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 Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:27 pm
Whenever Chase had mechanical issues with his bike, he always took it to the same shop after hours. It'd become his favorite place to take his vehicles because they only asked questions about Hermes, or the Camaro, and not about what he'd been up to that gave him the odd mechanical troubles he experienced here and there.
Plus, they always let him come in after hours instead of making him deal with the day crew or the other customers that filtered in and out of the shop. He preferred it that way, because the less people he had to deal the better.
His nightmares had lessened over the last few months, but he was still volatile and would prefer to keep it from bleeding into his civilian life. He no longer worked for his father's company, but still ran a coffeeshop that took all of his let's-not-kill-people energy to run.
He pushed open the rear entrance door, as the owner had specified to him when he'd first started coming and called out hesitantly. "Chase? It's Alex, Hermes' having some issues, I wanted to get your opinion?" He'd opted to use his middle name when he'd learned that the head mechanic was also named Chase and had hoped to prevent confusion for what workers would be around.
"Hello?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:52 pm
Chase was so shoulder deep in new years paperwork that he couldn't see past the small reading glasses he wore and the amount of numbers that they were suppose to have. Added to that, the office was in the front of the small shop he called his own, and separated by thick concrete walls.
Instead, Alex would be greeted with the usual night mechanic, pale hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Regan wore a size to large uniform with a size to large gloves, currently in the middle of a small pet project of Chases.
"He's in the office." She got up, wiping some oil off her uniform. "Hermes is the bike." She nodded. "I'm Regan, Chase's night mechanic. I've seen your bike in here a couple of times, Chase really likes you." She paused, "What the problem?" Straightforward as always.
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:36 am
Chase wasn't expecting a small girl to answer him instead of the man he usually dealt with, but it was fine, he was adaptable. He would adjust.
"Yeah, I was--" he halted, deciding it wasn't important to share the details of his activities. "I think I ran him too hard," he said instead, shrugging his shoulders as his hands found their way into his pockets of his slacks. He always dressed too formal for someone who owned and raced a bullet bike.
"Chase is a good guy, we keep things simple. He does good work, I pay well." There were few things that Chase cared to splurge on and Hermes was one of them. "Are you the one that works on Hermes?"
He looked at her a little speculatively, with a hint of respect, due to her age. "It's nice to meet you Regan. I'm-- well Chase knows me as Alex, it's too confusing given we have the same name."
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:16 am
She could almost see the shift. She had prepared herself a long time ago for men who thought dainty girls like herself belonged somewhere...girly. Flower shops, or bakeries.
"It's been awhile since I saw him, so it's probably good you brought Hermes in for a check up." She blinked as the words didn't come, the question of asking for a man to take over, or the flat refusal of a woman touching the bike.
"He's a simple guy." There was a hint of...something in the very plain expression, but it was gone and she tilted her head. "Sometimes. I've done it the last couple of times, but Chase is usually there to watch me." A sense of pride rose, "Your bike is one of my babies." Raised her to treat them right, build them right, fix them right.
"Alex." She took her glove off, rolled up her sleeve where a freshly made burn mark the size of a cigar was dug into her forearm, and held a pale hand out to him. "I'll open up the garage for you, and you can pull Hermes in." She hesitated, "I'll get my tools ready and the space cleared out. You can watch if you want-" After her exprience with Fritz and with Chase, she had become accustomed to someone watching.
"You need anything to drink?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:10 pm
Chase didn't like to underestimate people, it often was a fatal mistake and as one who was constantly undermined and treated as lesser-- he wasn't going to do that to Regan just because she was young and female. If the shop owner trusted her enough to let her work on Hermes, then he was going to trust her too.
The chances of her ending up working on the bike anyway, despite how he could protest made expending the energy not worth it.
He shook her hand, eyes noting the burn mark but he didn't make a comment. It wasn't his place, he didn't know Regan. "Well, then you better treat him right. He's fussy when he's not loved correctly." A small attempt at a joke, the charismatic parts of him bubbling to the surface briefly before he pulled his hand away and it dropped back into the recessives of the person he once was.
