xp_logs | Topaz and Fred || Driving Lessons (Backdated)

Topaz goes to see Fred about help with getting her learner's permit and driving. Backdated to February 7th.

The garage wasn't somewhere Topaz went often - she hardly had a reason, after all. So she was a little uncertain as she shoved her hands into her pocket, staring at the door. Mr. Dukes had said to stop by though...

She rocked back on her heels for a moment before knocking on the door.

Fred hears the knock over the quieted record turning away on his desk, and opened the door. When he saw Topaz, he laughed and moved out of the doorway to let her in, "Hah! Ah hadn't even put the sign-up sheet up yet, Ms. Topaz...!"

The teen ducked her head as she shuffled in, shoulders hunching up a bit. "Sorry." Her accent thickened just a bit, a sign of being flustered. "I just...had a couple questions. If you're not busy."

Fred nodded, and gave the small woman some space as he went over to turn off the turntable, crush out his lit cigarette, and turn off the copy of Night of the Creeps quietly buzzing away on the small TV. He wasn't used to having students in the area...he supposed he'd need to get used to it, "Course, ma'am. What can I help you with?"

"I was just...wondering...I don't really have any experience with driving. At all." She'd been too young in England, and her priorities after her sixteenth birthday hadn't exactly been in the right order - getting her permit had been basically last on the list. "Don't really know much about it, actually - other than Americans drive on the right." The lack of experience in England worked in her favor there - she didn't have to learn to drive on an entirely different side.

Fred blinked, and eventually remembered to nod and smile, "Well, right side of the road is a good place to start, kid. And there ain't nobody that starts with any experience. That's what the learnin's for." He wiped his hands on the rag in his back pocket and picked up a stack of papers and a pen, "Next order of business? Big pile of paperwork yah have tah fill out." Honestly, he tried sounding enthused about the forms he was handing Topaz. How successful he was is a very subjective matter...

Well, he tried, and that was what counted really. She tilted her head as she took the forms, flipping through them curiously. "I also know that you have to stop at red lights," she added helpfully. Trying to infuse a bit of levity into it really, and not be so nervous about the whole thing.

Fred was pretty oblivious, but he knew nervousness when he heard it. He patted Topaz on the shoulder and gave him his best reassuring smile, "Hey, trust me: it becomes second nature super quick. Millions of people have figured it out 'for you. Can't be that hard iffen that many stupid people picked it up, huh?"

She had to smile at that. "True enough. I'm a quick learner too." Hopefully that would work in her favor. "And I mean...once you know the basics, it can't be that bad. Right?"

Fred moved over to the car covered by a large, thick sheet, and began taking tools off of it and moving them to his work bench, "I won't say the learnin ain't scary, but it's more than worth it. It doesn't seem like it when yer innit, cause a the nervousness. The middle of learnin it Ah mean...uhm...Hey." He grinned after stumbling over his thoughts, and jerked his thumb at the covered car, "Yah wanna see what you'll be learnin in...?"

"Um..." She blinked at that, shuffling nervously. "Sure. Why not?" Maybe it would help a bit. When she said she didn't have much experience with cars, she meant it. Most of her life had been walking or public transport.

Fred pulled the sheet off to reveal a shining, totally restored 58 Bel-Air Hardtop in Black and Gold, with more modern steering
components in front of the drivers' seat. Fred grinned proudly at his vehicle, like a pleased parent, before looking back to Topaz, "Ah,uh, know most folk ain't intah cars, but yah gotta admit, it's pretty stylish for learnin in, yeah...?"

Topaz knew next to nothing about cars, but even she had to admit this one was beautiful. "It's brilliant," she said honestly, taking a step closer but still eyeing it wearily.

Fred, made bolder just by looking at his newly completed restoration, held up the key to the Bel-Air as it dangled from a faux rabbit's foot, "Yah know what? Yer gettin yer first mini-lesson right now. Hop in." he said, throwing the key to Topaz.

The teen fumbled to catch the keys, almost losing her grip on them in her shock. "I...what?" She said in disbelief. She'd come down with questions. She certainly hadn't been expecting that.

Smiling warmly, Fred held up a hand to calm Topaz down, "Don't worry. We're not leaving the garage. We're not even putting it in gear. Just hop in the driver's side and buckle up." He climbed into the passenger side and rolled down the window, so he had room for his elbow.

That was still fairly frightening, but Topaz swallowed it down, climbing into the driver's side. She felt very much her small height as she stared at the ceiling wheel. "Alright...what do you want me to do?"

"First thing's first, before anything else, you buckle up." Fred was doing his best to balance firm and nonthreatening, "Try to get into the habit of doing that before even turning the engine over, and you won't even think about it after a while. It'll just be automatic."

She nodded, buckling up. "Right. Sorry." She flushed faintly, a bit embarrassed. He'd said buckle up before they'd even gotten in the car. She just hadn't been thinking.

Fred pointed at the various components near Topaz, giving her time to note each one, "This is an automatic, so you'll shift to different gears with the shifter there, which means you can go in forward, in reverse, or in neutral. That's the wheel, of course. Your indicators right there for turns and your wipers. Behind the wheel yah got yer fuel gauge, speedometer and yer odometer, which tells yah how fast yer goin and how far you've gone. Then over here yah got yer tachometer, which...basically tells ya how hard yer engine's workin..."

Topaz nodded along, filing everything away as he said it, keeping it in mind. The tachometer kind of made her nervous though. "So if the engine's not workin', what happens?"

Fred nodded slowly, grinning a little as he watched her mind work over the controls. It was nice, seeing someone learning about something he thought so much of, "Good question, kid. If yer engine's workin too hard, the tach'll read much higher than it normally does. You'll also get used to the sounds and the feel of a car runnin, so you'll have a good feelin' about when it ain't runnin like it should..." Fred pointed at the ignition, "How bout yah turn the engine over, and hear what Ah'm talkin bout? Just keep your foot on tha break and don't touch the shifter, and the car won't move at all..."

She nodded again, filing that way. She would get used to the sound and feel. That was good. That was possible. At Fred's next words she took a deep breath, nodding. Okay. She was just starting to car. She found the break with her foot, pressing down, and turned the key in the ignition...

And physically jumped when the engine roared. For a moment she just stared at the wheel, eyes wide and heart pounding just slightly, though she wouldn't admit to that. She hadn't exactly been expecting to be so loud. Most cars weren't that loud. At least none of the ones she'd been in.

The girl took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and looked at Fred to make sure she hadn't done something wrong.

Fred's smile was broad and earnest, and he patted Topaz on the shoulder, "She's a whole nother animal, huh? Don't worry, that how she's spose tah sound. You'll get used to hearin a car and tha like. So, how's it feel tah actually be in the seat...?"

She relaxed marginally when Fred assured her it was supposed to sound like that. But wow. Loud. "It's...weird." That was the best word Topaz could think of to describe it. She wasn't used to this. She looked over the steering wheel, into the garage. It looked different. Everything looked different.

Fred couldn't have stopped smiling if he wanted to, "Now, before yah touch the shifter, we're gonna go over traffic law til yah know it like the back ah yer hand, but Ah thought it was important to show you that it's cooler than it is scary, ain't it?"

"It's not as bad as I was thinkin'," Topaz admitted. Then again they weren't actually driving. "Definitely okay with waitin', though." Learning and memorizing, that was what she was good at. The smile she gave Fred was surprisingly natural as she said, "Can't wait to get started."