I need like TEN seconds of your time.. (Chassy)

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Stupid.. freakin.. Could have taken electronics classes at the vocational school, but nuuu.. All welding and freakin lathes and mills and-- GAH. Freaking meter! Freaking probe! STAY. There, good.. now just.. wait right there while I-- ARGH."

Corbin was having a few issues.. Nothing he couldn't fix.. it was just.. his truck and his voltmeter weren't cooperating. A simple broken wire.. easy enough to fix. He literally had all the tools to fix it in his truck.. and Corbin didn't work on cars. He just had to figure out which wire he needed to replace.. which required him to figure out which wire was ground and which ones were for the blinkers, brake lights, running lights, and the trailer brakes.. which was where his problem was.

A big old dodge dually with a flat metal bed was hooked up to a gooseneck trailer (the big kind that hooked up inside the bed, not under the bumper) loaded down with a ton - er literally several tons - of metal.. and Corbin was grimy and dirty on the ground messing with freaking wires under the nose of the trailer. See, this was a lot of weight.. and he wasn't going to be driving any further than he had without proper brakes on said trailer. That crap was just stupid and dangerous.

He couldn't get things to sit still while he hit the brake pedal or tested the brakes or used the blinkers.. so he couldn't figure out which wires he needed to splice. He just needed someone - anyone - to sit in the truck and do three simple things so that he could get things fixed and get moving... Like.. ten or twelve seconds of sitting there. Literally anyone would do.. And this was getting unnecessarily frustrating, so someone was going to have to.

As fortune would have it, when Corbin stood and glanced up and down the street, he did see someone. One person. A girl. Likely several years younger than him, but anyone would do.. "H-hey! Um, look, will you do me a huge favor that will take like.. fifteen seconds of your day? I just need you to sit in the drivers seat of my truck and move a few controls.. just so I can figure out wiring.. I swear that's all there is to it, I just need somebody to help me out for .. for like two minutes, max. A-and I'll buy you lunch or something if you'll help me out. Anything you want.. I'd say I'd give you cash but, I mean, I only have a card on me.. Please?"

Once-slicked-back now-messy dark hair, a shirt that was covered in rust and road grime, and arms that looked just as bad as the shirt, not to mention a pleading, hopeful expression on a mid-20s face would hopefully tell this girl that Corbin was serious, needed her help, and was willing to get her food or whatever else if she'd just help him. He'd been at this for almost an hour now.. but he wasn't going anywhere until he got it fixed. He's almost taken out a compact car and a road sign when the idiot had pulled out in front of him, and Corbin refused to kill anybody today because he was too lazy to fix his trailer's wiring.

[Chassy Trouble]

Chassy was quite pleased with herself and the object of her heightened mood was right there in her front pocket, reminding her of the little itch she has scratched today with every step she took. It might not have been audible, but the watch was clicking lightly every time it bumped into her upper thigh and making her want to take it out to look at it. She resisted for the time being, as she wasn't exactly far from the store she had nicked it from and even if she was pretty confident that she wouldn't be caught by this point, she wasn't going to risk it.

Anyways, her being careful made that feeling last a little longer. It drew the thrill out and filled her with that guiltless satisfaction of having gotten away with something. It wasn't like the watch was one of those high end diamond covered pieces. No, it was an average fifteen dollar watch that was probably worth more like five or ten. But, she was needing to replace the one that she broke the other day, and this one was shiny. She had a magpie moment, sue her.

Initially, when the "hey" had been called out, Chassy had been thinking so hard about the watch that a brief jolt of paranoia went through her followed by a brilliant thrill when she realised that the guy was just trying to get her attention rather than following that hey with a "stop right there". She smiled. It might have seemed like she was being friendly to him but it was more of her smiling to keep from giving a grinch-like grin.

She paused, listening to him as he went on to asking her if she could do a favour for him and adding in the promise of a lunch or something. Cute guy? Possibly alibi? And the promise of possible cheeseburgers? Oh it was too good of a combination for her to pass up! Seriously, shit like this didn't happen often!

