"Do you drive?"
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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : FRIDAY
"We want that weekend!
It's Friday then, it's Saturday, Sunday what?"
Hands traced across the keyboard, typing at an unnaturally fast speed, and a light 'ding!' when the sentence was sent. While a lot of people took a little while to respond to messages or text, Mira was responding in a matter of seconds (though often small and direct responses). Those who knew her appreciated it as it was much easier to get the information they wanted.
Some people always tried to find hidden meanings that weren't there.
It took Mira along time to realise it was natural for some people to see meanings that she didn't intend to put out as everyone was always so on edge with potential drama and judgement. Mira always said what she meant, even if that came off as rude to other people — it wasn't something she could change, it was engraved into her mainframe.
Mira couldn't help but stare at the notification that Lando Norris, someone she only saw on tv, was about to do a stream with her. Mira was glad that she was at least in her own territory. Her hands shook slightly as she tried to think of what she was supposed to say to him.
"Hey! Mira, right?" Lando grinned.
"Yeah, Hi," Mira smiled lightly. "I would just like to apologise in advance if you just end up seeing my cat...he likes the computer screen."
"You have cat?" Lando grinned. "What his name?"
"His name is Loki," Mira replied, picking the cat up from the floor. "Loki, say hi."
At just the right moment, the black cat meowed softly before claiming to sit on his owner's shoulder, something he liked to do quite a lot. Loki had good balance and managed to stay on her shoulder when she was racing too. That seemed to make the comments explode with 'OMG' amongst other things.
"He's so cool," Lando replied.
"I wish my brother would agree with you," Mira said lightheartedly. "He's a dog trainer so he was a little disappointed when I got a cat."
"I mean, I do love dogs!" Lando agreed. "But that cat is damn cute. And Loki as a name? Wicked."
"Yeah, I'm super into Marvel!" Mira exclaimed. "I'm going to stop before I rant about it because Marvel talk is for tuesdays."
"Ah, don't spoil your streak then," Lando laughed. "Okay, let's talk some real chat and get into the game?"
"Sounds good," Mira breathed carefully.
She tried to remember that Lando was just like every human being on this planet but the back of her mind knew that it wasn't the case. She had to be careful what she said because one wrong move would divide the internet and fan base they both had. She couldn't afford that.
"Have you ever been to a race?" Lando questioned.
"No, I haven't ironically," Mira replied,"I've been offered to go a few times and hand around McLaren Hospitality but in all honestly, I'm not quite sure I would survive the paddock."
Lando couldn't help but show his curiosity as Mira focused on her overtake in-game.
"What do you mean, by surviving the paddock?"
"I'm oversensitive to noise and the paddock doesn't exactly fit that description of quiet," Mira admittedly loosely. "There are things I can do to help but then I have to find the time and my brother's work so...it's never really been possible. I've never missed watching a race though, which I consider myself quite proud of."
"Ah, I get it," Lando nodded. "Hang on, how did you get up to 3nd so fast from 7th?"
"Skill?" Mira grinned. "I mean, come on, it's lap 4, get movin'."
"Harsh," Lando replied sarcastically. "Okay, I hear you."
Mira and Lando had different ways of gaming. Mira liked to fully focus on the game and then talk once there was a break or she had finished playing. Lando liked to get distracted aND read the comments while multitasking unless he was truly determined to win.
"Everyone is saying I should invite you to a steam with Alex, George and Charles," Lando commented in amusement. "I mean, you got the skill."
"I'm not sure I'll fit in with you lot," Mira shook her head with a small smile. "I'm rather strange, I'm afraid."
"If you think you're strange, you'll fit right in with the rest of us," Lando replied honestly.
Mira wasn't completely sure if streaming with Formula 1 drivers was a good idea. She wasn't one of them and she didn't want to be. She wasn't like them in any way.
"You totally should though!" Lando insisted. "I bet Robyn will be there too, considering she lives with George."
"Robyn?"
"She's a W series champion, she's super nice," Lando replied enthusiastically. "I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with an F2 seat next year, in all honesty."
While she didn't know much about W series, Mira did know that it was all-female racing. The most frustrating thing for Mira is that people think that women don't move up in the sport because they're just not as good as men. It wasn't all true as a lot were bullied out of the sport and those that stayed constantly struggled with getting sponsorship and people taking a chance on them because of the stigma.
"So, how did you end up with McLaren Shadow?" Lando asked in curiosity as they got to the last lap of the race.
"I've been sim racing since I was sixteen so a lot of it is just natural now, I couldn't help myself when the opportunity came up," Mira explained. "I thought that there would be more girls, you know? But then I showed up and it was just me."
Mira tried to add a little bit of amusement to her tone but failed. At the same, it had terrified her to realise she was...to what she saw...alone.
"It just means you're awesome," Lando smiled sheepishly,"Do you drive?"
"Yeah," Mira replied,"Yeah, I passed my test at eighteen. I'm driving a McLaren but I suppose that's predictable. I should have said I drove something like a Fiat 500...I missed that opportunity."
Lando let out a hearty laugh with a nod.
"I cannot imagine you in a Fiat 500," Lando replied. "I also can't picture you in a sports car though, how long have you had it?"
"Like a year," Mira answered. "I didn't really do much driving other than going to headquarters, everything is within walking distance and my brothers prefer to visit me here."
"That's crazy," Lando replied with a hum. "And look at that, you've won."
Mira watched with an amused smile on her face as the game showed her podium position with Lando in second.
"Did you do karting? Or think about going into the actual sport?" Lando questioned.
"Didn't have the option to," Mira answered. "Couldn't afford to, my brothers raised me so we didn't actually have the type of funds and they didn't have the time."
Mira and Lando ended up spending the majority of the hour-and-a-half stream talking about everything from what they were doing to cope with the lockdown to what they were planning on doing next year. They did what McLaren wanted, which was interacting with fans (which Mira already did) and by the end, Mira had completely run out of her social battery for the day.
"It was nice meeting you Mira!" Lando spoke kindly. "We should stream again together, maybe with the others."
"Yeah, yeah sure," Mira replied quickly. "Uh, nice meeting you too."
She still couldn't help but curse herself for her awkward nature.