"Yeah, no that'd be great. This stuff is fascinating and I should know Hermes' inner workings better." If it came to his motorcycle, there wasn't a thing he wasn't interested or invested in. "No, I'm good. I'll get Hermes."
He disappeared out the door he came to bring the bike in.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 9:27 am
"If you change your mind, Chase makes an okay coffee. Or we have beer for the other mechanics." She didn't like the stuff at all, which is why it was usually reserved for the working men of the daytime. Only one though, they didn't need something happening while someone was drunk on the job.
"He does have a bite to him." She actually smiled back, and while he left to retrieve the bike, she did open the door and then moved to her work station. A quick clean up got rid of any loose debris that might've come over, and she pulled her own personal tool set out, placing it off to the side.
She treasured her tools, she thought, just as much as she did the work. Her gaze shifted over with a cool precision as the bike came in and while she couldn't judge from one look, she could see a little of the problem. It'd be a good hour's worth of work and that didn't seem to bother her. She accidentally bumped her burn while pulling out some of her bigger tools and hissed, looking down at the red angry skin.
A wonderful gift from her father after she couldn't give him the money he wanted the night before. No doubt, she thought, he would come tonight to threaten her again. Her hands shook a bit and then steadied.
She had one focus. Hermes and taking care of one of Chase's best customers.
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:12 am
Chase took to leaning against one of the cars in the garage as Regan set to work on his bike. "Nah, I appreciate it though," he waved her offer away. He didn't need any stimulants and he kept clear of alcohol after the debacles when he was still a teenager. He preferred to keep his wits about him after all.
"I wouldn't expect anything else, considering his owner."
The young man had quite the bite himself, it was much worse than his bark.
He was observant, if nothing else, and he didn't miss the way she hissed when she aggravated the burn on her arm. The mark in itself didn't sit well with him, but it was worsened by the fact that she was working with an open wound around car grease and other chemicals.
"Y'know, it's better to keep a burn lathered up and covered. It's not like standard injuries that do better with exposure," he commented idly, hands running over his collarbones where his own burns were still healing from that fight. "I can wrap it, if you need. I've got some experience with first aid."
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Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 12:58 pm
"Yeah?" Regan laughed a bit, which was rare for the girl to do, "So the owner is just as snappy as the bike? Witty?" She had her tools laid out on the ground, with a fresh piece of tarp laid underneath to catch any fluids. She threw a rag over her shoulder.
She was surprised again by his comment of her burn, and then looked down.
"Oh yeah." Her smile disappeared and she stepped back. "It was burning bad under the wrap I had while I was working. I forgot to put it back on." Stupid stupid stupid. If Alex hadn't noticed, she would've worked the rest of the night with it. Chase would've come out and seen it, and knew.
It would've led to him calling his brother, her father. It would've left another beating, and usually they were much worse, after Chase called. He could only protect her so much.
"It's okay, I can do it." She added, unwillingly to tell Alex that she preferred that no one touch her. Even in kindness. Like Fritz had seen when he had been there, Regan moved with practiced mechanical ease. Lather, Gauze, wrap loosely for air, cover with sleeve, replace with gloves.
"Did you want any tune ups while I'm at it? I have some new spare parts for him but I could never quite catch you to ask if you wanted those?" She waited, "Just a general charge for the tune up, no need to pay for the parts."
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Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 2:17 pm
"Used to be, I think I used up all my wittiness," he cracked, the teasing of a smile tugging the corner of his lips upward. Chase was surprised that it was easy to seem normal in the girl's presence, but he liked it. It'd been too long since he had that.
"It probably got too dry." From his own experience if they weren't constantly moist they would hiss and ache and be all around miserable. He'd rather take a gash that needed stitches than a burn any time. "You should get some Vaseline gauze pads if you can, they work a lot better than smearing ointment over a bandage."
