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 Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:43 am
His head jerked sideways, Fritz's eyes widening in surprise. He hadn't even known she had looked at the silly sketch he'd done, and yet - and yet she had either kept it or looked at it or something, because she was bringing it up now.
"Yes, you do," said Fritz, with a slight smile that bordered on resigned. "You're a beautiful girl, Regan, that's not an exaggeration."
He let out a small laugh and shook his head as he glanced down at the car she was working on. "I draw what I see, that's it," he said, though the tremor in his hands made it difficult now. He tried not to think too hard on it, on the way that the pen had jerked in his hand the last time he had tried, leaving jagged lines instead of smooth ones.
Fritz swallowed hard and tapped a finger idly against the side of a car, focusing instead on what Regan was saying.
"Isn't that dangerous?" he asked, brows rising. "What happens if it breaks down altogether?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:50 am
He jerk didn't go unnoticed and her head whipped up giving him the looked of 'don't you dare ask me if I spent hours trying to stare at it and understand it and stuff.' She wouldn't admit that sort of thing, and it wasn't like she really spent HOURS looking at it because that was weird.
"Oh I remember." She gave him a blank stare. "You're a pervert who reads the romance novels with their wild sex and stuff." She snorted.
"They'd've been s**t out of luck." She offered. "People don't realize cars need to be taken care of. Its taken for granted, then they get upset when they bring them in and we tell them everything that is wrong. Luckily, they were smarter then half of the people. Brought it in early."
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:14 pm
Fritz caught the startled look on Regan's face, which was chased rapidly by one of clear impasse. He felt his stomach twist and he offered her a somewhat meek smile, followed by a choking, incredulous laugh that was half a snort.
"Not all of it is wild sex," said Fritz delicately. "And I'm not a pervert. There's nothing wrong with wanting to read things that have happy endings."
His fingers slid along the side of the hood, a slight tremble making them tap restlessly against the metal. Fritz lowered his hand hastily and pushed it into his pocket, casting a sideways glance at Regan, brows drawing together.
"So," he said carefully, "It's...kind of like people, isn't it?" Another faint smile touched his lips. "Figuring out what's wrong and learning how to fix it before it gets too bad."
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:27 pm
Her gaze went up to his tapping fingers, and then the shove into his pockets. She wanted to ask him....but....
Out of the whole conversation, Regan focused on one part and it made her sigh.
"I don't need to be fixed." She looked up at him. "I don't need happy endings." She took off the gloves and rested them on the top of the hood.
"It's not bad." She stepped back, building the walls around her again and trying to remember that this was her safe place. Her haven.
"Bring your brother's bike around." She tilted her head. "When you can. I've got other cars to work on now." She was totally dismissing him.
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 1:46 pm
He shifted his feet, and they were back to the same thing that he had originally tried telling her, back in the bookshop. "I never said it was you that needed the fixing," said Fritz, with a sad sort of smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "And everyone needs a happy ending."
How could she possibly not see that? He felt a surge of unpleasantness twist in his stomach, felt the way that Regan was closing herself off once more. His little window, his small glimpse into her beneath the stiff facade was fading fast back into the walls once more.
"Regan," said Fritz, a tremor racing through him, and once again he couldn't quite determine why he was making such an effort with someone who clearly did not care. A part of him was desperate to just make someone, anyone understand that life could not always turn out badly - or maybe it was just a desperate attempt at trying to convince himself.
"Can I come back?" he asked, which hadn't been what he'd intended, the tremor in his hands growing. "I mean - without the bike, just to...say hi."
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 2:02 pm
"If not me, then why say it all?" She tilted her head. "Happy endings, Those are things for books." She held up her hand, "But we both know where we stand on this."
His attempts would fall on now closed and deaf ears. She wasn't going to change the way she thought because Fritz said so. Because he believed it. Or maybe he didn't and he wanted too. She didn't know. She had to remember that she just didn't care.
Hopeless pipeline dreams were something she could not allow herself to have.
His question made her want to say an immediate no.
"I won't stop you." She said carefully, Won't =/= Can't. "I work the nights." She hesitated. "So you have to come by then. But if you bother me while I am working, you'll have to leave."
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 2:15 pm
"Because - " The frustration clogged his throat, made it difficult to speak. "I just want you to see that it's not - it's not all bad - "
But there were the walls. There was the hand that came up to block any attempts at listening, and Fritz fell silent, feeling a wave of panic rising in his throat. He swallowed it back, felt the pain of it in his chest, and wondered how long he could keep doing this.
How long he could keep trying to convince himself that life would eventually get better.
At least she wasn't kicking him out - well, she was, but she wasn't entirely closing herself off. Fritz gave a little nod, and his eyes strayed momentarily to her cheek where the bruise had been the last time he'd seen her, then to her hand where she'd cut herself.
"Okay," he said, and forced a smile, a tiny bit of relief in his eyes, though the desperation was still there, hidden away inside of himself. "I'll come by again. Don't worry, I won't get in the way, I just want to...make sure that, you know, everything is good."
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 3:23 pm
"Then I'll see you again." She didn't doubt that he'd be back around. After all, he was, what did he say...persistent.
"Bring your books. I don't usually talk much." She coughed, "I mean, if you plan to stay around long or something."
OKAY WELL THAT WAS DONE AND SHE WAVED HIM AWAY.
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