(As expected, thank you to @Elizipeazie for collaborating with me here.)
Prologue
(Sorry, but you knew this would be a bit long. Thankfully, most of this is backstory and setup for how two teams come together at the track.)
“On this episode of Kaylie’s Garage, we recap what we’ve done to our rusty racecar, mention where we’re going, and make some last minute preparations for 24 hours of Clunkers!” Kaylie said enthusiastically, standing in front of a somewhat worn-out and well-used video camera.
In the background, the Grand Warden sat there, looking somewhat menacing and ominous courtesy of being a well-known police vehicle.
Meanwhile, the whole crew was watching the premiere of this episode, live with their fans, after a long build to get there.
“In the last bundle of weeks, we’ve taken this battered Bricksley from a target…”
Kivenaal grimaced as the clip of him taking shots at the rear of the car was played, followed by Kaylie yelling at him for shooting up a functioning car that had been bought, then forgotten about, a while ago.
“… into a functioning racing vehicle. First, we ripped out the interior,”
Kayden smirked as the clip of him pulling seats out of the car and literally throwing them into the building’s dumpster played. Those seats had reeked and there was no way in hell they were staying in the car.
“… figured out how to make the lights flash and the sirens scream,”
Rukari grinned as the clip of him turning the lights and siren on at two in the morning played, remembering the chaos of that morning quite well.
“… discovered a few problems,”
Takaraya groaned as he watched the clip of him trying his best to straighten out the body panels with a hammer, followed by Kivenaal pointing out that the front body subframe was about “as straight as a tree snake.” This was followed by a clip of the first road test, where they discovered the engine ran well, but the suspension was a bit off and the brakes weren’t great.
“… and fixed one of them.”
Malavera felt proud as he was the one who had welded up their specialized rollcage, and the clip was of his rather clean-looking welds.
“We then put a seat back in with some difficulty,” Kaylie-on-screen continued, now showing a clip of Rukari in the racing seat, supported off the floor by a bit of wood to take up the space of the seat rails, with the crew trying their best to make sure there was at least one position where he fit in it. This was followed by a clip of the fabrication of their low-profile custom seat rails, the installation of the seat, and a test to see how fast they could change between Rukari and Kaylie, followed by Kaylie to Kayden, and then Kayden to Rukari.
“… and got ourselves a bunch of spare parts.”
The clip showed Kivenaal carrying two toolboxes and pushing a third one on wheels, followed by Jayde carrying a box of brake and suspension pieces, Takaraya carrying two spare tires, Malavera carrying the other two, Kayden rolling a pair of tires into the shop for the car, Kaylie rolling the other pair in, and Rukari carrying a box of miscellaneous parts.
“We’re out of time to do more repairs on it now. We’ve got to book two flights to Sweden, one for our car, and the other for the seven of us,” Kaylie-on-screen said. “So we’ll be back next time with the results, and after that, a return to the Highwayman project.”
In Sweden, a small message popped up on Valentin’s phone:
Hey, Val, got a bit of a question. Any ideas on how to get a car from the US to Sweden? I know you did that with Robert, so, we’re looking for some options. Last year we took some risks we probably shouldn’t have, we’d like to be a little more sensible this year
– Kaylie
His reply was rather simple, but promising:
Cannot help you much with getting it across the pond. Look for whatever company that gets a 20’ shipping container across the sea and go from there. Once on Swedish soil, i can get it to wherever you need it. I’ll send you the formalities via E-Mail.
– Valentin
Thank you! We’ll look into some shipping options.
– Kaylie
Afterwards, he directly phoned his father, Rüdiger, with whom he communicated the upcoming contract, ending rather quickly as Rüdiger simply requested Val follow usual procedure just like with any other customer.
Easily said and done, as less than half an hour later, another message went back to Kaylie:
Need an E-Mail address to send you the details. In there, you’ll find everything from the transit itself (read: where shit is going), what is being transported and when it needs to be where.
Storage will be assigned as needed depending on the delivery time between pick-up and drop-off.
