Charlie Pace (l_a_t_e) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-10-22 15:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, charlie pace, tinkerbell |
Who: Tinkerbell and Charlie Pace
When: Mid-October
Where: Tink’s Garage
What: Car work, Charlie attepts to flirt
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
To add to his crapfest of a month, now Charlie’s car was on the fritz. The Check Engine light wouldn’t turn off, and in his opinion, what it really should have said was, Time to Spend Money on Car!! Money he didn’t have, but had to come up with, because his car was what got him to the places where he made that money. It was all super inconvenient and annoying, and Charlie really didn’t need one more thing on his mind.
Hopefully, Tink could offer him a deal. He drove carefully into her garage.
Tink totally could give him a deal. She was inside the garage, and when she’d seen him coming, she moved out of the way and helped direct him so he could position the car right where she wanted it to be. Then, with a grin on her face and a spring in her step, she moved around to the driver’s side. “Charlie! Long time no see! What can I do ya for?”
It had been a long time. He’d been out-of-state for a good portion of it, cut off from everything back home. “I’m surprised you remembered my name,” he said, half-joking.
“Hey, it’s not every day I get to paint a car bright pink.” Tink said, the beaming smile still on her features. “I think I’m gonna remember that until the day I die. How’s your boss?”
“Not my boss at the moment,” Charlie replied, folding his arms and trying to look casual. And friendly. He was aware of how pissy he’d become. “Haven’t picked up the construction work since I came back. Er, I was… hunting down my brother for a while. A long while.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Tink said, frowning a bit. She wasn’t all that great at reading body language. There was something about people that confused her--but she thought that Charlie looked a bit… closed off? She hoped she hadn’t done something wrong by asking about the guy who owned the pink car.
“Anyway, what can I do for you today?” She asked, tucking her hands into the pockets of her coveralls.
“Umm…” Charlie blinked a few times to clear his head. He looked back to the car. “Check Engine light won’t turn off. I’m hoping it’s just the light bulb itself.”
"Oh. Well, I can totally check that out for you." Tink said, giving him a winning smile. " Could just be time for scheduled maintenance. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Turn her on for me?" She asked, then reached inside to pop the hood.
With a nod, Charlie hopped back into the car. He made sure Tink was in the clear and then gave the key a twist. His car was a Corolla, and other than whatever was happening now, it seemed to be in good shape and hadn’t given him much trouble over the years.
It looked like a good car. Tink checked under rhe hood and was impressed with what she found. Good condition. She ran her diagnostics and found a couple of nuts she could tighten, and a couple of things that could be replaced. She came back to Charlie to explain it to him. "Not too much work. And I can replace the oil and filters while I'm at it," she added, giving him her winning smile.
Charlie recalled Tink’s winning smile from before, and frankly, he was in need of a few smiles. He merely smiled himself. “Not too much work, means… what are we talking dollars-and-cents?” he asked, as he got out of the car again.
“I can give you a discount,” Tink offered. “We’re doing this canned food drive thing…How does parts only sound?” She asked. There was an almost flirtatious tone in her voice.
“You want me to pay you in parts?” Charlie asked, cutting a goofy expression. “Or wait, in cans?”
The goofy expression was much better than a pout or a scowl. Tink laughed. “No, I mean… bring in a can and I’ll only charge you for parts. Not labor.”
“Oh!” he chirped, shifting his weight to the other side. “Yeah, that’d be seriously awesome. I’ve got cans. Most of my food is in can form.”
Tink was grinning at him now. Brightly and with good humor. "You should try some fresh fruits and veggies sometime," she teased. "Much more tasty than the canned stuff. But I'll take it in payment."
Charlie felt like he was being reminded of how cute Tink was, as if he’d forgotten at some point. There was something about a cheeky girl in coveralls. Or maybe it was more the fact that he hadn’t chatted with any girls in weeks. “Some veggies improve in the can. Like green beans and corn. And Pringles.”
Tink laughed. “Pringles? My favorite kind of vegetable.” She nodded, unable to stop the grin of glee that had crossed her features. “Damn, now I want some. Sour Cream and Onion are the best.”
“True dat,” he said, sounding a bit goofy. He bounced on his heels. “So, I’ll leave the car here and come back with the cans… when? How long should it take?”
Tink beamed. "True dat," she repeated, nodding once. It sounded absolutely ridiculous coming out of her mouth. "Umm, I don't have any other cars on the block, so give me an hour? Maybe hour and a half."
“Oh!” he chirped again. “Well, in that case is it cool if I just wait around here?” He didn’t have anywhere else to be.
Tink shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. C'mon." She brought him into the garage and showed him where he could sit, then set to work on his car. They could talk while she worked. "So, why aren't you working for Mister Pink Car anymore? Hopefully it wasn't my fault."
“Nah,” he said, taking a seat. He was feeling much less awkward around her now, girl or not. “I just haven’t picked up the construction work since I got back. It was a little dangerous anyway, with being a musician and all. If something happened to my hands… He and I still keep in touch.”
