The smell of hot iron and combustion permeated the workshop garage. Manti had come to love the smell over years of devoting himself to bike work. To him the smell was much stronger due to his mutations, so even the cooled cylinders of the exhaust pipes gave off the sweet perfume. Several bikes were parked around the garage, the ones Manti had finished working were lined up in a row, clean, polished and ready for pickup. Manti currently was working on one, changing out bent up rim on one of the wheels. The owner had hit a curb, causing some body damage he was currently repairing.



Business had been good, Manti's presence tended to attract mutant customers, as well as curious wondering eyes. He enjoyed the attention, sometimes giving riding demonstrations with his own bike out front where he would use his strength and agility to pull off stunts that a normal person would find impossible, which in turn attracted more business. Manti was one of the few who loved every aspect of his job.

The smell of hot iron and exhaust hit Maggie like a wave in the face the moment she walked into the garage.

Just yesterday when she’d been walking down the street, she’d seen a rather large mutant with red fur performing stunts on a motorbike out in front of this workshop. Based on the audience’s reactions, some of the stunts the mutant had been doing were practically impossible. Maggie’s interest was piqued. She’d had somewhere to be and couldn’t afford to stay and watch, but she’d promised herself to return whenever she could.

Today, there were no such riding demonstrations going on out front. Maggie found the red-furred mutant inside the shop, putting repairs to one of the many bikes lined up along the walls.

“Hey,” she said simply. She looked curiously around the garage, taking everything in.

Manti heard the newcomer as he picked a new rim off the shelf, "Hey," he called back as he walked back to the bike. "Don't mind me, just working," he said placing it down by the bike and taking a wrench to the bolts on the bent one, "What can I do for ya?" He couldn't smell any of the familiar scents off her that accompanied seasoned riders, so his first impression was she was just here to browse. Of course she could have had a really long bath and it would have washed the scent, but most riders would soon pick up the scent again the next time they rode.

She was young, a bit cute, but Manti had encountered his share of cute women to where it wasn't striking. In fact he somehow seemed to attract women somehow, despite his fearsome appearance, though admittedly a lot of them had turned out to be mutants. Not that there was anything wrong with how he looked, he looked awesome. He wondered if she was just looking for a gift for a friend, or if she was looking for her own.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m just looking around.” Maggie took it all in, the variety of polished bikes parked all around the garage as well as the one Manticore was working on. “I don’t ride,” she added, just in case he hadn’t picked up on it already.

Perhaps she would have, in a different universe. Perhaps in a different universe she would have had the time and the money to invest in something like this, and perhaps she would have had her own Harley-Davidson or Yamaha or Kawasaki. That was nothing but useless speculation, though. As much as that kind of thinking gave Maggie a thrill, the reality was that she couldn’t afford a single one of those things even if she had wanted to.

Just this one afternoon, though, she’d let herself dream.

“I saw you riding yesterday afternoon.” She addressed the red-furred mutant with a smile and the barest hint of a Canadian accent. “I mean, not that I’m an expert or anything, but that was pretty impressive.”

"Yeah, I get that," said Manti proudly as he took the wheel off and slid the new one in place, "Would go professional if I could, but you know, mutant and all. Too good to be fair to everyone else." he gave a wink as he began tightening the bolts on the wheel. Manti was more then confident enough to believe he would be one of the best riders out there, and even though he couldn't actually pursue such a goal, he still knew he was awesome regardless.

When he finished securing the wheel, he easily picked up the bike and carried it over to the line of finished ones. He picked up a rag and wiped away the grease from his paws as he turned his attention to the potential customer. "So completely new to bikes then? If you have any questions just let me know, I know a few good beginners tips." He didn't press, biking was a serious thing to him, and he nothing would kill a persons passion for it more then someone trying to push them into something. If the girl had interest, he had plenty to tell her and suggestions that would get her the best bike for her size and build. However, he wasn't going to force it on her if she wasn't.