Fixer-Uppers, Thursday

[the_merriest]

Rikku was filled with nervous energy today. She and Reno were leaving tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning? It wasn't like they had much to pack. She'd packed already. They were only going to be gone a few days, whether it was tonight or tomorrow morning. He'd be back in time to take his Sunday shift, and they'd finish off the fiend that was raising hell on Bikanel.

One that, hopefully, wouldn't be anywhere near her Home.

She was a little quiet today, but getting in the back and dismantling an engine was doing wonders for her mood. Nothing like engine grease to help restore your Zen.

(open/ocd-free!)

Comments

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

Tony had mentioned a shop where parts for building radios - among other things - could be bought. Not that Sov knew exactly what to buy, but still. They entered the place and glanced around the room before smiling shyly at the shop assistant.

[the_merriest]

Rikku glanced up, breaking into a smile herself when she saw Sov in the doorway. She couldn't help it. Customers always cheered her up.

"Welcome!" Rikku said, bouncing to her toes and wiping her hands off on a nearby towel. Really, it was a wonder she didn't use her shorts, for that. "I'm Rikku, and this is Fixer-Uppers. Which you probably guessed, what with the sign and all. Is there something I can help you with? We do repairs and weapon upgrades and all kinds of cool things like that."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

The cheerful welcome made Sov feel more confident. "I don't know. I mean, a friend is teaching me how to build a radio and I'm just curious to see what you have."

[the_merriest]

"Oh!" Rikku clapped her hands excitedly. "We have all kinds of things here. What is it you need? I mean, are you starting from scratch or are you cobbling together pieces from other things? You could even take a radio that already exists and take it apart just to see what it has, and then put it all back together. But I sometimes have parts leftover, if I don't pay attention."

Sorry, Sov. Rikku could talk about machina all day.

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

Sov didn't mind at all!

"Tony has all the parts to build it," Sov said, their face mirroring the excitement. "But maybe I should get one to just take apart. For practise."

They reached out and picked up something from a shelf. "What's this?" It didn't look like a radio.

[feel free to mod whatever it is Sov's found.

[the_merriest]

"I have some here," Rikku suggested. "You could even take apart a broken one, although that's not always as helpful 'cause then you just know how to make one that's broken. Although if it's really obvious what's wrong, I mean, that won't mess you up, at least, and you don't have to worry about breaking something that's already broken, right?"

She followed Sov over to the shelf, then grinned. "That's a crankshaft," she said. "It's an engine part. You have all these pistons in an engine, and they fire back and forth, and you need to turn that back-and-forth into a rotation, so you hook those up to a crankshaft and that makes it turn."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"Um, yes. It makes more sense to get a broken one for that." Because without Tony's help they might not be able to put it back together again. And they might give it to Ariel, who didn't seem to mind broken things.

Rikku sounded as if she understood things like this.

"Crankshaft." Sov repeated the word. "I don't know much about engines, but I think the ones we have at home work the same way."

[the_merriest]

"A lot of engines do," Rikku nodded. "Differing fuel sources, it seems like, but similar technology. What's really neat is taking apart an engine from, like, another planet entirely, and seeing if they know any neat tricks that you don't. Like, hey, if we stick one of those jobbers in there, it can go twice as fast."

Interdimensional nexus as mechanical research. Hey, that was why she was here in the first place.

"Do you want a broken one?" Rikku asked. "I have a few laying around. Make sure you find a good space to work in, though. Some roommates don't like having little gears and lugnuts just lying all over the floor, you know?"

... oh, yeah. Rikku totally understood.

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

Sov nodded again, but wasn't sure they'd be able to do anything like that, not with engines. "I used to work in a carpentry workshop," they said, "But I'd rather have learnt how to build radios. And engines."

And then there was another bright smile. "Really? Yes, I'd love to have one. I'm not sure about my roommate though. Hank is a bit... weird."

[the_merriest]

"Hank?" Rikku laughed. "He's in my class. He thinks I'm a superhero."

She sort of wanted to muss his hair up.

"You knooooow," she said, with the look that suggested she was Up to Something, "you could always just come here. I mean, most of us who work here just use it as a big workshop for ourselves, you know?"

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"I could? You do?" Because that would be a lot nicer than having to deal with their roommate.

Then there was a pause. "Superhero?"