temperence (temperence) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2010-04-14 17:19:00

Entry tags:

inactive - alisa lebeau, nicholas salem, team - champions

A Hard Day's Work (Possibly NSFW)
It had been over two months since Alisa had come to live with the Champions, and she had changed during that time. She had grown a bit more confident in herself, her stuttering was close to being gone forever, she had gained weight and now looked a bit healthier, and she even had a steady job with good income. Alisa also took Nick's advice and had been attending therapy sessions in the quarter once a week, o help her deal with her past life on the streets of New Orleans, and various other traumas. Alisa felt like a whole new person, almost as though she were reborn and given a better life.

But despite all of these good things, there were still things that urked her. Argo saw her as some best friend, no where near a woman. Ennie refused to see her after his powers went haywire, and she had not spoken to him since. But her biggest urk was that she was still not an official member of the "Champions". She just felt like some live in mechanic at times, but there was no room for complaint. Despite these issues, her life was a 110% better than what it had been.

Dressed in a white tank top which was over a black bra, a pair of army green cargo pants with a black leather belt holding them up, and a pair of black army boots, Alisa was hard at work repairing a neglected Motorcycle engine. She could not believe how people would treat their property like shit. Then again, she came from nothing so when she got anything, she cherished and took care of it. Oh how she wished some of these bike owners could walk a mile in her shoes.

Brushing some of her long auburn hair out of her eyes, she attached a part to her wrench that would allow her to remove stripped bolts. Someone obviously tried to do a home-made repair on this bike, and just did more damage. Part of her wanted to call up the owner and yell at him to buy a new engine. The other part of her knew that with her mutant abilities, she could easily fix the engine... which would make a pretty penny for her, Nick, and the shop.

Turning to her little AM/FM radio she found, Alisa turned it to a rock station she had come to love, blasting "Unwritten Law's" song "Save Me" into the shop as she went back to work on the engine.

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vicious_cycle
2010-04-14 07:37 pm UTC (link)

Nick makes his way back into the shop with lunch, walking his bike back in with two bags from Papa Gumbo's sitting on the seat. He closes up the shop doors behind him.
He's been fairly distant lately, letting Alisa run the shop most of the time. For the first few weeks he kept a close eye on her, but he's come to trust her more and more. When Roxanne was in town - well, he made the best of the time he could with the one person who really understood what the fusion with the demon was like. But she's gone now, time to get back to real life.

"Hey, you hungry?"

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temperence
2010-04-14 07:43 pm UTC (link)

She blinked, looking back over at Nick. She was no longer surprised to see him, since Alisa got used to him always coming and going for days at a time. Managing a small smile, she leaned over the engine some, struggling to get that damn stripped bolt off.

"You didn' 'ave to get me lunch, Nick." She grunted, finally getting the bolt loose. "But you know me pretty good now, eh? Yeah... ah'm starved. Fixin' dis moron's engine is makin' me hungry... an' angry."

Placing her wrench back down on the work bench and setting the new removed bolt next to it, Alisa made her way over to Nick, her smile soon fading as she looked at his face.

" 'ey, Boss? You okay?" her voice was full of concern as she reached for her lunch bag, or the one she thought was hers.

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vicious_cycle
2010-04-14 07:50 pm UTC (link)

The two bags are the same thing - Po' Boy sandwiches made from 'the leavings', all the meat bits that fell into the gravy trays during lunch rush - so a bit of turkey, a bit of ham, a bit of roast beef and so on, piled high on a sandwich with melted cheese, onions and mushrooms. There's also a small thing of soup for her, since he knows its her favorite.

"I'm fine, just... taking a bit of time to think on things. You eat, let me get that bolt for you. You're better at putting stuff together - we can both take it apart, eh?" he asks, taking up a wrench. Mutant powers are great, a little extra upper body strength here and there helps too though.

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temperence
2010-04-14 07:56 pm UTC (link)

"Don' worry, Nick... ah got it. Ah'm more worried about you." She called him Nick and not "Boss"... something she rarely did at work. Alisa took her container of soup and removed the lid, taking a few sips of it out of the carton. It was not too hot or too cold... just how she liked her food.

"You look jus' as bad as ah did dat night ah ran in here after Ennie's powers went haywire an' Argo gave me dat "Let's jus' be friends" speech. You wanna talk about it, or you wanna keep it to yourself?" Alisa placed her soup down on the workbench and her finger started to toy with the stripped bolt she removed before. "If you don' wanna talk about it, ah won' push you on it."

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	vicious_cycle 2010-04-14 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	He shrugs non-commitally at first, leaning back against his bike as he digs his sandwich out, finishing a mouthful before he says anything else. "Long story, got no problems talking." With her anyway - but then he and Alisa have a lot in common in their history, odd as it seems sometimes. "Just not sure you want to hear it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

temperence
2010-04-14 08:05 pm UTC (link)

"Well, you took de time to hear me out, ah can do de same." She smiled again, sitting down on a stool in front of her workbench, her hand digging into her lunch bag and taking out her sandwich that Nick got her. She took a bite of her sandwich, and then a sip of her soup before speaking again.

"Ah mean, if it's relationship stuff... ah'm sorta limited on what advice ah can give you. T'ough ah can always give you de same advice my t'reapist tells me... an' ah won' charge you a t'ing for it!"

