Forge and Crystal, the garage, Friday

[x-forge.livejournal.com]

Friday afternoon, while working in the garage, Forge finally meets Crystal thanks to an intended prank. The two are remarkably cordial, and Forge offers some advice and introduces Crystal to one of his favorite pasttimes



Forge peered out from under his car - it still felt odd to think of it as his car. While the structural damage had been repaired andparts replaced, it still wasn't close to finished, not when he wascoming up with new ideas by the day.

He didn't immediately recognize the feet, which didn't say much, only that it wasn't Catseye or Kyle coming to check up on him. Scooting halfway out from under the car, he craned his neck around. "Bringing food to a poor beleaguered mechanic," he asked, "or just sightseeing?"

Crystal turned towards the sound of Forge's voice, quickly discovering that the speaker was under one of the cars. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "I don't have any food with me. Someone said this room had interesting things, but all I see are cars. And you." Realizing how that could sound, she hastily added, "Not that you're not interesting, I'm sure you are."

"Oh," Forge said, finally catching a glimpse of Crystal as he pulled himself out from under the car and wiped his hands on his shirt. "That's right, you're one of the new students. You're..." Instinctively, Forge reached for his PDA before remembering he'd left it up in the room. Christine? Kelly? Carlie...?

"Crystal!" He exclaimed, standing up fully and snapping his fingers. "The one from... somewhere foreign, right?"

"Yes, I am Crystal Amaquelin of Attilan," Crystal replied. As she generally did when making this introduction while standing on solid ground, the introduction was accompanied by a curtsy. Crystal made vain attempts to figure out his name, but she couldn't recall ever hearing him be called anything that sounded like a first name.

Forge arched an eyebrow at the seemingly odd formality of Crystal's introduction. Perhaps, he figured, that was how things were done in Attilan. "Um, Forge," he replied, giving an awkward half-bow. "John Henry Forge, but no one really calls me that except my parents. Of... well, Dallas, I suppose."

Crystal caught Forge's quizzical look at her introduction. She was used to it. People around here seemed to prefer barging into rooms or insulting people to making proper introductions. And he wants people to call him by his last name? Interesting. Crystal glanced at the car next to Forge, then back to him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I interrupted your work, didn't I? Someone is probably waiting to have a functioning automobile."

"Work?" Forge laughed quietly. "Only in a manner of speaking. I bought Mr. Summers' car from him after he wrecked it, and I've been fixing it up and customizing it. I'm not part of the staff here or anything," he explained. "I just graduated earlier this month, actually. Taking college classes in the fall at Empire State University. Business program, my dad says it'll help me get a foot in when I start going into business for myself."

Who pays for wrecked vehicles? "Oh, I didn't think you were part of the staff, I just thought maybe you fixed cars for people," Crystal explained. She gave another glance to Forge's car. "It, ah, looks good, for a wrecked car."

"That's because I'm a genius," Forge exclaimed proudly. "And it's what I do. I build things, my mutation lets me invent anything I can envision." He held up his prosthetic arm for emphasis. "If it's electrical, mechanical, computerized, or any combination of the three, chances are I can recreate it, improve it, fix it - and there I go being reminded of that whole 'humility' thing," he said after realizing his tendency to run away with a conversation.

"So," he asked, picking up his tools from under the chassis, "I understand you're sort of royalty in Attilan. How's that working out for you?"

A look of slight surprise and amusement passed over Crystal's face at Forge's "modest" proclamation and speech. She couldn't help wondering what mutation had to do with being able to fix things, but before she could ask Forge what he meant, he had asked her a question of his own. She raised an eyebrow at the question and replied, "It's... working out just fine. I've always been part of the royal family; I'm used to it."

Laughing as he twirled a ratchet in his fingers, Forge shook his head. "If I can give a bit of advice?" he asked rhetorically, "People here are going to be a lot different than you're used to. They'll treat you differently than you're probably accustomed to - it's not a sign of disrespect, it's just a different culture. Sometimes they'll play a joke on you, even though it might not seem like one. Case in point," he indicated the garage around them.

"But if something's unfamiliar? Just ask. Heck, we have one student - one of my best friends, actually - who spent the first fifteen years of her life thinking she was a cat. She's a shapeshifter, you see. Purple cat, or a girl with purple hair, can't miss her."

Crystal's face flushed slightly as she remembered the reason for her excursion into the garage. "I've been here for a week; I've already noticed," she said, somewhat stiffly. "I saw this friend you mentioned on my first day here. Catseye, right? And while certain things may not seem disrespectful to most, they can be somewhat shocking to people who are not used to them." The flagrant use of certain words, for example. Words whose meanings I now know and am appalled by knowing. "Perhaps I should not be so polite to people? I should push and shove and be rude for no reason?" Crystal sighed before continuing. "I feel bad enough for the few horrid things I have said since I came here. Once, I was simply surprised, and the other time I was provoked, but still, I do not feel that I behaved properly."

Forge's face was impassive for a few seconds, then he burst into laughter, leaning heavily against the car. He waved his hand in apology, trying to catch his breath. "I'm not laughing at you, honestly. It's just the absurdity of someone, anyone, asking me how to get along with people. I have... problems..." he said slowly as he wiped his eyes, "relating to people sometimes. Machines always seem easier. Maybe it's my power, maybe it's me, I don't know. But as far as I can figure, there's nothing wrong with being polite. We could use more... nice people."

Crystal stared at Forge momentarily, then offered a small smile. "You don't seem to be having any problems relating right now," she said. "Plus, you haven't let loose a stream of offensive words, so if you ask me, our current interaction is more appropriate than previous encounters I've had in the mansion. This place could use more polite people. However, as you've pointed out, I am from a different culture. To hear others tell it, it's as if I am from another world. I accept that here, I am the odd one out. What others say and do is up to them, what I say and do is up to me."

Forge nodded and wiped his hair back from his forehead, oblivious to the streak of engine grease his hand left. "You know, it's funny," he said with a smile, "when I heard 'foreign royalty', I was expecting some snooty, holier-than-thou, arrogant princess type. But you're all right."

Glancing over his shoulder at the car, he raised an eyebrow and gave Crystal a wicked grin. "So, you know how to drive?"

"Thank-you," said Crystal, well-aware of the preconceptions others seemed to have about her. Granted, some of these opinions may have been true, but as far as Crystal was concerned, she had not actually done anything to warrant these opinions other than step foot into the mansion. Well, that and the whole cooking incident. "You seem 'all right' yourself. And no, I don't know how to drive? Why?"

Grinning like a loon, Forge pointed a thumb at the large black Jeep parked across the garage. "Care to learn?" he asked innocently.

Crystal looked in the direction Forge was pointing and eyed the Jeep critically. It sure didn't look like a beginner's car to her, but there were so many different cars here, and if that's the one Forge offered...

"Of course," she said with a smile. Unless it involves a stove or an oven "I'm always up for learning something new."

"Then hop in and buckle up, your Highness," Forge said with a smile as he walked over to sign out the keys on the small clipboard. "And allow me to introduce you to an American tradition we call 'off-roading'..."