How much for that puppy in the window?

[Anonymous]

"Sush baby. Don't cha worry. I wont let the bad man touch ya." Alexis didn't really bother asking, his hand just slid into his baggy pants, pulling out the multitool and starting undoing the tube, "Hey brah, can ya pass me a bowl or somethin?"

Shoddy upkeep was just not right. Though Nathan seemed like a decent enough guy. It was easy to see where some amateur had done some work there and the man had some real love for his ship. That was all in the back of his mind though as he worked. Times like this he missed his tail.

[Tally]

"Oh! Uh...yeah."  A bowl, a bowl...had to be one around here someplace.  He wasn't seeing one though, not anywhere on the floor or around the engine frame.  Maybe in one of the cabinets or tool chests.  They were decently stocked, though probably not as well as Alexis would wish.

He found one tucked away in the back of a cabinet and bent down to slide it to Alexis.  "Here.  Uh...what are you doing exactly?"

[Anonymous]

"Huh?" Alexis reached back, snagging the bowl and crawling back under the engine without really paying much attention to Nathan. He was in his happy place right then, "Well, like, she's got old fluid in her brah. Ya gotta get it out and replace it. She runs so hot it's hard on her coolant."

Bowl in place, Alexis wiggled the hose free and with a splash, the vivid, neon liquid poured out of the engine and into the bowl. It had a dark tint to it, a sure sign he had run it through too long, "Just gotta like get some in before ya take off. I totally got some at the garage if ya don't got any on board. Though, really, I recommend ya do a full flush, clean out all the bad stuff. Gotta get some stuff in here for it, but it's totally easy."

[Tally]

"Wait, switching out coolant—"  He couldn't have a conversation with Alexis's legs, so he got down on the floor and propped himself up on his elbows so he could see who he was talking to.

He was a little surprised at the color of the coolant.  "It shouldn't even be that dark.  I switched it out last I was on Cancer, and only made two system jumps between now and then.  No way it should be goin' dim already."

It honestly confused him.  There must be a lot going on under here he couldn't begin to guess at.  It had been worse than he thought, and he'd been neglecting his ship.  "So.  The full flush.  That's something you can do?"

[Anonymous]

"Ooooo. Really? Huh." That meant there was something else going on. Two system jumps wouldn't discolor it so fast normally. And he didn't think Nathan was lying about it, his voice didn't have that defensive ring to it, "And flush is easy man. Just gotta have the stuff for it. Take me less than an hour."

Alexis shimmied out from under the engine and started poking around. It would be a little harder to figure out the problem with no real tools, but his eyes worked just fine! It took him a few minutes to find the problem was, but then he finally noticed it.

Reaching in, Alexis yanked out a part, holding it out, "Ah! Like, here's yer problem brah! See, yer coil is all kinds of friend. It's like, runnin' too hot and strainin' yer system." He grinned, somewhat more rumbled then when he had come on board, a streak of the neon coolant across his shirt, "Gotta like replace this part up and that should do it. Though, I mean, I like would really need ta run a full scan or rip her apart ta make sure that's the only problem.

[Tally]

"Right well, we still haven't discussed—"  Oop, Alexis was headed back up again.  Nathan followed, hauling himself off the floor.  Alexis must really have been in the zone.  Nathan could barely follow what he was doing as he poked around the machinery, checking parts and components that Nathan didn't even have a name for.

"We haven't actually settled on a fee," Nathan interjected.  He said it just as Alexis yanked out some chunk of metal...something and handed it to him.  Nathan had little choice but to just take it, whatever it was.

"Whoa, whoa.  Yeah, let's put a hold on the whole 'ripping her apart' thing.  And...are you planning on replacing this?  Can we even find this part around here?"

[Anonymous]

"Fee?" Alexis tilted his head, confused at the comment for a moment before it sunk in. He gave a small laugh and shrugged, "Ah, whatever ya wanna pay me, I guess. Like, I just kinnda like, took over. Sorry man."

Poor guy was looking a little overwhelmed by all this stuff and Alexis grinned, "Relax brah. I wont like, rip her apart right now. And we can totally find that part. Ain't a hard part to find at all. So relax brah. No worries. Ya got a beautiful ship and with a little work, she'll dance for ya. Ya really shouldn't be flying a Swift class without a mechanic brah. It's too hard on 'um."

[Tally]

"No, it's...it's fine.  I guess?"  He laughed a little.  "Hey, it's good you have passion right?"

He did notice how Alexis said he wouldn't rip the ship apart...right now.  So it definitely was going to happen, just later?  Nathan better keep an eye on this guy, or his ship may end up in pieces.  Which wouldn't be so bad, so long as he had a mechanic to put it back together...

"Yeah well, mechanics ain't that easy to find.  Less so now than before."  He lay the part in his hand upon shelf.  "I'll give you the credit to get that part, and whatever else you need. I want her fixed up as complete as you can get her.  Given time constraints.  I'm docked three days."

[Anonymous]

"Three days?" Alexis mulled this over, having just sort of taken it for granted that he of course would get to take the ship apart and fix it. He nodded, a slow smile forming as he went over his mental check list, "Yeah, totally. I can do that. She ain't in too bad of shape."

He nodded his head at Nathan, "For sure man. Work keeps piling up. Makes me all twitchy though, havin' to like, stay put here." He rummaged around in his pockets, then pulled out a slightly battered card, "Here! This is the garage I'm workin' at. Bring the Diva there and I'll have her like totally purring for ya in three days."

[Tally]

It was always nerve-wracking, handing his ship over into someone else's hands, someone he didn't know and had no experience with.  He liked to think he was a decent judge of people, but you never really knew did you?  And that bit about the money...he really didn't know what to think of that.  It was either true or Alexis was running a play he'd not encountered before and he couldn't help but think it had to be the latter.  No one was that indifferent about money.

