Chapter Text
Raven would like to say the first thing she notices is the woman’s wild, curly hair. That once she got to know her, she would look back on their first meeting and think that her hair was great representation of her, a warning of what was to come, and that it suited her well.
But Raven’s not the sentimental one of the group – that’s Bellamy. The first thing Raven notices is how she cuts the curb when she pulls into the lot. The second thing she notices is that the car itself is an absolute piece of shit.
“Hello, I’m Luna,” she says. “Are you Raven?”
Raven wipes her hands off on a rag before offering one to Luna. “That’s me. We don’t accept scrap, but I can give you a list of places that can take that off your hands,” she says, jerking her head at the car.
Luna’s brow creases and then she says, “I’m actually here for an oil change. Lincoln recommended I come here. He said you’re the best in town.”
“You want an oil change?” Raven asks. Luna nods and Raven crosses her arms, circling the car once.
When she’s standing next to Luna again she sighs. “You want my professional opinion?”
“Is your professional opinion going to be that I need more work done than an oil change?”
Raven snorts. “My professional opinion is that you should sell it for scrap. You don’t need an oil change, you need a new car.”
There’s a twinkle in Luna’s eyes when she asks, “Telling me to sell my car seems like bad business for a mechanic.”
“Taking your money for an oil change when you need a new damn car is also bad business for a mechanic. People don’t like being scammed.”
Luna hums in agreement. “Am I in any immediate danger if I continue to drive it?” she asks.
This is when Raven notices her hair. And the rest of Luna. She gives her a once over and shakes her head. “No, you’re not in any immediate danger.”
Luna shrugs. “Then give me the oil change, please.”
*
It’s a month before Luna’s back and Raven wants to say I told you so, but she’s still driving the car and it seems to be running fine, so she really has no place.
“Hello, Raven.” Luna says with a smile as she gets out of the car. It’s warm, once of the first warm days of the year, and Luna’s in a long summer dress that flutters around as she walks.
Raven returns her smile and says, “Luna. What can I help you with, today?”
“I think my alignment is… out of alignment.”
“Yeah?” Raven asks, her smile growing. “What could possibly cause that?”
“I have no idea,” Luna says. “I’m a fantastic driver.”
Raven rolls her eyes. “I saw you cut the curb when you pulled in and when you pulled out last time you were here,” she says. Then, “It’s pretty empty right now and I can get this done pretty quickly, if you wanna wait around?”
Luna nods. “That would be wonderful. It’s been pulling to the left.”
*
“It just… fell off?”
“Yes.”
Raven runs a hand over her face. “Your mirror just fell off? You didn’t hit anything? It just fell?”
“Yes,” Luna says. “It’s an old car. I’m not really surprised something like this happened.”
“Of course you’re not,” Raven says. “You can hang out while I fix this. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Excellent. Did I ever tell you about that time I had to duct tape my exhaust back on?”
*
“Jesus Christ,” Raven says when Luna pulls in with the passenger door in the trunk.
Luna raises her hands at Raven’s look. “This one wasn’t my fault. A friend of mine couldn’t get the door shut and it broke when they tried to push it shut.”
“I’m just saying,” Raven says, hefting the door out of the trunk and carrying it into the garage, “if a car is worth driving, parts of it don’t just fall off.”
“This didn’t fall,” Luna argues, following Raven and hopping up onto a worktable. “It was pushed.”
“Because it’s rusted halfway through,” Raven grumbles.
When Luna picks the car up three days later she thanks Raven and shoots her a grin as she revs the engine before pulling out of the lot.
“Get a new car!” Raven yells after her.
*
When Luna brings her car in at the end of the summer because it’s making a ch-ch-ch-skrrrrrrrt! noise, Raven thinks she’s figured out what’s going on.
“I totally believe that your car is making that noise,” she says, “But I also think you’re better off selling the damn thing for scrap and just asking me out for dinner instead of bringing your piece of junk car in for repairs that aren’t worth it.”
“That’s your professional opinion?” Luna asks, a smile playing around her lips.
“That’s my professional opinion, yes,” Raven says.
Luna grins, “I guess if I want to take my mechanic out to dinner, I‘ll have to start listening to her opinions about my car.”