and damn if she doesn't look wild as all get out. parker can't help the giddy laughter that bubbles up and out of her. fortune smiles upon her, truly, with someone like nina picking up her job. not only are they ahead of the game, parker's actually having fun. 

almost to the point of not thinking about the blonde who's been giving her the runaround these past couple weeks. 

"well, our pals caught up to me, thanks to your super-soaker." she goes around the back of the candy shop so she can pop open the door and see the engine for herself. it sits real pretty and parker shakes her head with amusement, shutting the door again to look at nina. 

"did a fine job convincing 'em i had nothing to do with it. it'll be smooth fuckin' sailin' til race day thanks to you. tipped 'em off you were headed towards the other side of town."

she cracks her neck and tosses the bag of peas in the garbage. shakes out cold, wet fingers. 

"i don't really need ya 'til the engine's in, but...wanna stay? help me get our ride ready to roll?"

nina larson

☉

the fact that she doesn't sound very sorry at all makes parker chuckle, and appreciate her all the more. parker touches the swollen side of her face and licks her lips. she does feel kinda bad that nina's kinda fucked if she tries to go home, but it is what it is. 

"eh, they're gonna be rippin' that side of the city apart tryna find this thing. you oughta lay low here for the night. or i got a guest bed at my place. sorry 'bout that cu-, nina."

parker cracks her knuckles and opens up the door again, still-wet boots sloshing as she tromps down the two garage stairs. she pulls the tarp off the car. parker's grin is cheshire.

the bright red viper's fuckin' sexy, even if it's still half-gutted. parker opens up the driver's side door so nina can try out the driver's seat if she wants. 

"just gonna hook the engine up. make a couple adjustments. gotta rip her apart a little bit so we can shove a couple crew members in there with us." she pats the pokeballs hanging on her hip. 

look, these races are dirty. 

nina larson

☉

"somethin' like that," she says. nina slides into the seat and parker makes herself busy with other things. her fingers ghost over her toolboxes. idly, she undoes her belt and tosses it with its pokeballs up onto the workshop table. and then she finally shakes out of her damp red jacket, tossing it on a rolling chair that's seen better days.

it's gonna be one hell of a night. the gang they'd stolen it from was ready to have a whole crew working on the thing tonight, but all parker's got is herself. well, and amulius and remus. cool gray eyes wander from what she's doing and over to nina.

she shakes her head and laughs. "you'll see when we get'er on the road."

knuckles crack. and then tap one of the pokeballs. a gabite pops out of this one and gives a stretch. parker orders him on top of the car and sighs while he meticulously goes about removing the back windshield with his claws.

"so...aside from surprise super-soakers, how's your battling?" she asks. 

nina larson

☉

"'cause you've got guts," she says. she swings up onto the table and drags the chair over, using it as a footrest. after shimmying a little, she fishes her phone out from her back pocket and scrolls through some delivery places. after picking a couple of meals out for herself she does a mock throw and then a real one to nina. 

"that's sick though. done a couple missions with 'em." she doesn't say which, nor divulge her scant history with jayden. she still has trouble sleeping at night, thinking about his empty eyes and vacant voice when dealing with that bust...

"but i try an' stay under the radar, y'know? keep me outta the culty 'fall on your sword for us' bullshit." she snubs her nose. 

"and i was just askin' in case you're a piss poor driver and we gotta swap."

nina larson

☉

parker makes a face but otherwise doesn't say anything when nina drops her phone. it's an old piece of shit, really. it can barely run the apps she has downloaded on it. on the whole, though, it does what it's meant to do and that's more than enough for parker. 

while nina picks out her food, parker watches wolf work. the glass screeches under his claws. it comes free quite delicately though and he finagles it out of the car with ease. when he hops back down from the car, parker helps heft the windshield onto the workshop table. 

"tube's over there," she says and the gabite goes to get a rubber tube of insulation to install around the newly made rough edges of the back. 

"eh, we'll figure it out. as long as we beat that champion's ass. do pick-up, by the way. place is near my apartment. i can drop ya off 'fore it gets too late. i'll be up workin' on this all night."

nina larson

☉

parker's fairly dense when it comes to reading complex emotions. she's seen her fair share of fright, anger, frustration, ecstasy, but she hasn't been able to peg nina since the beginning, nevermind now. while wolf works, she looks over the blueprints she'd spent ages on. triple-checking her list to make sure she has all the materials.

"what, you gonna steal my shit and bail on me?" parker says with a snort, without looking up. 

"look, i just know those fuckers are gonna be ripping your part o' town apart. this shit's expensive and they're gonna be fucked for the race. and 'sides, one of us oughta get a good night's sleep." she shrugs and then finally hops off the table. stretches. 

nina larson

☉