PITST♡P

Ch2: Green Flag

With his car in better condition, Alhaitham is ready for his next race. Sitting in his car, driving with the rest of the racers, he glances out of his windows to see his competition. This was their third lap, meaning the race would start soon. Right now, the sound of the announcer was just distant white noise to him.

Looking ahead, the flagman raises his green flag, waving it. The waving of the flag snaps Alhaitham out of his brief trance. He slams on the gas and steers ahead of the car next to him, who wasn't fortunate enough to notice the green flag as quickly as Alhaitham did. However, when they decided to slam on the gas to prevent Alhaitham from cutting them off (which they failed to do), they scraped up the side of Alhaitham's car.

He lets out a sigh, knowing he'd get yelled at for that later, but right now, he didn't really care. His focus was on winning or at least staying in the competition. His focus, however, lessened slightly about halfway through the race. Right now, his mind was preoccupied thinking about that new scratch on his car. He'd probably have to get that repaired later.

No matter how scratched his car was, he knew Kaveh could repair it. He's talented and determined, which leads to stubbornness. The image of the mechanic trying to tie up his hair while refusing any help played in his head.

The momentary distraction causes him to slow down a little, allowing the car behind him to rear end him. He feels his own car jerk forward before he steps on the gas to avoid that from happening again. Now was not the time to get lost in his thoughts.

Weaving through and cutting off other drivers, he manages to make it to second place. The only car in front of him is that Diluc guy's. He speeds up, almost overtaking Diluc, but not quite. They were neck and neck, racing to the finish line. It almost seemed like Alhaitham would sweep the rug from under him and win. Almost.

He feels his car swerve hard to the right as another car slams into the side of it. The suddenness of it all causes him to break his focus, letting Diluc increase the gap between their cars.

Cameras flash and reporters crowd around Alhaitham. The overlaying questions and comments are all he can here. Anytime he'd turn around, there'd be the bright flash of a camera.

"Alhaitham, where do you plan on–?" "Could you spare a moment–" "Alhaitham, could you tell us a bit about the–" "...with Diluc this race, what were you–" "Can I have a–" "What are your thoughts–" "Over here, over here!"

Alhaitham casually slips on his headphones to drown out their voices as he walks away from the reporters. The only sound he could hear now was the faint hum of the world around him, now lessened by his driving headphones. He walked back to where the rest of his team was. Approaching one of his assistants, he takes off his headphones.

"During the race, I messed up my car. I'm gonna take it over to the shop today."

"The shop? The one from last time? We can hire you your own mechanic right now. We were planning on doing that in a bit."

"No, no. Please hold off on that. The mechanic over at the shop is skilled."

"Okay then. I can take your car to the shop for you, sir," the team member says, already preparing himself to head out.

"No. I'd rather do it myself."

"Yourself? Are you sure you want to?"

"It's not an issue. You do a lot for me, at least let me take my own car to the shop to get repaired?" Alhaitham asks, grabbing his keys from his pocket.

"Of course, sir."

Alhaitham nods and gets into his car. The engine starts slowly at first, but once it's up and running, he drives towards the mechanic shop. Kaveh had been nice last time, so he probably wouldn't be too mad about the car.

"You did what?! Again?!" Kaveh runs over to the car, fingers running along the places where it was scratched.

"It was only a scrap."

"Only a scrap? Going 200 miles per hour? Alhaitham, I'm serious, you need to be more careful." Kaveh lets out an exasperated sigh as he starts grabbing the tools to fix the car.

"I know what I'm doing–"

"Well clearly not or else you wouldn't have had to bring the car in again."

"I'm gonna pay you."

"The money is not what I'm worried about; I'm worried about how reckless you're being. Don't you have like... something to live for? A family?"

"I don't have a family, but I'm not trying to throw my life away. I know what I'm doing."

Kaveh takes a breath and crosses his arms. "I'll fix the car, but I'm serious, if you aren't more careful–"

"Relax. Once I come to pick up the car, I'll take you out to get some coffee." Alhaitham smiles slightly, having taken note of how tired the mechanic looked.

"Alright, but don't think I'll ignore your blatant recklessness just because you're buying me coffee."

"Sure."

A couple days later, Alhaitham returns to the mechanic shop. Finding Kaveh standing next to the once damaged race car, he moves to admire his work. Alhaitham looks at where the scratches once more, finding no trace of damage.

"Good work as always, Kaveh. Thank you."

"It's not a problem, but don't let it happen again."

"I can't ensure that, but I can keep it in mind. Now, why don't we go get the coffee I promised you?" Alhaitham opens the passenger door of his car for Kaveh.

"In your race car? Is that thing even street legal?"

"No, but the coffee shop is on the way to the headquarters where I need to drop it off. I make that drive all the time and no one has said anything."

"Won't it attract attention? And... paparazzi?"

"Maybe, but as long as you stick with me, you'll be fine."

Kaveh nods and gets into the car. Shortly after, Alhaitham follows, getting into the driver's seat.