Kind-of-an-OOM: Car adventures!

[hasthehighground]

Clint's not entirely sure how Oswin's gained access to the car she has -- a sturdy four-door sedan.

Whichever way that happened, she has a set of keys and hasn't wrecked it yet. Clint's given it a look-over, including pulling out out of its parking spot and re-parking it in the middle of the lane, and now he's sitting in the passenger seat.

He hands Oswin the keys once she's buckled in.

Comments

[souffle_girlek]

Clint is a brave, brave man. The narration would just like this noted, as Oswin takes the keys with the sort of grin one usually reserves for surprise birthday parties.

It's not even a supercar, Oswin.

"Okay, so... what's this thing?" She asks, with a hand on the gear stick.

Probably not the most reassuring question of ever.

[hasthehighground]

He's not known for his sense of self-preservation.

"It's called a stick," he says. "A really basic explanation is that it controls the gear the car is in. Your speed," he leans over and points to the speedometer on the dash, "determines the gear you use. If you go too slow for the gear you're in, the car will stall out -- stop working. You can bust it up that way. If you go too fast it'll get pissed off at you. Do you see the pedal on the left?"

[souffle_girlek]

She cranes her neck to peer at it awkwardly.

"Yep." She's starting to reconsider her choice of cars - this seems a lot more complicated than previous cars she has encountered. However, she's not exactly one to back down from a challenge, so. This car's going to be driven, come hell or high water (or, more importantly, Daleks).

[hasthehighground]

"Okay, that's the clutch. Don't put your foot on it yet, but that's what you'll be using to change gears." He gives her a 'one second,' hand and gets out of the car (he hadn't even shut his door yet), and comes to join her on her side.

"Okay," he says once he's crouching down beside her, arm resting on her door. "Put they keys in the center console and unbuckle your belt; you're going to have to be sitting closer and I don't want to get you squished."

[souffle_girlek]

"... I'm definitely in favor of not squishing." She replies, sounding a bit dubious and a tiiiiiiiiiiiny bit freaked out because how is squishing getting into the equation when they aren't even moving yet?

But she's an obedient slightly-freaked-out-space-girl, and puts the keys far away from the ignition.

[hasthehighground]

"... Not really squishing," he says, a bit too late. "Just the straps being way too tight for comfort."

He unbuckles her seat-belt. "The seat'll jerk forward," he tells her, before jerking the seat forward. "Make sure you can press each of the pedals to the floor? Use your left foot for the clutch, and your right foot for the other two. The middle's your brake, the right's your gas."

It's weird, having to remember to explain all of this. He's taught people who drive automatics how to drive manual, and he's taught people who drive both how to hone their driving for SHIELD, but he's never taught someone how to just... drive a car.

[souffle_girlek]

There's a startled squeak (even with the warning) when the chair moves, but she obligingly tests out the pedals and lets him know when she can actually push them all the way down. Whilst holding on to the wheel for dear life because evidently the chairs can slide around in these things, who knew?

"Awful lot of buttons and things to get this machine moving." She observes - sure she's used to things like hacking computers being complicated, but just getting about? Good grief.

[hasthehighground]

He laughs, quiet, clicking the slider into place. "This sort of a car's called a manual. Some of the others are slicker, but it's sort of like having training wheels. Easier to use, but you can't pull anything too complicated."

He stands, and shuts the door, before walking around and sliding into the passenger seat. His door clicks behind him, and he buckles himself in.

"Press down on the brake-- the middle pedal -- and start the car." He knows she knows how to start a car. She's wrecked too many to not.

[souffle_girlek]

She has gotten herself buckled back in (while she may not know much, she remembers what she does know) and turns the ignition.

Okay, the somewhat goofy grin is back, because engine noises are cool. Don't even say they're not, she'll call you a liar to your face.

And then she squeaks again when the engine roars, because that's not the brake pedal.

[hasthehighground]

"The middle one," he repeats, a slight laugh in his voice. They're in neutral, so it's not a big deal right now.

[souffle_girlek]

"Right." She tries to peer down at them again, but now she's too close to the dash to get a good look at her feet without bending very awkwardly indeed. "I... knew that. Sort of."

Lies.

[hasthehighground]

"Sure. Keep holding it down. You see those buttons on your door? With the arrows. Use the left one to adjust your left mirror, and the right one to adjust your right mirror. You should be able to just see the side of the car in the mirror, and tilted so you're looking almost directly back along the car."

[souffle_girlek]

Okay, so this is a new step. She wasn't sure what all the mirrors were about, really, but it seems they do have a purpose other than being extra shiny.

It takes a bit of fiddling to get them aligned according to his orders, but she's stubborn.

"Alright, check. Not for checking one's lipstick, then?"

She's... probably not serious there.

[hasthehighground]

He grins. "Actually, a lot of cars have mirrors for that in the visor, so people would stop adjusting their rearviews," he taps her rear-view as he mentions it. "You move this one by hands, just make sure you can see out the back window with it."

[souffle_girlek]

She looks a bit horrified at this as she adjusts the mirror as ordered.

"I was joking!" She protests, clearly expecting him to say the same thing. Just. No. Really?

[hasthehighground]

He actually laughs, this time. "It's not a big deal, as long as people keep it to when they're parked. Some idiots don't.

"Okay. Do you have the clutch pushed all the way down?"

[souffle_girlek]

"Yes." She does actually pay attention through his instructions on putting the car into first gear, then slowly giving the engine more gas while letting off the clutch. It sounds easy enough.

Which is why she's utterly confounded when the engine jerks to a halt as she's attempting the maneuver, after inching forward less than half a foot.

"Oh my stars. Did I kill it?"

[hasthehighground]

"You're just going to have to restart," he says, trying not to sound as amused as he is. "Pu--"

[souffle_girlek]

The engine roars back to life, and Oswin's got a determined scowl on her face. If this machine thinks it's going to beat her, it's going to have a problem. From what she can tell, the engine died because she was too cautious with the gas.

Well. Change of plan.

The car lurches forward like a startled jackrabbit as she definitely manages to not make the same mistake twice, the wheels squealing and leaving black rubber behind.

[hasthehighground]

Clint will feel, later, that he recovers from the shock admirably. It still takes him a moment.

"Less gas!"

[souffle_girlek]

"Right, right, less gas, I can do that, definitely less with the gas..." She still hasn't ever figured out how she showed here not all... Dalek-y, but she's learning right now that this body has perfectly functioning adrenal glands. The adrenalin (of going all of ten miles an hour now) is powering her current babble.

[hasthehighground]

Clint takes a deep breath, and laughs.

Now the initial shock has died down, it's pretty funny.

"Okay," he says, placing his elbow on divider so he can lean over and watch the speedometer. "You're going to want to press down the clutch and slowly increase the gas while you switch over to second. Keep us around the 15 mph point for now."

[souffle_girlek]

She gives him a look (briefly) because it's not that funny. Really. And she manages to shift without horribly stalling - she's still erring on the side of giving too much gas, so the engine revs uselessly mid-shift and lurches a bit once she gets it engaged again.

"There. Could've been smoother, but we're not crashed, so win!"

[hasthehighground]

"Anybody ever tell you you really need higher standards?"

[souffle_girlek]

"You're the one that got in the car with me, I don't think you have much room to complain." She points out dryly.