Just something short that happens not too long after the race against the Rollerz in SR1. Kind of silly, but not too much I hope? Also, I apologize for any car-related details that don't fly.

"You've got one sexy car, you know that?"

Troy looked up from where he was leaning on the side of his Zircon, lost in thought. He gave her a small smile when her words registered, though. "Lin did a hell of a job with it. Think she's earned her rep and then some."

V walked up to the hood with her hands folded behind her head, eying it curiously. "Never did see what she added..."

"And you want me to give you the guided tour?"

The backseat does look pretty comfortable. She bit her tongue and tried not to wince. "She's your baby. If I wanted super technical specs I'd bug Lin, not you. The express one wouldn't hurt, though."

"Eh, why not?" He tried to be casual about it, but there was a hint of interest there that told her he was almost happy to go over it. He crushed his cigarette under his shoe and motioned for her to come closer.

The hood went up and he pointed to each mod as he went over it carefully, trying to explain each new addition as Lin had. She knew he talked with his hands a bunch, but she followed every motion closely as he traced the lines and pointed out the fixes.

Cars had never been her thing. She knew the basics, could change a flat, the oil, etc. Basic shit. Lin had sparked the idea of learning more, but it'd been impossible to get a word out with the way her jaw locked up around her. Maybe this was a safe alternative. Troy was the safe alternative.

Safe, sure. There was nothing safe about the way she kept on trying to imagine how those same hands would feel on her.

That fucking race. It'd done a real number on her in ways he'd never know.

"You see this right here?" He pointed out something further inside the hood and she had no choice but to lean forward to find it. "That's the good stuff. You hit the button and it's like a shock to the system. Fucking kicks."

Her shoulder brushed against his. "It did kick. Hard. Didn't kick as hard as the others did, but I'm okay with that. Not ending the race as a flaming wreck was the goal after all."

"With you behind the wheel?" She flicked him in the arm. "Nah, I'm messing with you. You got us through in one piece, so I can't complain about that. What did you think of the handling?"

"Smoother than I expected, but I was trying to sling it around every corner. It wasn't going to cooperate every time."

"Still can't tell if the real winner was the paint or the brakes."

"Fuck you, man," she said with no venom whatsoever. "You want a prize too? I'm sure half the racers were wondering what I was dragging you around for."

"Moral support? I do know more than a few one-liners."

"Oh? And here I was stuck between eye candy and chaperone."

The first earned her an interesting expression. The second, a laugh. "Huge difference between those two. Don't think they had time to mix those up."

"Just because I was the one wearing the skirt? I could've made an emergency stop to Branded, you know." Her mouth was running again. Running and flirting.

"You're the one with the legs. Don't think I would've helped you there."

...And so was his apparently. She almost tripped on her response. "Depends on who you'd ask. Different strokes for different folks."

His eyes glanced over her briefly and she wished she'd gone for the skirt again. "Point taken. So, what do you think?"

She thought it was pretty sweet. She also thought it'd be pretty sweet if she could put her hands on the hood while he slid her shorts down her hips. He could stand behind her and slip one or two fingers inside-

"Hot." Slamming the brakes on that thought was damn near essential. "Fucking crazy, actually. The amount of attention Lin gave this is kind of illegal. I almost feel jealous."

Troy seemed amused by her word choice. "Kind of the point. Those kids didn't have a clue who they were fucking around with. You're hell on wheels, V."

She was definitely blushing, but had no idea who or what to blame. "Is that a compliment?"

"If you want it," he replied, grinning.

Oh, Jesus. There was no way in hell she could look at him now.

She walked around towards the back as her mouth went dry and counted to ten. Fifteen. He followed her when she got to forty and leaned an arm on the side of the car. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, her hands on her hips. "Just wondering if there was anything else I could've done. Curious, you know?"

"Flipped the car?" V turned back and gave him the finger, but he brushed if off like it was nothing. "You did good. Nothing else to really think about."

"Not here at least." He raised an eyebrow. "Don't mind me. Just mumbling about nothing."

"Sure," Troy replied, not believing a thing.

He walked back to the front and closed the hood, taking a cigarette out shortly after. He held one out to her as well and she gladly took it, bumping his arm with hers as he helped her light it.

Giving it a moment, she tried to blow a ring. It was a hell of a lot better than her first attempt, and she waited for him to appraise it.

Instead he blew one himself. It hit hers and she sharply inhaled, coughing on the smoke.

"Shit, you okay?"

He put a hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it off so she could turn away. "God, you owe me a lung."

"I'll add it to the list, just don't actually cough one up."

Now there was a hand on her back. Dammit. "I'm surrounded by assholes, I swear."