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vicious_cycle
2010-04-14 08:10 pm UTC (link)

That gets a grin. "Of course I was here for you. Always will be, except when I ain't." They've long since talked out his wanderlust and hatred for feeling trapped. He's sure she knows what he means. And there's no question, over the two months, he has come to care for her, even if he keeps everyone at a bit of a distance.

"Yes and no. For a few days, there was another Ghost Rider... Roxanne... from another dimension. I helped her out with her issues here, and, well... only so many people know what its like. We got kind of close. She's gone now, probably not coming back."

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temperence
2010-04-14 08:19 pm UTC (link)

"Well, ah can manage wit'out you, Nick. Ah'm not totally helpless no more, but ah get what you mean. An' it don' bother me in de least." She nodded her head, taking another bite of her sandwich. She understood his problems, how it felt to be trapped somewhere and needing to get out. Though she never had the strength to move about as much as he did, she still understood.

When he spoke of Roxanne, her face changed from cheery to a bit sad. If there was anything Alisa knew about Nick it was his issue of dealing with the Rider inside of him, as well as trying to find someone to understand that. She placed her sandwich down and walked over to nick, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey... maybe she will come back. You an' ah both know 'ow unpredictable dis world can be. Ah mean, it's full o' surprises." her smile finally returned. "Even if she doesn' come back, ah'm here for yah... t'ough ah may not be a "Rider", ah do kinda understand you, Nick. So you got dat at least."

She bit her tongue suddenly. That did NOT come out well at all. Great, now she felt awkward... she did not know what to say now!

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vicious_cycle
2010-04-14 08:24 pm UTC (link)

His smile doesn't disappear, anyway, so apparently she didn't get too crossed up. He meets her gaze directly, giving her a small nod. "I know you can handle yourself, you've come a long way from when we first met, and I'm proud of you. Cause you're absolutely right... I know some of what its like to come from where you did. And you do understand me, better than most folk. Thanks... its not an 'at least' - I'm glad to have you about."

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temperence
2010-04-14 08:47 pm UTC (link)

This eased up her awkward feelings and made her smile as well. Chuckling, Alisa leaned in and gave Nick a peck on the cheek. "Glad to 'ave you too, Nick! An' t'anks... it's nice to know ah'm makin' good improvements!"

Alisa continued to smile as she slowly moved away from Nick and went back to her workbench. Her Sandwich was barely finished, and her soup was half gone as she went back to removing the stripped bolts on the Engine.

"Oh, Nick... remind me to yell at dis douche bag for bringin' me dis engine wit' dese bolts! Ah ain' NEVER 'ad a customer yet dat gives me dis piece o' crap!" She growled, getting another stripped bolt off. "Also... ah t'ink ah know what's wrong wit' it... mah powers detectin' a blockage in de engine... possibly a dead rat or sumt'ing gross... at least dat would explain de smell!"

She had to go back to work, as much as she wanted to sit next to Nick. Not that he would yell at her, but she as worried her actions would be too soon for him. Hell, even that kiss on the cheek felt too soon for him. He needed time to recover from Roxanne, right? He didn't need her moving in to take her place... then again, he never viewed her like a woman, no one really had. She grunted working on the final bolt.

	vicious_cycle 2010-04-14 10:46 pm UTC (link)
	He washes up, using extra disinfectant and the works, and starts opening things up to air the place out. "I don't like it any more than you, don't worry. And the motor oil smell will cover up everything else pretty quick. Let's get cleaned up and do dinner sooner rather than later... the shop can air out before we get back to work." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2010-04-14 11:04 pm UTC (link)
	He nods. "Go use the shower in the house, I'll use the mini stall out here. Meet you in twenty." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2010-04-15 01:25 am UTC (link)
	Nick doesn't own anything too formal, just a clean shirt, clean jeans, and a leather jacket, but it works. He finishes making sure he's washed all the grease off and fixed his hair a bit before wandering out to the shop. "You look great." he says, heading for his bike. "Ready to go?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	temperence 2010-04-15 01:57 am UTC (link)
	"Oui, ah'm ready to go, an' t'anks." She could not wipe that smile off her face, even if she tried. Alisa casually walked with Nick, making her way to his bike. Once there, she slowly mounted it and tucked the skirt of her dress under it, so it would not fly up when ridding with him. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2010-04-15 07:11 am UTC (link)
	He helps her onto the bike, then kicks his own leg over and rev the bike up, once he's loaned her a helmet. Its a bit of a trip, apparently he has somewhere out of town in mind, but not too far. As soon as he finds the steakhouse, he pulls the bike up, dismounts, and offers her a hand off. "Here we go, nice and quiet and out of the way." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	temperence 2010-04-27 07:44 am UTC (link)
	She was eating almost as fast as Nick, one of the many common traits they had together. "Well, ah like dis kinda fancy, Nick. An' as for mah paycheck... you can get dat over mah dead body!" She giggled a little, being sure to chew her food good, not wishing to choke on it with the speed she was eating it at. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2010-04-27 02:55 pm UTC (link)
	"Good, the shop keeps going the way it is, we can handle this kind of fancy a lot more often. And, really, I'm looking forward to you finishing classes so you can get paid a lot more, you definitely earn what you make." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2010-04-27 08:02 pm UTC (link)
	Its not that hard getting him to laugh when he's not in one of his darker moods, and it comes easily now. "Well, the longer the shop runs, and the better rep we get, the less we'll see ruined bikes, and the more we'll get people needing scratches fixed on their 'babies'. Hard as that is to believe now. The good work will eventually pay off though." (Reply to this)(Parent)