Jul 04 13:55:59 105

From Chronicles

Weather at Sat Jul 04 13:55:59 105 PA (35.33C, 95.59F): Heat rolls across the landscape. The skies full of clouds with only the occasional break to show a peak of blue beyond. Barely a breath of wind bestirs the air to relieve this heat.

The garage area of Advanced Idea Mechanics is an extremely large single room, with a chemically treated (MDC) concrete floor. The walls, unlike those of the office are completely undecorated, giving the place a spartan, industrial feel. Which is fitting, considering the bustling of activity that is being undergone in this place. Most often, a suit of power armor or two is being worked on and occasionally a giant robot can be seen encased in scaffolding along one wall. At one time or another, just about any kind of job is visible being done. From weapon reloading, to repairs to outright radical modification. And it isn't just confined to robots and power armor, either. The occasionally light armored vehicle and even main battle tank are seen here on occasion. To help with the work itself the ceiling is fitted with huge cranes that move on mobile tracks, allowing them to lift into place things like weapons and giant robot limbs. For working on the latter as well, a massive support construct has been built into one wall complete with a crane of it's own, providing means to lift and secure for repair a robot that is missing both legs if required. Other equipment, from spot welders to laser torches to electronic toolkits can be found on benches and the like all through the area. As you watch, men in exoskeletons, sometimes assited by a vehicle or a crane carry things from two rooms visible down a short yet wide hallway, slipping under large blast doors. These doors close automatically behind whomever leaves, indicating perhaps that volatile materials are stored within.

Lunchtime at the AIM, and the building is busy, frantic with people scurrying to finish jobs on time. The heat in the hanger is amazing, the male workers stripped down to bare chested glory, and the few women wearing vests. One corner of the AIM is quieter, the woman sitting on a blanket beside a familiar motorbike appears unbothered by the heat. She wears her usual combats and a tattered old vest, her hair tied back in a long plait that snakes down her back. Her feet are bare, the boots she normally wears sat beside her, next to the tool chest. Her head is bent over the piece of machine in her hands, and for once, her gaze is clear as she work on it

Janus has stripped out of his jumpsuit in deference to the heat and has found for himself a pair of neat black fatigue pants and some kind of stretchy short sleeved shirt meant for athletics from the looks of it. He steps into the hangar with a grimace; if anything it's hotter inside than out, and lingers in the entrance while his eyes adjust. It doesn't take him long to find Cali back there with his hovercycle and he makes his way through the garage, giving the other workers plenty of space.

She is smiling slightly to herself as she strips the piece in her hands, reaching for a screwdriver and using it with an ease built of practice. She pauses, frowning at the piece for a moment before making one minor adjustment and then moving to the bike, kneeling beside it as she fits the piece to it. "There, girl." She murmurs, patting the saddle as she sits back on her heels.

Janus folds his powerful arms across an equally powerful chest and quietly watches Caliopa work on the bike for a while. letting her finish up with whatever she's doing before he says anything. "Is it bad?" he asks, using a big voice to be easily heard over the racket of banging metal and whirring tools.

She looks up, her face brightening into a sunny smile. "Ain't that the perfect timin' that you got." She observes, shifting to sit crosslegged on the blanket. "She is runnin' just fine. You just snapped a piece of the workin' inside, and I fixed it up with a bit I got lyin' around." She gives him that sunny smile again, her eyes warm and friendly, "'n' I figured I'd do it without the head stuff I do, so it ain't touched by none of the psi stuff. 'Cause you said."

Janus draws his head up and back a bit at her words, matching her smile with his own. There's so many things in that smile; appreciation, respect, admiration and even affection. It's a smile destined to lead armies and bed queens, and right now it's all for Caliopa. "'atta girl," he praises her fondly. "I had a feelin' you'd be able to puzzle it out and get it purring right along again. What do ya reckon done it?"

She rises to her feet, graceful despite the ancient coveralls and bare feet. The smile that replies to his is simply friendly, open and genuine. "Reckon you just were unlucky. Can't be blamin' your lady, it weren't extra weight you were carryin'. Sometimes they just don't last, these bits." She is patting the bike then, her fingers stroking the saddle lightly, affectionately, her cheeks very slightly flushed.

