silentlystrong (silentlystrong) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-05-27 20:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | 03-31-2017, justin, justin and mickey, mickey |
How Close?
Who: Justin and Mickey
When: Mid morning
Where: The diner
The morning had been pretty chaotic. The beautiful weather brought people in for breakfast, and Justin found himself out front, helping the staff with orders. After a couple hours, the crowd thinned out, Justin took a couple bags of trash out back to dump in the bin. When he returned, he was directed to the kitchen where the sink had apparently sprung a small leak. Justin examined it more closely, but it didn’t appear to be anything he could fix. And he had no idea if that kid in town, Mickey, knew any plumbing.
Justin sent him a text anyway to ask, and requested he come by as soon as he could if he had the time. The last thing Justin needed was the kitchen to flood, since it would shut down the entire diner for awhile, and Justin couldn’t afford not to bring in whatever profit he could.
Mickey had actually slept. Zania had left and he'd crashed hard, practically unconscious for more hours than he normally would have. When he finally joined the world of the living, everything came crashing down like a ton of bricks. He'd been an idiot with December, an idiot with Zania and so completely unlike himself. This wasn't the old days where no sleep was fine because he didn't talk and he was focused on survival. This was different. This required talking and hopefully not pushing away the woman that meant more to him than anyone else. He fired off a text to December, not expecting an immediate answer and distantly praying that it was because she was sleeping. Then it was a proper shower, scrubbing away the grime he'd ignored for too long before he started into his day. He'd had some more repair work in mind, but the text from Justin had his attention and he answered that he'd be there soon.
Grabbing his tools he loaded up the bike and pedaled that way. It wasn't that far, which meant he made decent time on the bike, arriving not long after Justin has messaged him. Letting himself into the diner he looked around for the other man, assuming he wasn't expecting speedy service, but got it anyhow. He was also looking for Zania even if he knew better. She wouldn't be out in the sunshine.
No, Justin hadn't been expecting such a quick response, but it certainly wasn't unwelcome. He had been so focused on trying to figure out how to fix the leak himself before texting Mickey that Justin nearly forgot that Mickey knew Zania was a vampire. And he'd been the one whose blood Zania had tasted after the kid cut himself. All of that information came flooding back the second Justin stepped through the back and saw Mickey standing there in the diner. Right.
"Mickey," Justin said firmly, using a finger to motion the guy over. "Back here."
Mickey nodded as Justin led gave him directions, fleetingly thinking of Zania again, but not lingering on the thought as he went where directed, moving slow to keep the limp as a minimum. He could feel himself slipping into the silent worker again, feeling safer under it. He'd said too much lately and found himself a lot worse off than before. Maybe it was best to keep his words to a minimum.
Pushing open the swinging door into the kitchen, Justin held it open for Mickey, studying the guy quietly himself. He was wondering what Mickey thought of Zania changing, if he was looking out for her at all. Justin had no idea how close Mickey and Zania actually were, but given his sister's new condition, Justin figured it might be a good idea to find out. "The sink over there," Justin said, nodding toward the basin in question. "Starts leaking every time we turn on the water. Seeing as how we need to clean the dishes, we don't have the luxury of a lot of down time."
Mickey headed towards the sink in question, looking it over first then looking under it. He turned the water on and watched it leak for a moment before getting an idea of the issue. "I can fix it." He looked behind it, working the shut off valve closed so he could take part of it apart. "Did it just start?"
"Yeah, about forty five minutes ago. We were slammed, so I wasn't told about it recently." Justin folded his arms against his chest, watching Mickey start in on the sink. "I've been meaning to learn some basic plumbing and electrical work. Just haven't found the time yet." It would be a useful skill, he supposed. Justin had a feeling knowing how to stop a leaky sink would be more beneficial to him than knowing how to break someone's nose with the palm of his hand. "I appreciate the quick response."
Once the water was turned off, Mickey found a wrench in his tool box and set into work taking the sink apart at the leak to find the issue. "I learned by trying actually." But he was good with things like that. He'd always had a knack for it and once he'd figured out how to fix his sink, he was fixing his neighbors and then he was supplementing his rent serving as part-time handyman in his hours off work.
"Yeah?" Maybe it wouldn't be so difficult to learn then, if Justin found the time for it. It would be cheaper to do repairs himself. He knew he ought to step back, go do some work and let Mickey do his, but Justin stayed put, his eyes on the wrench Mickey was using. "You help Zania much?" Given she had lived with Nic up until recently, Justin was guessing Nic did most of the maintenance on their house, but who knew? He had never really asked his sister about that kind of stuff.
Mickey's wrench slipped slightly at mention of Zania. It was like Justin was listening to the background noise in his brain. "I've helped her around here before," he said, going back to what he was doing. And onto his counter in an attempt to act on feelings and not thoughts, but since that hadn't gone anywhere it didn't need to be added to his tone or said out loud.
Justin said nothing at first, simply made a small noise of acknowledgement in his throat. He definitely didn't need to know anything more... personal that that. Justin knew Zania was a big girl, and he knew she would get plenty of male attention in the dome. He just didn't need to hear about the details, from her, or anyone else. He was still her brother, and given that Justin was a man, he didn't really trust any of them around his sister. "She told me that you know what happened to her," Justin said after a moment, eyes shifting from the wrench to Mickey's face.
The first question was one thing. The second was something else all together. Mickey slowed what he was doing, sitting up more to look at Justin. "I was there when it happened. So yes." He knew a test, and he knew how to pass it.
"You two close?" Justin asked, thankful there was no one else nearby at the moment. All he really wanted to know was that Zania trusted Mickey. Or, more than that, that Justin could. He was pretty adept at reading people, and Justin didn't want anyone around Zania who may end up hurting her.
That was a complicated question. Flashes of Zania kissing him, of her curled against his chest in the morning flew before his eyes. Her skin under his fingers, promises to stick together with so little history between them. If they weren't close, he didn't quite know what else they were. "We are."
Justin nodded. He didn't need to know anything more than that. "I don't want anything to happen to her, especially now. Not everyone will look at her the way we do if they find out what she is. She'd probably hit me if I said it to her face, but I think she needs people around she can count on, who'll look out for her." Justin hadn't always been there for Zania in the past, and they weren't joined at the hip now, but he still worried. The question here was, was Mickey one of those people?
Mickey watched Justin closely. "I didn't want anything to happen to her before this. This doesn't change that." He didn't sound defensive or annoyed, just honest.
"Good." Rubbing the nape of his neck, Justin glanced back the sink problem before his gaze met Mickey's face again. "Don't hurt her. She's been through enough already." This time, he meant it more personally. Between Dorian and now this whole vampire thing... Zania needed a break. He wasn't sure how close was close in terms of her relationship with Mickey, but he never liked seeing Zania upset. Justin didn't do well with emotional women.
Mickey picked up the wrench again and went back to his work. "I'm not sleeping with her," he pointed out, feeling like the guy was hinting at it but not saying it. "But I will be careful." More than he had been last time. That had been stupid. He owed her an apology too he bet.
Justin couldn't help but grin, even if it was faint, and brief. "You don't need to be sleeping with someone to hurt them." He stepped back and thumbed down the short, narrow hall. "I'll be in the office, just down the hall. Come see me when you're finished and let me know how much I owe you."
Mickey thought about those words and knew Justin was right. So very right. He’d torn through more than one person recently, without ever getting that close to them. “Will do,” he said, focusing on work instead because that was easier.