He fished in the pockets of his leather jacket until he found one of the silver packs. He offered it to her after she wrapped her arm. "For next time, if you want." He didn't make a comment concerning her desire to bandage herself, he wasn't good with people touch him either and it wasn't any of his business. "Go for it. You seem to know my bike better than I do, so I'm going to trust you okay, Regan?"
His brows arched as he waited for her answer. "I can pay for everything, parts and labor. It's not a problem." Money wasn't an issue for him and something told him she probably needed it more than she did.
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:19 pm
She gave him a look and then snorted very unladylike. "That's what they all say, and then they get sassy. You seem Sassy." She waved a wrench at him.
His concern over her burn reminded her of Fritz, and she didn't want to explain why this was so normal to her. That she'd be fine. That she didn't need help. Instead she took the pad from him and looked at it.
"Thanks." She nodded, "Don't get them often, usually more careful." Her mistake in not moving away fast enough. The pad was pocketed in her coveralls. "Thanks, No really don't worry about the parts." She waved her wrench again. "I had them sent for Hermes a long time ago. We want you to know you are getting the best of our work." She nodded, "I'll remember to put it down on the receipt." Any bit, she thought, would still help her with her small rent and food.
She almost made it to the bike, but her gaze caught something outside and she froze. He didn't usually come when people were around. Or even when Chase was here. He usually waited until she was alone. But there he stood, At the opened frame of the garage, smoking a large cigar just the right size of her burn with the same blue eyes she shared with him. Except unlikeher clear direct, his were glazed, half lidded. He smiled.
"Regan, my little angel." He purred as he came over and nodded to Alex, "Got my girl working late tonight, don't you?" His eyes flashed a hint of malice, but then there was a easy grin in its place. A facade for the public after all. He had come to retrieve what she owed him. Useless little b***h. "Regan, child, Will you be done soon?" He took a long drag of the cigar, watching her over the smoke that wafted up. It masked the small underlining of alcohol on his breath.
Regan's moment of reality that her father was here, made her head snap down. "No." she answered, not looking at either of the men. "Chase is here, you..." She gnawed at her lip. "need to leave."
Paul scoffed and took another drag. "Teenagers these days," He smiled again at Alex, "Never want to let their dads come see them at work."
She just wanted to start on the bike. Leave Leave Leave. She closed her eyes and then moved like a robot towards Alex's bike. Just leave, she was busy, there was a customer. Go away. Don't talk to him. Leave before Chase saw him.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:35 pm
"Then I guess I'm sassy," he assented, because really, he was when he was the person he was supposed to be when he was the general he usually was.
A smirk slid across his mouth as he watched Regan. "It's easy to slip up now and then, no matter how practiced you are." He'd fallen victim to that more than once or twice. It was worse when you got too comfortable, because then you got sloppy. "You know it's no trouble--" He stopped when her body language shifted and he caught sight of the person suddenly stressing her out. Immediately he stood straight, squared his shoulders as whiskey eyes took in the intruding man.
It was moments like this that he wished he could let chaos ripple through him, because while he was quite strong as an ordinary person it always helped to have that added strength of his general persona. Effectively Chase was posturing because it was instinctive, automatic and without thinking he stepped forward, subconsciously putting himself between Regan and her father.
"Well, these are her hours and I prefer her work on my vehicle," he said smooth and easy. His eyes drifted across the cigar between Regan's dad's fingers and he immediately thought back to the burn on her arm. "Perhaps you could come back at a later time." Everything about this situation made him think about his deceased father.
Then and there Alex decided that he didn't like Regan's dad.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 11:19 pm
Paul's eyes flashed again, as he took a long drag. Look at his little whore daughter, being protected by all the men around. If he wasn't careful, he'd have to deal with more then just a skinny brat of a man, and while he was sure he could beat the kid, he wasn't sure he could if Chase came down. After all, his lumberjack body wasn't what it was before, ******** growing old.
