Team Shift Happens
(Thank you to @Elizipeazie for writing this with me.)
RK Series Racing; Stage 11 Camp
The process of getting out took quite a bit longer than usual, thanks to space restrictions on the way out and the coarse railroad ballast making it hard for his crutches to get good grip for stabilization. While everyone else simply climbed up onto the platform, Valentin had to resort to a n intermediary step of taking a seat on the edge, shuffling backwards a bit and then getting back up. It worked, but was less-than-elegant at best.
Immediately after they were swarmed by press, wanting to take quick pictures for various print media throughout Crugandr. The immediate rush of photographers and associated personnel startled the crew. Though soon after, pictures were made, followed by a few minutes of waiting as the press said something about “some official arriving soon who also needed to be in frame”.
Lo and behold, that official arrived soon, approaching the group and professionally introducing himself to the team. Some awkward, but friendly exchanges later the press once again inquired about having their pictures taken. As such, the official handed a big sheet of cardboard-like material to the crew, which looked similar to a prize money check that can be seen at various events.
After that, they grouped up, Robert semi-visible in the background, being absolutely bombarded by about 15 people and their camera flashes while holding up that check of sorts.
Once that was done, the official procured another object, which in effect was a miniature suitcase.
“That board is used for promotional work and has no monetary value. The actual cash payout for having broken the speed record is in here and is valued at 550 Silver Syrkals.” the railway official said.
Instinctively, Valentin takes a look into the slightly-larger-than-a-lunchbox-sized container, finding 1100 bills, neatly bound to stacks of 100 bills, each valued at half a Silver Syrkal. The other team members also took a peek into there, but the container was closed up rather quickly to avoid unnecessary attention from less-than-lawful people.
With that, the official part of the party was sorted out, another set of congratulations spoken and both the official and the members of press left the scene, making way for the painter.
She also made herself known as she approached the group.
“Hello there… Name’s Karen Keegan. I was sent to have a painting of you done, if that’s okay with you.”, she said as she already started setting up her equipment on the platform.
As the crew didn’t really react in confusion about an unprompted painting request, she immediately kept rambling onwards:
“Good. Mind getting two of those benches over here for you to sit on? Cannot have you stood still there for an hour, especially with those crutches…”, she continued, completely oblivious to the team and their (lack of) reaction. Still, Constantin got to work dragging over one bench, followed soon after by the other.
“Erm… i guess we are doing this now?” Valentin asked, up until now completely unaware of this being planned.
“Looks like it… I’m not complaining, though.” Tim replied, taking a seat as instructed by Karen.
“This is a historical moment that needs historical documentation!” Karen exclaimed eagerly as she motioned around trying to get the benches and their occupants aligned as best as possible.
Once the scene was set, she started her work, as individual lucky members of the public were sent forward for their glory moment of questioning and chit-chatting with the now-famous railroad crew and engineers.
Most of them asked the same few questions, but it quickly became apparent that the record run was more accidental than intentional, which made the crowd much more cautious and respectful than they were previously.
The next hour (local time) wasn’t exactly eventful, with questions answered, paintings being painted, and movement being avoided.
After that, Karen thanked the group and packed her equipment back up, disappearing into the crowd soon after. The team took a little break, having a good sip of water, and a visit to the station’s bathroom facilities.
As they returned, they went back to the usual stuff of tending to local curiosity as a sort-of familiar face showed up, belonging to team Mravolinski-Chitco.
Some, arguably rather pleasant chit-chat followed, for once not wholly centered about Robert and the record run.
What is good must come to an end, though, as they parted ways again for the time being and the platform work returned to the ordinary FAQ-reciting.
It had been a while since Shift Happens had arrived in ‘camp’ and regrouped. Kaylie had let Jayde know that Valentin believed that his pain while riding a bicycle might be a result of a poorly set-up bicycle, and that if he had one set up for his form, he might actually prefer riding instead of walking. As a result, Jayde left Kaylie to check over the truck, intending on finding Valentin.
He knew Valentin was likely to be in the station, but when he walked in, he wasn’t quite expecting the number of people standing there. Thankfully, most people were willing to move enough to let Jayde through. As he got closer, Jayde noticed that Valentin looked more than just a little uncomfortable. “Hello, Valentin,” Jayde said, trying to be polite. “Kaylie mentioned to me that, well, you know quite a bit about cycling, and bicycles in general, but more specifically, that you’re thinking my pain might be caused by a bad set-up, and not by cycling in general. I know Trugarde well enough to find a cycling shop, if you think you might be able to help out. Plus, I think you might feel a bit better after a little fresh air.”
