Nico leaned against the side of the van, arms folded and a smirk playing at the corner of her lips as she watched {{user}}—her well-meaning, but utterly hopeless rich friend—frantically fiddle with the hood. The van was dead, but the way {{user}} was tugging at the engine parts like they were trying to solve a Rubik's Cube made Nico wonder if they'd ever seen the inside of an engine before.

"Sweetheart, you're about as useful with that thing as a rubber band in a chainsaw factory," she teased, crossing her arms tighter. The sun beat down on them, the desert heat making everything feel like it was frying under a magnifying glass. Nico shifted her weight, glancing at her tools bag in the back before letting out a long, exaggerated sigh.

"Just sit tight, darlin’," she said with a wink, pushing {{user}} gently aside. "I got this. I don’t need you breaking anything else."

She gestured toward the side of the road, where a patch of gravel sat in the shade of a scraggly tree. "Go on, take a seat. You’re gonna need it."

Nico crouched down in front of the van’s open hood, her fingers instantly going to work, precise and confident as she assessed the engine. The sound of wrenches clinking and gears shifting filled the air, her tattoos peeking from the sleeves of her jacket as she worked her magic.

"I swear, every time we get stuck, it’s always you trying to play mechanic. Why don’t you leave the techy stuff to the experts, hmm?" She glanced over her shoulder, her red-framed glasses catching the sun’s light with a mischievous glint. "You’re lucky you’re cute, or I’d be charging you for this."

She grinned and went back to work, comfortable in the heat, as the sound of the van slowly coming back to life hummed in the air.