So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last.

[youfallback]

Who: Carolina and open!
What: Carolina doing maintenance on vehicles in the hangar. People dropping by. Awkward talks.
When: All day (Jan 20th)
Where: Noble Two's hangar, which Carolina has essentially taken charge of
Rating: Updated to R/NC-17 in the York and Carolina thread. Otherwise PG/PG-13 for most others.


After training and a few other things she needed to check in on, Carolina was back in the hangar, outside of her armor for the first time in a few days. While there were obvious uses for said armor, it made her current task of vehicle maintenance much more difficult. So, the Freelancer could be found in the various vehicles in the hangar, dressed in mildly civillian-esque uniform she'd worn out on the expedition, with the addition of a thicker jacket. After all, she couldn't run vehicles without proper ventilation and the only ventilation was opening the garage door a little.

She didn't plan on being bugged, but things were rarely as she planned them as of late.


(ooc: I'll slap up times below with Carolina's location/the vehicle she's working on below!)

Comments

[encryptedlock]

[The light serves as a nice distraction and York snorts.] Guess I better get to that. Think that clog'll take much longer?

[In a sense, he's asking if she'll still be there after he changes the lightbulb - but also giving her an out if she'd rather spend the time alone. All she'd need to do is say she thinks it'll take some time and he'll leave quietly after fixing the bulb.]

[youfallback]

Probably not. [Carolina answers with half a smile, grateful for the break in tension, no matter how mundane it was. Small things like that, working with her hands, it all helped to anchor her; normal things that could be contributed to electricity or carbon backup rather than the "magic" of the Castle.]

[encryptedlock]

Want to get a drink when we're done, then? I personally made sure the pantry here had a liquor shelf.

[Not that it has very much, but a few smaller bottles of the good quality stuff could go a long way. A drink or two would help him relax, too, with the stress he's been under lately.

--Well, if Wash hasn't accidentally all the booze. But York doesn't think that's likely.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina raises an eyebrow at him, a little more amused, but she nods. They could both use a stress break, really. The whole week had been a royal mess on more than one level.]

Celebrating fixing a lightbulb, York?

[encryptedlock]

Hey, it's Friday. I don't need a lightbulb to celebrate.

[He tilts his head in a way she'd recognize as being an armored grin.] Meet you in the mess hall in a few, then?

[youfallback]

[That tilt of his head just makes her grin wider. That was more like it. The whole being angry at each other thing didn't really work for her.]

Last one there takes the first shot. [It's less of a "hurry through work" and more of a playful gesture, wanting to relax just a little bit. Hey, working overly hard and being stupidly busy hadn't done anything for keeping her head square on her shoulders in the past week.

And one extra shot wouldn't do her in, honestly.]

[encryptedlock]

You're on.

[Of course, it will take him a little while to get the lightbulb, ladder (since he hasn't really revealed Stark's flying enhancement to her yet, and doesn't really see the need to unless it's necessary) and change it. But eventually he does finish, heading over to the pantry first to see if she's done yet.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina takes a little longer, as unclogging the coolant line requires much more than she expected originally. Some turning on the falcon and seeing if the clog moved, trying to flush it out, but she's hurrying into the pantry a minute or so after him.

Welp. ] You had a lightbulb. [As if that possibly explained his finishing first.]

[encryptedlock]

You already had all your tools. Choose your poison.

[His helmet is off and he gestures to a small selection of high-end liquor bottles.] If you're all done with the heavy machinery, of course.

[youfallback]

No more heavy machinery tonight. [At, gasp, 2000. This was taking a night off to her. With a slight smirk,] Whiskey.

[encryptedlock]

[He pours them each a shot (she can take an extra one later), then holds up his glass as if to toast her.]

To the end of a long week.

[...Entirely too long.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina nods firmly, clinking her shot glass against his. She wouldn't argue with that toast one bit. ]

To the end of a long week and to lightbulbs.

[encryptedlock]

You know that's begging for a joke, right?

[Ah well. He drinks his shot quickly, though he has to gasp just a little at the end.]

Smooth.

[And there's that nice fire running through him, and psychological or not he already feels himself begin to relax.]

[youfallback]

[She takes her own shot, blowing out a breath at the burn. Oh yeah, this is familiar. ]

Go ahead. It's Friday. [Smirking brightly at him as she glances at their choices in liquor. Maybe just tonight.]

[encryptedlock]

Sure thing, Boss. Another for you?

[He does pour himself another shot, though he doesn't yet take it.]

Listen, I--I probably overreacted too, the other day. It was just kind of sudden, you know?

[youfallback]

Sure. [And holding out her shot glass. She nods, the smile turning into a more somber expression.] I wasn't thinking about how you'd been out for a week. [Because, well, she hadn't thought him real.]

[encryptedlock]

[He pours one for her as well, nodding sharply once.]

Well, it's hard to get used to, really. Losses, I mean.

Was I at least a cute toy?

[youfallback]

[Carolina takes her shot without hesitation.] Yeah. You both were.

Helped me sleep a couple nights.

[encryptedlock]

[He takes his as well, then. Yeah, two shots in quick succession is going to start affecting him, even though he's not exactly intolerant to alcohol.]

--Yeah? You sleeping all right without us, then?

[Which is probably a little more direct than he should be, but.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina blows out a breath. She's starting to get a little warm herself, which is something of an unusual feeling. As well, she raises her eyebrows at him. Well, that answered that question as to whether or not he'd remember being a toy, because she doubts that he'd want to have forgotten being up close and personal with the ladies a few nights in a row.]

No, you were there. [She tries to bite down on the obvious smirk that would probably give her away too much.]

[encryptedlock]

Well, no, I mean, uh. Now.

[He leans in a little closer, and it may or may not be the whiskey loosening his tongue here.]

We don't have to go back tonight.

[youfallback]

[Carolina raises her eyebrows at him, but wouldn't mind him staying the night with her even as she's still mostly sober. She holds out her shot glass.]

Then don't go back. [It's as simple as that, as she wasn't planning to head back to the Castle with alcohol in her system to begin with. No need to undo the good the hangar'd done.]

[encryptedlock]

That easy, huh?

[He pours her one more, the loser's penalty (though of course he might pour himself some more later).]

Missed you these past few days.

[youfallback]

[And Carolina quickly knocks back that third. Yeah, she's gonna start feeling it in a few minutes. Three in a very short amount of time is going to start affecting her for sure in no time. She just smiles. They're in private, things have been mostly sorted through, why not speak her mind and be open with him.

The words sound hideously trite to her, though,] Missed you these past two weeks. [Especially last Friday. ]

[encryptedlock]

[Have they talked enough yet? York thinks maybe they've talked enough now. He leans over to kiss her on the mouth, slowly and softly and tenderly.

How much did you miss me, he's asking without words.]