As Jayde approached, Valentin initially didn’t think too much of him, mentally preparing for another round of the usual questions of “how did it feel?” or “what motivated you to do it?”. But as Jayde began talking about how he was in need of a bicycle, Valentin’s face initially read confusion.
“Uhm… sure, i guess… though there’s like…” Valentin pauses for a moment, looking past Jayde into the crowd of unknown people behind him. “…a good few thousand people that are here because i ‘made history’.” He continued, torn between his duty at the party and this prime chance to get some change of pace from the continuous same-ness of the past few days.
A moment of silence followed as Valentin pondered about taking up the chance of fleeing the attention of the party visitors, which was broken by one of them brave enough to speak to him from across the platform.
“If you want a break, take it! Nobody here’s forcing you!” The unknown person amongst the ranks said, followed by a crescendo of cheers coming from the surrounding people indicating their support for the statement.
Valentin leant over a bit to once again look past Jayde, respectfully nodded into the crowd, vaguely towards the direction where the voice was coming from before returning to Jayde himself with his attention.
“Seems like the public is fine with it… So where exactly is that shop?” Valentin said to Jayde, still unsure on if what he did was right.
“Some of the people here have long memories,” Jayde said, before thinking for a moment on where the shop was in relation to the station. “It’s in the market district. Maybe a 10 minute walk from the station here. Might be a little longer because of the amount of people around, but we’ll manage.”
Valentin turned around to the other team members.
“Well i’ll get going for now… Not sure as to when i’ll return, but it won’t be too long, i think…” he said.
“No worries. I’d say you certainly earned the break with what you did for us and… all of them…” Tim countered as he finished his reply motioning to the crowd again, who once again cheered in support.
After making sure that he had all the things he needed, the remainder of the group was okay with it and the public support had calmed down in volume, he returned to face Jayde.
An exchange of nods confirmed the readiness of either party and they filtered through the jam-packed station, the locals going to great length to make sure that the pairing has enough space to maneuver.
The pair made their way out of the station, with Jayde leading the way toward the market district, checking every so often to make sure he wasn’t going too fast for Valentin. As they walked past the Queen’s Garden where all of the cars were parked, Kivenaal called out from his perch on the roof of the train station, “Hi, Valentin!” Jayde turned to look for the somewhat familiar voice, spotting Kivenaal, back in his usual black fur with red stripes, sitting on the roof of the train station like a living gargoyle.
While Jayde apparently expected Kivenaal’s call-out to them, Valentin certainly did not expect being called by first name, even with how famous he already was amongst the locals.
In an attempt to locate the source, he looks around, but loses focus on his crutches in doing so.
As a result, the right one loses traction, slipping on the rough cobblestone surface. While Valentin does manage to sort-of break the fall with his right foot, he could not regain balance, thus stumbling straight into Jayde’s left side.
Jayde gave a slight grunt as Valentin collided with him, though quickly reached out with his left hand, keeping Valentin upright, if leaning against him, without a risk of falling. Once Valentin was able to get the crutches back underneath him, Jayde shot a withering glare in Kivenaal’s direction.
“Sorry, Val. Also, sorry to you as well, Jayde,” Kivenaal said. “Picked this spot because most people don’t look up, wasn’t thinking-” Kivenaal paused as he yawned, shaking his head soon after, “Wasn’t thinking clearly when I said hello.”
Valentin hastily scrambled to get his crutches into position again, this time being extra cautious in getting them to grip well on the uneven surface.
This was followed by a quick glance at Jayde, then another attempt at locating Kivenaal up on the rooftops, which took a while, but ended up succesful.
Failing to grasp how Kivenaal got onto the roof in the first place, Valentin just looks at him, dumbfounded and not really doing anything.
Kivenaal looked at Valentin staring up at him with a look that, to him, clearly said ‘How the fuck did you get up there?’ He chuckled, then said, “There’s a bit of rough brick on the far side of the station, and I’ve always been a decent climber. Easy enough for me to maintain three points of contact at all times. Then it was just a matter of picking a good spot where I could watch the people without the people watching me.”
Once Jayde was sure that Valentin was okay and following him again, Jayde said to Valentin, “Kivenaal is quite good at reading facial expressions and body language. Kaylie said it best, I think. “Just think of your question around Kivenaal, he’ll answer it.” He does better with a bit of context, like you staring up at him, than he does if someone just looks confused in general, though.”
