trans_9 | Training Wheels

The way she was shaking like a leaf, he wasn't entirely sure anymore. But Steve couldn't let her be unconfident. That was the best way to crash.

"You'll be fine. I'm right here with you, I'll help if you start to lose control," he assured her. Of course by "help" he meant "grab for the handlebars and crash anyway", but she didn't need to know that. "You'll do great! I know it!"

Miku blew her bangs from her eyes and straightened her narrow shoulders. "Okay." She was so not okay with this, but she couldn't spend all of her time with her face buried in Steve's back, could she?

Well, he probably wouldn't mind that, but not progressing would bother her. Miku looked down at the bike again and turned the ignition. It rumbled to life, and Miku felt a moment of toe-curling terror. She was really going to do this.

Heaven help her.

"It's easier than driving a car," Steve assured her, which meant nothing to her as Miku likely couldn't drive a car.

He leaned forward to watch what she was doing in front of him, feeling his palms get kind of sweaty. Whether from having his arms wrapped tight around his ~~girl~~friend or from the worries they were going to crash and scar her for life, he wasn't sure.

"Okay. Now just squeeze the throttle really gently, and when the engine starts to move, pick your feet up."

"R...right." Miku exhaled and did as she was told, half certain her heart was going to hammer out of her chest for fear of failing. The bike jerked forward a little, and Miku closed her eyes, only to remind herself immediately that she was driving and that would be a very bad idea.

But... they were moving! They were going! They hadn't fallen over yet! "Oh! Oh!" Miku squeaked and tensed up as they made a slow, stately little line down the airfield tarmac.

Steve grinned behind her, careful to hold still so he wouldn't throw their balance off. "Yeah, there you go! Just like that! See? I told you it was easy."

They wobbled a bit and he almost put his feet down to save them, but resisted at the last second to keep from panicking her even worse. "You're doing great!"

Miku nodded mutely, her eyes on the road and the speedometer as it slowly climbed from ten to fifteen. Her stomach poured itself down her leg and into her foot as they scooted down the road.

"I guess I must've learned something!" she replied cheerfully, full of false confidence. It suddenly occurred to Miku that she didn't want to have to turn the bike. What if they toppled over? Even if the sensoriums were just an illusion, how would she know she wouldn't get hurt?

Steve had enough premature confidence to go around to both of them, looking thrilled that they were even going this fast. The way Miku had been acting, he was surprised they got moving at all without a pep talk.

"Try turning the handlebars a little," he suggested. Then he quickly amended, "a little. Really gently. If you do it gently then you'll be fine, just like riding a regular bike."

A little, he said? She started to turn the bar, but felt as if that was a little too much. The bike wobbled under her and her hands flexed, as though she might let go.

"Ah! no, no, keep holding on!" Steve said quickly, and moved one of his hands like he was about to grab the handles from her. "Just keep it steady! Don't worry!"

She nodded again, emphatically as she tried to get the bike and her nerves under control. By some miracle, they managed to not topple over like a pair of speedy dominoes. Miku stopped the bike and looked up at Steve. They were only halfway down the tarmac, and turned back around towards the hanger.

"...I... I think that's enough for me today." Her hands felt oddly disconnected from the rest of her.

He was about to make fun of her for chickening out so soon, but that little voice in his head that grew ever closer to being one of sound logic told him that was a bad diea. "Okay. But see? You're doing really good. Why don't you drive it back over and park it?"

Hey, maybe she'd trade him and they could go faster. Then again, it was kind of nice not having his ribs broken.

Miku shot Steve an uncertain look over her shoulder and then looked back at the tarmac. "I... You... Are you sure?" Because she wasn't, no matter the amount of confidence Steve was exuding. At his insistence, she willed her hands to reconnect to the rest of her. "...I'll try." She swallowed and eased the throttle forward as she drew her little shaking legs up.

"Yeah, come on. You made it this far!" he encouraged. What seemed like barely a hundred feet must have seemed like a mile to her. He was pretty sure it wasn't the engine that was making her shake and tremble on the seat in front of him.

"You can do it, Miku. Just go easy on it!"

More like a hundred miles. Over hills. A hundred miles of hills. But panicking was not going to help Miku get back to the hanger and she knew that. They continued to putter down the tarmac at her miserly 15 miles an hour.

When they finally got close enough to the hanger, Miku's shoulders slumped and she sighed as the bike slowed to a halt. "Scary..." she muttered.

He would have made her go all the way back to the hangar, but he wasn't sure Miku wasn't adverse to smacking him.

Once they were safely stopped, he carefully stood up behind her and got off the bike, reaching forward to turn off the ignition key. "See? I told you it was easy. You did it! That was great!"

Miku flapped her hands, and covered her face. "I thought we were going to topple over and die," she muttered and took a deep breath to settle her nerves as she slid off the bike.

She took off her helmet and added, "Well, maybe not die, but it wouldn't have been pretty."

"I knew we weren't gonna die. You really did just fine," Steve assured her, offering to grab her helmet from her as he turned to head back into the garage. "I knew you could do it. It's really not hard at all, see?"

He hung up the helmets on the wall and headed for the fridge. "Do you want something to drink to settle your stomach?"

"Yes, please," Miku murmured in assent as she followed behind Steve, flopping down on the couch and folding her hands in her lap. She still felt that odd disconnect, but it was starting to subside and be more normal.

