Time and Place
(set: post Cars 3)
(Edited by the always lovely Bella, aka radiationstinks on tumblr.)
"Hey McQueen..."Cruz began a thought aloud as the pair approached Willie's Butte for the morning's workout. "Any reason you haven't proposed to your girlfriend yet?" Lightning almost braked in surprise at the question. Definitely not the kind of conversation topic he was expecting at this early hour. Nevertheless, Cruz brought it up as if she were discussing the weather.
"Excuse me?" he asked, wide-eyed. Cruz was unfazed.
"Why aren't you guys engaged? I mean, I started seeing her in magazines and on TV at your races and press conferences years ago. So you've at least been together for a few years, right?" she asked. Lightning blinked at her in surprise, but answered after a moment.
"More than that, we started dating when I first moved back to Radiator Springs." Lightning corrected her. Cruz cocked an eyebrow at him.
"And when was that?"
"Right after my first Piston Cup loss, about two days afterwards." He answered. Cruz's expression morphed into shock.
"So that's nine, ten… ELEVEN years ago?" she calculated, still in awe.
"It was eleven years on June 15th, yeah." He stated, with a hint of pride in his tone.
"…Why on earth are you not married or at least engaged?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but she beat him to it.
"Fear of commitment?" she continued, "parental issues? Sticking it to the man?"
"Cruz, Cruz-" he chuckled, "it's nothing like that. We just… haven't found the time. I mean, we know that what we have is end-game, it's not a commitment thing."
Before the rookie could ask any more questions, Lightning had rolled onto the track and was readying himself for take-off.
"Alright, I'll do 100 and then we switch." He was off before she had a chance to protest, a cloud of dust in his place.
Lightning spent 10 laps in peace, enjoying watching the familiar scenery around him blur into an indistinguishable, colorful blend. His serenity was intruded by an eager voice appearing on his headset.
"Have you guys ever talked about it?" Cruz asked. Their previous conversation was so many laps behind him now that he didn't know what she was referring to.
"What?"
"You and Sally, have you like, had a conversation about marriage?" the rookie continued.
"Cruz, what does this have to do with racing?"
"Nothing, I'm just curious." He could almost hear the casual shrug in her tone. She didn't seem to mind how invasive she was being. Lightning sighed.
"Yes, we have. Multiple times. Now, could you help me build up speed?"
"You got it, boss!"
Fifty laps later, Lightning had reached his desired RPM and was focusing on his favored dirt-turns at top speed. He was approaching turn 3 at 186 mph when a voice came over the headset, breaking his concentration.
"Do you think she'd say no?"
This time, Lightning knew what she was referring to. He sighed.
"No, Cruz, I'm pretty confident she'd say yes." The annoyance in his tone was becoming more evident.
"Well, then why wouldn't you ask?"
"Cruz, can we discuss this later please? We have a charity race in five days."
"Right, right. Back to work."
Lightning's workout was wrapping up, as he was coming up on the starting line for the 192nd time.
"You know chief, you're getting pretty old." Cruz chimed in on his headset.
This time, Lightning braked hard in response. Much to her surprise, he came to a stop just past her, paused, and then turned to face her. She looked surprised at his sudden stop.
"Cruz, I appreciate your concern, but Sally and I are fine." He reassured her. "You know, a couple doesn't have to be married to be happy."
"I know that, I do. It just baffles me, to be honest." She said. This piqued Lightning's interest, much to his chagrin.
"How so?"
"I've just never seen two people so in love, and I can't imagine why you wouldn't make that permanent if it's so…real." Her words were so genuine that he couldn't help but smile.
"It's a mixture of a lot of things," Lightning confessed. "Mostly racing; I'm gone so much that there's barely any time for planning anything like that. And then there's Doc being gone… it would feel so wrong to not have him involved. But… at the end of the day, we're just happy to be together. That's all that really matters." He paused, smiling warmly. "There's nothing wrong, I promise. I love Sally more than anything and I know she feels the same. When we feel the need to make a change, we will."
"Aww, you're getting me all emotional, old man!" Cruz gushed, grinning from mirror to mirror. Lightning laughed at her always-jovial attitude.
"C'mon, why don't we call it a day and head over to Flo's? My treat."
"I'll take you up on that offer!" she agreed, heading back towards town.
However, they weren't even halfway there before she brought it up again.
"But hey if you ever need elaborate proposal ideas, I already have about ten." This time, he couldn't help but laugh.
And maybe consider the offer.
