AJ Swafford (complexissimple) wrote in genome_backsl, @ 2012-06-17 16:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | aj swafford, june 2012, maribel santa cruz, prompt table 1 |
Who: AJ Swafford and Maribel Santa-Cruz
What: May showers not brought on by powers
Where: AJ’s house
When: May 2032
Rating: Medium
Status: Complete
Word Count: 19,300
AJ enjoyed his days off most of the time. It would only be the end of the month and he would be back to his double jobs at the beach and the garage trying to help people while not-so-secretly calling them idiots. People had a tendency to do really stupid stuff like overheating their cars and freaking out over a slimy plant thinking it was a snake. It would also be the second summer spent likely trying to offer Mari swimming lessons to have his very-secret excuses for her to be clinging on to him. Mal was probably going to have her fun teasing him about the whole matter, but years of practice had made it easier to tune her out. Sometimes without her even noticing until he had said something incriminating.
Days off gave him time to work on his cars, leaving the garage door propped open to let in the cool breeze that came with their current downpour. Tune-us and making sure that Ebony would be in top condition before he even tried to take her out would make for a much nicer time once summer was completely blanketing the island and he had a reason to be taking the convertible out. More often than not it was his sister borrowing the car after she had done something with hers and was batting her eyelashes at big brother to give her a discount fixing it. And he would in exchange for her practicing not invading all of his dreams so he could actually sleep peacefully. He hit the ignition and just listened to it roar to life. Something was still off in the way she sounded though which made him frown trying to pinpoint it just from the faint rattle undertone. This was the sort of work that was easy to get caught up in and not notice when someone was sneaking up on him.
It wasn't that Mari didn't take care of her car. Oh no. She did as much as she could to keep that old thing running as best as possible. A teacher's salary wasn't much, and it certainly wasn't enough to buy a new car. So, Mari was holding out, trying to fix the most important things and saving what she could for that one future day when she would be able to get a new car. For now, she would have to deal with the stresses of worrying about when and where it was going to breakdown next. It was a good thing that the weather wasn't as freezing cold as it had been over the last few months, though that didn't stop it from still being chilly and ridiculously wet.
If ever there was a bad time to breakdown, it was now. It was her own fault too, having the crazy urge for frozen yogurt on a muggy, rainy day like today. Was it her fault that rainy days made her want to curl up at home with a sappy romantic movie and eat yogurt until she was lactating? Definitely not! It was evident by the way the engine was turning over (or not turning over) that Mari only have a few minutes before a total and complete systems failure. She had plotted her course wisely however, deciding to take the route that put her directly in front of AJ's house. Good thing too as her car just about gave up right then and there.
It wasn't like Mari to give up on anything, even if the whole thing seemed fruitless. That was why she had spent at least ten minutes in the pouring rain in nothing but her jeans and a white t-shirt trying to figure out how to jumpstart her car again. Asking AJ for help wasn't her giving up. It was.... asking AJ for help! She likely looked all a fright with her curly brown hair slick and sticking to her. Definitely not the most attractive picture in the world, Mari thought, but right now, she didn't need attractive. She needed a functioning car.
"AJ!"
AJ just looked at her and blinked before blinking again... Great. Somehow he had managed to knock himself out and was having one of his dreams because there was no way this was actually reality. It could only be his unconscious mind that would manage to bring Maribel to his house in the rain. Particularly wearing that outfit but even his dream self only took a moment to savor the whole picture before keeping his eyes focused above her neck. It would be his luck Mal had someone managed to get them in the same dream and she would slap him otherwise when they were both awake.
"Maribel? It's kind of raining-to-beat-all-hell to be out looking for an adventure now, isn't it?"
The funny thing about Mari's "adventures" was that when she wasn't looking for them, they were out looking for her. And some times there were even adventures within adventures. There was really never a dull moment in Mari's life. At least she tried to make sure of that. This was one of those times when adventure sought her out. She brushed back her hair and shook her head a bit, causing water particles to scatter in every direction.
"It's my car," she shouted over the pitter patter of the downpour all around her. "It just stopped on me. I was trying to figure out what was wrong with it but..." She pointed out to it. "It's in the middle of the street." She was afraid that in this blinding storm, someone would crash into it without seeing it. And then how would she get to work?
"Can you help me please?" There were tiny streams of water dripping down every part of her body, from the tip of her nose to the ends of her fingers. She wasn't sure if he would actually be able to get it started, but she hoped he could at least help her move it off the middle of the street.
AJ leaned in to turn off the convertible, making it slightly easier to hear her over the rain. He would rather not have to get out there where it was pouring when he was still dry other than the water that was starting to collect and creep in. Of course it was also Maribel so even trying to say no would be like trying to reject his sister. Mari was less likely to put him into a headlock until he either managed to get out or gave in to her demands.
He decided against the umbrella for the moment. The main point would be to get it out of the way before one of the idiot cops was coming along and bitching about her blocking traffic on the 1 in 49,393,209,023 chance that there would be two cars wanting to go opposite directions on that street and happen to meet within 20 yards of her car. "Well then we should probably see what's wrong, right?" He led the way back out to the street after knowing her car basically from memory.
"Wanna try it again just to see? If it doesn't work just move it over into neutral."
Mari felt awful that she had dragged AJ into this. She likely wouldn’t have if she’d just figured out how to make it work on her own. Her very last resort was asking AJ, and even then, she’d lucked out that she managed to spot him so quickly while he was working out of his garage. She wasn’t sure she was going to have enough courage to ring his doorbell and wait for him to answer her.
She followed him through the rain and pulled open her door, easily sliding inside the driver’s side and slipping the key in to try to turn the engine over. It whined as she twisted the key over and over again, while pushing down on the brake pedal. For a moment, she thought it was going to start, but it just died down again. “Come on. Come on. Come on.” She was trying to coax the car to start, if only just for a minute. “No me enciende!” She usually fell into Spanish when she got nervous.
“Sorry. It won’t start.”
