<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/Mtx59.jpg)</div><br/><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Name:</strong> Allison Leclerc<br/><strong>Title:</strong> The Brains<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Foulweather Bluff<br/><strong>Tags:</strong> Ryan, Cori</span></span><br/><hr/><br/><strong>“Car trouble. One of the engine cylinders blew in my last race and the replacement hasn’t come yet, she’s drivable but I don’t like racing her when she’s not at its best.”</strong><br/><br/>"Oh," Allison said in response to Ryan telling her about his car's blown cylinder, sounding a little bit sorry for him, or perhaps for the Mercedes. "Yeah, I don't like doing that either." She could feel his pain - as most racers presumably could - having had to sit out of a few races herself in the past due to mechanical problems either prior or during the course of the event itself, plus she also knew how ordering parts could potentially become a hassle. With performance car parts, it seemed like things either went off without a hitch and the goods were delivered promptly in perfect condition or the transaction dragged on for ever and you had to keep relentlessly chasing after company representatives through emails and over the phone in order to get anywhere. Hopefully Ryan wouldn't run into any trouble with with the delivery of what Ally had to assume would be a whole new cylinder block. Not the biggest deal in the world for an experienced mechanic to swap out, but pretty time consuming none-the-less.<br/><br/>And then she had to wonder if there was some sort of conspiracy going on between Ryan and Taras to see how many times they could make her blush in a row. "Quit it, I'm not all that," Ally almost mumbled back bashfully, covering the entire left side of her face with her hand and tilting her head slightly forwards and to the side, though her eye could still peak through between two fingers. Even though she wasn't always the most adept at picking up on social cues and whatnot, she could still tell that Ryan was half-joking, probably exaggerating just for the sake of getting a little rise out of her (it was working). Ally didn't really mind. Being flattered was rarely ever a bad thing, especially when it came from somebody that she hadn't know for that long, but that also made her feel even more awkward.<br/><br/>She made a bit of a face and wrinkled her nose slightly before giving Ryan half of a shy smile, and then she revealed the second half too by finally sliding the hand away from her face and over to her ear, tucking her hair behind it again.<br/><br/>The familiar and quite unmistakable sound of Two Fires approaching  was like a double edged blade. On one hand, it got Ally to stop blushing and acting like a fourteen year-old version of herself, but on the other it also reminded her about the inevitable confrontation with the crew, because she was dreading Cori's reaction ten times more than anyone else's. The comment about Mexican women might have surprised Allison coming from anyone else, but it was just par for the course with the raucous little blonde - perhaps even tame by her standards - so she'd have been more shocked <em>not</em> to hear something at least a little bit politically incorrect.<br/><br/>She giggled half-heartedly at the quip about Natalie's outfit but tried to remain small and lost the background as much as possible, not really feeling up to the task of dealing with Cori and her rather mercurial temperament. Ally's thoughts instead drifted back towards her leader's ride while she waited for Taras to call a start to the race. At first, she'd thought that it was kind of weird to name a car, but now she thought that it was weirder that she herself hadn't done it, considering that it was by far her most prized possession. However, it would probably only feel that much worse if she ever crashed it or something because of that extra layer of emotional attachment, so she wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not.<br/><br/>Allison also had no idea how Cori even managed to remain competitive with that clunky beast of hers. Of course, it was more than powerful enough to destroy virtually any car on the road, but most of the machines entered in the high end races that the crew participated in had equal or superior power on top of being considerably more nimble. Probably had something to do with the Cadi's legendary durability and its driver's skill.<br/><br/>Taras' voice eventually snapped Ally out of her random speculations, letting her know that it was just about time for the show to get on the road. Literally. "Guess I'll see you later," she told Ryan before discreetly slinking off towards her Porsche and climbing into it, or rather letting herself drop into the super low bucket seat. The engine was still plenty warmed up from the drive over, so she just waited in total silence for a few minutes, not even turning the accessories on just yet.<br/><br/>Allison felt more safe and confident when she was surrounded by her sky blue armor made of fiberglass and metal and carbon fiber than anywhere else, so naturally it was the best place to meditate a bit before a race, preparing herself mentally for the upcoming challenge. Her conversation with Taras still lingered on her mind as she knew that it would, but she wouldn't let that impact her performance negatively. On the contrary, Allison would use it to fuel her ambition for victory. She wasn't as fragile or weak as she might have seemed; not in real life, and especially not behind the wheel.<br/><br/>With a couple of minutes to go before the green light, Allison finally cranked her car's engine and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel along with the drums from one of the songs (http://youtu.be/MYphpDbZF9Y) in her racing playlist as she pulled up to the starting grid, taking her predetermined position along with everybody else.</div>