– Valentin
Yeah, not a problem. Send it to Malavera, I know you have his email, I’ll get it quickly enough. I’d send you mine, but Kayden tried to log into my account with his password and now it’s locked out until I contact tech support.
– Kaylie
A few minutes later, the E-Mails were sent off to Malavera’s address, containing a good 45 pages worth of attachments detailing the contract between Rüdiger Schrant Transport AB and Shift Happens. A second copy was attached as well, but in English instead.
E-Mails with the info are out.
– Valentin
Malavera had just gotten ready for bed when his computer chimed at him with a pleasant, if archaic “You’ve got Mail!” He groaned and walked over to the desktop, logged into his account and opened the e-mail he’d received.
Two attachments were there, one in English, one in Swedish. “Hunter, begin translating the Swedish document into English,” Malavera said, opening the English one and grabbing his reading glasses.
45 minutes later, Malavera picked up his phone and called Kaylie.
“Hello?” Kaylie asked.
“It’s Malavera. Got an interesting email from Valentin.”
“Oh, our shipping contract for the car. Yeah, set that up with Valentin earlier. If we get the car to Sweden, he’ll make sure it gets to the track,” Kaylie replied.
“I see. So, we just have to get the car there, then. I know someone who still owes me a favor, I’ll make a call. If he can’t help, I’ll make a few more,” Malavera replied.
“Okay. You do that,” Kaylie said, before hanging up.
Malavera stared at his phone for a moment, then shook his right head. His AI assistant, Hunter, then said, “Within 99.5% accuracy, the English copy of the Swedish document is identical. The discrepancies could be related to grammar or sentence syntax.”
Malavera sighed. “Sorry to waste your time, then.”
“I was finished before you made your phone call to Kaylie. I did not interrupt because you have told me before,” Hunter said, before switching from the crisp, unnatural semi-monotone voice he used to Malavera’s own, “It is fucking rude to interrupt someone’s phone call.”
Malavera shook his head and dialed another number on his phone. “Hey, John, it’s Mal. Remember when I got that ransomware off your work network so you could get cargo moving again? Yeah, I’m cashing in that favor you owe. I need to move a package from here to Sweden. A 1987 Bricksley Grand Warden police car. It’s going into a clunkers race over there. Yes, plane from here to California, shipping container from California to Sweden. Pickup is already arranged. Yeah, you’ll know where to send it once you give me some paperwork. I’m not going to try to play “name that port” because I can’t speak Swedish and you know it! Thank you, it’s good to know we’ve got shipping covered. Yeah, I’ll talk with you later. Goodbye.”
Malavera ended the call and sighed. “Hunter, when that paperwork gets emailed to me, fill out the information and send it, please. I am going to bed.”
A week before the race, the time has come for the car to be picked up from port. With little involvement from Val directly, The shipping container holding the Bricksley Grand Warden and a slew of tools and parts was loaded up onto a Euro-style 40-ton lorry, which then headed off to temporarily store the cargo until it needed delivery to the racetrack in the middle of nowhere.
Meanwhile, Val himself went to collect Shift Happens at the airport. Lacking a registered car to drive in (and that he fits into), he resorted to public transit, even though the distance would’ve been doable by bicycle if he had been healthy.
Still, he entered the terminal, not really going far in to avoid unnecessarily straining his still-recovering legs.
The flight from Nevada to Sweden was rather uneventful, with the only minor interruption to the card game going on inside being when the tires screeched on touchdown, followed by the roar of the turbofan engines under reverse thrust.
The cards were packed up, leaving their game inconclusive on that occasion, and each of them stepped off of the aircraft and into the terminal.
Kaylie was the first to really see Val, waving to him with her chrome left hand followed by leading the group toward him. Kayden and Rukari followed closely behind, while Kivenaal and Malavera lagged a bit behind, followed by Jayde walking with his new oak cane and Takaraya taking cautious and careful strides, making sure not to bump into anyone or step on any feet.
