[b][center][h2]Joel Nicolosi & [color=yellow]Siobhan Murphy[/color][/h2] [/center][/b]

Joel’s breath turned to vapor above him as he reclined back in his lawn chair watching it dissipate over a sea of unfiltered stars. Spending so much time in the light pollution in and around Sol really did make the raw night sky somewhat of a mesmerizing spectacle. Even in the mountains, at the team’s headquarters miles away there was still some loss from the city’s expansive glow. Seeing a carpet overhead marked with as much light as darkness innately felt good for the soul. Being in the service park on a rally stage was one of the most natural feelings he ever felt; like a combination of racing and camping. He was certainly no outdoorsman and the comfortable amenities of Rebellion’s vehicular entourage were certainly not a tent, but he enjoyed the remoteness of it all, surrounded by acres of vineyards and thick northwestern, mountain woodlands for miles, it was the closest to tranquility he’d been in years.

A fire crackled in front of him while a German beer sat in the cupholder. They chattered away in their coarse dialect, laughing often, while, despite the late hour, music [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjSQNhbKjak]still played lightly[/url]. Spirits were high. Joel had put the car in a lead measured in minutes and with only a few reverse stages to be tackled on the final day, all looked promising. He glanced from the corner of his eye over at the service tent where the car sat quietly in darkness, angular shadows from the fire dancing off it’s high spoiler against the hauler. The technicians had long finished their work for the day and headed off to enjoy the sumptuous amenities of the secluded vineyard. To Joel, at a minimum,  making it in motorsports meant that he didn’t have to service his own car anymore and it felt great to hand it over to someone else completely dedicated to make it run as fast as possible while he could fully concentrate on just driving. 

It took a while for the adrenalin to wear away. The stages were tight and narrow, often only barely wide enough for a small car to pass between stone walls and rigid vine scaffolding requiring the utmost in concentration. Tarmac was Joel’s specialty. He’d proven it on the sunbaked roads of Kingston though the rear-wheel drive 911 required a different sort of finesse than the all-wheel drive Polo. A gentle swiftness on the handbrake and temperance with the throttle were all it needed to pirouette like a dancer around an acute hairpin. It really was a dance in many ways: The movement of the car’s weight in his hands through the wheel and in the seat. There was a [i]flow[/i] to it. It was hard to describe, but he knew when he was in the groove. His hands and feet moved without thinking, sensing and anticipating every subtlety of the suspension over the road while his eyes read for corners sometimes hundreds of meters ahead. Joel exhaled again letting the last vestiges of stress drift away. The last stages weren’t until the afternoon and there would be plenty of time to rest.

Sio sat next to him, barely awake. He ran a hand through the loose waves of red that flowed over her shoulder. The track could be an exhausting place and the fanfare that Rebellion brought along seemed to only intensify the feeling. Motorsports had to be experienced on foot and there was always something to do or see when connected with a race team. Ironically, it was the driver that spent the most time seated. With a small grin he tickled lightly under her chin with his fingertips. “You gonna make it?” 

Siobhan smirked sleepily, loving that he was playing with her hair.[color=yellow] "Of course."[/color] She yawned softly. She'd been up early and was up late the night before. 

Joel continued to lightly stroke strands of hair through his fingers, letting them fall away smoothly from the roughness of his work-worn hands. The softness seemed to multiply his own feeling of exhaustion and he let out a healthy yawn before feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket with the long hum of a message. Thinking it to likely be a message from the team, he dug it out of his pocket only to find a message from Ryan Woods. His eyes read over the contents while his mind assumed it to be something other than what he read. Since the festival, They had both been too preoccupied catch up and Joel knew Ryan also had a car he wanted looked over, however the message was completely unrelated and he had to read it again. 

“You gotta be shittin’ me.” He said, shaking his head. He gave Sio a nudge with his elbow and turned the screen for her to look.

[quote]

[i]-[color=00aeef]"Mr. Nicolosi, sorry for the late disturbance. I have a favor to ask. Are you familiar with a Ethan Aster? What is his involvement with one Victoria Olympus, if you are aware of anything?"[/color]-[/i]

[/quote]



Siobhan blinked out of the comfortable gaze she was in as Joel nudged her. She looked over at the phone he was holding and read it quickly.[color=yellow] "Aware? You mean other than Ethan knocked her up? What is he asking for? Please tell me she hasn't twisted it to where she's the victim. I was under the impression that she was delighted to be pregnant with his child. Wouldn't put it past her if it was a 'keep a guy baby'. Guess she's looking for, what I don't know. She's never heard of condoms I'm guessing."[/color]


“I like how he says [i]Mr.[/i] Nicolosi all the time, you should start doing that.” Joel said with a smirk. It didn’t take much to get her fired up. His fingers began tapping away at a message. “Who knows with that bunch.” He said with some amusement before sending his reply. “I’m sure they’re all very proud though.”

[quote]

[i]-We’re familiar. Pretty sure she’s carrying his child. If I were you, I’d stay away from both of them-[/i]
[/quote]

[@Infinite Cosmos][@Almalthia]