While Valentin clearly understood what Kivenaal said and the notion of “three contact points” made sense, scaling an unknown brick building with zero safety measures in place wasn’t a thing Valentin would even think of attempting.
He simply looked at Kivenaal for a bit longer, nodded a little, and, without saying anything, returned to Jayde to continue his journey to that bicycle shop he was talking about earlier.
“Some people do that well, i know… That guy is borderline uncanny, though…” Valentin replied.
“It’s as if he can read minds or something from a good 15 meters away.”
Jayde chuckled. “Think of it in context: You’re staring up at him with a look of confusion on your face. There’s two questions that anyone would ask in that moment: either “how did you get up there” or “why are you up there.” He answered both. And none of us really understand how much training he might have had in that skill. He might be a natural at it, or he may have spent a decade learning the art of reading expressions. He won’t talk about his past, so, we’re all left guessing,” Jayde replied.
Soon, however, they arrived at a somewhat large brick building with large, old plate glass windows somewhat distorting the view of what was inside, though as Jayde opened the door, it became crystal clear that Trugarde had a decent cycling shop for taller people. At the far end of the room, there were two people behind the counter, clearly twin brothers, though telling the two blond-haired, green-eyed men apart was made easy as one of them had a scar on his face. Both of them stood a little over 6 feet tall, were both a little on the thin side, but not quite as thin as Valentin was, and looked toward Jayde and Valentin as they recognized they had customers.
“Huh…” Valentin muttered as they round a corner to enter the bicycle shop.
Once in, he was greeted by the pair of employees and a sizeable array of bicycles line up in neat rows, sorted by type and price. Sport oriented bicycles, beach cruisers, utilitarian bicycles and the occasional oddball build were all present. Little placards detailed the price, sizing and specs of each bicycle being offered. To Valentin’s surprise, almost all offerings were using standards which on first glance seemed to equal those known on earth. On top, they all looked to be suited for far bigger riders than what the usual bike would accommodate on earthen bike stores. His initial curiosity and amazement at the plus-size offerings was interrupted by him remembering that he was there because of Jayde.
As such, he stops investigating the portfolio and turns back towards Jayde.
“Okay… so… uhm… what exactly is it that you’d be using that bike for?” Valentin asked, cautiously. While he did know a fair bit about bicycles and cycling as a whole, he never went about the process of getting the right bike for a rider covered in fur and more than a foot taller than the human lighthouse was already.
Jayde smiled, then said, “Ideally, I’d want to be able to ride around towns and cities, but I also have to keep in mind that sometimes I need to be able to travel a good bit of distance.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Sometimes, I need to carry goods with me as well, and where I normally live is in Miravall.” Jayde reached into the front flap of his bag, producing a map from the pocket, for once looking like something that would fit reasonably in the pocket it came out of. He unfolded the map and then carefully re-folded it to show just Trugarde and Miravall, connected by a winding forest road. “That road is well maintained cobblestone,” he said, “but it’s quite hilly, and there are a lot of turns. The last time I tried to ride between the two cities, well… I got here in the end and I was miserable.”
Jayde looked around, then said, “Was a bicycle about that size, similar style,” while motioning to a beach cruiser that was definitely not the right size for Jayde’s form.
Valentin listened intently and also took a look at that map that Jayde showed him.
“Well… no surprises there… i wouldn’t be riding a bike that is both to small and not fit for the trip i’m doing. I’d like to keep my knees intact and i guess you do too.”, Valentin answered in annoyance, looking at the beach cruiser in question. “Not having gears doesn’t help either.” he added, taking another, more precise look around the lot, stopping at what looked a mildly modified dutch-style bicycle.
He took a step towards that bike to read the placard attached to it, which detailed that it had a three-speed internal hub in the back, a front rim and rear coaster brake as well as some other niceties such as basic oil-based lights, a sturdy rear rack, a kickstand which kept the rear wheel off the ground, among other things.
“This could work… not 100% sure on the gearing in that hub, as i don’t know your capabilities at all, but some gears beats none.” Valentin said with cautious optimism. “Sure, aerodynamics are gonna be dogshit due to the upright position, but it’ll be less straining on the back and generally more comfy.” he added.
“Yeah, it caused pain in my good knee and was even less pleasant on my left thigh,” Jayde admitted. “Could barely walk after I got here and was dreading the trip back home.”
