xp_logs | [Paul, Clarice] "And here I thought they were staring at /us/."

Backdated to Monday, Paul keeps his promise to get Clarice her driver's license. Clarice is irrepressibly cute. And, they add a new member to the family of cars at Xavier's, something that will seat more than three people.

Standing in line at the DMV was not pleasant no matter how warped your definition may be. It smells. People there always look like they're bums who came in from the street and the employees never smile. And if that wasn't enough, it was line after line and wait after wait, and don't move or else someone will steal your spot and you have to start again.

Clarice didn't care. She clutched her papers and tried not to bounce up and down as she waited in line. She was making Paul tired just looking at her.

Paul smiled wearily at the bouncy little purple girl beside him and counted his blessings. She couldn't fly. He wasn't sure she'd keep her feet on the ground otherwise. He sipped his coffee and looked around them. They were getting grim glares from a couple who looked like they made less in a year than he was planning on paying for his new 4Runner. He excused the purpose on the grounds that he needed to be able to haul children and cats and parrots about. Also, Clarice needed something to drive that was safe while she was learning. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was shiny. And blue. And very shiny.

"Chere, you're going to implode if you keep this up," he finally said.

Clarice stopped bouncing for a moment to consider this, "Nah, I'd explode. Momentum. Besides, it makes the people around us all nervous-like."

Paul put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a warm, brief squeeze. "You think it's that? And here I thought they were staring at /us/," he teased. Being with Clarice, as tiring as it could be, also made him very happy. She was irrepressible. "What should we do to celebrate after?"

"They just hate us 'cause we're beautiful and they're not." she stated grinning ferally at the couple one row over who were not staring discreetly, "Lunch. You need food and some relaxation."

Paul actually laughed then, shaking his head. "You're absolutely right." He gave the couple a brilliant smile of his own. "What would I do without you to keep my perspective straight, chere?"

"Well...you wouldn't be here. You'd probably be in some ritzy spa eating fake caviar and drinking wine that costs more than their house," she grinned evilly. She was terrified of someone making a scene.

Paul sighed deeply and looked morose. "Mon Dieu... I'm getting old, chere." He must be. The idea of being in a spa instead of here. Well, it was nice, it was. Clean and civil and polite and... he'd rather be here. In the DMV. With a hyperactive purple teenager. Being stared at by yokels and inbred yahoos.

"Smile! Or at least leer at someone," Clarice ordered noticing his look, "If we have to be in this stinkpit of humanity, we may as well enjoy ourselves. At least until they realize it's me getting the license."

"There's no one worth leering at in here," Paul noted, looking around. "Not even close. How do people survive in such an aesthetic wasteland?" He checked his watch. "Do you want to pick up the new car on the way home? It's in, you know. They just had to move the third bench from one of the others on the lot and install the DVD player."

"New car?" If Clarice had movable ears they would have perked up. "What new car?"

"Oh, I thought I should get something a little roomier than poor little Vega," Paul said mildly. "You can't even fit a third passenger in the back with Delphine and Bella. So I bought a new car that'll seat seven in a pinch. One I'd be willing to let you drive." He looked down at her with a completely neutral expression.

"Paul!! I love you!!" Clarice shrieked jumping into his arms unexpectedly, causing everyone in the DMV to stare. "Oh, sorry. Skinny. Forgot" she made do with doing a little happy dance instead of breaking every bone in his body. It was not a good substitute.

"I cannot believe you bought another car! And you're going to let me drive it! This is like, unbelievable!" she kissed him.

"Clarice, chere," Paul chided, catching hold of her and keeping her from bouncing up and kissing him again. "You're going to get me arrested before you even get your license. Come on." He pointed down to a clerk who was staring at them and pulling the "next counter please" sign away from the counter in front of her. "I think they're ready for us... or as ready as they're going to be."

"Oh. Right!" she headed to the now-open counter and the overweight government employee watching her warily. "I need a drivers license!" she told the older woman putting all her papers on the counter.

Paul smiled tolerantly at Clarice and then gave the woman a charming smile. "She needs her learner's permit. Her papers are in order, she's here to take the test."

The woman pursed her lips and took the papers, sorting through them slowly. "Go over to the computers and take the test. Then come back to me."

Obediantly, Clarice started the test, punching the answers on the computer screen with energy. "Ha! That was nothing!" she crowed, heading back to where Paul was wating.

Paul grinned at her. "Let's see if you study that hard for your other courses, eh? No fooling me now. I've seen what you can do when you're motivated."

"Shh!" she whispered, making shushing gestures, "Don't tell anyone. Or Paige'll get all upset at having brain competition. And I don't do badly."

"You don't do as well as you /should/," Paul teased, waiting for her results to come up on the screen. "I shouldn't spoil you so much, maybe we should make car-priviledges dependant on your grades."

"Uh! Paul! That is so unfair! I haven't gotten below a B in anything since coming! And I hate math!" Clarice whined, her car dreams disappearing in the yellowy flourescent lights.

"Here." The DMV woman interrupted, shoving a piece of paper across the counter. "Sign it. Don't lose it. It's your permit."

"There you go." Paul pointed at the paper. "Don't whine, Clarice, it's unbecoming. Sign on the line and get your photo taken or whatever it is you Americans do at this ritual moment."

She stuck her tongue out him and stood where the lady pointed, smiling broadly. A few minutes later she had a newly laminated plastic license with her name and picture on it. It didn't look half bad either.

"Congratulations," Paul said, looking genuinely proud. He put his arm around Clarice's shoulders and steered her out of the DMV as her eyes seemed glued to her license. "Let's go see about my new car, shall we?"

"My precioussss," she crooned, not wanting to put her new license away. "And your new car!"