“Hello! Weren’t quite expecting to see you, Val!” Kaylie said. She had to fight her instinct to want to hug him, knowing he was still pretty damn sore after his ordeal and also knowing that Val wasn’t one for the whole “touchy-feely crap” as Malavera often called it.
“We’ve got most of the crew here. Our older brother,” Kayden said, “is keeping an eye on the phones back home.”
“Oh, speaking of the crew,” Kaylie said, “I know you’ve talked with him a couple of times, but… The big guy is Takaraya. I know, I know, he’s probably scaring the hell out of you, and we’ll try to keep some distance between the two of you, but, well, quite honestly it just didn’t feel right to make him sit this one out.”
Takaraya was about to greet Valentin when someone said something in Swedish, and judging by Kivenaal’s reaction, it wasn’t polite.
Kivenaal smirked at the insult, then fired back in not-exactly perfect Swedish, “
We might be ‘freaks,’ yes. You just have an elephant’s fart for a brain.” At that moment, the person trading insults with Kivenaal happened to notice Takaraya, went whiter than Valentin, and ran.
Takaraya sighed and shook his head. “I am not that scary,” he said with a light grimace.
“Uhm… not scary… sure…”, Val mumbled, trying to keep calm to the best of his abilities as he looked way up to the almost 9 foot tall half-mechanical werewolf.
As the insults came raining, he looked over at them, unsure on if he was part of the insult or not, either case being equally possible in his mind.
“Yeah… uhm… welcome to Gothenburg, i guess… Car should be off the boat already. Not sure on if it’s on our truck yet, though…”, he continues as he ‘subtly’ shuffles away from Takaraya in an effort to do exactly what Kaylie just said.
Kaylie looked over to Takaraya, then back to Val and said, “You’ll get used to him eventually. You handled Jayde.”
Jayde countered in his own way, “Sure, he did, but it took a long time, and rightfully so.”
“Meeting someone new for some people can be scary,” Takaraya said. “I’ll keep my distance.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Kayden asked.
“Well…” Kivenaal said, “Kaylie did mention she wanted to go to a park first, before we find a hotel with room for all of us.”
“Really would like to show you around, but i am still in physical therapy to recover mobility and strength and all that. They did rip apart one knee to un-fuck the other, after all… not sure how far i can walk before they start to give way…”, Valentin said, despite not having a medically ordered limitation on how far he is allowed or recommended to walk.
“Also you haven’t booked anything in advance?”, Valentin inquired, as spontaneous entry into a hotel with a crew of seven could lead to not getting enough rooms.
Takaraya nodded, then said, “You are right to be cautious. It’s all too easy to overdo something in your physical therapy and end up either in a lot of pain, or worse, set yourself back again.”
Kaylie chuckled, however, when Valentin asked if they really hadn’t booked anything in advance. “Even when we do, most of us end up sharing a room and throwing all the covers on the floor anyway. What’s the point in trying to get seven rooms when we know that it’ll be Kayden, Jayde and myself, Malavera and Kivenaal, and Rukari and Takaraya? Worst case scenario, we have to put Rukari in with us and Takaraya in with Mal and Kiva.”
Takaraya grimaced at that, though didn’t protest out loud. However, Kivenaal spoke up, “Is that really necessary? You have no idea how much space he takes up. Seriously, all of you curl up, he spreads out and covers an entire room.”
Jayde, however, came to Takaraya’s defense with, “Kivenaal, you’ve seen his back. If the scars were any rougher, they’d show through his fur.”
Kayden smirked. “Admit it, Kiva, the real reason you don’t want Takaraya in your room is because-”
“Not one more word,” Malavera said, glaring at Kayden, who clearly realized then that he’d crossed a boundary.
“Sorry, Mal. Didn’t mean to tease you and Kiva quite like that,” Kayden replied.
“I mean you do you… i would’ve secured the rooms at least somewhat ahead of time. I cannot have all seven of you sleep in my flat unless you can all do it standing up.”, Valentin said, half jokingly.
“In either case the bus to town is in the same direction for all of us, unless you managed to procure a chartered bus to ferry you there.”
