Title: The Mech and the 'Billy
Author: clanket
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: T
Summary: A/U. Callie and Arizona meet in a dive bar and hit it off.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Ch. 5
"Is this like a date?" she said finally. Callie smiled. "If you want it to be."
"And for our first date you're introducing me to your 'special guy'?"
"Well he makes the final decision; either we both stay or you go," she jested.
xxx
"Crap!" Arizona blurted as soon as she hung up the phone. What was she supposed to wear on a doggie date with a leather jacket wearing, motorcycle riding golden goddess? And she only had an hour and a half to figure it out.
The suddenly frantic blonde pushed off of her large bureau to make her way to her closet. Her rather extravagant closet: it was the size of a small bedroom with the walls lined with clothes in all styles and organised by colour. The centre contained an organiser that reached higher than the blonde's head and held even more outfits, many meant for performances, and had a side dedicated solely to shoes. The shoes ranged from the running variety for lazy days or running around (go figure) to platform heels and pumps to Converse and sandals to boots; all-in-all, everything a woman would need. These were organised by style and colour, making each row look like a shoe rainbow.
She went to the wall on the left and started flipping through the racks of clothes, trying to decide on what to wear. Callie had said casual but that didn't mean she had to look like a bum.
Arizona pulled several outfits and quickly changed into each to find the perfect one for a first date with a woman who was clearly a bad-ass – a bad-ass who liked her women to be quite feminine, if the Latina's reaction to her dress at the club was any indication.
Deciding to pass on the skinny jeans, the poodle skirt, the pencil skirt, tulle-enhanced dress, and not even bothering with her business attire, Arizona was left with a skin-tight pair of black pants that looked like she should've had to have been sewn into, paired with a red tank top and topped with a leopard print cardigan. Happy with the outfit, Arizona quickly stripped and hopped into the shower; everyone likes a fresh girl, right?
After working the loofa around her body like a madman and washing her hair in much the same manner, the blonde towelled off and got to work on her hair; rockabilly hair had to look kind of effortless even in its complexity in order to be pulled off properly so she spent the next forty minutes or so pulling it back into a half-ponytail with the loose portion being curled to perfection while the part held up was pulled through an elastic and then doubled back through to create a mini bun; the ends were hidden under an oversized red bow while her bangs fell perfectly across her forehead.
She went back to the closet and redressed before hurriedly tossing the discarded outfits onto the bed in her spare bedroom to be put away later and made her way back into her ensuite bathroom. She quickly outlined her top eyelids with liquid liner and achieved perfect cat eyes with practiced ease; she looked a little silly for the next thirty seconds as she fanned her lids with both hands to get the liner to dry quickly then held her breath as she sprayed a light dusting of hairspray over them to set the paint. Ruby red lips completed the look. She'd barely checked her work when her phone beeped with the bubbly tell-tale sound of a received text.
She threw a pair of black Champion Jute Keds into her purse (Callie said comfortable, right?) and pulled on patent red leather platform peekaboo-toed heels before heading out the door.
xxx
Callie pulled up in front of Arizona's building. It looked a lot more upscale than she was expecting and was in a really great area of town. Having grown up as heir to a formidable fortune, Callie was no stranger to extravagance but this went beyond her own personal taste. To each their own, she thought with a slight shake of her head.
The brunette walked around her car to the curb side and opened the back door for a whining Ando. He really was a big suck and didn't like being kept from his master if she was in ear- or eye-shot.
The dog happily leapt off the back seat at the Latina's command and immediately began sniffing around the unfamiliar sidewalk, roving in unpredictable patterns with his nose to the ground. He checked around the car first – his territory, of course – then cleared the outside of Arizona's building before checking out the small plots of bushes and medium-sized rocks on either side of the entrance. After relieving himself, Ando went back to Callie and lay down at her feet.
A few moments later, Callie saw movement behind the glass entryway. Suspecting it was her date, she commanded Ando to sit nicely at her side.
Arizona swiftly exited the building wearing a genuine smile. She locked her eyes with the Latina's, ready to make a smart comment about how she just couldn't wait to see her when she was distracted by a movement to the brunette's immediate left.
The blonde's smile turned into a look of mixed shock and horror, her eyes growing wide, mouth forming an 'o'. She stood stock-still, hand gripping the purse hanging from her shoulder.
"Holy crap, Callie, what isthat?" she yelled.
Ando barked once loudly before letting out a low growl. He stood on all fours, ready to defend his master.
Callie couldn't hold in her laugh at the way Arizona jumped.
"Ando, sit," she commanded strongly. The dog complied immediately, his jaw once again lax as he panted in the California heat.
She pushed off her car to take a step toward Arizona and introduced the two. "Arizona, this is Fernando. Ando, Arizona.
"Not quite a Chihuahua, huh?" she teased.