“Oh, you’re a musician??” Tink asked, turning to give him a smile. She was still working under his hood, tightening something with some kind of weird tool. She didn’t have to look at it to tighten it. “What instrument do you play?”
Charlie enjoyed watching her work. The only thing better than a girl in coveralls was a girl who knew her way around a toolbox, but that was possibly because Charlie had no idea himself. “A little bit of everything. Mostly guitar and piano.”
“Oh yeah??” Tink stood up a little straighter. “We’ve got a guitar here. Will you play something?” One of the things about mechanic work, sometimes they got wanderers in who need a few days work, and sometimes they left things. There was a whole locker full of stuff that random people, part-time employees long since passed by, had left behind.
“Yeah??” Charlie’s tone almost mimicked Tink’s. He looked around eagerly. He was a ham and he enjoyed playing for an audience. In fact, he was already back on his feet by the time he asked, “Where at?”
“It’s over on that counter. Watch the floor, it might be slippery.” Tink said, motioning with a hand covered in some kind of engine grease. The thing was in a case. It was actually a pretty nice guitar. One of the other guys was considering selling it, but Tink convinced him it should hang around a little longer.
Charlie’s eyes fell on it just as Tink pointed out where it was. He carried it back to the chair and unpacked. It wasn’t anything special, just a basic acoustic. The strings hadn’t been well cared for. It took him a while to tune. And then, for the amusement of it, Charlie started playing I Want it That Way, by the Backstreet Boys.
Tink was young, but she knew the Backstreet Boys. She laughed and started to sing along with his playing while she worked. Of course, she didn’t know all the words, but she definitely had the “I want it that way” part down.
Most girls around his age responded well to that song. If they didn’t sing along, they usually laughed. “Any requests?” he asked, after he’d played his fill of that.
Tink shrugged. “Know any Beatles? Blackbird?” She asked, turning to give him a grin from under the hood.
“Pft,” Charlie said, though it was more of a sound than a word. Did he know any Beatles? Puh-lease. He launched into Blackbird. He did not, however, make a habit of singing much while playing.
Well, he didn’t have to sing. Tink was more than willing. This was one of her favorites, so she jumped right in and started to sing the words. She stopped for a moment or two when she was focused on something under the hood, but he was good. Really good. She was impressed, entertained.
He was smiling more now than he had in weeks. Tink had always been someone he’d recalled fondly. Now he knew just why: her ease, her complete lack of neuroticism… not to mention she was hot. Charlie began wondering if it might be time for a rebound.
Abruptly, he stopped playing and sighed.
It took Tink a moment to realize that he’d stopped. She stood up straight after replacing an air filter and looked over at him, wiping her hands on a towel. “You weren’t that bad. Really.” She said, teasing.
Charlie bit his lip. He was sort of smiling. Sort of. “Yeah, no… I, uh… I was just letting my mind wander. And wonder… if maybe you’d have some interest in going out sometime.”
Tink blinked at him for a moment, still wearing her teasing grin, and then the grin slowly faded from her features until she looked torn between confused and surprised. “Going out?”
He had a bad feeling, but there was no taking anything back. “Dinner… a movie… ?”
“Oh.” Understanding, and then some sort of other emotion… guilt? embarrassment? flashed across her face. She went pink, and turned her eyes down to the floor. She felt flattered, and guilty, and embarrassed both for herself and for him. “Um… I have a boyfriend now.”
Well… crap. “Oh.” Charlie swallowed. He definitely wasn’t smiling now. Not even sort of. “No, that’s cool. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask, you know, in case you didn’t. Totally cool.” He felt sick.
“I’m sorry,” Tink said, and though she was sorry, she wasn’t sure why. Billy was absolutely fantastic--best compliment to her personality she’d ever met--and she was happy as can be with him. Maybe that made her feel guilty for people who weren’t happy? “...it’s new.” She turned her attention back to the car and delved under the hood to hide her pink cheeks.
Moving somewhat automatically, Charlie started to pack up the guitar. Playing wasn't as interesting as it had been before. "Seriously, it's cool. You don't have to keep apologizing."
Tink nodded under the hood of the car. Why did things have to be complicated and full of drama? She frowned a bit, then started finishing up her work as quickly as she could. After clearing her throat, she added, “He’s really nice. I think you’d like him.” ...as if that made things better.
Although he did feel embarrassed, because it always sucked to be turned down, the feeling was fading rather quickly. In fact, he felt ever so slightly relieved. Perhaps it had been more important to ask, than to actually get a date. “Hey, if we have you in common…”
Tink laughed. “That’s true.” She finished the work in record time, then came out from under the hood, wiping her hands on a towel. “Well, let’s turn her on and see how she purrs.”
“Yeah, let’s get back to the car.” He chuckled self-consciously, but at least his smile had reappeared, even though his knees were still a little wobbly from the adrenaline. Honestly, Charlie was just glad Tink hadn’t laughed in his face. The moment her face dropped, he’d half-expected her to, the way things had been going lately.
But maybe this really would end up being some kind of turning point. After all, he’d gotten up the nerve to put himself out there. That had had to mean something was healing.