The rain soaking through him was making it more obvious that this wasn't just a dream. Rain in dreams usually was a comfortable temperature that didn't have you hoping you wouldn't start shivering in front of the girl you were trying to impress. It also meant that actually trying to ush the car was going to take some effort and not like one of the little electronic cars the kids ran around in that always managed to die when you were the furthest away from home. "Neutral then, Adventuress!" He yelled back up at her. He waited until he heard it shift over. "And just steer!" Of course it was all the more fun trying to push when everything was soaking wet. He couldn't have gotten a nice ability like being able to just pick this up and walk right over to his driveway and leave it there. No, he just understood stuff that did him little to no good.
Apparently years as a lifeguard had to be good for something at least as it started to move. He also knew though how to keep it going though it still took plenty of effort. At least he only almost slipped the one time until it was just past the sidewalk in his driveway and finally took a moment to breathe. “Jesus fucking Christ...” If he wasn’t sore somewhere tomorrow it was going to be a miracle, and unfortunately there was only so much time to compose himself before she would be back there. He just tried to put on a smile though. “Remind me next time to call the tow truck.”
Mari had shifted the car into neutral and kept her hands on the wheel. She was too nervous to consciously summon up some super power within her that would likely help out their situation a great deal, though perhaps she had a bit of strength in her as well, keeping one foot out and pushing off the ground like a skateboard. Things like this only really happened to her. And of course, it had to be on a day like today, where she could have already been tucked into the couch with her sister just watching a movie and eating yogurt.
Somehow, by the grace of God it seemed, they managed to steer the car away from the street and Mari parked it safely by his house. She took a deep breath of relief before getting out of the car. And, as if driven by some invisible force, she went over to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Her nerves from earlier had finally loosened their grip on her, and now she was feeling almost weak at the knees in his presence. He had no idea how nervous she had been this entire time, though he could probably tell she was shaking now. “Gracias,” she whispered in his ear and softly, almost featherlike, she laid a tiny kiss on his cheek.
AJ was about too tired if he would have even bothered protesting against her giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek. He could play up the tough man card as long as he could manage it though. That included shrugging it off like he pushed around cars on a daily basis just for the exercise. "Yeah well... No problem, senorita?" Instead he reached over to ruffle her hair up even though the water that fled from her hair was just replaced by new droplets from the sky. Trying to get anything dry out here was going to be pointless and even what towels he had in the garage still had the lingering smell of motor oil.
"Inside though, I insist. The car can wait until you're able to dry off and I think I might have some bare necessities Mallorie left behind if you wanted to toss your clothes in the dryer." Except anything she did leave behind was almost definitely returned within 24 hours even if it was just a pair of socks. The point was to get the idea planted in her head before heading to the back door that led into the kitchen and opening it for her. "I'll just go get some towels and you can have a seat or... Wherever you're comfortable and all."
There was a giggle as he ruffled her hair and then a blush, which Mari tried her best to cover up with her hair that was now all over the place. Mari's hair was naturally curly and tended to frizz up in the humidity. And let's face it, it couldn't get any more humid than that. It was raining. She tried to salvage what little she could of a decent looking hair style before following him to the house. She had to admit that the idea of taking off her clothes (even if they were soaked completely and she was getting some new clothes) in his house made her almost as nervous as it excited her.
She waited for him in the kitchen though, not daring to sit down and get his chair all wet with rainwater. As it was, she had been trailing water for some time until she realized it and tossed some paper towels on the floor to absorb it a bit. She also took the liberty of wringing her hair out over the sink. It was probably the part of her body that had the most water accumulated anyway, and she didn't want it to keep on dripping everywhere. Once that was mostly done, she began to just look around casually. It hit her that she had never been inside his place before.
And then she grinned. I'm in AJ's house.
AJ knew it would only take a good thirty seconds at best to just grab a towel and return, but there was still the matter of clothing and pretending to take the extra time to look for something other than the t-shirt and thin sweatpants with a drawstring so she could tighten them up. He took the extra time just trying to pat dry a little if he was going to be trying to fix anything while it was still raining there was no point in putting on something dry. He double checked that it was neatly folded before heading back out to the kitchen where she hopefully hadn't decided to go raiding through his Diet Pepsi and insulin. Though why anyone would want to start shooting themselves up with insulin for some form of fun was completely beyond him.
"Unfortunately this was the best I could find on short notice. At least it should fit?" AJ set the clothes on the table and took one of the towels to drape it around her shoulders. He was having a hard time though just letting go of the ends while he was just looking at her. It was rather easy to get distracted in studying the contours of her face and the way her cheekbones curved. He'd been that close before in swim practices but the look on her face at that point was more usually panic. She was still wet, but at least both feet were on dry ground.
Mari had pulled off her sneakers and socks by that time, since her wet socks were making her feet cold. She had fashioned some makeshift sandals out of paper towels and looked to be almost skating around his house as a result. That or she was doing a good job of cleaning his floors. She was beginning to shiver more and more violently. Winters were terrible for Mari, and she suspected it had something to do with that tropical blood in her veins. There was no doubt that she did much better for herself in warmer climate.
She was just about getting curious as to where AJ had gone off to when he returned with warmth and wrapped it around her and, "Ahhh." Her eyes closed as she snuggled against the towel. Her body still trembled as it tried to warm up, but she was definitely feeling better. "Thank you," she said, this time in English, and managed to open her eyes again. He was a peculiar person. Just standing there looking at her as if her hair had a swarm of bees in it. Well, maybe it looked that way right now. She wouldn't doubt it.
The back of her finger touched one of his before looking up into his eyes. "Aren't you cold too?"
"Nah. It's not really all that bad out if not for the raining and it's pretty comfortable around here. Or at least inside, but you're still not really dry yet. Just..." Like any other time he had her in this proximity he was fighting off the urge to just kiss her until she forgot whatever little flirtations she would have with other guys. Just friendly conversation knowing Mari, but being a male he also knew what other males were interested in. It was one of those things he couldn't figure out no matter how much studying he did was how exactly people meant their words across the internet. Even his little bits seemed to just come across as innocent.
