fandomtownies | Stark Industries, Wednesday, 06/03

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Stark Industries, Wednesday, 06/03

On a whim, Cosima had downloaded Sapphire to her phone. She didn't make a public profile -- first, because she was pretty sure that was illegal until she turned 18, and second, because she wasn't that desperate for a date -- but scrolling through it seemed like a decent way to kill a little time. She found there were a lot of cute ladies out there. Also a lot of weird angles and overuse of Instagram filters. Also a lot of ladies who might be cute, but it was hard to tell because of the angles and the filters.

She was grateful when a computer to fix came into the shop. It just needed a virus wipe, and doing that was a lot simpler than figuring out dating.

[OOC: Open shop, open post! Sapphire is a canon thing. Cosima's date from it is played by Kenzi's actress so yay Canadian crossovers.]

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Ringo had been out for a quick cruise around town after her classes for the day ended. Nothing strenuous, just something fun. And something was wrong with the transmission in the rear wheel of her left AT. She'd been all resolved to try to make it all the way back to the dorms on one foot (which might have been kind of fun if she weren't still feeling the effects of class) where her tools were, but then she noticed a place that might have the tools she needed on hand.

Couldn't hurt to check, right? Worst case was she'd get a couple of extra minutes to psych herself up for that one-footed ride back.

"Um, hello?" she asked as she negotiated the door with ATs on, only one of which worked properly. "I don't suppose you have a set of precision screwdrivers I can borrow, do you?"

"Probably," Cosima said, glancing up from her phone with a quick, slightly guilty smile. "Do you know what kind of size you need, or should I just get a whole set and you figure it out?"

She'd never talked to Tony directly about loaning tools out, but she figured he wouldn't mind. It was hard to break a screwdriver.

"Let's see." Ringo's nose wrinkled as she ran through a list in her mind. "I think I'll need a one-point-five millimeter hex, and a one millimeter flat-head."

"Um, if you have them, and you don't mind. Just for a few minutes." Ringo's smile was a bit awkward. Asking favors from people she didn't know wasn't something she did very often.

"Look around," Cosima advised cheerfully, gesturing to Tony's workbenches. "We have everything. Just gimme a second."

A moment later, she emerged from a toolbox with two screwdrivers of the size Ringo had requested. "Here you go. Can I be nosy and ask what you're working on?"

Ringo took a quick look around, but mostly just so she could find an open space to sit down while she unlaced and pulled of her ATs. "You're loaning me the tools," she grinned. "Be as nosy as you want." She set her left AT down and reached for the screwdrivers. "I think I popped the transmission here loose," she explained, tapping the rear wheel with one of the screwdrivers before beginning to unscrew the wheel housing.

Cosima nodded at the explanation, watching her work.

"So ... wild guess that isn't a standard roller blade?" she asked. "Or did they get a lot fancier when I wasn't looking? 'Cause I'm pretty sure the pair I had in seventh grade didn't have a transmission."

"No, no," Ringo answered, laughing as she pulled the cover away, and pried off the wheel cover, revealing the complex gearing inside. "They're called AirTrek, which as far as I've been able to tell, only exist back home. But they've got very high-powered electric motors in the wheels. Powerful enough that having a transmission is useful."

She tilted the whole thing toward Cosima so she could get a clearer look.

"Nifty," Cosima said appreciatively. "And nopem that is not something we have at home."

That she knew of, anyhow.

"How fast do those things go?"

"Depends on a lot of different factors. Balance, technique, how efficient your parts are, and so on. But good riders can get up to about two-hundred kilometers per hour." And not suffer terrible injuries when they fell because canon.

"Must be crazy hard to steer going that fast," Cosima muttered, eyebrows going up. "No, that's awesome. I think I got up to, like ... five miles an hour on mine. It was very impressive."

She paused there, watching Ringo work. "I'm Cosima, by the way. Hi."

Ringo blinked, then straightened and turned. "Oh! I'm Ringo Noyamano." She accompanied the introduction with a polite bow. "I apologize for being rude."

Then she smiled slightly. "And no one starts at top speed. You have to work your way up to it. But that's part of the fun."

"Please, you weren't being rude," Cosima told her. "It just seemed weird to keep talking without telling you my name. Especially because I want to hear more about the ATs. Everybody rides 'em where you're from?"

"Well, not everyone? For years it's been a mostly underground thing because they're expensive enough, and tricky enough to learn, that only the most dedicated people really stick with them." Ringo's smile widened as she spoke. "But recently that's beginning to change, and we're seeing a lot more people start learning them."

Her tone suggested that this was, in fact, the absolute best thing ever.

"See, now I know you definitely aren't from my world," Cosima said wryly. "At home people who are into something underground get pissed when it gets popular. Hipsters, y'know? But you seem totally into sharing it."

"Well," Ringo laughed, "I'm sure there will be plenty of people who hate all the clueless newbies, but," she shrugged, "it's just too much fun for me not to want to share."

She turned her attention back to the AT she was working on, lightly rolling the open wheel and watching the gears in the hub shift. "It's almost like flying, you know. And the sky is big enough to hold everyone."

"True," Cosima agreed wistfully. "Sky's the one thing there's always plenty of."

Ringo nodded in agreement as she bent over the wheel, using the smaller screwdriver to adjust a couple of things, sliding gears ever so slightly against each other with the ease of long practice.

"Even then, some people seem to think that they should be the only ones to benefit from it." She sighed. At least that was mostly behind her now.

She glanced over at Cosima out of the corner of her eye. "You interested in trying AirTrek sometime?" She hoped she wasn't mis-reading the other girl.

"You don't think I'd fall and kill myself?" Cosima asked. "I mean, I'd love to,but grace is not exactly a quality most people associate with me."

"We could start you off slow," Ringo pointed out with a soft laugh. "And you can figure out just how fast you want to go from there."

"That's usually the best way to go," Cosima agreed. "When? I have some personal stuff this weekend" -- more check-ups, ugh -- "but I'm pretty free next week."

Ringo considered that. "Do you always work on Wednesdays?" she asked after a moment. "And if so, what time do you get done?" Maybe she should just swing by after?

Cosima nodded. "Yeah, but I usually close up around six. Ish. My boss is pretty cool about hours as long as I get everything done."

"Would it be okay if I swung by then?" Ringo asked.

"And, um, what size do you wear?" A week would give Ringo plenty of time to make sure she had a pair of AirTrek in the right size.

"Absolutely," Cosima said, with a bright smile. She was excited to learn something new. "And shoes? I wear a size 7."

"That's the US size thing, right?" Ringo frowned, then nodded. She had a chart to convert to the sizes she knew.

Her frown disappeared and she grinned. "I'll see you next week. With a pair of ATs in size 7."

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Stark Industries, Wednesday, 06/03

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