"Sure, what do you need me to do? She asked him with a raised brow as she came over.

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Oh, fuckin sweet. Here, c'mon. Hop in the driver's seat." Corbin would lead the girl around the truck and into the driver's seat.. For this obviously being a work truck it was remarkably clean inside. Maybe that's because it wasn't cluttered, or maybe it was because Corbin didn't like driving while grungy and covered in grease and oil.. hard to tell, but the truck was pretty clean inside with it's tan leather interior.

"Okay, when I call for it I need you to turn the lights on," He showed her where the switch for the lights were.. "Then turn them off and hit the blinker left and right.." He showed her that, too.. Just to make sure.. "Hold the brake pedal down for a few seconds.." That one was pretty self-explanatory. "And the most important bit is this little controller box. You just squeeze these two things together and the number will go up to a hundred, right? That's it. That's all I need you to do.."

Assuming the girl understood and thought she could handle it, Corbin would jog back to the trailer and start calling things out to her once at a time.. in the same order that he'd showed her.. then after a few short minutes he would hop up from beneath the trailer and run back behind it, calling for her to do the same things again so he could confirm the lights were working. When he walked back to the cab it was with obvious and visible relief.

"I've been struggling with that for almost an hour. Ugh. Thank you. Just.. fucking thank you. Where do you want food from? My treat, as promised. Just saved me a lot of frustration.." As Corbin spoke, though, he opened the truck's third door and pulled out a black t-shirt and some waterless hand cleaner, stripping his grimy used-to-be-white shirt off and using it as a towel to clean up his arms and whatnot before slipping the black shirt on and grabbing a hat to cover his frazzled hair. "Okay, more like anywhere that's in Pilot Ridge and not a five-star four-course meal or something. You need a lift somewhere? I'll do that for ya too.. And.. ya know.. we can grab something on the way."

Oblivious-to-recent-shoplifting Corbin was oblivious. But then that was the intention on Chassy's part, wasn't it?

"....And get outta my seat, will ya? No way you're driving with fourteen tons of raw stock back there."

[Chassy Trouble]

Cute AND had a potty mouth! Oh she liked this one already. Chassy gave a bit of a cheeky grin when he told her to hop into the driver's seat and briefly wondered what it would be like to take off with the truck. It wasn't anything she'd actually do, it was just an amusing thought that crossed her mind.

"Well fuck, this is the cleanest truck I've ever seen. Seriously, you have a maid stashed away in here somewhere or something?" She commented as she got in.

As he told her what he needed her to do and showed her how to do it, she nodded and took notes.

"Right. Lights on, lights off, left and right blinker, and some brake action followed by a good squeeze until it gets up to a hundred." She repeated, though not as innocently as it could have been said.

She gave him a smirk even as he went to get to work then looked around the inside of the truck until she heard him call for the lights. It wasn't hard at all to do what he'd asked her to. And she felt more pleased with herself for not being one of those clumsy stressy types. By the time he came back into view, she was sitting pretty casually in the seat with one hand on the wheel and the other arm behind her head. And as he thanked her and asked her where she wanted food from, she didn't change her position much besides turning her head to look at him with a smirk.

His shirt. It was off. And all was right in the world. Seriously, he had a nice body. One that Chassy could more than appreciate. She found herself almost grinning as her brow rose and she shamelessly checked him out. Oh today was just spoiling her, wasn't it? Oh yeah, it was. Rrrr.

"The burger spot down the street'd be good. They've got some awesome cheese burgers. Probably the best in town." She told him.

"As far as me getting out of your seat, you kidding me? You just gave me power of fourteen tons of raw stock. You've sooo got to let me drive at least to the corner." She replied with a small laugh.

She was just kidding. Or was she? Well, she guessed she was kidding if he said no, and she was totally up for it if he said yes.