Valentin then just looks to where he was coming from to catch whichever next bus is heading into town.
“Well, none of us thought to hire a bus,” Kaylie said, glancing at Malavera for confirmation.
“Yeah, sorry, I was trying to get the flight locked in,” Malavera replied.
Kayden, on the other hand, had spotted Valentin’s rather quite tall sock poking out from under a rolled-up pant leg. “If I might ask, Valentin, what’s with the tall socks? I mean, I know your kind wear them for protection and insulation, but, I’ve not seen them that tall before.”
Jayde grimaced slightly, balancing on his mechanical left leg and his cane so he could rub a sore right ankle. When Kaylie looked at him, Jayde shook his head. “It’s just sore, Kaylie. I’m probably putting too much weight on it because my left leg always hurts.”
Takaraya looked far off into the distance, spotting a bus on the road. “Don’t know if it’s coming here, but there’s a bus,” he said, pointing at it.
“Good luck finding a room, then.” Valentin spoke as he turned back around to face the group.
As Kayden asked about the socks he was wearing, he looked down at the one exposed one for a brief moment.
“Those? Compression stockings. I’m about the tallest guy in Sweden as far as i know. Being tall isn’t ideal for your cardiovascular system and all that due to the added load. Those socks help a bit in getting the blood back to my heart against gravity.”, he explained, swaying a bit from side to side to loosen up his joints.
“Yep. Painful ankle. Been there, done that.”, he commented as Jayde complained about a sore right biological ankle.
“Also. Every bus that goes round the terminal road stops here. No point in detouring across an airport lot with the highway next door going straight on.”
“I don’t envy you,” Takaraya said when Valentin mentioned compression stockings. “Putting on a pair of those used to be my least favorite part of getting ready in the morning.”
Kayden glanced back at Takaraya, then for a moment at both Kivenaal and Jayde. Kivenaal grimaced. “Great, I know that look from Kayden. When the lot of us get home, I know at least two of us that just earned ourselves a checkup.”
“To be fair, Kivenaal, between yourself and Rukari, it’s like a normal person and Val. Then there’s myself, Kaylie, and Jayde. Our older brother is normal height at about 6 feet and 7 inches tall. I’m 7 feet, 8 inches tall, which puts me in Val’s territory. What does that mean for Jayde?” Kayden said.
“I don’t understand why you hate doctor’s visits so much, Kivenaal,” Jayde said.
“Bad history,” Malavera replied. “Believe me, I’m surprised he can use a shower with a glass door without panicking.”
Kaylie shook her head, then said, “Anyway, not much of that is important right now. One, it looks like Takaraya was right and our bus is coming, and, two, I have a somewhat important question to ask.” She looked to Valentin with a light smile, then asked, “Would you be interested in coming to our wedding?” Kaylie asked, as Jayde gently grabbed her hand, knowing she was a bit nervous.
“Wait what? I wasn’t aware that you… were this close to each other… i mean… sure… if i can get that inbetween my therapy sessions…”, Valentin stammered as the group went out of the terminal towards the bus bays out front. It was obvious that Val had very little experience in such things both from third parties as well as himself.
“I’ll text you my schedule sometime, i guess… Not that it’ll have an impact on your marriage date and time or anything…”
Kaylie smiled. “We haven’t exactly been keeping it a secret. Though, I suppose it is reasonable that you weren’t aware of it.”
“Kaylie, don’t tease him. He’s seen us for maybe an hour or two at a time,” Jayde replied.
“I’m not teasing him, Jayde. As you said, between his accident and recovery, and then only seeing the two of us for brief bits of time, he’s not seen us often enough to know that we’re close,” Kaylie mentioned. “Anyway, as you said, Valentin, text us your schedule and we’ll let you know if it might be possible.”
As they got onboard the bus, it was obvious that all eyes were on the large, animalistic members of Shift Happens, with most of them having to deal with finding seats that offered at least some minimal amount of space.
In the bus, Valentin pulls out an almost brand-spanking new phone, apparently going through his calendar. A few moments later, the screen displays just the current week, fairly easily seen by those around him.
