Hullabaloo

[LYourLocalAutist]

It was a bit weird to Raya when people were humble. Well, of course, people who do nothing but brag are jerkasses, but damn girl admit you can do something cool for once without looking all embarrassed about it. The embarrassed look always provoked a grin from Raya, however. It was a little cute, she thought. And as Clarissa remarked, she was only going to get better the longer she was in the club, wasn't she? Raya nodded in response, thinking about it. Maaaaybe not better than the R&C (Raya could be prideful sometimes as a treat) but she had the potential to be really, really good. It was exciting to watch. Rising star type beat.

Suddenly; Clarissa, bathroom. Raya's eyes momentarily turned towards the bestie, all frizzled hair and wide smiles as if she'd just gotten a Raya-brand hair ruffle. That she could keep that attitude up after one million (read: two) different extracurriculars... braver than the troops. You could point at any three things and two of those things would be braver than the troops, but the point remained. Raya smiled and waved Clarissa off, and it was suddenly just her and Meela.

Casual as a spring breeze, she bumped herself off the table she was leaning on and got to un-aproning herself, exposing her tank top, with a lot more finesse than her cheerleading counterpart. It would get popped right back on whenever they started the next thing, but Raya enjoyed letting her everything breathe for a little bit. She got to leaning again (as the cool ones do) right up on the workbench next to Meela, turning her head and looking down at her with a warm and toothless grin.

"Seriously, though... ever since you've started coming here, it's been like, nothing but consistently good products. I dunno if this is something you actually want to do, but, yknow, you could!"

...She really couldn't tell. As far as she knew, Meela was one o' them computer nerds. Power to them, but they really didn't feel like the type to just roll up to metalworking clubs on a weekly basis. It wasn't exactly a curiosity she could suppress.

[Lamps]

Woah, okay.

Don't panic. It's just Raya asking a question.

Just breathe. Say something that makes sense.

God damnit, why'd she have to smile like that.

"H-huh. You think? I mean, I haven't really thought about it that way..."

She twiddles with the strap of her apron, which she has not removed. Why take it off when you're just gonna have to put it on again? It's just unnecessary exertion which could be used for better things, like-

PUT A SHIRT ON for GOD'S sake, it is SO distracting.

[LYourLocalAutist]

Raya was stretching her back using the workbench as leverage, positioned a bit like a bear scratching its back against a tree trunk, though you could just as easily call her a stretching tiger, what with her hair. Her top rode up with her just so before coming back to earth as she did. She crossed her arms and got to looking down on her conversation partner once more, that easy smile still a staple between her warm red and freckled cheeks. Her voice rang out again, clear, casual, confident.

"I know you're more into computers, but I'm just saying."

Meela looked markedly nervous for someone simply conversing with a fellow club member. Raya thought a moment, and could attribute it to her seeming usual demeanour at school... but that just led her train of thought in neat little circles, next stop "then why'd she join up with us" station. Raya remembered it being at her recommendation, camaraderie and helping and all that, but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there had to be something else. Metalworking, for crying out loud. You don't really get into that just off a bud's recommendation like you do some music or something.

Her head tilted imperceptibly observing her mannerisms, especially the way she fiddled around with a bit of her apron. This was confirmation of nervousness, in Raya's eyes at least. She had the experience to tell that kind of thing. Maybe it was the subject? She gave herself a mental shrug and decided to change it to one which would satisfy her latent curiosity then and there.

"I gotta ask, why did you join up with us? Was it really just 'cuz I said you should?"

[Lamps]

Yes. Yes, it really was because of that.

She could NOT just say that though, or... or could she? It's the truth, she wanted to hang out with Raya more and this was the place she could do that without it seeming weird. Besides, it's not like she didn't like the core activity of this club, it's just...

No, no, she can't. This is exactly how you come off as desperate and clingy. Joining a random club on a whim just to be close to- uh, get closer to-

BE IN THE PROXIMITY OF

a potential friend? That's unbelievably stupid.

...

Meela didn't want to scare Raya away. Raya was amazing. She wanted to be her friend. I mean, they hung out sometimes, sure, but... she wanted more than that somehow. To bring her lunch when she forgot to bring her own. To watch her fix cars in her garage, then drive in them down Highway 50 with her on the weekends. She wanted to be there in her happiest moments, just to see the look on her face, and to be there to wipe the tears in her worst. She wanted all of this and so much more, because when your heart tells you someone is truly, truly worth being around... well, that's one club she wanted to be in more than anything.

There's no way Raya would understand any of this, but screw it. She didn't have the energy to bullshit.

"... kind of? Cause like... you do this all the time and, like... I wanna see you more."

...

"That'snottheonlyreasonIlike, theworkandstuff, th-uh yeah, but... yeah."

[LYourLocalAutist]

In the span of a split second following Meela's response to her question, Raya had managed to blink.