[Corbin Jacobs]

Corbin had been a little too focused to catch or respond to any of Chassy's comments before he'd changed his shirt, them all going in one ear and out the other.. But once he was able to calm down, having fixed his busted wiring, he was considerably more attentive. "Nah, the place eight or ten blocks over next to that coffee shop is the best in town, but that one might be a close second. Their chili fries are way better, though, so if that's what you're into..."

He then got freakishly serious as he leaned against the open door and stared right into Chassy's eyes. "This is a five thousand pound truck with a four thousand pound trailer loaded up with twenty-nine thousand pounds worth of raw material that basically equal my livelihood. The forces involved if you slipped or panicked could send this truck, us, and all that metal through several brick walls. The damage could be catastrophic. People could easily die.. Some instantly, some suffocated slowly beneath thousands of pounds of cold, unforgiving steel.. fighting to their last breath to move it but completely unable.. Entire families could be lost, property damage could range in the hundreds of thousands or millions.. all before you get to the end of the street."

And he snapped back to grinning again. "Seriously though that's why I had to fix the brakes, ya know? This crap is genuinely dangerous if it gets out of control. Have you ever driven anything hauling a trailer? A truck this big? Do you even have a license? Are you even old enough to drive?"

[Chassy Trouble]

Chassy was just about to tell him that she was in it for the burgers all the way, but she didn't quite get the chance to as he was suddenly getting all serious and looking deep into her eyes like he was trying to talk to her soul or something. He told her about all the chaos, mayhem, and death that one little slip could cause but she was having trouble paying attention to it all as she was picking out the different subtle colors in his eyes most of the time he spoke for. Fuck was he gorgeous. She hadn't realised the level of it until now.

He seemed to switch off the serious mode and have no problem with grinning again as he spoke about those dangers and such being why he had to fix the brakes before asking her if she had ever driven anything hauling a trailer, a truck this big, or if she even had a license.

"You know what, you're really cute when you're serious. I'm almost tempted to say something else so you can do it again." She commented with a raised brow and a smirk.

"And I'm old enough to drive. Haven't driven a truck before though. Just a riding mower, and a volks-wagon belonging to one really pissed off cat-lady that one time." She told him in a slightly cheeky manner.

Chassy scooted over to be sitting in the passenger's side, sitting so she was partially turned to face him.

"I suppose I'll let you drive this time. And maybe I'll try that place ten blocks away if the cheeseburger's as good as you say it is."

[Corbin Jacobs]

Well.. if Chassy wanted to get another look at Corbin's eyes, she'd get the chance. His went wide when she casually let his dramatic seriousmode roll right off her shoulders and told him he was cute.. And then what he understood as 'I went joyriding in a VW once'...

He really was caught off guard and speechless.. for more than long enough for her to scoot over to the passenger seat. When he did regain his composure, though, he just hopped in the truck and put on his seat belt.. staring out the windshield for a few more seconds before turning to stare at her. "You realize I'm like.. what, ten years older than you? No way I'm pretty enough that you wanna flirt with an old man."

He threw the truck in gear and checked his mirrors, the thrum of the diesel engine turning into a dull roar as he got them moving and on the way to what he thought was the best burger place in town, some 10 or so blocks away. "If you wanna learn how to drive a truck with a trailer I'm willing to teach you.. but, like.. Not this one. Like I said, this is my livelihood. Just picked it up from the supply place a few blocks over and almost jackknifed coming around the corner onto this block cause my damned trailer brakes weren't working. I have smaller trailers that are less likely to kill people at my shop.. But then, like.. I mean, it's really bad for me to be even offering you this, isn't it? Shit, you can't be much over sixteen and I'm all but inviting you back to my place.. after getting you food...."

And Corbin let his head thunk sideways into the window. "I fuckin swear I'm not a pedophile. Seriously if you wanna get out you just say so. I'll pull over."