Then she was probably one of the first girls he wasn't making a conscious effort of trying to get into her pants every other moment of the day. "And even with an umbrella I'm more likely to just get wet again trying to fix up your car if it's something minor. Anything major though and I will need to call for a tow to get it over to the garage." Then he could deal with the boss giving him a glare for only charging her the cost of parts and less than a tenth of the labor. Though in his professional opinion the car was getting close to needing duct table just to stick together in some places. Given time and some money though he would have loved to have redone most of what was under the hood.
"Just distracted with silly thoughts..." He slowly let go of the towel though still distracted with her eyes. "If you'll come this way though I can show you where the bathroom and laundry room is so you can get changed."
Mari let out a breath. For some reason, her heart was going at a million miles an hour. Was she expecting something to happen here? Had she temporarily gone insane and actually believed for a split second even that AJ Swafford would look at her and think of anything other than a Hallmark Christmas card? No. She knew better than that. She knew he was way out of her league, a professional among rookies. She had only asked for help with her car, and that was all she was expecting to receive.
She followed him quietly though still concerned over his body temperature. The last thing she wanted was for him to get sick on account of her stupid car breaking down. "I'm not really in a rush to get anywhere. I mean... you don't have to go out there and look at it right now. Might probably be better if we wait out the rain." Mari wasn't sure if that was exceedingly rude of her. He had opened up his home to her, and now she was asking to stay longer. And who really knew how much longer the rain was going to last? "I mean, unless you have other stuff to do, which is fine."
"Around here though you might be waiting out the rain for a few days. Or a few weeks depending on how things go. At least I'll be able to tell you what's wrong with it." It wasn't that he didn't want her there. Hell the idea of having her stuck there for a few days didn't sound half bad other than he'd lend her a car before he'd try to keep her locked up there. Even without the car she could at least walk home rather than end up feeling like a princess locked in a tower. He could only guess at the sorts of places that her imagination might go if she wasn’t able to leave.
"I was mostly playing around with Ebony so she's ready to get the dust blown off. Not exactly going anywhere in the rain with the top down. I should probably be asking what you were doing driving in this weather for not being in a rush to get anywhere?" Especially when it went down his street, but it was also a small island. About anything could be considered just down his street... "Get dried off and changed. You'll probably never even notice I'm gone unless it’s something that will take all of 15 minutes to put you back on your adventurous path.”
He was right. There was really no telling how long they would have to wait, though Mari wasn't worried about getting home any time soon. She didn't want to be in his way though, as it seemed like he had been busy working on his car. Perhaps it was better to just let him take a look at hers before she took it back home. Maybe he had other plans for later, though Mari's imagination didn't want to think about what those plans without her could be. "Oh, I was just going to get yogurt. Sasha and I like to curl up on the couch on rainy days like these to just watch movies and relax."
Slowly, she took the clothes he was offering her and nodded to him. His house was quaint and just spacious enough for one person to live in comfortably. Mari liked that. She couldn't understand why. She just knew that it was all so very... AJ. And she just couldn't help liking everything about him. Before she stepped into the bathroom though, she set the clothes down by the sink and reached out for his hand, holding it lightly in her damp grasp. Her eyes found the floor rather interesting, and she couldn't stop biting her lip. "Be careful..... okay? I think I heard thunder."
AJ nodded like he could understand that. He was actually wondering where there was yogurt good enough to send someone out running around in a rainstorm-turning-thunderstorm when from the sounds of Maribel’s house they were not usually lacking for food. She probably ate more than he did, but comment on such sounded like a quick way to get himself slapped soundly. Then her curves were all the easier to make out when most of her clothing was clinging to her like it might fall off otherwise.
AJ just chuckled a little and bowed down like he'd seen in Titanic a few too many times (someone had to trick him into watching it with the fact that there were boobs...) and kissed her hand. "A little bit of thunder doesn't scare me." Of course that would be the exact moment when another rumble came through the house. AJ just looked up at the roof a little and shrugged it off. The chances of actually getting struck by a bolt of lightning were minimal when there were plenty of things that would be higher than he was. "Sounds like St. Peter just got a strike. So at least if something happens, he'll be in a good mood." He just smiled again and headed back out, leaving his towel at the door.
Mari had actually never seen Titanic. For all the boasting she did about being an avid romantic movie watcher, that was the one movie that had managed to escape her all these years. Of course, his gesture didn't go unnoticed. In fact, the second he'd stepped away, Mari closed the door to the bathroom and proceeded to do the most awkward and random victory dance/jumping around(?) ever. She wasn't wet enough anymore to have water bouncing around everywhere, but her hair sure managed to spray drops of water at the mirror. Mari flailed her arms around and was glad for the privacy that she likely would have never gotten in her own house.
After about a good five minutes of celebrating (getting a small tiny kiss on her hand), Mari tried to calm herself down and went to work at getting all the wet clothes off her. She was still cold and decided it was probably best to get a quick shower, at least to get the rainwater out of her hair. She felt awkward just using his shower and his soap and even his shampoo, but if she waited any longer, her hair would just be unmanageable. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her with her hair going rogue.
She slipped out of the shower once she was done with a towel (was it his towel?) around her. Her hair was twirled up and pinned to the top of her head as she dried off and put on the clothes he had found for her. They were rather loose, since they belonged to him, but Mari was able to twist the ends around to make them fit her a bit better. They worked out alright for the most part. She hadn't heard AJ return, though that could have been because the noise of the shower going did a good job of blocking out everything else. She walked out of the bathroom, towel drying her hair and holding her rain-soaked clothes at arm's length.
He hoped he was playing it cool enough for all intents and purposes. At least she was out of sight and getting dried off which was clearing his head considerably. She seemed to have the general effect of making everything seem a little fuzzier and brighter which might have been her power if she hadn't admitted to being able to, at least to a degree, do the same stuff he could do. She just had the same pitfall that he did so often when it came down to a lot of things. Just because you knew how to do something didn't mean that you actually had the ability to do it. It did make trying to understand all of the paperwork that came with his insurance far easier to understand however.