Once Valentin had spotted a bicycle, however, and mentioned to Jayde what he thought about it, Jayde smiled. “That already seems better than what I had. As you said, gears can make a big difference. Plus, that cargo rack looks big enough to handle just about anything I’d want to tie down and bring home.”
Soon, they were approached by one of the two salesmen in the shop. “Hello! My name is Adrian, my brother over there is Alex. Is there anything we can help the two of you with?” he asked.
“People always say that going up hills is hard, but they ignore gearing. It’s just as easy as on the flats, just slower.” Valentin chuckled as he was approached by the salesman, who politely offered assistance.
“Erm… it sounds specific, but do you know the gear ratios in that hub?” Valentin asked, as a low enough ratio makes hilly routes much easier.
The salesman takes a little look at the spec-sheet and then pulls a little cheat-sheet out of his pocket, onto which obscure data was written to avoid having to memorize it all.
“Uhhh… 1st is 1.33:1, second is 1:1 or direct drive, if you will and third is 0.75:1.”, Adrian reads aloud from his little slip of paper.
Valentin thinks a little, recalling how Crugandr was technologically behind Earth and truly wide-ratio gearing was either expensive or non-existant.
“Not the biggest gear reduction in history, but every bit helps, i guess… With an appropriate sprocket ratio, this could be a good hill-climber for that forest road of yours.” Valentin explains, taking another look at the drivetrain, which didn’t reveal much due to it being encased in a steel chain guard.
Jayde nodded. “At least I have a choice of speeds with this one,” he said. “My other bicycle, well… It doesn’t have this,” he added, lightly tapping the hub with a finger. “And there are times it felt like I was almost better off walking up the hill than to try riding up the hill.”
As he looked at the steel chain guard, he smiled. “And I’m glad to see one of those. Getting grease off of the inside of my leg was never a fun time. Nor was it fun to get a bit of fur pinched between the chain and the sprocket.”
“It sure does help. I have my methods, but this is also a way of doing it. Though getting the rear wheel out in case of a flat tyre will be a pain. That i can say.” Valentin explained, remembering that he forgot to apply his usual grease-prevention method on the new suit he bought. Though with the lack of seating in the shop and him being in crutches, he couldn’t rectify that either.
Adrian went ahead and pulled out the bike from the row of others it was parked in, allowing a better visual presentation of it.
The bike itself featured a typical dutch-style “opafiets” frame, bright turquoise in color. A brand name was written onto it with black, elaborate cursive letters backed by a strip of white going all the way around the down-tube, just a bit longer than the lettering itself is. The steampunk-looking oil lamps on either end completed the look which obviously was loosely inspired by the locomotives in use in Crugandr.
“If you want, you can have a go at testing it.” Adrian said as Alex went into the back, grabbing a basic selection of tools for quick adjustments if deemed necessary.
Jayde nodded, then said, “I do have to admit, I like the color.” After Adrian mentioned they could test it, and Alex grabbed a basic tool kit, Jayde gave a polite nod of understanding and acknowledgment, then added, “We will probably do that.”
He studied the bicycle now that it was out in the open, realizing it looked a lot closer to something he felt was his size. It also had a few extra little features, like the oil lamps, which already gave him a little more confidence in the idea of actually riding for distance instead of just around town, less worried about getting caught out in the dark. Sure, he could see well in the night, but other people sharing the road might not be able to, and the last thing he wanted was to come face-to-face with a carriage driver who never saw him there until after the accident.
Adrian led the two customers out in front of the shop, where he handed the bicycle to Jayde. He felt like the seat height was already very close to right for Jayde and so did Valentin, who couldn’t really work off of his usual checklist for bike adjustments as Jayde very obviously wasn’t human. As such, he simply waited for Jayde to do his first few laps to see how his pedaling technique panned out.
Jayde carefully got settled on the seat, getting off to a decent start compared to what he was used to. After a couple of quick laps, however, it was becoming obvious that he was having some slight difficulties, leaving him slightly unsettled at anything above a walking pace thanks to the added distance between ankle and toe. He pulled up next to Valentin and said, “It’s a lot better than my previous experience, but it feels like I’m nearly throwing myself out of the seat at the bottom of the pedal.”
As Jayde took the prospected vehicle around the area for a short while, Valentin carefully watched his motions on the bike. In doing so, he couldn’t ignore the impressive range of motion he was using in his angles. For a species based on lions, this isn’t all that surprising, but Valentin simply didn’t knew any better than “furry humanoid thing”. Still, as Jayde returned and gave his initial impression, he was certain that it needed some altering.
