Tom Branson (thefirebrand) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-01 10:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, tinkerbell, tom branson |
Who: Tom Branson and Tinkerbell
When: Circa August 21
Where: Tom’s Shop
What: It’s her turn to visit him!
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete.
Now that Tink was back in her own body, she was looking at things a little differently. She wanted to make sure that she kept better contact with her friends, as she’d felt so out of the loop. She missed her buddies so much over the last week, she was desperate to reconnect with them. Starting with Tom.
She headed over to his shop on her bike, parked it, and climbed off, looking for him. One of the mechanics at the shop whistled as she pulled her helmet off.
Tom was in the back, hating the first few days back from vacation. It was so hard to get back into the swing of things, and he would probably still be hung over from Ireland for days. The whistle caught his attention and he glanced through the door, snorting.
“You don’t look half bad when you’re not covered in grease,” he told her. “Come over here and I’ll help you with that.”
Tink hadn’t really noticed the whistle. It happened. She could never really figure out why. People sure liked to whistle. A bright grin crossed her features when she saw Tom, and she headed in his direction after setting her helmet down on her bike.
“Ooh, you have something for me to do? I love getting my hands dirty.” Of course you do, Tink. We all knew that already.
“Nah, I was just gonna wipe my hands on you.” Tom shrugged. He instead wiped his hands on a rag and nodded at her to follow him off to the back room. “Come on, I’m due for a break.”
Tink laughed. “Just watch where you put those hands, Mister.” She knew that much about social interactions, even if she was a little clueless sometimes. She nodded, then followed him into the back room. “How was the wedding? And Ireland? And everything??”
“Don’t worry, my hands know to mind themselves.” He cracked open a bottle of water and sat down. “Ireland was great. Seeing everyone was fantastic. And, you know that girl I told you about? The one that dreams the same as I do? She came with me.”
Tink chuckled, then took a seat on the edge of a desk or table or chair or whatever was around. “Yeah?? The one who’s younger?” Tink asked, sounding interested. “Are you two... a thing now?”
“Yeah, that one,” he said, sitting down nearby. Tom just shrugged a bit, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t really know, to be honest with you. I guess we are? I mean, we’re definitely something, at any rate.”
“Well, that’s good, right? It’s good? I mean, being something is good. Unless you don’t want to be something. In which case something is bad.” Tink really had no idea about human relationships. She dealt so much better when it came to cars. “Right?”
“Right,” Tom agreed, though he sounded a bit hesitant. “We’re sort of trying to … I don’t know. I’d say take it slow, but we’ve travelled to a whole other country together at this point. Which, I’d like to point out, I was the perfect gentleman the whole time.”
“Well, that was my first burning question,” Tink teased, bumping her shoulder into his. “I mean, because I think about that stuff all the time.” Really, couldn’t be farther from the truth. That’s why it was so funny. “But that’s good. Taking things slow is good.” That’s what she and Billy seemed to be doing, anyway.
“Ha ha ha,” he replied, giving her a nudge with the toe of his boot. “I just wanted it to be put on the record. You never know.” Tom just grinned. “How’s everything been over here, anyway?”
“Fine. Normal. Slow. Boring. I don’t know how we survived without you.” Tink teased, giving him a grin. “It was a rough couple of weeks, I’ll tell you that much.”
“You must think you’re clever,” he teased right back. “When I left, there was all this nonsense about people not being themselves?” Tom raised his eyebrows. “What was up with that?”
“I am clever. You haven’t figured that part out yet?” Tink said, grinning. But it faded just a little when he mentioned people not being themselves. “Oh. Right. That. That was really, really weird.” She said.
“I was at the shop, and some woman was out for a jog, and we collided… then we switched bodies.”
“Wow.” Tom blinked a bit. He couldn’t really think of a better word for it, and, frankly, he was glad he missed out. “How … Uh. How was that?”
“It was weird. I only had one pair of shoes.” Tink said. Not that she wore different shoes often in her own body, but to only have that one choice? “And my clothes didn’t fit well. Since she was a different shape from me.”
“Really?” Tom laughs. “I ask you how it was to be someone else for a week, and you complain about the clothes. I meant how was the experience.”
Tink grinned. “I don’t know. Don’t make fun, you weren’t there.” She stuck out her tongue at him. “It was…weird. Surreal. I was actually someone else. Kinda fun, but also quite confusing. Is that better?”
“Yeah. Do you appreciate your own life more now that you walked a mile in someone else’s shoes?” Admittedly, he was curious. Glad he was free from it all, but curious.
“Uh… sure?” Tink said, then laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I was still living my own life. I went to work, I went home, I hung out with Billy. No big deal.”
“Oh. A bit less exciting, then. Still, all’s well that ends well?” Tom shrugged, looking amused.
“Yes. All’s well now.” Tink said, giving him a bright smile. “...So. What’d you bring me from across the pond, hmm?”
“That’s all you care about, huh? Geez.” He gave Tink an amused smile and got up, walking toward his locker. He took a bag out and handed over a selection of Irish candies and a small bottle of Irish whiskey. “Will this do, then?”
“Eee!” Tink accepted the present gleefully, bouncing up and down. She leaned in to tap a kiss against his cheek. “Thank you thank you! You’re my favorite.”
“Good, that was the reaction I was hoping for,” Tom told her, looking pleased. He gave her a hug, careful not to get her too dirty. “I should maybe get back to work, though. You’ll have to invite me over sometime so we can enjoy that whiskey together.”
Meh, Tink didn’t mind being dirty. But it was nice of him to be so considerate. She returned the hug and then gave him a bright grin. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Keep an eye out for my text.” She collected her presents (yay! presents!) and then turned to let herself out. “Don’t work too hard!”