Blast from the past (1950's Star Wars AU)

[un_handed]

Summer 1952, it was just starting and shaping up to be a beauty. Most kids were getting that antsy feeling of the nearness of vacation and the want of freedom. But there were still three more week of school before that bell rang and let the kids free for the next three months.

Idyllic towns like Havencrest were almost too perfect this time of year. With their well-manicured lawns and pretty picket-fenced houses. The same could not be said of Bleakburn, just one set of train tracks over but a whole different world. The houses were not so quaint and the colors not so cheery.

Mara lived in Bleakburn, her family had for three generations now. She went to Bleakburn High School, or BBHigh as they called it, home of the Imperials. They had a reputation, as many towns that were not as well off as their neighbors, of being rough. That suited Mara just fine, she wasn't the sort of girl who felt like she needed any particular favor with the people of Havencrest and certainly never did anything to seek it out.

There were scuffles often enough between the rival schools but nothing, as yet, had been too bad. Street races, pranks, the occasional party was crashed but things remained a fairly constant level of general dislike between the towns. Both of whom claimed the one place that was any sort of fun, Moe Isleys. A diner that used the wide white back wall of the joint as a screen after dark and doubled as a local drive-in and hang-out. Sometimes they'd clear the parking lot and hold mixers there but more often than not it was used to watch the newest (that Moe could get his hands on) schlock film making rounds.

Mara had been there enough times to be recognizable, not just for her flame-red hair but also because she rode a motorcycle. Something she always grinned about when the 'Cresters looked at her with gaping mouths and dropped jaws. Keep staring, squares. In three more weeks she'd graduate and then she'd hit the road and leave both these towns behind her. She wasn't sure where exactly she'd go but the hell out of dodge sounded good to her.

That's why she was out here tonight, making some early goodbyes to friends she wouldn't be seeing again before she left because of this or that. So, like most bored kids in both towns, she headed to Moe's. Jeans rolled up over engineer boots, a black leather jacket and a black t-shirt beneath she could have been mistaken for a boy riding up. But when she parked and took off her helmet it was very clear she was anything but. She straddled her bike and hooked her helmet to the back and waved to a few people she recognized.

Comments

[from_twin_suns]

She might, might hear him banging his head on the undercarriage trying to look up when he heard her voice. He slid out quickly, wiping his hands on his coveralls and hoping his hair was in some semblance of order. And also thanking the unseen forces of the universe that he’d remembered to shave on a day off.

A pity, then, really, that he forgot about some of the grease spots on his face.

“Good advice,” he said, sitting up on the cart. “Though I seem to remember…”

He hadn’t minded the boldness, thought. Not. At. All.

[un_handed]

"You aren't a wife. And if you had slapped me I would have deserved it. But I bet it gave those hens something to cluck about." Yes, there had been a reason to do it, the chance to make those nose in the air Havencrest girls a shock they wouldn't soon forget.

But about midway through making her point she'd discovered maybe she'd wanted to as well. And more surprisingly he'd been a good kisser, very receptive and enthusiastic. She liked that about him in general, he wasn't as closed off and button up as most of his people were.

Mara smirked at the streak of dark across his cheek and dots over his nose. Hazard of working under greasy parts. It showed he really did work though, not just played at it.

"You've got some," She gestured to his face and found her smirk widening to a smile, she looked around for a clean rag and dabbed it over the spots. "Better."

[from_twin_suns]

"Yeah," he replied, with a theatrical sigh. "I can't cook to save my life and look terrible in pearls. But oh did you ever. It's not the Red Menace anymore, it's the Redhead menace in some circles."

He stood to scrutiny as she did that, only rolling his eyes a little. And hiding the slight blush.

"Heh, thanks."

[un_handed]

"That's what we Bleaksiders live for, haven't you heard? We only dream of the day when we can cause a stir in the pressed shirts across the tracks." She rolled her eyes enough to let him know it was a joke, mostly.

She finished and set the rag aside.

"You're welcome." There was a moment of silence between them before she looked around. "So, give a girl a tour?"

[from_twin_suns]

"So people tell me," he said. "Stupid people, mainly."

And that moment felt like an eternity. What did he say in such a moment? What did he want to do? Other than his first instinct, which was to kiss her again, though that was - oh, good, she solved it for him.

"Uh, right, yes, um - not much to see, but..." he gestured at the car, "not mine, but fixing it for the Reverend down the road. Mine's in the barn. So, umm..." Oh, there really wasn't much to it, was there? Well, she was going to determine he was a country rube at some point or another. Best to get it out of the way.

"Workbench is over here, so's the bike - would you like a coke?"

[un_handed]

It was a small shop, more like a glorified garage. But the tools were good and well kept which said a lot about how the shop worked. She liked that, neat but not fussy, clean but not sterile, well used but not broken. It was comfortable.

The car he was working on seemed in old but good condition too. But she was more interested in the bike he'd told her about.

She walked toward it when he pointed it out, immediately dropping down to take a look at the engine and mounting. "Yeah, a coke would be great, thanks."

[from_twin_suns]

The 1940 Indian was a symphony in reds and whites. He was very proud of it, really. He crossed to the small fridge at the back, pulling out two cokes before heading back towards her.

"I do love her," he said, with a slight sigh, offering her the coke. "How long have you had yours?"

[un_handed]

Mara let out a low whistle, fingers lightly brushing along the pipes. "She's a beauty, I can see why."