Never before had a conversation gone so quickly from entertained to horribly awkward without the other party even saying a word. Nice guys.. sometimes they had it rough. XD

[Chassy Trouble]

His eyes went wide at her flirting and she couldn't help but to grin in a mixture of triumph, pride, and amusement. He did manage to get himself together before too long but not before she decided that she might do it again. He got in, but didn't look at her for a moment. When he did though, she knew she had his full attention. Good, she wanted his attention right now. It gave her more of a chance to look at those nice hazel eyes of his. The pretty and pale kind of hazel rather than the muddy might as well be brown kind.

When he spoke about being about ten years older than her, Chassy snerked a little. She wasn't discouraged in the least.

"You don't look that old to me. And you might want to guess my age, but seeing how I haven't given it to you, there's still a chance that I'm just a perky thirty year youthful skin secrets that people would die for." She teased.

The truck was brought to life before he spoke again and she was liking what he was saying, though the sixteen bit did amuse her.

"Close, but not quite." She told him, meaning his guess.

"As far as you giving me lessons, now you're talking. And you're even going to lure me away with the promises of truck driving and cheese burgers. Oh my, what have I gotten myself into? Oh yeah, you should totally pull over and let me out." She kidded, her tone making it more than obvious that she wasn't actually worried.

"Don't worry so much. If I was going to get abducted by some stalker, I wouldn't have the luck of having my abductor be a hot one an my abductor wouldn't have the luck of me coming along nicely." She added.

"I won't scream if you don't."

[Corbin Jacobs]

"I won't scream if you don't" ..Corbin had just pulled up to a stop sign.. and let his head fall forward to bounce off the steering wheel. "Seriously, kid.. I can't afford to go to jail. I'm just an actually nice guy who works 70 hours a week and who pays it forward." He raised his head back up but he was grinning at least. "You might be too smart for your own good. Cause I'm not gonna be the dude from Trainspotting, getting wrapped up having sex with a schoolgirl and having to keep doing it or else she'll get me arrested. If I was close, there's still a chance you're a minor. So you can flirt all you want and pick on me all you want, but, like.. Unless you have an ID that proves you're legal.. and you are interested enough to put a lot of work into convincing me that I'm not corrupting some poor couple's baby, the only physical thing happening here is gonna be, like.. maybe me helping you out of the truck cause it's the gentlemanly thing to do."

Despite being serious, Corbin was still grinning. He was willing to have some fun with this if Chassy was going to keep messing with him. "So just in case you're an undercover model for 'to catch a predator' or whatever, nooothing happening here." He finally started moving again, signaling that he was turning right at the next intersection. "For the record, though, name's Corbin. And I really do appreciate your help. I own and run Jacobs Welding and Metalworking. That's why I have a trailer full of several tons of metal. I can do anything with a welder, too.. Which is why this truck is way, way insulated.. so even if you did scream, nobody would hear you."

Yeah, he couldn't keep a straight face. The truck wasn't insulated, and Corbin honestly didn't wanna know how loud this girl could scream if she wanted to. He was serious about everything else, though.

[Chassy Trouble]

When she made that joke about not screaming if he didn't he bounced his head off of the steering wheel. Luckily, the truck had been at a stop at that point. He didn't take it very well, it seemed. Maybe she should play a little nicer with him. She thought it over even as he spoke, watching him as he talked about how he didn't want to end up getting screwed over and that he wouldn't be doing anything unless she managed to convince him she wasn't going to make a pedo-bear out of him.

When he added the joke of her being a Catch a Predator bait, she smirked and shook her head. Okay, maybe she could still tease him some. She just wouldn't go out of her way to give him a fuckin' heart attack. She was about to mess with him again, but then he surprised her by giving her his name then leading the conversation towards telling her how the truck was insulated and even if she did scream, no one would hear her.

She snerked at first, then laughed.

"That means no one can hear you scream either." She commented boldly.

"Well, Corbin, I'm Chastity. But I like being called Chassy. I'm older than sixteen, which by the way is legal with consent in Vermont, and I'm not some innocent daughter that you're gonna corrupt. As far as me getting you in jail, that'd be a horrible waste seeing how pretty those eyes of yours are." She stated before sitting so her arms were behind her head.

