¡Tink! (tinkhatespink) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-07-19 22:01:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, john reid (lone ranger), tinkerbell |
Who: John Reid and Tinkerbell
When: When he’s new in town
Where: Tink’s Mechanic Shop
What: Car Diagnostics
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete!
Note: A log in which Missy google's about cars and makes shit up. No lie.
Tink was in the shop for the day. The whole day. She wasn’t sure if anyone else would be joining her, considering all the crazy that was going on around the place. It’d slowed down, considerably, but there was still crazy out there. And Tink was avoiding it as best she could, sitting under a fan at the garage. She didn’t have any current projects or cars that needed work, she was just holding down the fort.
Apparently some cars weren’t meant to sustain a move between Texas and California. John, however, loved little grey car, and wasn’t ready to see it go. Truthfully, he couldn’t necessarily afford to see it go, either. After speaking to some people and checking out reviews on Yelp, John found a shop and he drove his poor wheezing baby over.
He poked his head inside the door, then walked up to the main desk.
“Uh. Hello?”
Tink jumped a little at the sound of the voice, and turned to scoot her wheelie chair way back over to sit behind the desk. It was all one big room. Sorta. With partitions. She broke into a grin at the sight of the man there. Bored and hot was a lot worse than working and hot. “Hiya.”
“Uh, hi,” John said, looking a bit apologetic. “I’m, uh, not interrupting anything, am I? I just dropped by to see if I can have my car looked at. I’m pretty useless with this sort of thing on my own.”
“Oh. No. Not at all. We are a garage afterall.” Tink said, then climbed up from her chair. (It rolled back across the floor toward the fan. Maybe it was hot, too?) She was wearing coveralls, and her dirty blonde hair was in a sloppy, messy ponytail. Not exactly the most feminine of creatures, but she gave him a bright, happy smile. “What’s up with your car?”
“Uh, well, I just used to help move from Texas to here, so I think the whole desert driving thing might have been too much on it.” He cracked a smile. “I just wanna make sure it’s salvageable before I throw in the towel and all.”
“Aww, poor baby.” Tink said, breaking into a grin. “We’ll take care of her.” She said, coming around the desk. “Is she just over-heating? Or is she making weird sounds? Or... what?”
“All of the above?” He shrugged. “I’m sorry, I’m so useless. Definitely sounds.”
“Let’s check it out.” Tink smiled warmly. “Got your keys? Come turn her on for me and I’ll take a look. Listen. Both, I suppose.” She moved with him back toward his car.
John pulled out his keys with a little jingle, then slipped inside the car. He started it up and it didn’t take long for the aforementioned sounds to start. “See? Sounds.”
“Oooh. Sounds.” Tink said, listening carefully. She lowered her hands to the hood, closed her eyes and listened and felt the car as it idled. It took a moment, she was acting much like a doctor listening to heartbeats and breathing. “Can you pop the hood for me?” She asked, raising her voice over the engine’s running.
“Yeah, of course.” John reached down to push the button that opened the hood, then peered out of his open door to watch her.
Tink did a quick diagnostic, inspecting some things under the hood. She pulled the oil gage and gave a little laugh. “It’s an easy fix.” She called out to him from the other side of the hood. “Oil’s gone a bit wonky. It can curdle when the car overheats. Since you were driving in such heat, for such a long distance? I bet that’s what happened. I can flush it out for you, and send you on your way.”
“Wow. I feel pretty stupid right now,” John said. But he laughed, shrugging it off with good humour. “Good to know it’s an easy fix, at any rate. That’d be great if you could do that.”
Tink shook her head. “Nah, don’t feel stupid. It’s an easy thing to overlook, even easier to fix.” She said, giving him a bright smile. “Let me grab a couple of tools, and I’ll have you pull the car forward into the garage.”
A few minutes later, his car was in place, and Tink was tinkering under the hood. Pun intended. “So, you moved out here from Texas?” She called out to where he was waiting on the sidelines while she worked. “Must be nice to get away from that heat?”
“Yeah, it’s not bad,” he said, standing nearby so Tink could work uninterrupted. “I mostly like the change of scenery. It’s a lot greener here.”
"I can imagine. Only time I was ever in Texas it was July. Worst time ever to go there." She moved to the other side to drain the oil, doing all the mechanic-y stuff. "I'd much rather live here."
“If you go anytime between June and October, it’s not really pleasant. Guess I’m used to it though.” John smiled.
“Yeah, I suppose if I’d stayed longer... I was just there for a convention.” Tink said, then moved under the car to do more mechanic-y stuff. “But I can’t stay away from the ocean for that long.”
“No, that does seem like something you could get attached to.” And he’d already heard that the OC had a weird way of making people miss it. “I’m really looking forward to life here, though.”
“I don’t blame you.” Tink said, sticking her head out from under the car with a grin. “Do you have lots of friends and family around here? Or are you starting fresh?”
“Completely fresh. All my family’s back home in Texas. Figure a guy’s gotta fly out on his own at some point, right?” John just shrugged, looking friendly. “So the car’s all good then?”
“Gotta leave the nest sooner or later.” Tink said. She wiped her hands on a rag. “Oh yeah, the car’s fine. She’s ready to go.” She said, giving him a smile, then she moved to close the hood. “We can pop into the office and I’ll give you a total.”
“Great. You’re a real lifesaver, you know,” he said, following her inside. “Even if it was sort of a stupid thing on my part.”
“Nah, not really stupid... just... forgetful?” Tink said, then turned to head into the office. “Didn’t take much to fix, really, just a flush and fresh oil. Surprisingly, your air filter looks good, everything else seems fine.” She moved to the computer and tapped a few buttons. “So... I’ll need name, address, here, fill one of these out.” Her boss still kept paper files on all the customers. She handed one to him to fill out.
“Sure, no problem.” John began to dutifully fill it out, though he had to pause to check bits of his address since he hadn’t had it memorized yet. Once it was done, he handed it back to her. “Should be all good.”
With a smile, Tink put the info into the computer with lightning speed. She was ace at computers, really. Then she turned the screen and gave him his total. It was a very fair price. “If you have any problems with her again, bring her back in. I’m pretty sure that should solve everything, but if it doesn’t, I’ll absolutely take responsibility and treat your baby right.”
“Oh, and I’m Tink, by the way. It’s nice to meet you, John.” She said, having read his name off the paperwork.
“The pleasure’s all mine. Really.” He smiled, very sincerely, and paid for the services done to his car. “Well. You have yourself a nice day. Try not to let the heat get you down so much.”
“I’d say the same for you, but it’s probably heaven out here compared to Texas.” Tink gave him a bright smile as he made his way out. “See you soon, I hope!”