. It was a touch screen that she could navigate around the music collection with. It also had a visualizer that moved with the music. There were spots for incense around the room.

In short? A stoner Makani's paradise.

There were some bean bags around the table plus a few chairs and couches in the room too. All insanely comfy. She sat down the drink ingredients on the table and wandered over to the stereo clicking around with her fingers.

"Garrett, you run away from a girl she might think you don't like her."

[Anonymous]

Garrett was sitting on the floor in front of the table, already emptying his pockets of weed and other various items. He opened the little baggy and spread the Kettle around the table a little, breaking it into tiny smokeable bits.

It smelled fantastic and (even though it was probably the joint he had smoke earlier saying this) it looked very pretty with the blue in it. He wanted them to start out sort of slow, so the mage took a cigarette paper and began rolling a few joints. Thankfully he had brought enough to knock out a Grimhorn, which should do nicely for the two of them.

Makani appeared and in her hand was rum, which was nice. Garrett smiled at her as she sashayed in. The girl did know how to have a good time, it was one of the things he loved about her.

Garrett rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and shook his head. He needed to get blazed again, and fast, lest he said something that would make her run out of his life. He took a hit off the joint he already had going, it was just some of his normal stuff and he relaxed as he exhaled. The fuzzy feeling around his sense was slowly returning...perhaps a bit to slowly.

"Garrett, you run away from a girl she might think you don't like her."

The mage laughed a little as he licked the ends of the joints. "Hey now, if I didn't like you would I be giving you this stuff for free? I think I spoil you actually." He smirked, stood and walked over to her, lighting the joint and inhaling as he did so.

He walked up to the side of Makani, reaching out with one hand to move her face towards his. Garrett leaned in, putting his lips on hers and exhaling. His entire body tingled when his lips touched hers, his stomach flipped and his mind exploded a little. Just like it did everytime they did this....every...dam n...time.

He had to be a masochist to be around her all the time and feel this way. But what else was he going to do? He couldn't imagine being without her. After a moment, Garrett pulled away, a smile on his face.

"I think I should start charging you."