He headed back to the garage for the umbrella. It would have been dryer to be able to just push it the rest of the way into the garage, but that required the double work of getting one car out and getting Mari back out to help steer so it didn't go curving off into his back yard. There wasn't much back there but it would be hard to get it back out again. He just proped the open umbrella on his shoulder to put his hands free and pushed open the hood. It only took a few minutes of inspection to see exactly what was wrong. The slightly loose battery wire he could fix in a matter of minutes, but the spark plug looked shot to hell. AJ took it back to the garage to make sure but his suspisions just proved correct. He didn't have an extra without heading to the hardware store or down to the garage. Otherwise everything looked like it should work. Then it was practically turning into one of his own the way he knew the inside of it.
Heading back in he didn't think too much about pulling off his wet shirt in the kitchen and draping it over a chair before trying to dry off with his towel and head back to his room to get a replacement. He turned the corner however to find Maribel standing there with her clothes held out like they were going to start attacking in a minute. "Utility room is just across the hall." He went and grabbed the door for her before noticing the familiar scents of his shower supplies. Well that had been less than expected... Then she probably also didn't expect him to show up without a shirt forgetting she probably wasn't still behind a door.
It was probably a bit presumptuous on her part to think that AJ had given her permission to use his shower and all that, but Mari wasn't about to put on fresh clothes having just been through a rain storm. No, she had definitely done the right thing, and at least she didn't smell like mother nature had tinkled all over her. Of course, all mostly coherent thoughts fled her mind the minute she saw him walk by her without a shirt on and dripping wet and... She gulped. Tried to form a complete sentence. Failed. Tried again.
"I uhm... you know, it was.... The thing is that... Well, I felt, you know... And I just had to get that, you know.... off me and... I'm sorry." She was probably turning red as a beet as she looked him over, unable to help herself from making it painfully obvious. She had seen him shirtless and wet plenty of times before during their swimming lessons, but that was different somehow. She was screaming for her life then. This was... sexy? Did Mari know the meaning of the word? Was this how it felt to feel sexy, while wearing a boy's clothing and standing in his hallway gawking at him while he stood there shirtless? Mari had that distinct weak in the knees feeling again and she leaned against the wall to keep her balance. Her tongue was so numb that she couldn't even speak properly.
"Did yer getter fixed?"
There were plenty of times that AJ doubted the validity of any of the things his sister claimed that Mari dreamed about. Mostly because it seemed like the best way to be able to just mess with his head. It was a little easier to imagine when she was staring at him while a small part of him was also pretty sure that about any male would get mostly the same response when it was Mari the innocent. And here he was having tried to not trip over himself for over a year now. And it had been a pretty eventful year at that, and yet somehow she was legitimately standing there in his hallway with what sounded like an apology. It was hard to tell between the pauses and pronouns exactly what she was apologizing for... "It's fine. It's not like a little hot water is going to break me suddenly."
When she wasn't moving though he had the kindness enough to just take her clothes and toss them in the dryer to run. He didn't have any of those frilly little sheets to make them smell like sunshine and unicorns, but they would be dry at least. “Partly, but unfortunately I’m going to need to get a spark plug before I can actually fix it for you. Which I could do now, or... We could stick around here until your clothes are at least dry. I’m sure you don’t want to go home in that.” It looked far better on her than it had ever looked on him.
She silently thanked him for taking the clothes. She would have done as much herself had the bare chested sight of him not paralyzed her on the spot. Absently, she continued to rub the towel over her head, not really making much of an effort to dry her hair and likely just making it frizzier than ever. She needed a comb, something strong that wasn't going to get caught and break off in her hair, but she wasn't about to ask him. He'd done enough for her already.
Mari frowned as she heard about the deplorable conditions of her car. She knew it was bad. She just didn't think it was this bad. With a nod though, she brought the towel down and let her hair fall in curly waves down onto her shoulders. There was a tingly feeling coursing through her body, one she couldn't quite distinguish, though she wasn't entirely hating it. "I can wait. If that's okay with you?" She offered him the towel though.
"Seems like you need it more than I do now."
AJ wouldn’t have qualified it so much bad as a minor nuisance as it was just going to take a little bit of effort. If she had broken down at his workplace she probably could have been out of there in no time and back on her way so she could return to her sister and whatever movies they were going to watch. However the clean clothes in question would have probably been a jumpsuit and even that was going to be questionably clean. Here she also had the whole shower to use. He was also considering other plans for the moment and how to possibly get her to just agree so she wouldn’t have to wait around there any longer for him to get things done. “I wouldn’t have suggested it if it wasn’t okay. And you can toss that in the hamper. Just a little damp and in need of something dry.” He probably should have taken the towel out of the kitchen. Bachelor life was not exactly impressive to most girls.
“Besides I don’t have a hair gun thing that dries up your hair so that’s about the best I can offer for your hair.” He pushed a stray lock off of her forehead and avoided studying her too intensely. “There’s a TV in the living room if you want to turn that on and I’ll just go get changed into something dry. I know it’s not much of an adventure, but I’m not exactly sure what else you do with someone else when it’s raining” That happens to have a PG rating at worst because somehow his usual thoughts on how it would be nice to spend a rainy afternoon did not sound like they would be high on Mari’s list of things to do.
Mari decided to keep the towel wrapped around her. It was useful for keeping her damp hair off her back and shoulders and also helped to keep her warm. Mostly though she just liked the way it smelled, like laundry and something something something AJ. Yep. It definitely smelled like him. She wondered if there was a way she could just keep the towel and maybe sleep with it. Maybe she could have sweet dreams with him all wrapped around her like-- Thunder seemed to bring Mari out of her mini-daydreams, and she grinned at him.
"Hair gun? You mean a hair drier." She bit her lip though, as he brushed her hair away. Every time he touched her like that or even looked in her direction, she could feel electricity crawling over her. Why did he do those things? Was this how all boys acted around girls? No boy had ever done that to her before, but perhaps this was normal. She nodded but remained in her place. "Sounds about as good an adventure as any." Her hand tightened her grip on the towel over her before she shyly moved on over to where the TV was. This felt a bit awkward, and she didn't know why. She was just excited and nervous at the same time, and she sure didn't want to go home now.
