damned_institute | Day 63: Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs (Noon)

Entry tags:

claude,
guy

Day 63: Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs (Noon)

Any conversation with Edgar was bound to put Guy in the sort of mood that most of his friends resented: a fontech mood. Of course, the machines he came across here weren't technically fontech at all, but even making that sort of correction would have likely caused Luke or Anise to roll their eyes.

Still, that wasn't going to stop Guy from doing as he pleased. There had never been a chance to really stop and get down to his elbows with fontech during their journeys, seeing as they had always been in a rush to get somewhere. And while the gadgets in the electronics store were interesting enough that he could have tinkered with them for days, he was looking for some a little different this time around.

The buses, of course, were off limits, but Guy had definitely noticed the other, smaller vehicles parked around the town. Cars, they were called. But those things were used by everyday people, which probably meant that every now and then, they broke down and had to be fixed. And logic dictated that there had to be someplace where those repairs were done.

It had been a long shot, and Guy had known that, but some wandering away from the main road had actually caused him to luck out. There it was, the sign only barely readable: Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs.

The area where the actual work was done was open for viewing, and there were two men inside who were working on a car. Guy paused for a moment to watch from the outside, and he couldn't help wondering if he could get them to talk to him about all this. If he could just learn a thing or two about how this all worked, it might even turn out to be useful at some point.

[For Claude.]

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Even though he and Tolten weren't the closest of friends, Claude always enjoyed getting a chance to talk to him. Not only that, but he was genuinely happy to get a chance to help him out. He could tell Tolten was a good guy, and he knew the man would put a blade to good use. It was enough to take the edge off of the dizzy spells that continued to plague him -- for now, at least.

Speaking of swordsmen, though, Claude managed to catch sight of Guy as he wandered through the streets of Doyleton. For a moment, he wondered if maybe he intended to go to Twin Pines for a bite to eat, and he considered asking to join him for lunch. But when his friend passed over the restaurant completely, his true destination became obvious.

Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs. Of course. Claude's eyes brightened, and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he finally approached Guy.

"Hey!" he greeted, and for once Claude didn't need to force himself into sounding cheerful. "Find something interesting?"

Guy was intrigued by how they had managed to make some sort of mechanism to lift the car up into the air so that they could get to its underside and work on it there. It made sense, though he wondered why all of the important components were put on the bottom in the first place. There had to be a reason for it, though. That was how machines worked. They always had a logic to them, and each part was meant to fit into another. If he could just get close enough to look at it himself, he was sure he'd start to get an idea of why it was constructed that way.

He was about to take the plunge and go walk over to start up a conversation with the two men, but it was at that point that Guy heard someone's voice from over his shoulder. He turned around to see Claude there -- and really, if there was anyone he'd want to have around for this, it was him. Guy smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, looks like this is where they do repairs on those cars," he said, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the shop. "I kind of want to get a closer look, but they also look like they're pretty busy right now."

It was usually routine for him and Claude to meet up while in town, so Guy wasn't too shocked to see his friend. Still, it was kind of surprising that he'd found him all the way over here. "What brings you here?" he asked.

"O-oh, um, well..." Rubbing the back of his head, Claude gave a half shrug. "I've seen a lot of the other stuff here before, but I've never stopped by the car shop before. And since the restaurant's right next door, I was thinking of grabbing a bite to eat at some point."

Maybe he could have manned up and admitted he'd basically stalked his friend here, but at least what he'd said was half true.

He suddenly looked over at the men working on the car. "I might have asked you this before, but I guess they don't have things like this on Auldrant?"

Getting some food wasn't a bad idea by any means, and Guy certainly wouldn't mind chatting with Claude while they had a bite. He was hoping that his friend wouldn't mind if he poked around the auto shop for a little longer before they got some lunch, though.

The question was expected, but Guy certainly didn't mind answering. He realized he could never give Claude a perfect image of Auldrant, but the more that he talked about it the clearer that mental picture would be.

"No, not exactly. We have carriages, but those are usually drawn by animals, and we have airships and landships, but they're manned by a crew and meant to carry lots of people. A personal vehicle to drive around like this is new to me!" Guy thought it would be pretty nice, though, since they went faster than carriages and could be used by the everyday person to get around. With all the monsters that wandered the areas between cities on Auldrant, people would probably be a lot safer if they traveled in something like a car.

Just another idea to take home, if he ever got back there. No, when he did.

