[Freezair]

Fenrick looked up at the imposing, clattering machine uneasily. "Oh boy..." he whistled. "Somehow I think borrowing this thing might actually get us into more trouble than just looking for brooms... But, you're probably right about it being faster."

He skimmed the walls around him, looking for a plug. Something tarnished and bronzed glinted on the floor beneath him. Eyes widening, he knelt down beside the brass covering on the floor. He flicked up the cover, revealing a large, industrial-sized plug.

"Here," he said, pointing to it. "Plug it in. And, uh--fire 'er up, I guess." He gave another, slightly queasy look to the enormous vacuum beast. "You sure you know how to work this... thingamahoozit? Looks kinda scary to me..."

[46]

[Flame]

Nyx laughed lightly at Fenrick's comment upon seeing the hulking machine.
"That's true, but could it be any worse than the situation we're in? At least they could appreciate us trying to help with the cleanup."
She smiled at him in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, but in reality, she was just as nervous about using the giant vacuum. It looked like it could even suck someone like the likes of her up in an instant, if given the opportunity.
Walking over to the outlet that Fenrick had uncovered, she plugged the fat construction-orange cord in, half expecting the machine to leap to life immediately. It didn't. She walked back tentatively over to the vacuum, looking it over.
"There must be a power switch some...Ah."
Her hand stopped by the large switch that said "On" in big green letters on one side and "Off" on the other. Currently, it indicated that the monster was off.
"Well, it couldn't be that hard...could it?"
Her hand paused on the switch, uncertain.

[Freezair]

"Well, if living in a candy shop full of machinery has taught me anything, it's that 'on' means 'on' and 'off' means 'quick, hurry up, before the adults see you.'" He laughed. "I only ever broke anything once, and even then, it wasn't so bad Aunt Rosie couldn't fix it. Still, though." He looked at the machine. "Well, do we push it from behind, or get on top? I'm confused."

He took hold of the handle. "You better grab this too. This thing might run away if we don't both hold it back.."

[47]

[Flame]

"That would make sense," Nyx laughed, eyeing the switch dubiously.
She glanced at the machine again, and her gaze settled on the uncomfortable-looking black plastic seat which mounted the monster.
"I'm guessing that's your answer..." she commented dryly, pointing up to indicate the hub of the controls.
"The seat will only fit one person, and we should probably have someone down here, to make sure that the machine doesn't go completely out of hand."
She looked over at Fenrick, a little nervous at the prospect of trying to work the machine, but it was something that had to be done.
"So, shall I do the honors, or would you like to?"

[Freezair]

"Well, I'm a big guy, so I'll hold it from behind. Maybe I can stop it from going..." He gulped. "Completely out of control."

He offered a hand to Nyx. "Want me to help you up?" He smiled. "Then I'll get behind the machine, hold on... And try to STAY on." He glanced up at the seat. "I think I see the power switch up there on the control panel..."

[48]

[Flame]

"Alright," she replied, still looking doubtful. She had the feeling they might end up regretting this, and she half wished that the staff had never left this old machine sitting around.
"Well, here goes nothing..." accepting the pro-offered hand, she clambered (as gracefully as possible) up the side of the vacuum and plopped into the seat, shifting to try and find a more comfortable position. It felt strange sitting up here, and she was careful to duck her head, in case any passing employee happened to see a customer's head bobbing around above the stacks and stacks of supplies.
Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the dusty controls, which stared apathetically back up at her. There was a steering wheel as well as an array of other buttons splayed out across the "dashboard", and at Fenrick's comment, she found the power switch. Taking a moment to compose herself, she rested her hands on the wheel.
"You ready?" she called down, trying not to sound nervous.
"Mind you, I've never driven before in my life, so this might be ugly..."

[Freezair]

((OCC: If this really is a warehouse store, being spotted above the supply racks wouldn't be a problem. Those things are usually two stories high, right up to the roof. *used to go with parents to Sam's Club a lot as a kid*))

"Ready when you are." Fenrick stuck his feet sturdily on the floor, striking a strong stance like his dad taught him. His arms tensed. He was tough. He refused to be one of those wimpy wizards who couldn't even hit with their staves, even if he was at magic school.