"It's just so hard with my work time, evenings are the only time I get to spend with my lovely little thing." Paul smiled again, and Regan knew it was a lie. The reason he came at night was because Chase wasn't here, and because her uncle didn't know.
Something she wanted to continue to have.
"I'll be done in thirty minutes." She didn't bother looking up from the bike, placing pieces carefully. "Hour at the most."
Paul took another drag, and decided that an hour wasn't too bad. But he'd make sure she would understand that next time, she would be shutting her garage doors easily, or she would find herself where she always did. Under his hand.
Sometimes he hated that he needed to raise his hand to her, but she deserved it. Stupid brat, who looked just like his ex wife, who ruined his life.
He needed another drink.
"I can come back in a hour then, Tell Ol'Chase I said hi, my little darling." He snickered, knowing she wouldn't tell his brother and then looked Alex up and down again. "Nice Bike," He dropped the finished cigar in one of the nearest garbage cans. "Hope this place is worth it."
Regan's hands shook until she heard the heavy footsteps disappear, and she continued to work in silence. For almost ten minutes she didn't say a word.
"I'll have everything in place in a hour." She finally said, as she tweaked and fixed various parts on the bike, and replacing with the newer ones she paid for. "Sorry for the....disturbance."
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 11:34 pm
Alex was certain that the older man wouldn't have stood a chance against him, if it came down to a brawl. Especially since he could smell the faintest hints of alcohol beneath the smell of smoke and cigars. He liked it when he was underestimated, because while he appeared thin and scrawny, Alex was lean and exceptionally muscled for his build.
Combat was his specialty and he had a lot more muscle that his clothing let on.
He kept his expression blank and stony as Paul looked him up and down, even though every part of him ached to wrap a hand around his throat and pin him to the way. He did neither, not wanting to cause a bigger scene. "It is." His response was sharp, biting even as the man left.
Alex didn't look at Regan until he was certain her father was out of sight and out of earshot.
"You don't have to rush. If you can't finish in the time frame he expects--" he paused, looking at her curiously. His expression was not one of concern or pity, but understanding. Demanding fathers was something they had in common. "I can get Hermes later and it's fine. It happens."
He recognized someone shutting down when he saw it. He used to do the exact same thing whenever Samuel would get verbally aggressive, especially when others were around. "I can do something about him, if you want." He didn't specify what, but felt that it was rather clear what he meant.
Normally, he didn't get involved in the lives of others but he saw too much of himself in Regan.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 11:10 am
With Paul gone, the tension she felt remained and Regan just didn't know how to unwind. he never came into the shop, always disgusted by what his brother succeeding in doing. And she too, flourishing under Chase's care. This was a place that made her father remember of his failures. It was the only place she felt safe.
It was meant to be the only place she could be Regan. She could feel the tears glistening at the idea that her sanctuary would be violated by the memory of smoke, alcohol and slime. she just wanted to wash it all away.
But Regan wasn't a crier, and because tears had never helped her, she rubbed what little ones started to appear.
"I can finish." She looked up, "I know Hermes better then I know my own apartment." She scoffed and went back to working, as if she hadn't just suffered a mental blow. She wouldn't let Alex see-
"It's fine. Don't worry about him." She placed a couple more pieces, not willing to take Alex up on his offer. Someday, Paul would get what was coming.
But she didn't actually believe that.
Because that's how (her) life was.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 1:26 pm
He fell silent when she insisted that she'd finish within the time frame. He knew quiet anxiety when he saw it and he knew that if Regan was as similiar to him as he thought, that it wouldn't matter what he said to her. She would brush him off.
He took a seat on the concrete floor, legs folded beneath him in a crisscross pattern with his elbows resting on his knees, and his lanky frame bent forward so he could watch with interest.
Minutes passed, he didn't know how many because his concept of time was poor. "If you change your mind. Let me know. I can make it very discrete, no one would know or miss him." Besides it wasn't like people didn't go missing in DC all the time.
Another pause, a long beat of silence before Alex said, "do you ride?"
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