"That ain't a lady," Janus states, his expression darkening suddenly and then passing on into measured neutrality. He lets his arms drop to his sides and steps closer to Cali and the bike, the main part of his attention moving from the former to the latter and he, too, reaches out to run his finger down the edge of the stabilizer fin. "This bike here's all I've got to get around on. Thanks fer lookin' after it so well."

She blinks at the darkening expression, the lack of understanding at the misstep showing clearly on her open face. "Uh, sorry, I weren't meanin' nothing..." She rubs her sleeve across the seat where her fingers had left an oil stain, carefully removing it, "My pleasure. It ain't so bad a fix, worth seein' if I could do it without the head stuff..." She offers a small smile again, uncertain.

Janus slips his hand from the bike's fin and gives Caliopa's elbow a light squeeze before letting it fall to his side again. He shakes his head, a reassuring smile hovering on his mouth, but looks at her with a bit of curiosity. "Not so bad, getting your own two hands dirty now and again, right?" he teases warmly.

Her sunny smile returns, a flash of relief in her expressive brown eyes. "Mostly, my hands get on with it with my brain kinda set up with the bike." She explains softly, her fingers fidgeting in front of her. "Jus' you were all bothered by it, and I figured it ain't my bike, you payin' the piper, get to pick a tune and all that." The smile lights up her face and eyes with a friendly warmth, utterly without guile.

"Less bothered by it once I knew the truth of it," Janus assures her. His eyes wander over her face, somewhat transfixed again and, how could he not be? "Knowin' there ain't much worth to it, if there's anythin' I can do for you..." He finishes the thought with a shrug. "Anyhow, what's that little part going to cost?"

Her smile brightens slightly and she moves her hands to bury them into her trouser pockets, tilting her head back a little. "Always nice to meet someone new, make a friend." The smile is utterly genuine, the pleasure of that showing in her eyes. "I ain't that great with folks, always open my mouth, put my foot in it." She glances down at the work she did on his bike and pulls a face. "Ain't work payin' much for, mostly just my time. Hundred credits alright? If it ain't too much?"

Janus's eyes widen and he blinks at Caliopa, startled or surprised. It's not even clear at first if it's because he thinks the amount is exhorbitant or ridiculously low, at least not until he speaks. "Lookin' like you ain't had a drop of sleep and that's all the night's worth?" He grins, crooked and playful and slowly turns his head from side to side. "That ain't too much at all. I'd ask ten times that for my own time, but..." His shoulders rise and fall in a quick little shrug. "Y'ain't bein' shot at now, are you?"

Kid comes tromping into the AIM building with purpose and motivation. Her duffle bounces against her back as she moves quick-like towards where she usually finds Cali, almost missing that someone is there with her. "Cali girl!" Called out just as she's closing in, lifting up a small plastic bag from some generic cosmetics store at the plaza. "Your lucky day, girl. They were having a sale on my favorite shade, so you get some too. A nice little number that'll color your lips plum with a dash of glitter. You should give it a try." A pleased little grin worn at the find, the proffered bounty handed over if Cali is apt to take it. Two tubes of the unusual stuff in the bag. It'll be about then that she notices Janus standing there, giving him a sidelong glance and a less enthusiastic, "Heya."

She glances down at the bike, an easy blush rising in her cheeks. "Um, I got a piece of sleep, weren't that bad. Just out of practice usin' just hands 'n' all." She returns the smile, bunching her hands in her pockets, "You pay me what you reckon the job is worth then, I ain't much one for figurin' a load of cash out." Kid's arrival has her turning and the smile changes to a warmer grin, genuinely pleased to see the other woman. "Kid! Come meet Erik, I done fixed up his ride for him." She takes the bag slowly, peering into it, an expression of true doubt showing on her face. "Lip colour?" The doubt underlies her voice too, and is shadowed in the brown eyes she lifts to Kid.