"Oh!" So, Auldrantians mostly used animal-drawn carriages, landships and maybe a few airship to get around. "Wait, so it's possible to fly on your planet, but smaller groups mostly rely on carriages to get around? That's pretty interesting!"

He didn't think this was the first time Guy had seen a car like this. One had nearly mowed them over during that awful night they'd spent here, after all. But Claude didn't see any good reason to bring that up. Besides, running for your life and observing a couple of repairmen were obviously two different experiences.

"Too bad we can't show you how to drive," he thought out loud, scratching his cheek as he looked at the car lift. "It's actually pretty easy if you know what everything does."

When Claude put it that way, Guy could understand how it sounded strange. Carriages were so old-fashioned compared to something like the Tartarus, for instance. And while he couldn't remember much about the Albiore, he was sure that had to have been impressive too. "We're kind of in a transition phase," he explained, crossing his arms over his chest as his attention was slowly pulled away from the car shop and focused on Claude instead. "The whole idea of an airship is still really new."

What really shocked him was when Claude implied that he actually knew how to work one of these cars. Guy glanced at the closest one that was parked on the side of the street, imagining what Claude might look like behind the steering wheel of one.

"You can drive a car? Wow, I hadn't realized. I figured that in the future you used something else to get around. That's so cool!" As excited as he was, Guy also wished that he could have had the chance to learn at some point. There was that one girl who had apparently known how to get one of these going and had driven it back all the way from town. Imagine what they could do if they pulled something like that off!

Claude was about to bring up the fact that Guy had gone into more detail about airships during their talk in the library weeks ago, but stopped short when he remembered that his friend could no longer recount his experience with flying. The thought made his heart ache, especially since it was one of the few things that would make Guy's blue eyes shine and come alive with excitement.

Focusing on cars sounded like a better bet for now. "Yeah, we still use 'em," he confirmed with a grin. "I mean, the models are different where I come from, I guess, but the basic concept is still the same. I don't think it'd be hard to figure it out."

Growing thoughtful for a moment, he rubbed his chin. "I wish I knew how to start one without a key." Which was technically stealing, but he didn't want to use that word for obvious reasons. Besides, it was all just talk for now!

Different models, Claude said. Guy tilted his head, wondering what the cars of the future -- of Claude's time -- looked like. Maybe he could try to get his friend to draw him a picture sometime, although that wouldn't work now since there was no pen or paper on hand.

It turned out that Claude was having ideas similar to his own. While it might be wrong of them to think about stealing someone's car, especially if it was just an oblivious townsperson, they also had to consider the fact that they couldn't really hesitate when it came to searching for a way to escape.

The caverns was still the top of their list, but there was no problem with considering other options, right?

"I know there are some patients who have an idea of how to do it. If you come up with a decent code, you might be able to ask around on the board." Guy glanced at Claude, wanting to make it clear that he wasn't suggesting it lightly. This could turn out to be a big help. Although his expression lightened up soon after. "Not to mention I wouldn't mind taking a spin in one, if we got it to work."

He hadn't expected Guy to jump on board the idea so readily, and Claude couldn't keep his face from lighting up at his suggestion. "You think so?" Well, maybe that wasn't so surprising. Captives here came from different times, backgrounds and walks of life. When he thought about it, the idea that one of them would know how to hijack (borrow, borrow) a car didn't seem so far-fetched.

"If I could find someone who knew how to do it, I could probably catch on pretty quick," he thought out loud. Not that he was bragging, of course. But technology was one of Claude's strong points, and his experience on a star cruiser allowed him to grasp onto complex ideas pretty fast.

"That's a good idea, though," he added. "Maybe I should ask on the bulletin board tomorrow. I'm...pretty sure I've got a ring that leads here, actually, so..."

Maybe they could put that kind of knowledge to use.

This idea was becoming more and more feasible, and it wasn't the sort of thing that Guy wanted to be left out of, either. Once again, he reminded himself that the caverns was their number one priority, and yet a change of pace didn't seem so bad. If it meant not having to deal with that skeleton for one night, and if it was an easier chance at possible escape, then maybe...

"I don't see why you shouldn't at least ask around and see what happens," he said with a shrug, keeping his voice low even though they were already a safe distance from the two mechanics.

"I'd be interested in learning how it works too, and if we have someone who will teach us and an easy way to get here, then..." He couldn't hold back the smile that spread across his face. Guy realized he shouldn't be so thrilled at the idea of taking someone's car, but desperate times called for desperate measures, right?

He got the feeling that Anise wouldn't mind tagging along too, if it came to that. Then again, it might be better if he and Claude kept this as their little secret for now.

