Everleigh Michaels (fastmachine) wrote in summerview, @ 2018-12-31 22:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | daniel correlli, everleigh michaels |
12.17.2018 (backdated)
characters. Everleigh Michaels & Daniel Correlli
time. Late Afternoon | location. A Gear Loose
rating. Low | status.Complete
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There were not many days in which Everleigh Michaels was anything less than cheerful. Today, however, it seemed that there was something that was deeply bothering the blonde. The holiday season was difficult for the young witch after losing both of her parents and the fact that her brother was too busy with whatever he was doing after leaving Summerview. For some reason, this year seemed to be hitting her a little harder than usual. She was currently sitting in the chair behind the desk at A Gear Loose, spinning around in idle circles. It was a slow day, and she’d taken care of basically everything on the more administrative side for the day, and was contemplating if she wanted to ask Daniel if she could go out back to dive into Gidget a little bit more. Then again, that was painful, too. Letting out a dramatic sigh, she spun herself around in an opposite circle, staring up at the ceiling. It was Christmas. This was a time that was supposed to be about joy, and kindness. She didn’t want to be such a grump, and she could usually pull herself out of these kinds of funks, but right now that was proving more than a little difficult. Daniel ran A Gear Loose with an iron fist. Okay, no he didn’t, but he did put a restriction on the amount of Christmas music played while they were working to save everyone’s sanity. The closer they got to Christmas though, the more Everleigh seemed to have problems. “Here,” he said, handing her a black sharpie and taking a seat in the chair on the other side of the desk. He had a car partially disassembled in the first bay so he could get under the dash, but a short break wouldn’t hurt anything and they were waiting on a part that wouldn’t arrive until later that day at the earliest. That little rule had definitely saved Ever’s sanity on more than one occasion. There were only so many variations of “Santa Baby” that she could listen to before she finally snapped. Even before everything had fallen apart, Everleigh had never been one for an overabundance of Christmas music. Kicking out her foot, she stopped the chair’s spinning as her boss came and sat down across from her. An eyebrow raised, she took the marker from him. “Wow, how did you know this is what I’ve always wanted for Christmas?” Okay. Sarcasm wasn’t normally her default attitude - she knew it, and she knew that Daniel knew it. She idly played with the pen in her hands. “Sorry. The holidays don’t seem to … agree with me much anymore, it would seem.” “It’s not a gift,” Daniel rolled his eyes, “it’s just a random office marker. I didn’t even wrap it! It’s so you can draw your emo-drawings on your arms. That’s what girls do these days when they’re having ennui, right?” Sometimes, he was totally hip to the jive and sometimes, he was completely clueless. “I’m not sure how the drawing on yourself makes you feel better, but it apparently does, so.....do it.” He could be such a shit. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she threw the pen (gently) back at him. “Emo arm drawings aren’t my thing. Besides, my art is shit.” Drawing and the like was not Ever’s strong suit. Her talents were purely mechanical. “Danny’s not coming home again this year.” She’d only seen her brother a handful of times since their mother died. That made the holidays hard. She had Cece, which helped, but she didn’t have the most important person in her life. Taking her arm firmly and the pen, Daniel uncapped it, then began drawing on her arm for her. “What’s he doing instead?” he asked, sketching an outline of her car onto her forearm. She loved her car. Drawing was not one of his strong points, but he had had enough practice in his life drawing diagrams and whatnot for cars that he could manage a decent rough sketch. He was not an artist though, not by far. Well, okay then. Ever rolled the chair a little closer to the desk, so that he had better access to her arm to complete his masterpiece. “I haven’t the slightest,” she said with a light shrug of the opposite shoulder. “I haven’t heard from him in weeks, save for the text I got that just said ‘won’t be home for xmas’. He couldn’t even be bothered with an explanation.” She missed her brother. Even though they’d never really been that close, he was the last bit of family that Ever had. Her eyes watched as he worked on her arm, her curiosity getting the better of her. “You know, I’ve been wanting another tattoo, but I didn’t think this was gonna be how I got it.” Adjusting