I Swear I'm Not a Criminal. Really. [m]

[Draconian]

Shit.

Kit pushed her hands through her hair and crouched down beside the bike. Of all the times to not be electrokinetic, now was probably the worst. Sure she could be a human flashlight and kill someone with her mind, but what use were those skills on a bike that just needed a jump? It was dangerous to be here. Kit knew that.

Kit was far too aware of that.

Sometimes the place where they'd dug out the identifying chip still twinged. The addiction to her dragon still hadn't ebbed away and sometimes it had her waking up in pain, covered in sweat. Life was harder now, but it beat being dead. Or broken and thrown into TRIM. A quiet sigh and Kit gave the bike a kick before she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and made her way to the nearest... What.

Shop?

Did anywhere any service available for favours instead of money?

With the chip gone, she had no identity. Which also meant she had no way of paying for services.

Officially.

Well, fuck.

Maybe the nice mechanic would accept a blow job. Hm. Or the girl version of that if the mechanic wasn't a person with male-bits. Kit frowned at the idea but it wasn't like she had a choice. A sneer and she found herself walking right past a shop. Taking a few steps back, she tossed her braided hair over her shoulder and fluffed her bangs up out of habit. What an odd life she was living now.

Slowly she pushed her sunglasses up onto her forehead and rapped her knuckles at the wall while she walked into the place. "Hello?" Her voice echoed and she looked around, feeling around for anything that might be around. Being a trained Pilot out of the system had it's perks. There were way more cons than pros but... At least it had it's perks.

"My bike broke down a few blocks, I was hoping someone could help me?" She'd mention the inability to pay afterwords. Maybe. Probably not. "I'm kinda in a rush to... Not be here. Any help would be great."

[Lion]

The day had been too long and the time to close up shop was finally here.  And it couldn’t have been here sooner.  Of course, even Trevan knew you couldn’t please everyone.  But some clients just weren’t satisfied with the diagnosis that sometimes you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too.  Nooooo.  They wanted same day service with same day results and wouldn’t even tip on the way out.

In the end, people would say what they wanted to say and pay their bills (provided they had the money) grumbling all the while.  It was a thankless job.  Especially when there were those that always tried to cut some kind of deal. 

Trevan put those thoughts out of mind.  It was closing time and the only thing he wanted was to plop down on his bed and go into a deep REM.

Karim, the owner, had left early that night, as always, heading off to Synesthesia for some romp.  He was an idiot.  Always complained about his numbers, even when they were better than last months, or was on the phone complaining about being broke, and then spending his money on drugs and whores.  Trevan inwardly rolled his eyes.  At least the bastard paid him, that was all he cared about.

“Just another day on the grind,” he sighed, locking the office door when he heard a knock.  His hackles rose and he turned, looking at the woman who spoke.  “Shit,” he hissed to himself.

He was just about to say they were closed –because they were – but he stopped himself just before doing so.  Trevan approached the stranger and looked around at all the vehicles that had yet to be worked on.  But these streets probably weren’t the best place for a stray bike to be hanging around, even if it was broken.  It’d be in parts in a manner of minutes.

“I was just about to close up.  But, uh, I guess I could squeeze you in.”  He gave an awkward huff and clapped his hands together.  “Let’s go.”  Once outside, the crisp air slapped against his heated face.  It felt nice to be out instead of in that shop without circulation.  Stupid Karim and his stupid too-cheap-to-buy-air-conditioning attitude.

“Aw, is this it?” he asked, pointing up to the bike up the block.

[Draconian]

Just being here made her nervous.

Kit rubbed her gloved hands together. Plucked at her coat. Looking down at her boots briefly, the floral imprints along the top. Definitely not a biker.

"Yeah, that's her."

Rushing to the bike, she fixed the kickstand and balanced it, pushing it along closer to the man. A little at a loss as to why she didn't just do that in the first place.

"I think it just needs..." Kit stared at it for a moment. It had been a cheap bike. Traded for to. Completely illegal and she looked between it and the man for a moment, "I don't know. But it won't start and I'm not much of a mechanic." Gently she chewed on her lip and pushed her long braids over her shoulder, looking between the stranger and then she took a deep breath.

"I don't have any credits," she said softly, stripping off the glove and displaying the scar on her hand where her chip had been removed, "Is there some way else I can pay? If you can help me, I mean."