Paul opened the passenger door for her and saw her settled in before going around to his own side. "Yes, the new car. Blue, for a change." He started Vega up and maneuvered out of the parking lot briskly as only those experienced on the racetrack or Autobahn can manage.

Reluctantly, she pocketed the license, "Blue? Cool. It'll need a new name."

"True." Paul leaned back in his seat, one hand on the wheel, looking very comfortable. "It's a rather mundane little car, a Toyota 4Runner. But it had the best safety for the versatility and power in its class. I was looking at a second-hand off-roading vehicle, but I got sucked into this one. Costs less than some I was considering and can still be used in the city."

Clarice nodded, not really knowing much about cars, "Is it shiney?"

"Better," Paul said, grinning. "Sparkly. Metallics in the paint. Very pretty."

"Oooh! Sparkly! That's even better than shiney!" leave it to Clarice to decide the sparkly was the most imporant feature of the car.

"Mm, you know, I liked the fact that it seats seven and has an excellent rollover safety rating." Paul reached over and ruffled Clarice's hair lightly. "But the sparkle was important too."

She rolled her eyes and tried to comb her hair back into it's usual unruliness instead of Paul-induced fluffiness, "Of course you'd look at the safety. You're all responsible like that."

"Hah, I'm not responsible," Paul said, laughing. "I'm worried about my insurance premiums, that's all."

"Uh huh, and I'm Hello Kitty. You just don't want anyone to know," Clarice laughed, "Don't worry. I won't tell."

"You're a good girl, chere," Paul told her. He signalled, changed lanes, and slipped between a minivan and a transport truck on his way over to his exit all at once. "By the way, don't do that," he said sternly. "That was bad driving."

She nodded, solemnly, "Okay. So should I ignore all your driving or just sometimes? Because you're the one teaching me. Don't want your bad habits."

"You can ignore it until you get into the new car," Paul said blithely. "After that, I'll try and behave. And I won't tell you my 'what country am I in again?' driving while jetlagged stories until you have your license."

"Heh, Moira and I are supposed to be working on my powers training. We haven't started yet, but we're going to see my range. So maybe you won't be jetlagged anymore." Clarice wasn't sure why she could teleport so much farther than Mr. Wagner, she just opened a disk and went through it to where ever she wanted.

"I hate flying," Paul said morosely. "I mean. Flying long distances in a plane. I can do it myself. But it disturbs people and then my luggage takes forever to catch up." They were on the 'automall strip' now, zipping past one car dealership after the other. "There we are." Paul pointed ahead to the Toyota dealership. "I can't believe I'm voluntarily buying a Toyota. I think I'm old."

"You are old enough for me to be your kid," she pointed out, grinning evilly. "Even if you don't look it."

Paul cast Clarice a glare mitigated only by his silvered sunglasses. "You're a terrible, terrible little girl sometimes, Clarice. Abusing your poor old teacher like that."

She shrugged, unrepentant, "You said it. I just reinforced it. Good habit, reinforcement. Helps me remember math."

"Hmm. Like being nice to Paul equals more time in the car?" Paul pulled into the parking lot and shut the car off. He patted the dash. "Don't worry, bebe," he told the car. "Papa still loves you."

"Yup, exactly that kind of math," she agreed getting out of the sports car, silently laughing as the salesmen charged towards them with a hungry look in their eyes, "Have I mentioned how much I like your class, recently?"

"No, but you can tell me in a minute how brilliant a teacher I am." Paul made a brief, imperious gesture with one hand and led Clarice to the manager's office. "Let's get the new baby and get on the road." The manager was already on his way to greet them even as Paul spoke.

Clarice eyed one of the salesmen appreciatively, before turning to glare at the one closest to her, "Not interested," she stated, following Paul towards the back. They never gave up.

There were a few more papers to sign and keys to be handed over and Paul made arrangements to have someone drop Vega off at the mansion later, after quizzing the manager thoroughly about the person who would be driving her. It wasn't too long, though, before Paul was holding a key out to Clarice. "Well, chere, let's go see the new arrival."

"Should I go buy a baby blanket for him?" Clarice questioned, accepting the key. "Will Vega be jealous?"

"Oh, I think she will be." Paul pointed at the new vehicle, a glittery blue 4Runner. "Maybe a baby blanket is in order. He's awfully new."

"Have you picked a name yet?" getting keys on key chains was difficult. So was remembering to bring your keys when you could always just teleport into your bedroom.

"Of course not," Paul said, running a hand over the hood. "We're just getting to know him."

"Shiney...how about Betelgeuse? He looks like a Betelgeuse," she suggested, "To go along with Vega."

"Betelgeuse," Paul said thoughtfully, petting the car. "Yad al-Jawza, eh?" He looked the car over and then looked back at Clarice. "No matter what I call it, that's what you're going to call it behind my back, aren't you?" he asked, smiling a little.

"Yad al-Jawza? I don't think I know those words yet..." Clarie tried to translate the Arabic. "Betelgeuse? And I'll call him whatever you want. But yelling 'Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse' would be fun! And it's the only other star I know of."

Paul laughed at her and shook his head. "You're impossible, chere. It means 'the hand of the Gemini', or so the old astronomers say. It's a good name. Betelgeuse it is. Now, hop in, and we'll go over the basics."

"Woohoo!"

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Rora: *glares* Mine.

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Clarice: *points to sword* share.

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Rora: *smiles serenely* Did I ever tell you I can accelerate your molecules to the point where you pass through all solid matter? Of course, you'd merely go down, and then you'd get out of my reach and then you'd be stuck in the middle of the earth. I hear there's no air there. *looks at sword, looks back* And if that fails. Well. I could always just make you explode.