Janus slips his hand into a pocket and comes up with his bank card. He gives it a little twirl between his fingers and offers it over to Cali. "Not in a position of generosity right now, 'm afraid. Hundred it is." Kid's arrival pulls his eyes over to her and then down to the bag in her hands. He presses his lips together in a line, studying and taking a measure of the girl, then swings his focus back onto Caliopa and shrugs. "I'll take the bike and be on my way, then."

Kid grins, her own lips currently a glittery blue, the common shade when she wears her 'glitterpunk' garb. "Hell yeah. Gets you some attention right where it counts." She pauses, the last little bit Cali said to the man filtering in as she allows herself to notice him again. Shifting a glance towards Janus a moment before she eyes Cali firmly. "Always charging pennies, Cali girl," she admonishes the older woman. Keeping the bag held out. as to Janus, Kid looks back to him again, giving the man a skeptical eyeing right back. "Erik, huh?"

"Ain't pennies, a hundred credits goes well enough." She holds the bag awkwardly, uncertain as to what to do with it. "Ain't really in need of make up, not given I don't wear it..." She grins at Kid, shaking her head. "Ain't no need to head off, not if you ain't wantin' to, Erik..." She directs her smile back at him, lifting honey brown eyes to his face. "I'll just..." She gestures with the card, turning to run it through her machine.

Janus turns to face Kid again while Caliopa's busy with his card and folds his arms again across his broad chest while he looks at her. "Erik Janus," he confirms his name, nodding his head once. "You got a name of your own or does -everyone- call you Kid?" His hand goes to take his card back from Cali when she's done, and puts it back into a pocket.

"Yeah, you won't wear it much if you don't have any, Cali," Kid states the obvious, giving her an exasperated little look. She pauses, musing for a moment if she wants to say what comes to mind next, but she figures she might as well, "The elf'd probably like it." A subtle lack of enthusiasm in that. She then looks to Janus and eyes him as he asks after her name. Her chin tilts upward a bit and she slips her hands into her jacket pockets as she states, "Yeah, everyone calls me that. Got a problem with it?" Some subtle challenge in her voice, though no great abundance of negative emotion.

The suggestion the elf might like it brightens Caliopa's face, her eyes flickering to the bag as she hands the card back. "You reckon?" There is still doubt in her voice as she opens it, taking out one of the lipsticks, twisting it up. "You sure 'bout that?" She stares at it for a moment before she twists it back down, the blush rising again as she tucks it, and the bag, into one of her pockets. "Right nice of you either way, Kid." She glances between the pair, smiling, bright and sunny. "Everyone jus' calls her Kid."

"It'll be a right ace of a name when you're an old woman," Janus remarks, turning a dubious look down at Kid in response to her challenge. And as things get girlier and girlier here in the garage, he steps closer and closer to his waiting bike and ultimately swings a leg over the saddle and situates himself there. "Thanks again, Cali," he adds to the other woman, glancing over and grinning briefly as the bike's turbines spin up to a quiet whine. "I'll bring 'er by if I have any more trouble."

"I know so, Cali girl. Don't gotta slather it on, but you should wear some at least," Kid replies to Cali. "Don't have to all the time and you know me, I don't wear a lot myself, just what's good for giving a little augmentation to the look, y'know. A little color coordination or artful color mingling makes for a nice look." She grins, obviously quite proud of her self perceived fashion sense. She then looks back to Janus and snorts at him. "A first for everything, I guess, including dumb comments. Thanks for stating the obvious, buddy," she retorts casually.

Caliopa responds to the grin with her own, brightening up her face as the bike starts up straight away. "You do that, ain't ever a bother. Nice to see you, Erik." She wipes her hands against her coveralls, before burying them into her pockets again. "Kid, you know me, I ain't one for wearing stuff like that, not much. Got a piece for when Atti 'n' me go out but.." She shrugs, the movement odd, with her hands in her pockets.

Janus eases the bike up off the ground, retracts the landing struts and carefully maneuvers it in a tight curve around Caliopa's work space. The bike slides away through the hangar with barely a sound, slowly weaving around other vehicles in various states of disassembly, then accelerates as Janus gets nearer to the main door. Once outside he opens it up, rocketing across the landing strip and up into the sky, gone for a joy ride.