[Lion]

The bike wasn't in the best condition.  In fact, Trevan was surprised it was held together at all! The bolts looked rusted to dust, but he supposed it wasn't up to him to judge someone else's ride.  If there was something wrong with it, the least he could do was take a look at it. 

"Looks like I got my work cut out for me," he said, turning round the other side to push it up the block down the street.

That was until she took off her glove and quietly declared she couldn't pay.  Trevan paused.  And stared. Just stared at her.

She couldn't pay.  And she was in a bit of a bind it seemed.  Karim didn't like it when clients didn't pay up front.  People couldn't be trusted.  Not to mention he would be pissed if he found out that Trev worked and was gonna get paid in cases of water bottles   and she didn't look like she had anything, let alone water bottles.

He looked at the shop.  "Well, let's see the damage first.  And we'll talk about it from there, okay?  Sound good?" He smiled and followed in after her, pushing the bike in and closing the garage door.

[Draconian]

Kit frowned deeply.

"No..." Giving a shake of her head, "I can't... Just let you work on it." Her fingers fluffed at her hair and she rubbed at her arm. Glad on a few levels that she'd never been one of the more well known Pilots. Had never been a face for the system.

"I can work with computers. I..." Kit gently chewed on her lip, looking a little torn, a little frustrated, "I can.. Do you need a body guard? Some... Security? I can do that for a bit. I'd... Rather discuss my inability to pay you now instead of... If you can fix the bike." Kit looked around, worst case scenario she just left the bike here.

She didn't mention the few guns she had on herself under the coat. Gently she reached forward, a gentle tendril, just to taste his thoughts but before she got there she recoiled. This wasn't another Pilot. This was just a person. A person who probably didn't want her bustling around in his head.

Convincing him was a different thing entirely than making him do it.

"I just need to make it move again, just for a little bit." Just to run a little bit farther.

[Lion]

Something was off about this broad. She was in an awful hurry wasn't she?  Trevan just grinned a bit.

"I didn't say I was doing it for free.  What's up with you? Got ants crawling up your pants?  If its a big problem, I'm afraid fixing itmight take longer than you like.  Just at least let me look at it."

He observed her hands again, considering asking about the scar.  And quickly deciding maybe it was best he didn't know.

First he tried to start the hunk of metal and there was a sad deflated hiss when he did so.

Trev took the bike into the lift, pulling it up onto the table and strapping it into place.  "Hrmm.  It's pretty filthy down here.  Gotta clean it up first. Hand me that rag would ya?" And he pulled the gloves from his belt, strapping them on his hands.

"Bad time of night to get stranded.  What are doing in a neighborhood like this?  This ain't no posh place, I'll tell ya.  Then again, it isn't Synesthesia."

[Draconian]

"Trying to get to the other side," Kit said softly, looking outside quickly.

It would be so easy to find her if anyone was around. If someone who knew was around. The heavy mental barriers to keep everything out were drawing at her and she found herself not in the best of moods.

The scar wasn't fresh, but it throbbed and ached with every memory of the life that was in that little chip. "I traded for the bike a few weeks ago, it's mostly done it's job but..." Giving a shrug she passed him a rag without question, used to being demanded and used to following those demands without question.

"I just.... I meant I'd rather know what I was going to do for you before you help me. That way I won't be bent over a desk with my pants at my ankles out of obligation instead of I think you're cute and we're both horny." Her arms were folding over her chest and her expression was mostly unamused.

[Lion]

"Oh sex? Now there's something you usually hear every day," Trevan said with a grunt, pulling on a rusty bolt.  "No. No, I can't accept sex.  I don't think I would from a total stranger.  Most guys would probably jump at the chance.  I guess that makes me a pariah," he said with a laugh.

"From the sound of it, you've run real low on oil and the battery probably needs to be replaced.  Which will be an overnight job unfortunately.  I can fix the oil now and change out the battery, but it'll take several hours to charge unfortunately."

Inspecting her, he tilted his head and pursed his lips.  "You're really intent on paying for this aren't you?"

[Draconian]

"I wasn't offering, it was a hypothetical situation." Kit sighed and moved to stand beside him, frowning at the vehicle.

"Great. Sounds great. Of course I'm intent on paying." She finally stared at him for a moment, frowning, pushing her hands into her pockets, "You're not working for free and even if I can't pay you with money I can... I can do something in return." There was a moment and she looked around, giving her lips a lick.