Small wonder she'd ever thought of driving Rei's car before the accident. She tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling quietly. "You're a really good teacher, Steve, but I think I'm just a poor student," she assured him and smiled gently.

"You're not a poor student. Some people just don't like going fast on things." Steve grabbed a pair of Dr. Peppers from the fridge and turned on the radio on the workbench (yay, more American old people music!) as he crossed the room to have a seat next to her.

"You really didn't do that bad. And you're even learning on a virtual motorcycle instead of a real one. That's gotta be tough." Okay, now he was just trying to make her feel better.

Miku raised her eyebrows slightly and took the Dr. Pepper from Steve. After a lifetime of saying things to cheer people up, she could pick up encouragement when it was given. "Thank you, Steve."

It was better to take it sometimes than to always defer it. She leaned her head on his shoulder and opened the soda. "Maybe I'll go a bit further next time." Miku sat up straight and tucked her hair behind her ear, "And in a year, I'll go to the end of the runway."

"If you go by math, then it'll only take you a couple of weeks to hit the end of the runway," Steve teased her, opening his pop and taking a drink.

"So in a year, you should be able to go off a jump, you think?"

Miku laughed once, shortly, "Only if you're driving." And then, well, Steve might not have ribs when they landed. Or eardrums.

She scooted closer to him to take advantage of the warmth he was putting off, since she was cold as usual, and sipped her drink. "Maybe."

It worked out well that Miku was cold all the time. It gave both of them an excuse to get closer. He ended up lifting up his arm and putting it over her shoulder-- like the first time he'd done so on this exact seat.

It was kind of funny to remember the screaming bit now.

"I can already do jumps. I've just been taking it easy so you don't squeeze me in half," he said. They were evenly matched in their potential in that department, it seemed!

She made a face at him, "I would not squeeze you in half." The butterflies in her stomach picked that moment to restart their flutter as they got a little closer together. At least the desire to flee like a fleeing thing was stamped out.

Feeling a modicum of bravery that had been wholly lost on the back of the motorcycle, Miku reached up with her free hand and held his fingers gently. "But," she continued, sounding smoother than she felt, "I make no promises for your ears surviving the trip."

"That too. I kind of like being able to hear music."

It was Styx right now, incidentally.

Steve took another sip of his drink and glanced over at a calendar on the workshop wall. It seemed he had been working in the passage of time every time he came in to hang out in the garage, and the calendar (of a busty blonde woman straddling a motorcycle) showed that it was May.

"I wonder if I'm 18 yet," he pondered out loud.

"Mm..." Miku leaned her head back against his arm and contemplated the ceiling for a moment, "...I think so. Or at least, you're very close." She turned her head to look at him and smiled, "Do you want to throw a party? We could, probably. I'll make you a cake."

Steve turned abruptly crimson at the idea. "I don't know enough people for a party," he insisted. It wasn't precisely true, but who would he possibly invite besides Miku? Claire, obviously, but having her and Miku together for a long period of time would be awkward as hell. And who else? Luke? The doctors? Random other teenagers he barely spoke to?

"But you can totally make me a cake," he offered. "I'd love that. I bet your cakes are as good as anything else you make."

"Alright, then," she squeezed his fingers and smiled at him. "So, us, and a cake." It sounded like her birthday, well, minus sweet potatoes.

"I'm not sure about my cakes, actually. I do lots of cooking, but not lots of baking. I'll practice before I make one for you," she looked rather solemn and serious. ~~Cakes r srs bzns.~~

"Maybe you didn't notice yet, but I'll eat just about anything," Steve reminded her. He was, after all, a teenage boy. "You don't have to practice. I'm sure I'll like whatever you make."

Especially if it was chocolate with cream cheese frosting. Steve would do just about anything for that.

"Anything?" Miku raised an eyebrow. "There isn't anything you're allergic to?" Miku's thoughts flashed back to the unfortunate Strawberry Incident Rei's editor had during a party once.

She'd never seen someone swell up like that before, and was in no hurry to see it again. "I still want to do my best on it." Miku nudged him, "You can eat the rejects, too, I guess."

"Nope. I'm not allergic to anything. If I was allergic to real food on top of all the rest of this, I'd probably just go find a vent to lie down in," Steve joked. "Hell, if you want you can just give me the rejects for a present. I'd be all over that."

"I don't want to roll you down the halls, though. I don't think Dr. Sera would be very pleased by that," Miku teased and poked him. All that food had to be going somewhere.

Where was he hiding it all? That was a question for the ages. "But if you really want rejected cakes for a gift, then that's what you'll get."

"You really don't have to get me anything," he assured her, but had a big smile on his face anyway. "But it's really nice of you to think about me."

He'd wanted to get her something for her birthday, after all. Which had been... last month. Or something. Time worked really stupid on this ship.

"I'm glad I'll finally be 18," he added. Left unspoken was the fact that he shouldn't by any rights have the chance to turn 18.

"All the more reason to celebrate," Miku pointed out. "Even if it's 'just us'." Still, Miku would probably need to get outside help from someone who knew Steve better than she did.

She sipped her soda quietly, pursing her lips as she racked her brain for present ideas. A motorcycle helmet, maybe? He might like it better than the fake ones in the sensorium. "Hmm..."

Training Wheels

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DERP. I THOUGHT I POSTED.

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