I didn’t even get my AA in Parking. Who: Billy and Tink When: Circa July 12 Where: The shop? What: He comes to take her to lunch Rating/Warning: Low/None Status: Complete!
For as much as Billy joked about never leaving his apartment, this last round of trouble in the city had been a bit much, even for him. Once it was all over, he had to leave his place. If only to remember what the sun felt like on his mostly too-pale skin.
He was also very interested in the idea of eating something that was not from a box or a can. Clearly that meant it was time to find a place to eat a hamburger. Or whatever. And it wasn’t an outing into the real world without a friend. Which was why he stopped at Tink’s shop first. Maybe she could cut out for lunch for a bit.
“Hullo?” He peeked into the little office of the place.
Tink had been home or here. The shop. It felt pretty safe, which was a riot considering how many open doors and windows the place had. It was pretty much a roof supported by beams. But, anyway, she was in the office finishing up some paperwork on the computer.
“Sup?” She asked before turning to look and see who it was at the door. Then she broke into a smile, instantly brightening at the sight of her friend. Friend? Friend. “Oh, hi, Billy.”
Friend. Person. “Hey,” he said, looking around with those twitchy eyes of his -- never able to set his gaze on just one thing at a time. It was rare he really stepped into this part of the shop. “You got a coworker today? Wanna -- uh. You know. Lunch?”
Friend. Right. “Lunch!” Tink said, breaking into a smile and turning to glance through the doorway into the garage. “I’m taking lunch!” She called out to the old man.
The old man gave a nod and a grunt, not even turning from stocking whatever it was he was stocking.
“All right, I’m free. Where are we going?” Tink asked, nearly springing from her chair.
“Didn’t think that far ahead, honestly. I just thought something that I didn’t have to microwave would be a nice change. Burgers?” Billy peeked at the old guy working in the garage and then shrugged, heading for the door. “Thoughts?”
“Burgers are good. I like burgers.” Tink said. Though, he’d know that by now, wouldn’t he? Tink ate anything, really. She was sort of like a garbage disposal in that way. She stopped by the side of the garage to shed her coveralls; she was wearing a tank top and shorts underneath. She slipped back into her shoes, then followed him quickly to his car. “And french fries?”
He did know -- but he also knew that sometimes as much as he liked something, there were moments when he just wasn’t in the mood for it. Then again most burgers came from diners and they had loads of options.
“Of course fries,” Billy said it like it was the silliest of all questions. And it was. Unlocking the doors, he slipped into the drivers’ seat and fiddled with his seatbelt.
It really was the silliest of questions. Tink climbed into the car and pulled on her own belt. Of course, she was at home in a car. Any car. Billy’s car, especially. Because she liked Billy. Probably more than she should. “So... diner?” She could have a tuna melt. Speaking of other options. “Or fast food?” Where burgers were kinda the only choice.
“Diner. If you have time?” Billy didn’t really understand the concept of lunchbreaks. He didn’t have a real job that had hours and punchcards and -- whatever else it was that real jobs had. But he was pretty sure she had time. He pulled out of the lot and drove -- there was a place not too far from here.
“Oh, yeah, sure.” Tink said, breaking into a smile. She shrugged her shoulders, lifting her foot to tuck up underneath her. “I can pretty much take all the time I want. So long as we don’t get like, a dozen cars in all at once.”
“Oh.” Billy drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, looking vaguely amused at that. “I mean. That’s, you know. Cool.”
Anyway, it only took another few minutes to get to the diner, and when they arrived, he was pleased as anything to find some proper parking. It wasn’t always easy around here.
“Wow, it’s like they knew we were coming.” Tink said, climbing out of the car once they were parked. If she’d been slightly more paranoid and/or suspicious, she might have wondered if he phoned ahead. “You don’t have some sort of strange, good-parking-spot-getting magic thing in your car, do you? Like, a button or something that makes people vacate the spot you want when you want it?”
“No,” Billy said, unbuckling his seat belt and twitching a smile over at her. “It’s just that I’ve got a PhD in Parking.”
Tink laughed. “That’s awesome. I didn’t even get my AA in Parking. Color me impressed.” She unbuckled, then climbed out of the car and closed the door behind herself. Since, y’know, that’s what a person does when she leaves a car.
Duh.
“Wait? AA? Like. Alcoholics Anonymous in parking? God, I hope you didn’t actually try for that.” He opened the door of the diner for her before heading in after her.
Tink went in first, giving him a confused look. Maybe a scowl? “Associate’s Degree. It’s called an AA.” She shook her head. “Seriously. Don’t you ever read?” She was teasing.
“Nobody calls it that, Tink.” They found a booth, and Billy was looking smug and at the menu. “My next guess would have been American Airlines. And that made less sense.”
Tink blinked at him. “...what do they call it, then?” She asked, slipping down into the booth. She knew what she wanted already, so she didn’t bother with the menu. “...well, at least American Airlines... has to do with parking? Have I ever mentioned how I want to get my pilot’s license?”
“They call it an... Associate’s Degree?” Yeah, he was pretty sure that’s what it was ever called. Or a two year degree. Something like that. Billy wasn’t sure why he was looking at the menu. He knew what he wanted.
“Do you really?”
“Yeah, I mean...” Tink went slightly pink. “I dunno, I’ve always thought it would be amazing to fly. Don’t you think?”