"I'm not gonna screw you over, I might be bad but I'm not that bad." She told him.

[Corbin Jacobs]

Corbin couldn't quite stifle a laugh at Chassy's bold rebuttal and simply glanced over with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, but I have a train horn on this truck, and it'll make plenty of noise on my behalf."

So this was Chastity.. ironic, considering that she claimed not to be innocent. "Well, Chassy, it's nice to meet you.. But you'll have to forgive me if I'm a touch leery of 'older than age of consent' girls. Look at me, then look at yourself.. You tell me that if you put on the waterworks and insist that I did horrible things to you, anybody's gonna believe that I didn't. Don't get any ideas, you may or may not be being video and audio recorded right now.. --Okay, you aren't.. but.. yeah, I mean, I have a bit of a record and the last thing I need is.. ya know.. to try to do something nice for somebody that helped me out, and end up losing my business, life, and freedom because they got off on fucking up people's lives or decided to extort me just because of my past."

His face lit up a bit and he quickly gestured in what could only mean 'er, wait' and held up a finger, requesting a moment.. after which he replied in what could only be described as a 'cautious' voice, "I would never accuse you or anyone of wanting to do that to another person, don't get me wrong.. but it's something anybody with any kind of record has to be aware of, whether or not they willfully committed the crime. But I'm probably getting too serious now, so.. like.. feel free to twist things around and make fun of me for ruining the mood. And in case you're worried or curious, it was an assault charge like.. seven years ago. But I really wasn't myself when things went down."

The offer was still there for her to ask him to pull over. He still would. He hadn't meant to get serious.. but.. sometimes younger people didn't quite understand how serious a few short years could make an otherwise innocent situation.

Then, completely at random, Corbin tilted his head slightly and blurted out, "Wait, I have pretty eyes? Huh.."

[Chassy Trouble]

"Hmm true, you do have that, don't you." Chassy replied at his comment about having a train horn to turn to.

She listened to him speaking about his concerns and about the fact that he had a record that he had to worry about. It was interesting how people just kind of opened up about things like that when they were nervous. Was he nervous? Did he have reason to be? Was he thinking naughty thoughts about what he believed to be potential jail bait? She tried to keep in the grin and only just barely managed.

Corbin was quickly going on to explaining that he wasn't accusing her of setting him up, that he wouldn't ever accuse her or anyone. Then, he explained that it was what anyone with a record would have to worry about. Lots of explaining there. And confessions it seemed, as he went on to telling her what the record had been from. The thing was though, Chassy was a bit cocky when it came to people. She felt confident in her ability to defend herself if she had to. It was just big freakin' dogs that were her kryptonite. But, she wasn't going to bring that up.

As he went to bringing up what she had said about his eyes, Chassy finally let that grin out.

"Yeah, pretty eyes, and you're pretty fucking honest too. I like that." She replied with a smirk.

"Don't worry, calm down, I'm not gonna set you up. Like I said, you look too good to end up in prison. God, you wouldn't last ten minutes without them trying to swarm you." She told him with a laugh.

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Well I don't know if I look that good. Sure, I put in a little effort, but I dunno about all that. And yeah, of course I'm honest. Why would I lie? I try to, ya know, look on the bright side of people and situations and shit but some thing require caution just cause of my past where other people wouldn't have to worry about it, and, like, if it's a bit of a change in my demeanor.. I feel like a fellow decent person deserves some kind of an explanation for it. Cause it's not their fault, it's not your fault, it's just something I have to think about, ya know?"

He paused for a moment with a resigned shrug. "Besides. Being a meta in prison makes everything a little easier." Technically one wasn't supposed to go around blabbing the meta thing.. or using their ability in front of people.. but seriously, almost everyone in pilot ridge knew about them and those who would claim they didn't were willfully ignorant. Hell, this chick probably went to Hammel. "First off, nobody really knows what your ability is. Never know who's a pyrokinetic or a dreamwalker or, like.. can make you go blind if you piss them off. I'm nothing that special, just super durable, but good luck hurting me, ya know? Ain't nothing most people could to to hurt me without hitting me with a car or.. like.. the jaws of life. So they could swarm all they want.. I'd get out of it."

