the most beautiful bike in the....well it soon will be. {Davin}

[jasonwright]

Jason still can believe Iris bought him a bike, his very own bike. But she did and it needs a little more than some TLC. The handlebars are bent, the paint more than sad, the tires need replaced, as well as a bunch of interior problems. But she's beautiful and Jason feels incredibly lucky to have her.

So he's asked around with the other guys at the docks, striking up their regular conversations about the weather and the catch for the day. Everyone had the same recommendation. They all told him to go ONLY to Oceanside Auto and to ask for a guy named Davin. "He's amazing. He fixed my vet after I thought I totaled it." "He's fair too, willing to help out where he can."

That's really all it took and now Jason's spent the morning wheeling this sorry looking (but lovable) bike from the apartment to the auto place. When he gets there, he looks around, probably looking a bit like a lost puppy. He worked as a mechanic a few times in his life, but never long term. He knows his way around an engine, but he doesn't have the right tools or know how for this job.

"Uh...excuse me?" He approaches a mechanic who is bent under the hood of a car. "I'm looking for Davin."

Comments

[davin]

"Well now you're just blowin' smoke." He winks and smiles around the rim of his glass before taking another sip. "Nah, I think we'll get along just fine, you an' me. And it'll be nice to have a friend in the shop."

Davin loves what he does, and he's proud of what he's accomplished, but he's starting to dread going to work. He doesn't like the isolation, or the disdain. Davin craves approval and he wants to be a good person, someone easy to like, so when people so openly dislike him, it really gets him down.

[jasonwright]

"I'm looking forward to it. I haven't worked under a hood in years and I'm itching to get back." He's mostly looking forward to a change of scenery. While Jason loves being out on the water and working the boats, the guys aren't the friendliest and he keeps mostly to himself. Working at the shop with Davin sounds like it'll be a nice change of pace.

Part of their food arrives and Jason digs into his fries first thing. "And hell, if that means we get lunches like this a little more often, it'll be awesome."

[davin]

Davin grins brightly and reaches over to snag one of his nachos, as promised. "You can count on it."

They tuck into their food in comfortable silence and then Davin looks up when he's no longer ravenous, sucking mustard from his thumb and reaching for his beer. "So, speaking of business, we should try to get a schedule nailed down for ya. It doesn't have to be anythin' too exact, but it'd be nice to have a window to schedule things in. When can ya work?"

[jasonwright]

It's easy for Jason to get sucked into the silence of meal time and he's almost startled when Davin speaks again. It's also easy for him to forget anything around him that isn't food. By now he's finished off his fries, the burger, and most of the nachos and he nods, looking back up at Davin.

"I work the boats Monday through Thursday, but I'm free by one. Fridays I help out at the community garden and do some odd construction jobs here and there. I'm free on weekends if you ever need extra help there, too."

[davin]

Davin wants to be amused by how into his food Jason is, but really it makes him feel a pang deep in his chest. For all Davin has been through, he's never had to worry about where his next meal was coming from. If Davin has anything to say about it, Jason never will again.

He takes a long drink and wipes his fingers on a napkin while he thinks, finally nodding to himself and looking up at him. "How about, just to start, Tuesdays and Thursdays from two to six, and Saturdays from twelve to four? We can do that for a week or two and see if you like it, if you need more or less hours, whatever. Sound good?"