No, he didn’t really think so. He was more a feet on the ground sort of guy. But he didn’t necessarily like disagreeing with Tink, either. Instead he gave a vague nod, and then was pleased when the waitress came over and he could let it be known that he really wanted a burger and fries.
Tink ordered a tuna melt and fries, and a milkshake, too. Since she didn’t really care who knew how much she loved food.
When the waitress left, Tink turned back to Billy. She liked him. She liked him. That’s what made things a little awkward. “So, thanks for taking me out for lunch. Sometimes I feel like I never leave that garage.”
He liked to be liked. But he was almost stupidly oblivious to the fact that she liked him. He just assumed that that was the sort of thing no one really felt about him. Because he was him. That was all.
“Oh, gosh. You know. No problem. I never leave my apartment, so I know how you feel.”
“Well, I suppose since you work from home, it’s comparable.” Tink said, giving a one-shouldered shrug. Thankfully the waitress brought out her shake and gave her something to do with her hands. Stirring, slurping--though she did the latter with her mouth, thanks.
“I suppose since you never leave, there’s not a whole lot new to report, hmm?”
“Not really,” Billy admitted. It never felt boring usually, but when she put it like that...
He shrugged. “It’s a chill spot, my apartment.”
“Yeah?” Tink thought about it a moment. “My apartment is... well, it’s kinda full of contraptions and things. There’s barely room for my furniture in there.” Maybe she needed more space.
“I’ve got an extra room for that sort of thing... and most of the living room. I dunno. It’s incorporated.” Then again, he played with computer bits and stuff more than -- well. She made wings and breakfast making Rube Goldberg machines.
She made huge things. Big sets of wings, other contraptions. She loved making motorized and human-powered vehicles of all shapes and sizes... and speeds. “I’ve only got one bedroom. And my living room is tiny.” Tink said, then gave a shrug. She just didn’t feel like her money would be well spent on a two-bedroom place when really she just wanted room for all her junk. It would be better to like... eliminate the junk.
Eliminate? Whoa there, hold up. Let’s not get crazy up in here. Compartmentalize the junk? “Maybe you should take some of it to work with you. I mean. There’s all those tools and stuff, right?”
Right right. Compartmentalize. Organize. Perhaps open up a storage unit for some. The more dangerous ones, anyway.
“Oh, you should see my collection at work.” Tink said, breaking into a smile and stirring her milkshake with her straw. “I’ve got all kinds of stuff there. Nothing dangerous,” I keep all of that at home, “and mostly things that make my job easier.”
“I have always wanted a nice, heavy duty welder,” Billy admitted, and then seemed to have a sick, childlike amount of delight when his burger showed up. “Noms time!”
Tink started in on her fries first. Dipping them heavily into the ketchup. “That must be one bummer about working at home with computers. You probably don’t get to play with all the cool power tools that I’ve got access to in the shop.” Tink mused.
“Not so much,” Billy agreed through bites of cheeseburger and fries. “I mean, I’ve got little stuff but - I dunno. It’s also an apartment, you know? The neighbors start complaining when I feel like it’s time for a one am power tool session.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve actually had the police out. A,” she coughed, “few times.” Then she sipped from her milkshake.
Billy rose his eyebrows at that and looked for all the world like he was impressed. Billy: kind of a mad scientist anarchist in the making. Probably not a good thing.
“But you know what? Forget them. They can’t see the bigger picture.” Tink said, setting her shake down again. The bigger picture meaning... some things were worth using power tools in the middle of the night for.
“You know,” Billy said, pointedly biting a fry in punctuation. “I like you.”
Tink blushed deeply. She gave him a warm smile, still chewing on her bite of sandwich. It took her a moment to finish and swallow. “I like you, too.”
He hadn’t meant it like that. Well, okay, yes, he had. But not -- you know. Well. Shuttup, okay? When she went red, so did he. A bright terrible pink that faded straight into his roots. “Oh, well. You know. Good.”
“Good.” Tink was smiling shyly. Like, she’d just confessed she liked a guy. liked a guy. After he’d said he liked her. But... wait... what if he hadn’t meant liked liked, what if he only meant liked? Aw, crap. Now she felt like an idiot. Only one thing to do for that. She stuffed more french fries in her mouth.
Billy followed suit, and for a time they just sat there with mouths full of fries and the occasional noise of slurping at their drinks. To wash all the fries and salt down. “Ehehe,” said Billy after a while. After he had no more fries to inhale. “Should probably -- get you back, huh?”
“Oh. Yeah. Probably.” Tink said, giving him a little smile. She had to get back to work, huh? Damn work. “Thanks for lunch,” she added. “It’s great to get away from the shop every once in a while.”
“What? Oh. Yeah. That’s what I’m good for. Lunch.” Okay awkward, go away now. But it wouldn’t and so Billy only gave a little twitch and an awkward shrug.
For some reason, twitchy was a good match for Tink. She didn’t seem to mind or care. Her smile actually brightened just a tad, and she nodded. “Well, that and other things.” It was almost flirtatious. Almost.
“Tan M&Ms,” he agreed with a half of a nod. It was small, but he wasn’t without his own variation of flirtation.
“Tan M&Ms.” Tink repeated with pink on her nose and cheekbones. “You’re definitely good for those.”