Kid shakes her head and turns to Cali after the guy has gone. "You know, Cali, you should try wearing some interesting stuff. I know you just like doing simple stuff, but its fun to dress up at times. When you're not on work or anything. Go clubbing, maybe. You work too much at times, girl. Doing all night stuff and all that. I know you got money to make, but you don't even charge enough to make real profit." Oh yeah, she's going there again.

Caliopa just smiles at her, the sunny expression unfaded as she turns to neatly pack stuff away. "Only reason I was here all night was I fell asleep on the truck, slept there." Her tone is even, unbothered by the comments, "Anyhow, I do dress up, when there is a need for it, ain't no point turning up here in silks. Figures the lads would reckon I was stupid if I did that." She clicks the lid shut on the box, turning to smile at Kid. "Charged him enough that he ain't gonna go elsewhere for workin's." She observes softly.

Kid just grunts lowly at that. "You can charge a bit more than that and still get positive spin. Plus they'll keep expecting that rock bottom stuff. You got the right idea, I ain't saying you don't, but you're taking it to the extreme." The girl purses her lips and just shakes her head a little. "And like I said, you don't wear that stuff when you come here.. you wear it when you go elsewhere. You gunna tell me it wasn't fun when you came over to my place and we got you all dressed up?"

"The part cost me a penny, Kid. Rest is just my time and it was worth doin' so I know I can." Evenly spoken again, the smile still in place, unruffled. "It were fun, and it is fun when I get dressed up for Atti, even if we ain't goin' out. Jus' the stuff I got, you got me before, it'll last me a decade or so at this rate." She hops onto the tailgate of the truck, hanging her legs over the edge, relaxing. "Anyone'd think you were bothered by me lookin' like I do. Like it mattered."

Kid smirks faintly and shrugs. "Not exactly bothered.. I'm just giving little nudges, Cali girl. You know me, experimental and all. Maybe you should consider the color and see if you can find some stuff to go along with it. When it comes to boys, I know they like seeing girls in new stuff every once in a while. Not saying what you got is bad, but its fun to experiment." She comes over and puts her hands on Cali's knees, peering at her closely. "If I was big on changing you for real, I'd be on you all the time, girl. I'm just looking for things so you can experiment too. After all, if you don't try new things, you never know if you might not find something you really like. Or that the elf likes." Her brows lift.

A blush does rise then and Caliopa studies her feet hard, swinging them on her perch on the tailgate. "Guess I kinda know what he likes well enough." She mumbles, the colour of her cheeks speaking for her clearly. "I oughta head back, you ain't wrong 'bout me workin' overly, he ain't barely seen me." She hops down, brushing her hands over her coveralls, cleaning them of the oil from the truck. "You heard anything new 'bout Kalvin?"

"You know what he likes now.. but you don't know what else he might like. That's how fashion is, girl. Always changing, always something new to play with." She grins as she leans back and frowns a little when Cali bring up Kalvin. "Only that it seems like word might be getting out a bit. But nothing new. Not much to see, you know? Unless you can find some wilderness guy to try and find a months old trail out in the woods." She shrugs faintly and moves past Cali to start out, giving her a light hip bump. "Glitter plum, Cali girl.. I bet you can find something to go good with that stuff. And you'd better let me see if you do."

Kid's comments spark a thoughtful look on Caliopa's open expression. "You reckon they could follow a trail like that? You know anyone?" She might be grasping at straws, but the worry for him does show in her face, the small shadows under her eyes, the work pattern. "I'll try it, see if it works, Kid." She smiles at the bump, the thought of Kalvin still written on her eyes and face.

Kid snorts faintly and pauses to glance over her shoulder. "Cali, I don't know nothing about the woods out there, but I know enough to know its like the Dregs. Always changing with the weather and junk. I don't know nobody that can do anything like that.. but if I happen to find someone like that, I'll let you know." She gives her shoulders a little shrug and continues on her way.