"You are very happy for someone who is still a bit wet and basically stuck here until you can get some clothes that fit you." Though it definitely looked good on her, but those were the sorts of thoughts he would just have to save for later. "And I'm pretty sure it's a gun. I have heard of more injuries from those than about any other appliance. Plus they're one of the few things I can't fix." Stupid things seemed to get a "charge" out of shocking him half to death. He also didn't have particularly long hair that took a long time to dry so there was usually no need for it. Plus he could only guess at how much of an issue it would be to try and get motor oil out when he already hated anything in his hair.
"See if you can't find something. I hopefully won't have to make more than a call or two to see about that spark plug, but probably looking at $15 on the high end. Plus..." He folded his arms, figuring he could at least pretend to have a little bit of modesty and cover up his chest. "Should probably see about a shirt and all." AJ just nodded in punctuation and headed back to his bedroom hoping the sideway glance to see if she had been watching wasn't noticable.
The call to the hardware shop proved fruitful if you ignored the whiney bitches not wanting to go out in the rain to deliver it. There was only so much he was willing to offer for the extra assitance as well, but at least it would be there. It was starting to limit up his options though on what to do so Mari wasn't stranded. Oh sure, he could go out and run around to get it, but he could also see how willing she was to jump back up and possibly go with him. He returned back to the living room and just sat down. "Good news is they have the part. Bad news is they won't deliver in a downpour."
Mari was relatively happy all things considered. She was in his house. Why wouldn't she be happy? She was wrapped in his towel and was wearing his clothes. She was about as happy as a camper could get at this point. "Well, I know I'm... I mean, my car is in very capable hands, so I'm not worried." She laughed as she settled on the couch. "Yes, it's true. Sasha and I have had some very close calls with hair driers. Though, in my house, it's more an issue of losing them. I have a theory that our couch is actually a monster that eats whatever you set down on it. I swear, I lose a calculator almost every year, and cleaning out the couch once, I found about five."
And she did watch him go, though she hoped she wasn't making it obvious and tried to turn back toward the TV if she thought he was glancing back at her. A billion channels and nothing good on. Mari kept flipping through the channels. It amazed her that a TV could have this many channels. Her own set back at home only had the basics and that strange Spanish station that would play reruns of Rugrats in the mornings. Mari could swear that the same person did all the Spanish dubs for every single thing she saw on that station. She wondered if that was good enough for a career change, though of course, she wasn't thinking too hard on it when she felt AJ plop back down next to her.
"That was fast. Thank you." She grinned and slid a little lower on the seat. This was a really comfortable couch, and if she wasn't careful, she could end up asleep until morning on this thing. "I guess I'm going to be here for a while then. I should call my mom to let her know I'm all right." She looked around her and then sighed. Of course. This day just kept on surprising her. "I left my purse in the car." She shook her head. "Think I can borrow your phone? I'm so sorry. Please let me know how I can make it up to you for all this."
AJ just listened to her go on about the vanishing electrical items and the evil couch. It was lovely just to listen to her voice even when she was talking about the silliest little things. "Sure you don't send them just flying everywhere like tic tacs?" He finally replied with a grin. It had to have been at least six weeks later that he still found one that had rolled off between two of the garage doors in a spot that rarely got cleaned correctly. It had brought a little smile to his face even though he still wasn't sure what she had been yelling about in Spanish after the candy explosion. Half of the fun of the aftermath was trying to guess.
“I am nothing if not efficient, Miss Santa Cruz. That is why you are never going to find a better mech on this island, and you can feel free to remind my boss of that.” It was like he had heard somewhere that if you enjoyed your job you never worked a day in your life. AJ loved his job. It didn’t keep him from his summer beach duties, but if there was one thing people were going to need no matter how advanced things got, it would be someone who could fix it. And sometimes he rather liked getting the opportunity to just spend time with his favorite customer. he only had to move around a little on the couch though to get his phone out of his pocket enough to offer it to her. He had a perfect opportunity here to just put it out there and see what he got back. “You could let me take you to dinner.”
"Hair driers and calculators are not as difficult to spot as a little tic tac," she said. She couldn't know he was thinking of that incident with the tic tacs. It had been something she had long forgotten, as her purse tended to throw up tic tacs all over the place every once in a while. She hadn't forgotten him though and how kind he always was to her. That was one of the reasons she didn't listen to what some people out there said about him. She saw him for the kind, decent person she knew he could be. And liked him all the more for it.
She was about to reach for his phone when her hand stopped in mid-air. It was like one of those scenes from a movie when she was just slowly raising her eyes up to his face, staring at him with a slightly bewildered and slightly curious look. Was... Was that... No, could it have been? Act cool, Maribel. Act cool. She chewed on her lip, and despite her mental chanting, it wasn't enough to keep the blush from spreading across her cheeks. "Dinner, huh?" She reached the rest of the way to take his phone, making sure she brushed his palm with her fingers. The moment before she answered seemed to take forever, as Mari formulated the right response to his offer.
"I simply don't think that will be enough. Now... dinner and an adventure... That may just do it."
For a moment he was considering that he might not have been imagining things when she was looking at him. Or that she might have actually started blushing just sitting there while he was waiting for an answer one way or another. He could even about hear the almost "I told you so"s that sounded particularly like Penny at her smuggest. Along with a particularly long monologue on how he should be on his best behavior or she would personally kick his ass no matter how sick she was at the time. Truth be told, he actually believed she would too. He tried not to smile too much though as things were heading in the right direction. She would say yes and he would have to remember what shoe box he had actually put his neckties in. He wasn’t sure where he would try to take her, but it would have to be someplace nice.
And then came the slow crash as she mentioned another adventure. Adventure was not a date. Adventure was something you did with friends and boys when you were trying to let them down easy. He had gotten himself so positive and sure in that moment that it was hard to hide the disappointment as he sat back again. "That would be nice too. You should probably get your mom called though in case she's been trying to get ahold of you..." He would just have to wait until later to hit his head against the wall. Aiden, you complete idiot... Why do you even care so damned much?
Mari could feel the change in the air between them. She had said something wrong. What had she said wrong? Certainly, it couldn't have been her idea for an adventure. That was probably just her immature excuse to spend more time with him. Besides, he hadn't actually said the word "date". Maybe he was just asking her to dinner without any strings attached. Though Mari knew this conclusion came from all those voices of people who had a certain perception of AJ. And now... well, she felt like she had ruined everything. As usual.