The blonde still hadn't moved or taken her eyes off the Dobe.
"That is nota dog, Callie, that's a freakin' horse! Dogs do not come that big!"
"He's actually pretty harmless once he gets to know you," Callie said matter-of-factly. "But if you'd like, I could always claim you as mine so he knows not to mess with you?" she suggested flirtatiously then bit the side of her lower lip for added effect.
Arizona finally tore her eyes from the Doberman at the sultry tone of Callie's voice. She smiled.
"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea, you know, just in case."
Callie smiled back at the blonde then made her way over to the woman. Once close enough, she wrapped Arizona up in a tight hug and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek which made the latter blush. To Callie, the vibrant smile it elicited was worth the cheesiness of the gesture.
"You scared him. If you're nervous then he's nervous," the Latina explained calmly while her arms remained loosely wrapped around the blonde's waist. "Animals don't have language so they communicate through body language and that, mixed with how you yelled at us, told him that you're a threat to him and me."
"Here," she continued as she moved behind Arizona, keeping her secure in her embrace. "Just relax, he's just like any other dog," she said as she walked them slowly toward Ando.
The dog became restless and whimpered a few times, not understanding why his master was protecting someone hostile.
"You're still too tense, Arizona. Relax," Callie purred into a porcelain ear. At her gentle prodding she felt Arizona take a deep breath and relax her body.
"Ando, stay," the brunette commanded then moved to the blonde's side and took her hand. She slowly reached their joined hands toward Ando who had visibly relaxed, as well.
When he could finally sniff their hands, the dog raised wary eyes to this new person before nudging his head against their palms, asking to be rubbed.
Arizona let out a breath as she continued to pet Ando while Callie couldn't help but beam. "See, he's a big suck."
"Easy for you to say," the blonde retorted, "he grew up with you. No one would think this was a dog, though."
Callie knew that Ando was big; even for a Dobe, his shoulders reaching her hips constituted a large dog. She smirked, "would you believe he was the runt?"
Ando had stood up and leaned his body into Arizona to ensure that that she'd keep scratching behind his ears.
"Really? I would've thought he ate all the other puppies."
Callie laughed at that. "Nope, just my ski goggles, motorcycles boots and leather couch."
Arizona's eyes widened. "No he didn't!"
"He did," Callie nodded. "That's when I decided I would take him everywhere I could with me. It was also the last time I crated him; as soon as I'd let him out he'd go crazy." She reached out to affectionately run her hand down Ando's back. The dog turned at the familiar caress to procure more loving pats from his beloved master, leaving the at-ease blonde smiling at their obvious connection.
The brunette squatted down to properly scratch all of Ando's sweet spots before quietly popping back up to get their date started.
"Alright, now that you two are introduced we can get going."
Callie took the couple of steps back to her car and opened the back passenger-side door for the Dobe. When she looked back to Arizona, the woman was wearing a sly smile.
"What?" Callie asked tentatively.
Arizona stood unmoving. "Nothing, I just didn't expect the leather jacket-wearing, motorcycle-riding, haze-inducing woman I met last night to drive a Mercedes," she teased, a glint in her eye.
"Okay, Arizona, if you knew anythingabout cars – or figured anything out about me, for that matter – you'd know that this wasn't just any Mercedes," Callie deadpanned with her hand still clutching the door she'd opened for her date. At the blonde's challengingly raised eyebrow Callie closed the door.
Pointing to the midnight blue car with custom-produced black 20" six-spoke rims with a thin chrome highlight around the edge, complete with matching grille, and one-of-a-kind body kit she explained, "This is a 2009 C63 Mercedes-Benz AMG tuning edition."
She looked at Arizona with a serious expression and raised brows as if the name and physical description of the car would impress someone who wasn't a car aficionado. At the blonde's smile and unimpressed shrug Callie continued.
"Oh, come on," she whined, "it comes with over 400 horsepower stock, Arizona, stock!"
Arizona kept staring at her blankly. Callie's eyebrows seemed to rise even higher.
"And I'm a pretty well-known mechanic in my field which means that I've tuned it up even more."
Arizona's face morphed into a goofy show of being unimpressed, her mouth twisting to one side as she widened her eyes mockingly.
Callie pointed at the car emphatically and kept trying to get the blonde to understand the beauty of the machine. "It has over 640 horsepower," she said desperately yet her date stood stoically.
"Zero to 60 in less than four seconds! Seven speed transmission! Paddle shifters – like in Ferrari Enzos and Formula 1 race cars! A ten second quarter mile!"
Arizona shrugged, still unimpressed.
The Latina huffed in exasperation and dropped her shoulders in defeat. Her head hung low, she reached out dully to pull the passenger door open once more and pointed toward it with the other hand. "Just get in."