"Actually." He cut in. "Let me get into place first." He shifted his feet again, trying to perfect his stance. "Alright. On the count of ten, OK? Then you flip the switch, and... we see what happens." He took a deep breath in preparation.

"OK. 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

"GO!"

[49]

[Flame]

{Haha, same here! Our Sam's Club has gaps between the huge shelves though, so you can generally see what's going on in the next aisle through the merchandise xD We'll go with your description though ^^}

"Okay."
Nyx tightened her grip on the wheel of the machine a little more, not wanting to take the risk of it slipping out of her control. Not that it wasn't still a possibility. Her eyes swept over the control panel once more, trying to see if there was anything she had forgotten. Her foot found the pedal (a vacuum that required a gas and brake pedal, how strange), and once she felt that she was as ready as she was going to be, she reached over to let her fingers rest on the power switch.

Glancing down, she checked to make sure that Fenrick was ready. Goodness, it looked like he did this sort of stuff on a daily basis, what with the stance he had taken, bracing the machine.
"GO!"
She flipped the switch.
Nothing happened.
She stared, perplexed at the impassiveness of the hulking monster. Confused, she gave the control panel a few smart raps with her knuckles.
Still nothing.

She turned to address Fenrick.
"Hey, I think this thing's br..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the vacuum roared to life with a thunderous rumble, and since her foot wasn't on the brake, it jumped forwards at a surprisingly fast rate for a machine of its size and caliber. Nyx yelled in surprise, having been thrown back in the seat, but agily, she twisted in the chair and floored the brake, causing the thundering machine to come to a screeching halt, mere feet in front of the wall of flour.

[Freezair]

"OHCRA--"

OMPH!

The machine roared into life like an angry bull waking up from a nap. It lurched forward, yanking Fenrick off his feet without so much as a courtesy warning. His knees buckled, but his grip stayed tight, and as the heavy machine roared forward, he felt himself being dragged down. His shoes scraped against the floor.

Then, just as suddenly, the machine stopped, and Fenrick felt his momentum carry him forward to be plastered all over the backside of the heavy metal behemoth. Coughing and sputtering, he peeled himself off the back of the floor cleaner, scrunching his shoulders as he felt himself bruise. He shook himself out and winced.

"There's gotta be some kinda speed setting!" he said up to Nyx. "'Cuz I don't think I can do this otherwise! What do all those buttons say? You want me to come up there with you?"

[50]

[Flame]

As the machine came to a juddering halt, Nyx heard a dull, metallic thud as something hit the back of the monster. The sound alone made her wince, and she twisted in her seat to check on Fenrick so fast that her neck cricked painfully.
"Fenrick!"
Pausing only to slap her hand on the power switch to turn the machine off, she clambered down the side of the vacuum, a little ungraceful in her haste to reach him.
"Ohmygosh, are you alright?"
She set about checking that he hadn't permanently damaged anything.
"If there's one thing that I've learned in my life, it's that no creature should ever make a sound like that, even the muscular ones."
She laughed, feeling a little less stressed now that it seemed that Fenrick hadn't come to any lasting damage.
"Please excuse my driving abilities...I'm not exactly known for being a master behind the wheel, and books can only teach you so much."
She grinned apologetically at him.
"I think that it'd be a much wiser idea for you to drive."

[Freezair]

"I'm OK!" he tried to say reassuringly. He rubbed out his neck, and patted the air in front of Nyx to try and reassure her. "I'm... OK. I don't feel spectacular, but I'll live." He chuckled weakly, looking up at the towering contraption.

"I don't know if I'm such a good driver either. Having been around machines doesn't necessarily... Well. I mean. I can try, but I make no promises." He shook out his arms one last time. "Alright. Here I go to tame the beast."