She took his phone and dialed her house number, all the while thinking hard and fast about any way in which she could salvage her blunder. Nothing was coming to mind, and she could have kicked herself for letting this happen this way. She was so distracted that she almost missed when her mother picked up the phone and repeatedly said, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"
"Mamá, it's Mari. Just wanted to let you know that the car broke down, but I'm okay. I'm with AJ." She waited to hear her mother's response. "Yeah, he's great. Helped me out a lot and..." She glanced over at him, just chewing on her lip again. "And I think we should invite him to dinner sometime. Don't you think?" Her mother went on this huge long rambling speech about having to get the house all cleaned up and ready as if the dinner was going to happen in five minutes, but Mari was hardly paying attention. She was just hoping she had won a few points there with tossing out the possibility of a second dinner "date".
"Sounds good. All right, mom. Te quiero mucho. Bye." She sighed and hung up before her mother could protest too much and handed the phone back over to him. "So, maybe after our first dinner and adventure, you could join us for dinner at Casa de Santa Cruz?"
This was backpedalling faster than car with broken brakes in San Francisco. Then there was always another uphill to try and slow you down before you got to the top of the next one and this was feeling more like he was going to have to find an anchor soon or end up sliding right into the deep end of the Pacific. Or last he checked meeting the parents wasn’t something you did a lot of in terms of coming over for dinner. It was usually more along the lines of standing there while they almost intimidated the hell out of you before you got the chance to leave. The point was that you got to actually leave and enjoy the rest of your evening. Plus it sounded more like a thanks for helping her out more than anything. He was pretty sure that this was supposed to be something nice considering the holidays and his birthday hadn’t passed without getting some form of food. Food in general seemed like an important thing with Maribel.
He leaned over and picked up a rubix cube that was sitting on the side table. It was something distracting even though he was purposefully trying to mess it up even more his hands were slowly moving it back to six solid colors. “Really you don’t need to go through all of that trouble over a little thing like a spark plug. It’s not like I’ve been immediately running out to go and get it so I can fix it. Only a small part of that has to do with not wanting to work on something electrical in the rain. It would only take a little bit to move my car to get yours inside where it wouldn’t be that much of an issue. Just being able to take you out would be nice.” He examined the cube in his hands, just flipping it around and examined the perfect sides. Apparently he couldn’t even do that right.
And that was that. Dinner was just dinner. Nothing more. Nothing less. Mari should have figured as much, though her usual "dreams come true" motto often blinded her to the reality of the situation. She should have been disappointed, and perhaps part of her was, but she also knew that despite it all, he was still her friend. Or at least she hoped so. Had he not been, he wouldn't have asked her to dinner, right? The idea of just being able to hang out with him would have to do for now. As much as she wanted a boyfriend and as much as she wanted that boyfriend to be named AJ Swafford, she wasn't about to risk losing his friendship.
She decided to just watch him quietly as he rearranged the cube and got it all perfect without even looking like he was trying. If only understanding boys was as easy to her as solving that cube was to him, perhaps she wouldn't get herself into these sorts of situations. Then, she was juggling about a handful of powers in her head that just focusing on his at the moment was taking a toll on her. "You're very good at that," she said quietly. "You're very good at a lot of things." She scooted a little closer and lightly examined the cube. "It's an algorithm. I don't know how I know. I just do. Takes a lot of steps to get it right, but once you do..." Mari wasn't sure where she was getting at. She just knew she wanted to make things right.
AJ just kept turning it over in his hands. He had gotten used to the little thing and just the weight of it. One of those things that made him smile to himself because at least he knew he wasn't stuck in some dream. He had memorized every angle and didn't tell a certain intruder so she wouldn't be able to mess with him. "You have to work from the corners. Or at least that's how I do it. Figure out the boundries and from there the center becomes the hardest part. It's just hard to crack the outside," he replied without looking up and just turning it around until the center squares were the only thing that was different.
"Apparently I'm not so good at things that matter though. Keeping things running is about as good as I do on anything these days." And he was getting particularly good at self-pity but that was something that had been come and go for years when he was having a bad day. Then right now it could also just be that he needed something to eat. "If life were as easy as a rubix cube, I think I'd have it made."
The cube was of little interest to Mari. Just because she sort of understood it thanks to acquiring his power didn't mean she actually liked it. She was being nice and paying attention to him, because, well, it was him. Anyone else, she would have changed the conversation, but she wanted to get to know him and she had a feeling that this was the only way. She couldn't recall them having such a serious conversation before, and perhaps this was the start of something bigger for the two of them. Mari couldn't be sure, and she didn't want to get her hopes up for nothing.
"What makes you think you haven't made it?" she asked. Slowly, she reached over and held the cube still in his hands. He wasn't going to say much if he was still fiddling around with the thing, and perhaps she could get him to actually look at her now. "AJ. You have a beautiful home. You do something at work that you love to do. You're healthy and strong. Smart. Funny. Caring... If that's not making it, then I don't know what is. Do you.... do you trust me?"
AJ just looked down at her hand trying to stop his from twitching all over the place. he probably sounded a little smarter when he didn't actually think about what he was saying. his power would just take over where as AJ's brain usually just came up with really sarcastic insults. "I have a house because it was really the smart thing to do rather than pay rent for something that was never going to be mine no matter how much money I put into it. I like my job and I'm good at it, but it's not exactly all that prestigious. Plus I've already seen what happens if my weird power thing goes all dead on me and then... I don't even know what I would do because I am really not that smart without it. I'm not exactly sure how right you are on the healthy and strong there..." He couldn't have what he wanted though, and what was any of it worth?
"And I have friends. Not a lot, but enough... It's just facts that aren't always good or bad. They're just things and the way they are." He finally looked up at her. "I trust you, but what does that have anything to do with anything?"
"You have a house, because you are smart. Because even without your power, you make smart choices. And you love your job. How many people can truly and honestly say that?" She rubbed her thumb gently over his fingers, trying to memorize as much of their contours as she could with just her touch. "And so every once in a while life gets too sweet for you. You have it under control, and you live a mostly normal life as a result. Poor Penny Zimmerman was in the hospital for months last year."