If this place wasn't in such a dive neighborhood she would have considered her next choice of words more carefully. "I'm off the grid, the dragon's can't trace me. I can do just about anything for you."

[Lion]

Her next words should have been considered more carefully.

Trevan stared at her again - this was really starting to become a bad habit. 

Suddenly he laughed, chuckling.  Surely it was some kind've sick joke.  He wasn't going to fall for that off-the-grid stuff.  And if she was, why would she go around blurting stuff like that.  Gods, what a night.

"Yeah, right.  And I've got my boxer-briefs all tangled up," he said with a huff.  "Look, if you want to make it even...  Uh,lets get drinks.  Yeah, yeah, you have no money.  Fine.  But you seriously look like you've had a bad night.  And it'll only get worse still.  We'll talk about proper payment then."

Though he was laughing, he was thinking about her words in the back of his mind.  Off the grid, dragon untraceable...  What if she wasn't lying?  And if she wasn't, did he really want to hang around her longer than necessary?  The last thing he needed was the scrutiny of Pilots. 

[Draconian]

It took a good deal of effort not to push her fingers into her hair and pull at it.

Short of shouting that she was a wanted criminal and was off the grid with the help of a nameless few and a scar on her hand Kit just smiled and nodded. "Well, thanks for letting me know what kind of underwear you... uh... Wear. That'll be helpful later." It wouldn't but what else was she supposed to do? Short of making him believe her.

Which she could do.

"That's ... I can't buy you drinks. I have no money. I have no bank account. I have ... I have nothing. What part of I don't have anything don't you understand," She waved her scarred hand at his face, " I don't exist. I need this fixed so..." Kit did push her hands through her hair and she shifted her weight before resting them on her hips.

"Alright. Fine. If that's what it takes. Drinks. Drinks all around." Her hands went up and she quickly glanced around, "Will we be... Going out?" she asked softly, plucking the hood from underneath her coat, ready to pull it up and over her head. While she wasn't one of the well known Pilots, having always chosen to stay out of the limelight, it didn't mean no one knew who she was.

Even if they weren't leaving yet.

Licking her lips, "Do you keep up with many Pilots?"

[Lion]

Trevan sat down, ready to set himself before the task he'd just described to her.  It wasn't an easy fix, but the time it would take to fix was the real issue here.  If she couldn't pay with anything that was of any real value, Karim would have his neck.  Unless....unless, he didn't know about it.  Maybe it'd be better to say she never came by.

Especially if she was as crazy as she was acting.  Really, it wasn't that big a deal to him that she couldn't pay.  Karim would still have to give him credits for the work he did do, so it didn't matter in the end.  At least not to Trevan.

Only big bankers and stoneheads cared about what loose change filtered around in unpaid debt. 

He looked up at this 'Kit' and paused, his hands working freely as if from memory.

"Hrm...not all that much.  But it's kind've hard to avoid news around here in Haviah.  Everywhere it's blasted with news on the latest pop star and their crappy songs or what new DJ is going to appear in what club.  Or how General such-and-such is going to clean up the garbage in this filthy smelly city."  Trevan laughed, although the concern in her tone was off-putting to say the least.

"Why?" came his slow reply.  He glanced back at her.  "You...you're...a pilot then?  Or...used to be, I take it?  Just...a guess."

[Draconian]

"Uuuuh..."

Kit swallowed thickly and tried to relax. If anything it made her look worse. Tense. Shoulders up. Hood now also up. Giving a cough to clear her throat she quickly looked away.

"Do I look like a pilot? Or a used to be pilot?" Another 'ahem' to clear her throat, "Don't you think I'd have just... Mind controlled you to fix my shit? Besides that, pilots are... uh. Big and strong and... Clean." She reached out an arm to look at her dirty clothing and didn't even want to know how greasy her hair probably looked.

[Lion]

Trevan smirked at her.  No, she didn't look like a Pilot.

"No.  But you look like someone that could use a drink, really bad."  His smile grew, and he went back to work.  "But it does explain the whole get up, and the hand...and the having no money bit.  And the tension, posture, and high-strung look on your face."  He stopped right there, realizing he'd been ticking off that list with that grease-covered screw-driver in his hands.

Trevan carefully unhooked the clips that held the bike's battery in place, and slowly removed the block from the engine core.  He moved over to a work bench where he installed a new battery into the charger.  He moved about changing the oil in the bike, dripping out the grungy old stuff, and dripping some new oil into the cannister.

