FIRST REPLY Angels with dirty faces

[Angel]

Location: Angel's Workshop
Objective: open
Tags: OPEN

There was a grunt from the small greasy woman as she hoisted the engine out of the car in front of her, residual lubricants and choo-two dripped into the catch trays each time the hoist jerked the lump of metal. She secured it and then went to work on the machine. In the background there was the rhythmic thud thud thud as one of the locals worked something or other out on one of the convenient punch bags at the other end of the workshop. She wouldn't mind joining him, this engine was a custom job that was probably older than her and had been a bitch to lift out. Its owner might not like it if she took her frustrations out on it with a lump hammer.

"Yo cholo!" she shouted over "Make yourself useful and turn the music up a bit so I can concentrate." the man didn't respond but there was a brief lull in the punching noise punctuated by the music increasing in volume. Ada cracked her neck and went in closer to begin to work, slipping a tablet into her mouth that she rolled around to allow to dissolve. The machine was a mess, she had been told it had been in a minor collision. That was fine, but now looking closer it seemed that the other vehicle was a pair of .45 caliber rounds, one of which was lodged in the coolant pump and the other was missing somewhere in the engine block.

Ada swayed her shoulders gently before grabbing her drink to wash down the remnants of her meds. With another grunt she pulled the head gasket off to continue her search for the errant bullet, she had her suspicions she might find it in one of the piston chambers. She didn't know how long she worked but was lost in her world of music, mechanical engineering and a low buzz when the door buzzer sounded and. The girl almost hit her head on the hoist as she looked up at the person walking into her workshop. "Hey, how can I help?"

OPEN to someone looking for her to fix something, coming to hang/work out, even some nosey law enforcement asking questions, i'm good with pretty much anything.

 

[Avery "Gaddy" Laskin]

Attire

When Matty first came to her about his car, Avery hadn't been sure what to think. The first thing she'd asked him was how bad it was, and as much as she'd wanted to believe him when he said it was nothing, Patriot had told her the same thing a couple weeks ago - then she'd gotten a good look at the broken axle. Fortunately this wasn't quite as bad.

All in all, Matty's car wasn't in bad shape by comparison. Well, 'bad shape' was relative, but a few bullet holes weren't too difficult to fix. And she didn't need to replace the whole side panel this time, or even a part of it. There was no point in talking to him about getting in less shootouts. She'd thought about it, but in the months she'd known him he'd never been one to take her advice, and she doubted that was about to change just because she asked nice.

That left her with a car peppered with bullet holes to fix, which was easy enough. A bit of welding to fill the holes, then all she needed to do was sand it smooth and add a new coat of paint, and you'd never be able to tell Matty had taken a turn down the wrong street a couple weeks ago. Good as new, or near as.

Except there was one small problem: she'd needed to restock on electrodes already, and that was before Patriot's little accident. Now she had done, which presented a much more immediate problem. It meant she couldn't take on as many jobs, which meant less eddies, which meant she finally had to cave and figure out exactly where the hell she was supposed to find more that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg in a place like Night City.

Not that any of the guys knew remotely where to start, not that she'd expected them to. If she was being honest, Avery had only asked them because she really didn't know anyone else. Except Cam and Trojan, but it wasn't like they knew a whole lot about her line of work - something she'd gently reminded them of after Cam had suggested some mechanic shop in Heywood. But it was also her best lead, so after trading a favor for a ride she now stood in front of a shop that, were she to be truthful to herself, looked more put together than her own back in Santo.

Shrugging off that anxious feeling that always came with meeting new people, she stepped inside and smiled at the greeting. "Hey!" Crap, was that too overenthusiastic? "I'm, uh, looking for some welding electrodes, if you have any. 7024 if you've got it, but 6011 will work great too."

@Angel

 

[Angel]

Location: Angel's Workshop
Objective: Find welding rods
Tags: @Avery "Gaddy" Laskin

Adelaide smiled towards the newcomer, putting down her work. She gave a quick whistle and a few seconds later the music turned back down to a more conversational level. "Yeah sure, come on through." she said to the other woman, gesturing with her arm for her to follow to the back of the workshop where her little cave of technical equipment was. She looked over her shoulder to see that she was following, the other woman wasn't very tall either but she still gestured to the frame above where several tools hung. "Watch your head, yeah." She reached the wall where her own welding gear leaned and there were racks containing boxes of welding rods, some labelled in English, others in Spanish and a box with Japanese markings.

"I'm Angel, what's your name chica? I haven't seen you around here before?" she asked quickly glancing back at her before she started looking for the rods. There were many of them in a state of organised chaos. A thief would be out of luck here as by the time he had found what he was looking for the authorities, or worse, would already be on him. She grabbed out the 6011s. "You sure it was six elevens or seven twenty-fours? I wouldn't use those two for the same thing?" Welding wasn't her first love, she usually got a friend to do the bigger welding jobs so maybe this woman knew something she didn't but Adelaide wanted to double-check before she sent her away with completely the wrong thing.

 

[Avery "Gaddy" Laskin]

As she was led through the shop, it was difficult for Avery not to marvel at everything she saw. To most people it was likely just a mechanic shop, same as any other in the city, but this was the nicest one she'd seen before - no, ever - in her life. It wasn't that it was the most high-tech, or had all the newest tools, but it was well-organized and obviously well-managed, and, well, impressive. She had to admit, it put her garage to shame, but it also gave her ideas for the future - once she had the eddies, that is.