She gave his arm a small squeeze. "If you trust me, then believe me when I say that you, AJ Swafford, have made it. You don't need to be rich or carry around a lot of titles with you. You just need to be happy doing the things that you do and happy being with the people you're with." Her hand remained over his, and it was difficult removing it from him for some reason. Had her sister's power suddenly kicked in and she was somehow magnetized to him? Or was there some other invisible force here at work? She tried to focus on his eyes for as long as she dared. "Are you happy, AJ?"
AJ tried to listen even though it was all Maribel's ways of putting the bright side of life. Give her a little bit of time and she might start whistling which could potentially bring a smile back to his face. Then he had already been disappointed before in people's lack of comedic education on this island. "Last I knew you rather enjoyed your job. But you also worked hard to get there." He and college had not gotten along for long at all which was probably also the reason he was going to be working on cars for the rest of his life rather than yelling at everyone else to keep working.
He considered it for a moment and just shook his head. Normally he might have been able to just grab onto some happy point and fake it long enough to at least satisfy her that he wasn't going to go crazy and chop himself up with a screwdriver just to make a point. Then he didn't have the magic ability to just fix himself up either or he might just to have the excuse to do it. Instead though he was throwing caution to the wind in the hopes that she wouldn't go running back out into the rain as he leaned over and gently kissed her.
Mari nodded. She did love her job with all its faults and hardships, and she had worked hard to get there. But that didn't mean that her happiness was better or more fulfilling than his. "I see it more as we took different routes to get to the same place. You worked hard too, just in a different way, and it is honorable and decent work. You could have decided to make so many bad choices, but you chose this, and you stuck with it. Why is your success any less than mine?" It wasn't. Not by a long shot.
Mari was not expecting the kiss though. Hell, it was the farthest thing from her mind and then some. It was something of a guilty pleasure for her, just stored away quietly in the back of her mind just waiting for her to fall asleep before coming creeping out. She had no way of knowing how to react, what to do or how to move. And it happened so fast, she didn't have time to think, only react. Good thing she didn't just sit there stiff as a board and at least tried to kiss him back in whatever rookie way she could. It was probably the worst first kiss he'd ever had, but for Mari, it was amazing. Her head was spinning from it, and it took her a minute to recover.
And in a small whisper of a voice she said finally, "I guess I'll take that as a yes."
"I'm pretty sure I work harder as a lifeguard and training than I ever did with cars. You can about train anyone to fix a car, but it's impossible to teach somehow how to be a better diagnostic device than a computer. It is also basically what I can be replaced with even though they don't always catch every little thing." AJ wasn't sure how many more ways he could point out that he was good at his job because he had gotten lucky. Take that away and it had been one of the scariest times of his life to date.
He was also only going to press for so long before she was almost awkwardly returning his kiss and at least not immediately pulling away like he had poisoned her. It was short and not entirely sweet, but perhaps a small spark that things might not be as bad as they seemed.
That brought the slightest bit of a smile out even if it wasn’t largely because she had gone into temporary shock and still hadn't lost focus. "I think my happiest moments the past several months all have you involved in them..." It was the most truthful he had been with anyone in a long time, and definitely the sweetest he had been since chasing off nightmares. Even that had required a bit of being an ass just so he wouldn't scare anyone into thinking he might have actually gone completely soft. "Can I try that again? Because I'm trying to make a point and don't want it to get lost because I kind of sucked right there."
Despite it all, Mari wasn't convinced his life and accomplishments were less impressive than hers. Anyone could sit through a bunch of classes and walk away with a paper that said you could do something. It took a special person to actually get out there into the real world and do it. AJ was that person. He took action and got results. He didn't need a piece of paper to tell him he could do something. He was the master of his own destiny. Besides, he could swim, a basic necessity really, and she couldn't. And that was all fine and dandy except that Mari could hardly even remember what they were talking about now. And she completely blamed him for it.
Her eyes were trained on his lips as if they were the only part of him that she could readily see. Her lips tingled ever so slightly. Their first kiss. And sure, it wasn't as she had expected it to be, but it still felt so surreal and wonderful. "My happiest moments usually involve you too." She didn't want to sound like she was repeating him, but she didn't trust herself to speak too much. Her mind had long since left the building. She nodded though and pressed her lips together to at least get them moist. "I was the one who sucked. You didn't suck at all."
At the very least Mari had found someone to try and keep her afloat as long as she didn't end up potentially drowning him before then. AJ tossed the cube aside rather than worry about it if he was going to try and do this right. This wasn’t like working on a car considering girls had a tendency to bruise if they were handled a little too roughly. While some girls liked that he highly doubted that Mari was among their numbers. She was delicate and might very well crack instead. Especially with half the things that had gone through his mind at some point or another involving her with fewer articles of clothing on. He was cautious as possible while cupping her cheek and brushing back the still damp curls. This time though AJ was far more certain and prepared to hold the kiss longer without preparing for the potential slap to follow. He didn’t think she would after basically giving him permission to do it again.
Mari was prepared too this time for the kiss, though she was far more nervous now that she was expecting it. She didn't want to overthink things, but she wasn't at all sure what to do with her hands or if she should open her mouth and close her eyes and cross her legs. It was too much to think about when it was all just supposed to be a simple kiss. She tried to relax though, not wanting to ruin yet another kiss. And magically, all seemed to fall into place. Her head leaned ever so slightly to the side, and her hands fell daintily on her lap. Her lips parted a little, and her eyes closed.
The kiss itself had an airy feel to it. To Mari, it was almost as if she was floating above the clouds, and she never wanted to come back down. And at some point unknown to Mari, her hands had found their way to his chest, just gently pressing against him though not pushing him away. Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears as the slightly longer kiss came to an end, though she lingered close to his face. "Wow," she breathed. This must have been what heaven was like.
