A/N: The rest of this piece is on Archive Of Our Own, under the same pen name (Enolu). The warning tags function better at AO3, in case the viewer might need.
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The hire costs more than she remembers, but it's not worth going to the others to compare the cost of renting a scooter for the day.
The truth is that this same shop with its sunny front might even have changed hands within the last year. The islands are full of the very old and very young, and she's sure that the two running it aren't the same people from when she visited previously.
They're nice enough though. "Don't forget to fasten up."
"There won't be that many vehicles, but you can never be too safe." The caution is offered casually, but the same woman who had taken payment exchanges a glance with her tanned assistant.
Cagalli's sunglasses obscure most of her face, and if the islanders manning the shop do see, they don't say anything suggesting that they recognise her.
For their trouble, she tips a little extra.
Her hair had been pushed under a cap as soon as she disembarked from her shuttle. She shakes it loose momentarily, then unceremoniously bundles and pushes it under the helmet. Her cap is tossed into her satchel, and she tugs the clip and strap under her chin to reassure them.
"I'll bring it back by tonight."
"You have until tomorrow, anyway – drive safe, now."
She gives them a thumbs up.
So much for the shower that she took on the shuttle. Everything in this little garage smells like the hydrogen fuel and she has no doubt that she will too. Somehow, she's nervous, even if she's been seen in a far worse state than wearing crumpled clothing and having uncombed hair.
What the hell, she decides. Take it or leave it.
The sound of the scooter being wheeled out makes the mongrel look up, stirred from its mid-day lethargy. It pants a little, its bright eyes following his owners and their customer.
When she adjusts her satchel and starts the engine, the dog rolls up from where it rested. Its tawny body is still half in the sun and half in the shade, its spotted tail wagging and its tongue lolling from a half-smile. But Cagalli won't play this time.
"Maybe when I bring the scooter back," she teases. The dog wags its tail even more vigorously.