Meela hadn't particularly said much in terms of content, but she'd spoken quite a few volumes nonetheless. I wanna see you more. That isn't something you say on a whim. Isn't something you just join a random club for on a whim either. Raya's eyes widened momentarily, having been taken off-guard. She'd joined... just for her, it seemed. Primarily for her, at least. There was the stuttering immediately afterwards, but that did very little to dissuade Raya from the point that was quickly forming in her brain. A conclusion, moreso. It made Raya feel a little bashful inside. A little special, a little prideful as she began to recognize the situation. Perhaps fortunately, more than likely the opposite for Meela, despite the saturation of gasoline fumes her brain had undergone over the years, Raya wasn't stupid. Not just yet.

A grin slowly spread across Raya's face, different in nature than her previous ones, one speaking of a sort of recognition. She considered the girl named Meela who stood at her side. Raya always admired the way she worked so hard and looked so determined when she did anything. The way she could make learning things seem so effortless, as demonstrable in how far she'd come in such little time in the realm of metalworking. Like some maximum-efficiency robot, a learning algorithm. It was a bit funny, thusly, to see her act like this. Flailing and stumbling over her words and totally human in this moment.

Raya thought it was all cute. Made her want to chuckle.

Raya shimmied just to the side, just far enough to put herself right right next to Meela. Whether it was unconscious or conscious movement, she probably couldn't tell herself. She looked down at her with that grin, which had now transformed again, into something somewhat softer, contrasting the solidity of everything else in the room. No teeth, all smiles. Less a hunting wolf and more, well, a person with emotions to express. Her arm bumped very lightly against Meela's, perhaps purposefully. Raya knew a thing or two about this kind of thing, after all.

"You wanna see me more, huh?"

Just confirmation. In reality, despite the show of coolness and confidence, Raya kind of wanted to hear it again to confirm she hadn't just imagined it, even though she'd just spent all those split-seconds processing it. What cute reaction she could draw from Meela was just the icing on the cake.

[Lamps]

"I.."

Was this real? Was this actually an experience she was having right this second? That smile, it was... different to how it usually is. She couldn't look away from Raya as she got closer, a flash fire of red, orange and pink inches away threatening to burn everything away. Was this the start of something?

What would you even call this?

"uH-huh." she muttered in confirmation. There was no escaping now. Not that she wanted to. "... is that weird? Tell me if that's weird."

[LYourLocalAutist]

Woah.

Just like that, huh.

It came to Raya that, despite this kind of situation not having been that uncommon an occurrence in her life during the past few years, this time around felt different in a way she really couldn't make out. She though about it for a split second, and as she did, her expression wavered. Not in any manner indicating nervousness or aversity, but in some small, positive shock. It was around this point she'd be grinning with all teeth, bumping, teasing, having a chuckle as the girl who was smaller and shier than her turned all the reds of the colour wheel at her flirting.

It wasn't there. Not here. Simple as that. Instead, at that statement, despite its utter simplicity and rather vague nature, Raya felt herself stop in her tracks for a bit, if that made sense. Eyes widened lightly and smile softly dropped to that small shock. It was as if it wasn't the answer she was expecting, despite the fact it very clearly was. Everything in her mind and body felt eerily silent. Raya didn't have a name for this kind of reaction, this kind of feeling.

What would you even call this?

She cleared her throat and recomposed herself, an action which came to her rather easily when she separated her thoughts from whatever that was and focused. It involved turning her head away for a split second, but the moment that small timespan was up, her eyes were right back down on Meela. Raya's smile came back up, but it was different, again, this time in a way she herself failed to really describe. She brought up a hand to the back of her head and scratched at the locks of red. She was fine. It was weird, but it was fine. Wasn't nothing to Raya Loux.

...Right, well it sure was something.

"...It's not. Not at all. Really."

This time, voiced as an assurance to Meela instead of Raya herself. She was back in familiar territory, that of honesty and comfort, but even this felt tinged with that nameless something. She'd really, really have to think about this later. For now, an answer did come back to her, as did that familiar and ever-honest grin.

"I think I'd-"

[Cicada]

Meela and Raya shared a moment in time, divorced from space and time and the sleepy hum of a school campus slowly depopulating. A bit down the ways from the pottery room was the hovering buzz of two idling pairs of shoes, thump-y rubber, snappy wood with a sharpness that implied heels. Driftless, one spot of concrete no less special than any other.

Voices drifted. One bright and soft, the other an androgynous smile that was very Clarissa-esque in its timbre.