She stood to take the coke and twist the top off, looking back at her own ride a 39 AJS Silver Streak midway through restoration. "About two years. When I got her she was an engine, a frame, and some spit welds. But the bones were there. I was lucky Pappy found her, there wasn't a lot that made it over."

[from_twin_suns]

That wasn't a term he'd heard much, but he assumed she meant a father or grandfather - and didn't interrogate it further.

"I wouldn't think so. Them and the Vincents aren't exactly regular arrivals. You did pretty amazing work on her!"

[un_handed]

I had time on my hands, I don't have a letter jacket." Meaning she'd noticed that about him, well she'd noticed a lot about him actually but she wasn't bringing it up.

"You know your bikes, blondie." She leaned back against the doorframe of the car he'd been working under when she arrived. "What else do you know?" A definite challenge in her tone and the arch of a brow at him.

[from_twin_suns]

He shrugs. "I like what I like, I guess," he replied. It seemed the best sort of answer. He didn't want to suddenly go off about what he enjoyed, at least not until he was sure she wasn't going to bolt if he did.

"Cars and planes, mostly," he replied. "Though the latter is less hands-on...just the old duster and a lot of sending off for engineering drawings."

[un_handed]

She listened and she sipped her coke, cold enough that beads of condensation started to form on the bottle. Chily rivulets ran down over her fingers enough that she dabbed the cool dampness to the back of her neck. Summer was warming up and the garage was open but without much of a breeze.

"What's that like? Flying I mean." She sipped more cold soda wondering why he'd need the drawings too, unless... "You plan on working on them too?" That was ambitious.

[from_twin_suns]

"In my dreams, maybe. But it's just neat seeing how they work. Unless I just go for the Air Force Academy, my chances are pretty low, I guess. All I've ever done is take up the old duster, but..."

He smiled, fondly, at that.

"She's slow and not much to look at, but the second those wheels leave the ground you're just...in another world entirely. All that stuff about who is seeing who or who you're supposed to not be around and everything just kinda stops mattering. I mean, the world looks so small from up there, and you're defying gravity itself...yeah, it's...pretty great."

[un_handed]

"I can see that, for me it was more a means to an end. If I understand how it works I can make it work better. But I've never even thought of planes." They were a whole different ball game, they had to deal with differences in pressure, altitude, temperature. Not to mention the body structural issues. Something needed to be light and flexible but rigid enough to stay aloft. It was a lot to keep in your head at once.

"Is that your type?" The tease in her tone was obvious. "Slow, not much to look at? Must work with the girls over here." Sure he was waxing poetic about a plane and it made her want to know what that even felt like if it could inspire those sorts of words. But she wasn't about to get all tongue-tied over it.

[from_twin_suns]

"Everything around here is a bit too slow for my liking," he replied, with a slight shrug, hands going to his pockets.

"But how about you? What's your type?"

[un_handed]

"You're strange for a Havencrester." The tone indicated amusement and maybe a compliment in there. Also that maybe her move in the diner hadn't been the wrong thing after all.

"Haven't found one yet. Guess I'll have to let you know when I do."

[from_twin_suns]

"Thanks, I guess," he replied, sipping at his coke.

"Have to admit, bit surprised you showed up," he replied as well - perilously close to admitting he'd missed her presence, really.

[un_handed]

"No sweat." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"I wasn't sure I'd be coming over. I thought about it and couldn't come up with any reason not to. And I came up with a whole bunch of reasons why I should. Most of them are about figuring you out."

[from_twin_suns]

He cocked his head a bit at that.

"What's there to figure out?"

Though he did like the way she shrugged. He was noticing a lot of those little details, it turned out.

[un_handed]

"You." She stated bluntly.

"You're not like them. You think for yourself. You have ideas." Implying that most of the people from his town were bland to put it mildly. A herd of sheep that follow one bleat all the way to the end of their days.

"And you have some kind of brass coming over to me like that. Even guys from my side generally wouldn't do something like that. Makes you stand out."

[from_twin_suns]

Well, it's complimentary, at least.

"Well, thanks for that - and I didn't see it as 'brass'...I mean, you came in on a gorgeous bike you clearly knew how to use, and were absolutely bold about it. That seemed like the sort of person I'd like to know. The, uh, cascade of red hair didn't exactly hurt, either," he added, with some honesty.

"That was a nice sort of moment to see. I'm a little surprised you don't have a crowd, all things considered."

[un_handed]

"And you had backbone enough to look at me and see me, not just where I'm from. That made you about the most interesting person there." But there must have been some vanity there as she smiled to the comment on her hair.

"I've never been big on crowds, I usually do better alone."

[from_twin_suns]

He shook his head. "I wouldn't care if you were from the moon," he replied, "you're different and alive in a way that this place...isn't."

The latter was interesting.

"You too, huh?"

Not that he didn't have friends, but - very few he felt close to, not really. Biggs, maybe, but he'd moved on.

[un_handed]

"I was more of a go my own way than a joiner type." And no one would really have her for too long anyway. She was prone to trouble and she started speaking up when she knew she was right and others were wrong. Most guys had no idea how to deal with that.

"But maybe I'm finding people who aren't boring." At least one. She sipped her coke with a little smile.

[from_twin_suns]

A little smile from her, he was finding, was worth quite a bit.

"Well here's to that," he replied, sipping his own after raising it a little.

"I like your way," he added. "It's been pretty great so far. Pretty very great."

Stop talking, you idiot.

"I could say much the same about you. Most people around here are...well, pretty conventional. No ambitions, just...going along, from day to day. You aren't like that."