Log: Jake and Scott in the garage

[x-courier.livejournal.com]

Early Satuday morning, Jake comes back from his night on town and runs into Scott, who´s working on his car. There is talk of car-porn movie and the Danger Room.



Humming under his breath, Scott set the wrench aside and reached for a rag to wipe his hands. Now, this was how one spent a pleasant Saturday morning - with your hands in an engine and no one around to tell you that there were innumerable more productive uses of your time.

Home, sweet home, Jake thought, as he parked his car. Or at least, place of employment, sweet place of employment. His lips twisted wryly, and he stepped out of the car.

Scott looked over idly, spotted the red car - nice, but not as nice as mine, he told himself - and the familiar person stepping out of it. "Morning, Jake," he called over amiably.

Jake looked over, and changed his path. Socializing time. "Hey, Scott. No cane?"

"No cane. Hank will probably beat me with it when he finds me walking around without it, but at least I'll have had a few cane-free days before that." Scott grinned a bit sheepishly. "Anyway. You were out early."

"Nah, returning early," Jake grinned. "Was out celebrating being done with the files of doom yesterday. I believe in giving oneself treats for small victories."

"Incentive. There's a thought." Scott put the rag back down, then gave the engine a long, thoughtful look. "I need to talk Haroun into letting me help him with some of the Blackbird upgrades again," he said somewhat wistfully. "There's only so much you can do with a car."

Jake glanced at the engine briefly. Yup, that was an engine all right. He smirked. "Not if you believe ´The Fast and the Furious´."

Scott snorted. "Waste of celluloid," he said cheerfully, bending back over the car. "So," he said conversationally, "you settling back in okay? I kept meaning to look in on you but, well, distractions..."

"Ah, but shiny," Jake pointed out. He leaned against the side of the car, thinking about it. "Yeah, I think so. Nobody´s turned me into a frog yet, nor tossed me out a window, so I´m good. And I have a suite-mate," he added, sounding bemused.

"Wanda. So I heard." Scott couldn't help a grin. "She's something of a force of nature at times, Jake. Just to warn you."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, I´ve started to notice that. What are you doing, by the way?"

"With the car? Just adjusting a couple of things..." Scott gave the engine another thoughtful look. "There was a noise I didn't like."

Regarding him for a moment, Jake slowly started to smile, for once an entirely genuine version. "You´re really bored, aren´t you?"

Scott looked up at him, blinking. "Bored? Me? No..." he protested a bit weakly. "There are all kinds of things I could be doing back in my office. Really."

"Uh-huh," Jake said skeptically, still smiling. He could recognize a fellow workaholic when he saw one. Or at least someone who took his job very seriously. Jake approved of that in general as it made things easier for him in -his- job, but also because, well, he felt that people should take their jobs seriously.

Scott snorted, shaking his head. "Okay, you've got me," he said ruefully. "I finished all the paperwork I have just now, and since I'm not cleared for anything approaching normal training just yet, I have a little time on my hands."

"What is it you do, normally?" Jake asked curiously.

"What do I do?" Scott echoed, then shrugged. "I teach mechanical engineering and automotive repair. Or do you mean the other stuff?" The corner of his mouth tugged upwards.

"Mostly I meant the other stuff," Jake grinned. "Unless it´s a big secret?"

"Well, let's see... I put together Danger Room programs, supervise them, review them with team members afterwards." Scott reached for a wrench. "I play field leader in team-based scenarios. Write mission reviews. Put together training schedules. Collate cross-assessments, write tactical reviews... I could go on."

Jake committed this to memory. Never knew when it could come in handy to know. "Danger Room?"

"Some evening when you're free I'll introduce you to the Danger Room," Scott said. "If you're going to be working with Remy, you should probably know a little more about what goes on in the basement than you do."

"That would be nice," Jake agreed. "I´m not entirely sure I want to know all that much about a place you´ve called the Danger Room, though. Especially not up close and personal. It´s a little like not wanting to courier something called a Doomsday machine, you know?"

"But Jake," Scott said with a crooked smile. "The Danger Room is fun. Just ask the doctors. It provides them with a steady stream of low-level yet constant work."

Jake eyed him. "Was that supposed to be enticing?"

"Possibly?" Scott chuckled as he made another minute adjustment with the wrench. "Don't worry, though. What I had in mind was you watching a scenario or two from the control booth."

"Yeah, okay, that could be interesting," Jake nodded. Dry sense of humour, he noted. Interesting. He hadn´t been sure the man had a sense of humour at all before now. "Actually..." he hesitated. This was dicey area, but he was supposed to trust these people...

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Jake narrowed his eyes back at him. No, not yet, he decided, but. "I do need to brush up on my hand to hand. I´m usually more of the duck and run type."

"Remy planning to send you out into the field, is he?"

"Yeah. Because he´s evil and sadistic," Jake added absently, more because he liked saying it than because he thought that was the actual reason.

"There are a number of people you could do that with," Scott said, mentally filing away that tidbit. "Kylun, Haroun... me, when my knee's back in shape."

Jake paused. "Ordinary, no powers, hand to hand, right?"

Scott eyed him wryly. "Most of us put quite a lot of work into becoming proficient at ordinary, no powers, hand to hand. You never know when using your powers isn't going to be an option."

"This is true. I can´t really turn my powers off --" there was the briefest of pauses as Jake contemplated that horrible idea -- "but I can´t... Well, punch holes through mountains for instance. But you think it can be arranged?"

"Absolutely." Scott told himself that he was really just killing time here, and needed to stop playing with the engine. Straightening, he closed the hood, then smiled briefly at Jake. "Let me ask around, line up an actual volunteer."

Jake nodded. "Let me know when you´ve found someone. I´m going to go get some breakfast now, I think."

Comments

[x-kylun.livejournal.com]

"This is true. I can´t really turn my powers off --" there was the briefest of pauses as Jake contemplated that horrible idea -- "but I can´t... Well, punch holes through mountains for instance.

You might be surprised how much of a handicap that isn't . . . ;)