(ง'̀-'́)ง (hairbender) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-01-27 16:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, asami sato, stiles stilinski |
Do you want the good news or the bad news?
Who: Stiles Stilinski and Asami Sato
What: Mechanical Engineering
When: Sometime in January (before the most recent Korrasami log)
Where: Stilinski House
Rating: Gen
Status: Complete
Stiles wasn’t auditioning mechanics per se. So, okay, he’d told Tink that he’d drop by the garage--and he was totally planning on doing that--but when the techno-genius seemed interested, it didn’t seem a bad plan to check her out too. Just in case. So he’d given her the address and his phone number and they’d arranged to meet this afternoon.
He was currently vacuuming out Roscoe’s backseat/trunk area while he waited for Asami to show up. He was going to cut his Other!self some slack for all the sand and getting behind on the TLC, because his life was such a misery. The most difficult thing that Stiles had to deal with was Tony Stark--which, okay, not a cake walk--but still, compared to homicidal murderous uncles, not so bad.
She'd wanted to roll up in style, because she was a bit of a showoff. But she thought she might need some tools so instead of her bike, Asami Sato showed up in a sleek blue car. It was electric, and silent, but looked faster than it should be.
She stepped out of the car and tossed her head, then waved to Stiles. "Hello! You must be Stiles and that must be Roscoe!"
Stiles bumped his head against the roof of his jeep at the address, not having heard Asami pull up over the sound of the vacuum. He quickly switched it off, eyes stinging, and crawled out of the back to finally lay eyes on the mechanic.
“Hey! Yeah, sorry! I totally didn’t hear you pull up,” he apologized and held out his hand to shake. “This is my boy, yeah. I was just...well, fussing, I guess, since I can’t do any of the actual fixing.”
Asami shook his hand. “That’s okay. Fussing is normal, he’s your baby.” She gave his baby a considering look. The body wasn’t that bad. Maybe it could use a new coat of paint and some work on the dents. Tires looked good at first glance and she needed to get under it to look at the undercarriage. But first, the most important part. “Lets pop the hood and get a look at his heart.”
Stiles smiled a little and then moved around to the driver’s side, to pull the lever that would release the hood. “He’s kind of fussy himself,” he said, sort of apologizing but sort of not. Roscoe was the way he was, and he’d been his mom’s car before he’d been Stiles’, so he really wouldn’t have him any other way.
Lifting the hood up, Asami got her first good look at the engine. She wrinkled her nose, then popped the hood up with the stick. “Good news is, I think the engine in general is good, unless there’s a crack in the block I can’t see from here or it sounds off. Can you start him up?” She was already thinking of things she could do. Definitely needed that fuel injector system she’d created. If the engine was in good shape that would be a lot less work and she could just tune it to perfection. If the engine wasn’t in a good shape… well Stiles was going to owe her a great big favor.
“Yeah, sure.” Stiles moved quickly and leaned inside to start the Jeep. It was a manual, of course, and so he double-checked the parking brake to make sure it was on, and the gear shift, to make sure it was in neutral before turning the key.
It only took two tries, which, hey, was pretty impressive for Roscoe.
Asami winced at the first try, and then at the second. “Starter needs help.” She leaned in closer to the engine, listening for any knocks or bumping or whining. “The timing is way off. You can smell the burning oil. I think a piston is misfiring.” She kept going through what she was hearing and seeing, which was turning into a long, and probably expensive list. But she had an idea on that, that would let her fix it up and also help someone out.
She came around to Stiles. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”
“...bad,” Stiles decided, standing a little bit away, arms crossed over his chest as he braced himself. “Always bad.”
Chuckling, Asami pointed towards the engine. “Piston is misfiring. I actually think one isn’t firing off at all. I mean if you’re lucky it doesn’t need to be replaced and I can fix that. If you’re not lucky you’ll need to rebuild the engine. But the good news.” She held up a finger. “My father’s company runs a program for students to learn car repair. I sometimes come in to help them or show them things, and we can use the jeep as a lesson. What’s better, is it means you’ll get a complete overhaul for almost nothing.”
“Seriously?” Stiles boggled a little, and then let out an excited sound of disbelief. “That’s amazing. I mean--for once in my life I can actually afford to fix this guy, but if I don’t need to, that’s even more awesome. And I know that parts are expensive and hard to find, but I will totally cover them, like, seriously--spare no expense--and if I can’t find them, my boss will.”
Asami smiled at him. “How about whatever you can afford to donate to the program. Pay it forward. And if you get a lead on parts, that’ll go a long way too. So do you want to do this?”
“Absolutely.” Stiles held out his hand for another handshake, this one to seal the deal. “Get me the info about your program. I can pretty much guarantee a hefty donation, or maybe even a yearly scholarship if you do that kind of thing.”
“If you can pull that off I’d owe you one.” She hook his hand, then patted the fender of the jeep. “We’ll have him purring. Promise.”