“Well i have a critical appointment in two days. Most of the other stuff in here can probably be shuffled around if need be…”, Valentin mumbles half aloud as he swipes from one day in his calendar to the next.
“Leg Day. Leg day… Shoulders. Mixing things up, is he?”
At this point he remembers that he is looking because Kaylie asked for it.
“Yeah depending on when you plan to do that i may be able to attend. Might need to make some calls and/ or not be able to stay for too long. But it should be possible.”, Valentin said, this time directly addressing Kaylie instead of mumbling into his beard.
Kaylie smiled, then said, “Well, it was always going to be a semi-private deal, just in a park or by a lake, somewhere with a nice view. But…”
Jayde spoke up, “Kaylie put my last name as hers on our entry form, so… It’s within the week.”
Kaylie lightly swatted Jayde’s arm. “Really? You had to mention that?”
“Well, Valentin needs to know what day to be at the wedding, Kaylie. He can’t do that if even we don’t fully know,” Jayde admitted. “Personally, I’m of the mindset that earlier is better in general.”
Kaylie chuckled. “Well, Valentin, seeing as the wedding is this week, how do you feel about tomorrow? Casual wear is quite fine, I think about the only one who actually has a suit is Kivenaal, and that’s because, well…”
“Kaylie wouldn’t let me be my usual self at the wedding,” Kivenaal said.
“Isn’t that a bit spontaneous? Like… at minimum, you need a priest to actually pull of the bond between you two… unless you have drastically different wedding traditions…”, Valentin responded, surprised at how quickly they wanted to do it, seemingly ignoring the planning needed even for a small-scale wedding.
“I can try to free up tomorrow if you somehow got that sorted already. I’d be very surprised if you did, though…”, he added as he pocketed his phone for the time being.
Nova spoke up from within Kayden’s pocket, “No problem, Valentin. I did a bit of calling around, found a priest who’s willing and able to perform the ceremony in four days time. Would be a lot better if the two lovebirds would have thought ahead of time on this, admittedly, but at least that crisis is settled.”
“Thank you, Nova,” Jayde replied. “Admittedly, I’m still learning.”
“Yeah, the other morning, he was trying to make phone calls with his phone upside down. I still don’t know how you do that, either,” Kayden added.
“Still better than Rukari,” Kaylie said. “I’m not sure he’ll ever quite learn that just because you can’t see the person on the other end of the line doesn’t mean they can’t hear you.”
Takaraya watched through the windows of the bus, seeing a stop coming up soon, and tightened his grip - just a little - on the railing he was holding onto in case their stop was less-than-graceful.
“Four days also is more than enough ahead notice that i should be able to attend as well. With proper clothing and all.”, Valentin commented as he checked the display showing the stop the bus was approaching.
“Next one is mine. Flats are way cheaper at the edge of town.”, he added as the bus came to a silky-smooth stop at the station.
Takaraya led the group off of the bus, taking care not to shake the vehicle too much as he walked down the steps and out onto the sidewalk. The others followed behind, with Jayde bringing up the rear of the group, and Nova already providing directions to the hotel she had, mercifully, booked mid-flight for the group.
Four Days Later, 10 AM
Even though it had all been planned and was as simple as it could be for a wedding, Kaylie had to admit she was nervous. She stood in the open air of the park, wearing a light, almost-practical dress compared to most brides at their own wedding. She looked over at Jayde, almost surprised at how well he turned out when dressed up in a nice suit.
What surprised her the most, though, was that the others had at least tried to show up in proper formal clothing. Kivenaal was dressed up quite well in a suit, dress shirt, tie, slacks, and even dress shoes, and her brother, Kayden, at least had the shirt, tie, slacks, and had polished up his good pair of boots. Takaraya towered over everyone there in his dark blue military dress uniform, a handful of medals on display, and Rukari likewise had his dark, royal-purple military dress uniform on, displaying far more medals. The only odd-one-out of the crowd was Malavera, who at least made an effort to not look like he’d just walked up off of the street, though his slacks, combat boots, and white long-sleeved shirt left a lot to be desired regarding a ‘formal’ attire.