So lost in her thoughts was she that it took a moment to realize she'd been asked a question, and she blinked, cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment. "Sorry, um, my name's Avery, but most people call me Gaddy." 'Most people' being 6th Street, mainly, and mostly because in a way they'd given her the nickname - or at least persisted with it. "I, uh, haven't been in the city for very long, is probably why. This is actually my first time in Heywood." Not that she ever left Santo anyway. God, she needed to stop thinking so much.

While the other woman looked, Avery waited politely, and seemed to perk up at the second query. "Oh, yeah, I have a garage in Santo where I work on cars, so I do all kinds of stuff. Mostly just for my friends, but it's fun and I'm good at it, so." She shrugged, then glanced around with a smile. "Nowhere near as cool as this place, though. It's really nice."

@Angel

 

[Angel]

Location: Angel's Workshop
Objective: Find welding rods
Tags: @Avery "Gaddy" Laskin

She continued looking as Gaddy chatted to her. "I'm honoured then, welcome to Heywood... ah, there you are." She now had two boxes in her hands one of each of the two that the newcomer was asking after. She didn't have many of the 6011s in, only having the one ripped-open carton possibly half full but has an unopened 7024. "These any good to you?" she handed then over for her to check, everyone had their favourite brands.

"Nowhere near as cool as this place, though. It's really nice."

Adelaide did a slight double take and her eyebrow flexed as she tried to work out if the woman was being sincere or not, there was so much that she wished she could improve here but... "Yeah? Thanks, it's got some character issues but it's home and I like it." she smiled and looked about, catching eye of the workshop fridge and pulling it open. "Can I get you a coke or something?" It was an old convenience store fridge with a glass front. It had a variety of day to day items that one might want to grab while working. And also an open bottle of tequila for some reason.

She grabbed out a can for herself and one for the other woman if she wanted it. Adelaide opened hers and leaned back with her ass on the edge of the worktop. "I'll have to swing by your place sometime, Chica. I don't get across the canal that often. Much work over there?" she supposed it was a bit of a dumb question, the city itself was constantly in dire need of mechanics and the people were no different.

 

[Avery "Gaddy" Laskin]

To tell the truth of it, Avery wasn't sure that she would be able to differentiate one brand from another. There were differences in quality, but it wasn't as though she was in the business of being picky. Really, she was just grateful to have found what she was looking for at all. It would have been a lot more difficult to hunt down what she was looking for while managing to keep the lights on.

Shoot, all that thinking and she realized she'd forgotten to answer the question directed at her again. Hoping that her social ineptitudes weren't too glaringly obvious, she smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, these are great! How much do I owe you?" Any transaction would be completed almost instantaneously, her eyes glowing slightly as eddies were exchanged.

It made her happy to think that maybe she'd brightened the other woman's day a bit by showing appreciation for what she knew was hard work keeping everything running smoothly. She accepted the offer of refreshment with a nod, popping it open with a hiss and taking a sip. It all felt so…regular, just standing here and having a conversation, and Avery appreciated the sense of normalcy. Not much about her life had been regular since first arriving in the city a few months ago, and she made it a point to enjoy those slices of everyday life whenever they presented themselves.

As the conversation continued, she took care to make sure the boxes of welding rods were stacked where she wouldn't manage to knock them spectacularly across the workshop floor if she wasn't paying attention - and unlike before, she caught the question as it was directed at her. "It can get pretty busy, yeah. Mostly tuning up cars and things like that, it's fun." It was probably best not to mention nearly all of those cars also belonged to 6th Street, but the exact details weren't that important. "What about this place? I bet you're all kinds of busy all the time, being so close to the middle of everything."

@Angel

 

[Angel]

Location: Angel's Workshop
Objective: Find welding rods
Tags: @Avery "Gaddy" Laskin

Angel charged the other woman a fair rate from the bits she needed and the eddies changed hands with a pleasant smile. "Yeah, there is plenty of work here, people don't look after their motors, so yeah." she raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner, poor maintenance meant more lucrative repairs.

Angel slipped a tablet in her mouth and knocked back her drink. "Take that car back there." she pointed at the one she had been working in when Avery walked in. "Its taken a couple of shots to the block, I'll fix it, but the suspension also looks like it has been driven up and down stairs, so it'll be back in her in a couple of months." she shrugged. She had so many bills to pay and outgoings though it felt like it didn't matter how busy it got, she was still always chasing her tail. "I get a bit of work up from Pacifica too, but it's often full on wrecks."

 

[Avery "Gaddy" Laskin]

Now that sounded familiar. No one across Morro Canal took care of their rides either, and most of her time at the garage was spent sanding down her welds after filling bullet holes. And that was before considering all the wear and tear she saw on every vehicle that came through, not that hardly anyone asked her to look at it. A lot of times, she did things like that as a service - and she couldn't remember how many times she'd tried telling Patriot or Matty or one of the other 6th Street guys that they needed to change their oil regularly, or they would royally fuck up their cars.

As if that ever stopped them, but it seemed her newfound friend understood those woes all too well.

Careful notice had been taken of the pill that was slipped between sips of her drink, but Avery didn't make mention of it. This was far from her first encounter with casual drug use, and with the friends she had it would be far from her last. Whatever helps you get through the day, if you asked her.

At the mention of getting cars hauled in all the way from Pacifica, she raised her eyebrows. "Jeez, that's gotta be a mess." Not that she'd ever been presented with anything quite as horrific as a wreck from the combat zone, but her imagination more than made up for that. "I think the worst I've had is maybe a drive-by or two, but," She shook her head, "That's like nothing. Had a broken axle once, but there isn't a whole lot I was able to do besides help him scrap the car."

@Angel