his grip, Daniel shrugged slightly, “You call or anything?” Sure, communication was a two way street, but who knew what was going on? He was from a time when communication wasn’t as instantaneous and was even sometimes marred by illiteracy. “I get communication goes both ways, but this is important to you.” Nodding, she bent down to rest her head against the desk. “I've called. He doesn't answer. He does this sometimes - he goes quiet for a while. Ignores calls. Doesn’t answer texts. He’ll wander back to society in a few weeks. He always does.” Still, he’d never been one to disappear around the holidays. “....Do we need to send a search party?” He would. He had the resources to find nearly anyone if he needed to. Just as it was incredibly difficult to find him for his ‘services’ outside of being a mechanic, he had the ability to find almost anyone he needed as well. It took time and money of course, but it was doable. “Find him, bring him back?” “I don’t think so - at least, not yet.” It wasn’t entirely out of the question, though, if he were MIA much longer. She was pretty sure that this was the longest she’d gone without hearing from him, which may have been a pretty large factor as to why she was so worried. “He’s spent his whole life here. I know he felt like he had to stay because of me and mom. I don’t blame him for getting out as soon as he felt like he could.” “There’s a difference between moving away from somewhere and losing all contact,” Daniel pointed out, drawing a road for the car down part of her forearm. “We’re in the communication age. Twitter, text message, facebook, blogs, social media, instant message....there’s 10,000 ways to get ahold of someone if they want. You don’t have to wait months for a letter, then take it somewhere so someone can read it to you.” He paused, adjusting the road so it turned into a tree growing towards her wrist, “You say the word, I’ll find him. I won’t bring him here, I’m not a kidnapper, but you’ll know where he is. You can go get him a smartphone or whatever.” He was old, old enough that he had lost contact with people through distance, through war, through illiteracy. There was no excuse now. She couldn't disagree. There were a thousand ways for her brother to let her know he was okay, but he didn't. He'd never been one for social media, so he didn't have Facebook, or Instagram (she thought he was crazy, but Danny had always been a pretty private person). “I really appreciate that. I just - I worry, you know? When he does this shit, I never know if its because he's off clearing his head or if he's dead in a ditch.” Shaking her head, she let her mind wander to the design that was coming to life on her arm. It was making her want to get another tattoo. To be fair, Daniel didn’t have those things either. Maybe it was a Daniel thing? His reasoning was simply that he didn’t want to waste the time on Facebook and there was no one who needed to find him this way who did not have another way to contact him already. Secondly, he wasn’t sure of the point of Instagram beyond taking selfies or pictures of his food, neither of which he felt a need to do. He was old, he didn’t get it, he wasn’t concerned about it. Let the kids have their fun. “I understand,” he murmured, capping the pen and surveying his drawing. Looked good enough to him. “I was 12 when I was sent to seminary. I never returned home...was ordained and followed where the church sent me. My parents could only ready a few words, do simple sums...I wrote letters, but I don’t know that anyone could read them in the area or write back. I never got a return letter....it was different back then though. They knew when I was sent away that I most likely wouldn’t return, but 12 was considered almost an adult back then, too. Not like today where 12 is still very much a child and everyone can read. I think...I think it’s better now in a lot of ways, but people can still be dipshits.” It wasn't often she heard stories of Daniel's past. Tilting her head, she listened intently, taking in each and every word. She liked learning new things about the people around her. Twelve seemed like such a young age to her, but then again, it was a much different time, wasn't it? Now, a 12 year old was too busy playing Fortnite and whining that their parents didn't buy them the newest iPhone. They didn't need to start working. Ever laughed, nodding. “You're not wrong. People … people can be idiots.” Pulling her arm back, she took a long look at the drawing he'd done. It brought a little smile to her face. “Thank you, for this.” She gestured to her arm. “Far better than anything I could've done.” Patting her shoulder, Daniel stood, “Then get something to drink and get back to work,” he smiled at her, “And I will expect to see you at my house for Christmas.” |