Ilia was quite satisfied with the purchases she had made earlier that morning, and how nice was it to have a kind orderly, looking utterly confused, as she surrendered it all to his possession with such a satisfied look. Normally she would be pretty down if she had to give up her beer without opening at least one bottle, but this alcohol wasn't just for her. She still didn't have enough to her liking, but perhaps that could be remedied by a little journey into town tonight.

Ilia didn't have much left on her as far as money went, but she still had a little window shopping to do before she scouted out lunch. Next to Twin Pines was a small auto repair place that was bound to have a nice assortment of tools and other useful things she might need to borrow if she managed to hoof it this far tonight. And if there were any nice cars, maybe she could even hotwire one to save her some time getting back to the institute. Ilia was about to head right up to the garage when she realized that the two men ahead of her were familiar. Guy and Claude. Both had proved to be kind and cheerful company, and Ilia just about ran ahead to jump on into their conversation. Several yards away, however, Ilia stopped and just... looked at them.

"Hn," she muttered, crossing her arms. There was something about them, the way they were carrying on, how they had fallen into the conversation. The way Guy looked at Claude intently as he talked. The way Claude oriented himself in such an earnest fashion.

Ilia could almost swear that there was something in their relationship that went beyond just good friends, but it was still quite subtle. Either something was missing, or Ilia was reading more into this than she ought. She doubted it was the latter, though. She was pretty good at reading things. Yes, there was definitely something going on, and she wasn't going to be the one to wreck what could be a very special time for them both. Maybe she could turn around and walk away without them noticing...

Luke wasn't sure what this was exactly, but it was sweet and gooey and getting all over the place the way good food should. It was probably a little too cold for "ice cream" or whatever it was called, but he had a free coupon with his meal and how could he say no to sugar? Sucking on the soft cone of sweetness, the young man braved this new world on his own.

He had certainly been cautious once he had gotten off the bus and parted ways with Guy, but after running into Rainbow Dash who had been just as clueless as he, the replica felt a bit more confident in his exploration of the very natureless village.

Most of the shops around here didn't hold much interest for him, but soon he began slowing down as he heard a few voices talking a few blocks a head. he realize it was Guy and the other blond was Claude, if he recalled. Well, at least he didn't need to be wandering around all by himself. It was kind of boring.

With a more resolute purpose, Luke picked up the pace to join them in their conversation about who knows what.

Ilia had just about started on her way again when she caught sight of a head of red hair bounding its way towards the shop. And the young man was definitely intent on the couple behind her. Without thinking, Ilia stepped in the teenager's way, holding her hands up to signal he should stop.

"H-hey, don't go disturbing them!" she hissed. Then she realized she just stopped a complete stranger from possibly delivering an important message, or what if he had been meaning to meet with them the whole time.

Cringing, Ilia held her ground. She would know soon enough, anyway. Until then, she planned on allow Guy and Claude to have as much alone time as she could stall for them. Gentler, she attempted a smile. "Why don't we let them have some privacy, huh?"

When the woman came flying out of nowhere into his personal space, it made him take a step back in shock. His face was surely surprised and then, feeling stupid for letting some girl scare him, it wrinkled up into a childish frown.

"What?" He asked bluntly, confused and slightly put out from being blocked from seeing his friend--Well, friends he supposed. "Why, why would they need privacy...?" Now, the replica was completely confused. Did they need privacy, and for what? What was there to be private about that another friend couldn't enter in to? If there was a secret here, the redhead wanted to know.

Leaning to the left of the woman to get another view of Guy and Claude, the young man eventually turned his green eyes on this stranger. "Who are you, anyway?" If she was going to get in his way, Luke damn well wanted to know who to curse.

How did Ilia explain this delicately? Truth be told, it wasn't like Guy or Claude had ever outwardly expressed any kind of relationship beyond friendship, but Ilia had a knack for spotting these kinds of things. Developing feelings was a very fragile process, and she was just hoping their presence wouldn't end up disturbing what could end up as a very lovely relationship.

"Um... they just seem like they're busy. I was going to stop by to talk with Claude, but I changed my mind!" She chuckled, hoping her lie wasn't completely transparent.

Ilia casually leaned to the side to attempt more of a physical shield. "Oh, I'm a friend of theirs. In fact, Claude is from my own world, but Guy is the one who happened to introduce us." That was all true. And as their friend, she had a perfectly legitimate reason for wanting them to have some private time.

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Day 63: Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs (Noon)

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