"You traded for this hunk of junk right?" he asked, gesturing to the bike.  "What did you give for it, if I may ask?"

[Draconian]

While she could use a drink really bad, Kit watched him, hesitantly. The smile on his face was the exact opposite of her expression. Self-consciously she tugged the hood forward more with everything he listed off, hunching her shoulders forward more and more. Was she that obvious? Probably. Kit had never had to deal with hardship in her life - At least not the physical tangible kind - it wouldn't surprise her if she screamed... Exactly what it was she did.

Keeping her hands jammed in her pocket she watched him work curiously. Trying to commit the process to memory because she knew she'd have to probably try and do it herself one day. Maybe.

His question caught her off guard and she opened her mouth, "Uh..." Was the only thing that came to mind. What did she trade for it? Kit stared at the bike, frowning before she simply shrugged, "I don't remember. A really bad blow job? Does it matter? Either way, I walked away with the better side of the deal."

[Lion]

Trevan made a face.  She really didn't seem like the hooking type.

"I dunno," Trevan said, unknowingly wiping grease onto his cheek and brow as he wiped the sweat from it.  "I'm only curious.  I mean...how do you not remember what you traded for this thing.  Because I don't know if you're really the one that got away with the better deal.  Never you mind, you'll have it fixed up in no time."

Trevan dusted off his hands and washed them off in the sink, cleaning his face too.  "Okay, Kit.  The battery's gonna need to stay charging, then we can shove it in that rusted pile.  Let's go get those drinks.  Don't worry, you can keep your hood up."

[Draconian]

Kit smiled slightly at his disbelief.

It was nice.

"I modified a scanner so a man could find rats in his walls. This piece of shit was hanging outside his house and I asked for it. He even said it was a piece of shit." Kit sighed and shrugged and looked at the bike, "do you think that thing is worth a bad blow job? It's at the very least a decent blowjob." A slight smirk, having some sick enjoyment out of figuring out the worth of a shitty bike in blowjobs.

Green eyes quickly flicked to the man when he said her name. It was strange to here and she fixed her hood and nodded. "Wouldn't want to offend anyone," she said softly, pulling her hands out of her pockets and moving closer to him.

"Thanks, by the way," Giving him a straight face, Kit tilted her head slightly, poking more of it from the hood, "You sure you don't want a shitty blow job?"

[Lion]

Trevan put on his jacket and zipped it up to his chest, popping the collar and pulling out his backpack from the main office.  He shook his head, shrugging.  "I don't think it's even worth licking the tip," he said, snickering.  So weird to be talking about bikes and blowjobs.  This Kit certainly was a weird one.

"I know a good dive around here.  Nobody cares what you look like or where you're from, so you're golden," he explained, gesturing her to follow him and started to close the door to the garage.  "Let's go, get some good seats while the gettin's good!"

[Draconian]

Obediently she followed him.

It was always easier to just follow. Orders could be followed and weren't choices. Which she was good with. Kit licked her lips and hovered behind him, looking around curiously while he started to close up. Or something.

"Isn't everywhere around here a dive?" She asked curiously, looking around. While she'd been a Pilot and had a few missions down below the upper level, she'd never been around here for an extended period of time. So far she hadn't been too impressed by the state of things.

It was how it was run though. Keep the lower levels uneducated and entertained and they'd be too stupid to rebel and revolt. It made Kit feel sick to think she'd been part of that. She'd help let that happen. "You're right. I could use a drink." Kit winced before she started to follow him, having been too concerned with her situation to remember if she'd gotten his name or not.

"Uuuh... Did I get your name? You know mine - Kinda - and... I feel bad because I was too busy being a freak to remember yours."

[Lion]

She was right of that. These lower sections of Haviah were all a dive.  Nobody lived in these parts because they wanted to.  People looked up to those high rise buildings, wondering at the life that thrummed through it.  Trevan knew what life did, and maybe parted him wanted a piece of that pie too.  Everybody did.  Didn't they?

He might've had it too, but life rarely ever goes the way you plan it, does it?  He could count his fortune where he found it.  He was alive, in generally good health, and had a decent place to live. 

"Trevan," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake.  "Trev is fine too.  Whichever one you prefer."

[I don't think she gave him her name either.  Whoops on my part! D:]