Abigail Theien (resistance_) wrote in the_colony, @ 2011-03-11 00:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 34, abigail theien, nathan theien, | abby and nate |
Week 34: Wednesday afternoon
Characters: Nate and Abby
Location: The garage
Summery: Brother Sister Chat
Rating: G
This was his kind of perfect day. Up to his elbows in engine, Abby sitting happily nearby, rain falling on the garage roof. It was even better because the task was simple; taking a dead car apart was always easier than fixing it. Mike could probably use what they salvaged, or maybe the traders would give something for them, but it didn’t much matter to Nate. He got to do the fun part.
With another turn of the wrench, near-solidified oil bubbled up over the intake valve, running down Nate’s fingers. “Better get a towel ready there. This one’s gunky,” he said, shooting a smile at his sister.
“They’re all gunky,” she replied dryly, but with a pleasantly tipping smile. Abby huffed a little when she pushed to stand, then leaned against the bumper, oil rag extended. “Thing’s probably been sitting here for ten years.”
“Twenty, I bet.” Giving the valve a slight shake to get the worst of it off, he handed it to her. “Could be worse, though. You could be the one with Creature from the Black Lagoon hands,” he said, waggling his blackened fingers at her. Abigail started cleaning the part, but gave her brother a snort of not-so-subtle derision.
“Sure, an’you can birth the next pregnant heifer.”
“Hell no,” he laughed, diving back into the engine. “It looks like just helping the thing pass a big shit.”
“S’one way of putting it, I guess,” Abby couldn’t help but chuckle. She pushed off the bumper and headed for the work bench, where the rest of the semi-cleaned recycled parts sat in neat, categorized rows.
Glancing up at her, Nate said, “You seem to like helpin’ the cows, though. And you sure do a better job of it than I coulda done.” She smiled up at him, thankful for the compliment, then looked back at the plug she was cleaning.
“Jus’takes practice an’a strong stomach. You want, I could teach ya.” Her smile turned into a grin. “You’d be a regular cowboy by Fall.”
That got a laugh. “Yeah, think we got enough of those around here. I’ll leave the cowboying to you. I’ll handle the metal fiddly bits and witty banter.”
“Fair’nuff.” Abby set the part down in it’s place and sauntered back toward the bumper. She watched the rain through the large open door; it’s iron-y smell mixed with the tang of old oil. Her mind wandered over things that kept her brain busy at night, over the conversation she had with Greg the other day. Oddly enough, it seemed the weather triggered the quiet musing, and the seemingly out-of-the-blue question that followed. “You happy here?”
He raised an eyebrow, pausing in his work. “Yeah, I suppose pretty happy,” he said, trying to sound noncommittal. “You?”
She ignored the follow-up question. “I mean, you don’wanna keep movin’ once the weather gets better, right?”
He shrugged, itching his nose against his shoulder. “I like it here, sure, but if we’re stayin’ or goin’ is up to you and Greg.”
Abby rolled her lips inward, pressing them into a straight line; she let a breath go through her nose. “I think I had enough bouncin’around ta last a lifetime.”
Nate’s face broke out in a wide grin. “Okay then, guess we’re sticking around.” Guess this is home. The thought only strengthened his smile.
She caught the sudden warmth in her brother’s expression in the corner of her eye--like looking at the freakin’ sun, she thought, laughing a little to herself, and feeling loads better for some reason. “Guess so.”