"I'll bring her around," he said, examining the card.  "Y'know, I been gamblin' every time I go out there without a mechanic.  If she gets on well with you, might be a place for you when we take our leave, assuming you want it."

[Anonymous]

"Whoa! Totally man! That would be like, sweet!" Alexis's face lit up and again he wished he had his tail so he could wag it. Tails were so convenient! He swung an arm around Nathan's shoulder, still smiling like an idiot, "I would love ta be on yer ship. She's a real beaut brah. And I like you too! Got good eyes!"

[Tally]

Geez, Alexis was exuberant.  He must really have been bored on Cancer.

Or he's running from something.  Nathan would have to do some asking around, see what he could find.  Discreetly of course, and he might see if Papillion knew anything.  But he had to know.  No mechanic was worth drawing trouble from Edanith or Aedolis.

"Yeah.  Sweet!"  He smiled and ducked out of Alexis's grip.  "Let's get her pulled around."  He laughed a little and rolled his eyes.  "Just what I need, a gorgeous, built mechanic on the crew."  He was never getting laid again.

[Anonymous]

That had Alexix's smiling even more. He made a happy sound, then hugged Nathan, "Awww! You're so nice! You think I'm gorgeous and built!" He nuzzled against Nathan, "That's so awesome! I work out all the time!"

He planted a kiss on Nathan's cheek before he straightened up, "This'll be totally awesome brah! Let's go get her into the garage!" Shoving his tool back into his pants, Alexis headed for the ship's exit, "Want to like meet me there? I'll get it all set up!"

[Tally]

Nathan was just about to head out—they were done right?  Ready to move on?—when Alexis grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.  And...nuzzled him.  Okay, that was unexpected, but Nathan could roll with it.  Some people were touchie feely right?  Not Nathan, but he didn't want to offend his maybe new mechanic.

"Ahaha, yeah I can tell."  When Alexis planted a kiss on him, he went all awkward and stiff but he seemed to be the only one.  Alexis just went right on talking.  People and their strange customs...

"Oookay! Ah, yeah, sounds good.  I'll be there in a few?"

[Anonymous]

"Totally! I'll se ya there brah!" Alexis gave a wave, then bounded off, already super excited to get to play around in a brand new ship. And a pretty one at that.

And three days turned out to be plenty of time to make the repairs. Nathan had done a decent job with the upkeep. There had been a few worn out parts, a few things left undone, but they weren't to hard to fix and repair the damage.

She was now purring like a kitten. And Alexis was actually feeling nervous for once. He was dressed in his best outfit, underneath his coveralls anyway. Now that the ship wasn't keeping his attention, he was starting to fret about if he was actually going to get that job on Nathan's ship.

He wanted to get flying again, have adventure and excitement again. And the Diva had stolen his heart a little. She was a great ship and he wanted to keep her running well. She deserved that.

Plus, Nathan gave him food and he liked how he smelled. Plus, he had a good voice. Voices were always important.

[Tally]

Nathan arrived a little late, in a good mood and suspicious of it.  His three days on Cancer had gone disturbingly well.  He had jobs lined up and money.  He'd already taken on one new crew member and could be getting another within the next few minutes.  Life was never this good unless it came with a price.

"What's up?"  He strode into the garage and tossed Alexis a bag of chips, the same kind he knew he liked.  "Got her put back together and ready to go?"

[Anonymous]

CHIPS! OHMYGOD! Alexis snatched the chips, making a happy sound as he tore into them. It was only after a few happy minutes of crunching away that he finally responded to Nathan, "Totally brah! She's purrin' like a kitten! Totally smooth!"

Alexis beamed at Nathan, feeling proud of himself and thrilled with the chips, "She's like, totally ready to fly!"

[Tally]

Didn't take much to make Alexis happy did it?  Maybe Nathan could offer to just pay him in chips.  If Alexis decided to take the job, Nathan would see Bhaskara about getting a case of those chips so Alexis would have them in between station docks.

As soon as Alexis was done making love to those chips, Nathan went to check on the ship.  "Let's take a look at her then.  Have any trouble?"

He'd decided, after asking around a bit, that Alexis would be worth having.  He didn't have a price on his head that Nathan had been able to learn of, nor any connection to the authorities that might bring the law down on them.  All that was left to do was see if he had managed to put Diva back together again.

[Anonymous]

"Naw man. She was easy as pie. Just some little things that like, got missed." Alexis beamed, proud of the work he had done, "Her repairs were easy enough it totally gave me time to tune her all up. She'll handle like way better now brah!"

Alexis hadn't really bothered to ask around about Nathan. He didn't really think too, as he had a bad habit of taking things at face value. And Nathan gave him chips. No one who gave him chips could be bad.

[Tally]

"Good to hear."  Being away from Diva even for three days felt strange.  He felt ill fitted anywhere else and walking back through Diva's cargo bay door felt like coming home.  He went right to the engine room.

"What's the damage?  Money-wise I mean."  Thus far, he'd never been able to get a straight answer out of Alexis over the fee.  Every time he brought it up, Alexis went off on some tangent.  He really didn't seem to care, but they'd have to settle up now, and if he was going to be on the crew they'd have to talk about his wage.

Nathan wasn't nearly as technically proficient as Alexis, but he could tell the difference as soon as he walked in the engine room.  It looked different. Cleaner, sleeker.  He could pick out several new parts in there, a few replaced parts, and some parts missing completely.  He ran his hands over the engine frame and along the conductors to the jump drive, taking it all in.