She looked around for Valentin, though couldn’t see him right away. She knew, however, that it was a large area, Val was on foot, and even though he was tall, she might not see him past the taller people there.
It also could very well have been his clothing that caused Kaylie to miss Valentin, as he was wearing a full on set of formal clothing complete with double-breasted suit jacket, tie and a white dress shirt underneath. A pair of slacks and dress shoes hide his compression socks with surprising effectiveness.
“Just saying that you are ‘in the park’ isn’t exactly descriptive.”, Valentin commented as he approached the group, albeit slower than usual.
“Well, at least i made it. Had to move today’s therapy to the evening, but it’ll do.”
He then took a vague look around the general area, spotting most of Shift Happens in clothing that he wasn’t exactly used to, but also had little issue with.
“Seems like you all dressed up for the occasion as well.”, Valentin remarked, motioning to all the others present at the wedding.
“Sorry, Val. We weren’t entirely sure where we’d be either. Avoiding being too close to other groups was, well, a priority,” Kaylie said. “Have to say, that suit looks really good on you.”
When Val mentioned all of them had dressed up for the occasion, Kayden smirked. “Most of us did. Malavera missed the mark a bit, but then again, I suppose it is a bit hard to find suits made for him.”
Kivenaal’s response was to cross both sets of arms and glare at Kayden, who immediately put his hands up and said, “Hey, I get it, don’t tease Malavera around you.”
“He tried,” Kivenaal responded. “On the other hand, you had four days and more than enough opportunities to get a fitted suit.”
“Hey, no starting fights out here, Kayden,” Jayde warned. “I don’t care if it’s just verbal sparring, don’t do it today.”
Takaraya glanced over at Valentin, then admitted, “To be fair, I feel more than a little out of place in my uniform.”
“Thanks, i guess… haven’t worn it in years, so it’s a little loose now that i am a bit lighter than last time i wore it.”, he replied, trying to stay low and avoid being praised too much.
As the verbal gunfight unfolded regarding Malavera’s choice of clothing, he was somewhat confused as he didn’t see an issue with what Malavera was wearing.
“I think he looks fine as-is. Yes, he’s not a penguin, but i think it qualifies a ‘formal’ attire.”, he commented, though any reply was stepped onto by the priest starting the marriage ceremony.
After that it was the usual affair of a very drawn-out speech from the priest before Kaylie and Jayde exchanged vows, before Kivenaal handed the rings to the newlywed couple.
Valentin actually enjoyed the process and calmly watched it go it’s way, even if the view of two massive (even for him) humanoid animals covered head-to-toe in fur was a little jarring at a human-style wedding.
Still, a round of applause followed after the process was completed and the couple seemed to be having the time of their life judging by the width of their respective smiles.
Takaraya smiled, holding his camera as he took various pictures of Kaylie and Jayde at their wedding. Even though he wouldn’t be able to see the same beauty in the colors his camera was capturing today, he would still be able to appreciate the moment in his own way. After the ceremony, however, Takaraya made one polite request.
“Could everyone who is here please stand to either side of Kaylie and Jayde, please?” Takaraya asked. He checked through the viewfinder as people moved around, occasionally motioning for people to squeeze in a little more. Once he felt satisfied that everyone was in place, Takaraya took the picture, then did a follow-up one for good measure.
Kaylie smiled, tears of joy in her eyes as she held Jayde’s hand. She knew that while things weren’t perfect, she also knew as a mechanic that it was never a good idea to let perfect be the enemy of a good plan. Sure, if she’d planned this out better, she’d have had the perfect venue, a priest she may actually have known by name, a proper list of guests and fancy invitations, and a photographer who could see colors, but on the other hand, she might not have had all of her friends here, may have missed out on a great view, and would have had to find a photographer who wouldn’t panic at first sight of the group. No matter what happened at the track in a few days, she’d remember this trip fondly for the rest of her life.