Arizona smiled, glad she'd succeeded in getting a rise out of the passionate Latina. She walked to the open door and stood directly in front of the dejected brunette. When the latter looked up, she shot her a bright smile and ran her right hand from Callie's hip to her waist and around to the side of her tummy. She leaned in and gave the woman a soft kiss on the cheek before gracefully seating herself in the low car.
Callie smiled back at her shyly, her spirits rising at the intimate touch.
"Don't think that makes it all better," she mumbled. "And don't let any of the guys from the shop find out that you know nothing about cars, we'll never live it down."
When Arizona laughed at that, Callie gently shut her door and made her way around to the driver's side.
She hopped in and looked over to Arizona as she put her sunglasses on. "Ready to go?"
At Arizona's nod Callie eased out onto the road and toward the Foothills she visited regularly with Ando, passing just about everybody on her way. This is what she loved about this car: even if you didn't know cars and saw this beast coming up on you in your mirrors, you'd be sure to move out of the way.
Unless you were dumb, which the kids in the car stopped next to them seemed to be. Callie looked over her sunglasses through her tinted windows to see two twenty-something guys revving their 1994 Mustang GT and looking over toward them. She smiled deviously.
"Wanna have some fun?"
Arizona looked a little nervous but smiled back and shrugged as she answered, "Sure."
So Callie revved her engine to let the guys know that the race was on, the low growl startling the blonde, and waited patiently for the light to turn green. Switching the car into manual sport mode, she smiled at what was going to be a quick race. As soon as the light changed she stepped on the gas and took off, the increased torque propelling them off the line and into an early lead.
Seconds later, Callie kept the car at 60mph to allow the Mustang to catch up. When it did she rolled down the two front windows and blew the boys a kiss then dropped the car one gear and took off, Ando giving a small whine at being suddenly pushed back into the seat. She changed lanes to get in front of the boys, constantly upping her speed little by little to make sure she didn't lose the other car.
"Callie, we're going really fast," Arizona breathed, her knuckles going white from hanging on for dear life.
When Callie looked in her rear-view mirror and saw that the guys had shifted into gear and were gaining on her, she moved back into the inside lane and let them pass her before dropping in behind them and easing back into a comfortable 45mph.
"What, wait – that's it? How do you know who won?" Arizona asked, though she did look a lot more relaxed.
"Just give it a second."
Callie counted to four in her head before she saw a police cruiser pull out from behind a row of shrubs, sirens blazing and going after the Mustang.
"That'show I know we won," she said with a laugh and looked over to Arizona.
"You knew that was going to happen? That's just mean, Callie!" Arizona seemed to be pretty offended at what had transpired and scolded her much like Teddy would have.
"What? You're the one that said they wanted to have some fun," she smirked.
"What? This is so not my fault! How was I supposed to know we were going to get someone in trouble?"
Callie smiled as they passed the driver of the Mustang being put through a field sobriety test. She took Arizona's hand and laced their fingers together over the centre console.
"Do you really want guys like that, guys who don't know how to handle a car or when to pull back, on the road? Or would you rather they learn their lesson early on – before they kill someone – and learn to drive responsibly?"
Arizona looked at the brunette like she was speaking another language. "Right, because what you did back there was so different? I mean, it was fun and kinda exhilarating-"
Callie smiled at that, happy that she'd given her date a thrill.
"-but you were doing the exact same thing."
Callie's light mood was burdened by that comment; Arizona had no idea what she was talking about.
"No I wasn't."
Arizona saw the shift in Callie's attitude and immediately recognised that she'd pushed a button. She shook the tanned hand in hers gently, trying to coax Callie back into their fun banter.
"Hey, I know you just wanted me to have fun, and I did. Are you okay?"
The Latina refused to look in her direction but gave a curt nod.
"Wanna talk about it?"
The genuine concern in Arizona's tone caused Callie to glance over at her. She shook her head in the negative but began talking a few moments later, anyway.
"I wouldn't have even asked you if you wanted to do that if there would have been anybody else on the road. Do you really think that a station wagon full of kids would have stopped those guys from doing a hundred, never mind just some innocent driver on his way to meet his daughter for lunch or something? Arizona, they kept pushing even when I'd stopped, when the person they were racing against called it quits.
"I don't put other people in danger, people who haven't consented, and I know exactly what my car is capable of and what Iam capable of. I don't push beyond those abilities on public roads."
Arizona could see that there was more to this story than the brunette was letting on but left it at that; hell even that was a bit heavy for a first date. She lifted Callie's hand and laid a gentle kiss to the back of it. She smiled at the orange scent that met her nostrils and the light oil stains that stuck in the creases of her knuckles; it seemed Callie was a hands-on kind of woman.
"So where are you taking me?"
Callie smirked. "To be 'one with nature'."
XXX