"No, cause like, the problem with Chappell Roan for me is that she's way too fucking... melodramatic. The instrumentation is over the top, I guess."
"That's part of the charm though! You don't even like Hot To Go?"
"That's the okay one. I have it on a playlist I think."
"Mmm!"
"I know you're a superfan though. She's just not, you know, for me."
"Noooo, I totally get it. I'm not going to kill you just because we don't share music tastes!"
"I heard she's been teasing this one song forever."
"The Giver? God! It's been actual months. Feels like it's been years. When she did it live I was just like- you know?"
"Yeah, it sucks she's been making the fans wait. Kinda dick move."
"It is what it is. When she releases you know I'm going to lock myself in my room and be dancing for half an hour straight."
"Hell, send me a message when it drops. I'll give it a listen for you."
"Awwww Mindy, you're so sweet! Uhhhh. Hah. If I remember."
"Fiiiine. Oh, by the way, is Johnny pissed at me for ghosting him for the past month?"
"If he is he hasn't mentioned it. You know him. He's chill about this kinda thing. If it boooothers him he's not gonna let it get him down."
"Yeah I just. I mean, I've been busy. But. It's Johnny. No offense."
"I know, I know. He's a bit much."
"Tell him that to his face though. You'll spare the rest of us a lot of trouble."
"Jeez, I can't do that! I'm not about that life."
"Fair. Anyways, time for practice."
"I'll drop by a game if I can, for sure!"
"Bet."

And then a Mustang roared to life. Gasoline vapor exploding against slightly scuffed, burn-marked aluminum. Rubber shoe bottoms thundered over pavement. A full on gallop, feet in the air more often than not.

"See ya Mindy!!"

And the doors to the room slammed open, hinges stressed and exhausted to breaking point— like a typical Red Rock student during finals— as they were forced from idle to a full Urdhva Dhanurasana with no warmup.

[[Clarissa Shoemaker continued from literally this post]]

Meela and Raya were still by the workbench where Clarissa had last seen them (abouuuuut? four hun three seven seconds? but only in that ballpark) and they were staring at each other closely. Clarissa noticed that but it did not register, necessarily. Her eyes were alive but not quite caught up to the incessant forward march of time. Stormy gray blue, blink, blink, an idle engine smile on Clarissa's face as she grabbed one of the many water bottles near the door and replaced her old hydration with new hydration.

[Lamps]

"OH, RISSA UH, welcome back." she blurts out, palms on the table in a very nothing-going-on fashion. Very much achieving the opposite effect, mind you.

Thankfully, the girl wasn't paying that much attention to her surroundings -- Meela wasn't sure it even registered to her that Raya and herself were still in the room. She looked back to Raya, eyes wide. A quiet, nervous chuckle escapes her mouth, not quite able to figure out what to do or say next.

"... back to work?"

[LYourLocalAutist]

There was something on the absolute tip of Raya's tongue that was about to come rolling out. It very well would've, and something presumably very tender(?) would have occurred, had Raya's instincts pertaining to a certain set of noises not flared up. Her eyes widened lightly as prey's would at the noise of an approaching predator, though the context here could not be farther from that comparison. The noise mounted as it approached the door. The signal. The sign. The alarm bells ringing off... the clarion call... the warhorn.

trottrottrottrottrottrottrottrottrottrottrot

Small running noises. Horse-patterned. Clarissa incoming.

With a lot more finesse and preemptiveness than her friend(?), Raya turned right back around to nestle herself in the casual leaning position, casual expression, everything. Only, the weight of the situation she'd just exited was still making itself known on her psyche. A tiny tinge of "rushed" was plastered on that position and expression, a feature very much unbecoming of a Loux. A fact perceived by Raya herself which only served to deepen the impact of that tiny turmoil. Positive feedback loop. Shit. Gotta act natural. Meela already kind of sold the bag (full of connotations) but Raya could definitely recover it, even with the way she was feeling and what had just occurred in this room preceding the return of the creature.

"HHHEEYyyyyo Cs, have a nice piss?"

Oh it was baaaaaaaad.

[Cicada]

eeeeeWooooAAAAwwahhHHrrRRAaahHrrrrRRaaAAHHHhh

According to Dad that was the noise computers made back in the day, anyways. Clarissa.exe continued to boot while the screech maybe metaphorically or maybe literally played in her head. Whole conversation with a casual friend Mindy Myers from the swim team. One idea, then the next idea, then the next one and the next one carefully etched onto magnetic tape, then stuffed away for future reference. She did not like the dial up noises nearly as much as she did the angler grinder noises.



Clarissa stared blankly at Raya (friend) a moment longer. The water bottle crumpled into the shape and consistency of paper crunched into a ball as the air in it also ended up in Clarissa’s tummy.

“It was okay, yeah.”

Interesting question! Clarissa didn’t think she got that one all that often.

“Back to work!”

Clarissa jerked into a step back three pointer(? probably not the right distance between her and trash can) with the dead hunk of plastic in her hand. Swish, only, it was more of a clatter and an echo. Clarissa then strode over. Quick step, easy smile. She wanted to get down to business again.