Kisses had a way of just falling into place as one of those natural human actions. It was also one of the healthier things two people could do with little effort. The helped lower stress even though both parties might have a touch of nervousness, but thankfully another effect was stabling heart rhythms and bringing down blood pressure. They fulfilled basic human needs that they all had for affection and acceptance. It helped to burn calories, fight disease, and prevent cavities all just from pressing two pairs of lips together.
But that was mostly his brain going into overdrive again... Which was also apparently analyzing her based on her body chemistry and coming back with a "Hell yes" verdict. It was thankfully the conscious side that kept him in control to not start sliding his hands under her shirt. "Thanks?" He just chuckled a little before looking at her a little more seriously. "That wasn't meant to just be something between friends who go off together on Maribel's wild adventures though. I'm proposing to take you somewhere nice without offending your mom if I turn down her churros and hot chocolate." He was holding out the hope of getting the opportunity to kiss her a few more times before he actually died.
Mari didn't know all that about kissing. She just knew that it felt good and that she wanted to do more of it. She had no idea whether or not she was good at it, though she had also forgotten that she still had adaptive muscle memory somewhere in the back of her head. It wasn't just for learning awesome dance moves. She would have remained in her little blissful cloud world had he not started talking serious again. It was difficult, but she tried to pull herself back down to solid ground.
"You wouldn't offend her, though she wouldn't offer you churros and hot chocolate -- which by the way, I'm glad that you recognize that churros are inherently Cuban. A lot of people think they're Mexican, and they're really not." She was rambling, but it was because she was nervous and wasn't ever really good at talking about her feelings. At least not to a boy she really REALLY liked. She blushed a bit though, unsure as to what to say or even why he would want anything to do with her as more than just a friend. "Really though? You... You like me?"
AJ really just wanted to avoid any more misunderstandings between the two of them considering everything that had led up to that point. Otherwise he was all for getting back where they left off until she was dried off enough. "I have been attending a number of lectures from a very lovely teacher who is good about pointing out the many misconceptions people have about different sections of the Latin community. Particularly those involving Cuba and their superiority to all others." Just because he could zone out didn't mean that he wasn't listening to her when she would be really talking about anything.
"Like" was not quite a strong enough word for the way she had almost had him enamoured in a way that few others seemed to notice. Actually blurting that out though also seemed like a very quick way to send her running. "We can see how fast I'm running out the door to pick up parts in order to get you out of here. I know I'm sweet, but I don't think a little bit of rain is gonna melt me in that little period of time. Though if it does and you happen to find a pair of ruby slippers, you're more than welcome to keep them." Her hair was still distracting though as he kept curling it around. "Actually I was just going to lend you Sar- the silver car. Which is pretty much my favorite so I'd be kind of pissed off if you crashed it before I got yours fixed."
“We don’t think we’re superior. People are just jealous of us.” She nodded and had to laugh, because as silly as that sounded, it was so true. Or at least that was what they were taught to believe. As open-minded as Mari was, she still couldn’t deny her heritage and where her ancestors came from. It was all a part of her, and trying to deny it would be a grave mistake. “We do have some of the best music, however, which I’m sure you hear in my car all the time.”
He was speaking so fast and saying so many things. Mari could hardly keep up, though she did a good job of trying even with him still twirling her hair like he wanted to keep it for himself. “I don’t know if I understand. You want me to go or you want me to stay? I--” She was considering what she wanted to say for a moment. “I want to stay. I want to stay with you.” She blushed deeply, hoping and praying that she hadn’t just messed up like she had last time. “What was it that you were about to call your car again?”
"They include you in their numbers, so pretty sure that would be the superior group. However I have not taken the time to actually do an indepth study quite yet." AJ was fairly sure though that it would come up with the same results that any ethnic group that Maribel Santa-Cruz counted herself as was going to beat any others. Then he had no idea where exactly his own family traced back to other than somewhere that they apparently bred slightly pale, dark haired people who did not take shit from anyone.
"I'm trying to say that I'm doing whatever I can to keep you here as long as possible. Though you'll have to go home eventually because it'll be the sudden moment Songbird decides to start flapping if you stay too long." Then he and a little birdie would probably have a lot to talk about involving staying the hell out of his business if she couldn't report the good stuff. He almost blushed a little though when she brought up the car. Of course she had to noticed something like that. "Sarah. I have never had a car that I didn't name and it makes it so much easier to yell at them if they're throwing a fit. Umbrella is sitting by the door though if you wanted to go look though?"
And even without her, they probably would have been pretty high up there on the superiority list had the country not been destroyed by decades of dictatorship and corrupt communism. Mari was convinced that Cubans as a whole had better blood than other people with regards to health conditions and such. If they were to take care of themselves, they could live long and healthy lives, like her great-grandmother, Mercedes, who was said to have lived until she was 109. It made her smile to think that despite all the silliness of it all that he was still agreeing with her. “Some day you’ll know more about Cuba and Cuban culture than you will ever care to know.”
That made her start chewing on her lip and helplessly forcing the giggles back into her throat. “I’d have to go home eventually too, or else my mother will start to wonder if you’re offering me refuge from the weather or holding me hostage.” She wouldn’t have minded either way, as her hand gently grasped at the fabric of his shirt distractedly. “No, it’s okay. I don’t want to risk getting wet again after I used your shower. I think I’ve had enough showers for one day. But maybe some other time? You can take me on an adventure for once.”
"Are there videos? I'm rather fond of videos, but that could be because educational tv is a lot more fun than trying to sit down and read books. Though I also know a rather intelligent teacher that could lecture on if she wants." It was almost hard not to pay attention to her no matter what she was saying though. How all of the kids didn't legitimately get straight A's in her class was beyond him.
"Well... I wonder what I could get for you as a hostage. And then you could get Stockholm Syndrome and never want to leave anyhow." One of the many things that was a bit obscure as most villians did seem to have something that you were supposed to sympathize with them on. Whereas AJ was more likely to suggest to the screen that they put their big boy pants on and just deal with their problems rather than trying to blow up the world. "You can still borrow it though until I get that spark plug and then I can just deliver your car to you and still have a way to get back home. You don't want to have to walk around in possible rain this week to get to work and all, do you? And then perhaps we can have an after-school special adventure." Even if that did still sound mroe like something “friends” did.