Strangely enough, though, when Corbin had been in jail, he hadn't been swarmed. Not once. He'd been propositioned several times, sure, but he'd apologized and turned those requests down. In fact, part of the reason he'd been released to early was that two guards had witnessed him step in the middle of a fight and not throw a single punch, taking blow after blow and pushing the two inmates apart.

"Anyway, I'd comment on your eyes, but.. kinda busy controlling twenty tons of steel and rubber and diesel fuel. So if you want compliments it'll have to wait another few minutes. We're almost there. You attend school at Hammel, Chassy?"

[Chassy Trouble]

He had a point with the no need to lie thing. But, Chassy herself lied. She lied her ass off sometimes. Though she was more of an information skirter than an liar. She tended to dodge questions and throw in little fibs. Sometimes she had a good reason, sometimes it was just habit.

Chassy's brows rose and he had her full attention when he admitted to being a meta. Like, straight out admitted it. Were they supposed to do that? Wasn't it supposed to be a hush hush thing? Sure, she'd known people who used their powers in public, but it was usually in a sneaky way or when no non-metas were looking or something. But to say it out just like that?

"Well, fuck." She muttered even while he went on to speaking about how no one knew what anyone might be as far as what powers the might have.

So, he had durability then? That was a good one. It looked like he got a lucky draw, as he could have any sort of random power and could have ended up with something like the power to fart rainbows as an ability.

"Oh I can wait. Then, you can compliment away." She replied with a smirk on her lips and in her tone.

"As far as Hammel, yeah, I can be found there sometimes." A loose answer, but an answer none the less.

"Guess you see why I'm not too nervous about a possible abduction, huh?" She joked.

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Well, not that you do t give the impression you can defend yourself, but its a relief to know that, like, you're at least not just some normal teenage girl hopping into some stranger's truck. If you have that much more ability to defend yourself, I mean, good. Fuckin predators and pedophiles could use to get their asses kicked.. Like, literally and metaphorically."

Corbin slowed the truck almost to a stop and gestured for Chassy to stay learned back and he foused on the passenger side mirror. "Lesson one.. Which is actually from the way advanced book.. Parallel parking a thirty-eight foot gooseneck trailer. These are harder to park. Because the pivot point is the rear axle, not the bumper. So you have to be even more careful lining things up. See how I'm like four cars ahead of the spot I'm aiming for back there? I need that much space to get this thing in at a soft enough angle to correct it. Not to be attempted when there's any traffic.. Need booth lanes." He put the truck in reverse and began backing into the incoming lane.. But the trailer obviously turned toward the correct sidewalk.

"A longer trailer responds slower so its actually easier to learn on.. I basically have to pretend like my rear tires are the front tires on a buss and the trailer tires are the baxk ones.." He skilfully brought the truck inline with the trailer, making minor adjustments as he continued slowly backing.

"The tough part is that you can't leave the wheels turned when the bus is parked.. Gotta measure it right so the wheels a are straight when the bus is stopped.. Just.. Takes a little more effort.. Like this.." He turned the truck wheels all the way right and as the truck got xloseer to perpendicular with the street, the trailer got closer to parallel.. Then he wrenched the wheel straight again with the truck at nearly a 45 degree angle to the trailer, and gently started to turn left to make the truck parallel to the street while the trailer leveled off and the truck slowly worked its way to the same angle..

"Now.. I've had some practice, but like.. If you can keep all that stuff in mind and think ahead.. Its not that big a deal. That's probably the hardest possible thing to do with a trailer.. Luckily.. Ya know, convenient availability of parking places. Anyway.. Burgers? The onion rings are good here too.." He shut the truck off and hopped out, stepping gknerly around to help her out.. In case she actually wanted him to do that... Since he'd mentioned it earlier.