“Seats needs to go up. How far? Not sure, so we have to test it a few millimeters at a time until it feels right to you.” Valentin explained before the salesman had any chance to say anything. Not that they had much to say, as to them it looked about right.
“Looks fine to me, but i can raise it a bit if you want.” Alex said, as he instructed Jayde to dismount in order to make the necessary-but-to-him-unnecessary changes.
About a minute later, the bicycle is handed back to Jayde.
Jayde nodded, then tried again, each time bringing the bicycle back and having a small adjustment made. After a few small adjustments, however, it was quite apparent that Jayde was no longer struggling to stay settled in the seat at the bottom of the pedal stroke, instead able to apply the full power of his legs in the moment without lifting himself involuntarily out of the seat.
“That’s feeling a lot better,” Jayde admitted. “I feel like I could ride for hours like that, not just a matter of minutes.”
“We’ll have to see on longer rides if it actually works for you, especially on the other contact points that are your hands and… rear end.” Valentin explained, briefly pausing to find his words halfway through his sentence.
“Huh… if that bit of a change makes that big of a difference… i should try that on my bike.”, Adrian said enthusiastically, instantly getting Alex to nod in approval.
“One technique to get in the right ballpark is to take a seat on the bike and put the rider’s heel onto the pedal at the point in which it is the furthest from the saddle. If you can just about reach the pedal with your heel, then you are close already. Though make sure you are not shuffling over your bum on the seat to gain a bit of extra length. If you do that, it’s too high.” Valentin continued to satiate the curiosity of the salesmen. “Though i cannot say how well that will work with people of different… uhm… biological composition?”, he added, looking at Jayde in hopes of not having offended him.
The salesmen, however, took great interest and added the info onto their respective ‘cheat sheets’.
“I don’t know why, but it evidently seems to have worked, thank you!” Alex spoke, motioning towards Jayde as a subject of evidence.
Jayde chuckled. “Valentin, even among my own kind, I’m a little different. And I guarantee you, there’s nothing you could say to me that would be worse than what my own father said to me when I left my home in Altherys,” Jayde said, understanding at least Valentin’s intent when he looked his way.
“As for things you might be able to help me with, you said this bicycle has multiple speeds, but, I’m not entirely sure how to change them, or even how to know which one I’m using now,” Jayde admitted.
As Jayde inquired about the use of gearing, Valentin mentally face-palmed, having forgotten that the vast majority of the bikes here were single speed for financial reasons.
“Oh yeah… right. So in it’s very basic principle, it works the same as in a car, except that there aren’t any pedals and your legs are the clutch. So if you look at the handlebars, there’s a little steel lever with little numbers on there, corresponding to the three gears this bike has. Like in that truck of yours, 1 is the slowest gear, but easier to get going in and 3 is the other way around, with 2 being a middle ground. Basically, as soon as you start to put force into the pedals, you are ‘in gear’. Not pedaling is the equivalent of ‘neutral’, regardless of if it is rolling or not. Just be in ‘neutral’ if you want to change gears and you’ll be fine.”, Valentin took great care in showing the process to the best oh his abilities while also relating to what was already known to Jayde.
The twins were absolutely lost in confusion as neither of them had an idea what a car, let alone a clutch was, but they sure took great interest in how Valentin worked cooperatively with Jayde as the customer, despite him not having any obvious incentive to do so.
Jayde nodded, then said, “So, from what you’ve said, I’m in third gear, then.” He carefully moved the lever, changing from 3 down to 2, then started off with another lap, noticing it was a lot easier to get going, but he was pedaling faster to maintain the same easy-going slow speed he’d been doing before. Cautiously, he stopped pedaling, changed down from 2 to 1, and tried another lap, realizing that this gear would probably do really well for going up a hill while letting him keep relaxed instead of struggling for every bit of momentum. He pulled up next to Valentin again and smiled.
“That will make it a lot easier to deal with hills,” Jayde said with a smile.
“The sweet joys of proper-ish gearing.” Valentin chuckled, smiling at the thought of one more person now inclined just that bit away from cars.
“So what do you think?” Adrian asked in anticipation.
“Cannot say… cannot really ride anything other than a handbike like this.” Valentin said semi-jokingly in reference to his busted ankle. “He’s the one looking for a steed.”
“I think I’ll go for it,” Jayde said. “It’s nice having my own way to get around again, especially to get off of my left leg and let it rest for a while.” He got off of the bike and put the kick-stand down, before asking, “So, how much will it be?”