“What were you two talking about?” Clarissa bustled over to where she’d left her apron. Lifted over her her head, dropped, heavy leather hitting her shoulders like anchor to sea floor.

[Lamps]

"Peaches."

I suppose we're going with that. You never could lie very well in the heat of the moment, could you Meela Paireerak? Best thing to do now is double down, be so genuine she has no choice but to believe it.

"Just like, how expensive they're getting. Peaches. Long story it's not worth talking about where's my apron-"

She's still wearing it.

"Found it."

[LYourLocalAutist]

"Peaches."

They were getting there.

ANYway (it was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad), fuck it, yeah, peaches, expensive, that was the topic. Canon's tariffs made 'em uhhh twenty bucks a pop. Not that Canon's tariffs would ever go through, surely, no one would be that stupid. Trying to focus her thoughts on the present rather than peaches and politics, Raya checked that her own apron was still on her person (taking a moment off to chuckle at Meela's situation concerning that (Cute lowkey)), took a deep breath in and out, clapped her hands together once and engaged in some subject-changing tactics. Namely, one that would surely make Clarissa forget about whatever she'd just walked in on: actually continuing the club activities. Genius.

"SO!"

She turned around once more to face a conveniently placed (always) toolbox of hers. Pawing through steel upon steel, she smiled, the weight from that situation lifted from her heart. She was still home, here. Even if the home was just about to entail some very very dangerous work. Fitting something on her head which was made invisible by the mess of orange which donned its back, she finally turned around... to reveal the welding mask crowned upon her head and the acetylene torch in her hand.

"The grinding's only the first part of a soldering job, yeah? Now we gotta fit those pieces together. It'll be real neat 'cuz of how we worked them, but, yknow..."

She grinned, tugging at her especially heavy-duty gloves and pulling the mask of metal down on her face, her eyes immediately adjusting to the small window of vision she was allowed, as they'd adapted over years and years. A natural, through and through. Even through the blank sheet of iron pocked with nothing but spots of ash, she grinned, and that feeling and confidence practically projected itself outside to everyone observing.

"Safety first. We are still at school..."

[Cicada]

Clarissa nodded.

"It's definitely gotten more expensive. Back when I bought apples and peaches as cheer camp snacks," summers '21, '22, '23, '24, always timed just right between Clarissa's trips to see grandpa and between shop work so every single one of her joints would hate her for the longest amount of time possible, "I definitely noticed the price increased by like, ten cents each time. Buuut, like. If you want some,"

Clarissa drifted over to her backpack, implacable, a wraith of barely-tamed hair and inky apron stains set upon her tools of war. Not the statistics workbook (horrifying), not the clear purple plastic folder stacked with filler art class doodles in pencil and ink. To one side, easy to pull out as a selection from a clearly arranged gun rack (hi dad). Clarissa produced a metal thermos in one hand, topped off to the brim with her daily vitamins that she could actually tolerate eating. Still in the juice of the can. Slorp-shaped. She put it on the table closest to Meela and nod-nodded with a smile-shaped thumbs up.

"Peaches," she concluded with a period at the end of her statement, but like, a playful one with a tiny stub above it that might nebulously be an exclamation point.

Clarissa moved into a place where she could peer around Raya's shoulder, because over it was physically impossible without her doing full jumps. She found a safe distance to admire the several hundred dollars worth of awesome Raya was holding with casual poise. The closest thing, for now, to a child Raya and Clarissa had. Joint custody!

"Safety always," Clarissa interjected. In her minds eye the garage of The Car Doctors, of Autovet, the Metalworking Club; they all blurred into one comforting scent that suffused through to her monke brain: the deep rich umami of oil, the acrid sourness of sparks and fresh slag. In every and all places the rules existed, regardless of how good she got at the game. Every question with a clear answer, no unknowns. No shortcuts!

[LYourLocalAutist]

No shortcuts, indeed.

Raya permitted herself a more relaxed smile as sparks began to fly. Real ones, which burnt and rent and fixed. Straightforward and understandable and didn't mess with her mind in ANY way. She considered Meela for a moment, though she still didn't take her eyes off her work. The thought of her, (un(?(??))(fortunately(?(??)), was one she would eventually have to face on some terms or another. Raya was never one to run from her problems. Not anymore. She faced things head-on; she solved problems. That's what a mechanic did. The issue was, though... this wasn't a problem. Far, far from it. But it was something new. A reckoning.

She shook her head slightly, imperceptibly. She was taking this too seriously. Again, face it later! For now, there was the work. There were the flying sparks and the shifting plates and the metals molding together in the heat of a modern forge, with Raya Loux at the anvil. She'd get everything resolved. Small, confident smile beneath the mask spread, almost a signal of rebellion against what mental panic had taken hold of her. Against whatever those thoughts were. She always did.

Raya Loux continued elsewhere...