Welcome to Gaia! ::

Colin sighed and checked over his post one last time before he released it onto the world wide web. He hoped that some kindly soul would take him up on his offer and get back to him pretty quickly: he hadn't lied when he'd said that it was his main mode of transport (of course, he could always walk or jog...but sometimes he just wanted to out on his bike!) Either way, the post was out there and all he could do now was wait and hope that he'd get a 'nibble' before two weeks was up - and that said nibble would be able to fix his bike for less than the $100.00 Glenn's Cycle Shop wanted to charge him on top of any parts needed.

When his cell phone lit-up and began vibrating with the arrival of a text message, Colin tripped and nearly fell on his face. He'd been practicing one of his dance routines and the buzzing-thrumming sound broke his concentration and sent him stumbling; he didn't crash though, he had the grace of a dancer and was able to save himself from falling like an ungraceful lout.

"s**t...way to go, grace." The blond muttered under his breath as he picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from his face and neck and his phone. "Oh, awesome!" There was an answer to his Craig's List ad! He texted the person back with his name and location - Hillworth Grammar School, yadda yadda - and a short note of thanks in a second text (since his address took up the length limit).



The blond checked the time and figured that he had time for a quick shower before he had to return to the school to meet the Craig's List Bike Repair Guy - as he was calling Sorrin in his head.

The second message that came across wouldn't get any attention from the curly-haired student until Sorrin was nearly at Hillworth. But he did respond, just a quick "Cool. C U then." as he threw on jeans and a t-shirt. There were a few things he wanted to get cleaned up and ready before Sorrin got there - plus, he had to drag the broken bike out to the commons so that it could be worked on - it had been chained to the bike rack until that point.

When Sorrin arrived, Colin would be waiting for him, curly hair dark but drying as he sat out, messing with his cell phone.

Colin watched a youth with two-toned hair approaching on a bike, laden with bags, and thought to himself "I wonder if that's the guy from Craig's List. A cadet blue Sovereign Heights hoodie identified a student - that did turn out to be the Bike Doctor: he stopped in front of Colin and said hello.

"Yep, Colin Hargrove. Thanks for coming by so quick - not being able to bike around has been such a pain in the a**." He grinned a little bit and laughed at Sorrin's obvious distress in regard to the current condition of his ride. "I know, it's bad..she's been back at home with mom, in storage until recently. She left the poor thing out in the rain, you shoulda seen the bike before I started cleaning her."

Colin gave the other boy an apologetic grin. "What do you think...can you help her?"

"Oh, speaking of...now that you've seen her, what do you think it'll cost. I mean, we should probably figure that out before you get working on it. I'd hate for you to get working and me not be able to compensate..." Colin rubbed at the back of his head, curly hair still damp.

He appreciated the 'Trek joke Sorrin made and thought about responding in Klingon, but then kept his mouth shut. Lots of people knew one or three lines from the show, but very few knew as much as he did. He was a major Trekkie...but kept that on the down low because he didn't want people to jerk his leg about it all the time.

"Parts, of course...and then labor, of course." He wasn't a cheap b*****d, he just...was a high school student on a budget that really needed help getting his bike back into operational order.

"Fifty's totally fair man, that's totally cool with me." He grinned and crouched down next to Sorrin; he was quite interested in what was going on with his bike - so he wasn't precisely mechanically inclined, it was still damned interesting!

"Sure." Colin got up and went back to the bag that was indicated; he picked up the towel and brought it back to Sorrin. "Not at all - as long as you don't mind my watching you. I find it fascinating."

"Awesome" Beyond the non-working part(s) of the bike, it would be obvious that at one point the damned bike had been well cared for (there wasn't a huge amount of rust on it or anything, and Sorrin would probably be able to touch some grease left over from the last time Colin had 'serviced it'.

They settled in amiably and when Sorrin required oil or something, Colin was prepped and ready to get it. Some of the items were unfamiliar to him (Colin wasn't mechanically inclined at all, really) but he would catch on quick and even offer to help work on it.

"Yeah? I'm totally lost when it comes to cars or bikes, so I admire that you can actually do something like this. Seeing how you're working on my bike, I can only imagine what it must be like to work on a car." He shook his head slowly, then tilted it to the side thoughtfully, "Do you at least get paid well for working on cars and stuff?"

Colin's bike made a slow, steady clacking sound as Sorrin worked the pedal; moving the gear and chain carefully to make sure it was settled and working properly. Green eyes followed his hands as the curly-haired blond tried to absorb some of what was being done to his bike. Slack in the chain was needed, but it was a very careful balance or the gears wouldn't turn and the bike wouldn't move forward properly.

"Heh, I actually know a little about that show...my sister, Miriam, loves it. She moons after the younger brother or something like that." So he kind of knew visually what a 67 Chevy Impala looked like instead of his usual complete and utter lack of familiarity with vehicular transports. "I guess doing odd jobs and tinkering really helps pay for those parts. I know engine parts can't be cheap."