He clambered up the footsteps on the side of the machine, and sat himself in the blue plastic saddle. He looked down over the control panel with some trepidation. He found the off button and what looked like the steering wheel, but everything else was labeled with confusing and similar-sounding phrases he didn't recognize, and nothing resembled the "speed control" he was looking for.

He put his foot on the pedal. "You might wanna stand clear for this..."

[51]

[Flame]

Nyx still looked rather concerned, even after Fenrick's assurances that he was alright, but she at least seemed slightly mollified to see that he was well enough to shoo her off.
"This is rather starting to make me second-guess myself on whether using this machine was really a good idea...The store personel should really know better than to leave a monster like this sitting around. Imagine if some kids found it and decided to take it for a spin."
She eyed the vacuum apprehensively, imagining how easily the hulking machine could flatten a child.
"Here I go to tame the beast."
"Alright, honey. Just be back in time for dinner!"
Nyx laughed, watching as he clambered up to her former perch. He seemed just as overwhelmed as she had when she had first seen the control panel, and she sincerely hoped that he had a better idea of what he was doing than she had.
"That would probably be prudent,"
she replied, backing away a good 10 or 15 feet, a small distance away from the machine and the ring of flour.
"Good luck!"

[Freezair]

He turned a dial with trepidation. Strapping himself to the chair with the seatbelt, he put his foot to the pedal and closed his eyes, waiting to be slammed into the wall at the other side.

The machine made several grumbling noises, as if it didn't at all like this, and slowly began to creep along the floor, its cleaning brushes sweeping from side to side. It began to tuck into the flour, shoveling thick white clouds into its mouth.

"Hey! I think we got going!" He pumped his fist cheerfully. "Alright. This mess'll be cleaned up in no time. Now I just have to not press ANY more buttons, and I think we're good."

[52]

[Flame]

{Gah...post got murdered by the downtime last night. I had one all typed up, and now I have to do it over again ;-; They're never quite as good the second time around.}

Nyx watched worriedly as Fenrick twiddled with the dials on the machine. From her angle and distance, she couldn't really see what he was doing. The results had been less than "good" when she had tried using the machine, and for that reason, she worried for his safety as well, although she was quite certain that he probably knew how to handle the vacuum much better than she did.
Suddenly, the monster rumbled to life again from its short-lived period of dormancy, and Nyx jumped, startled, despite the fact that she had been expecting some kind of reaction from the machine. To her surprise though, it sounded much more disgruntled, but this time, in an exasperated sort of manner. Instead of shooting off towards the wall, it crept along at a snail's pace, gulping up copious amounts of the fluffy white flour. Indeed, Nyx was quite impressed by Fenrick's ability to rein in the machine's destructive "personality" and she applauded him, looking quite amused at his success.
"All hail Fenrick, the professional conventional-vacuum matador!"
She hooted and cheered, trying valiantly to impersonate a roaring crowd. Not quite the effect she wanted, but points for trying?
"Alright, the faster we get this mess cleaned up, the less likely we'll get in trouble with the clerks, and the quicker you can get off that behemoth,"
she laughed, watching the machine's progress as it steadily ate a clear path through the carpet of flour.

[Freezair]

"You betcha! Just lookit 'er go! Not so tough now, eh, pal?"

He tapped the dashboard condescendingly. "See now, pal? That wasn't so hard." He was so pleased with himself, he wasn't even concerned with whether or not he'd accidentally hit any extra buttons.

The enormous vacuum slurped up the last of the flower, coughing slightly at the thick white coating now covering its insides. It sputtered slightly, but continued to amble forward.

"Alroght, pal," Fenrick said. "Your work here is done. Thanks for helping, even if you did give us some problems. Hup!" Undoing his belt buckle, Fenrick easily leapt out of the tall machine, landing agily on the floor below. Being athletic had its advantages when you needed to get around. He struck a pose for Nyx, and even bowed dramatically.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! It wasn't easy--well, OK, it was easy. But in terms of getting it all done, well..." He turned around in mid-sentence to look up at the machine.

It was now several feet further behind him than it had originally been.

Fenrick's face dropped. "Ohcrud. It's still going."

[53]