Adrian smiled, looked at the spec sheet again, then replied, “That’ll be 45 silver Syrkals.”
Jayde nodded and opened up his bag, grabbing a pouch of coins and, with a slight grimace on his face, counted out 45 of the silver coins. He showed a bit of relief as he handed the coins over, watching as Adrian counted them once more to be certain.
Adrian smiled and shook Jayde’s hand. “Thank you for doing business with us,” Adrian said.
Jayde responded with a respectful nod of his head, then looked to Valentin as Adrian and Alex returned to the store. “Thank you for helping me, Valentin,” Jayde said.
“Certainly beats repeating the same four answers a few hundred times…” Valentin replied once the payment was sorted and the employees back inside.
“Since you now have a very fashionable mechanical steed, you may want to prepare for eventualities out on the road. Namely… flat tires. Do you know how to patch an inner tube? Or at least replace one?”, he added, speaking from experience as a flat tire will end one’s fun all the time, but also end the trip as a whole if not properly prepared for.
“I… Have never had to do that, actually. My old bicycle had solid rubber tires,” Jayde admitted.
“Ah okay. Give me a moment.”, Valentin excused himself and headed back into the store, returning shortly after with a pouch that is attached to the bike via a few leather straps. Contained within was a simple pump, two spare inner tubes, some crude, stamped steel tyre levers as well as a few patches and the tools necessary to remove the wheels from the bike in the first place.
After that, Valentin first showed the process of changing out the inner tube, explaining each step as he went along from getting the wheel out, changing the tube itself to putting the wheel back in place. Jayde got to try his hand as well, managing to get the change done with only minor hiccups and a few additional “quality of life” tips.
With the bike back complete and the emergency equipment in place, they started heading back for the station on foot, with Jayde walking his new purchase along through the shopping area.
Jayde felt a lot better now that he had a way to get around without just having to rely on walking, and felt a lot better as well that he’d had at least some chance to bond with Valentin over something he could tell Valentin truly, deeply enjoyed. “Thank you again, Valentin, for helping me out. You ever need anything, just let me know, I’ll try to help,” Jayde said.
He looked up at the sky, making a rough guess on time by the position of the sun, and nodded. “Make sure you get something to eat, by the way. It’s easy to lose track of time and not pay attention to your own needs when in a crowd,” Jayde said. “I know, I’ve been there before. Tired, sore, hungry, dealing with too many people who didn’t give me enough space when I needed it. I ended up leaving Trugarde during a party that was held in my honor after the Queen heard that I’d helped defend Tapari against the invasion during the war. Ran halfway to Keepitz before I made camp. First time in… A while that I’ve been back here, since that moment.”
“Huh okay… glad to help.” Valentin replied, not sure what to do with the truckload of info he just had been given, though some good food did sound enticing to him.
As they walked past the row of parked cars of the other teams, they parted ways with Valentin heading back into the station to join up with his companions.
Jayde watched as Valentin headed back into the station, then made his own way back over to the Bricksley, where Kaylie and Malavera were already hard at work maintaining the truck. Specifically, Malavera was doing all the work while Kaylie stood there giving orders and instructions on how to properly change out a water pump. The puddle of water around the front of the truck told Jayde all he needed to know, that Malavera hadn’t done things in the right order to start with.
Kaylie looked up and smiled as she saw Jayde. “I see you got yourself a new bicycle. Val help you out with that?” she asked.
“Yes, he did. We’ll have to figure out a way to carry it safely on the truck, but at least I can get around town easier,” Jayde replied.
“Good. Have you seen Kivenaal anywhere?” Kaylie asked.
“Check the roof of the station. He nearly killed Val by saying hello,” Jayde replied.
“Yeah, that sounds like Kiva. Climb up out of sight to get some peace and quiet, end up forgetting that you’ll startle people like that. Rukari’s off getting us a hotel room for the night, and Kayden’s, well, I don’t know where he’s gone,” Kaylie said.
“There. Water pump is installed,” Malavera grumbled. “Are we done with this yet? I’d like to wring out my shirt instead of soaking in this mess.”
“Belt has to go back on first, then you have to fill the radiator and bleed all the air out of the loop,” Kaylie said. “After that, you get to help me find a way to carry Jayde’s bicycle on the truck.”
Ok? I have a feeling that material would not be that easy to identify as clothing material.
Holy mother of…", he exclaims as he is being swung around. " 
What was that for!?"